Mama Mona

TEN

2012-01-28T12:00:00.000+02:00

Salwa turns 10 today. The big 1-0. In the double digits. My 3rd baby. She's always sweet and considerate. Salwa has always been adorable, loving and helpful. I can't believe how grown up she's getting. Here are just a few of the many wonderful moments she's given me.

Just a baby, like a doll.

Soulful eyes on this one.

Cutie in bangs.

Striking a pose.

A happy girl.

Ready to party one Eid.

Proud Egyptian.

Growing up.

A free spirit.

With a great sense of humor :)

Sitting pretty.

Flying high in a hot air balloon.

Becoming a young lady.

Someone get me a tissue.... Happy Birthday Salwa!

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

2012-01-23T18:26:00.000+02:00

I can see it. Thursday is Zayneb's last exam and the official start of mid year break. It's been a month of exams and studying and nagging and all around general yuck. We'll have 16 days off and I plan to make the most of them.

We might go away for a few days to a resort or something, not sure where yet but it will be great to change scenery. Otherwise, inshaAllah, we'll go often, stay up later, watch movies and sleep in. Being in study mode makes it hard to feel free to relax and be carefree with outings, etc. because of the guilt. School is serious business here, people. Intense.

Last week we had a kind of dish party to celebrate the end of exams. Even though we weren't done, most of our friends' were, and planned on going away, so we had it early. Everyone brought a dish, savory or sweet and we met at a nice cafe. My contribution:

They went fast! Some people smuggled some home, too.

This big orange cat was hanging around the whole time, sitting next to us and I just loved him.

He was my buddy!

Accessories And Storage

2012-01-16T03:34:00.001+02:00

I got this idea from UmmSultana who got the idea from Already Pretty about how to store brooches. I jumped into action and decided to use a crochet/lace type length of ribbon I had. I figured the holes will make it easy to pin brooches to it. So I nailed it to the inside of my wardrobe door like so.

Then I simply pinned all my brooches on there and they are easily visible and accessible. What do you think? I love it!

My mom gave me this cute little hanger for jewelery and I was really wanting something to hold my costume jewelery so this was perfect.

So I pinned this coat on Pinterest months ago and also blogged about it here.

Since then, I got a simple pea coat but, really what I loved was the cute polka dot bow. So when I saw a bit of the same ribbon that my mom had, ding! Light bulb. I made this bow and sewed it to a pin. Here it is on my coat.

Lovely. I love little projects. Simple things, really. They make me happy :) What do you think?

Egyptians And Facebook

2012-01-13T22:31:00.000+02:00

Ever since the revolution a lot of Egyptians have discovered Facebook. Or "el face" as some here like to call it. So naturally I've gained some of them as FB friends in the past several months and I've noticed several trends. Let's go over a few, shall we?

Fake names. I suppose it's the big scary internet and people don't want strangers to know their real name. And I suppose there's still a bit of that Arab thing where people aren't supposed to know a woman's name. But, but BUUUTTT, only people you friend will know it's you! Do they not want to be search-able to long lost friends or school mates? I honestly had to defriend someone who's name was something like shghewlsi ghsajldji . Really?

Thinking Facebook is a political site. Because FB was a big part in starting the revolution, some have gotten the idea that it's sole purpose is posting about protests, politics and the sort. Some even have Mubarak as a profile pic (barf) Post a regular status once in a while folks.

Pictures of blond children. This is rampant and frankly a bit creepy to me. Arabs love to post pictures of cute blond little cherub children. They don't have pics of their own children but they have tons of photos of foreign ones. A recent one I saw looked right out of Toddler's and Tiaras, you know, the kiddie pageants. I thought it was horrible but everyone was like "zay el amar!" saying how beautiful the child was. One woman had a little blond girl as her profile pic. What? Why? How does that represent you or your family? How would that make her own daughter feel?

Friending anyone who sends you a friend request. This is women here, but a lot of them will add anyone who friends them. Not only is it stupid, it's counterproductive to most who don't want men seeing their profile. If you don't know a person well, or at all you have no worldly inkling just who is viewing your profile.

