Saturday, July 21, 2012

Eat Thy SUHOOR


RAMADAN MUBARAK!!!!!!!!

OK. I'm sorry. I know I should have posted this earlier today, or, technically, yesterday. (It's 12:26, so, it's the 21st now). But, as it is, the first day of Ramadan always (Astaghfiruallah) catches me off guard and so I was too lazy to post anything. And I'm posting now because I just finished my taraweeh. (long story. couldn't pray with Jamaa'ah because I was too busy taking care of little brothers while trying to get my dad to get the other brother's car out because it was in front of us and my mom couldn't drive home and......)


But it's Ramadan!!! Time to forgive, right? So, let's see. This is how my first day of Ramadan 2012 went:


Suhoor: I was the first one to wake up! Just like last year!! Poor Baba, he was so stressed out and tired, especially having to wake up in the middle of the night to give Ibrahim (1.5 years) his chocolate milk because he had no dinner, Baba didn't go to work today. Oh well. I guess a day won't hurt. (YES IT WILL!!!!)


But, I wake up, then I wake up Baba, then I wake up Mama (not mom, as you should remember from one of my old posts, but uncle) and then Baba wakes up Ammi (this one is mom) and then Mama wakes up Nana (grandpa) and then they all walk to the kitchen like zombies with bad breath and bad moods, and I'm all stirring the meat and acting all cheery, like, "AsssalAAAAAAAmualaikum!!!!!!!!! It's suhoor time!!! Nana, would you like some juice? Here Mama, let me heat up that bread for you. Ammi, do you want meat?Baba, aren't you gonna eat anything else?" and basically acting like an old Nana, trying to keep all the zombies in good moods.


I had some bread and meat, 2 glasses of water, a glass of juice, half a glass of chocolate milk, and then another glass of water. But of course, all of that liquid was unfortunately out by 10:00 am. 




Well, I did my Quran, finished up some cross stitching, and then slept for 3 hours. And was I in a bad mood after that. I'm not used to taking naps, so if I see that the sun is about to go down when I wake up, and get MAD, which explains why it took me half an hour to pick out a matching hijab for my purple anarkoli (kind of like a knee length dress with matching pants.)


We were late to the Masjid, so the samosas were already gone, but we had lentil soup and tabbouleh. And after praying Maghrib, we had a dinner of rice, meat, and carrots and string beans. (not what I expected, but the meat and rice was mashaAllah, really good).


And so I take my plate and sit at my friends' table, and we're like talking and everything, and then the topic of  mathhabs come up. I don't consider myself to be of any particular mathhab, I just follow whatever is in the Sahih sunnah and Quran, so, I didn't really say much. And so one of the girls are talking, and saying, "there is Sunni, and Shafi, and Maliki, and Hanbali, and Sufi" 


And then I said, "OMG, Sufi's are creepy. They do all these stuff like stick kni-"

"I'm Sufi" says the girls talking about the mathhabs.

And let me tell you, I was SO EMBARRASSED. I mean, I'm not the type of person who'll suck up and say, "Oh, I was just kidding, I love Sufis," or something like that because I do believe that Sufi's are a deviated group of Muslims (no offence to anyone out there). So, instead, I said, "Really? Well, what I was saying was that you see videos of them sticking knives into there heads and electrifying themselves and stuff like that."

And then, she was really cool about it, alhamduliAllah, and went on to explain how "they have to lose their minds in order to get close to their heart to become close to Allah" and I just looked at my other friend J  and shared a "meaningful look". But, thankfully, the girl said that she's not "that kind of Sufi" and that she would "never do things like that". AlhamduliAllah. Cuz' I didn't want to think I was hanging around with a lunatic. And AlhamduliAllah she's not that far into all that Bid'ah.

The girls on our table were HORRIBLE about food. They literally left they're plates heaping with rice and meat. When J and I asked them to finish it, one of the girls replied, "I don't like the meat"

OK. Why did you take it?

"I forgot"

(How do forget things like that??????)

OK. Why don't you at least take it home?

"No one's gonna eat it."


I had enough. So did J. And we just left them, and I ended up telling my mom, who's a biggie of food wastage, and she went and totally told them off. When she was walking (more like jogging) towards the girls, I was like, "ooh, they are so busted. My mom's gonna TELL THEM OFF!! And J was like, "Can I watch?" and so we ended up watching them get chewed out by my mom from behind the wall.

Then J and I decided to clean the tables. And then suddenly I'm all:



*Just with a hijab and a sparkly dress on.

 So we get soap water and rags from the kitchen and wiped all of the tables clean. Just when we were doing the last table, my mom came, saw us, and then went to go and get the "I don't like the meat" girl. You could tell she was really steaming about my mom now. But oh well. You gotta do what you gotta do. And so J and I made her wipe the tables all over again. Which she finished faster than the two of us could. Hmmmmmmm.........




Well, that's enough drama for one day, I guess. This post is getting too long anyways. Salaams! And have a wonderful Ramadan!!!





Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Eiffel Tower Tea Cups

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I was browsing through http://www.pinkbow.net/ today, and I found this pic of the cutest of these Eiffel Tower stack tea cups. Aren't they just lovely? If I ever find something like this, I am so getting it. And the theme of the room!!! God, I love Britain. Have to go there one day. (Last time I went I think I was 2)

Monday, July 16, 2012

The Heart Meadow


Really, I think this is one of the sweetest things a man can do for his woman. Winston Howe, a farmer in Britain, planted 6,000 oak trees with a perfect heart shape clearing in the middle for his late wife, Janet. The heart points to her childhood home. The heart meadow remained a secret, until last week, when a balloonist spotted it from far above.


Howe and his wife



Thursday, June 14, 2012

What Has She Been Wearing Lately: Kate Middleton



I know, even the last post like this was about her, but I couldn't help but adore the young duchess'es red Alexander McQueen dress. The dress had formerly been worn by Kim Karadashian, and Tulisa Contostavlos, but Kate Middleton customized it by adding tailored sleeves to it.







So, who do you think wore it the best?

The Little Free Library


Random Outfit


This Pretty Soul

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God, I just loved these photos from the Wish Magazine. Aren't they just lovely? Just look at the hair, and the eyes, SubhanaAllah. They're such a piercing  blue!! And those floral head bands, just beautiful. 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Baba's Back!!!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but my paternal grandmother has lymphoma cancer, and well, the doctors in Bangladesh aren't exactly the best in the world (more like one of the worst). So, they did something wrong, and my grandma was very close to leaving us forever. My father had to leave in a day's notice, and here is, back, 3 weeks later.
As you can see, my mother went through a lot to make this Saturday brunch (the guy on the side is not my dad. He's more like my dad's BFF :)




AlhamduliAllah, my grandmother is much better now, so, as usual, my aunt sent us lots of goodies.

My sisters got "princess dresses" and "m n m jewelry"






My goodies and jewelry:




















My brother's awesome shirt:


Also, my brother's necklace. Last time my aunt sent this for my sisters, and he loved it so much, he was the one who wore it for most of the time, until, of course, he ripped it. But, this time, my aunt sent it for him - just so he doesn't attack my sisters' necklaces again. I guess this is what you get when you have a boy after three girls :)

The note says, "Ibbin (my bother Ibrahim's nickname) your necklace"



My great grandmother's paner bata. A small box where one keeps her things for her pan, a special leaf filled with flax seeds and other things. My father was able to bring it back. It's more than 50 years old. Totally vintage and antique. It's a part of our family history.










Last but not least - CHEESE!!! This is special one-of-a-kind Bengali cheese. It's unbelievably delicious.