Troisième jour à Paris

13th of March 2019 – Shopping & flying home

Our last day had come upon us. After a small breakfast we finished packing and checked out at 11.30 am. We had the whole afternoon because our flight was scheduled to 8.30 pm. We found our way out of our hotel to the nearest street and started walking. There were shops after shops and I tried to visit as many as I could. I ended up buying a black scarf and a oversized denim jacket at a Parisian shop. We also stopped to get some macrons which taste delicious.

We stopped by Zara, H&M, Mango and other high street stores before we settled for lunch at 1 pm after it started to rain. We had our last proper meal in France with success. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to make our way back to our hotel to gather our suitcases and head to the airport.

This getaway felt surprisingly longer than only 3 days. I guess I also had someone to look forward to seeing at home which made the departure much easier.

Watch my recap of my Paris holiday here!

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Elizabeth

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Deuxième jour à paris

12th of March 2019 – The Eiffel-tower, food & rain

After an almost sleepless night we finally woke up at around 7 am. I was hoping to be able to sleep in on this mini vacation but I guess my mind and body had other plans. We were well excited to finally have a great buffet breakfast awaiting us. But we were unfortunately very surprised when all we got was 1 coffee, a glas of juice, 1/2 a baguette and 3 sweet pastries with only jam and butter as toppings. Was this a normal french breakfast? Disappointed after spending a large amount of money at this hotel with a breakfast included, we had no choice but to settle with what we got.

It was only 10 am so we decided to take a morning walk around the block. The sun was shining yet again to our delight and we were thrilled to see spring arriving. We were both starving after an hour so we sat down at a little cafe for an early lunch.

Back at the hotel I rested my feet before we decided to take an adventure to the Eiffel-tower – 6 km away. A mission to accomplish, especially at 7 months pregnant. We took our map as help and walked alongside the Seine. Halfway there we had to take a break and warm up since the wind was especially strong today. A coffee later we made our last effort to the infamous landmark.

A sight to see for sure – such a beautiful landmark to visit. Even though the top floor was closed that day, we enjoyed the view from below. After some admiration we found a restaurant – ‘Cafe Gustave‘ – where we enjoyed a well earned dinner before we took a taxi back to our hotel.

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Elizabeth

Premier jour à Paris

A week ago I was strolling the streets of Paris. I was finally travelling again, even though it was only for 3 days. A little getaway is always nice – no matter the length. This was also the last month for me to travel since I am in my last trimester, as we speak. So here I am, a week later with lots to share with you.

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11th of March 2019 – Notre-Dame & Crepes

My day started a little bit after 5 am, way too early for my inner clock, but since I knew I was being picked up in an hour I made my way out of the bed. I packed my last belongings and ate a bowl of fruit. Right before 7 am I was in Oslo meeting up with my mum. We were finally on our way. At the airport everything went smoothly and we awaited to arrive Paris at 11.05 am. Starving we went to a cafe at the airport in France. After a short break we found our taxi driver and arrived to our hotel at 1 pm. A cute, modern hotel called ‘Hotel Pratic‘.

We freshened up and after an 1 hour nap we wanted to explore the streets of Paris. We weren’t far from Notre-Dame so we decided to take a city map and get on our way. The sun was shinning and the wind blowing. We saw the beautiful church from outside and decided to save our 10€ for a late lunch.

We stopped at a restaurant just next to the well-known church and enjoyed our first proper french meal. Even though I had a greek salad and my mum had a hamburger. Later we made our way back to the hotel. But before the day was over we stopped at a local boutique where I was gifted a Paris mug from my mum. We also stopped by the supermarket before we got our dessert at ‘La Cedrerie du Marais‘. A lovely lady catered us with nutella crepes and a steaming hot coffee. What a great way to end our first day.

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Elizabeth

2018 Rewind

1th to 5th of January – Edinburgh, Scotland
Like most years I was eager to discover more of the world and I was happy to finally book my plane ticket to Scotland where I would visit my cousin. She’s the one person in my family that I can actually share everything with. I got driven to the airport & when I was about to say goodbye I chocked on my own tears. I was so sad to leave my son behind for the first time but at the same time I was so ready to do so. I couldn’t even give him a kiss cause I knew I would be balling my eyes out if I did. After an almost tearful goodbye and very empty flight I was in Edinburgh for the next 5 days. Blogpost here.

8th of January – Last day as a hairdresser
After a relaxing start to the new year I found myself back at work Monday the 8th. To our surprise my boss had reported the salon where I worked at to bankruptcy. Suddenly the stable job I had was out of my reach. The next morning the salon was permantly closed. I walked out the front door Monday night never to see my colleagues again. 

15th of January – Jacob’s 1st birthday
One week later my son had his first birthday. He was turning one and I decided to invite my family and best friend to the celebration. Inspired by my British holiday I tried to bake scones which turned out to taste like bread. Nevertheless we had cupcakes, banana cake, coffee and my son had a few presents. 

15th of March – Started my weekly vlogs
Being unemployed for the last weeks made me itching to do something creative. I still made my weekly videos on Youtube but I wanted to up my game. I started filming weekly vlogs. For now they’ve only lasted 30 weeks but it was a good go and maybe I’ll feel the need to start again in the future. See my first weekly vlog here. 