Using Facebook to sell and annoy. People here often have fb pages to sell their wares but they annoy you with "event" invites every damn day. I use quotes because these events are often not an actual event, but just a way to annoy you. Or they'll tag you in a pic of their Avon stuff. Obnoxious. They also over charge for stuff. I saw Old navy gloves that were on oldnavy.com for 6US$ and they were listed for 160 LE! (6$=36LE) Loreal mascara that's under 6 dollars was listed for 100 pounds. And people buy it.

Just a disclaimer, I'm not saying all Egyptians do these things but it's common with a lot of the ones I know.

Monotony And Such

2012-01-13T15:33:00.000+02:00

So my kids are in the middle of mid year exams and it's really quite hellish. They started late December and the last exam is Jan 26. All spread out. And days off in the middle.They just go to the exams. It sucks because you don't feel like it's really days off. You know how school here is intense and you have to study. I really can't wait until it's over and we have a little break. Back to school Feb 11. It's hard to get the kids to buckle down and study when it's over such a long period of time, we're all pretty much over it and counting the days.

I recently had a woman come help me clean. It wasn't the first time, I've tried that a couple of times before but this is the first time I was satisfied. This woman was nice, pleasant (she sang while she cleaned), cleaned things that she saw need cleaning without prompting and did a great job, mashaAllah. I spent the following couple of days randomly marveling aloud at things that were cleaned. "She cleaned the tops of all the spices!" "She scrubbed behind the sink!" "OMG, look, behind the fridge!" (Wasn't there a Seinfeld episode like that?) You could tell she really took pride in her work. I'm thinking I can have her come in every week or so to help with the bigger jobs, inshaAllah.

I have a bit of tonsillitis but hopefully I'm nipping it in the bud with antibiotics and will soon be able to swallow food pain free. Speaking of food, here's what we're having for dinner today.

Nails

2012-01-08T21:57:00.000+02:00

I do enjoy the nailpolish. I like to experiment with different looks and Pinterest always gives me new ideas.

Here's a few manicures I did recently.

There's gotta be a better way to store this stuff.

Basic French with a little flower sticker. In the middle of the night I found out it's glow in the dark. I was like whaaa?

Here I thought I'd just do a nice orange but then...

Got the idea to use tape and add black.

Purple

With glitter.


A whole mess of experimentation.

I sometimes have to stop myself from taking one manicure off just to try another. I try to keep it for a day at least. I'll even do one hand and the other hand another color, just playing around.I've even gotten good at painting my right hand. Do you like painting your nails?

Squee!

2012-01-06T20:30:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to share this little moment of happiness with you all.

2 weeks ago we forgot Safiyah's scooter at a outdoor cafe and didn't realize it until we were home. We tried to find a number for the place but couldn't and we figured it was long gone. Safiyah was sad but got over it since then. Fast forward today, we were sitting at that cafe again and my mom said I should ask if anyone found it. I genuinely scoffed at the idea and said "no way". I mean I was sure that if someone saw it they'd take it home. And if someone who worked there found it they'd take it to their kid or sell it or whatever. My friends said I should ask, you never know and there's nothing to lose. I said, ok, I'll ask. I went in and said that we forgot a scooter here and he went into a room, I thought OMG, surely it can't be...and he walks out with Safiyah's pink scooter! I was floored. Tears came to my eyes. I mean, it's not the scooter. It was the fact that they kept it and waited 2 weeks until we asked about it. Safiyah was thrilled and my faith in humanity was restored! :)

I'm thinking maybe I should be less cynical sometimes yea?

Peeves

2012-01-04T21:35:00.000+02:00

We all have them. I'm not even going to call them "Pet Peeves" cause I don't really get or like that phrase. In no particular order:

Lateness. I hate when people are late. Including myself. If someone is making me late, that reflects poorly on me. If you're going to be late, say more than 10-15 minutes, a call or a text is appropriate. Don't waste my time.

Littering. I've written about this here plenty. If you litter, you are trashy.

Unnecessary Noise. Tapping your pen, slurping your soup or drink, stomping your feet. OH MY GOD STOP IT! I know I have issues with this, I'm just a person who doesn't like a lot of different noises. I have to mute the tv and ask people to lower their voices when I'm on the phone.

