Blog's Feature : 2011

Salaam you all !

Well since the new year is in 2 days and everybody is talking about it , blogging about the top events that happened during this year , and eventhough it doesnt represent such a big interest for me ( it's just time passing by lol ) I thought I'd write this post and get back to the highlights of this year !
This 2011 year was actually quite eventfull and with important changes !
So let me get back in time !
January ( 2011 of course ) : I went on an unforgettable trip with my high school friends ! it was such a nice week end , full of fun and entertainment .
March : spring came ( lol ) and with it my birthday ! I turned 18 , and spent a really beautiful day with friends at school , but what was the greatest thing was havign over 50 people wishing me a happy birthday in Facebook !
April : this blog came to exist !
May : ( I guess ) I had my foot surgery . I know it's not an event but I just remembered it and hey it's among my life history :p
June : I graduated from high school ! that was such a relief ! and many family members were really happy for me :)
September : I went to Turkey and had an amazing holiday experience in that beautiful and charming country ! I also got into university , which is by far the most amazing thing because I get to study what I want and find my self in , beside the fact of metting new nice people .
November : I joined an Outstanding association called AIESEC ( Google it , you'll be amazed about it : ) . I also evaluated in baking !
December : I went with AIESEC to my first conference ever and it was wonderful ! Learned alot and met so many great people !

By reviewing all this I'd say that this year was surely amonth the best in my life ! ( Check out some pics of it ! )

January trip : 

My birthday cake !

In Turkey :

On our way back from the conference with AIESEC:

I wish you nice holidays and happy new year to your and your loved ones ! 

Muslim Tag

Salaam all !
I saw this tag in scarf girl's Blog  and I found it really nice so I decided to do it !


1/ Are you a convert or born Muslim and how about your parents ?
I was born Muslim ans so are my parents .


2/ What's your ethnicity and if it was related at all too how you were born then how ? 
I'm Arab exaclty Moroccan. Purely Moroccan since both my parents are, and we've been living here forever .

3/ Where are you from and have you been to the Middle East ? if yes why and how did you like it ?

As I said I'm arab and live in the Middle east ! :D Though I've never visited any other middle eastern country but hope to in the future insh'Allah . I love the middle east and all it's beautiful and rich culture , I can also say I know much about almost all the other Arab countries beside I can speak fluently other dialects of Arabic .

4/ What's your favourite Arab / Middle Eastern dish ?

I don't have a specific favourite dish , but I'd say the lebanon dishes are the ones I like over all the others .

5/ What's the most interesting Islam / Arabic related saying you use day to day ?

Since I speak Arabic ( it's my mother tongue :p ) I use many sayings but Insh'Allah or Mash'Allah would be the ones I use the most .

6/ What's the most attractive / unattractive trait and or physical attribute you find toward a Muslim / Arab man ?

Well I would say the fact that he is Arab and Muslim :D I like their physical aspect ; brown eyes , brownish skin colors and black hair ! The unattractive trait is sometimes their non-funny way to make jokes ! ( But not all Arab men are un-funny ) 

7/ What do you love most about Islam and what do you struggle with in Islam ?

What I love most about Islam is all the values and principles that it teaches us , including being nice and tolerant ( for example ) to everyone including muslims and non-muslims . What I personnaly struggle with in Islam is informations , the kind you get from Aqida classes . Some of them aren't easy to remember , so you have always to refer to them .

8/ What's the most interesting item in your house related to Islam / Middle Eastern culture , excluding the Quran ? 

Tha would probably some pictures / boards with Qurani ayaths .

9/ Do you speak Arabic ? If yes then please say something :

Yes I do . Ana baktalem arabi :) 

10/ List all the Prophets you can remember by heart ? 

Peace be upon all of them 

Mohammed

 Issa 

Mussa 

Yusuf 

Idriss 

Ilyass 

Yaacob 

Ibrahim 

Adam 

Yunus 

Ismail 

Haroon

 Dawood 

Zakariyaa

So that was it ! I hope you'll like it ! If so , then please go ahead and do it , and tell me so I can read yours !

