Eid!

Happy Eid!! Hoping you all have a wonderful Eid holiday!

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Er...Scratch That & Books

So, I edited my Eid outfit. As pretty and cute those shoes were, I had to exchange them. I really liked them but to be honest with myself, I have no place to go with them. Nowhere appropriate anyway. I'm a casual girl in general, and as much as I wanted to rock a that sleek black look on Eid, let's face facts. This ain't the Gulf. I can't pull off the cool khaliji look here in this casual beachy town.

Besides, If Eid is on Tuesday, we're going to a fair/kids party type deal at the mall and then to dinner with friends. If Eid is Wednesday, we're going away to a resort for a few days so, yea, not wearing black there. SOOOOO, if Eid is Tuesday, I'll wear the abaya I mentioned earlier to the mall with a light yellow under-scarf and a grey crinkle scarf and the wedges I exchanged the heels for to have a more casual look.

That's not dirt in my tiles but shitty craftsmanship.

Now, I know they are not nearly as WOW as the other ones but I had to think practically.  Next chance I get I'm going to buy some nice heels like that but in leather rather than satin, so they're more wearable, inshaAllah.

So we're all set for Eid inshaAllah. Got all the kids' stuff, I just need to finish packing and clean up the apartment a bit. I love coming home to a nice clean place. 

I got a few books from this used book place I found, I needed some reading for vacation.  I've been looking for "The Lovely Bones" For a while now. The other 3 I just picked cause they looked interesting.

Anyone read any of these?

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Various Iftars

Just some dinners from when I remember to take a picture. Hmm, do you think we like chicken?

Pasta shells with garlic white sauce, sautee'd carrots and chicken panee.

Rice, molokhika, salad and boiled then pan fried chicken.

Spagghetti, salad, broccoli and baked chicken.

Lasagna, roasted cauliflower, & grilled chicken tenderloins. 

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Found My Eid Shoes!

Well, I said in the other post that all I had to get was shoes for my Eid outfit to be complete. Well, I found them.  I was out getting the kids their Eid clothes and saw these.

I know they are a lot on the dressy side but I just loved them and when I tried them on I was surprised that they were not hard to walk in. I guess the platform evens it out somehow. I think they'll look great with any dressy black abaya as long as I'm not going to do a lot of walking.

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Underneath It All

See, this is the sort of thing I might not have posted on my blog before it was private, but since it's just us girls, It's cool.

I really believe in the power of underwear. The right underpinnings can really make you look loads better. Let's begin with the all mighty brassiere.

A bra can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. The right bra will make you look thinner and keep the girls where they belong. Get fitted and buy some good supportive bras.The wrong bra will torture you. and make you look frumpy. It doesn't have to be pretty but that's always a plus and makes you feel prettier. The main thing is that it's supportive. For me, I'm a big girl and I like the kind with wide, soft shoulder straps, a wide back band and no under-wire. The back band should not ride up and the shoulder straps should not fall down. I see so many women here obviously wearing the wrong size bra. They end up with the four boob phenomenon or saggy city. We need a Oprah bra revolution here.

I have this one from Marcs & Spencer that's actually a sports bra but sports bras have really come a long way since the 90's. They not all spandex boob traps that make you have a uniboob, no this one lifts and separates and just makes things the way they were intended to be. All while being super comfy. And it's pink!

Now, let's turn our attention to the lower half. I think shapewear is great. Spanks or other kinds of shorts that you wear under your clothes smooth everything out. Don't think of it as a girdle. It's very comfortable and there are light weight ones and super heavy duty ones. I like a medium one. It pulls me in a bit, and allows my abayas flow and slide right over it. They also prevent the chaffing some of us may get when our thighs rub together. You know, chub rub.

For me, my abayas are my clothes, not an over-garment as some people wear them. With shorts like these underneath, I can just throw on my abaya and feel confident nothing is clinging or bulging. I don't buy super light weight abayas so I usually don't need anything else underneath. For the one that I have that has snaps all the way down the front, I wear a long black cotton maxi dress underneath.

So girls, when you wear the right underthings, your clothes look better. Am I right?

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Eid Outfit

Do you have your Eid outfit picked out yet? I'm going to wear this abaya. I bought it in June but haven't worn it yet. It's a little on the dressy side so I saved it for Eid.