Whining. This applies to kids, whining will get you nowhere with me. It will actually cement my feelings even more if you whine.

Food Getting Cold. I like to serve dinner right when it's ready. I plan it out and time the cooking so it's ready at dinner time. If it gets cold, that compromises the taste greatly.

People who leave the protective plastic on their stuff. This is to a lesser degree but it really bugs me. I take great pleasure in removing the plastic on electronics and whenever I see that people have left it on, I secretly just want to peel it off. It's even worse wen there's one corner kind of peeled and dust under it. Just peel it off! It will feel good.

That's enough for now. What peeves you?

Outraged

2011-12-26T16:41:00.000+02:00

You post about what's on your mind right? Well the girl who was beaten in Tahrir is on my mind. I can't get her out of my head. I don't usually talk about politics on my blog and this bit of news has come and gone but it's just really bothering me.

I wont post the video or a photo, if you haven't seen it already, it's easily found on youtube by searching "blue bra girl".

I was horrified watching that as anyone would be but I'm also horrified by the reactions and responses I hear about it. Several women I've spoke to say things like:

"Why was she only wearing an abaya over her bra?, she should have been wearing something more underneath"

Like really, she should have known she was going to be beaten to a pulp and dragged through the street by her clothes, and dressed accordingly, right? I myself, more often then not wear an abaya without a shirt underneath. Why should I? I'm covered and it's no one's business what I'm wearing or not wearing under it.

"Why was she there? Women should stay at home, they don't need to be out protesting"

Oh, is that because they aren't part of this country? Women aren't part of society and don't have the right to protest or fight for their country, huh? SCREW THAT. The revolution is not over and going out there doesn't warrant the savage beating she received.

"It's fake. It's a set up. That video was doctored"

I don't buy that for a second. Some people here will believe anything. Like they can "photoshop" video? People are in denial. So that footage was some CGI or something?

The other thing is that people here keep referring to her as the girl who had her clothes pulled off or that had her bra show AS IF that is the issue. Is it really the fact that she was exposed the big crying shame here? NO. It's the absolutely barbaric pummeling of her body that is. You can't just gloss over that!

This is why people started a revolution in the first place. Basic human rights. Where is the dignity when something like this is possible and to top it off, people blame the victim. This woman could have been any of us, our sister, our friend. Any one of us could have been brutalized and humiliated like that. When such misogynistic, ignorant crap comes out of the mouths of other women, it makes me sick and it makes me angry. Everyone should be.

I would really like to hear your opinions or feedback on this, whether you agree with me or not. I'd like to hear what other people think.

Kittehs!

2011-12-22T23:02:00.000+02:00

I want a kitty so bad. Today we were going to dinner and saw these two that seem to live in a hole in the wall in outside our building. They are so cute. I love the little black one.

The kids loved looking at them and of course took photos like mom.:)

Then, after dinner, we went to buy some things and Dawood wanted to buy a fish. So we went to this pet shop. It's a sad place. As soon as we walked in, the cats started meowing. This mama cat and her kittens stole my heart.

I felt so bad for them, The kittens are being sold for 250LE each and they are still nursing from their mom. The little orange one kills me, shes so cute!!

If I had the room and no allergies I'd take them all home. Poor kittehs.

Oh yea, here's Dawood's fish. No name yet.

What's Up Lately

2011-12-18T01:21:00.000+02:00

Random goodness coming atchya

My mom is here, it's nice to have her around. :)

Keep Egypt in your prayers, please. I don't like talking about politics here but I would feel odd not mentioning it.

I'm waiting on the school to give us the mid year exam and vacation schedule. Hoping we'll get it on Monday. I swear our school must be the slowest/latest with these things. People would like to plan around it, huh?

I'm thinking about doing a behavior/chore chart for the kids. It's worked before but we didn't stick to it. Any ideas?

Here are a few photos from when we were in Cairo last week for a minute. Really we went and came back the same day, just spur of the moment. We're weird.

Dawood hitting some pins

Zayneb with a life size cut out of MJ

Safiyah thought Marylin might like a piece of her lollipop.

These are from the other night at a seafood restaurant that opened here recently.

