Vegetarian Baby.

Mariyah was a Vegan until she started eating eggs, for a month now...

This picture was taken last week at Stacks, where she had her first Chicken Apple Sausage. But this is it! She didn't do it again :(

I look for the day where I can have her eat our regular meals...with chicken and beef.

As for now she only eats Tofu, a great source of protein and B-Vitamins, I know...so I'm not worried about it...I know one day she will -on her own- realize that Tofu doesn't taste as good as meat :)

* I'm glad my vegetarian In Laws are in India and too busy to read my blog these days :p

Anyways...

I was about to start making dinner, but I discovered we have no beef or chicken in the kitchen, so I had to use Mariyah's firm Tofu and I cooked this!!.

Meeting Celebrities...

In about a month from now, I will be travelling to meet some celebrities here in the states! They got to know me through my blog and I can't wait to meet them! I hope things work fine...


The best part about the whole meeting is that Mariyah is more than welcome to attend this special gathering!!!


This is sooo exciting :)


I'm glad I have a great husband, who supports me all the way and who enjoys eating whatever I cook! Especially a Romantic Meal like this one!

Language Barrier.

Will it always exist in our relationship?!

Will we ever get over it and live without any complications in communication?

Will we -HE- always be patient?!

Will we -HE- ever stop using the other partner's language in daily life?

Will I ever get an answer to any of these questions?!

I'm not really sure :(



One thing I'm sure about though, is that he can't stop surprising me!!



His love to "ecko" and all the details it carries makes me love it too!!

I love love love the wallet!! SO MUCH :)

Thanks Jeeeej!

Forgive me! because I do ;)

That was yesterday...We celebrated the making up by eating out! We had Thai food for lunch...but today -our second day off- I cooked this.

Our Gift From Heaven...

Say Masha'Allah! :)

We took her to the studio yesterday morning...I asked Jeeej to join me and help me out with keeping her on stage :p I always get nervous when she is having a photo session :p

He had to take an early lunch break to be able to join!

Later on, I made this for Dinner.

We met after 22 years ;)

***Jeeej works on weekends. None of my students wants a class during the weekends and Mariyah's daycare closes during the weekends...My friends are always busy with their families having fun during the weekends...so me and Mariyah try sooo hard to enjoy THE WEEKENDS!And no matter what we do,they're always BORING!***



Not anymore I hope :)


Jennie was 10 and I was 5. She was a good friend of my sisters and I when we lived in Alabama back in 1987! Her parents were so close to mine and they never lost touch! Phone calls and postcards never stopped.

Thanks to Technology; Telephones, Internet and Especially FACEBOOK I was surprised to discover that Jennie lives only 20 min away from me :)))

We tried so many times to meet again and it never worked! This summer I went to Amman and when I came back she went to Alaska -her home- but we kept in touch and decided that we should make it happen sometime soon...

Today, I met her again!! It felt like I've been so close to her after all these years! It didn't feel strange at all, she is so much fun!

We spent few hours together at the Farmers Market in Campbell city!! It was a first for me, but not for her ;) She met so many people she knows over there, sellers and customers...she showed me what to get and where to get it from...she was so helpful and so sweet!

I bought some really colorful and fresh seasonal veggies and fruits...cheese, raw chocolate milk and a pink orchid...and above all, me and Mariyah had a wonderful time tasting and buying! Me and Jennie decided that we'll do this every single weekend :D I hope!

While walking around the market and listening to Elvis Presley singing live, I decided it's about time I start with my cooking blog ;)

Because we Love it...

I have a friend, a dear friend, who lives close by. She's been married for almost 6 years now. She has 2 little daughters who have some health problems. They both had open heart surgeries and have stayed for months in the hospitals. Her youngest daughter is having her 3rd surgery next year and I feel sorry for my friend, for what she's been going through...

If you speak to her you would never feel that she is under stress or even worried. She has a high spirit and she and her daughters are full of life!

Still, I keep thinking about her and about all what she goes through. I know her husband is a great family guy, who loves his daughters so much and always tries his best to spend quality time with them and then takes them out every weekend so his wife could have some time off!

I admire such families who work TOGETHER for a better life :)

Now, since me and Jeeej are blessed for having the coolest baby sitter -Jeeej's mom, Setto Yvonne-, who is always more than happy to stay at our place watching Mariyah so we could go and hang out together at least once a week, I thought that all loving couples should have the same chance!

Last month, I suggested to baby sit my friend's daughters so that she and her husband could go out on a date!! She couldn't believe it and then she told her husband and they both got excited about it!

Yesterday, I did it :) The girls were so polite and they kept asking me about Mariyah...we played games and I read 2 stories for them and put them to sleep at 9:30 :)

The couple came back home sometime before midnight and I still feel happy whenever I remember the big smile on their faces!!

I had to leave right away, because it was a long day for me after all, but I did it!! and would do it for them over and over again :)))

Tabibi!

This might be complicated for some...
Before we went to Amman, I got Mariyah some "hello kitty" undies, getting ready to potty train her. we called them: Kilot. It was a hard word for her, so she called them: WOW!

When we were in Amman, she got a ball with Dora's face. She loved it, we called it Dora, she called it "Tabi" for "Ball".

We came back to CA, I got her extra undies with Dora's face on them. I told her, look this is Dora!

