Amreeki Choraha

Salaam

2010-08-19T01:09:00.003-05:00

Asalaam Alekum and a belated Ramadan Kareem to you all!

I know we haven't posted for a long while, but here's the update for anyone who might have wondered where we were: I (Baji) moved into a beautiful house a few weeks ago so of course that meant a lot of packing and a lot of unpacking. I'm still not completely unpacked. Then my family (a lot of people) came to visit and then Ramadan started! And now I'm pleased to tell you that InshAllah tomorrow I'll be leaving for Umrah and then off to Pakistan. The whole trip will be about a month so I'm extremely excited! But as this is my first time to Saudi Arabia it obviously means this is my first time visiting Mecca. And I can't even begin to explain the emotions I'm having about visiting the House of Allah. It's almost like since the last 10 days, my feelings are growing exponentially. I'm excited. I'm scared. I'm in awe. And almost every day in the past week I have cried at the sheer idea of stepping foot into the land where our beloved Prophet salalahu alayhi wasalaam received his first revelations. The land where Ibrahim alayhi salaam and Ismail alayhi salaam built the House of Allah. And of course even these two grand historic events don't compare to the simple fact that this is the House of Allah. This is where the whole Muslim world faces when they pray. How can one NOT be in awe of this beautiful place? And after only a few days in Saudi Arabia, Poops and I will go InshAllah to Pakistan. And I can't even fathom the enormity of the crisis that has affected over 14million people there. I will do my best to update this blog while I'm in Pakistan so as to give my perspective on the situation there.

And my co-author (Zarga) is in France for most of Ramadan so InshAllah when she gets back to her home in LA she will update the blog with her story. Also you may want to check out our other blog Amreeki World Adventures (the link is posted on the sidebar ==>) for pictures from our trips.

Zarga and I both wish you all a blessed Ramadan and a blessed Eid, InshAllah. And please pray for the Ummah and those who suffer.

The Liberation of the Sahrawis

2010-05-31T01:36:00.007-05:00

The Saharawi liberation movement has been greatly overlooked by the international community and media. Along with Palestine, it is the world's last colony. Morocco considers the Sahrawis as captives.
While the situation has improved since the early 1990s, the political liberalization in Morocco has not had the same effect on Western Sahara according to Amnesty International in 2004 Some quick history- Morocco's 1975 annexation of the territory, a former Spanish colony, sparked a war between its forces and Algerian-backed Polisario guerrillas. The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1991 but UN-sponsored talks on Western Sahara's future have since made no headway. Rabat has pledged to grant Western Sahara widespread autonomy but rules out independence. The Polisario Front wants a referendum on self-determination, with independence as one of the options. More than 165,000 Western Saharan, or Saharawi, refugees live in the camps, according to the Polisario; 90,000 according to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). They exist mainly on international aid. The largest camp is the Dakhla camp in Southern Algeria. Human rights are repressed in the Moroccan-controlled territories of Western Sahara, according to Amnesty International in 2003 and Human Rights Watch in 2004, when it comes to having a pro-independence position.

Dakhla refugee camp

Today, the main source of misery is not lack of food, or health care, but unemployement. Even though there are small shops , a hospital and school, many are unemployed. The Sahrawis are unable to work and provide for themselves, the UNHCR distributes rations for 125,000 people and believes that the nutrition for the refugees is improving. Sadly, the Sahrawis primarily live off of rations.

The liberation of Palestine is a cause which is very dear to all Muslims, but let us not forget our brothers and sisters in the Western Sahara. May they be able to live freely on their land, inchAllah.

Miss USA 2010- A Victory for Muslims??

2010-05-31T00:21:00.005-05:00

The new face of American beauty is- Rima Fakih, a beautiful Lebanese born American. She emigrated with her parents to the United States as a baby and attended Catholic school in New York City until her family moved to Michigan in 2003. After her win, Rima commented - "I think it would prove that Arabs don't always try to separate themselves, but instead are integrated into American culture" . She also stated that her and her family celebrate both Muslim and Christian holidays. Personally, I do not think that a person no matter what religion they belong to, should make concessions regarding their beliefs just to become "integrated" into their country's culture. To me her comment was really ignorant and just makes me say "what a sell out" lol. Okay let me stop lol. A Muslim women doesn't have to in a beauty pageant to become integrated.

But the main issue here is that many are saying that it's such a milestone for America to have the first Muslim Miss USA. But honestly, in my opinion this is not a victory for Muslim Americans, she simply represents the face of a new type of America. Rima Fakih, does not represent Islam or Muslim women. Muslim women are modest and do not parade on stage in skimpy bikinis! She simply represents Arab Americans.
It's just a beauty pageant! Her victory is not going to bring about any type of change for Muslim Americans. .Plus it's not like her victory is going to change the American perception of Muslims. Already right after her win, many are bringing up the fact that one of her uncles is a member of Hezbollah and how she comes from a strict Shi'a family.

Why do Muslims in Western countries have to make so many concessions in order to be accepted by the societies in which they live? Honestly, I would rather live in this world as a stranger, than have to give up aspects of my religious beliefs just to be accepted by society and become completely integrated into American culture. Yes, I am an American by birth, but for me it will always be us Muslims and them (the non Muslim Americans). I would never want to become FULLY integrated. Many disagree with me, please share your thoughts on this!

Food-ing it in Detroit - day 1

2010-05-28T01:31:00.004-05:00

One of my greatest pet peeves is when people take pictures of their meals and add it on their Facebook accounts. Why do they do that? WHY? Now that is big time chichorapan. The only exceptions to this are if it is something really, really unusual. Like you're in Africa and a native slaughtered a cow in front of you and cooked it right there. Now, THAT'S cool. I wanna see that. But you went to the Cheesecake Factory and ordered a shrimp pasta and took a picture of it because...? So anyways, the following pictures aren't unusual at all. At the same time, this isn't Facebook and I'm not clogging up peoples' newsfeeds with my shrimp pastas. This is a blog. Plain and simple. A blog = venue for chichorapan. So let's begin.

We arrived in Detroit Sunday night. Since we'd been to Detroit many times before, we knew the one place that was going to be open FOR SURE that late was Famous Hamburger.I ordered a cheeseburger and Poops got the chicken burger. By the way, their coleslaw is pretty good. I forgot to take a picture of my meal because I was super hungry, so here's a picture of what it kinda looked like:

Teaser Trailer for: Detroit Food Extravaganza

2010-05-13T23:27:00.002-05:00

(on the ride home from Detroit)

Poops: When's your baby due?

Me: I don't know. When's your baby due?

Poops: When's your baby due?

Me: Way after yours. When's your baby due?

Poops: No, I'm due after you. When's your baby due?

(No, none of us is with child. But both of us sure look like it. Time to hit the salads and the gym.)

Detroit Extravaganza

2010-05-10T19:40:00.002-05:00

I'm currently in Detroit for a few days. And I'm totally loving the fact that Dearborn is nearby and HAS A TON OF ARAB/HALAL RESTAURANTS. !!!!

I thought I'd be all cool and do some sort of "live blogging" but like an idiot, I forgot the cable to my iPhone and my camera. At first I thought I'd post the pictures on facebook via my iPhone and then copy and paste them on here, but then I'd be a big time chichori and I'd have to write about myself as the next example of Amreeki Chichori.

As I write, I'm looking out over Windsor and Detroit. And this pretty lake in front of me. Ah pretty...scary lake. I'm also totally afraid of heights so staying on the 55th floor of an 80something story building is new for me. New. But I use mind control techniques to get over my fear of heights (it's not really heights I'm afraid of, but I'll explain more later.) This hotel is BEAUTIFUL. Alas, we'll have to wait till the weekend to go over my pictures.

So wish me luck, because as in love with as I am with all the good food here, I still make sure my doors are locked when we're driving. (knowwhatimean?) Detroit's a ghost town, a yummy falafel ghost town bitahini.

Tikka done right

2010-05-05T02:05:00.002-05:00

We're coming back bigger and better (and badder) in a couple days so stay tuned! In the meantime, enjoy these chicken tikkas!

Amreeki Chichora: Facebook

2010-04-01T02:28:00.006-05:00

Click here to learn about Amreeki Chichora.

So before I start our first example of chichorapan, I should explain that I'm completely computer illiterate. Poops is my witness to that. I never knew there was such a thing as the PrntScrn button on my keyboard (I mean let's be honest, who looks up there?) so even though I can probably use it now, I'm just gonna post this example anyways since I spent so much time manually editing it (by editing I mean using my camera to take a picture of it, opening it up in paint, and painting out the name of the chichora.) So let's begin.

Our first chichora (well, chichori) comes to us from facebook. Now, I'm sure many of you have witnessed the same thing I witness EVERY DAY on my newsfeed: the same person joining 500 groups and pages every...freakin'...day. This person is always...ALWAYS...on your newsfeed, joining something.

Khawateen-o-hazraat (Ladies and gentlemen) I present: Facebook chichora

Here we can see Facebook chichora becoming a fan of a multitude of pages and groups:

And here, Facebook chichora is admitting they have a problem:

And yes, they're both pictures of the same person's chichorapan.

I guess I do it too ...bleh

2010-04-01T01:53:00.003-05:00

I find it annoying when bloggers take off without reason for long periods of time. And I'm one of them. Sorry! It's been a whirlwind of chaos mixed with tsunamis of emotions followed by hurricanes of joy. But we'll get to that later!

First things first, this is totally overdue. So the contest winners from our 101 post are:

"Grand" Prize winner:

weed: $5

partying it up with your buddies: cost of weed

being sober enough to remember mom's nagging questions about jumping off a bridge if your friends do it too: priceless

Adriana, Miami

Second winner:

THIS.. IS... SPARTA!!!!

Sanjeeta, Boston

Third winner:

Ghost of Olympics future scaring the crap out of Teddy Michael Phelps.

Sonal, Cleveland

P.S. Hope you all liked your prizes!

The Ruling concerning the Celebration of the Prophet's SAW birthday

2010-02-28T13:54:00.002-06:00

Here is an online book I came across which discusses the topic in length.

www.scribd.com/doc/26252138/The-Ruling-Concerning-the-Celebration-of-Mawlid-by-Shaikh-Saleh-Ibn-Fawzan-Al-Fawzan

Mawlid Anabawi (The Birthday of the Prophet SAW)

2010-02-28T13:06:00.003-06:00

Friday was the birthday of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), there were many celebrations and gatherings in Muslim communites all around the world. The Islamic center here in Los Angeles had a special spiritual night, with anasheeds about the Prophet SAW, and speakers talking about the Seerah of the Prophet SAW. Now, I know that we are not supposed to celebrate, light candles, dance on our Prophet's SAW birthday, but unfortunately I had a little doubt. I figured just listening to speakers talk about his life will be okay, and singing anasheeds about our Prophet (SAW) is okay. I actually feel really guilty now about having taken part in this, Astaghfirullah! So I decided to do some research on these celebrations how they started and where they came from, and if it is acceptable.

One hadith that pretty much sums all this up is : The Prophet SAW said "Do not exaggerate in me, as the Christians exagerated about the son of Maryam. I am only a slave so say 'the slave of Allah and the Messenger of Allah'" (Saheeh al Bukhari 4/142 3445).