WR : Hijabi Brides

Salaam !
In you case you don't know I'm a hijabi and so are many girls around the world alhamdulilah . Since your wedding day is the most special , important and for the majority the most waited for , being a hijabi represents a real challenge in front of you for such a day . Do you prefer a mixed or a segragated ceremony ? Should you keep your hijab on your wedding day ? if yes then how are you going to arrange it so as to make it nice but most of all beautiful ?
All these questions will definitely appear by the time you're preparing for your day - that if they didnt show up from now !
Through my hijabi experience ( almost 4 years mash'Allah :D ) , this subject must always occur between me and other hijabi sisters . We are all confused about it . That , led me to do some researches about the entire topic and it wasnt really easy to find satisfying answers .

According to me , and if you're having a normal ( mixed ) ceremony , you must keep on your hijab . I honestly believe that since you've been wearing hijab for many years , which is not only a blessing from Allah (swt) but that has also become a part of your personality and most of all a part of You . There are for sure many ways to stay with your hijab and though look gorgeous , and along with this post you'll find many selected pictures of hijabi brides . Either you like it fancy and orned , or just simple , either you will be wearing the traditional white wedding dress , or a lehnga ( if you're a desi girl ) or any other traditional wedding dress that differences from your culture and background , there must be a beautiful way for you to discover .
Many brides that kept their hijab for their wedding affirm it being the most amazing choice they've ever made , and that they were flattered by the way they looked . And with the internet nowadays , you only need to type a couple of keywords in a searching engine to find many results , tips and experiences shared by previous hijabi brides .

As for me , I'm insh'Allah planing to have a segragated wedding so as to be able to remove my hijab ( of course it will be only infront of females and mahrams , includign the Lucky Guy :D ) , but I'd like also to held a small mixed ceremony which will allow me to share my pictures as a hijabi bride with other people !

And as the sayign goes ; a "picture is worth a thousand words " , I've made a selection of beautiful hijabi brides' ( both with white wedidng dress and desi look ) pictures for you to see !
I hope you'll find them usual insh'Allah ! I also have a selection of blog posts about this same topic , so if you're interested , just contact me ( privatly message or leave a comment ) and I will deliver them to you ! Also , if you're an upcoming hijabi bride then please share with us your own experince and final look !


Ps : Some desi brides assert that they face a problem with having a full coverage ( covering the neck area ) with the dupatta that comes along with the whole outfit , below are some good examples you can benefit from :)

White Dress :

 Pakistani / indian :

Side Note : I'm not being paid or asked to promote this photos , I just found them online .

WR - Wedding Related

Salaam .
In case you don't know, I'm passionate and crazy about weddings and everything related to it ! And it seems that this is the season of preparation for such event !
 My dear paki friend and class mate came the other day and told me " mere lire ek rishta hai aur mujhe manzoor hai !" ( there's a proposal for me and I accept it ) in other words ; she's getting engaged ! It might sound awkaward ( LOL ) since she's here ( somwhere in North Africa ) and her fiance ( to be ) is in Pakistan ! But any how , that was quite enough to make me and all her close uni friends soo exited and happy for her ! ( it has been about 2 weeks now and we are still super exited believe me ! :D )

The second one who got really engaged is my cousin ! That made the Entire family jump and make extra lots of duaas ( prayers ) for her !! Saying that she's almost 30 , and the guy is really good ( she knows him well )  will definitely make you understand why !
But what made me more exited - beside the fact that I was really hoping she'll get married soon- is that I would finally get a chance to attend an engagement party ! ( here , rare are people who organize big engagements , so the event is limited to close family members )
 Too bad for me , that didnt happen . Why ? because the Miss and her Mr decided that they dont want a real and big celebration until the wedding itself ! So him , his parents and his sister visited her and her parents and that was it ! Afterwards they comunicated to everyone that they are planing on getting married in  June 2012 ! That actually made me happy once again , that I even started making plans in my mind ! such as ; I told my mum we should contact the tailor soon so as to get our outfits done and ready ( because tailors take time and make you angry lol ) , I started asking friends of mine about competent makeup artists , I even thought about how I wont have any exams in that period of time even if I took the summer session in uni , and plenty of other things .....
Unfortunately , something bad occured . my cousin's grandma ( which isnt my grandma lol ) fell really sick and had to be hospitalized , and it's quite severe . Alhamdulilah she's getting a bit better now , but because of this they stopped everything , and with it also my planing and thoughts stopped . I hope all will get solved soon insh'Allah .

