Take a moment, think about it...

Salam beautiful people!!

Alhamdullilah.. Subhanallahi wabihamdihi... Allahuakbar!

I gave birth to a baby boy on September 26th alhamdullilah everything was normal and natural and went fairly fast.. All my prayers for the last 9 months was granted subhanallah!!! Alhamdullilah, Allah knows best :)

Anyways, this post is not about me and my baby, rather it's about "Hijab"..

Yes! This is a sensitive case for some people (as it was for me back then).. I found this post to be helpful to clarify the "problems" girls face when they are contemplating about wearing hijab.. I used to make excuses just like this but then I realize, it's all in my head... :)

This post is originally from Muhammad Assad's blog

"Excuses Not To Wear Hijab” 

1. “I am still young I've got time.. I'll wear hijab later”

We all think that we still have a long way to go in life, but the truth is nobody knows how long we will live except the One who creates us.. Did you guys know that our decree was written 50,000 years before Allah created the heavens and the earths? The prophet (SAW) said, "Allah had written the ordained measures (and due proportions) of the creation, fifty thousand years before the creation of the heavens and the earth." [Sahih Muslim]

Anyho, delaying to wear hijab is not an option.. We all know that it is wajib and Allah has ordered us to wear it (not to be oppressed) to be saved from a lot of bad things in this duniya... Plus, it defeats the purpose of wearing it if you chose to wear it when you are "old".. (: (:

2. “I'll wear the hijab later, gotta fix the innerself first”
Trust me on this one... Everything will come together (NICELY) once you started wearing the hijab.. This excuse is just another phrase, it still means that we are delaying. I used to think just like this, knowing myself.. I would never succeed on "fixing the innerself" without wearing the hijab first.. After wearing the hijab, my life came together nicely, I'm more happy than ever and I am much closer to Allah now (Alhamdullilah).. Hijab stops me from doing bad/inappropriate things and always reminds me of Allah Azawajal..
and just like Assad said, "Learning is by doing!" inshAllah (:

3. “Not sure if wearing hijab is wajib (obligatory)”
Yes, wearing hijab is wajib.. It is mentioned in couple surahs in the Holy Qur'an..

In surah An-Noor: 30 "And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed."
And another one..
In surah Al-'Ahzab: 59 "O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful."
  
May Allah set our affairs straight, Allahumma Aamiin.. :)

4. “Wearing hijab is hot- literally”
 Okay, so if we think that wearing hijab in the summer is hot then how hot would it be when the sun is right on top of us on the Day of Standing (Yawmul Qiyyamah)- also remember that we will be standing for 50,000 years, or the hotness of hell fire (even worse!!!).. Authubillah..
Surely, we need to think about the bigger picture.. Yes, as a hijabi wearing hijab in the summer can be a challenge but compare to what we will face in the after life, it is smart to bare the hotness in this duniya (at least in this life we still have the chance/choice to be in air conditioned places).. 

5. “My parents don't allow me to wear hijab and I don't want to talk back to them”

This problem is actually quite common here, sadly... I know a girl who really wants to wear hijab but her parents told her that they would disowned her if she wore hijab :( :( May Allah guide her parents, Allahumma aamiin... 

Yes, in Islam- our parents have high status and we are told to obey our parents, however we can only obey them if their orders were based on the teachings of the Qur'an and the sunnah.. Other than that, we are not allowed to obey them.. BUT, we still have to treat them with respect and be nice to them :)

Here in the qur'an, Allah says:
"But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness and follow the way of those who turn back to Me [in repentance]. Then to Me will be your return, and I will inform you about what you used to do." Surah Luqman:15

.

6. "My job doesn't allow me to wear hijab, I will get fired if pursue.. OR It will be hard for me to find a job if I wore hijab"

Aha! When I was contemplating to wear the hijab, I was scared of two (silly) things; one- not being able to find a job (cuz at the time I already quit my old job, and in the process of finding a new job, I decided to wear the hijab) and two- being judged by my surroundings. These thoughts were the tricks of shaytan to stop me wearing the hijab, and I almost fell for it.. Alhamdullilah I snapped out of it.

How did I fight this?

Well, Allah never lied to us.. If He says He will help, then HE WILL HELP... and plus provision (rizq) comes from him. If I was decreed to not a get a job after I quit my old job then nothing can stop that, or if I was decreed to be even more successful than before after wearing hijab- nobody knows. So I believed that by obeying his command, He will never let me suffer... Just like He mentions in the qur'an..

".....That is instructed to whoever should believe in Allah and the Last day. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him a way out.. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah - then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent" (At-Talaq:2-3) 

So just like how we believe in Allah (even though He is not seen), we should also believe that His help will come to us when we need it, He is The Most Knowing and Most High- let Him take care of our worries and just focus on our tasks as His creation.

