Z is for zebra crossing

So we are finally here, at the end of the challenge and it has gone quick! Z is for zebra crossing, I would have loved to take a photo of a zebra but don't think we have any in Leicester haha so zebra crossing it is! This isn't any old zebra crossing though, I have crossed this zebra crossing many times from 2005 to 2009 as this was where I crossed over to enter the Fletcher Building which is the Art & Design department of De Montfort University ( Leicester, England). I studied a National Diploma in Art & Design and BA Honours Graphic Design in that building and I have many fond and stressful moments there, I do miss that place!

Y is for yoga..ommmmm

Ive been doing yoga over a year now, every Mondays for an hour and a half at a neighbourhood centre, I find it very relaxing and I always feel like I have stretched every part of my body, I have become more flexible now too, before I couldn't touch my toes without bending my knees but now I can! The pictures include the yoga class meditating at the beginning of the lesson and then exercising their legs and our yoga teacher, Ashok, who looks very good for a man in his 60s!

X is for Xmas!!

Xmas is the time to get together with family and friends and celebrate life and show how much we appreciate each other by buying presents and spending quality time with them! My sister and her hubbie would come over to stay for a few days, cousins will come and we'll have a good catch up! Last xmas we played Family Fortunes and it got very competitive! I get excited over decorating the tree, buying and unwrapping xmas presents, xmas dinner, getting to wear my xmas top and just being in the festive spirit! Yes i'm a big kid when it comes to Xmas!

W is for Waterfall

In summer 2004, when I was 17, me and my family visited my mum's brother in Toronto, Canada. I had a amazing time, my family are lovely over there, I liked how spacious the houses and roads were and how clean it was. Got to see some amazing attractions like the CN Tower, Wonderland theme park and Niagara Falls! I knew the falls would be big, but not that big! It was such a eventful day what with the tourist shops and restaurants nearby and people from all walks of life coming together to see this wonder of a giant, perfectly curved-shaped powerful waterfall.

V is for videotape

Who remember these big rectangular tapes!? I used to love recording films from the telly onto videos and labelling the videos and sticking cello-tape on the videos so you couldn't record over it. Most of my videos are homemade videos of family parties and weddings, we have captured some funny moments! My bro has stacked videos away in the cupboard and has forgotten about them! Its all about DVDs and Blue-rays now, you can watch a film on the internet too, no more fast forwarding or rewinding! Oh how times have changed!

U is for Undertaker

My childhood days involved playing out with my neighbour, playing games, watching cartoons, colouring away, playing footie n tennis with bro and watching wrestling with bro and dad.

I remember the outrageous outfits and long curly hair with funny looking face paint and masks and what did the women wear! Not much! I also remember I was disappointed when I found out it was all fake and that they weren't really getting hurt..whaaat!

My fav wrestlers were Brett the Hitman Hart, Shawn Michael ( loved his intro song 'sexy boooooy!') and Undertaker!! He was so scary and haunting, the music, lightning effects, darkness and eyes rolling back in his head, it all added to the suspense!

T is for TV

Tv time is me time, when my mums not watching her crappy dramatic indian dramas, time to chill out and watch crap or something educational or just some entertainment! I like to watch the BBC News most mornings whilst having brekkie with Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid!

S is for Stephen Amell AKA Sexy Boy! ;)

Stephen Amell is a Canadian actor, who currently stars as the vigilante Oliver Queen/Arrow on the CW network TV series Arrow. I like to watch Arrow just so I can watch him do push-ups or pull-ups, he is hot, just look at that body!! Oh I sound like a right perv but the storyline is also good..

Fellow blogger, Laura Hyde has a poster of him on the wall at work, right next to her but I can see him so its all good! Whenever I need a eye rest from the PC, I can just admire his face and body :)

Here he is next to Jensen Ackles, another hot American actor who stars as Dean Winchester

on the CW series Supernatural.

Who is your favourite actor and why?

R is for rickshaw

I took this photo of a rickshaw in India 2007 in my mum's village; Gosal in Punjab. I love the colourful background with the graffiti Punjabi writing ( I have no idea what it says, maybe I should ask my mum). Rickshaws are a very popular transport over there but it can be scary and uncomfortable sitting in one as the traffic and the way they drive/cycle can be pretty scary, so just hold on!