Allah also forbade the Christians from worshipping Isa (AS): "O people of the Book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an Messenger of Allah and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers." (S. 4, V. 171)

I also started thinking about the Sahaba, and realized that they never celebrated the Prophet's SAW birthday, nor did the Prophet (SAW). They were the Ummah that was closest to our beloved Prophet SAW, many died for him and loved him very dearly. If it was truly a commandement to celebrate the Prophet's (SAW) birthday, they would not have missed out on it! So why do we do it? Are we better than the Sahaba? Can we really understand the love they had for the Prophet SAW, and does our love for him compare? Once I began thinking about all of this and reading I realized celebrating our Prophet's SAW birthday is bid'ah.

Now, I also wanted to see find out how all these traditions originated. I was watching a program on Huda TV, "Ask Huda" and this question came up. The sheikh (Muhammad Salah) said that it was the Fatimites (which is the worst sect of the Shi'as) that began this tradition of celebrating the Prophet's SAW birthday. This was a sect from Egpyt. They also celebrated the birthday of Ali (the Prophet’s cousin), Fatimah (his daughter). The Prophet’s SAW birthday celebration was introduced in Egypt by Al-Malik Muzaffar Ad-Din Kukburi in 604 AH/1207 CE. Kukburi was brother of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi (Saladin). These were the days of Crusade where almost 200 years waves after waves of crusaders from Europe came to the heart of the Muslim world in the Middle East to fight Muslims in their own countries. During the crusade, both Islamic and Christian culture exchanged views on many things and each tried to put its influence on the other. Christians brought along their cultural and religious celebrations, and Muslims imitated some festivals and feasts of the Christians who lived among them. One of these feasts is the tradition to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h as Christians celebrated the birthday of Jesus Christ, known as Christmas.
From Egypt the tradition of Mawlid was spread to Mecca and the land of Hejaz in Arabia. From the Holy City where Muslim peoples of different nationals assembled during the hajj season each year, the tradition was spread to North Africa, Morocco and Andalusia (Spain). To the north it was spread to Syria, Irak, Turkey and Balkan peninsula, and to the south, to Yemen and Hadramaut, and to the east, to Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
Since then it has become such a present aspect of so-called Muslim Culture. This was a reminder to me to not get caught up in cultural celebrations that are so far from Islam.

Allah's Messenger said: "Stick to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of my rightly guided Caliphs, cling to it firmly with your molar teeth. Beware of newly invented matters, for a every new matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misleading" {Musnad Ahmad (4/126) and at-Tirmidhee (2676)}

Hijab in Elle Magazine

2010-02-27T23:27:00.002-06:00

I saw this picture in Elle Magazine. I think it's so pretty, and I really like her makeup:)

just a little fyi

2010-02-23T02:01:00.002-06:00

my laptop is on its deathbed. it might be a while. i hate using PCs now since i've been so used to using my lovely laptop (or evil laptop as it has a mind of its own) so i'll be delaying some of my posts until i can get the little fella back on track. and also the winners of the 101 post have been notified and Insh'Allah I'll be posting up the winning captions once all systems are go.

and an even more little fyi: poops (the tech-iest person i know) can't even figure out whats wrong with the laptop. needless to say, he can't even eat, sleep or do anything...pray for us!

yours truly,

baji

How Poops became Poops

2010-02-17T03:14:00.003-06:00

I've been asked why I call my husband Poops. So, let's explore!

People closest to me know that I'm not the most affectionate person in the world. So it's extremely rare that anyone would hear a term of endearment come out of my mouth, unless, of course, it's directed towards a baby (love the babies!) I also used to be a big fan of the show, A Different World. Anyone remember that show? Remember Whitley and Dwayne?

Well since it's a pretty old show, there were always reruns of it at odd hours on local channels. And I noticed how Whitley always called Dwayne, Pookie. And of course I thought I'm going to do the same. So I started calling my husband Pookie at first just to tease him and we'd always laugh (well I'd laugh.)

Then, it became an ongoing name. Pookie where are you? Pookie pookie pookie whats up? It got to the point that even my friends would make fun of the name and they would giggle and whisper, "pOOkieee," whenever I spoke to Pookie on the phone near them.

As time progressed, Pookie became Poopie. Don't ask me how. I think Darwin is still working on it.

And then, of course, who wants to constantly say a two syllable nickname? So Poopie became ...get ready for it....POOPS! ta-daaaa!

Pizza Challenge

2010-02-15T12:00:00.003-06:00

I confess that I haven't had Domino's pizza in a really long time (almost a decade maybe.) Poops and I have been Pizza Hut fans. So when Domino's came out with their new recipe (and Zarga told me a couple of weeks ago that she liked the new recipe) I decided I'd try it. And what better day to taste-test pizza than on Super Bowl sunday?

Poops, however, was adamant that we only have Pizza Hut. So of course, we ordered from both. The top one is Pizza Hut and the bottom is Domino's. I LOVED IT! I think I'm finally over Pizza Hut's greasy slices (not that I'm totally going to abandon it, though) and I love the new Domino's pizza. It was finally a fulfilling pizza that didn't leave your mouth oily. I especially liked that I could actually taste the olives and mushrooms in my pizza compared to just tasting grease in the Pizza Hut version. It also had a (very)little kick in terms of "spicy-ness."

So next time you order pizza, give it a try. Even if you have someone like Poops in your home who refuses to taste anything other than Pizza Hut.

Remember to mail your captions for the 101 post to amreekichoraha@gmail.com and join the Help Abdullah page on facebook (button located on the right of this blog) and donate if you can (also located on the right of the blog.)

Happy 101!

2010-02-11T09:05:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone!

Wow it's almost one year since we started blogging here and now we've done a century (cricket-speak) of posts! So...to celebrate, we're going to be giving away a couple of small gifts. But there's still a catch! In order to receive one of the gifts, you have to provide a caption for the following picture:

It can be any caption your imagination comes up with and you can submit as many as you want. The only rule is that you have to submit them to amreekichoraha@gmail.com

So what are the gifts? (Prizes, actually.)

The person with the best caption receives this beautiful paranda or as I call them, "chooTeli," which is basically braided into your hair and fancy ones like this are commonly worn by girls during wedding festivities.

The person with the best caption will ALSO receive one of these tiny bottles of ittar (non-alcoholic perfume.) Ittar are my favorite! They last long and smell great. These bottles, however, are for men. So it can be a nice tiny present for the dad, brother, or husband in your life (unless you're a dude then you can try this one out on yourself and give the chooTeli to your sister.)

Polo

Polo Black

And my personal favorite, HOgo Boss. (sigh) I love Karachi.

Two others with great captions will ALSO receive one of the bottles pictured above (they're pinky-sized!)

So don't be shy, even if you've never commented on here before...go ahead and submit a caption to amreekichoraha@gmail.com and win one of these totally rad prizes! The "deadline" will be Thursday, February 18th at 7pm EST. Zarga and I will post the winners and their captions on the next day. And we will contact the winners via email for their shipping addresses.

So thank you from the gals at Amreeki Choraha for taking time to read our posts and making us feel loved!

Couscous with raisins :)

2010-02-10T00:30:00.003-06:00

mmmm mmmm mmmmm! This is my all time fav snack. Well, it's a little heavy to be a snack, but I could eat tons of this stuff lol. It's basically just steamed couscous with the yellow sun dried raisins (steaming the raisins give them a yummier taste). This snack is usually drank with Lben ( I think in english it's fermented milk) or just regular milk.

In Algeria, we usually eat this every morning for suhur during Ramadan.

L.A. wedding part 2

2010-02-06T04:25:00.002-06:00

So this was the Mehndi function for Poops' friend and his wife. We entered into a huge hall lined up with appetizers and then proceeded into an even larger area where the event was going to take place. We (we were from the groom's side, of course) sat at our tables and waited for it all to begin...which took soooo long. I guess some desi things (like being on time) don't change despite being in "the west."

This is some of the "traditional stuff."

Here's the groom with two of his buddies taking pictures on the stage before all the hoop-la begins.

Finally! After waiting so long, the bridal party comes out with the bride underneath that flower canopy. There was also a live band as you can see in the back. I don't have a picture of the bride and the groom sitting on the stage together because, well...I got busy. I was the only female (aside from the groom's mom) from the groom's side! And I barely know the fella!

I was thinking the same thing, little kids, the same thing.

It's hard to believe these kids slept through this:

And this was just a snippet of what the whole song and dance portion of the Mehndi function was like.

L.A. wedding

2010-02-06T03:24:00.004-06:00

Unlike the average desi, I've only been to a handful of weddings in my life (mine not included.) Last October, Poops and I ventured out to the mysterious west coast...to a place called Los Angeles. It was my first time on the west coast and I loved the views from the airplane. However, those few October days we were in LA (and we went to Vegas for a day) were some of the hottest I've experienced (and I'm from Miami with 100% Karachi blood in me.) Nevertheless, we were there for Poops' friend's wedding.

So this was more or less my first desi wedding in the U.S. and I was pretty shocked by how well decorated the events were. I mean, of course, there's nothing like a wedding "back home," but I think this was pretty well planned out.

Here's the bride's sister and brother "walking down the aisle" before the bride walks down the aisle with her father and mother on each side.

Just a side note: I do find it odd that desi weddings are beginning to look more and more like "western" weddings. You're probably asking how I know that since I've only been to a handful...right? Well I do have facebook and youtube (BUT I'm saving that for the Amreeki Chichora series!)

And here's the groom and bride on stage with the imam. I really liked the stage and the overall ambience they created in the huge room. I don't have too many pictures of the rest of the wedding hall but all eyes are on the stage anyways.

I'll put up some pictures of the mehndi event.

Not all that looks delicious...

2010-02-06T03:20:00.002-06:00

is delicious.

Beware of false advertisement. Although, come to think of it, the oranges should have been a giveaway. Chocolate and orange?! Never!

I'd like you all to meet Simmal

2010-02-06T03:03:00.002-06:00

My aunt in Toronto gave birth to a beautiful baby girl back in October. We all got to see her for the week of Eid last November (how awesome was it that Eid fell during Thanksgiving break?) The baby girl, Simmal, was the highlight of our trip and we still miss her sighs and cries (and other bodily functions (boy, were they LOUD!))

So here is Simmal...or at least 75% of her feet.

Dear husbands,

2010-02-06T03:00:00.001-06:00

When all else fails...

buy her flowers.

Well, hello beautiful!

2010-02-06T02:57:00.001-06:00

English: Goat chops

Urdu: Chaunmps

Help Abdullah

2010-02-02T01:17:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone!

I have a special request for anyone reading this. As you might have seen, on the right side of this blog I have had up a duah for Abdullah. He is my four year old cousin who is going through cancer (for the second time) and is undergoing chemotherapy to battle it. He was treated the first time (cancer on his face by his eye) at Aga Khan hospital in Karachi and came out successful. However, one year ago, they found the cancer again but this time on his neck. He is being treated again but none of the hospitals in Pakistan are willing to lower the price since it is his second time. First-time cancer patients get priority.
After many inquiries into different (and affordable) treatments, Abdullah has been readmitted into Aga Khan Hospital. He has 20 sessions of chemotherapy left and each one costs approximately Rs.50,000 which is roughly $600.
We're starting this chip-in donation box to help cover at least one of his sessions. This donation box will remain up here as long as it needs to (we just chose March 15 as a "target" date.)
Please donate whatever you can. Even the littlest amount will Insh'Allah find its way to helping Abdullah.
You can visit this site for more info, like the letter from Abdullah's doctor.
You can also join the facebook group, Help Abdullah. (I don't know yet how to link that on here, sorry!)
And if there are any questions or concerns, you can email me at amreekichoraha@gmail.com and I can even provide you with my private email address and phone number if need be.