7. “People will judge me based on the hijab”
Yes! People tend to judge hijabis, but it is really none of our problems- it's theirs. How can I say so? Because we know why we wear hijab, and we should be proud of it and walk with it with dignity. Them who don't know, easily speculate things just based on what they see.. Like here for example; when I go out- some people give me "looks" or sometimes they even tell me their opinions about hijab, but you know why they do this? Because they do not know any better.. Here in North America, Islam and the way Muslims live are only portrait by the media and the media (as we all know); like to bash our religion. So people here do not know the real Islam and how we do things, they just believe what the media tell them.

What I'm trying to say is.. "STAND FOR YOUR BELIEVES!" and do not let this thought about people judging stop you from doing your duties to Allah Azawajal (:

"You will never leave something for the sake of Allah, but Allah will give you something better in return" - Musnad Al-Imam Ahmad (5/363)

"...That is instructed to whoever should believe in Allah and the Last day. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him a way out" At-Talaq:2

8. “I'll wear the hijab later when I know I'm ready  than taking it off halfway ”
"When I'm Ready!" - We will never be ready, it's learning process on the go.. It's like saying, I'll learn the deen in depth when I'm old (old meaning closer to death), it just doesn't work that way.. So wearing the hijab is not a matter of readiness rather it's an obligation that needs to be fulfilled. (This is what I used to think, I always believed that I couldn't change myself so fast to be closer to Him, always told myself I'm not ready..) It's all in the mindset, when you have the pure intention to wear the hijab, everything will come easy your way. Once you stand for Allah's cause, He will be there to support you, inshAllah :)

Is this duniya worth more than the hereafter?

Message from Amena D... :)

I received a beautiful reminder from my best friend's sister and I would like to share it with you guys :)

"We all know that Hajj is coming up- I was actually wondering the importance of the first ten days and what to do, and then I read the following:

"Rasulullah SAW said: 'There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.' The people asked, 'Not even jihaad for the sake of Allah?' He said 'Not even jihaad for the sake of Allah, except in the case of a man who went out to fight giving himself and his wealth up for the cause, and came back with nothing' (Sahih Bukhari)"

I always wondered what to do in these ten days and couldn't figure out why my mother would fast, or why people would fast. But then honestly since these ten days are so great, and the days are so short, fasting for Allah would be something we can all do and get so many deeds for it... 

Fast 9 days and especially fast the day of Arafah; Rasulullah SAW said 'Anyone who fasts for one days for Allah's pleasure, Allah will keep his face away from Jahannam for 70 years' (Sahih Bukhari)- And as we all know, 9th of Dhul-Hijjah is the day of Arafat-- That day alone has its own blessings! Rasullulah SAW said 'Fasting the day of Arafat is an expiation for (all the sins of) the previous year and expiation for (all the sins of) the coming year' (Sahih Muslim)"

Let's maximize this precious 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah to score some massive deeds!!! (InshAllah Khair)

(:

Self-Reminder

Independent Thinker.. Are you?

Comfort....

corally love

What is the actual meaning of "Allahhumma innaka affuwun tuhhibul afwa fa'fuanni"

Salam Beautiful People!

I just want to share a link that my friend gave me, I found it very useful. Since we are already on the last days of Ramadhan, this video will also help us prepare for Laylatul Qadr..

Click Here To Watch Video

Quotation of the week!

long and lean for autumn

long and lean for autumn by astericat featuring high heel shoes

winter spring summer FALL (:

winter spring summer FALL <3 by astericat featuring cashmere tops

H.E.R.O.E.S

WHO IS YOUR SUPER HERO?

This is mine.....

"Umar Bin Khattab was G, held it down for this deen
A real superman, made the devils cross the street
And if I ever had beef, I would call up Khalid Bin Walid
He was a ride or die homie, amongst the Salaf as Saliheen"

Love this poet by Boonaa Mohammed..
Check out his website: www.boonaa.com, he is trully talented! his words are just... amazing!

Mommy's buldging belly!

Alhamdullilah we've reached 26.5weeks! Belly is getting bigger, kicks are getting stronger... Can't ask for more blessings at this point :) 

My doctor told me to lessen my sugar intake because my blood sugar is slightly higher than normal, considering I have diabetic gene, I don't wanna risk my pregnancy and my baby.. so InshAllah for the remaining weeks, I will eat less sugar.. or just consume natural glucose from fruits and veggies... She also told me that my iron is quite low, so she advised me to take double the amount of iron pills... Tho, i eat a lot of beef, apparently it's not enough... dark green leavy vegetables such as spinach and romaine lettuce need to be consumed regularly! Ewww... yes! I'm not to fond of those veggies but sometimes I gotta force myself... ha!

Anyways, this is just an update on how my little one is growing :)

Salams!

Let's enlighten our heart!

Salam!!

I am so excited ramadan is coming soon.... However, this year I won't be fasting due to my pregnancy hopefully I will still get the amazingness of the month of Ramadan..

So there will be some amazing events in the GTA that will help increase our iman and enlighten our hearts (amm sooo exciteddd!!)

