About

My name is Sabrina Enayatulla, and this is my Web site.

I’m an award-winning journalist (Virginia Press Association: 2002, 2003, 2006), and I started this site after I quit my job at The Washington Post.com where I was working as a breaking news producer, Web editor and project manager. I made the decision to leave in October 2008 (shortly after launching this video) to pursue my writing and ideas on my own terms; the domain for this site was registered only hours after I put in my two weeks notice.

My parents are originally from India, and I was born in Arlington, Va.; I grew up a few miles outside of Washington, D.C. As a child my favorite things included: professional wrestling, eating ice cream sandwiches, playing in trees, eating honeysuckles from various peoples’ yards, ripping heads off of dolls, and melting large amounts of cheese on ceramic plates that I would wolf down with a fork and a smile. My mom, however, was never smiling while she scrubbed the burned cheese remnants off her dishes. I also enjoyed the thrill of riding my bike around the block even though I knew I wasn’t allowed to go past the Stop Sign.

I went to Oakton High School where I was a member of the women’s track and field team, an active member of the Student Government Association, and the Middle Eastern South Asian Society. One year I tried joining Math Club as a final attempt to get extra credit for the math class that I was failing, but turns out you actually have to be good at math to be in the club so it didn’t really work out. Not that it matters now because I’m a writer. TAKE THAT, MATH!

I graduated from high school in 2001, and moved four hours South to Virginia Beach to attend Virginia Wesleyan College. While at school, I wrote for our award-winning student newspaper, and sat on board of a few different committees. I was also an Ambassador: a person who’d give you a tour when you came to visit campus with your parents. But as it would turn out that was a volunteer gig, and as a freshman(!) in college(!) I was all, Hang out with high school seniors?! CHA. YOU’LL HAVE TO PAY ME. I can’t definitively say that anyone I took on a tour did or didn’t end up attending my college, but I can definitively say that the photo on my Ambassador ID card was one of the worst pictures I’ve ever taken. My hair, my face. There was a lot going on.

Undergrad was awesome. Though I did find myself in situations where I was chased by security guards, bouncers, and other angry mobs of people. I caused a lot of trouble, got into a few fights, lost friends, made enemies, made new friends and forced myself through a self-imposed and rigorous religious rehab program. I played for my college’s women’s lacrosse team, and moved into an apartment with two of my best girlfriends just a few miles from the ocean front senior year; I graduated with a B.A. in Mass Communications with concentrations in Journalism and Media Studies in 2005. I hung around Virginia Beach for a few months after graduation enjoying the time I had between college life and real life, and moved back to Northern Virginia over the summer. A few weeks later I was working as a reporter and columnist at a weekly newspaper; print journalism will always and forever have a tender spot in my heart.

I got married in 2008 to a man I call “The Boss” on this site. It was my idea to give him a pseudonym in this space because I feel protective of his privacy. It’s not his fault he fell in love with someone who’s willing to talk about FARTS on the Internet. In 2009 we moved from Northern Virginia to Los Angeles for two years and in November 2010 we drove back across the country and landed in Southern Connecticut so the man I love could open his own company. My work has been pretty mobile for the most part. In L.A. I worked a part-time retail job while I freelanced and published this site. And yes, I get paid to publish this site. My paychecks for my writing aren’t bi-weekly the way yours probably are; they’re derived by way of a mathematical formula agreed upon by advertisers and my publishing network, and apparently some people have a problem with this setup. I don’t (care to) understand why. I’m a writer and I get paid for writing. It’s pretty much that simple.

Now that we’re in Connecticut I teach part-time as a reading specialist, and continue to peruse my writing through both conventional and not-so-conventional (to my dad) methods. I author this site (obvi), which chronicles most of my life — from the parts of my childhood I can remember to what I’m up to today. I also share, often in raw detail, my struggles and triumphs with faith in my online memoir, The Journey Within. I’m also the managing editor of Newlyweds-Dish.com, the first online community for newlyweds, which launched in March 2010. It’s a wonderful space for women to share their personal truths about what the first few years of marriage are really like. Oh, and I also started graduate school this year.

So yeah, between my husband learning the ropes as a rookie business owner and my everything, sometimes we don’t have dinner on the table, the laundry piles up, we forget to take out the trash and I know exactly what the mail woman is thinking when she shoots eyeball daggers at me while using all her body weight to shove mail into our box. Our home is made up of calm and chaos, but the stress of careers and bills, family and friends, and sports teams we love and those we love to hate is always outweighed by awesome. Our life works for us and everyday brings something new and exciting. Or new and annoying depending on who you run in to. We live sans kids or pets for now, but we love our pseudo-child, Felix Trinidad very much. He’s 5 years old in giraffe years, but that means he’s only like, 2 in human years. Oh, and he’s a blue belt in karate. He’d want me to tell you that.

Other things you should know about me: I don’t use Facebook (seriously, stop asking) but Newlyweds-Dish.com has a fan page (so come on by and share your thoughts!) I wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of Uggs; I don’t trust people who collect dolls, I buy cruelty-free and obsess over child-labor laws. My mom says I’m a free bird and my dad says I’m a tree huger; my sister says I’m adopted. I believe in love at first sight, life beyond our planet, and unicorns. I love to travel and have lived on or visited five out of the seven continents, but there is still so much to see.

It’s not rare to find me enjoying a good, sweaty workout, or trying something new in the kitchen. If you see me grocery shopping know that I’m miserable inside and if you see me eating cheese straight out of the bag, please look the other way. I probably already paid for it. Maybe. I’m always chipping away at my Life List and exploring new places with The Boss. It’s also not rare to find me watching “The Biggest Loser” while I eat anything covered in chocolate and cry. I’m in on-going recovery from my morbid obsession of reading what death row inmates ate for their last meal (ironic, because I am not in favor of the death penalty), and from wanting to know EVERY.LAST.DETAIL about the life and times of Bonnie and Clyde; The Boss says these kinds of obsessions desensitize you to the basic values of life and justice. He’s a smart man.

I have a ton of project ideas for the future but in present time I publish this site hopeful that anyone who stops by will be able to relate, laugh, or gag, but ultimately walk away with a better understanding of Muslims in America. Or at least a better understanding of me.

HA.

HA. HA.

Yeah. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE, INTERNET.

• April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

• BlogHer.com Newlyweds Dish