Hello, hi - nice to meet you!

Welcome to my blog, and thanks for taking time to find out more about its author!

I'm Joanna - back home they call me Asia (pronounced "Asha"), and here I usually go by Jo.

I'm originally from a small town in southern Poland, near Krakow, but have lived in England since 2007 - first in Luton, but in 2018 we made a decision to move to Manchester.

I used to have cringeworthy blogs in my early teens, but in 2013 got back into it as an outlet to deal with massive changes in my life - marrying someone from a completely different culture, converting to Islam, and becoming a mum. I wet by "Halal Mama" back then, but 10 years later I decided to reclaim my identity as myself rather than just "mama" - changed all my handles, renamed the blog, and even finally ditched Blogger in favour of building my own, "proper" website.

What will you find here then? It'll probably be as eclectic as my music playlist - Taylor Swift followed by AC/DC, anyone? I've realised over the years that total niching down isn't gonna work for me, so it's a mix of everything - lifestyle, food, family travel, and more.

I hope that if you find something for yourself here, you'll stick around - make sure to follow me on Instagram too!