take care

“Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.”

-Michelle Obama

Another Gem from ProductiveMuslim

http://www.productiveramadan.com/top-10-productiveramadan-tips/#more-186

Top 10 ProductiveMuslim advice for a Productive Ramadan

1. Have sincere intentions, work hard and make lots of dua for an ultimate productive Ramadan!

2. Plan Your day each day of Ramadan, the night before. Choose 3 important tasks you want to achieve the next day and record it in your diary or our ultimate taskinator!

3. Never EVER miss Suhoor, wake up at least 1 hour before Fajr and have a filling balanced meal.

4. Start working on your most important tasks right after Fajr and get at least 1 or 2 done.

5. Try to get an afternoon nap, not more than 20 minutes either just before Dhuhur or after Dhuhur.

6. Plan your Ramadan days (and life!) around Salah times, not the other way round!

7. BLOCK at least one-hour for reciting Quran each day.

8. Break Your Fast with Dates and Milk or Dates and Water, go pray Maghreb, then come back for a light meal.

9. Give lots of ‘Physical Sadaqah’; get involved in organising community iftars, charity drives, helping orphans..etc, earn rewards working for others.

10. Don’t miss an opportunity for Dawah! When someone asks you why you’re not eating, give them a beautiful explanation of Ramadan and Islam.

There you go, 10 tips to get you started… If you need to find more detailed explanation of some of the above.. keep visiting the site or sign up to our mailing list on the right for daily reminders and productivity hacks!

Ramadhan Series: Food!

This just in!!!!

Luqman is walking :)!!! He has taken up to 4 or 5 steps before he reverts to crawling!!!!

PS: Still no teeth.

Mini MakeUp Review: Battle of the Eyeliners

I am utterly devoted to my cat eye liner and I've tried 4080 different liners (Bobbi Brown, MAC, Almay, Clinique etc) so I hope this helps someone. Next review will be Battle of the Cream Liner.


I am a contact wearer with a bad habit of rubbing my eyes and the following liners have not let me down.


RubyKisses Liquid Liner > Revlon Colorstay Liquid Liner as far as staying power and ease of removal.

Revlon Colorstay Liner > Ruby Kisses Liquid Liner in ease of use and finish.

I like the RubyKisses for the long hot humid days but for 5 hours or less wear I'm loving the more matte look and ease of application of the Revlon Colorstay!

update on les enfants pour Amina ;)

Thanks to Amina for a subtle reminder to update on The Boys! My stepchildren have been here with us full time so I have been uber busy with a house full of kiddies and my hubby. Oh and my beautiful sister in law is getting married and we will have 4 additional family members coming from 3 different continents to stay with us for a while O_O. Needless to say I have had my hands full.

Luqman: He has developed his personality and is such a riot! He is very aggressive determined. When he wants something he will go for it with wild abandon. He is becoming verbal. He calls me mama and his father dada. He loves to stand up and can do so without holding on to anything for a couple of moments. His thing now is opening drawers and slamming them shut lol. Oh and he will be 1 in 12 days and he has no teeth O_O lol. I still breastfeed him on demand but he eats table food as well. He doesn't care for babyfood much so I make the foods we are eating baby-friendly for him. Luqman loves climbing up the stairs!! When he does he'll look back to make sure I'm watching and smile LOL.

Zach: Where do I start? He is such a joy. Although he is still exhibiting signs of Terrible Twos he is so sweet and caring. He loves giving his dad and I kisses and cuddling with us. He counts to 20, recognizes animals and the sounds they make, his imaginative play is great. Zach likes being in the company of his older sibling a lot but his friendship with Luqman has blossomed so much. He spontaneously holds his hand when we are in the grocery store. Sometimes he will snuggle up to him while he is sleeping. If we are anywhere without Luqman Zach will say: Where's Luqman mom? Zach is not potty trained :(. I have not been consistent with potty training so I take full responsibility for this. Zach is becoming really social and loves when I take him to the gym's daycare. He actually cries when it's time to go. I'm doing a lot of research now on homeschooling and i hope to start some more structured education January of 2012.

The Boys get along well but I can see a little jealousy occasionally. I have to make sure to keep things fair and even between them so neither feels left out. All in all The Boys are well behaved and healthy and I am so blessed!!

My Obsessions!

I am completely enthralled with the following things:

• LookBook: I am SO loving LookBook! I get all sorts of inspiration. The Malaysian hijabis go hard!!
• Embroidery: Hand embroidery particularly crewel work is so beautiful! I need to learn!
• Homeschooling: I am reading everything I can and joining all sorts of online groups to ramp up.
• Bread baking: Is there anything better than fresh baked bread?
• Retro/Pin-up makeup looks: So pretty!
• Yoga: I feel at my best after a yoga class.
• Perfume: My latest acquisition was Versace Crystal Noir. 
• Reading: Me love books!

What's your obsesh?