Life lately

           

It's been two weeks since we moved in. Now I realize what 'settling in' really means. It involves unpacking endless amounts of boxes, hours of organizing/sorting/cleaning only to break for eating ramen noodles until you make a real grocery trip.

Sort of still feels like we are on an extended vacation away from home, but as more nails are put into the walls and more lamps are added to rooms it actually somehow starts to feel like 'home'..I guess.

We still have a lot more to do; we're still sleeping on a mattress on the floor until I can figure out which box has the brackets to assemble our bed. 

One bit of good news is that Ali's room is all set up and my big boy 2.5 year old is sleeping all through the night (most nights) in his own room! Major mashAllah to that. 

So without further delay, here is how life looks lately: 

Before shot of my kitchen.. still a work in progress but we did finally buy groceries yay!

Before shot of Ali's room

And after

that bike is Ali's current obsession

made a first obligatory trip to Ikea and got some cute decor for the 'big boy room'

Bought Groupons for a halal restaurant, Tazza Cafe we've been to twice already! That Louisiana pasta was dee-licious!

 Took Ali to a really nice children's museum in downtown Tampa. He absolutely loved it and my Grouponing found a deal on getting annual membership so lots more trips back here soon!

Right outside the museum is this great park with a lovely view, splash pad and a big playground. 

discovered that 'SAHM' duties require coffee and since I hate the taste, this dollar store find makes it something I look forward to each morning. 

Spent time poolside right across from our apartment..can't say I mind free amenities!

Enjoyed the evening summer activities at Clearwater beach: street performers, craft stands and a gorgeous view of sunset.

Free movies at the beach all year! Ali wasn't a big fan of Babe so we didn't stick around very long.

Attended a massive Food Truck festival, sounded ideal in our minds but in extreme heat/humid weather hour long lines got tiring real fast. 

The best part: rock shrimp tacos and truffle fries at this Portuguese truck BemBom. seriously spicy and amazing.

Planned a trip out to Downtown Disney since it's free and would've been nice as Ali's first Disney experience. He fell asleep in the car and we didn't get to Orlando til 9 pm so we went to the outlet malls instead, so whenAli awoke to ask about Disney, we showed him the next best thing. Disney Store. He loved it. Win Win.

Wajih's coworker threw his daughter a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, another 'first' for Ali. Poor kid didn't know how to contain himself, he was so excited by all the rides and games he would run off to the next one before I'd even drop a token in one.  So it wasn't entirely my fault that I used up all his tokens at whack a mole by myself. 

Started adding some room decor and my mom's beautiful Islamic calligraphy art was the first thing up! 

And the part that makes my days complete: