On the Sign: "LOVE TRUMPS HATE"

On the Sign: "NO HATE. NO FEAR. IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE."

On the Sign: "TERRIERS AGAINST TRUMP" (side note: even the dogs know what's up)

crowds in the beginning

On the Sign: "NEVER AGAIN IS NOW"

side note: Can i just say YES. I saw on tweet on twitter saying you can say Never Again all you want, but what you do now is what you would have done. (do note i paraphrased from said tweet HERE)

On the Sign: "MAKE DIVERSITY GREAT AGAIN"

photo of the crowd

also lowkey is that a red light because we're greening it like we're trying to pass a yellow

On the Sign: "NO BAN NO WALL"

On the Sign: "#BANTRUMP"

also can we appreciate the art A+

well we've gotta chant to the beat don't we - shout out to these guys from drumming it out

On the Sign: "NO BAN NO WALL"

This person was holding mirror & the little paper on top said "THIS IS AMERICA"

actually my favorite- especially that second photo where he's like yep this is America

On the Sign: "THIS IS WHAT AMERICA LOOKS LIKE"

On the Sign: "LET OUR LOVE OPEN THE BORDER"

On the Sign: 

TERRORIST:

-is NOT a RELIGION

-is NOT a COUNTRY

-is NOT a RACE

#NoBanNoWall

#MyVoiceIsOurVOice

#Resist

On the Sign: "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty."

On the Sign: "NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL"

saw this on the subway if you couldn't tell

_____

also wanted to share a lil story:

While my sisters and I were there, we had to pray ASR prayer - our afternoon prayer- so we just chose a lil part of the sidewalk that didn't look like if we prayed there we would be stopping anyone from going where they need to be. So we start praying - the three of us- and people started to notice & actually respectfully made sure not to walk directly in front of us. Just wanted to share that. 

Also on our route home, we seemed a bit confused & some ladies asked if we needed help. Kindness everywhere. That's the America I know.

Also, a reporter with BuzzFeed asked me for any thoughts I had- I told her we don't have to look far to see how we should react to refugees- Canada is showing us the response we SHOULD have. 

Last thing, so my sister was telling the reporter as you see he does not represent America, and gestured towards the crowd. To which I then said, well he didn't get the majority vote now did he?

TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | BLOGLOVIN'

Starting (v.)

come into being; begin or be reckoned from a particular point in time or space.

synonyms: begin, commence, get underway, go ahead, get going.

Something that I often see is that many people are driven to start something, but the actual process of starting is like one massive blockade that they find somewhat impossible to pass through. For example, there are people on twitter saying they’d like to venture to start a YouTube channel, or maybe a friend tells me they want to start exercising and eat better, but that’s the thing: they say they’d like to start but somehow there’s lil miss doubt telling them not to, to stay in the comfort of the routine they’ve familiarized themselves with.

Starting is perhaps the hardest step to work towards any goal you had in mind, because it requires you to step outside of your routine and start something that you’ve only ever pestered your mind with for the past month or so.

When I first wanted to start YouTube, I was like yes I want to start this, but at the same time I was also like lol no no no calm down there sahara go read that book in the bookshelf kk thank you for your time. But then I ended up watching a YouTube video and started to think to myself: if you want to start something do it, don’t just think it JUST DO IT [suddenly I have become the Nike slogan].

here we have an aesthetically pleasing photo of trees in case you haven't seen the outdoors in a while because of spending WAY too much time on the internet

When I first wanted to start blogging a bit later on after YouTube, I was like to start a blog or not start a blog that is thy question (# shakespeare in 21 st century at your service). And, as you can see by reading this on a blog post on a blog, the answer to that question was START THE BLOG.

Sometimes starting something can seem daunting, like will this work out, will it not? You won’t know until you try it. All limits are self imposed, don’t limit yourself by your routine: JUST DO IT.

Never miss a post via twitter HERE

Never miss a post via Instagram HERE

your personal desert in motion HERE

give my blog some lovin' HERE

This is a project that has been on my mind for about 2 months then I thought to myself get tHAT CAMERA UP AND LET'S FILM.

The video above is apart of a series called This is Me. The first thing I wanted to do was have a theme for it; a different theme for each video. The theme ‘Introductions’ seemed only fitting since it is the first of its series. The questions that I have essentially answered in a conversational manner are now the questions you will be answering in the series This is We. Rather than you answering in the way I did, you will be answering them as questions.

i.e. you would read the question ‘What are three words that describe me?’ to yourself and then film yourself responding to that question like ' three words that describe me would be x,y,z' or you could just go right on with it' 'x,y,z' '.

I explained in minute in the last minute or so in the above video on how to film yourself answering the video, but just in case you needed some clarification in writing:

- sit down and film yourself answering the question

- or you can stand the way I am in mine

The most important thing is that I can hear and see you- so make sure natural lighting is on your side!

Here are the 5 questions and I hope that you could all take part in this collaboration! 

FIRST THINGS FIRST : What is your name?