She said...TABI?!?!

I said: NO!! DORA!

she said: Tabiiiii :)))

Ever since, all her undies are called Tabi :s

This morning, I was folding her undies, she grabbed them in her hand and ran away, saying: Tabi, Habibiii...tabi habibi....and to make it shorter...she said: TABIBIIII!!!

Pretty Woman...

Walking down the street...
in Los Gatos...

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On our way to Capitola Beach.
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Capitola Wharf.

Why ISLAM?!

The first time I saw such a sign was a few days before I went to Jordan last July. It was on a bus!

These days, I see them more often :)

Mostly on very busy streets and sometimes Highways! I just took this picture while driving back home on Coleman Ave. I'm glad I had my camera on me because I wanted to post a bout this a while ago but I wanted to have a picture taken of a sign :)

It's about time more people know about Islam!

When we were in Mexico, 3 people came to me, pointed at my head's scarf and asked me nicely if I am Jewish!!!

I couldn't believe the question to be honest, but I didn't show it, I politely answered by saying that I am Muslim...and then they asked: WHAT'S THAT?!

I said: Moses, Jesus and Muhammad...

They still didn't get it...I bet there are a lot of such unaware people around the world, and I'm sure that a lot of people would be curious about ISLAM after seeing such big signs and hopefully they'll learn more :)

It still impresses me how big the number of converts is in this area!

May Allah SWT bless whoever is behind this idea...

Our 2 New Pets.

Meet "Fish"...
Our New Fish :)


And meet "Duck"

Our lovely duck:)

Our second pet, is a little bit more difficult to take care of :)

Wear your seat belt!

Mariyah begs you...Tete, Mimi, Ward and everyone who reads this!


Next time you're in the car, wear your seat belt!
Nobody likes it but it helps protecting us :)
I'm glad you're still alive :)

BACK to cooking :)

Last month, we had a big argument! One of the biggest since we got married.

A big part of it was about ME not cooking as much as I used to and about HIM not offering to cook as much as he used to!!

Watching Julie and Julia, the movie, made things worse!! We both loved the movie,,, but seeing how much the wife cooked in one year made us both so jealous!

I love cooking! I wanted to become a chef one day...it didn't work because I simply gave up. But still, I love to cook! and present food the best way I could:)

AAAAAAAAnyway...

I'm cooking more these days...the grocery list I make for Jeeej and Mariyah, for the shopping they do every week is becoming more colorful and interesting! I guess he's loving it more ;)

I will be back to cooking and posting more pictures of my plates :)

The other day I cooked Chicken Asparagi -an I talian dish I used to make at Villa Toscana Restaurant in Amman- and I took great pictures of it, but then I deleted them! Don't ask me why, because it's a TOP SECRET!

What made me post this today was the cheese sauce I just made for my steamed broccoli :)

7akifadi gave me the recipe and I liked it! it's way better than using mayonnaise as a dip! "Thanks 7aki! "

Tonight, Jeeej is invited to dinner, organized by his work...where no wives are invited or something like that :s -That's so bad!!-.

I had to eat, I mean try ALL the sauce by myself :p

You know what...soon soon I will make a blog only for my cooking!! I can do it and I can't wait to start :)

It hurts to be away...

Especially when you call home, and start complaining about your baby, to discover during the call that some of your family members were in a car accident! A really bad one...

And then you hear words like bruises and ambulance and damaged car...but you get to do nothing! simply because you CAN'T!!

It hurts, A LOT!
Il hamdolillah!

Pictures from Summer time folders...

Now that Fall has arrived, It's about time I post some pictures of a great Summer. Before it's too late :p

We had so much fun. I still can't believe how much we did in a short period of time.

Getting ready to go to Amman, and trying to spend a lot of time with Jeeej before leaving him made it so special!

Jeeej's sister -Amtu Sumaya- came along with her family to visit us the week before we went to Amman. She stayed for a week. The main reason behind her visit was to meet Mariyah!! And what a great time we all had!!

We went to Six Flags, Mariyah enjoyed her first rides ever, and we got to ride some crazy roller coasters too :)

We saw the whale, the dolphins and the swimming tiger shows. It was an amazing trip!

And then we went to Jordan, and enjoyed the rest of the sun!

And the weather started to cool down and it was Ramadan...so we had to come back home to baba jeeej and celebrate Eid with him:)

End of story...

Bye bye Summer...can't wait to see you next year :)

Flying multi engine!!!!!!! :)))

Taken by Captain Rana!

Click on picture for a better view.

My Cup of Coffee...

is a simple cup of nescafe...I add a little bit of sugar and coffee mate to it, and it's perfect!
Simple, no?!

It never affected me, the caffeine I mean. I only drink it for it's taste, so I'm not addicted and I don't drink it every single day...

But when I have some, I enjoy it:)

I used to enjoy it until Mariyah came.

Now I have to reheat it up to three times during the day...It doesn't taste good I know, but I insist on finishing it just to be able to say : I had a cup of coffee today!

To be honest I consider myself lucky for being able to taste some. My friend boils the water three times but never gets to make her own cup of nescafe :)
For those who drink coffee...enjoy it while you can before you have a Mariyah of your own;)
and don't forget to enjoy a cup for me every once in a while :)