On July 2nd - 3rd: Journey of Faith

On July 9th: The Month of Mercy (Teach by Sh. Alaa Elsayed)

These are the two that I know so far, but I will keep you guys posted inshAllah!
Hurry and sign up!!

Hadith of the week!

Narrated by Abu Huraira:

Prophet SAW said, "If Allah wants to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials" - Bukhari

Lesson: Be patient when trials befall you, for a great reward awaits after :)

Freedom of beliefs!

Salam beautiful bloggers!

I have been thinking about this a lot... About how Islam is always being blamed, pointed at, and laughed at.. It's funny how the more Islam gets bashed, the more I love it..

It is hard to accept it sometimes especially when the media constantly talk about it.. but we know better than they do..

We all know that in our belief, we don't kill, we don't do suicide (in fact it is very haram to harm oneself), we don't oppressed women such and such..

So my message here, please always stand for your belief wherever you are! Be proud of who you are.. And don't follow information blindly..

We are taught not to be cowards and always encourage the right..

Summer Breeze

Summer Breeze by astericat featuring woven shoes

The kind of "rap" I listen to...

"Cause your soul is worth more than the dollars and cents,
All the money in the world couldn't buy you happiness
Cause "verily, it is in the remembrance of Allah, that hearts do find rest" 

Boona Mohammed

(:

Quotation of the day!

Casually Chic

Casually Chic by astericat featuring wide leg pants

Saturdate with Mr. AB

We have been told by my doctor that walking 30-45 minutes a day will make the whole delivery process easier (inshAllah) so me and hubby have been going to the park a lot lately.. Usually we walk on the trails but today, my husband decided to take me to this park that used to be a HUGE farm! So when we got there, I was honestly not excited because the trails are not covered with trees, therefore NO SHADES.. But whatever, I still walked along behind him, trying to hide from the sun (it was honestly really hot today!).. So after walking for about 10 minutes-ish, he finally said "ok we're here!" and I was like... "huh?" so then we walked thru this bushes and then there was this big tree with so many branches and a small river beside it and a swing (I think someone has been going to this "secret place" and put the swing there, cuz it was a very simple swing; a block of flat wood and some old rope..) It was a very nice hiding place.. very calming (you can hear the sound of water streaming down, birds chirping, and no car sounds)! So I just sat on the swing while my husband did his own thing, he lovess nature so whenever we go to places like this he always explore... 

She's in town!

Hands down I love my girls!

On friday, we decided to make cupcakes... Everything from scratch, with no mixer!!
I tell you! It was a work out and a half.... Whisking, mixing dough, making this fluffy and soft this and that lol...
But hamdullilah everything turned out tasty! Except, we failed on making the icing!!!!! Mixer was indeed needed for this part.. My friend doesn't have a mixer and she forgot to tell me to bring mine, so we attempted making the icing with spatulas and of course our muscles hahaha but yeah.. failed big time! Nevertheless we had fun and spent quality time together... Oh! and our friend was visiting.. So it was pure chillax girly time...

Here's some footage of our funs! :)

We had some left over mix so we made vanilla almond cake out of it.. 

1st batch of the cupcake mix was made with white flour, and the 2nd batch was with whole wheat flour :)

She was excited to see my puffy belly as you can tell :)

Head over heels for this gadget called "tablet"

Salams beautiful people!

Soooooo I've been thinking hard about getting this tablet gadgety stuff.. it's the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" (1st version of their tab).. I'm not a Mac person, so when iPad came out I totally ignored it.. but for some weird reason, I fell in love with this one.. I think the fact that it's reasonable for me (size,price and specs) makes me go more craaazzzeeeehhhh!

This is what it looks like....

Isn't it so cute?? 

I'm still trying to convince my husband to let me get this thing haha cuz he thinks that I have too much useless gadgets at home..  *sad to say, it's true... my junks*

Sundate BBQ @ Laurel Creek

Salams!

So finally summer is here, it came pretty late this year (our winter was sooooo long).. nevertheless, we are thankful!

Last weekend was the perfect weekend for outing, so my and my husband decided to go BBQ at Laurel Creek. Laurel Creek is a conservatory park in our area, we had to pay to get in hahaha most parks are free here, but then again, the free ones aren't as pretty :p

He told me the day before that he was going to do all the food preparations, I was only in-charge with utensils and rags! lol... He wanted to spoil me for a day! 

Anyhoooo, he ended up making Thai sauce chicken wings (drumsticks in our case).. It was very tasty! He marinated it for almost 12hours...

We didn't go all out on our bbq date, it was nice and simple..

The main entree was the chicken haha... we had some afghanistan bread, russian salad, and grilled zucchini.. and of course, after the park, we had to stop by at Starbucks to get my Green tea frappucino (:

I love this part of summer, where we can go to the park, enjoy the nice breeze, cook outside, and lay on the grass..

Here's some pics from the bbq..!

 xoxo

Everyday Wear! :)

everyday wear by astericat featuring leather tote bags

Cashmere sweater

My Favourite Hijab Tutorials of ALL TIME!!!