I am grateful to you for even reading this, and our family will be grateful if you could keep Abdullah in your duahs.

Asalaam Alekum wa rehmatullahi wa barakatahu.

Amreeki Chichora

2010-01-29T03:11:00.001-06:00

If you speak Urdu, it's easy to understand that someone can do a slip of the tongue between choraha and chichora. I giggle everytime I do it. However, I have also noticed there is a lot of chichorapan going on lately and I thought hey let's put 2 and 2 together and get Amreeki Chichora! This will be a new series that will highlight some truly chichori activities in the world.

So to explain what exactly a chichora is, I'm going to provide a few synonyms and perhaps an example or two.

Chichora [chih-cho-Rah] :noun, masc., plural: chichoray, synonyms: tacky, cheesy, desperate, cheap, over-the-top, attention-seeker.

Sentence: Stop blasting bhangra music while driving at 5mph through a busy street, you chichora!

Chichori [chih-cho-Ree] :noun, fem., female version of chichora.

Sentence: If that chichori tells me another thing about her "new Lexus," I'm going to kill her IN her new Lexus.

:Adjective, used to describe any activity which involves the synonyms above.

Sentence: Will you boys and girls stop doing all these chichori activities like staring each other down? WE'RE IN THE MASJID!

So as you can see, chichoras come in a variety of ways. Now I'm not going to say I'm safe from chichorapan and above it; we all have a little chichora in us. It's normal. But this is going to be about those chichoras who go above and beyond the call of duty.

Some things to keep in mind:

1.Chichora is a slang word, so don't use it in front of everyone. Some people not to use this word in front of: anyone you respect (like your parents or aunts and uncles.)

2.Use it freely and openly with your good friends and call them out when they're displaying some "chichorapan" (the act of chichoraing, or an abundance of chichoraness.)

3. Anything and everything can be chichorapan, the world is your oyster.

4. Do be prepared for someone to get mad when you call them a chichora or chichori. If said thing happens, take the following action: Discontinue friendship. This person obviously can't take a joke and isn't a good friend.

I reckon you're thinking I'm a mean person. And I agree with you. And here's proof:

notice how no one has refuted my sister's comment.

Now, I know what you're thinking, "You're so mean, why would you do something so sinful as exposing people's chichoraness?" And to you I answer, "Hey, I'm mean. And besides, these people NEED to be exposed. And I'm not using names. So enjoy and have a laugh or two." And that's when you say, "Oh you're right, after a hard day's work all I wanna do is laugh at a chichora. Godspeed Baji and hand me a samosa."

Omelette du Fromage

2010-01-29T02:03:00.003-06:00

I received a lovely package in the mail today! And it's from none other than India (aka Zarga.) So what did she send me?

An Eiffel Tower keychain!

And now I can add it to my growing collection of keychains!

A portrait of my sister

2010-01-22T03:37:00.004-06:00

So first read this and then scroll down for the masterpiece:

Last summer my cousins from Karachi visited my family in Miami and I took a couple trips down to Miami to meet up with them. During those trips, I became best friends with my then 13-year old cousin.

For the sake of my few readers, I will whisper the name of my cousin.

(change to old Latin accent like the dude from dos equis)

You must know that you should be honored to know his name. His way is unique, his style is oblique. He won't see you later...

His name is***ali gator***

So Ali and I became good friends throughout the summer (we even let Poops become a part of our gang.) One evening, Ali, his sister, me, and my sister were sitting in the living room totally bored. So we came up with a game: let's draw each other! So each of us took turns caricaturing each other. An example is: first we picked my sister, Natasha. So Ali, Ramsha (Ali's sister) and I would draw Natasha and then we would all show our drawings when we were done. And then we would pick the next person and do the same.

So anyways, the first person we picked to draw was Natasha. I overdid it with the details and comment bubbles and Ramsha I think drew a "beautiful" picture of Natasha (I can't remember, there were too many pictures that summer) and then the master, the guru ali gator showed off his masterpiece...

...and ever since then, I can only whisper his name.

p.s. I shoulda posted a pic of my sis for you to fully appreciate this

My enemy

2010-01-22T02:54:00.003-06:00

For those of you who use basmati rice, maybe you'll understand. For those who don't use it and just eat it (Poops) here's an explanation of why basmati rice bags are my enemy:

Every few weeks or months, that time rolls around. What is that time, you ask? That time when you've run out of rice and you reach for a new bag. What kind of bag, you ask? A burlap bag filled with 10 pounds of rice. And why is that my enemy, you ask? BECAUSE IT'S GOT A MIND OF ITS OWN!

These bags are sewn shut and the little thread at the end of each side can either make your day....or break it. In my life, I've only ever successfully properly opened a bag of rice twice. One was 3 months ago, and one was 9 years ago.

Understandably, this isn't really the greateste issue in the world to be concerned with at the moment, but really...am I the only one who has this problem?

Jeepers...I can't believe I did a whole thing about the string on the burlap of a 10 pound rice bag.

*note: this picture is from my successful attempt 3 months ago. I was so happy, I had to take a picture. I hate the bag I just murdered yesterday (well if you can't work out the thread you have to go at it with scissors!)

So where have I been?

2010-01-14T23:14:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone, (or anyone….anyone there?)

My God, it’s been months since I’ve written here. I honestly don’t know why it’s been months. I guess I could go with the usual “I had a nervous breakdown,” “I had a spiritual crisis,” “I didn’t know what to write about.”

But that’s a cop out. I guess what best sums up my absence is that I felt like I wasn’t posting anything worthwhile. And while the whole premise of this blog was to post things I would normally share with my friends were we all together again, I guess I felt like what’s the point? Who wants to see my Eid flowers or my decadently delicious 3-minute yumyum?

Poops kept pointing out to me every few weeks or so that I hadn’t posted anything and that who cares what I post, I can’t be helping humanity every moment and with everything I do. (More on my humanity trip sometime later.) So of course, who listens to Poops (it’s true, Poops.)

Then, something so out of the ordinary happened. Something which I couldn’t even believe would EVER….EVER happen. Did I mention EVER? POOPS MADE A BLOG.

Omg omg omg….(I hate all this shorthand talk but the situation requires it) O-M-G!!! Wtf is Poops blogging about? Wha…why…augh.

And like a true soul-mate, Poops knew just how to get me blogging again: getting me angry and embarrassed.

So to anyone out there who still considers this pointless blog worth reading...it’s great to be back!
Oh and if anyone, oh God, I can’t believe I’m “advertising” this…if anyone wants to read Poops’ blog…here’s the address: http://unknown-whtever.blogspot.com/

However, I must warn you, even “I” don’t understand 70% of what he writes about (the few posts that he has) so you’ve been warned. And come to think of it, I don’t think anyone BUT a Pakistani male would understand what he’s talking about. So yeah, if you have a Pakistani male in your life who doesn’t care for spelling or grammar (mostly grammar) and keeps up with cricket (that’s 50% of the posts) and Pak politics…then point ‘em to poops.

Have a Laugh 8

2009-09-29T13:35:00.001-05:00

This dude is too funny...

So can I still say Eid Mubarak?

2009-09-26T02:38:00.005-05:00

ok, Eid Mubarak!

Here's some flowers we picked up at the farmers market the day before Eid.

This is the oddest flower I've ever seen. It's like a velvety cauliflower type of thing. The only thing that scares me is the underbelly of this monster...it's all weird looking. By the way, I get very easily creeped out by even uncreepy things. One time, back in high school, they were selling sunflowers, so I decided to get one for my mom (I know, I know...I'm too sweet.) But I had no idea sunflowers were so huge! I only ever saw them in like books or cartoons, I had no idea they were like 3 feet long! And so I bought one (it was like $3) and I'm carrying it to my school bus and while I'm walking I stare into its eye (you know, the black/brown part of it) and it totally creeped me out and my automatic reaction was to drop it real hard and I ended up hitting my hand really hard on a wall. So yeah...not the most exciting story but even with this red velvet monster here, I had to have poops put it in the vase.

So did you buy anything to liven up your home during Eid?

Have a Laugh 7

2009-09-17T08:21:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite "The Office" scenes:

And just in case you have some extra minutes, check this out:

3-Minute YumYum

2009-09-14T03:11:00.002-05:00

Don't judge me. It's Ramadan.

This man is a genius

2009-09-14T02:44:00.002-05:00

It's things like this that are so hard for an American of my pop cultural generation to explain to non-Americans (aka Poops) why this is so funny. Or am I the only one who thinks this is funny?

Well, better yet, I'll be George Bush for a second: If you find this funny, you're American. If you...if you...uh if you don't find this funny you're uh you're not American....you're the enemy (aka Poops.)

Free Islamic TV

2009-09-12T02:08:00.002-05:00

In case, you don't know about this website or any other websites to watch Islamic channels, I came across this one

http://www.muslimvideo.com/live/

Just choose the language and then you can choose the channel you want to watch. They're all live streaming channels. Under English, there's Peace TV India, UK, and USA, Huda TV, Press TV, etc..

Enjoy!

Posted by Zarga

THANK YOU TO TUTTIE!

2009-09-11T23:07:00.003-05:00

Thanks to tuttie from Trying to Take Over the World, the spanish lady hasn't called me yet!

To find out the story behind this, read this post and this post.

thanks again!

Tafheem-ul-Qur'an

2009-09-10T00:49:00.002-05:00

This is a great website for commentary on the Qur'an.

It's an English translation of the work by Abul Ala Maududi called Tafheem-ul-Quran.

It's easy to use the website, you can choose the surah and the ayat on the top. And also if you click on any of the Arabic it will recite it for you too.

This website has been my companion all throughout Ramadan along with a hard copy of the Qur'an I have with English translation as well. But I prefer the commentary by Maududi.

Anyways, Insh'Allah we can all still benefit from all the scholars who have worked so hard to provide us with understanding and commentary about the Qur'an.

And the saga continues...

2009-09-09T18:25:00.002-05:00

shealakhan: omg the sspanish lady called again

Fahd: haha

shealakhan: i didnt pick up
just let it ring

Fahd: why don't u tell her not to call
otherwise I will call the police

shealakhan: i think she left a message

Fahd: lol

shealakhan: i just heard the tuntun
but it might just be her
saying
ayyyyy

Fahd: hahahaha

PLEASE ANYONE OUT THERE, WHO IS WILLING TO TAKE THIS LADY'S PHONE NUMBER FROM ME AND CALL HER AND TELL HER THE TRUTH! HELP ME OUT SOMEONE! AYYYYYYYYYYYY

Ramadan Commercials

2009-09-09T05:23:00.002-05:00

I should have posted these earlier but it's still Ramadan, Alhumdulillah, so enjoy! Some of them I've seen on the Pakistani channels we have and some I just came across on youtube.
The first set is ads by Olper's (Milk brand) and they're from this year as well as years before:

I like this next one from Olper's because of the two kids who seem to be fasting for the first time.