Although this occured , it didnt stop me from starting this post series about WR ( wedding related ) stuffs !
Especially because I've been thinking for a while about posting this thoughts on the blog !! :D So be prepared for beautiful thoughts , images , songs , tips and experiences all WR in the next few posts !
For that let me start with a really beautiful picture ( WR ) taken by my favourite photographer !

 Keep in touch !! 

Reading ; Out & About

Salaam . 
" With reading, you get the key to a vast ocean. “An Ocean full of Treasures and Gems. Knowledge and Wisdom. The Treasures that will change your life for ever“ " 


 Ususally , beside my studies and  my quite busy life , I like to read . I always loved reading , and the comparison of how much I used to read within the past 5 years , and now , makes me sad . With all the internet world and television , it's hardly if I ever read something outside for school , just for pleasure and knowledge . 
We tend to like enjoying our lives and having fun with our family and friends, that we sometimes forget about how getting more knowledge is important !


This is why - since realizing this -  I've been trying to re get back to reading . I wouldn't lie and say I went and got some big heavy books so as to make myself satisfied lol ! but I discovered some really nice websites which daily upload some really amazing articles ! Among them : ProductiveMuslim.com and Successmuslim.com 
What I like about those two websites is that their articles aren't all about islam ( what you'd first think by seeing that they both have the word " muslim" in them lol ) but also about general culture and self development . 
The articles they put are really cleverly chosen and well written , and usually comport partical ways to help you within something either it is how to improve your reading and writing skills , how to maintain your motivation or even how to get a higher self esteem . 


I highly recommend you to go and check them out ! I'm certain you'll find something you'll like !


As for me some articles that I recently read and really liked would be :
http://successmuslim.com/2011/06/10/leadership-five-important-qualities-of-effective-leadership/
& :
http://www.productivemuslim.com/how-to-maintain-your-motivation-strengthen-willpower-part-1/

Back with Time

Salaam .
I didnt' post in over a month ! well I've been busy lately ! since I came back from Turkey I didn't rest completly !
Well since my entry to university everything has changed ! I'm studying MBA in case you were wondering , and it's so great ! I love it and it's truly intersting ! I met some new nice amazing people and all have been going well ever since alhamdulilah . Since I basicly didn't have real holidays this year , -the kind of holidays wheere you just sit at home and relax and you have nothing to think , worry or stress about - and since I started courses just right after being back from abroad , I fell really sick ! long story short , I'm now alhamdulilah fine but I lost 4 Kilos which is in my opinion good lol I always wanted to lose some weight :D

It's getting colder here and it's began raining . Eid is in few days , but it's no real big deal for me , just will gather with family and spend some time relaxing , nevertheless I'm not getting ready for it like I usually do for the other eid ( think about what to wear and all ) , I'm too busy with my uni life anyway , and I'm liking it !

I think that telling you I've been spending much time in the library even though I didn't have much to do ,will explain how much I love my university !
Thinking about it , reminds me of how I used to look at "university" in general before . I had a totally different idea of what it would be .
Well let me tell you some facts about it ; The "holding books" ,many books, exists indeed , lol , because you have many courses and each one has it own big book , the "full library" with everyone working , and all busy with their laptops also is present . Indeed in this higher studies it's better to work with somebody or a group of persons , and if you haven't tried it yet , I highly recommend it !

Also when you study in the library , you feel more focused bacause everybody else is doing the same , so there's a huge difference between studying there and studying at home .
What I also like , is how everyone is dressed up everyday for Uni ! I've been doing the same and it feels good :D

I guess this is all for now ! I hope you're doing well and enjoy your upcoming holidays :)

Top 25 Wedding Movies of All-Time

Salaam Sisters !


Side Note : i'm not being paid or asked to promote this website , this is just something I wanted to do .

So yesterday I've been going through my Facebook news and I've found this page somewhere HERE and I loved it ! I found out that I've seen quite much of all movies in this list , and all of them are the best ! so I decided I'd make a review !


