A Week in Paradise...

Our honeymoon... AH-MAY-ZING! 

I want to go back so bad but unfortunately, life. Our week in this beautiful paradise was amazing and I thought it was going to be just like the other tropical places we have traveled to before but no. There is something about going to a relaxing place that makes stressing over a wedding for a year and a half ten times more relaxing. 

Our trip started off with us at the beach. For those of you that know me, know that Faneeza and water do not mix. I cannot swim to save my life but luckily, my husband was a trained lifeguard back in the day. This helped a bit but there were still times I freaked out...

These big yellow rings were practically my best friend at the beach when I wasn't holding on to Anthony's arm. The water wasn't that bad but it was definitely relaxing to just hang on and float. But back to the whole being terrified of water thing, this picture explains it all. 

I tried it! I freaked out a little but as you see, I had a pretty tight grip onto Anthony's leg ALL of the time. It was amazing to see the ocean life in Grenada. I didn't realize how close the fish swam to us but it was amazing. They swim around your legs as you walk (or swim) without being scared or swimming away. 

Later that night, we explored the resort a little. The resort we choose was Sandals LaSource Grenada. They have a few different restaurants to choose from and a variety of activities you can sign up for. At night, there is usually some sort of show where every night is themed differently. 

Our first night...

  the steak house for dinner...

and another night at dinner,  hibachi styled. 

One of my favorite and most scary excursions that we did in Grenada was the 'drive your own boat' tour. It was my favorite because it pushed me way out of my comfort zone and it was something we did together versus being on a boat and someone else driving. 

It was all cool when we first got into the boat. I had my life vest, I was holding on super tight and I had confidence that it wasn't going to be that bad. I was wrong, take a look at this next picture...

We were in the freakin air!  I was screaming and scared out of my mind to be bobbing up and down in the water with nothing to hold me to the boat or save my life (yes I know I had a life vest on, doesn't matter, I was scared! ). We were in the water for four hours to our destination where there was a tour of the famous underwater museum (link to the website here because we didn't get any actual photos). Of course, I didn't get off the boat but Anthony caught some amazing footage of the statues underwater. Then it was off to one of Grenada's most famous public beaches, Grand Anse.  

I had the opportunity to hold a squid but I freaked out because I didn't expect it to be so slimy... excuse my face. 

But then we get to the nice pictures. I refused to wear a bathing suit as an excuse to not get off the boat when it came time to the underwater tour... 

one of my favs...

 gopro's are amazing by the way...

Majority of the time in Grenada, we spent enjoying each others company. We had an on-the-beach room where our back door was our own entrance to the beach and unlimited drinks. Towards the end of the trip we were approached by one of Sandals amazing photographers to book a photoshoot. We said hey, whats a couple more hundred pictures to add to the 2016 photo file. Here they are...

Just advertising, you know...

typical bollywood movie scene...

It was the hottest its been all week but I was really pleased with all the photos. Our week in paradise sadly came to an end and was in shock when we hit NYC with the traffic and cold weather. I definitely recommend you visit Grenada and participate in all the excursions even if your scared of water like I am. I can't wait to go on our next vaca...

-ttyl, Faneeza <3

A Wedding and A Degree...

2016 itself has been pretty interesting. For some, there were a lot of tragic things that happened... trump, was the biggest disaster if I say so myself. Though for my family and I, there were bigger strives made this year than most. In one year alone, there was a high of emotion, a high of stress, a high of cash credited to someone else's account, and definitely a high of alcohol. Now don't take me wrong, we aren't alcoholics but we definitely did party A LOT. 

Even though we have been planning this wedding for a year and a half, you'll never fully feel prepared for the things that come with planning a wedding on your own. I'm very much a DIY type of person so I categorized it as one big DIY project but THIS, this was more than a mere Pinterest DIY or a design a sticker project. No, this involved a guest list, family drama, huge lists of what seemed to be impossible tasks, headaches, sleepless nights, more opinions than wanted and lots and lots of coffee. Oh, and in the middle of all this chaos, I was at the end of my bachelors degree program. 

Traditionally, before weddings, the family members of the bride and groom's parents rub a mixture of turmeric powder and baby oil on the married couple to be. This poses as a cleanse and a reason to start the party. This stuff does not come off easy! We were basically minions for a few days but it was definitely fun. 

Before the dye night, as they call it, we had Indian wedding-esque pictures taken with the whole family. It was amazing to see Anthony's family dress up in traditional indian wear and meet us at the park. I have actual professional pictures but this picture suits our personalities the best. 