A Haleeb (also a milk brand) commercial:

Coca-Cola ads:

This next one is found in many languages but I'm posting the Urdu one. The baby is shocked at how amazing everything is during this month. He sees that his brother and sister aren't fighting, when he cries and wakes up in the morning and his mom takes him outside he sees everyone is already up before him, and he sees how everyone at the end is gathered together at the table to eat and says "wow what a fantastic month this is, can't we do this all the time?"

I don't know about other countries, but a child's first Roza (fast) is celebrated (not like a grand party but just everyone is happy and does special things.) Like that Olper's ad above with the kids above who were fasting for the first time and so their whole family was happy and now this ad is very touching. It's a family whose driver (who apparently lives nearby in a smaller house) tells the family that his son is fasting for the first time so the kids of the first family do something sweet (watch the ad for it.) Wall's is an ice cream company.

And now, by far, the funniest Ramadan ad I have ever seen:

Olive Chicken Tajine...Without the tajine!

2009-09-09T01:08:00.012-05:00

Tajines are a big part of Algerian cooking, the most famous ones are olive chicken tajine and chicken tajine with dates:)

This weekend I made olive chicken tajine, without the tajine pot lol. I haven't been able to find one, the only one I saw was at Ikea, but I don't know, I didn't really like it. So anyways, it's super easy to make tajine without it, just use a pressure cooker, or a relugar large pot with a lid.

Ingredients:
Carrots ( I used 4)
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tblsp of tumeric, pepper, cinnamon
1 pinch of salt (go very light on the salt, bc the olives are already salty)
1 regular sized jar of olives ( I used the green ones, with the red pepper inside)
1/2-1 cup of water
Chicken breast
4 regular sized potatoes
parsley ( I used cilantro)

Caramelize the onions in olive oil, after 3, 4 minutes add chopped garlic

add the carrots...

Once the carrots have softened, add the chicken ( I used two chicken breasts). Cook the chicken until it becomes kind of golden

add the spices, except the tumeric, add the olives. Let the chicken cook a few more minutes.

add the tumeric, potatoes, parsley, or cilantro.
Now add the water start with 1/2 a cup, cover and pressure cook for 15-20 minutes. Check every now and then to see if you want to add more water...

Voila! Hope u liked the recipe:)

P.S. Sorry about the quality of the pics, but my camera wasn't working, so I had to use my blueberry lol (wink wink Sheala).

Posted by Zarga

Steak & Tikka

2009-09-06T03:25:00.003-05:00

Look at those babies...

Jameelah's Banana Bread

2009-09-06T03:19:00.002-05:00

Blend:

1 1/2 cup sugar (I use brown)

3/4 cup butter

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add:

3 cups flour (I used 2 whole wheat and 1 white)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

mush 4 ripe bananas and stir them in

Grease and flour pan and cook on 350 for 45 min.

Fruit Chaat (Fruit Salad)

2009-09-06T02:58:00.006-05:00

This is my version (or rather, my mom's version) of Fruit Chaat. Guava pulp takes it to another level, so I always buy the frozen kind and take out a piece each time I make Fruit Chaat.

I'm not much of a fruit person so I stick to bananas, apples, and oranges (poops likes to add grapes so I just throw some in for him.) And that's some frozen guava pulp in the bowl.

After chopping up the fruits, add some sugar (a couple of tiny teaspoons) and sprinkling some fruit chaat seasoning is optional.

Mix it all together and voila!

By the way, that's some pakoras on the left and biryani on the right with some raita and cucumbers on the bottom.

Musings of My Beloved 4

2009-09-01T02:34:00.004-05:00

Some old lady in Miami keeps calling me...ALL THE TIME. She's got the wrong number. But I think the lady only speaks spanish so everytime she calls and I pick up, I say to her, "Sorry, wrong number." She says, "Ay ok, thAnk q."

Anyways, it's gotten so annoying that now I don't even pick up and I let the phong ring...HELLO LADY I'M OBVIOUSLY NOT THE PERSON YOU'RE TRYING TO REACH!

Who knows, maybe she got played by some Rico Suave she met on a cruise and he gave her my number instead. Or she's trying to reach her grandchildren who probably also gave her the wrong number cuz she so obviously can't take a hint. Augh...old spanish lady in Miami, stop calling me.

So you're probably wondering...why is this titled Musings of My Beloved, right? (Just humor me and pretend you were wondering it.)

Well poops (you all should know who this is but just in case you don't, it's Beloved's real name and from now on I'm referring to him as poops on here cuz it just makes the writing more natural) and I were driving to our city's main desi area to get some food or something (yeah right, it's always food) and I was going through my call log and told poops about the old spanish lady in Miami who keeps calling me and he gave me a mediocre idea, he said I should just record my voicemail greeting thing in spanish telling the lady that it's not cool to call me and that I'm going to report her to the police. I, of course, didn't laugh out loud at poops' idea and thought he could do better. And I also told him my spanish sucked and that I couldn't probably muster up a greeting to say all that, nor come up with what's spanish for wrong number except for "numero incorrecto." So then poops, in all his brilliance, told me what I should record on my voicemail. Beware, the following is a presentation brought to you by poops and his "all languages that aren't english and urdu sound the same to me" prejudice:

Me: (unprepared for the horror that was about to come)

Poops: Fi espanol same aurato!

Me: (horrified and peeing my pants with laughter (yes, poops, it happened...just a little bit though))

In case you don't get what was pee-worthy, poops managed to incorporate 4 different languages into a 4 word sentence. And none of it makes sense.

Fi = Arabic for in

Espanol = Spanish for Spanish

Same = English for same

Aurat = Urdu for woman and poops added an O to aurat to make it more Spanish I guess

Ah well...

Fire!

2009-08-30T00:02:00.003-05:00

While I was cooking today, I went to the living room to look out the window, I like doing this I don't know why lol, and this is what I saw!!

No that's not a cloud! It's smoke! There's a fire that's been burning since Thursday and they're still trying to put it out. I didn't realize it was so close to where I live. Yup, welcome to Cali:(

Posted by Zarga

Tonight's Iftar

2009-08-29T23:55:00.004-05:00

Tonight I made lentils, it really filled me up:) I also made some cucumbers in a yogurt, mint, garlic sauce.

Sorry I did take a picture of them in a nice bowl, just in the pot! lol o and I forgot to take a picture of the cucumbers! Sorry:(

Posted by Zarga

Sweets for Ramadan

2009-08-29T21:07:00.003-05:00

Ghribiya b'zzit- I don't know how to translate in English, but it is basically a type of cookie made with flour and oil. They are very good with coffee and tea:)

It is very simple to make: 5 cups of flour, 2.5 cups of sugar, 2 cups of oil, mix with you hands until you get a kind of greasy paste (if that makes any sense lol). If the mix is to sandy, add more oil, or if too liquidy, add flour.

Then form small balls, about the size of a mandarin, and roll it between hands. It should have the shape of little pyramid, mine don't look as nice, but they're still good!

Then place them on a greased pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. O I forgot! before placing them in the oven you can sprinkle with cinnamon, or add an almond in the middle.

Enjoy!

Posted by Zarga

Mahkouda!

2009-08-29T13:20:00.012-05:00

So this is my first Ramadan cooking post. Unfortunately it's gonna be simple! After work yesterday, I didn't have much time to cook, and surprisingly, I wasn't very hungry. Soooo... I made one of my fav things... Mahkouda!! These are medium-sized potatoe cakes, they are typical of Oran, Algeria. Mahkouda, usually accompany fish dishes or lentil soup, but I like them with anything!

Again, I apologize but the photography is gonna be very simple:) Here are the ingredients you will need:
1)about 15-20 regular sized potatoes ( I use between 8-10, because I'm cooking just for myself).
2) parsley or cilantro ( I prefer cilantro)
3) salt, pepper, tumeric or safron (I use tumeric, safron is expensive and I can't find any!)
4)4 eggs (if using 8-10 potatoes use 1 or 2 eggs)
5) onion
6) cooking oil

1st I boiled the potatoes for about 35 minutes (it's best to cook them a while, so they won't be hard)
Then while the potatoes are boiling prepare the chopped onion and parsley. This time I will be using cilantro.

Now I wouldn't be able to give you any measurements for this, I just chop until I think it is enough. Here I filled up half way a small bowl (If that helps any lol)

Then once the potatoes are ready, peel them and then put them in a large bowl and mash! Once you have made mash potatoes, add on spoon of salt, pepper, tumeric (thats what I used), and crack the eggs into the mix;

Here I used 3 eggs, but I should have used 1 or 2, because then it became to mushy! lol
I also like to add one full spoon of pepper, because I prefer the cakes a little spicy, but if not you can just put a regular sized spoon of pepper.

After, you mix everything by hand until you see that all the ingredients are mixed into the potatoes.
I know it doesnt look very tasty, but it will be after!
Now take some of the mashed potatoes and form balls. Then place the potatoe ball into a pan prepared with hot oil, flatten them a bit, and set the temperature to around medium-low to cook them.

Let them cook for about 4 minutes on each side then flip over. I couldn't fit all the potatoe balls in the pan, but I was able to make 8 cakes.

Here is what they should look like when they are just about ready;

Then once they are pretty much brown and starting to look crispy lol, remove them from the pan and place them on a plate with a paper napkin, to soak up the grease;

Unfortunately, this a kind of greasy food. I know it doesn't look like much, but they are sooo yummy! I also like to eat them alone or with a salad, and you can also prepare a dip to eat them with.

Hope you enjoy!

Posted by Zarga

Hijab Discrimination in France

2009-08-28T14:36:00.004-05:00

Another issue about Hijab in France. It makes me sad to see a country that is so liberal and advanced in many ways, supress it's Muslimah FRENCH CITIZENS. The worst part is that many of these young girls that are experiencing this discrimination, are 3rd or 4th generation French Citizens, and they are still treated as foreigners...

The Huffington Post:

"France caused a stir in the Muslim world in 2004 with a law barring the hijab (headscarf) and all other religious clothing from state primary and secondary schools. Earlier this month, a Paris swimming pool refused entry to a young Muslim woman wearing a burqini, a swimsuit that covers most of the body. Earlier this week, Société Générale, one of France's largest Banks, refused to let a 24-year-old female Muslim customer enter the bank, unless she removed her headscarf. The hijab-wearing woman said that her face was visible and she posed no security risk to the bank. She also said that she will be suing the bank. "

Check ou the video report:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/27/france-woman-wearing-hija_n_270436.html

Posted by Zarga

Musings of My Beloved 3

2009-08-28T10:14:00.003-05:00

This is a short google chat I had with Beloved (aka poops) yesterday while he was at work and I was at home:

Fahd: wht r u gonna shake and bake today
Sheala: what do u want
Fahd: anything
okie let me tell you
Sheala: lol
Fahd: I want roh afza the frozen one
+ Pakoras (Both types)
+ Fruit Chat (that we already have)
+ TACOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
:)
do you think u can do it
Sheala: sure

(20 min later I started watching Duplicity with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.)