25 . Betsy's Wedding
I've never heard about that one and apparently I'm not interested in it :D

24. The In-Laws 
That's a nice one ! quite funny with all what happens and I pretty much like the end .

23 .Our Family Wedding
Even though that's one is recent just from last year I never heard about it , but after watching the trailer it sounds fun , i hope I'll find it on tv one day !


22.Three men and a little lady
Never heard about that one again lol didn't interest me though !


21.The Bachelor 
Now we're talking serious ! that's a really good one ! really funny and nice story ! I like it when a million lady are dressed in white and are following him while his running ! :D and at the end he gets married to the women he loves !!!

20.The wood 
19.The best man 
Never heard about this two and they don't interest me

18.The Proposal 
Even though I saw only the trailer and liked it , I never had the chance to watch it or to purchase it but I'm sure it's really good ! After all everything that has Sandra Bullok in it is great !

17.Four weddings and a Funeral
OMG ! that's a really classic beautiful movie ! Hugh Grant is really talented and I guess it's the only movie I saw of Andie MacDowell and what a movie it was ! the contest is a beautiful life story where the two heros keep meeting and separating but the end is exactly how we want it ! It contains some really funny scenes ! I'd highly advice you to watch it in a rainy day when you're lying down alone at home !

16.The wedding date
I love this movie so much . The actress is beautiful and her acting's really good . It takes you to the family house where everyone is getting ready for the wedding , and you attend each part and function with details , it almost makes you a part of it ! It has some unshown stories that are discovered at the end , and I'd call it a girly movie ! if you haven't watch it then you really should !

15.License to Wed
I didn't watch it but the trailer sounds good ! it looks funny ! would like to watch it :D


14.Made of Honor 
A movie i wanted to see in soo long but never got the chance to ! after watching the Trailer I just loved it more !!!! I'm going to purchase it insh'Allah as soon as possible ! it really looks soo funny ! I like the scenes where they meet in the restaurant and she's introducing her fiance to him and they he crashes with the waiter ! lol and then again when she asks him to be her maid of Honor ! it's really funny :)

13.Father of the bride 
It's a beautiful comedy about how the parents are getting ready for their daughter's wedding especially the Father . it's really heart warming to view that movie as it shows how special and a deep a relationship between a father and his daughter can be ! if you haven't seen it yet , then I recommend it for you , you may also watch it with your dad :)

12.American Wedding
Not really my type of  movies , never saw it .


11. 27 Dresses
Are you kidding me ?! it's like the best movie ever ! I love Katherine Heigl & James Marsden ! they really did a fantastic job in this movie ! I believe I saw like 3 times and didn't get bored of it !

10.Bride Wars 
I can't believe I never knew it existed ! it's like amazing ! and it is the second and last movie of the whole list I'll purchase and watch ! I like both Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway , and both of them in one movie is definitely a good thing ! The trailer is amazing !


9.Sweet Home Alabama
Of course I saw that one more than twice ! After all my favourite actress ( Reese Witherspoon ) is in it ! I wouldn't actually call it a wedding film but though it's really nice ! I like the venue where they are having the wedding and the few preparations for the big day that are shown in the movie . You should watch if you haven't .

8.The wedding planner 
I think that Jennifer Lopez always makes the best girly movies ever . I so like her looks in her films , it's simple  and classic and girly but not too girly :) she plays the role of a wedding planner in the movie , so among the film we see many wedding scenes and how the preparations are going , the story itself is beautiful ! Again a kind of movie you should watch either alone or with your girlfriends !


7.Father Of the Bride ( 1950)
it says to be the original father of the bride movie , but since I don't like black and white movies ( lol ) I iddn't get tempted about watching it , and didn't even saw the trailer .


6.Mamma Mia !
Sounds like a truly nice movie ! Withe amazing Meryl Streep , it makes me wana watch it !


5.The wedding singer 
I just re-saw this film a couple of days ago and I never get tired of it ! when these two actores get together they always make the best ! a really nice movie in the period of the 80's ! I advice you to watch it


4.My best friend's Wedding
It's a nice movie ! that's all what I can say


3.My big Fat Greek Wedding 
Must be the funniest of them all ! I really like it with all the funny scenes it has , and many women things you can learn from it ! I highly recommend it !