Courtesy of YaztheSpaz89

Her tutorials are easy breezy beautiful hahaha sounds cheesy but it's true.. Very easy for everyday wear!

Enjoy,

Salams

xoxo

Away into my hidings for a couple of months...

Salams everybody,

I know it's been a while since i posted something on my blog... It's quite sad that I left it untouch since february! Buttt.. I have my reasons!

Well, Alhamdullilah I am now 22weeks pregnant... and that is a valid reason of why I haven't been writing.. Back in February I was on my first trimester, and I had quite severe morning sickness and all that.. I wasn't myself, trust me... hahaha All you moms know what I'm talking about :)

Alhamdullilah I am back to being myself now.. therefore I decide to start posting again...

Actually, during these couple of months I have forced myself to learn about cooking more, so I will have new recipes post up! InshAllah :)

This is my baby bump @ 22 weeks... Wish me and the baby well until delivery ;)

Salam!
xoxo

I could go for a walk to.....

We might not have many asian supermarkets in town, but at least we have Marble Slab :)

They have tasty varieties of ice creams... hmmm yummmm!!!

http://www.marbleslab.com/

My asian stomach's acting up!

I have been craving Indonesian food for a month now, unfortunately, I crave the hard-to-find-ingredients ones! Yes, Canada might be the land of immigrants but not the "part" I'm in, this city is so small and coloured skin like myself is a minor. Therefore, It's is almost impossible to find the herbs and spices needed in this city.. So different with the last city I lived in, we immigrants were majority hahahaha.. . So I decided to make something small, easy to make but still cure my homesickness :'( that is LUMPIA.

The ingredients are very easy to find...

• 300gr of lean ground beef
• 150gr bean sprouts
• 1 Medium carrot
• 3 Medium shallots
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 stacks of green onions
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 1 tbsp of ground pepper
• 1 pack of frozen spring roll wrap 
• White part of egg (just one egg)
• Enough oil to deep fry the lumpia

 Cooking instructions:

• You need to cook the filling first, so fry the shallots,garlics and ground beef first.
• Add the remaining ingredients, don't over cook them because we're going to fry them again with the wrapper
• Put them aside to cool off for 10 minutes
• Once they've cooled off, you can start putting them inside the wrapper then seal it with the white egg, repeat until filling is finish.
• Heat the oil for deep frying the lumpia.. Once it's ready then start deep frying them...

VOILA

this is the outcome of my lumpia 

 xoxo

word of the day: CHANGE.

"I've changed"

This statement is heavy. Indeed...

Most of us want to let go of the past (not only love-wise but in general) and move on.. Unfortunately, this can be a good thing but also a "bad" thing.

It's a good thing because usually changing ourselves means we are improving ourselves. We usually make changes for a bigger cause. In my case, it is.

Now, some people might view our changes as a "bad" thing because......... to them, we might appeal "not fun" anymore, or we are no longer the person they used to know.
Their point of view is correct, we are no longer the person they used to know, we've left the past behind and we want to start fresh by not returning to such old behaviour..

Declaring a transition is always tough especially to your close friends, but you know, If your friends are true- they will always be on your side and be supportive. At the end of the day, we'll get through it.. It just takes time... :)

xoxo

just for laughs!

 

This is indeed my winter dilemma :)

C O V E T O U S N E S S

covetousness - [kuhv-i-tuh-s]–adjective: an envious eagerness to possess something 

Verily, every human beings have their own problems be that jealousy, possessiveness, passiveness, addictions.. but the most common problem we face is covetousness.. 

What makes me say that covetousness is the common denominator here? Well, simply because I know a lot of people can't get enough of "things"... Even myself. A lot of girls, us, we can't get enough of pretty things such as shoes, clothes, accessories, bags, such and such... My biggest problem is greed towards handbags.. and i tell you.. IT'S BAD. When I was working, I spent most of my paychecks buying handbags.. Thesedays, I kinda slowed down on buying handbags cuz my husband would freaked out!!! I'm starting to get irritated when I caught myself browsing for more :(

I know as human beings we have traits that we cant fight, it is given that we're not perfect, but this kind of problem is fightable (I BELIEVE SO)!! We just have to try harder (I'm writing these down because I also need a reminder he he), and live with what we have.. be happy with it and enjoy it! If anything, we should challenge our creativity on making our old junks into something new and exciting (DIY diva HA!)

Of course we can reward ourselves after working hard on some projects or something but we should also limit ourselves the spending of that reward, rethink before buying stuff.. Be wise!!!

If I could turn back time, I would so love to refund some of those useless stuff I bought while I was making money.. The thing is, when we are making money and not married- we have the tendency to buy all the things that we want- we don't even think if we need it or not.. Why? Cuz in our head, we think "I deserve to get these pretty things, I've worked hard for it!!" So then we just go ahead and buy! Isn't like that girls??! :)

So pretty ladies out there, be wise with your money!!! it's very important to teach yourself this cuz budgeting skill is substantial to have when you're married!!! :) :)

I was diagnosed with...