Finally, September came around and it was time to party ! On September 3, 2016, I became a Geronimo and married my best friend and my high school sweetheart. Literally, the night flew by so fast it was incredible to believe that a year and  a half worth of planning was over in a couple of hours. The details, the music, the vision, EVERYTHING became a reality living outside of my head and it was amazing!

I did say there was a degree that came out of all this madness, didn't I? Well yes, a week later, as if we didn't celebrate enough at this point, I graduated with a bachelors of science in psychology. This has been many years coming along with many times of wanting to quit. There are no quitters here my crazy people, this is what we do, we work through it all and come out with what we want, success! 


I must say, accomplishments aren't accomplishments without your support system behind you. They may not always be there, but when you fall and hit rock bottom, the little screech you make, they can hear it from miles and miles away. I'm nothing without my support system, my family (yes, husband included). As a whole they might not always be in the best place or sometimes not even speak to each other, but thats what families do, thats what relationships are. Everyone sometimes needs a break. Most definitely, I would be nothing with out my parents, specially my mamma. This woman puts up with way more than she has to, so I strive to make her proud. And to my hubby, you've got my back and I got yours, I love you. I can finally say your my husband and threaten you anytime you drive me nuts! 

May 2017 bring double the accomplishments that 2016 has left us with. And to my family and friends reading this, NO babies yet, thank you very much! 

I cannot leave without this one picture, because its the best of all...

This was taken by one our our groomsmen, on an iPhone! 

ttyl- Faneeza 

2015- 2016 Erin Condren Life Planner Review

Hey ! Welcome back! 

So first let me start off by saying how much I LOVE this planner. For a long time when I was younger I used to use paper planners then I switched to my iPad. I love the calendar on my iPad but it just wasn't as colorful as i'd want it, so I went on a hunt. That's when I found this beauty! The Erin Condren Life Planner. Now some may say someone would be crazy to purchase a book with sections for 60 bucks, but the functionality is endless! (and plus I used a coupon! LOL)

So lets start off with the review. I first started getting into the Erin Condren Life Planner lines because I was looking for a creative way to plan my wedding. I am a scrapbooker and if i cannot use my washi tape on something I AM NOT SOLD. I was dazzled at all the amazing images that I saw on instagram and how the ladies of the planner community decorate their planners, so I got one. Not many had the wedding planner so I was still stuck but I was dedicated to waiting for the new rose gold planners. (who doesn't love rose gold, right?!) The planner comes in gorgeous boxes, they sent me pink (blah). I wished I had gotten purple, but that didn't stop my excitement!  

Isn't it so beautiful? So this year, with all the hype of the new rose gold Life Planner, there were some screw-ups when it came to people receiving the right orders and perfect planners. I am in no way bashing the Erin Condren company but I would think that for the price we pay for these things, when we receive then, they would be heavenly perfect. The only issue I had with my planner was that the coil, in some parts looks as if it was painted with rose gold spray paint and on some parts of the laminated cover was sort of cracked and tearing. The cover won't be an issue for be because the company sends you a $10 coupon to use to buy a new personalized cover which I was planning on doing anyways but the coil is going to bother a perfectionist like me. I already emailed the company and I'm just waiting on their reply. 

Erin Condren always sends a little extra with her planners so with this one came a mini planner (the peach colored book) which is like an on the go planner if you don't want to carry the bigger version around with you. There are also 3 thank you cards, 1 coil clip, 3 referral cards and a sampler sheet of stickers that Erin Condren makes. Personally, I would never purchase her stickers because they do look like something I can make myself (and center then way better may I add) and I mainly use washi tape. But I must say there are a lot of creative people on Etsy that sell stickers are are amazing. My favorite place to get washi from are WillowFields and Paperpanduh. Some of the washi shown are from Michael's. 

The reason why I love these planners are the way they are set up. If you type in the hashtag #eclp on instagram you will see how many creative ways there are to use one layout. I plan on making my own stickers for mine to spice up the color a little bit, but everything is gorgeous. There is a monthly spead as well as a weekly spread and it makes it hard to not stay organized. 

A few other things that come with this planner are a few sheets of stickers, a clip in ruler, a pocket in the back as well as a clip in pouch, and 18 months of full planning bliss. There are two choices. The 12 months, where it starts in January and the 18 months (since the planner release is in June ) which carries from July 2015 through December 2016. Although it is a little chunkie, I don't mind. 

The inspiring quotes that are placed all though out the planner are amazing and a joy to see. I hope that I inspired you all to think about getting a planner. They are an amazing way to keep your life in track as well as keep it creative. If you'd like to buy one you can click here to sign up and receive $10  off coupon in your email to use towards your order. 

Happy Planning! 

Follow me on instagram: @Faneezahayatt

Relationships

Hey !! Welcome back! 