1. 1. Do you consider yourself to be affiliated with a religion; if so what is it?
2. 2. If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
3. 3. If you are currently in university/ have been in university:
1. a. Do you feel you learn(ed) more in a classroom or when you’re outside of one?
4. 4. Is there anything you’ve challenged yourself lately? [Such as learning something new etc.?]
5. 5. Here’s a scenario- there is only one photograph left of you to be remembered by, what pose would that be? [essentially pose for this photo in the video OR insert a video clip]

EMAIL THE VIDEO WITHOUT ANY EDITING PLEASE [SEND AS IS WITH ALL YOUR UH'S AND UMM'S YOU WOULD HAVE EDITED OUT PROBABLY]
Think of it this way, if you edited a photo and then handed it to me and I had to edit it, it wouldn't turn out right because it's already been changed from it's original and double the editing on it would just not look right.

SEND ALL YOUR VIDEOS TO: thisisweproject@gmail.com 
IN THE SUBJECT LINE: [ YOUR COUNTRY GOES HERE]
IN THE BODY: OF COURSE YOUR VIDEO ATTACHMENT 

AS WELL AS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS- I WILL BE PLACING YOUR LINKS IN THE DESCRIPTION!

I think that's about it! Good luck & I hope you have as much as fun as I did filming!

Never miss a post via twitter HERE

Never miss a post via Instagram HERE

your personal desert in motion HERE

give my blog some lovin' HERE

A little while ago, I stumbled into a store and saw a really nice comfy hat. Said hat was supposedly on sale- the price was $30 and that is actually the definition of tragic. The hat itself 110/10 NEED in my life - the price on the other hand, even with the sale, had me contemplating if I knew the correct definition of sale. 

A few minutes later of wandering around, I stumbled into another store that had hats on sale for $7- THAT is sale! Now I took the hat in my hand like yes yes yes hello hat that is already blessing my life. But, alas, I was then convinced not to get the hat because “hijabi’s don’t/can’t wear hats”. [seems like my sombrero all over again]

When I went home that day, I still really wanted the hat and the sale was ending that same day so the only way to still get the sale price was to order it online. Well that idea did not go as planned -so I had another idea [when plan A & B failed you always gotta have a C D E FG etc.!] Why not crochet a hat myself?

 Mind you, I had no crocheting background so this was going to be a challenge teaching myself something by watching probably about 500 youtube videos. So, I ventured out to the craft store and picked some yarn and got to work the next day. 

here we have ma heart and soul on the ground after I was halfway through and realized I messed up the second line by missing a loop.

The process of this hat filled my brain with a lot of these questions: Did I loop this correctly? Did I miss a loop? IS THIS EVEN GOING TO WORK OUT? How is this going to form like a hat @ youtube lady???

Funnily enough, when it came time for finals I was extremely stressed and this hat was right there waiting for me to crochet my stress away. It just made everything loop together, and calm me down, though ironically this hat gave me so much stress but it was a good type of stress (if that’s possible). Numerous times I was undoing the whole thing because I messed up on one part and thus that made everything else wrong. Pulling the loops out and fixing it over and over again- there was lil miss doubt inside of my head telling me to give up, but there was also lil miss optimistic inside my head telling me OH C’MON YOU GOT THIS KEEP GOING.

One month later and here we are with a multicolored hat that’s probably cooler than me. This hat taught me a lot about patience, so much that it had me drinking from a patience mug I made for my mom for Mother’s Day. I learned that hey it’s going to get tough along the way but once you reach that goal it’s going to be worth it- the harder the challenge is the better the success feels. Also, sometimes it’s good to throw yourself out of your comfort zone and try something new. Challenge yourself. Because of deciding to make this hat instead of buying it at the store, I plan to crochet for nonprofit organizations, I just have to find one I’m 110% on.

Along the way of challenging yourself, that lil voice inside your head might be like lol let’s turn back I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS bYE. Here I am to tell you YES YOU CAN DO THIS. YES. YOU. CAN. DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT VOICE. [And suddenly I’m the living embodiment of Barack Obama’s campaign slogan.]

The hat in the store code $7 and the hat I ended up making cost me $10. Yes, 3 dollars extra, but for those three dollars I’ve learned how to crochet, the actual definition of the phrase ‘patience is key', and the importance of challenging myself.

ALSO @ people who think hijabi’s can’t wear hats DO I HAVE SOME NEWS FOR YOU

ps. If you yourself would like to take the challenge of crocheting yourself a hat- here's the video I used HERE. In the video she went from

yarn + rib = ribbed hat effect

but all I wanted was the hat effect as in

yarn = hat

so I didn't do the 'ribbed' effect she was talking about and just went my own way

Also some other helpful links:

Weaving in Ends

How to Crochet: Adding a New Ball of Yarn

Weave in Loose Ends

Never miss a post via twitter HERE

Never miss a post via Instagram HERE

your personal desert in motion HERE

give my blog some lovin' HERE