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Day 19/365: Guyssss, your girl just bought a new

Day 19/365:

Guyssss, your girl just bought a new home!

With a growing family, we knew we would be outgrowing the current space. So many hoomans in this home, each with a long list of stuff and belongings (me being the biggest culprit here). And I'm so not Marie Kondo-ing. Everything. Sparks. Joy.

We signed the papers a while back so timing was just nice - we'll move in by November, just in time to settle down before I give birth.

Third trimester came. Idris came. Pantang came. 2022 came and we still haven't moved an inch. Because of the pandemic, there were so many delays with the house that we literally just got the keys today.

"Ready?" Fadza asked as he took my hand.
"Ready," I replied, beaming with excitement.

After a decade of hard work, we bought our first proper house. Like with grass around it. And stairs. Our kids have never lived around stairs. I imagine them going up and down several times a day, just cos... wheeeeeee, stairs. 😂

I can only imagine our parents feeling this kind of excitement when THEY got their first house. Getting the keys, moving in, decorating the kids' rooms... and now we were at the phase our parents were. WE are the parents now. It's crazy.

Next level adulting.

We got the keys and were briefed on so many things.

"Do you have a gardener already?" The guy asked us.

"Umm no...."

We never had to worry about all this - we live in an apartment, we didn't have to maintain a single grass.

"Ok so pest control needs to be done... intercom system can be upgraded... security system... cctv there there and there... landscaping... tint the window panels... you can't hack this wall, the M&E something something, but this wall can... do you have the pest control person already?"

😳😳😳

Ok adulting doesn't seem so exciting now. I mean, I can barely keep fish alive.

Fadza and I squeezed each other's hands. We got this, we got this. Gulp.

Merajuk. 😅 #idrisalishah

Merajuk. 😅 #idrisalishah

Day 18/365: Bangun pagi, gosok...? In 2010, we th

Day 18/365: Bangun pagi, gosok...?

In 2010, we thought we had a brilliant idea. More than a decade has passed and that "brilliant idea" has evolved into many other things, but at that time, that was our everything. I remember the feeling of excitement, of anxiety, but most of all, a feeling of hope. I couldn't sleep at night, full of excited endorphines in my body. That idea was FashionValet. It consumed my days and my nights, it was and still is everything.

Fadza was his usual calm self, but me? I HAD TO TELL SOMEONE.

The first person I told was @asma.nasa.

From then on, she became my sidekick. She helped Fadza and I build our dream, early morning till late nights. We laughed, we cried, we faced rejections, we went through so much together. Even when she lived in Singapore, she'd videocall me just so she can see us working. #fomonextlevel

She treated FV like her own, genuinely excited to see it grow, even till today. My happiness was her happiness, and my success was her success. Whenever I felt like I couldn't go on, she smacked me right back up. Fadza and I really couldn't have done FV without her.

Fast forward to 2022, my best friend is freaking out today.

"I can't sleep, I've had my breakdowns, I am so stressed, I am so excited, my hands are so cold," she tells me.

I smiled.

How beautiful life is, it truly is a cycle. That was me in 2010 and she held my hand all the way through. Today, the roles are reversed. She's about to build HER dream and it's my turn to hold her hand.

Ya Allah, I pray you bless my best friend and give her all the successes that she deserves. All her life, she's put others first, helping others grow. Now it's her turn and I pray that You keep her strong as she enters the crazy entrepreneurship life. Make her business grow, protect her from evil eye and magically make her love cashflows and P&L. Amiin.

Mimak, buckle up and enjoy the rollercoaster ride in all its thrilling moments and sucky moments. I'm in the seat right behind you - to hold your cold hands but more importantly, to smack you if you ever look back.

Bismillah. Please follow @brushwithgigi, everyone. ❤

Day 17/365: That blue wall. If you've followed m

Day 17/365: That blue wall.

If you've followed me from early FV days, you would've recognised a blue wall. Countless ootds against that wall, it was just a few steps down from the first ever FV office. The office that launched me as an entrepreneur, the office that witnessed the early struggles, the office that Fadza decided to propose in. And in that office, a lot of friendships bloomed that have lasted till today, a decade later.

Today we celebrated the farewell of two special people who lived those early FV days. I haven't laughed so hard, as we reminisced hilarious stories from the past. Some stories I've even forgotten! It only took a brief mention and the memories came flooding back vividly. The tiny lift that smelled of urine, lugging boxes of stock while grumbling, staying back late and panicking when we had like 200 orders, writing airway bills by hand. We even took turns to clean the toilet because we couldn't afford to hire a cleaner.

After lunch, we decided to pay the old office a visit. It has changed - stairs were fancy, new paint job too. Flashes of us walking through this everyday came back, I remember it like it was yesterday. I checked the lift too - ahhhh just like old times, still the same urine smell. 😂

It was oddly beautiful to be happy about that.

We had a look at that blue wall too. It wasn't blue anymore. It dawned on me that even walls have to progress, just like us.

So much has changed. Some of us have gotten married, some of us have kids (got one crazy couple even has four), some of us have moved on to other opportunities while some of us stayed to build FV to what it is today. As we grow, our paths may lead us to different destinations but we will always be connected by that one thing - the sweet memories we share.

And ugly photos from the past.

We all have to be comfortable with change in order to grow. But I find that growth is so much more beautiful when you appreciate the past sometimes. Going back down memory lane today made me realise how far we've all come, each one of us.

So do this today - look back and take a moment to appreciate how far you've come. Keep growing, but never forget the memories of the past.

Swipe left to see the realities of life. #motherh

Swipe left to see the realities of life. #motherhood #idrisalishah

Day 16/365: Sarah's fish.. is dead. The happiest

Day 16/365: Sarah's fish.. is dead.

The happiest moment of the day for a parent is when their kids come home from school and give them a big sweaty smelly hug.

Unless they come home carrying a fish tank.

What the kid thinks: A fish wheeeee!
What the parents think: Added responsibility, cleaning out the fish tank everyday, crap what do I feed it, gotta google what fish eats, what to tell the kid when the fish dies, why does the teacher hate us, what if it breeds.

Basically NOT whee.

I went through this for each kid - they all had their own fish tank from preschool. They all had dead fish in the end. They all had sad funerals. Here we go again then.

I'm guessing the school wants to teach the kids a sense of responsibility, caring for other living beings and eventually dealing with grief and loss. All good stuff to get them ready for life. Sarah, just like Daniel and Mariam, looked at the fish every few hours in admiration. She would say good morning and good night to them everyday. She made me sing to them too. They died after that.

We had the funeral and buried the fish outside. Sarah was sad borderline angry, Mariam was complaining about why this happens while shoveling the soil, and Daniel simply shrugged and said "Why would I be sad, I've been through this already." 😳 #maybeheneedsanotherpet

The kids made a sweet doa after burying the fish, led by Mariam. "Ya Allah, please take care of the fish and please don't let Idris go through this pain."

I amiin-ed to that so loud, but already know that Idris too will one day come back home with his own fish tank.

The next day, I asked Sarah sympathetically, "Do you miss the fish?"

Sarah replied, "What fish?"

I guess we've moved on. 😅

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