Zayneb and Salwa

Dawood and Safiyah

Mommy

Me and Essam

Yummy food

Check out all the new nai lpolishes I've got. The 3 glittery ones I got here, the rest my mom brought from the US.

PREEEETTTYYYY

We baked some brownies tonight. This is all that remains. To be fair we gave some to my neighbor. This recipe is awesome.

Now go and make some brownies. But write me a comment first.

Who's In The Wrong Here?

2011-11-27T22:05:00.001+02:00

So I witnessed a little situation yesterday while getting my highlights redone. (very happy with the results) So anyway, I go to this place that's owned by an Italian American woman and she employs a few European trained professionals. What's your take on the situation I'm about to describe?

While I was in full foil mode an Egyptian woman came in, holding a baby girl and wanted to get her nails done. She wanted french gels and that would take an hour and half. She didn't have an appointment and wanted to do this on the spot. I don't understand this at all. Where did she plan on putting her baby while she had her nails done? Obviously she couldn't hold her, and there's no like, child care or anything. Why would she assume it was ok to bring her baby along? The owner let her know it would be impossible and the woman called her sister to come watch the baby. The owner held the woman's baby girl while the woman had her nails started on for nearly an hour until the sister showed up with a baby of her own. She sat in the waiting area while the kids started to cry and fuss.

In that moment, my hairdresser said something like "Ayayay, in Europe it would be not possible to bring a child in to a beauty center, but I know this is Egypt and Egypt is Egypt" The Egyptian woman who came to watch the kids replied "I don't care for Europe or America, I'm here in Egypt and you should be grateful for Egypt because you are working in Egypt, and if you want more people to come here(the salon) you should be more nice" Then the hairdresser said, "Not for me, for client" She had a good point, I mean if someone comes in for a massage or a manicure even, whatever, they don't want to hear a baby crying. They came to be pampered and relax. The Egyptian woman got up and left to go sit in her car.

So I know that in Egyptian salons it's totally normal to walk in with no appointment. It's fine to bring your small child. And I know that we are in Egypt. But this is a place of business. Should things be lax like Egyptians like it, or should things go according to the place? I don't know if Egyptian clients would be annoyed by a baby, I would think anyone would be. I just can't understand how she came in with a baby. Where did she plan on putting her?! She wasn't even in a carrier or stroller or something. I guess it's clear what I think, but what do you think?

Nostalgic Pins

2011-11-22T18:16:00.001+02:00

I have a board on Pinterest called "Nostalgia" I love finding stuff from my childhood that I've totally forgotten about.

Before texting, we passed notes.

I seriously thought I was the only one who did this!

How creepy was the premise to this show??

Remember these books? My sister and brother used to tease me and call me "Goose Off Goose" The goose who always procrastinated.

I loved this show, It's so awesome, I wish it showed here. Something you can watch with your kids.

Remember school lunches?

The best day in Gym class

I always wished she'd see me in her magic mirror, but alas, she never saw a "Mona"

Remember this game? We had a different version where you had to put two peices together then fit them in the thing before it popped!

I loved rollerskating

I had this! My dad got it once when I was like 11, it was awesome.

What childhood stuff do you miss?

Recent Purchases

2011-11-16T07:46:00.001+02:00

Here are a few things I bought during Eid.

I have been eying this ring at Accessorize for months but waited till I got it for 50% off :) Ain't it sweet?

Picked up this necklace too, I love that it has all colors and matches anything.

Like my new boots? They're super cozy and very cool.

Kind of childish? I don't care, I love stationary stuff.

My new purse! You know I love roses and I love the long cross strap.


And you KNOW I love pretty lining!

What do you think?

Eid

2011-11-14T14:20:00.001+02:00

So on the Eid, we just went to the mall for some fun, shopping and dinner. They showed a free movie for kids. Kung Fu Panda 2. (Old I know) It was cute. The kids played at the arcade and met friends. We had dinner at Planet Africa, it was yummy.

At the Theater. Anyone else tear up when Po's mom gave him up?

Safiyah & Salwa playing the dance game.

Aren't they sweet?

Dawood begrudgingly taking a photo for posterity.