Sheala: this movie is more efor u
i have no idea whats going o
n
Fahd: lol
what is the movie abt
Sheala: spies i THINK
Fahd: hmm
Sheala: i mean but done in comedy style
Fahd: acha
Sheala: like how oceans eleven is comedy style
but serious subject
Fahd: like miss congineality
how ever it is spelled
Sheala: no poops
miss congeniality
was a comedy
Fahd: okie

And the night before, I caught the last few minutes of Princess Diaries 2 on tv (come on, you don't have to admit it but every girl loves the Princess Diaries movies...right?...right???) And this is how the chat went:

(Poops and I are sitting on the couch watching the last few minutes)

Poops: She's so pretty when she doesn't smile
Me: What do you mean? She's pretty all the time. She's the princess.
Poops: No, when she smiles she looks like Mickey Mouse.
Me: Mickey Mouse? WTF?
Poops: Yeah, like Mickey Mouse. Look her smile is weird and her ears are huge.
Me: um...
Poops: I don't mean Mickey Mouse I mean Mickey Mice.
Me. ummmmm......what?
Poops: She looks like Mickey Mice.
Me: What are Mickey Mice?
Poops: The girl Mickey Mouse...you know...his girlfriend.
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......You mean...Minnie Mouse?
Poops: Oh, I thought it was Mickey Mice.
Me: oh poops

Haleem

2009-08-24T21:55:00.006-05:00

Haleem is one of my favorite dishes and I LOVE my mom's haleem! My mom of course uses her own recipe and makes it so yummy!

A lot of Pakistani/Indian grocery stores carry easy-to-make haleem boxes which contain everything you need to make it at home (except for the meat, of course.) So here I've posted some (ok, a lot) of pictures to show you how easy it is to make. So go ahead and try it! (And you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Bon appetit!

Picture Credit: Beloved

Sweets!

2009-08-24T16:06:00.002-05:00

These are some sweets we got over the weekend. That there on the left is pretty obvious - DATES! To the right are sweetmeats (Mithai in Urdu,) the yellow ones are called "coconut sandwich" by the Mithai store and the green ones are "burfi." Towards the bottom there we have "jalebi" which Beloved loves.

Which sweets have you gotten to reward your tongue and tummy after a day's fast?

Ramadan Kareem!

2009-08-22T03:01:00.004-05:00

Ramadan Kareem to the Muslim Ummah, may we increase our good deeds, du'as, may we strive to pray our salat on time, and may we be more merciful

(Sheala, this is the inside of the masjid we went to in London and we met the Pakistani woman and her daughter)

Posted by India

Ramadan Mubarak!

2009-08-21T15:44:00.003-05:00

Everyone's been posting/sending cute or beautiful pictures of Ramdan Mubarak cards and I thought I would post a picture I took myself (just to be spontaneous.) This is the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Julie & Julia & Us & Our Cookbooks

2009-08-19T13:21:00.007-05:00

Click here to find out what the Chapati Ratings System is.

Julie & Julia

2.2 chapatis + .3 chapatis just because it's about food = 2.5 chapatis

I felt refreshed after this movie, it was like taking a walk through a beautiful garden on a perfectly windy day. This movie didn't have the typical movie formula (antagonist and protagonist, challenges and side-stories, climax and meaningful ending)...ok there maybe was a meaningful ending...but I can't tell you everything.

What I did love about this movie was that I ended up wanting to pop open those gazillion cookbooks that are so neatly filed into my bookshelf. Let's face it, we buy cookbooks mostly because they're either on sale (don't be shy, we all browse the Barnes&Noble Bargain bookshelves,) or we catch one of the many cooking shows on the Food Network and think if that fat guy can do it I can do it too, or we go to a country (Morocco's tagines and appetizers will forever haunt my culinary dreams) whose food we like, or we eat something different and exciting at a friend's house and hope we can prepare something just as awesome so our beloveds will forever be in our debt.

Alas, we end up collecting cookbooks for whatever reason tickled our fancy and we open the books only to find out that buying all those ingredients for that one dish will be moderately cash-consuming. Not to mention who has the space to store an ingredient we might just use only once and sometimes just use one teaspoon of it, (darn you, Indian cookbooks!) Because let's face it, we bought the book to cook the dishes we thought were easy enough for us to cook, and that ends up being anywhere from 2-7 dishes in a 100 dish book. So we put away our cookbooks promising ourselves that one day we'll visit it again.

My suggestion: Watch this movie and ladies your promised day may come sooner. I do recommend watching this movie even with your husband (who may be hesitant at first because it's a supposed "chickflick".) It's a 2.5hr long movie but you won't even once look at your watch to check the time. Check out Julie & Julia in theatres before it hits DVD, and the experience will be better, plus you'll love seeing Paris in the early 1950s on a bigger screen.

Cool Idea...

2009-08-16T09:00:00.002-05:00

I was planning on doing a series of Iftar ideas by giving recipes and taking pictures of the food I myself made and I ~~forced~~ insisted Jameelah and India also post recipes and pictures of their Iftar meals. And going with that theme, the lovely lady at SimplyRamadan is holding a contest for the best Iftar recipe.
Now Jameelah and India I hope you guys make some deliciousness this Ramadan and take pics! Visit the site listed in the picture above http://www.simplyramadan.blogspot.com/ for other Ramadan-related goodness.

Have a Laugh 6

2009-08-13T17:26:00.002-05:00

Last week I went to my local Arab grocery store (for halal meat and other deliciousness) and upon exiting the store I noticed a stack of glossy post-card-sized flyers (make sense?) So anyways the title caught my eye and I decided I had to take one and share it with you (you can thank me later.)

I had beloved scan the flyer at work, that's why it's in black and white. Then beloved introduced me to some software program thing which allowed me to add my comments. So the following is my editing and commentary to this flyer, enjoy! (oh and click on it to make it bigger) (oh and beloved forgot to scan the other side of the flyer so this is just the front)

Bollywood Hero

2009-08-03T19:53:00.001-05:00

I don't know who out there has the IFC channel (I do, pshht) but there's going to be an interesting show on there starting August 6th called Bollywood Hero. I'm going to post the link to the show's website: Bollywood Hero

The Eyebrows Have It

2009-08-03T17:43:00.005-05:00

I decided that there were some famous women who needed to be recognized for something other than their acting or singing...their EYEBROWS. These legendary actresses will hopefully inspire those of you (you know who you are (wink wink)) to stop tweezing, waxing, threading your eyebrows. Let's go through the decades with these beautiful ladies and their neatly trimmed but unchanged eyebrows.

Audrey Hepburn

How beautiful does she look? Even this petite lady was able to pull of dark, full eyebrows.

Elizabeth Taylor

Classic beauty most definitely. And although the eyebrows have been shaped, the thickness is still there.

Keira Knightley

One of my favorite modern actresses; I'm glad she didn't fall into the thin eyebrows trend.

Brooke Shields
She was the epitome of youthful beauty in the 1980s, especially after Blue Lagoon.

Natalie Portman
A very talented actress who, although has tweaked her eyebrows, still retains the essence of full brows.

Jennifer Connelly

Very famous for her thick eyebrows which almost form a unibrow. I think without the eyebrows she wouldn't look half as pretty as she looks now.

Rachel Weisz
We all fell in love with her in The Mummy, and since then fell in love with her eyebrows.

Madonna
The best for last. I love her eyebrows (her eyebrows in the 1980s) and I wish she hadn't thinned them out since then.

My favorite picture of Madonna's eyebrows

Hmm...

2009-08-03T01:18:00.001-05:00

Does anyone else think that Canadian comedian Russell Peters...
looks like small-time actor Kurt Fuller?

Spicy Indian Snack

2009-08-02T01:39:00.003-05:00

Ok this is for professionals only...even I couldn't eat this thing. It was spicyyyyyy. But I just wanted to show my mom what it looked like lol. I present to you cup o' Indian spicy rice snack.

Seriously, do not eat this unless you have a whole bottle of Pepto waiting for you by the toilet.

Jal

2009-07-31T21:21:00.006-05:00

The other morning at work, my "undercover racist" co worker was listening to a song on Youtube, and from my desk I could hear it. I started listening to the song, and I said to myself "what is Joe listening to??, that's not rock music!" (Now from spending time with you (Sheala) in Morocco and at your house, I've come to recognize pakistani music). Apparently Joe, my co worker, was listening to a song called "Kash Yeh Pal" by the Pakistani group Jal, naturally I was shocked, so I got up to see what he was doing. He tells me, "Even though it is Indian, I really like this song! It's cool", now it has always bothered me when people call Pakistanis, Indians, I mean it's two different countries, get it correct! But anyways... so then I tell him "No Joe, they're Pakistani, see it says it next to the video", Joe-with a very confused look on his face, says "It's what?? Yea Indian, like the corner store people, is that what you mean?" My temper started to rise, but I wanted to keep calm, I was at work, plus it's not worth it to get all worked up because of someone's ignorance! So I wa nice enough to show him a map on google, so he could understand what I was talking about... Then he gets all offended, because he thinks I'm being arrogant and trying to show off! So I just let it go.

To make a long story short, I really liked the song he was listening to! So here it is:

Side note: I call my coworker "undercover racist" because he tends to use racial slurs alot, but then gets all defensive when you tell him that he shouldn't talk about people like that, and says "O, but I'm not racist, I'm just saying.... BLAH BLAH BLAH!"

Posted By Zarga

Hey India

2009-07-31T01:01:00.002-05:00

Hey India, I wanted to see what your Hudatv dude looked like (I still haven't listened to the videos yet) and omg he looks like a lion. Lol he's very Jesus-from-the-old-paintings looking type of person.

Never Been Kissed

2009-07-29T13:42:00.004-05:00

I love Drew Barrymore's movie "Never Been Kissed." And one of the reasons I love that movie so much is because it has one particular person who summed up my perfect man: Michael Vartan.

When I first saw the movie, I fell head over heels in love with Michael Vartan. He was just perfect. And even now when I watch the movie (yeah, it plays a lot on HBO) I get butterflies in my stomach when I see him, and what's more is that I recall how much I used to like him when the movie came out 10 years ago. Does anyone else have any old high school-esque crushes like that?

P.S. I kinda saw a real life version of my high school crush in college. One of my professors towards the last year at university was a full on German version of Michael Vartan. KEE-YUTE!

Married Couples Be Aware!!

2009-07-28T23:46:00.003-05:00

I came across this video on youtube, it's from a series about how shaytan speaks to you. Someone times we say the meanest things when we argue with our spouse, and things that we really regret in the end:(

Posted By INDIA

A letter I wish I could write

2009-07-27T23:51:00.005-05:00

Dear Downstairs Neighbors,

I hate you.