ASTIGMATISM - "the cornea (the clear tissue covering the front of the eye) is abnormally curved, causing vision to be out of focus"

No wonder my glasses doesn't work well these days.. 

When I went to see the doctor she said that she's not going to give me another prescription, reason being that my astigmatism isn't that bad (yet), so she gave me this tip for eye exercise it's called "Pencil Push Ups" it's good but i get tired very fast... It really makes the eye muscles work! hard!! 

During the eye exams she asked me couple of questions regarding of what I do (daily)... Simply I answered:

"I do a lot of reading from my laptop, I read under dim lights, I stare at my Blackberry when its pitch black in my room, I squint when i read...." then she goes... "when you were young you never did eye exercise?" hahaha to be honest- up until that point i never knew that such exercise matters lol...

So she told me to come back to her office in 4 weeks, within this 4 weeks I have to do the pencil push ups 3 times a day.. I really hope that my vision will get better from this exercise.. amen!

Lesson learned from this?

Eye exercise is just as important as any other exercise.

How to exercise eye muscles in general?

Strengthen the eye muscles!

• Roll your eyes in complete circles, up, right, down and left. Repeat in the other direction. Continue until your eyes begin to feel slightly tired.
• Shut your eyes and squeeze them together as tightly as possible. Open your eyes. Repeat the entire exercise 10 to 15 times.
• Cross your eyes and stare at the tip of your nose. Hold the position as long as you can and then close and relax your eyes. Begin with two or three repetitions and work up to at least 10 repetitions.

Improve your visual focus!!

• Look at something in the far distance, at least a 1 KM away. It doesn't matter if you can really "see" it, but looking at objects in the far distance is a good way to work on the muscles that help with eye focus. Hold it for five seconds.
• Look at something mid-range, or about a block away. Try to focus as clearly as possible. Hold it for five seconds.
• Cycle through the exercises several times a day.

These exercises are the ones my doctor suggested as well, but i found the complete explanation from How to Exercise The Eye Muscles

Quotation for the day!

"And whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good" (QS 2:269)

Handbag must go!!

This post is for those who loves good deals on good quality stuff...

This is a 100% authentic PRADA Winter 2010 handbag

It's is made from grained calf skin

Bought at PRADA on Bloor St, Toronto for $1800+Tax

Condition 9.8/10 - only used it couple of times

Asking for $1000 - Message me for details :)

xoxo

For the love of eggs!

Okay, so I want to share another recipe that involves a lot of eggs :) mind you guys, egg is one of my fav food.. hard boiled eggs, scrabbled eggs, balado eggs, telor asin (duck eggs), etc etc :)

This is another Russian recipe, it's one of my mother in-laws dish that I like so much... hahaha

It's called stuffed eggs.. okay look below for ingredients and directions :)

PS: I don't have any pic for this food but if you google it, you can see what it looks like (just to get the general idea, everybody makes it differently)

Ingredients:

• 1 Canned Mushroom (sliced) or 1 Pack 
• 1 Large yellow onion
• 5 Eggs
• 4 TBsp Vegetable oil
• Mayonnaise
• Salt
• Black Pepper

Directions:

• Heat your pan before putting the oil into the pan, this process is really important but most of us often forgets (like myself hahaha)
• Put the mushrooms and onions into the pan, cook them for about 20-30mins in medium heat (I like them a bit crispy so I usually cook it longer) - don't forget to salt them during the process :) and sprinkle some black pepper
• Meanwhile, boil the eggs :)
• The two major ingredients should finish about the same time..
• Now peel the hard boiled eggs and cut the into halfs, take out all the yellow part and put it in a bowl
• Place the sauteed mushrooms and onions into a food processor and chop it for 20seconds (or we can us "Slap Chops", or we can manually minced them with knife- but make sure to mince them FINELY) 
• Now, mix the chopped sauteed mushrooms and onions with the yellow eggs... take 1 1/2 TBsp of mayonnaise and mix them all together.. (you can add more mayonnaise if you like)
• When it's nicely mixed, start putting them into the white part of the hard boiled eggs... make small mountains, don't make it flat :)
• When you're done, you can place some green vegetables on top.. I like to use parsley :)
• Now it's ready to be served :) ENJOY!!!

xoxo

мимоса (mimosa) - Layered fish salad

This is one of my favourite Russian salad, it's quite heavy as an appetizer so I usually eat it with a main dish...

Ingredients:

• 2 Canned fish (I usually use tuna or salmon)
• 1 Medium yellow onion
• 5 Eggs
• 3 Carrots
• 3 Potatoes
• Mayonnaise 
• Ground black pepper

Directions:

• Boil the eggs (we are making hard boiled eggs) - Once it's done, peel the skin off and slice them in halfs. Separate the yellow part of the eggs and the white.. Cut the whites in small dices, same for the yellow, put them aside separately.
• Boil carrots and peeled potatoes until tender, once they're done, cut them in small dices and put aside to cool off.
• Finely minced the yellow onion.