30th of March – Celebrated my mum’s birthday @ Latter
My mum turned yet another year older & my brother and I went out with her to a comedy club. Right in the middle of easter week and to our surprise the place was full. Some good but mostly inappropriate jokes where made and I wasn’t in my bed until the early night of the next day.

23rd of April – Started a new job
After almost 3 month of job searching, countless turn downs and a handful of interviews I finally goy my dream job. At the time all I wanted to do was work in retail & I couldn’t believe my luck when my former boss called me to congratulate me on the position. I was over the moon with a great raise, personal discounts and a great boss. I felt like this was the beginning of a new career.

17th of May – My 3rd Ramadan
Three weeks into my new job, Ramadan was yet again upon us. A time I was looking forward to but anxious to meet since this would be my first Ramadan where I would fast for 30 days. Watch my Ramadan preparation video here. 

28th of June – Hottest summer yet
Living in the northern part of the globe it would have you believe that our summers are mild and bearable, maybe to the point where you’d say this isn’t summer weather at all. Well, this year that all changed. We had around 25-30 degrees from about May to July. Though most people couldn’t believe their luck, I was most nervous for the drought while sweeting buckets 5 minutes after I’ve left the house (almost).

24th of July – We bought our first motorcycle
A long dream of mine was to get my motorcycle licenses and when my husband joined in on that dream we made it a reality. He had passed his driver’s exam and the only logical conclusion was to buy a new MC. So we did, a Yamaha MT 03.

9th to 12th of August – Venice, Italy
I was itching for another holiday and Venice had been on my ‘to-see’ list for a good while now. So when my mum was on board with the idea and I finally found a dissent hotel – we booked our flight and were on our way. Even more hotter and humid than you can imagine but so beautiful. A lot of tourism but I’m very glad I got to check that place of my bucket list. We had absolute nothing planned that week, other than eating a lot of spagetti, pizza, drinking amazing Italian coffee and gelato. Watch my holiday video here.

3rd of October – Our 2nd positive pregnancy test
Since the mid of summer we decided to expand our family yet again and actually ‘planned’ our 2nd pregnancy. I always knew I wanted my children to be close in age so when I finally took a pregnancy test, after being 1 week late, it was the perfect time. Now I’m 18 weeks pregnant and so eager to know how our new life will look like.

26th of October – Finally got our marriage licences 
After 3 years my husband and I finally went down to city hall & legally got married by Norwegian law. We had our Nikkah on the 24th of October 2015 but I wanted to wait until I was at a better place with my family to tell them that this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was a Friday afternoon, my husband & son and myself went down there and 10 minutes later we were officially married by the eyes of the law. 

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Elizabeth

The week that went too fast

It’s Friday again and suddenly you’re sitting alone in your house wondering how time could go by so fast. A week ago I had just gotten home from Edinburgh, but I didn’t unpack until today. I only had 3 full days with my cousin but we managed to do a whole lot in those days. I’m so glad I have the opportunity to see her once in a while because we truly have the best time together. We can talk about anything and everything, and even though we have two different faiths, we support and respect each other. I was quite nervous seeing her again because she hadn’t seen me in hijab before, expect for my videos. Thank God, she was so sweet and understand and always gave me space and time to pray.

I wanted to take a moment and throw it back to a week ago and share some fond memories we made.

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At the airport – half empty plane, whole row to myself – sunset view

Overpriced high tea with a double rainbow view

At Camera Obscura – Edinburgh from above

Edinburgh zoo

Obligatory outfit picture

Best home made Italian pasta

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Until next time,

Elizabeth

My goals for 2018

I know it’s a week until new years but I thought I would share my goals a week in advance. Since I am going traveling the first week of January and I still want to film 2-3 videos in advance, I thought I would do this now.

I always take a look back at the year I’ve had and summaries my feelings, accomplishments and travels. I will still do this at the end of the year but for now I’ve picked my brain on what I want to improve in 2018.

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MY GOALS FOR 2018

1. Read the Quran every day! I did this after Ramadan and even though I just read a page or two sometimes, I sat myself down after Maghrib prayer and read. Now I’ve fallen out of my routine and only read a verse or two on my Quran app.

"The most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even though it were little." Sahih Bukhari 8/471

2. Listen to the Quran every morning. A great way to the beginning of a new day and why not start the day of right. This is something you can do while preparing breakfast, getting dressed or doing your laundry.
3. Do dhikr. Remember Allah (God) in everything you do. Say thank you for the food you have, the clean water, the job you’ve been giving, your faith, family & friends. Nothing would be possible without Allah.

Alhamdullilah - All praise to Allah
 Subhan'Allah - Glorious is Allah
 Allahu Akbar - Allah is the Greatest

4. Learn Surah Al-Kahf. The 18th chapter of the Quran. A surah I’ve started to learn but then again forgotten because I don’t practice it. Insha’Allah I will learn at least the first 10 verses before Ramadan 2018.
5. Listen to Surah al-Kahf every Friday.