 So It came with this black shayla with the matching trim. I got this yellow scarf to incorporate with it. I don't know why, I can't do black abaya and black shayla without adding some color to break it up. Now, here's where I need your advice. How do I wrap these two so that the yellow is showing but the black is on top and it still shows the design on the neckline? Can anyone point me to a tutorial? I'll probably experiment till I get it. I like the look of 2 scarves but I don't want a lot of bulk or to die of heat but these 2 are pretty light so it should be ok.

 I'll carry this new bag that I was gifted by my awesome brother. All that remains is shoes. I need a new pair of black shoes.

For jewelery, I'll probably wear this. Not sure if  the necklace is too much with the busy neckline?

I don't even know what we're doing on the first day of Eid yet, but I'll be rocking this. What are you going to wear? How should I do my hijab?

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Black, Gray, & Pink

This outfit felt in between dressy and casual. We were going out to dinner. :)

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Recent Beauty Faves

Just a quick review of a few girly items I've been loving lately.

I envy those with nice thick eyebrows. I have sparse brows from over plucking as a teen (bad Mona!) and now I'm paying for it.  Enter Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil. I had been searching for a nice eyebrow pencil for a while, most places here will try to sell you eyeliner and tell you it'll work for eyebrows but we all know eyeliner is way too creamy to try to be a brow pencil. Plus I never found the right shade, it's either too light brown (obvious!) or too dark black (chola, anyone?). This is a nice brown/black and it goes on easily but doesn't come off easily. It also has the handy eyebrow brush on the cap to tame and blend. I fill them in and they look very natural.

My new favorite mascara is by Boujois. It'sVolume Glamour Max.(Waterproof) I'd used and loved Cover Girl Lash Blast for a while but when it came time to get a new tube of mascara, I thought I'd try this brand. Boujois is a brand I've never used before but I'd heard it was pretty decent. It's a very blacky black and I only like black mascara so I was very satisfied with the blackness. It should be called Endless Pit Black or Soot Black. Really, it's just called Noir.  The brush while not silicone, which is what I prefer, does a good job of getting all my lashes in a couple of swoops without being clumpy, even with a brand new tube. Usually a new tube of mascara is gloppy by default but this went on nicely. I prefer waterproof  just because it doesn't smudge. I have enough darkness under my eyes without adding mascara smudge to it. 

Here's a side by side, before and after of the eyebrow pencil and mascara. Nothing dramatic but I like the small difference it makes. Left side is bare, right side is the eyebrow pencil, mascara and a little bit of powder.

Staring contest starting......NOW!

I'm a bit of what you'd call a face wash/ scrub/mask-aholic. I always want to try a new one and my collection was getting out of hand until I started to throw out some I never used anymore and had Zayneb start using some sometimes.

I won't buy anymore until I runout, I promise.

.

Lately I've been thinking, maybe I should just stick to one kind and see how that goes. So I went with the gentlest one.

My lovely.

I've been using this Garnier Water Cleansing Cream for a few weeks now and surprisingly, I really love it. Usually, I go for the kind of face wash that has the scrubby bits and leaves your face feeling tingly and this is just the opposite. It's not really a cream wash as it would have you think, by it's name. It's more like Cetaphil in it's texture. It doesn't foam up much at all. It has a barely there fragrance which is nice. I hate overpowering scents in face washes. It's super gentle but takes make up off, cleans my combination skin well without drying it out at all. I'll still use a scrub about once a week now but it's much better than before where I was scrub scrub scrubbing every day. Think I was going overboard there?  Yay for being kind to your face!

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BEST Brownies EVARRRR

I made these last week but didn't get around to posting about them, I almost forgot to take a picture, they were sooo good. Here's the link. These brownies take a little longer than other recipes but they are sooo worth it. They are the perfect balance between cakey and fudgy and have the nice glossy crust on top. The only change I made was used chopped up dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips. I'm planning to make these again very soon!

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Thoughts

Just some things that are running through my mind.  My brother is coming to visit next week! I'm really happy to see him. He's great, we get along and laugh so much. It's a short visit but I'll take what I can get.