Now all the main ingredients are ready to be put together...

Spread the white eggs evenly at the bottom of the dish
Spread carrots on top of it... *take your time, no rush.. sometimes if we rush, the stacks fall off*
Now spread the fish.. Sprinkle some ground black pepper.
Spread the mayo
Sprinkle the onions
Sprinkle the potatoes
Now spread the yellow eggs
And lastly, cover it with mayo...

For decoration, we can put parsley leaves at the very top :)

It should look like this..
ps: again, I took this pic with my fone.. :( I hope you guys can still see it

all credit goes to my mother in law :) she taught me how to make this even before i became a wife :)

've been meaning to post but....

Truth to be told, I've been quite *not sure how to explain it*... I had so much ideas in my head over the weekend but when I was about to write it down, I got so flustered (or so i thought), then i decided to delay... delay and eventually gave up. But good news is, I'm back on track.. HA! 

bits and pieces..

me-mo-ra-bi-li-a

xoxo

O Canada.... you're so cold.

I have to run some errands today, in an hour...
but this is what it's like outside.. hub's not home to drive me, so have to bus *sad face*

word of the day: SOLITUDE.

sol·i·tude  (sol-i-tyood) 

n.

The state or quality of being alone or remote from others.

Yes, this is the life I'm living after I got married.

Issit by choice?

Not directly. (sebagai Istri, kita wajib ikut kemana suami kita berpetualang toh? hihi..)

Okay, so I've prolly repeated this many times.. I have moved 5 times in the last seven going eight years in Canada.

Do I like it?

CERTAINLY NOT. But what can I do when life takes charge.. I just have to go with it.

Do I feel lonely?

Yes, sometimes I miss my friends from the other cities I've lived in. But we talk most of the time through bbm and email.

But honestly, it's not that bad- I'm kinda enjoying it!

The pros of solitude life:

1. Secluded from "others" - I know too many people in the previous cities I lived in, they can be a distraction sometime and it stopped me from the one thing i like the most, being alone=discreet=calm.<--- because everywhere I go, I would bump into someone I know.

2. I get to focus on things I want to do.

3. Keeping myself content inside and out - I found myself fulfilling other people's ego when I'm in a crowd.

4. Keeping myself real - sometimes we are indirectly pushed to do things that are not really US when we are surrounded by people.

The cons of solitude life:

1. Having no friends to go out  or shopping with hehehe

2. Lose the "people skill"

xoxo

Gorgeous Abayas!

This is DUBAI FASHION WEEK 2010

Designer: Hanayen

TOTALLY LOVE THE ABAYAS

and BLACK is totally my colour..

our so-called weekend.

This weekend, me and my husband did some shopping- it's nice to spend the weekend chillaxing, thou my life is pretty much chillax right now... but out and about with him to the mall is like VERY RARE. well first, cuz my husband is very busy with his work and master studies, second- he doesn't like malls. PERIOD. unless we really have to go then he would go... but outting with him was never to the mall... anyways. so we originally had planned to go on a coffee date (we do this weekly..teheeee) but for some reason, Starbucks was closed at that particular location.. so we ended up going to the mall... we fixed his boots and i got new shoes, went to The Body Shop to get gifts for my friend but I also ended up shopping there... while i was checking out the goodies, he stayed outside the store- sat on a bench. He didn't complain tho, I was happy about that... hehe

And last night, we had a gathering at our house... we've been having gatherings for a while now, sometimes at our house sometimes at other people's house, but when it has to be at our house- I always have panic attacks, reason being.... I'm quite perfectionist (not extreme just a little). It went well, I had good laughs with the girls and he had good times with the guys.. My menu last night was ground beef with green beans, ayam kecap panggang with sambal terasi (home made sambal terasi, my mom sent me Mama suka Terasi and i loveeee it) heee... It wasn't much but they loved it and I'm glad.. I thought the sambal terasi was risky!

 xoxo

My 10 daily make up must haves... Care to share yours?

Ok readers, this is my second favourite subject: Make Up.

I started using make-up since I was in 3rd year university, at first I didn't really know how to.. so I started small, only using eyeliner and mascara.. In 4th year university, there's more events required me to at least put on more than just eyeliner & mascara, I had to attend many galas, mandatory meeting/dinner with clients, dinner with my girlfriends downtown and such.. Now, most of my friends already using make up since high school, that put me about 3 years behind ha ha ha but thanks to youtube, I mostly learn the tricks from there.

The 10 daily make up must haves, my version would be:

• Maybelline's unstoppable eyeliner
• Maybelline's colossal volume express mascara (9x Bolder lashes) - i love dramatic eyelash look :)
• I also double coat my mascara with BadGal Lash by Benefit
• Revlon's marble-ous match - this is a pencil eye shadow that has two ends (i have four of these in different sets of colour)
• Roc Minesol high protection lipstick with 20spf
• MAC lipstick (lustre) HUG ME A60 - very nice colour for women with dark lips.
• Sephora lip liner 0057A, it blends with the MAC lipstick very nicely.
• Maybelline's mineral power bronzer WE202- it gives me that peachy cheeks look.
• Dual skin corrector by Oriflame (medium) - it works very well for me because it covers pimples well and it also dried them out so it doesn't show the bump on your face.
• I get my moisturizer from a doctor back home and I don't use any foundation daily because it's too heavy for the skin. 