Sincerely,

Upstairs Neighbor

Dear Downstairs Neighbors,

I feel I didn't elaborate thoroughly on my feelings for you. So, here I go: I think your lame ass attempt at being cool by placing a huge wall sized projection screen on the wall beneath my sofa is lame ass. You all, God knows how many of you are living down there, may be in your 20s but that is no excuse to forget that other people live around you (more specifically, ON TOP OF YOU .) Stop trying to act all frat-boyish by playing Rock Band all the time...it's super lame. Stop BLASTING YOUR SURROUND SOUND AT 2AM!!!! I've complained many times, you all still don't care. I've called the main office three times, and supposedly they notified you to cut down on the freakin noise (I highly doubt they ever called you) and my Beloved's even tried to tell you in person to cut down on the noise (you listened once and once you didn't even open your door.) So my dear darling neighbors downstairs, I will take my revenge upon thee next week! Yes, I'm in the midst of finalizing a deal, and you will be the one who will suffer. You may ask, "How?" Well dearies, I will tell you now: God willing next week my 11 and 13 year old cousins will arrive. They're boys. They act 7 and 9. They hate each other. They fight all the time. They chase each other a lot in those fights. A lot of chasing. You will hate yourself. And I'll be all too honored to encourage them to run around.

With all my hate,

Your Upstairs Neighbor

::::UPDATE:::: Turns out my cousins aren't coming. (sigh) Looks like I'll have to take my revenge on my neighbors some other time.

Have a Laugh 5

2009-07-27T23:48:00.001-05:00

The Bangladeshi Wife Workout

2009-07-26T01:21:00.001-05:00

Check out this laugh-out-loud post written by a Bangladeshi lady from the U.K.

testing this thing out

2009-07-23T01:06:00.001-05:00

Natasha in Pink for a Night by Baji featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

Have a Laugh 4

2009-07-23T00:21:00.004-05:00

I happened to stumble across this series of videos exposing a supposed "ex-muslim" who converted to christianity. It's really a funny set of videos. Take the time out to watch them. I'll post the first one:

Cacheevo

2009-07-22T00:40:00.003-05:00

YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS!!!!

ok so the backstory is that I have xm radio in my car and so most of the time I just listen to the comedy stations on there, now since the year that I've had xm, I've heard this bit called "cacheevo" like 3 or 4 times already and it's extremely addictive, so I thought I would share cacheevo with the world.
And so, world, I present to you the glory that is ...Cacheevo.

p.s. I was unable to find a youtube video for this so you will have to settle for this link.

CLICK HERE FOR CACHEEVO

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-21T23:46:00.004-05:00

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - 2.4 Chapatis

This movie was actually pretty scary compared to the previous ones (as scary as Harry Potter movies can get. ) But it was the first movie I felt wasn't a complete story. I guess since we're coming to the end of the series this movie was more of a set-up for the next two.

Anyways, kudos to the film-makers, there was great attention to detail (in terms of cinematography) which is what I love in a movie. And yeah, we lose a great character at the end.

My suggestion: If the last time you saw a Harry Potter movie was over a year ago or if you've skipped a couple of movies from the series, then do yourself a favor and rent all of them and have at it in a week. THEN go watch this movie. And please don't think you have to have read the books to watch the movie, I never read a single one of them (big surprise, eh?) The scripts of the movies have been changed to allow non-readers to also enjoy the movies (and J.K. Rowling actually approves every script.)

And yes this next thing is a very nerdy thing to do on my behalf, but here is a link to answer every question you may have when you're catching up on your Harry Potter series: click here

And note to Bollywood: PLEASE DON'T EVER DO THIS AGAIN:

The movie starts around 1:35 and the ridiculousity starts at 1:55. If you have lost your mind for some reason, you have my permission to watch the entire film on youtube by clicking on the subsequent parts.

Songs that get stuck in your head: Like a Prayer

2009-07-21T14:24:00.001-05:00

Musings of My Beloved 2

2009-07-20T16:29:00.004-05:00

You can see a whole bunch of these little fellas running around here in Illinois:

This isn't a picture I took, but it closely resembles the kind I've seen here. It's called the Eastern Grey Squirrel.

It's quite common to cross paths with one of these little fellas and Beloved has on more than one occasion joyfully pointed at the little fellas and said to me, "Look, a chimpunk!"

It's not a typo, he said chiMpunk.

Anyways, if that didn't make you giggle this sure will:

I wonder what Smokey the Bear would say about this.

Long List o' Movies

2009-07-19T03:17:00.012-05:00

So to begin this long list of movie reviews, you may have to familiarize yourself with the Chapati Ratings System.

KNOWING on DVD– 1.2 CHAPATIS
I was pretty excited to see this movie when I first heard about it. But it was a pretty lame movie.
(Warning spoiler ahead)
I do like that it used the Islamic concept that the Earth will be destroyed by the sun (more or less) but I just can’t get how they ended the story by a couple of kids across the globe being saved to repopulate another “Earth.” Lame-o.
My suggestion: Watch only if you’re flying and you’ve seen all the other available movies on your personal tv.

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPOHOLIC- 1.5 Chapatis
I wish this movie had more of the Sex and the City and Devil Wears Prada fashion sense. But this movie was about A shopoholic, so you get exactly what the title says. And there’s really no confessions…she just has a shopping problem. I wish it was more about the clothes and accessories, this movie had the potential to launch Isla Fisher into the league of Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker as icons and whose dresses we all think about with just one mention. Heck, I even remember Anne Hathaway’s thigh high boots in Devil Wears Prada when she first surprises her boyfriend with her new look. What a waste of a movie. But, Isla Fisher does look cute and one thing I DO like is that they use some of her outfit more than once.
My suggestion: Rent it if you’re a girl and can handle predictable movies.

Pink Panther 2 – 2 chapatis
Ok , I have to admit, I didn’t see the first Pink Panther . So I guess I cant say if this one was better or worse than the first one. However, I did enjoy it and actually laughed out loud a few times. I did kind of guess who was the real jewel theif in the first quarter of the movie, but I’m pretty sure this movie was just aimed at laughs and not really boggling the viewer’s mind as to who could be the theif.
My suggestion: Rent it if your weekend is free and without giving away too much, be ready to laugh at around the 28minute mark when Andy Garcia is telling Steve Martin “all day the babies.” HILLARIOUS. Followed up with the sushi remark by steve martin…simplicity in comedy at its best.

MADEA GOES TO JAIL – .75 CHAPATI
I just have a problem where I have to watch all of Tyler Perry’s movies so yeah, watching this movie was a result ofmy problem. Pretty predictable. But if you have the same problem as me, well I guess then watch it.
My suggestion: If this is all that’s playing on the plane, take a nap.

Gran Torino – 2.8 chapatis
Awesome movie. Watch it. Now. Go rent it. I will pay you the dollar to rent it. I love Clint Eastwood. And as a sidenote, if you think Clint’s character is a little like mine (in terms of grumpiness and the remarks) then I consider it an honor. An honor that I have only bettered and enhanced your life with my character. HUAH

He’s just not that into you – 1chapati
I guess sooo many actors and sooo many storylines make a viewer go nuts. That’s what happened when I saw this movie…I became a nut. Movie was blah. Yawn. Blah blah. Yaaawwn.
My suggestion: can you handle cheese? Do you like cheese on your burgers and do you let the waiter at cheesecake factory grate parmesan on your pasta? Then go for it, watch the movie.

Revolutionary Road- 2.8 chapatis
I would say that only those who are married should watch this movie. Better yet, only those who have been married less than 3 years. Better yet, ladies, watch it without your husband first, then you can judge if he should watch it. Amazing movie. Yes, there’s a “dirty cheating on your partner” part here or there. But nevermind that. You will see yourself in Kate Winslet’s character, not going to say anymore for fear of spoiling it.
My suggestion: Watch it if you meet the above requirements.

New in Town: 1 chapati
Watch it if you’re with people of varying ages. Otherwise watch it on a plane. That’s my only suggestion.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop – 2 chapatis
I love Kevin James so im biased with this movie. My favorite is when he’s hanging from the ceiling pretending to be one of the mannequins…hillarity hath ensueth.
My suggestion: Yeah, rent it and watch it with everyone.

Taken – 1.9 chapatis
All in all a pretty good movie and really liked that it was a different story and was showing a problem in the world that not many people know exists. The only reason this is a 1.9 and not a 2.2 is because Liam Neeson speaks English the whole freakin time! He’s freakin in France and pretending to be a cop (oh yeah, sorry, spoiler alert) and speaks English to everyone and no one scratches their head and gives it a second thought. I guess they were trying to save money on either giving Liam Neeson French lessons or saving money on posting subtitles. Either or, it was pretty weird!
My suggestion: Watch this movie when possible, the movie showcases a worldwide problem that many people, including myself, aren’t educated about.

Bride Wars: 1.5 chapatis
Girl movie. And as a girl, there’s certain movies we have to watch regardless of how un-great they are.
My suggestion: If you’re having a slumber party, rent Bride Wars, He’s just not that into you, and Confessions of a Shopoholic. You will dread your next menses.

The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1 chapati
Now I’m all for destroying-the-Earth movies, but I guess there’s only so much of a story that the writers can come up with. Don’t get me wrong, the graphics in this movie and Knowing were cool and if my rating included the graphics the ratings on these movies would be higher. Good message in the movie though, although I still think it should be mandatory for everyone to have to take the AP Environmental Science class I took in high school, it’s scared the bejeezus out of me since 11th grade. It’s the reason I’ll make sure a napkin is used all the way through before I throw it away.
My suggestion: this is the boy response to all the girl movies I listed.

YES MAN – 1.6 CHAPATIS
Movie was nice and got me thinking what my life would be like if I started saying “yes” more. Eh, I guess none of us will ever know.
My suggestion: watch it on a plane, if your plane doesn’t have it, request it. If the crew wont comply, watch another movie. :-D

Bedtime Stories – 1.9 chapatis
I’m a pretty huge Adam Sandler fan and so it pains me to give any of his movies anything lower than three whole chapatis. But this movie lacked the imagination I was assuming would prevail from this movie. But still a pretty good movie to watch with those who are young.
My suggestion: Definitely watch if there’s someone under fifteen in your household. Or wait, under 13 I guess, cuz even 14 and 15 year olds are so “Emo” and supercool now. Jeez, how quick the generations change.

Marley & Me - .5 chapati
Ok I gave this movie a chance, especially since it was filmed in the sunshine state (holla) but I gave up on this movie. I saw like the first hour and had to shut it off. What was the point of this movie again…?
Anyways, my suggestion: BURN THIS MOVIE WHEREVER YOU FIND IT. Kick it. Punch it. Douse it in gasoline and light it up, baby.

BOLT-2.2 CHAPATIS
I like this movie, it’s a unique story. I laughed silently quite a few times. Yeah, watch it if you’ve had a rouch day. Trust me, the first 5minutes I was like wtf?! Then few minutes later you realize the story.
My Suggestion: Definitely watchable with family, and I actually think it’s required watching by the family bureau. So yeah, watch it.

Quantum of Solace – no rating
This is the first 007 movie I’ve seen and really I cant much remember the story. I think I did like it while watching it but wanted to rip apart my toes after it ended from wtf’ing too much. Ok ill give it a rating: 1.5 chapatis.

TRANSPORTER 3 - 1.5 CHAPATIS
I love Jason Statham so I guess that’s why I even saw this movie. It’s not as good as the previous ones, but it still does the job. And what’s up with all these Eastern European/Russian girls in his movies? Anyways, yeah watch it if you like Statham vroom vrooming your engine.

