It’s been a while since I last featured another blogger over here and I’m delighted to announce that my partner for July is Fazila Carriem from Chasing Dreams.
While we’ve never met in person I must say that Faz has gotten right what few people I know personally get right at times. That’s to make me smile and laugh out loud. Not the type of LOL where your face pulls slightly and you breath hard through you nose. But a real belly laugh and a toothy smile.
Her sparkling personality and energy comes across via the interwebs too. It makes me strongly believe in her tagline “RUN YOUR LIFE – OR IT WILL RUN YOU” which is quite apparent in The Workout Life Balance. A refreshing woman with a real zest for life and fitness.
Here is a ‘behind the scenes’ take on the creative genius behind Chasing Dreams.
Q: How did you start blogging?
A friend of mine sent me a pamphlet of a fitness she-mogul and said ‘this could be you’ . I told him about my vision of having a blog and trying to educate and motivate people while educating myself. The next week I was up and running. That was during February this year. I used to be one of those girls who kept a diary throughout high school and always had a passion for writing. I suppose this serves as an outlet for that crazy side. In fact I wanted to be a journalist. That’s what I actually enrolled for at University. I had it written on my application form…which another friend of mine changed to B.Com. Accounting without me knowing. Upon discovery of this monumental amendment I did not revise the course. I just stuck with it to see how far I would go. Which in hindsight is a flippen great thing as I would have made a dang awful journalist. Also I don’t have curly hair. In my opinion all successful journalists have curly hair. But I digress. So writing, yes. has always been an expression for me.
Q: Tell us more about your blog?
Mainly motivational, health and fitness focussed. But with a few mommyhood objects included as I stumble upon them during my own journey and then there are the randomly most random of random posts.
Q: How do you juggle a career, blogging, marriage and family?
Marriage- its always an area for improvement. Not the person Im married to (sjoe! Imagine and then he reads this and its apocalyptic). What I mean is that its definitely an area that requires constant appraisal and work. The key is communication. Family: everything else in my life is arranged so that I have more time for this aspect. That’s the goal, spending more quality time with my family. I post once a week on my blog so that’s not an issue for me. I just take 30minutes on a Monday and Tuesday morning to get it sorted. Career – I worked HARD at this in years prior to having a kid and have positioned myself strategically to occupy a role where although its demanding, I leave work at a reasonable time everyday.
Q: You’re a mom now so if you could offer your parents one constructive tip on how to be a better parent, what would it be?
MY parents? That’s a difficult one. My mom is not around and I hate my father to the moon and back. If I could offer my mom a tip it would have been for her to divorce my father way back when and maybe she would have still been around now. My father? Grow up: you have kids, raise them stop being so selfish, stop playing the victim card and thinking of yourself all the time.
Q: Recently there have been much talk about bloggers in SA and whether they do it for love or money. Which side do you find yourself on?
It has to be love. Im not making any money off this. But it’s a flippen great outlet. For my writing tendencies. All this obsession with page views and number of subscribers…and Im on this side like ‘is that another thing I need to be concerned about? EK HETTIE TYDIE’ (that’s coloured Afrikaans for: I don’t have time).
Q: You seem to be a fitness enthusiast. Two oceans half marathon! I’m impressed. I want to be you when I’m big. Have you always been into sports? Is it as difficult for you to get off the couch as for everyone else?
Lol I think my husband wishes that. I love being off the couch! Its never ever difficult for me. Unless I’m pregnant. Then I hate the world. I don’t think I was always into sports, I was always busy chasing studies, a career and a functional family…but there was always something missing. That and the fact that my parents and their parents as well as extended family are riddled with diseases and infections due to poor lifestyle choices. Hence the seemingly obsessive health and fitness buzz.
Q: When you open your eyes in the morning, what is the first thing you think about?
‘Is Laila awake?’. That’s been the last 8 months. Before that it was either ‘what do I wear for work’ or ‘ I cant be late for gym class’ with the occasional ‘yorr Suli snores a lot’
Q: What is your favourite pastime?