Ring and nails :)

My Eid Abaya. I ended up switching to flipflops pretty fast and the hem got all dusty. :?

Acting crazy. Who's acting?

Dinner, I love the potato skins here, I'm gonna try to make them.

The gals

Me and Z

I have GOT to stop doing that one eyebrow thing in pictures.

This snake freaked me out all through dinner.

This was 2 days later on a trip to exchange something. :)

Back From The Dead

2011-11-14T14:00:00.001+02:00

That's how it feels anyway. This past week I have been so sick. I was fine the first day of Eid then came down with the flu. It was terrible. Fever, cough, headache, body ache, cold sweats, the works. Then It turned into the never ending cough and I had to visit the hospital and it ended with a stomach flu and today is the first day I feel normal. Alhamdulillah.

You really should appreciate your health. I've had no appetite and lost 4 kilos from that alone. I had to force myself to eat a piece of bread just to take medicine. I'm just going to say Alhamdulillah, I'm so glad to feel normal again. I almost feel hungry today.

I actually cleaned. I haven't cooked since before Eid. The apartment was getting very messy though, as much as the kids tried to help out, It was just not good. So when I felt up to it today, I put on a podcast and now I can sit and relax and not feel terrible just by looking around. There's always laundry. That never ends, but otherwise, the place looks good. I'm glad no one came to visit me when I was sick, the place looked embarrassingly bad. Everyone was away on Eid vacation, visiting family anyway.

I'll post pictures from Eid day, today, inshaAllah. All week I hadn't even had the energy to crack open the laptop. It's good to be back with the waking and out of bed. Alhamdulillah.

Happy Happy Eid

2011-11-05T22:38:00.000+02:00

Any plans? We're just going to take the kids out to a movie, arcade and dinner. Most of our friends are away to visit family. I'm glad to stay local and enjoy the week off, inshaAllah.

We're not the kharoof and fatta kind of Eid people. The food bank is a good way to go. We'll probably eat at Planet Africa or somewhere else. Hopefully, the kids will have a good time. We cleaned the apartment today and hung some decorations and balloons. I have some goody bags ready to surprise the kids with tomorrow. Hoping you all have a blessed and joyous Eid Al Adha.

Eid Outfit...Kind Of

2011-11-02T20:13:00.000+02:00

So if you scroll down, you'll see there's one key bit missing. The abaya! It's at the tailors, being hemmed. I will definitely post pics of it soon or after Eid. The black hijab below gives you an idea of the colors. It's black with a batwing/butterfly sleeve going on, and the embroidery shown below on the waist. I'm really quite worried about it right now. You see, it's pleated all down the front so I really hope hemming it won't be a problem and it comes out good. I just feel nervous leaving my precious abaya in the hands of a stranger with big scissors. I went to pick it up tonight, like he said, but it wasn't ready yet, so tomorrow, inshaAllah. That's life in Egypt for you.

I like these because the heel is thick.

I thought this bag matched pretty well, even though it was in a different store.

Some bangles...

And a ring to match.

Let's Talk About Shoes, Again

2011-10-21T02:12:00.000+02:00

I love how high heels look. I love the height they give me. I don't love how they feel. Last week I saw these shoes in a shop and thought, hmm, will I wear these? I kept thinking of them all week and how they match my new bag and how pretty they are. Today, I bought them. I figured, I'll wear them for sitting only outings.

So I got them home and walked around a bit. Although they are my size, they kind of slipped off my heel a little. The smaller size was too small. I ended up cutting an insole from one of Dawood's sneakers that are too small for him to my shoe and shoving it in there. It made a huge difference but I'm still not going to walk a lot in them.

Tonight, we went to the promenade. I wore them, loved how they looked, and sat at the cafe, no problem. I even had my flip flops in a bag in my purse just in case.

If you are vertically challenged as am I, do you like to wear heels to add some inches? I'm 5'2" but today when I was standing in the bathroom mirror I was surprised at how high up in the mirror I was, also when I had to bend down to kiss my friends hello.

I ended up wearing the flip flops to go to the supermarket after. Nothing worse than someone walking in heels they can't walk in, or are obviously in pain from. I love my new sitting shoes though.