AUSTRALIA – 3 CHAPATIS +EXTRA DOUBLE-ROTI
Ah, saved the best for last. Now I know it didn’t get great reviews, very few people liked the movie when it came out. So I didn’t start this movie with the best of hopes. But this movie is our Gone With the Wind. Fellow Generation Y’ers, watch this movie and appreciate what the cinema is. This is a film, not a movie. I can’t believe people didn’t like this movie! This was a great experience and as soon as I get an extra 15 bucks I’m buying the DVD.
My suggestion: Pop one bag of popcorn per person (I mean it, it’s a long movie) and go watch it NOW. What are you doing reading my stupid chapati ratings? Go watch this cinematic masterpiece.
P.S. if you don’t fall in love with Australian hunks after seeing Hugh Jackman in this movie, then no amount of prayer can fix your mental stupidity…no amount!

The Chapati Ratings System

2009-07-19T02:14:00.007-05:00

It's been over a month since the last post on here so it's good to be back. Today I'm going to post about some of the movies I've seen on DVD the past couple of weeks/months. So in order to do that, I've created a ratings system. It's called the Chapati Ratings System.

Now to explain the Chapati Ratings System, I shall first have to tell you what a chapati is.

A chapati is like a tortilla and is one of the main kinds of breads used in South Asian homes. An average Pakistani man can eat up to 3 chapatis per meal. So my movie ratings are based on that chapati capacity.

Less than 1 chapati = movie sucked

1-2 chapatis = movie was aite or good

2-3 chapatis = movie was good or great

3 chapatis + double-roti = awesome movie go watch now

Now you may be wondering, what's double-roti? It's what we in Pakistan call a loaf of bread. And sometimes, when we're super hungry and the chapatis that were in front of us finished too quickly, we reach for double-roti to help carry us to our destination.

Comprende?

Hey Nepali baby, stop eating my ratings system! Put down that chapati!

Ok, let's start!

Cupcakes

2009-06-12T23:53:00.005-05:00

After hearing about about Martha Stewart's new book "Cupcakes" I thought about you. I made a mistake, she was actually on the Today Show with Matt Lauer.
I found her website with the cupcake recipes.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/marzipan-bumblebee-on-piped-flower?rsc=also_try

Enjoy! The cupcakes look sooo yummy!

POSTED BY INDIA

Quran Explorer

2009-06-04T02:09:00.003-05:00

An old friend told me about this website with the entire Quran and recitations. It has a function where you can have each ayat or surah, or both repeated several times.
You can also change the type of script and the language you want the surahs to be translated in. in, you can also choose an audio translation in the language of your choice (They also have Urdu translation).

It's a great tool to help in memorizing the surahs. This is how I memorize surahs, (well the few that I know!)

Here is the link....
http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/

Hope you like it!

Posted By India

The Growing Illiteracy Rate in Iraq

2009-05-27T22:54:00.003-05:00

Salam alaykoum!

I was watching the news on Mosaic Link TV, and there was a story from Dubai TV about the growing illiteracy rate in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. There are about 5 million people, most of them young girls, that are illiterate. What's worse is that this number is growing! The state has been trying to set up programs for the the illiterate youth, especially in remote villages. The major contributing factor to growing illiteracy rate, is the ongoing violence that has plagued Iraq; many children have stopped going to school for fear that they may get killed on their way to school. Plus most schools are far from many rural villages.

Now what upsets me the most about this, is that Baghdad was once the center of knowledge for medicine, science, philosophy, literature, and religion! Now because of the West's (AMERICA!) intervention in Iraq, the Iraqi youth, the future, is scared to go to school, and do not even have the basics, reading and writing, as a foundation for their future.

The Muslim Ummah, nations, kingdoms, and republics, need to come together to end this control that Western countries have over OUR Islamic lands. I know I may sounds like a fanatic, radical, whatever, but it hurts me to see that OUR UMMAH, has lost so much power. There are about 57 muslim countries, why can't they just come together and form this Islamic Alliance that has been trying to come to life?? Why must Islamic countries wait for the West's approval?? Now I'm not even going to start talking about Saudi Arabia, because that would be a whole other post!

My opinion about Iraq under Saddam has not changed, it has only been reaffirmed! Now before I go and talk about it some people might take this completely out of proportion and not understand where I'm coming from. Here goes... lol... I believe Iraq was a better nation under Saddam, now of course there were many things that Saddam did that were evil, especially to the Kurds, but he loved his country, its history, and culture. When Saddam was in power, women were more liberated than they are now! (By liberated I mean free to get an education) Under Saddam, schools, universities were filled with female students, they were even more women than men in some schools. Education was strongly promoted under Saddam. I'm not saying that Iraq was a harmonious state, but at least it had its pride! Illiteracy was practically unheard of! Since 2003, the Iraq youth has lost its right to be able to go to school safely, especially young girls who can't even leave their homes without fear of being raped by US SOLDIERS. The youth has become scared to go to school. I truly believe that if Saddam were still alive and in power he would have been one of the main leaders to push for an Islamic Alliance, and many other Muslim nations would have followed suit, instead of bowing down to the US like may countries are doing today.

Maybe I'm getting a bit carried away, but I am truly tired of the hypocrasy of so called "Muslim Nations". Why must our Muslim leaders compromise and sell themselves short, for what? For the US's approval?? Now not all leaders are like this, the ones that stand up and challenge the US are part of the Axis of Evil lol. It's just so ridiculous, the paranoia and Islamphobia that has taken over America.

Well I know I went way of topic, and made many grammatical errors, but I just had to let that out:)

POSTED BY INDIA

"The Arrivals"

2009-05-25T18:16:00.006-05:00

So, this Memorial Weekend was pretty boring for me. I had the day off, but because of my current economic crisis I couldn't do much! lol Noo I'm just being dramatic, Hamdoulillah I have my health, food, and a roof over my head!

Anyways, I was on Youtube looking for interesting things, and I came across a series called "The Arrivals". It basically goes into depth of how Western governments and Media are all part of the Dajjal controlled system a.k.a the Masonic World Order. The series is pretty long, so I just posted up the 3 videos that I found interesting;

The Arrivals pt. 15 (Hollywood & The Promised Land)

The Arrivals pt. 16 (The Media & Islam)

The Arrivals pt. 17 (War on Terror)

Now just a side note, Part 16 about the media in France, is NOT an exaggeration! The comedian Dieudonne was really banned form French TV!

ENJOY!

Posted By INDIA

The Lumpy Thigh Nighmare!!

2009-05-25T13:27:00.006-05:00

I was reading this article on the MSN Health and Fitness section, about "Lumpy, Bumpy Thighs, How to Wipe out Cellulite", naturally this caught my eye! Come on lets just admit it, most women have cellulite, and yes I do too!! That felt sooo liberating! I mean if Kim Kardashian can admit that SHE has cellulite, let's all be open about it.

Ok back to this article, so before I started reading it I was HOPING that they would give tips on what foods to eat or a miracle cream that would wipe away the lumps lol. Unfortunately, none of that was in the article. Sadly, the only solution is exercise grrrr. I've been avoiding that word for so long, but now I've come to grips with the reality that it really is the only solution:( Now I'm sure others can relate, it's pretty hard to get motivated when you've never really been ACTIVE most of your life!

What I like about the article is that it gives you an exact plan of attack, but I don't know about all that running that they're talking about!! lol. Anyways, I've decided that I will begin following this plan, so that my husband won't ask me again, "What's that on your thigh?". But to start, or maybe for the whole plan, I'll substitute the running with INTENSE walking!

So here's the article, I didn't put the whole article, but just the important tips. Also. there are some good exercise tips for those hard to tone areas, butts, thighs, inner thighs, etc...For those of you who are like me I feel your pain, but we are strong women and we can do this :)

Wipe Out Cellulite

A slew of new ingredients and formulas to help.

By Allison Winn Scotch, Prevention

Last year, American women spent nearly $100 million on creams, lotions, and other topical treatments in hopes of eradicating cellulite from our thighs and butts. We're going to make a wild guess that very few of those products worked as well as you'd hoped. That's because, despite its infamy, cellulite is just plain old fat (albeit dressed up in slightly more offensive attire), and a key to minimizing it is to drop pounds, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

But how you lose weight matters: Crash dieting can make cellulite worse by reducing skin's elasticity, making more of those little puckers noticeable. Gradual weight loss (to better preserve skin's suppleness and reduce fat) accompanied by targeted muscle development, which firms and smooths underlying tissue, is the most effective cellulite solution, says Glynis Ablon, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA.

When Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., co-author of No More Cellulite (Perigee, 2003), tested such a strategy on 115 women, all of them reported a reduction in cellulite appearance at the end of 8 weeks, and ultrasound measurements confirmed a higher proportion of muscle to fat in their thigh areas.

Now, it's your turn. This comprehensive exercise and eating plan—based on Westcott's findings—will burn fat, build muscle, and shed pounds safely. We know it's not as easy as applying a cream. But it's more effective. See for yourself

Your plan at a glance

Part 1: Burn off cellulite (five days a week)

Blast fat with two types of cardio routines: Intense Workouts (an interval program that builds from fitness walks to calorie-blasting runs) and Moderate Workouts (any aerobic activity you enjoy).

Part 2: Tone, smooth, and firm (three days a week)

Tone your muscles by doing six strengthening moves. (Take a day off between these workouts.)

Weeks 1-2: Do one set of 12 repetitions of each exercise.
Weeks 3-4: Repeat the circuit twice so you're doing two sets of each exercise.
Weeks 5-8: Repeat the circuit three times, so you're doing three sets of each exercise. On the third set, instead of holding each move, pulse for three counts by lifting and lowering a few inches before returning to the start position.

PART 1: BURN OFF CELLULITE

Week 1

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, two minutes; run interval*, one minute
Number of intervals: 10
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 40 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: walking, swimming, or cycling, 40 minutes

Week 2

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute; run interval*, one minute
Number of intervals: 15
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 40 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

Week 3

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute; run interval*, two minutes
Number of intervals: 10
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 40 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

Week 4

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute; run interval*, four minutes
Number of intervals: Seven
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 45 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

Week 5

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute; run interval*, six minutes
Number of intervals: Five
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 45 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

Week 6

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute run interval*, seven minutes
Number of intervals: Four
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 42 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

Week 7

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute; run interval*, eight minutes
Number of intervals: Four
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 46 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

Week 8

Intense workouts (three days a week)
Brisk walk interval, one minute; run interval*, nine minutes
Number of intervals: Three
Total workout (five-minute warm-up, five-minute cool-down included): 40 minutes
Moderate workouts (two days a week)
You choose: Walking, swimming, or cycling: 40 minutes

*If you have joint problems, you can substitute fast walking for running.

CONTINUED: Part 2: Tone, Smooth and Firm

1. Squat Kickback

Stand with feet together, toes pointing forward, and arms bent at sides.

Bend knees and hips into a squat, as if you were sitting in a chair (A), and hold for three counts.

As you rise, press right leg back and squeeze glutes (B). Hold for one count, then lower. Switch legs after each set.

Make it easier: Don't squat as deeply, and keep toes on floor when pressing back.

2. Curtsy and Kick

Stand with feet together, hands on hips.