So, I just began our road to planning our wedding. How exciting, right? I thought that it would be an awesome idea to talk about relationships! 

So I know, not everyone thinks they need to be in a relationship and thats ok, its all about self progress. I feel like if you weren't content with where you are in life you wouldn't be able to share your life with someone else and thats ok too. Personally, I think growth with someone is amazing and during any relationship, no matter at what point of life it started, you should be able to look back and say wow, that person helped my growth and I did the same. Pushing each other to be great human beings are what its all about. You want the idea to be successful together. 

My relationship with my fabulous fiancé started in our sophomore year of high school. We have been going strong for 7 years and counting and we constantly push each other to greatness. We are both almost finished with school and already have plans to go back for our masters. Even though we are amazing together there have been a lot of arguments. If a relationship doesn't entail any sort of argument, it's not healthy. This basically means that someone isn't letting their feelings out and eventually they're going to blow up into insane rage. Let me start by saying there are definitely those arguments where you literally have to just stop and laugh at yourself for getting mad at something so stupid. Then there are arguments where there is a point to be made, both of you just need to cool down. Screaming at each other helps, but no one listens. So get all the anger out and then sit and try to have a normal conversation.    

Obviously, arguments are just a tiny part of what goes into the relationship. Both of you have to want it. There has to be effort coming from both sides in order for the love to last. Sometimes, I believe relationships don't last because either one person gets tired or they just forget to give the relationship enough attention. Just like anything, it needs attention, patience and understanding. I think without those three things, there is nothing. You have to understand that the person you are in a relationship with has grown up with a different background and they will see the world in a completely different view than yours. But, this also makes it interesting because you get to learn something out of your comfort zone. You get to participate in things together that you may not know you enjoy but come to love because of your significant other. 

I've noticed, with my relationship, we laugh A LOT. If you can't be comfortable enough to laugh with each other everyday about something stupid or not, what is there? You're spending your life with this person, thats a lot of years! To many to be serious all the time! 

So I guess i'll leave you with this. Laugh A LOT, scream if you have to, listen to your partner and make sure your understanding and have enough patience to get that two complete strangers are turning into one family. It will work, it's just learning about each other and that can't happen over night! 

Check back for my upcoming post about #FamilyRelationships !

Hope you guys liked my post ! 

Follow me on Instagram @faneezahayatt

VoxBox Review

Hey! Welcome back! Ok so I am  more than excited to do a review on this box, which is the campus box from a company called Influenster. They sent me this box free of charge to review all the products and of course I love trying new products so here I am! 

Let me just say, any company that is going to send me FREE CANDY I am available to jump over the moon for you (haha). Who doesn't love free candy right? 

If you guessed it just by looking at my picture, yes, its raining today. No, I am not happy about the rain but I am defiantly feeling better while eating these. Im munching on the Punchies as I write and I can say they are amazing! They aren't too sour but they aren't too sweet. They are colorfully rounded and chewy and are perfect. Punches are addicting and I promised to leave some for my fiancé but I'm not to sure about that now! (haha). The rainbow straws are amazing. I usually buy the regular one flavored sour punch straws but now I will hunt these things down. They basically taste like the regular Sour Punch straws but different flavors. 

This face wash is HEAVEN on your face. I love the brand ST. Ives. I have only been using this for a week but I can see the difference and I can feel the difference. My face is smoother and defiantly more clear. I don't have that much acne or acne scars but there are one or two. The entire appearance of my face looks brighter and the best part about it, no irritation. I use this in the morning before the gym and at night before bed. Both times I've noticed that my skin has been better with the level of oils that come out (yes, even after the gym). By far I will defiantly be looking to buy this in the stores when it's done.  

I am a die-hard EOS user. I haven't used other lip balms in a while. But when I tried this one, I was actually surprised. Influents sent me  the fresh mint flavor and it taste exactly like that. It also has a fresh, cool feeling on your lips. Compared to EOS it goes on well and feels a little smoother than EOS. It taste like their sweet mint flavor. Packaging is adorable. It looks like a little ice cube. Much more likely to stay on my night table than my EOS and overall i would repurchase. 

Shampoo! I love shampoo! Specially when I don't have to buy big bottles and find out that I hate it after one wash. These sample sizes were perfect. Although I found washing my hair three different times a little time consuming my hair sure did appreciate it. I defiantly want to buy this just to see what my hair will look like once I wash it more often with this product but for now it did what it was supposed to do. I don't have curly hair, much more like wavy with some frizz but my hair defiantly looked different when I came out of the shower. It did feel a little heavier than normal but then again I rarely use conditioner. 