Now wedges, wedges are my best friend. Most of my shoes are wedges. They are easy to walk in, make me taller and still look cute.

I love that it's warm enough during the day here and most of the year to wear sandals/mules.

Don't get me wrong, I love flats too but they need to have some support, not the flat on the floor flats that I see. There are so many cute ones but they are just as uncomfortable to me as heels if there's no arch support. These are the only flats I own right now 'cause I can't find the right ones.

I actually bought these one Eid when I was at the mall, wearing heels and I just couldn't take it anymore. What? I needed black flats anyway.

When comfort is essential, it's either my Aerosoft flipflops or my Adidas Stan Smiths.

I practically lived in these this summer.

With the right casual abaya, I love this look.

What do you prefer? Stilletto heels? Wedges? Flats? Sneakers? Flip Flops? Or a mix?

Seven

2011-10-10T19:03:00.000+02:00

Today, my youngest, Safiyah turns 7 years old. Safiyah has always been such a funny, smart, free, adorable girl and I hope it never changes. She's still in that great age where she doesn't care what anyone thinks and has all the confidence in the world. Here's a little trip down memory lane with Safy.

The last photo was taken today at dinner. She makes us laugh on a regular basis with the things she comes up with. Today when she woke up, she announced that she felt 7 awy (very 7) :)

Stuff

2011-10-04T21:28:00.000+02:00

I love October. The weather gets cooler and it's my birthday month. :) Things are good, alhamdulillah, kids getting back into the groove of school, we're in a routine around here again.

My friend/neighbor had a baby a few days ago, he's so tiny and cute! Don't worry, I'm not getting baby fever or anything. I've had my share of babies and I'm happy with them, alhamdulillah. Other people's cute babies however, are great. You can play with them and hold them, and when they cry you can hand them off.

I really want to find some new good books to read. I'm looking for The Help but I can't find it here. Any good book recommendations?

So E came back from a business trip recently and brought these lovely sweets from Tunisia. They were gone in less than a day.

Pretty huh?

I also got a beautiful gift in the form of this gorgeous bag. I love it. Gray is my new favorite color and it's so soft and has pretty lining and pockets and I like that it's a shoulder bag and not too big or small...Good job E!

I'm having a lot of fun drawing abayas for Miss Hijabi/Akahawat's contest. I'm not the best at drawing but I hope the design ideas come across. I keep adding more, every time I get an idea I start a new one. I use the eraser SO much, then go over it with felt tip pen. It's been fun but it would be so cool to win an abaya I designed! I'm not a designer and there are a LOT of good ones so I'm just fantasizing.

Bored/Pinterest

2011-09-24T19:29:00.000+02:00

I'm so bored today.

Sure there are things I could do like, laundry, organizing but I really don't feel like doing anything. I have a cold and a huge headache, to top it off, it's shark week. I even ordered pizza today because I couldn't be bothered to make anything. So I'm just gonna talk about some of my favorite pins on Pinterest. Just a random bunch of things I like.

How cute are these flip flops? So cute.

From the set of one of my favorite movies, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, if you haven't seen it, see it ASAP.

This cracks me up every time I see it. Another favorite of mine, Interview With The Vampire.

I want a coat like this, in black. Yes it does get cold enough here for a coat.

I'd love to get henna done, I never have. This is gorgeous.

I want this book. And that skin. I'm sure, not even she has that skin, but wow.

I'm obsessed with this dog and look at him frequently. He's so freaking cute.

I do this now in the kitchen, If you put your iphone in a bowl, the bowl will amplify the sound. Science is fun.


I like this movie, my favorite part is when Flor lets the girl's clothes out and is all "Just, try it on!" She's so cute.

If you are not already on Pinterest, you should be. It's a good boredom killer as you can see, and you find so many great ideas, pics, recipes and projects there.

On Various Topics

2011-09-23T19:23:00.001+02:00

I was talking to the kids and told them I want them to try their very best from the start this year. I said, I want 4 nerds in this house. So each day on their way out, it's "Have a good day, Nerd it up, and don't forget...I love you!" It's a lot to keep up with, all of their homework and which books to bring each day, lunches, etc. But the upside is mornings free to do what I want. Catch up on sleep, or meet friends for coffee. I do try to do housework before the kids get home so I'm more available for HW help and all that.