Easy Breezy Delicious....

Baked french potato wedges

NOTE: Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius or 375 degree Fahrenheit.
be sure to spray the baking sheet with non-stick vegetable spray or you can use 2 Tbs vegetable oil drops and spread it on the baking sheet.

Ingredients:
4 medium potatoes- not peeled
2 tbsp melted margarine/butter (preferably salted butter)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried chopped basil
1 tbsp crushed garlic, equivalent to 2 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
2 tbsp of grated mozzarella or marble cheese
a pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Clean the potatoes by scrubbing them, then cut them into wedges.
2. In a container, mix the ingredients mentioned above except the grated mozzarella/marble cheese.
3. Scrub the potatoes with the mix - do it thoroughly to get the evenness of taste.
4. Place the scrubbed potatoes on the baking sheet and bake it for 30 minutes. Turn the wedges over after 15 minutes and brush it with some left over mix (cuz you will have some left over from scrubbing it)..
5. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the wedges while its still steamingly hot
6. Serve the wedges with fresh vegetables like tomatoes, carrots or cucumbers.

Happy cooking!

It looks much better than this picture actually cuz my phone camera doesn't capture small details. In the future, I'll be sure to post the food pictures with my actual digital camera.. :)

Healthy hair starts with healthy food... INDEED.

Ok.

In order to have healthy hair, we need to be sure we are eating the right food that contains the right vitamins for our hair, we can't just use hair products or get treatment to achieve it.
So for those of you who doesn't like vegetables, might have some problem here... *kiddinggggg....* there are also multivitamins that we can get from drug store which contains the same amount of vitamins we get from the vegetables. But we all know, the real thing is always better...

Alright then,
here's the list of food that is very good for the growth of our hair..

1. Food that contains protein and vitamin A - Ok fellas, finding protein is pretty easy, and most of us have it everyday: meats, fish, cheese, and nuts. Also note that protein helps your nail grow faster. Kill two birds with one stone, HA! For vitamin A, we can get it by eating lots of carrots, sweet potatoes, eggs and  drinking milk regularly.
2. Did you guys know that banana helps reduce the amount of split ends? Yes, it does.
Why so? Because bananas contain tryptophan, an amino acid, along with vitamins B, C and E, and natural oils that promote our hair elasticity. So for those who ties their hair almost everyday, please be sure to include bananas on their diet, it helps with hair breakage as well... Oh how i love natural stuff :)
3. Green vegetables (preferably dark), such as broccoli and spinach. They contain vitamin A,C, iron and calcium.. YUM!
4. Beans! - best source of ample iron, zinc, and biotin. They help promote hair growth.. Wohoo, it just keeps getting better..
5. Last but not least, Grains.
Hearty whole grains, including whole-wheat bread and fortified whole-grain cereals, for a hair-healthy dose of zinc, iron, and B vitamins

Haircare supplements?

I personally use couple of traditional haircare products from back home that helps my hair shines its true colour, helps reduce hair loss and promote growth..

I also use BIOSILK products

*They are amazing to protect your hair from damages you get from using heat styling products

Note: 

If you want to achieve the perfect long-thick-shiny hair, compromise on your heat styling products usage. The heat truly damage your hair if not protected.

not-so-known facts.

I want to share some beauty tips that I learned from Michelle Phan's page on youtube, i will post the video link at the bottom.

This girl is very brilliant, she started off as a make-up tutorialist on youtube and now she's quite famous in the make-up industry. She became the spokesperson of Lancome, and just recently she launched skincare products called IQQU.

Some of my favourite beauty tips from her:

1. Cleaning face with rice water.

If you have some organic rice at your house, try this.. it's very refreshing and it's very very easy. You just need water, one cup of organic rice (less chemical on organic products), a container to store the rice water and some cotton pads.

2. Lip scrub with Honey, Sugar and Vaseline.

I do lip scrub twice a week, it keeps my lips soft and subtle. So, you just mix the three ingredients and just scrub you lips for approximately 3mins and gently wipe it with soft cloth.

3. Home made pore strips.

This one works wonders for me :) I love it i love it....  we only need two ingredients! Unflavored gelatin and milk.. ha! how easy is that....?! mix the two ingredients then put it a small microwaveable container, and microwave it for 10seconds... wait until it cools off to put on your nose, so you don't get burnt.. then apply thinly, wait until it gets dry and peel it! VOILA...... you're blackheads free now :)

This is the link to her page *Michelle Phan*


PS: All credit goes to Michelle Phan, I'm just passing on her beauty message :)

Enjoy loves!