Q is for quack!

Ducks quacking and swimming in Rutland Water, Leicester

P is for Paris!

I visited Paris with my friend Nas last November 2012, and fell in love with the city. The beautiful architecture, the artistic and rich culture, the museums and art galleries and visiting the Eiffel Tower was very exciting indeed! Got to see some famous paintings, the Mona Lisa, Picasso's cubism painting which me and my friend had studied at college, so we were star struck when we saw it haha. I would like to go back to this romantic city again! You can read more about my visit to Paris from my old post; Paris!

The Eiffel Tower, it was a bit gloomy but that didn't matter!

The view from the top of The Eiffel Tower..woahhh!

Mona Lisa.
I had to squeeze into a big crowd to take this photo,
but the painting isn't that big but because of its fame and fortune,
it is soooo popular.

Lourve Museum

The Eiffel Tower sparkling magically at night!

Arc De Triomphe

Picasso's Still life Cubism painting

Notre Dame Cathedral

O is for office!

This is where the magic happens! Where I design two lifestyle magazines called Reflect and Finesse. I sit on the right side of the office, where the empty chair is, opposite me is our fellow A-Z blogger, Laura Hyde who is the features writer for both of the magazines plus another lifestyle magazine called Aspire! Next to Laura is Lucy, the designer of Aspire Magazine. We work hard and sometimes play hard! We like to cover our office walls with colourful post cards, inspiring designs and quotes just so it isn't so bare and adds some fun and inspiration in the room!

N is for nail art!

Most friday afternoons at work, after we have finished designing and proof reading the magazines which then go to print, we like to treat ourselves, after a week of hardworking, by painting our nails, usually with different funky designs, polka dots, stripes, sparkly, different coloured nails and then we like to Instagram our nail art. Its a bit of fun, and it has made me get back into painting my nails again as I did lose interest in it for a bit but I love it now!

M is for mum :)

My mum is my friend, inspiration and role model. Hard working, positive, always smiling, hardly do I see her upset or nor does she complain, she just gets on with it, living life how she wants to, she's strong and says what she thinks, if you cross the line with her then that's it...doesn't want anything to do with you, she's honest and can't stand two faced people and big white liars, a lot of people who know her can trust her cos they know she's loyal, I hope I have these qualities from her even if our thinking and opinions on life are different as she is quite traditional, being from India so has some old fashion views and values on life which a young British Asian woman like me doesn't agree with from time to time, but I respect her values and she (sometimes) respects mine!

Here she is doing a 'Facebook' pose before going out to her work do Christmas party

L is for light, laughter and love!

Three main ingredients to live a good life, have light in your life and shine bright! Laughter is the best medicine to make you feel good! Life is short so make the most of it, love life and yourself and others will love you!

K is for Kill Bill!

'You're not a bad person. You're a terrific person. You're my favourite person, but every once in a while...you can be a real c***'

Love that line when Beatrix finally meets Bill to kill! This is one of my favourite films, I was 17 when I first watched it and 9 years on I still love watching it and can never get fed up of it, this is one film that I can watch numerous times and still get excited about it when its on tv, love the art direction, cinematography, the sound track, the out of the box crazy comic-like characters, the blood spurting out everywhere, it reminds me of a comic book. I like how its a bit dark and twisted but also has humour (black comedy), and how Beatrix gets her revenge on the deadly assassination team that she was once part of for killing her fiancé and unborn baby. She's such a strong and powerful character which represents in the covers of the dvds, the bold powerful yellow and black colours with her holding a samurai sword..yeh you don't want to mess with her!

J is for Justin Timberlake!

Yes I love JT! He's funny, charming, cute, a good dancer, singer and actor! I was a bit gutted when I heard that he got married ( there goes my chance) but as long as he's happy then its all good lol.