Too many. I love spending time with Laila when she is in a play play mood. And I love work. I do, I cant complain there. I love working out. I love reading although I don’t get to do much of this anymore. I enjoy writing. I enjoy everything. Except ironing. Ironing is the demon’s activity. I cant do it. Just. Cant. Why even? Why are clothes made to crease??WHY?? I get around this by NOT ironing. So now you know I don’t have curly hair and Im always wearing creased clothing. What a pretty picture I paint!
Q: If you could trade lives with anyone for 24 hours, who would it be? It can be a cartoon character too.
A person who irons kwaai. Just kidding. (Am I though?)
Q: What super power do you wish you possessed?
Teleportation. I would go to every freakin Linkin Park concert. And maybe a few other bands. With the price of petrol doing what it does (Says the lady who works for an oil company) of course I want to teleport! I like change and experiencing new things. Travel is awesome and I wish I could afford to do more. Learning and experiencing different cultures are things I enjoy and I would love to expose my daughter to these things as young as possible. I feel these are the things that make you adaptable to change. And once you cope with that you learn to deal with stress easier. People who lead textbook style lives and try not to deviate are those who end up not coping with change or issues. Not that Im qualified to make a statement like that or anything. Psycholgist? Me? Nooit. Its just an observation. Based on my own experiences.
Q: What is one thing you want to do before the year ends?
Record a proper music video with my daughter. So far we have done Taylor Swift’s ‘shake it off’ . But my sister was a part of that one. I want a mom and daughter special. Oh oh and maybe Suli and I can go on a proper date to a proper restaurant without taking turns to eat? And I wear heels? Proper ones that I cant walk in but where passers-by will look and be like ‘dannng girrrl’.That would be lovely.
Q: Would you rather time travel fifty years forward or fifty years into the past?
Prior to reading Dean Koontz ‘lightning’ my response would have been a clean fifty years forward. But now I’m torn between the two. How hardcore would it be if whichever way I travelled, the clothing I am wearing is applicable to both times? Mos ‘vintage’. #Mrprice. But to achieve ultimate ‘classic’ my boots would sieker have to be from Country Road.
Q: Describe a perfect weekend.
Ok you asked for it. Saturday morning I take Laila along to bootcamp class, she goes to Club V I do bootcamp and die a little. We meet up with her father (my husband, incidentally ) at Sea Point where he has brought us an amazing brunch which I helped him to make the night before. We spend the afternoon playing and chilling in the sun, we have a little party in the car on the way home listening to my favourite Backstreet Boys CD (yes I said CD and have you even seen this movie yet???!!!). In the evening we’ll order Arshads tikka and watch ‘Suits’ together (if its Blacklist then I will read a book instead) while Laila catches an early snooze. Sunday morning I do a loooooong run maybe 20km, super early, just after sunrise and while the others are still asleep. When I get home we all have breakfast together. We plan the week together and maybe chill at home that day while Suli braais ,Laila swims and I assist both of them 🙂 That’s most weekends. Except now its winter and so half of those activities are not possible.
Q: Would you rather have a larger closet, kitchen, or backyard? Why?
Backyard FTW!!! I LOVE a huge garden/big grass play area. Why? My brothers have always insisted that I have a large posterior. This is me thinking ahead and planning for the fact that I would need to park it and would require sufficient space for such a parking!
Q: What are your views on sperm donors? As in it takes two to tango but one to raise a child?
There is just so much sperm in the world. Lets just take a moment to consider this overspermed state of the Universe…. In other news though: that tango business. Times have changed. Back in the day it was priority for the man to support the family financially, Now its about everyone within the family working together as a cohesive unit to achieve world peace .Amen! I mean to achieve happiness within the family space. This means that yes all chores should be split across the board. Can I get a hell YEAH?!
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That was a bit about Faz for now. To get your dose of fitness motivation and insights into this mom and how she juggles life you can catch Faz on her blog:
Chasing Dreams
Join her Facebook group over here
Also follow her on Instagram:
@fazness16
But wait… There’s more… Faz will be joining me and my partners in crime in our regular Tandem series tomorrow so stay tuned. This is gonna be fun.
Surviving Jonkersville 