Ramadan is almost half way through, it just flies by. I don't know why but as far as house work (besides cooking) I get super lazy during Ramadan. It's not so much laziness, I don't know during the day I'm too hot and thirsty to do a lot of cleaning and cooking iftar in the hot kitchen is enough.  I always leave the laundry till evening. It's too hot to go in the balcony and hang it on the line or collect it.

We keep meaning to have a dish party/ potluck iftar with some friends and it's just not happening. We get into this routine and go out like once a week to buy food or something. Yesterday we went out for iftar which was a nice break from cooking and a good change of pace. 

Still need to get Eid clothes. I hope. I'll be good with a new pair of black shoes which I need. I still have a new abaya I haven't worn yet. The kids always get new clothes on Eid and new pjs too so that's something I need to get done. Hopefully shops won't be super crowded. I hate crowded stores and people who just stand in the way or take forever in the fitting rooms. Especially with 4 kids, I get so frustrated especially when the kids are being picky or whatever. Lately Essam has been taking them clothes shopping, one at a time and it goes much smoother.

School wont start till mid September. We still haven't finished the summer HW. blah.  I kept talking to other parents from the school to get together to rally and change some things about the school, like a mini revolution but no one is getting on board. Even though everyone complains about the school. Lame.

Anyway hope all of you are doing fine, till next time. :)

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Cinnamon Roll Cake

I saw this recipe on, where else, Pinterest (link). It's a cake that tastes like cinnamon rolls. It was a super easy recipe, whipped it up a little before fitar so it was warm for dessert. It needs to be served warm!

Cake:
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake and serve.

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Nailed It?

That was a coryn blog post title. I've been getting more and more into nails and nailpolish lately. Most of the nailpolishes you find here are crappy, the only decent ones I've tried are Avon, Yasmina and Amanda, they all run around 18-24LE a bottle but way cheaper than Orly in Faces that's like 85LE for a bottle! Anyway E got me this Revlon french manicure kit recently and seriously, it's like worlds away from nail polishes here. It goes on so nicely, not glunky and the brush is narrow and it dries quick.

 I it's a natural look, I just love it.

I recently also tried to do a glitter gradiant look that I'd seen on pinterest a lot. Can't say it looks awesome but I think you need the bigger glitter and longer nails?

Nails are fun. Kinda makes you look forward to that time of the month?

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Blabbering

Hey, hope everyone's Ramadan is going well inshaAllah. We are well Alhamdulillah, fasting has been fairly easy, just that last half hour that gets me but it's probably cause my kids are constantly like "25 minutes left!.... 17 minutes left!!...11 minutes!...4 MINUUUUUTESSS!

My laptop seems to have bit the dust, or something, needs to be fixed, I have a lot of photos and stuff on there. I'm writing this on my phone which is easier than I thought it would be.

We are trying to finish up the summer homework the kids got. It's such a pain, trying to get kids to sit down and do math and stuff on summer vacation? Not easy. And the fact that the school gives them homework over the summer at all, and a lot of it. Come to think of it, their reports are on my laptop. It won't turn on. Or it turns on a few seconds then shuts off. Hope to get it fixed soon inshaAllah.

I'm just blabbering on here, gonna start cooking in a bit. Might attempt a cheesecake this week, a real one, none of that no-bake nonsense. ;)

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Iftar

So today was the first day of Ramadan, alhamdulillah. It was ok, we had suhoor and I didn't feel hungry or thirsty until maybe the last half hour when the food was ready and waiting. There's something about fasting that gives you a sense of gratitude, mashaAllah. Fasting also makes you want to make dinner really good.  Here's what I made: Salad, (Salwa & Safiyah made it actually.) Rice with almonds, hazelnuts, and sultana raisins, roasted cauliflower and chicken panee.

For dessert I made chocolate mousse. It was my first try and I was so worried it wouldn't set, but alhamdulillah it came out great.

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Dinnah!

I wanted to show you guys the pretty yummy food I ate last night. I tried sushi for the first time and loved it. I didn't think I would but now I want more. Isn't it pretty?

I also had sweet and sticky noodles which were scrumptious and man, I really shouldn't be posting this while I'm fasting, it's making me hungry already an it's not yet noon. :)

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