Step right foot behind left leg and bend knees until left thigh is almost parallel to floor (A). Keep left knee over ankle. Hold for three counts.

As you stand back up, kick right leg out to side before doing another curtsy (B). Switch legs after each set.

Make it easier: Skip the kick and bring feet together between each curtsy.

3. Plié Sweep

Stand with feet wide apart, toes pointing out, and hands on hips.

Keeping back straight and abs tight, tuck tailbone and bend knees, lowering until thighs are almost parallel to floor. Hold for three counts.

As you stand up, sweep left leg across body, as if you're kicking a soccer ball. Switch legs after each set.

Make it easier: Eliminate the leg sweep.

4. Glute Squeeze

Lie on floor with knees bent, feet beneath knees and hip-width apart.

Keeping hips level and abs tight, press into heels and squeeze glutes, lifting hips to form a bridge.

Lower hips halfway to floor for two counts, then press back up. (Instead of pulses on your third set, do a Hip Rock: In bridge position, squeeze left buttocks and lift left hip. Repeat on right side. That's one rep.)

Make it easier: Lower hips to floor between reps.

5. Bun Burner

Get on all fours, with hands beneath shoulders, knees beneath hips, and abs tight. Extend right leg behind you so it's in line with back, toes pointed and hips square to floor.

Pull knee into chest (A), contracting abs, and extend leg back out 12 times.

Next, extend right leg and pulse, lifting and lowering a few inches, 12 times. Then bend right leg so sole of foot faces ceiling and pulse 12 times. That's one set.

Repeat with left leg. (No need to add additional pulses when you progress to three sets.)

Make it easier: Place forearms on floor.

6. Pass-Through Lunges

Stand with feet together, hands on hips. Step right foot forward 2 to 3 feet and bend knees, lowering until right thigh is parallel to floor. Keep right knee over ankle. Hold for one count.

In one swift movement, press off right foot and bring it behind you. (Left foot doesn't move.) Lower into another lunge so left thigh is parallel to floor, holding for one count.

Continue passing right foot through into a front then a back lunge without bringing feet together. Switch legs after each set.

Make it easier: Rather than pushing through from front to back in one swift movement, bring feet together before going into back lunge.

http://health.msn.com/fitness/womens-fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100234587&page=1

POSTED BY INDIA

Algerian (Kabyle) Music Videos

2009-05-21T01:43:00.003-05:00

Ahh Kabyle Music Videos! They never change, always the same backgrounds (either on the beach or in the mountains) themes (the guy singing to the girl, who acts like she doesn't want him, but she knows she really does!), and of course the dancing! It's amazing how they dance, well the women, it's like the bottom portion of their bodies are machines that just never get tired! But I have to admit that the way men dance is kind awky (wow I haven't used this word since middle school, it means akward incase people are not aware).

So here's the most common music clip,guy -singing- to- girl -acting -like -she -doesnt -want- him-but -she- knows -she -does, ahhh someone ends up hurt in these music videos, but she ends up liking him again lol

Here's more of a fun song this ones funny, it look like the singer is trying to be cool o and there's even some hoochie mamas lol

News From the Middle East

2009-05-21T01:27:00.005-05:00

Here is a link to Mosaic News. Its a website and I think they also have a channel on direct Tv and dish network. They show clips from various news stations in the Middle East. Everyday there are new news clips, each showing lasts about 30 minutes. I like this program because it's a change from the same stuff we always see on CNN or Fox News. Plus the creator, Jamal Dajani, usually gives a critique at the end, sometimes he can be sarcastic, but I like it!

Here's todays news,

and the link to the website....
www.linktv.org/mosaic/20090520/mosaic-news-5-20-09-world-news-from-the-middle-east

Enjoy!

My First Post!

2009-05-21T01:26:00.002-05:00

Salam! Well this is my first post. I can't fall asleep so I decide to post some things up that interest me and that others might find interesting.

:):)

Muslim? Want to scare non-Muslims? Well have a baby!

2009-05-18T00:38:00.002-05:00

Haha...I say we should scare the narrator guy some more and let him make a new video in 10years. Friggin hillarious

Palestinos de Espana

2009-05-15T02:50:00.003-05:00

This was taken in Madrid by moi

Can be found worn by much of the youth in Spain. Yes, we also bought ...(sigh) palestinos.

Mini Cupcakes for Mommy

2009-05-15T02:44:00.002-05:00

These were supposed to be for my mommy for her birthday but I made them before I realized I had no legitimate way of shipping them to her. Oh well... they still fed the not-so-hungry (you know who you are.)

Lovely Sundays

2009-05-15T02:38:00.002-05:00

One of the things that make a Sunday so great :-)

Jaaaadooo jaaaadoooo

2009-05-13T03:43:00.003-05:00

So today I was randomly on facebook and decided to actually check out some photos that the news feed tells me have been uploaded by people I haven't spoken to in months possibly years. So I was checking out this one friend's pics and all of a sudden someone special popped into some of her pics. Now by special I dont mean anything special. I just mean that special person was an inside joke for me and some close friends.

So I've decided to tell the inside joke:

I think it was just me and Carlos and we were sitting in GC (the student union in our university) and just having our usual everyday chit chats with food (food or some sort of nicotine was always involved) and then I spotted a tall lanky Indian fobby looking guy walking from one end to the other of GC. And I said to Carlos, jeepers he totally looks like the character Hrithik Roshan plays in that movie, what was that movie? And Carlos blurts out omg he's jadoo. HAHAHAHAHA

So the story is that Hrithik Roshan who is totally handsome and a hunk plays a guy who has the mind of an 8 yr old or something of the sort (I never actually saw the movie) and then there's some ET sort of stuff involved in the movie blah blah. Anyways jadoo (which means magic) is I think the name of the alien but is also a song in the movie. So jadoo became the name of that Indian boy (for us at least.)

sigh. memories!

so here's some pics of "jadoo" even though when we called the indian boy jadoo we meant that he looked like hrithik's character ok u get the point.

Have a Laugh 3

2009-05-01T14:05:00.001-05:00

ha ha

Saturday!

2009-04-30T23:31:00.004-05:00

Jameelah's coming on Saturday yayyyyyy!!!

Get ready for deep inner mind conversations till 3am! woohoo...AND pigging out till 4am yippiee!!!

Afghani man tortured by UAE royal

2009-04-30T01:35:00.002-05:00

This is so disgusting and heartbreaking. Watch the video here of this horrendous act. I hope those involved in the torture get what they deserve, whether in this life or the next. Insh'Allah!
Read more about this here.

Musings of My Beloved

2009-04-26T03:19:00.003-05:00

My beloved has incredible musings, musings so awe-inspiring I forget to breathe. And though musings isn't the correct word for this particular example of his incredible, awe-inspiring statement, I will still use it. Because in honor of my beloved whom is most beloved to me I present a new series: "Musings of my beloved."

So the first musing to incredibly awe-inspire you is:

Last week we began to watch the "Earth" series that my beloved gifted me as part of my many birthday presents (that's right, PART of my MANY presents (that's right, be jealous (oh, you say you don't care for material goods and one present is good enough for you? (you're just saying that cause your beloved aint buyin u no mo' than one presENT (oh yes, I DID go there) ) ) ) ). And just on a sidenote: you totally have to watch the Earth series, it's AWESOME!

Ok, so one of the segments was about animals that migrate towards water blah blah and an animal was filmed which my beloved so excitedly and without hesitation pointed out as:

Pocahontas!

He even lifted his arm and pointed at the animal in the movie. What was this animal my beloved pointed out as Pocahontas?

El Hippopotamus

Rachel Getting Married

2009-04-24T18:09:00.002-05:00

Alright so, has anyone ever heard of RedBox? It's like a vending machine for DVDs and they usually have them in grocery stores and walgreens. Anyways, the rental is $1 a day and if you sign up for their mailing list they give you a passcode for free rentals on a specific day. So, me (wanting to save a dollar) decided I would rent Rachel Getting Married for free.

I thought the movie would be great since I heard/read a lot of good reviews for it. Boy o boy o boy. The first 1/3 of the movie was good, it had some artsy flair to it and I thought Anne Hathaway's acting was phenomenal. The next 1/3 was aiiiiite. I was really hoping for something to happen...just happen! Something! PLEASE!! Then the last 1/3 was HORRIBLE. I FASTFORWARDED THE LAST THIRD OF THE MOVIE! it was THAT horrible. I literally...I kid you not....I literally fastforwarded the last third of the movie. YAWN........

Btw, as someone from a non-white background, I find it absolutely HILLARIOUS that these people in the movie wanted a "desi" wedding. THERE WEREN'T EVEN ANY DESIS IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE. But all the girls were in saris including the bride. And all the groomsmen whatever were in sherwanis. It was the stereotypical hippy middle class white people scenario. Except the groom was black but whatever, he's still white when I'm talking about things like this.

Has anyone else seen this movie?

Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque

2009-04-23T16:21:00.004-05:00

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi is absolutely beautiful. It's like someone built the sultan from Aladdin's palace in real life.

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque has broken some world records: it has the largest carpet in the world and the largest chandelier in the world.

Here are some pictures of the new mosque which isn't complete yet:

Here is the source of the pictures.

And here you can read more about the mosque.

Have a Laugh 2

2009-04-23T16:09:00.002-05:00

I remember this show from way before on MTV. Apparently they had a second season I wasn't aware of.

I wish such commercials actually existed!

Congratulations!

2009-04-23T15:07:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to my cousin in Toronto who gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday, April 19th.

He who shows no mercy...shall find none.

2009-04-23T14:30:00.002-05:00

This short video has three "ads" that were aired in Saudia. It's been used as a reminder to Muslims about the treatment of those who work for them. Many times I've heard of horrible stories of maltreatment that workers endure in the Arab countries, so I guess this is at least one step forward towards abolishing horrible treatment.

Songs that get stuck in your head : Maza aa gaya

2009-04-17T12:06:00.003-05:00

So a couple of months ago I heard a song on a desi music station on my XM radio that went like this "maza aa gaya re maza aa gaya." There's no good translation I can think of for it but kinda like "that was awesome I enjoyed it" kinda. So when I first heard the song I thought it was a joke, like one of those Weird Al Yankovick (sp?) songs but Indian of course. Then, a couple of days after that, I was watching this Indian channel we used to have and the video for the song came on. So now I knew it wasnt a joke. But just a really really weird song.
So even though I've begun a new adventure to cut down music in my life, this song came up today! How? Well I was telling my other half online that I just had an amazing lunch (biryani and fried chicken) and I said "maza aa gaya." And then the song started playing in my head (tears.) So now I've decided to start a series of "songs that get stuck in your head."
So I present to you the first installment: MAZA AA GAYA
This is a really long song actually, but here's a one minute clip from youtube:

The Hajj

2009-04-16T02:45:00.002-05:00

A couple days ago Carlos and I were talking about the Hajj and so these videos are for you buddy:

This first one is Michael Wolfe's journey to Mecca to perform the Hajj. I remember watching it many years ago and happened to find it on youtube. This is the first of three parts.

Next is a more detailed description of the Hajj and there's many parts to it but here is the first video:

I hope you enjoy it and see that "we" have nothing to hide :-D