GIGIINJEANS, THE STORY

May 10th is GiGiinJeans Day! Exactly one year ago today, I published my beloved blog, GiGiinJeans. And boy has it been a rollercoaster since then. For GiGiinJeans' first birthday today, I, GiGi, have decided to share with all of the Jeanies the story of GiGiinJeans. How did it start? What have I done? I will give you a thoroughly explained story about GIJ.

It all started during the third and final term of 7th grade, when my new favorite teacher, Miss G, assigned my class with "Passion Project". Of course, we were excited beyond words, we were the new middle schoolers who have been used to projects assigned to us with instruction, but passion project wasn't just any project. Not only was it the first "real" project of middle school and the first project we were introduced to after quarantine, but it was the first project in which we would be able to express ourselves. It truly was one of the best projects I've ever been assigned to. Passion project was a rollercoaster. And when I say rollercoaster, I mean it.

There is basically no emotion I haven't felt during Passion Project. I felt angry, confident, content, devastated, stressed, and emotions I am unable to put into words. I was sobbing tears of melancholy, yet also tears of joy.

"But I owe this project a debt of gratitude for pushing me to my limits, for truly opening up my mind after years of online schooling, & for exposing me to a little bit of the true realities of middle & high school."

Is what I said in my opening speech.

We had around 10 weeks for this project, and I spent 5 weeks working on 57734995638 different ideas and projects. I'll take you through each one

WEEK 1: BOARDING SCHOOL

During my first few weeks of 7th grade, in online school, our teacher asked us about something we might want to do in the future. I answered somewhat like this,

"In my future, after I've created a wealthy business, I want to create a boarding school for the kids who cannot afford an education. There is so much potential in everybody, and who knows, if we give these kids the right education and privileges, maybe they'll become a world-known name. The potential cannot be wasted. They could be big things"

So, when PP was assigned, me and my best friend Sally, paired up and decided to try and make it work. It was all wasted at the end when another pair decided they want to make a school too. The teacher preferred for everyone to have their own thing so me and Sally decided on a new topic, history.

WEEK 2: MIDDLE-EASTERN HISTORY

Middle-Eastern history to be specific. We had around 8 different topics including Saudi-Arabian history (I'm Saudi), Jordanian history (Sally's Jordanian) and some wars along with attacks. Sally & I were known to ALWAYS speak about history to one another. It's a topic we both were very passionate about. Not just history, but geography too. Since we are both Arab but come from different types of Arab backgrounds (Me being Khaleeji and Sally being Levantine) it's been a topic we've been interested in ever since we became friends. But soon enough, after we introduced our topic to Miss G, she said that the topics (like wars & attacks) might be a little too sensitive. So we threw that away and parted to our own ways.

WEEK 4: SELF LOVE / CONFIDENCE PODCAST

Anybody who knows me knows that my confidence and self-love are both two of my most prominent personality traits. So after parting ways with my dear best friend, I decided to try making a podcast. This topic lasted from W4 till the middle of W5, making it the longest-lasting topic out of the 4. It was all abandoned after I figured I'd just stick to fashion.

WEEK 5: FASHION SCHOOL

Fun fact: the GIJ Instagram account was made for the supposed fashion school until being transitioned into GIJ. But this was QUICKLY thrown away once I thought of GIJ. + I don't like the idea of fashion being a school.

WEEK 6: GIGIINJEANS

6 weeks later I finally figured it out.

I'll be honest, fashion has always been on my mind ever since Miss G introduced Passion Project. But I never decided to take it into action until W6 because frankly, I didn't know how to execute it. Till I thought about the fashion blog I've been trying to get myself to create all these years. I believe that PP was truly the last push I needed to create the blog I'd been romanticizing years before. Now, I finally have it. And I am grateful beyond words.