2.Runaway Bride
is typically modern and classic at the same time . beautiful story and amazing actors ! just a waouh movie :)

1.Wedding Crashers
sounds like lots of fun ! I hope to find it on TV one day :)

Well if you have seen any of these movies , tell me what you think ! i'd love to hear from you !

Busy Lazy Day !

Salaam
so today is suppose to be a busy day since there's that women gathering this afternoon and the host is my aunt ( mum's sis) and I've got like many things to do ! but the matter is , I'm kinda lazy !

I woke up a bit early for Sunday , had breakfast and came online !
And the things I have to do is : arrange my room ( which is a mess) , take a shower ( I think it is what's making more lazy ! because before I need to brush my hair , and if you have long , a bit damaged hair , you know that when you come to brush it all starts falling !) , go to get my hand manucured . And that also is causing me nervousness ! Because my usual beauty salon is closed on Sunday and far ! So I've got t go to another one and I'm hopping and praying they won't make me unsatisfied !

Then I need to look for the matching hijab for my outfit , and decide my make-up !

Oh and while all that this post came to my mind and I said :" oh I'll just write that and go get my things done" then my very good friend I haven't spoken to in so long comes online on Facebook and starts chatting !

Thank god she didn't ask about all the details of my trip

Oh and I'd better get going ! After all it's only 10.18 am ... 

Back !

Salaam
I know I haven't updated the blog in soo long and I'm sorry for that ! I've been busy with university admissions , summer , Ramadan , Eid and my trip to Türkiye !
I've been having many ideas about some blog posts and articles that I'll write soon insh'Allah since I have the whole month of  September free !
For now I'd like to show a sneak peek of my voyage which was really exiting and amazing ! Visited beautiful monuments , met new friends and did ALOT of  shopping ! So here are 3 Photos of that amazing country .

These are some amazing turkish sweets ! truly tasty !












                         

At the "Grand Bazar" really lovely lights and things but everything is like too expensive so we didn't stay much longer :)

the most amazing outstanding and beautiful monument I've ever visited was the "Beylerbeyi Palace" ( Beylerbeyi = King of Kings) it was soo beautiful and magical the fourniture and all was superb ! unfortunately nobody was allowed to take pics inside the palace . And before entering the palace we had to wear shoe covers .

Favorites of the month - The whole Summer :D

Salaam ,
Ramadan Mubarak ! Hope you are doing well ! so sister Alexandra made this Vlog and I truly love vlogs even though never made one ! so here I am sharing with you some of my favourite products hoping it will help !

Hygiene
So this past Month I discovered the Silk Beauty collection from Oriflame ( company offering natural Swedish cosmetics ) http://www.oriflame.com/ , The Shower gel , the body lotion and the deodorant all have the same perfume and are AMAZING ! just loved the soft feeling from these Silk proteins & Orchid extract products !

  For my face , I've been using the Dove beauty white soap bar , because it's moisturizing and cleaning at the same time ! I like the soft feeling and how fresh my face skin looks after washing it with it !







Makeup

so as a foundation I've been using since almost 3 years the Dream Mat Mousse from the famous brand Maybelline ( Num . 40 Cannelle )and i just love how it covers my face it's like using sand ! and kind of gives a new perfect skin !

As a concealer I've been using the Natural Retouch Concealer of the Visions collection from Oriflame and it's just perfect how it corrects the skin defaults !

For my eyes I've been applying Freaking Amazing Mascara from the Visions collectionf of Oriflame and it is Freaking Amazing ! a soft black that shows my eye-lashes !!! and the Gold Shine eye shadow from the Giordani collection from Oriflame ( yes ! once again oriflame lol their products are waouh ! ) it's a soft calm white shining eye shadow , the kind you can put on a day when you're relaxed and can also be put for big events !

Lips

I ahve always liked and <3 the natural nude lip look so I recently got this wonderful lip gloss from Maybelline ; the Colorsensational Cream Gloss ( Num. 630 Coffee Kiss ) n the color is beautiful and it stays for quite a while !