I downloaded his latest album, The 20/20 Experience from iTunes, and at first I thought it was ok but its growing on me now, this is a screenshot of one of his songs playing on my iPhone 'Let The Groove Get In' and it is groooovy! I think the album cover is cleverly designed with it being called the 20/20 experience and the use of the optical machinery image which is clear in the foreground and sits nicely between Justin who is out of focus..I'm blabbering on now but you get the gist.

I is for Ice Cream Sundae!

I LOVE my desserts! Especially chocolate fudge cake and ice cream sundae! Why do desserts make you feel good and hit the right spot? lol What's your favourite dessert? 

H is for Henna

Henna also known as Mehndi is a temporary form of skin decoration, originated from India, usually applied on special occasions such as weddings. It started off as the bride who will have the henna designs on her hands and feet with the grooms initials written within the pattern and then the groom will have to look for the initials, there's no deep meaning behind it, just for fun! But now as its become so popular, anyone at a wedding or any occasion can have henna designs on their hands or feet. There are also 'Mehndi nights' which is few days before the wedding, where friends and family can have henna applied, to celebrate and be part of the special occasion.

I had henna applied last Thursday, for my cousins wedding, the henna artist designed it so quickly, I love the patterns and how it dries up and crumbles, love the smell too! I also applied a mixture of lemon juice and sugar when it had dried so that the henna will stain darker, I left the henna mud on for few hours then washed it off, it was dark orange at first but the next day it had darkened to a reddish brown, the henna design will last for one to three weeks depending on the quality and type of henna paste applied, as well as where it was applied on the body (thicker skin stains darker and longer than thin skin). Moisturising with natural oils, such as olive, sesame seed, or coconut, will also help extend the lifetime of the stain. Skin ex foliation causes the henna tattoo to fade.

This picture was taken few days after it was applied, it was reddish brown there but now its fading!

G is for Grandma!

This is a photo of me holding my grandma's (dad's mum) hand when I had visited her at the hospital earlier this year because she had dislocated her shoulder before Christmas, she recently had a seizure and was sent to the hospital but the doctor said she was fine to go home, I visited her the Saturday just gone, and she didn't remember me which was quite sad (but she is in her late 80's) as I am close to her, she lived with me and my family for three years but now she lives with my uncle so I don't see her as much but even though she couldn't remember my name she was still affectionate as always..loves her hugs!

F is for flag!

This is the office I work in, and yes we have Great Britain flags as curtains for our windows to block the sunshine, I like them because they add colour to the room and its nice to see what your designing on the computer without squinting your eyes!... ok this was posted today and not on Saturday but I did try to publish it on Saturday from my phone but it didn't publish! Sill phone/net connection!

E is for easter egg!

E is for a big mahooooosive easter egg that i spotted in a shop window in Milan! Nom nom, hope you all had a nice Easter! :)

D is for Doodle!

I love doodling! As a designer and a art lover, I love to draw and paint but doodling meaningless crap is quite therapeutic and I like to call it my 'thinking time'. My  A - Z challenge, last year, was doodle a day, check it out on my blog : D

C is for Computer

This is the computer I use at work with my clutter of books, paperwork, hand gel, mug and bits and bobs and not forgetting Echinacea tablets. My screensaver is a picture I took of the Eiffel Tower in Paris  (which was uh-mazing!) which I will mention when the time of the letter P arrives!

B is for Burgundy!

One of my favourite colours is burgundy... I don't really know why but I just like it.

Here's me with my burgundy snood scarf, gloves and work top...don't worry I don't walk around with that face on...well I hope I don't! :s

Every time I hear the word burgundy or I mention it, me and my mate Laura Hyde love to sing the Bo'Selecta version (a British sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis, known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour, which lampoons popular culture) of 'Billie Jean' which goes like 'Burgundy, burgundy, burgundy, burgundy...Blue blue, blue blue. Back to burgundy, burgundy, burgundy' in the tune of Billie Jean, it does make me laugh...check the video out for yourself!

Ahh maybe that's why I like the colour lol

What is your favourite colour and have you got a reason behind it?

A is for aisle!

A is for aisle in Asda/Walmart shopping store where I shop for food!! This is my favourite aisle in the store as it has chocolate and coffee! I am a chocoholic and i love my coffee..whats your favourite aisle in your local supermarket?