"If anyone learns by heart the first 10 verses of Surah al-Kahf, he will be protected from the Dajjal (Anti-Christ)." Sahih Muslim 4/1766

6. Fast Monday & Thursdays. Prophet Muhammad saw used to fast on these days because these are the days our deeds are shown to Allah.
7. Wake up for Fajr consistently on time, and also pray Tahajjud (night prayer) at least once every week.

Our Lord comes down to the nearest Heaven every night when the last third of the night remains.

8. Write a gratitude journal. A place where I can write down what I’m grateful for, what I want to improve and my accomplishments for the day.
9. Create a new video every week with bonus videos sometimes during the week. Focusing on lifestyle videos, fashion & style and beauty related videos.
10. Gain 500 subscribers on YouTube.
11. Buy a Nikon j5 to improve my video quality. Support me on Patreon if you’d like!
12. Keep a daily diary on my laptop without any filter. Somewhere I can write exactly what I’m feeling and experiencing.

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I hope you continue on following my journey and let’s check off this list one by one together. Do you have anything you want to add? Leave it in the comments.

Happy holidays!

Elizabeth

Worst week in my life

Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’ve not had the best 48 hours. Everything went downhill since Wednesday night and now I’m sitting here on the living room floor with the worst headache since this afternoon.

I don’t want to keep on dragging this complain wagon any longer, and I will try to look at life from a more positive way.

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Even though we don’t celebrate Christmas, I do want to give something back to my family, especially my mum. And since this is a time of year where people usually meet, I ended up buying some gifts for my family.
It was most natural for me to buy something hair related since I work at a salon. So both my brothers will receive a shampoo. My oldest brother will also get a 3D puzzle I thought was so cool, maybe even something I should have bought for myself. And my brother in between will get a sports t-shirt. I still have my parents but I’ve got them covered with something.
I’m off to bed hoping to sleep away this awful headache. I have to be up, ready and back at the salon by 9 am, so good night.

Elizabeth

The end of a mini holiday

We actually managed to get down to breakfast an hour before it closed. Which is a new record for this trip, but with my son on one arm and a plate on the other, there was just so much I could get. Luckily my mum came a few minutes later and helped us out. It’s impossible to let my son go on his own because he’ll just run off to the next stranger.

On our second day and last full day in Gothenburg we made our way to Universum. Luckily the weather was on our side and we managed to walk there without any poring rain. From 2 pm til 6 pm we stayed at this magnificent place where there were both fish, birds, and butterflies. We started off with a walk in the aquarium, before we took a coffee break and a diaper change. Late afternoon, right at my sons nap time, we made our way with him on back, into the rainforest. The air was thick and warm but after a couple of minutes you can get used to it.

That evening we stayed at the hotel and had our dinner there. We both ate pasta, mine vegetarian. After dinner we all stayed at the playing area before we went up to our room. Next morning started early at 7 am with our last breakfast and a check out at 12. We were on our way back but we took a shopping break right near the border. We weren’t home before 9.30 pm but it was totally worth it!

Elizabeth

The beginning of a mini holiday

The last three days I’ve been away on holiday. I already miss the holiday feeling, starting with a continual breakfast where you can (almost) have anything you want for breakfast. Then my own workout room awaited me since no one else seemed to be working out in the hotel. After that there was hours of fun & adventure in the city.

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We drove down to Gothenburg on Sunday early afternoon. It took less than 4 hours as we switched on driving which was a relief. My son slept a long way down but woke up halfway there and started to get a little bit restless in the end. But for a 10 months old he did very well.

After checking in at 3 pm we went up to our room, settled in before we went out to the amusement park just around the corner. Unfortunately it was raining so heavily just as we turned the corner that we decided to go back to the hotel and call a cab. This would mean we would have to wait another 30 minutes and the park was already closing in less than 3 hours. So we made our way to our own car and drove down the street. With our luck we actually managed to take a wrong turn and a 2 minute drive turned in to 10 minutes. In the end we found a parking spot which we only payed 11 kroner (1 pound) for and with a walking distance we where at the park.

Such lovely lights and holiday feeling we got while walking through the park. We stopped to eat at a very cold restaurant but we had to fill our stomachs before we enjoyed the rest of the remaining time at the park. On our way back we stopped at a local food store before we took an early night in.

 

Elizabeth

Fresh baked rolls & Marie Claire

To be honest I haven’t read my new Marie Claire magazine but I did go out to buy fresh baked rolls this morning. We have a tiny little bakery a few minutes from where I live and they bake the best bread and rolls. I usually don’t splurged on bread like that but it is a national holiday here. Even though we don’t celebrate or have anything to do with easter, it’s nice to do a little bit extra sometimes. It also reminds me of the best breakfasts we had with my late grandmother. The smell of fresh coffee and bread is just so satisfying. 

Other than that today was an uneventful day. Spending the day on the couch feeding and the frequently diaper change there isn’t much news to my life. A little guilt has sneaked up on me since it’s been a while since I’ve updated you, but right now there isn’t much to tell. As we speak the little one is asleep and today’s football game is on, Bayern v. Real Madrid. Not that’s of my interest. Other than that I will enjoy the quit sounds of the night.

Elizabeth