Nails
My favourite nail polish is The Mni Colorama ( Num. 19 Marshmallow)  from Maybelline !
( This gallery has amazing pictures with nails polished with the whole Mini colorama collection ; http://www.flickr.com/photos/luhzy/page2/ ) 

Prom & Graduation

Salaam ,
Well it's prom season and I graduated from high school with a very good mark alhamdulilah . I just came back from outside . I've been with a friend of mine and she is just WONDERFULY AMAZING , I' m so glad to have her . we haven't seen each other in so long because of the final national exam . It was great to see her , we just went hanging out then we went " Prom dress shopping" . For her Prom . In where I live only private schools have prom parties with that graduation dress and hat I'm dying to wear , except I study in a public school so no prom for me .
In USA it's totally the opposite : public high schools are the ones that have a prom party with a graduation dress .

Even though I'm not the only once who wont be having a prom ( Thank God ) but it kind of sucks . I've always liked that dress with the hat because I believe that wearing it brings you proud , a feeling that at least you have accomplished something in life . Well my friend said " I'll give you my graduation dress so you can take a picture in it" . That's sweet of her but do you think I want to be in someone's graduation dress ?!
I would have loved to also go shopping for a prom dress too , but girls in my situation just go shopping with their friends  for a prom dress then write about it on their blog who isn't probably being read by anyone :)

While my friend was trying a dress , I had a 3 seconds day dream ; I saw my self in a nice shop trying a dress But it wasn't a prom dress it was a white wedding one . And the feeling that came through my heart was ..... !

It's not late , I can always hope for a university graduation if Allah wants it for me , I wish so :)

10 Things that makes me Happy !

Well here's a very random thought about 10 things that I love and that makes me happy !

1.Have a bath right before bed . I just love that great fresh feeling and it makes me sleep so well !

2.Spending time with mom . Either it is watching TV , doing shopping, or just hanging out , it's always wonderful.

3.Talking on the phone with my BFF at 1 a.m. about exactly nothing ! example :" what are you wearing ? where are you sitting now ?"

4.Receiving msgs at midnight  from my friends wishing me happy birthday :D

5.Dressing up for some event or just because I want to . it's nice how it feels when my outfit is perfect !

6.Weddings ! Attending them , watching them ( videos , highlights ..) I just love that ! I think this event/celebration is one of the most amazing happy things in life .

7. Photography . I'm in love with this art . "a picture is worth a thousand word" definitely true ! making those precious moments rememberable is absolutely great !

8.Being called beautiful . :D

9.Graduations and graduation parties ! it's so mind-blowing to see people graduate and have all that ceremony and being surrounded by people and friends all feeling proud ! there's nothing better than when you make a such great accomplishment

10.When people say : " I LOVE your fragrance !" it makes me feel good , because indeed I don't smell my perfume in me after such a while of putting it :D 

a beautiful day !

So , on a thursday , the most full day of my week , and at 6 oclock while going out from my high school , I waited for my friends with whom I usually go back from school . It appears that two of my friends weren't  going with the rest of us because their Dads were waiting for them . And for a while I thought : " I wish my day could come and take me home too " and guess what ? after very few seconds , one of my friends said " isn't that you dad waiting for you there ?" and yes it was him !! I was surprised and happy , because usually he doesn't come to take me home after school ! But when I asked him the reason why eh came that day , he answered that it was because I said while lunch that my leg was hurting me , due to the fact that I ha d a samll surgery on it the previous Monday . Well that was only the beginning of joy . After that , while driving way home, he said " is there any close place where we can get ice cream?" , no seriously , I was willing to jum like child from happiness !  

So he took me to a  nice café and we had ice cream then we returned home .
After changing my clothes and relaxing a bit , my mom came and announced that she had a surprise for me . She finally bought me that pottery clay glass that I've been asking for , for more than 2 months !!! I was in the clouds !

Then I went to my room , set on my desk and started doing my homework . Once again , a thought came to my mind , and that was that I hadn't had tea for quite sometime . And yes , at that exact moment , my father came to my room holding a cup of tea and asking if I wanted some !! 

I definitely must admit that it was an awesome day full of surprises !! Happy to have such great parents ! I wish a day like this one could happen just once every month ! 

Salaam !

We're Friday ! it's been raining outside but it's quite sunny now , so I guess it's a good opportunity to start my blog !
Jummah Mubarak everyone and  Happy earth day !