I got my highlights. I'm happy with the result, even if it's not just like the photos I had in mind. The base color of my hair is too dark from repeated home hair dying so it 's not chestnut but a dark chocolate with golden brown highlights. You know I was checking it in the mirror 10 times that day.

I finally watched the finale episodes of Monk. I liked how it ended. (SPOILER ALERT!) Adrian was even wearing a casual sweater in the end and part of his obsession was redirected to Trudy's daughter. I'm glad Parenthood is back, I wait for the new episode each Wednesday. Anyone watch?

I found THE perfect easy way to do your own French manicure. Here's the tutorial.
I had my nails done after my highlights and I was really not satisfied with it. I'm never paying for a manicure again. Unless you sit there in the salon until it's totally dry, it get's messed up and why pay when I can do it? I've tried this with q-tips but it's not nearly as effective. Stickers are a pain and you still don't always get it perfect.

Check the tutorial and here's a few tips I've learned:

For the white polish, it's most important that the polish is new and not glunky, so you could just use a cheap brand.
I find it's best to hold your brush steady and move your finger from one side to another, and the beauty with this technique is you don't have to make it perfect.
I used an old eyeshadow brush to do the clean sweep, I recommend not dipping it too far into the nail polish remover or you'll loosen the glue that holds your brush bristles in. Just the tip of the brush will do.
A clear coat on your nails each day will keep it glossy and prevent chips. If your tips get chipped just lightly go over the very edge with white and then a clear top coat.

If you try this let me know how you did. :)

Jazz Up Your Ramen

2011-09-20T21:20:00.000+02:00

My kids and I love Ramen noodles, or Endomie as it's known here. I thought I'd add a little something to make a sweet and sour dish.

Mmmm.

Slice onions, peppers, and mushrooms. After this photo I prompty dropped and broke that bottle of Sesame Oil. What. A . Mess.

For sweet and sour sauce, 1/4 cup white or rice vinegar, 1/4 Ketchup, 1/4 cup brown sugar (or white sugar with a tbsp of molasses) after it's simmering, whisk in 1/4 cup water that's been mixed with 1 Tbsp Corn starch to thicken. I doubled the recipe.

Sautee the veggies in sesame or peanut oil, preferably but vegetable or olive will do.

Till they are nice and semi soft.

I baked popcorn chicken on a baking sheet in the oven instead of frying them.

Mix it all together and enjoy!

A Bit Of Shopping

2011-09-15T22:57:00.000+02:00

While running a few last, before school errands tonight, I bought a few cute things I wanted to show you guys.

My Loot

This is another example of hilarious fake stuff. Max Flower? I just liked the glowiness of it for when I'm playing make up. It actually works more like a highlight than a foundation but what do you expect from Max Flower? You never know the weird/cool/interesting stuff you'll find here.

A few hair things. The brush because I needed one to claim for my own. My daughters lose brushes like crazy. We must have like 5 brushes somewhere. The clippy thing is because I'm trying to stop putting my hair in a pony tail or bun all day at home. I feel like it might be making it thin in the front and so I'll just clip it up during the day. Less pulling. I can't stand my hair down all the time but I do sleep with my hair down. The scrunchies are 'cause I like to use them on my bun under my hijab. No it's not a hump or whatever but it gives me a more proportionate look.

My pressed powder was almost finished and I tried this on the tester and it's really nice. It's an Italian brand, probably drug store? I like the red compact :)

I am always looking for pretty little broaches or pins and while some may deem them old lady wear, I sometimes like using them to hold my hijab end down on my chest. One's more simple and the dragonfly is a little fancier.

When I saw these bracelets I couldn't pick one. I love the owl and I love the leaf. I thought about taking them and making 2 with all 4 charms on them. Give one away and keep the other. How cute is that owl?

I love notebooks, this one is great. The cover is thick plastic, it has an elastic closure, a ruler, and preforated pages! I know I have the one I made but the kids were getting school supplies and I just love this one.

Oh yea, and a scented candle and some cuticle remover. A little unexpected shopping can make me happy :)