Last but not least is this. Sun tan mouse. I am dark enough, I didn't even think of trying this. I feel bad for waisting a full size of this so I passed it on to a friend. I will update this post later when she tells me if she likes it or not.

I love influenster and you should to! Go sign up or click here to see why you should sign up. I don't see why you wouldn't want to, who doesn't like free full sized samples of things and FREE CANDY. 

Anyways, hope you liked my review. Don't forget to follow me on twitter (fanamia_) or instagram (faneezahayatt). Tweet me things that you would like me to try and ill do it! 

-Faneeza<3

Stressed

Have you ever felt stressed? Stupid question right? It seems like in today's time, everyone is stressed. So how do we deal with all this stress? I can tell you how I deal with it, or at least try to (haha). So, i don't have kids yet but Im still in school. As much as that might sound like heaven, it's definitely not! Adding to my already existing stress is the idea that when I'm done with school which is literally 10 months from now, I have to start looking for jobs in my field. A bigger headache (and a whole other post haha ) ! But anyways, I micromanage everyone in my household as well as work so with all that action I need some time off but vacation days are no where near. So heres what me and the soon to be hubby did, we went on a staycation! 

We picked a place an hour or so away from home and we only went for one night. We choose one night because we both had to work the day after we came back so nothing lost. We looked for a hotel that had a pool. You definitely need a pool and maybe a hot tub to relax. We went to a Double Tree Hotel by Hilton. The only reason why I was so picky about it being a Double Tree was because they have the best welcoming gifts ever! COOKIES! It was so good that I forgot to take a picture before. The best times to get a hotel for a staycation is on a weekend where you know rooms are going to be empty. This way you get the best price as well as more time for an empty pool. The staff at the Double Tree were also amazing and room service is the best! Definitely no cooking and no fussing about what to eat. You look at the menu thats already provided for you, call, order and BOOM! The food appears in your room at a timely manner! How relaxing right! 

So, because the weekend that we went to the hotel was Easter, there weren't that many people in the hotel. They upgraded our rooms to the honors floor. Not sure what the difference was but the room was pretty nice and the bed was ridiculously comfortable. All together we came back super relaxed, ready to deal with our hectic life once again.

A few things to think about before you leave:

When you come home from a relaxing weekend, you really don't want to think about laundry, cleaning, or cooking. So before you leave get all those things done. It adds a extra bit of serenity when you come home to a clean house and no laundry running over the baskets (our baskets are in our room so its a sight to see! ). Making the bed before you leave helps when you come home and you just want to plop on the bed and relax some more. Setting aside time to having a relaxed staycation is important, especially if your in a relationship. I know it definitely helped us relax and be refreshed to take on the world! 

I'd love to hear all about how you plan your relaxation day! 

Tweet me! @fanamia 

Instagram: faneezahayatt

-Faneeza <3

#DearMe

In sight of some YouTuber's doing this hashtag, I thought I should as well. You can watch the YouTube version here. You can also watch my favorite YouTuber Superwoman's version here. The purpose of the DearMe hashtag is to show girls that they aren't the only ones that feel the way they do; whether it be alienated, friendless, or even overwhelmed. So heres my version.

Dear Me,

     You may not think it now, buy you defiantly are beautiful. Yes, you look different from the other girls, but thats what makes you stand out. You are different for a good reason. You'll learn in due time that friends are not always your friends and you can only trust your family. Now younger self, everyone I mean EVERYONE goes through an ugly stage. Your beautiful in every way but trust me your hair gets better, your skin gets better, your style gets better, EVERYTHING gets better. People will make fun of you but don't stoop down to their level. Just keep your head high and walk away. You are meant to be the silly, smart, self preserved, organized you! Your common sense and self preservation gets you far while the others who were "popular" will stay far behind. Keep your goals in tact, don't let anyone tell you that you can't accomplish anything. You can accomplish EVERYTHING you set your mind to, which leads me to my next point. Listen to Mommy! You may think you guys are clashing heads now, but its only for your own good! All the advice she gives you helps you out in the long run. Oh, and I won't forget! Don't get caught up in the idea of having the crazy love story you see in the moves. You'll defiantly have your own perfect love story! He's perfect and your life falls into place perfectly! 

So, until next time, love, 

The older you! 

I love the idea of #DearMe because I have two nieces, one who is almost a teen (shocker!) and one who is still a toddler. Im excited to see them grow up, but that means they also have to go through all the stuff I did. Hopefully this will encourage them as well as other little girls to be true to who they are and not count on others to show their true personality. 

Remember to follow me ! 

Instagram: faneezahayatt 

Twitter: fanamia_

Id love to hear your versions of #DearMe, Hashtag #fanamia! 

- <3 Faneeza