The love of exotic food.

Sate ayam is on top of my list ;) Om nom nommmm....

 As i promised you before, my blog encloses various of topics... and this is one of my favorite subjects of all times; FOOD. 

As a newly wife, I am expected to cook much more often than before.. I remember the days where I would go get food at Vietnamese restaurant, or Chinese fast-food restaurant cuz I was too lazy too cook... sad, indeed. I spent so much money eating out- it's not even funny. Not only that it thinned out my wallet fast, it also made me sick with the over-poured oil they use to cook their food- disgusting? undeniably. Their vegetables would literally swim in the oil.. yuck! 

To be honest, I was much better in university. Thou, I didn't know much about cooking and rely so much on Indofood *instant cooking packaging*- I would still eat at home than eating at the cafeteria. And eventhou it tasted like crap, I would still eat it ha ha ha...You know what they say, student = limited money = tough life, just gotta get through with it, and I did.

Now, I forced myself to learn more about cooking. I mean, I love food so much and it would be much easier if I knew how to make it myself. The great thing about cooking at home is that, it costs muchhh less than eating at a restaurant, lets not forget that we have to pay tax and gratitude.... 

Okay, so what I want to share with you guys are cooking links.. My favourite dishes are mostly originated from my own country but for the past four years, I have been very much in love with korean dishes... Kimchi, Yuk Gae Jang, Bimbimbab, and so on... Oh they're so tasty!!!!

Yummmmyyyy :9 *sluurrrppp*

Here's the link is for the Indonesian food:
Dapoerkoe by Ine Sena

And this is for the Korean food:
Maangchi

For those of you who never tried Korean food before, I suggest you guys go and try it... other than their dishes, I am insanely attached to their BBQ - I'm talking about having them at least once a month :)
Here's some suggestion of Korean restaurants in Jakarta:

Dae Hwa Korean restaurant
JL.Senayan Blok S No.21, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta 12180, Indonesia 
+62 21 7206091 ‎ 

Go Ju Mong Korean restaurant

JL. Panglima Polim 9, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12160, Indonesia

	And for Torontonians, we got tons of choices at K-Town :)

Cheers
almr*

In contrast to the land of Canada

First few of my posts will be an introductory, kind of getting to know me.. I don't like to just jump from one subject to another, it makes the plot confusing :)

Firstly, I'm not a Canadian- thou I've lived here long enough to obtain a Canadian passport ha ha ha.. but i stay patriotic and still have my Indonesian passport.
That's right, I'm from Indonesia.. was born and raised in Jakarta.
Miss home? certainly..

So what made me fly thousands of miles from a two seasoned country to a not-so-four-seasoned country, Canada?
Well the truth is- Education. Yes, my parents kicked me out of the house because they want me to continue my studies here.. Lucky? Yes, I believe I'm one of the lucky ones in my family :)
Long story short, I ended up living in this country for more than seven years now..

Living here for that long does not change my originality or do things that are totally outrageous due to such extreme freedom that I have cuz my parents aren't here. In fact, it has taught me a lot of valuable lessons that are not wordly describable. Also thanks to the people that I've met here and had given me such impacts to my life.

Okay, so here are some footage of Indonesia *taken from my very own camera*

Pasar Beringharjo, Yogyakarta

 Omah Tembi, Yogyakarta

 Some rice field in Bantul, Yogyakarta

  Yogyakarta is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Indonesia.

The Land of Canada

Currently it's -11 outside, snow flurries and moderate windchill.. On days like this, i usually stay inside and do some work on my computer.. Lately, I've been researching about opening an online business. It's been a lifelong dream to have a store and be my own boss, so I'm really going to try to make this work and also by God's will to make everything happen :) .. Oh and i didn't mention this before but I'm newly wedded and I quit my job to move to my husband's city, he is currently taking master's degree.. I have decided to actually take some time off work, just because.. I wanted to reward myself, the last couple of years hasn't been easy for me.. Far away from home, finishing up my undergrad studies, finding a job and also move to a completely new city where I had no friends just acquaintances.. Lucky, it wasn't hard for me to make friends.. By nature, I'm an easy going person and my personality has been defined by most friends as "fun size" - anytime and anywhere I enjoy most of my moments making people around me feel comfortable and all... NUFF SAID! :) Back to my original plan about online business, I have a lot to learn considering I didn't graduate from an IT major (web building perspective and maintenance), but on all other aspects- marketing, advertising and all that, I would have to review my notes and re-Read my books from university days *at least I'll start with that much*

So, do you guys want to see what's it like outside?

Here's a view from my balcony :)

And this is the park me and my husband go to when we're feeling for some small nature adventure :)

It's so pretty isn't it? It's by the river, and on the other side of the river is the "rich neighborhood", the houses  are up the hill, I didn't take a picture of it cuz I only had my phone with me, and it's not that great of a camera!

 That's us :) after Akad Nikah @ Masjid Al-Farooq, Seattle, Washington