I'm Still Here

Hello there! I know that I have not posted anything in about two weeks. That's two posts missed. So today I decided to get back on the ball and make up for yesterday's missed post. And on that subject, I've been thinking: maybe I shouldn't just stick super hard onto a Monday only schedule. I mean, there are times when I really want to post something and I think "No, you have to wait until Monday." So I think that I'll still do Monday posting but if there's any other day of the week wherein I really want to post something, I should just do so.

So anyway, I'll be catching you up in my life for the past two weeks.

The first thing I'm going to say is: I'm writing this blog post from my laptop. And I know what you're thinking "My laptop?" "Did I read that right?" The answer is: yes, you sure did read that right. Yes, I Sumiyya Abdul-Rasheed finally, FINALLY, have my own laptop. It's a 10.6" Gateway Windows 8 laptop. It's small and cute and super adorable and it's all mine! I'm still so happy. It's called Mini-Bar. I was thinking of chocolate when I named it(you know me, chocoholic extraordinaire). Although only recently I realized a mini bar is for drinking and I probably should've called it Fun-Size(like me!) or something like that.

So yeah, I got it a exactly a week ago(last Tuesday) and I've been loving it since. Also, I have not completely abandoned my iPod now that I have a laptop. I still use my iPod quite regularly and I balance my online time between both of the devices.

Second thing I wanted to talk about is: I nominated my sister for a TV Show! So I got an email from FIDM Fashion Club saying that there was a new show coming out called Threads and basically designers anywhere from 8-16 compete on the show for cash prizes and scholarships. It sounded so cool that I thought: "I have to nominate Laila. She's a great designer and it'd be a really nice opportunity for her." So I nominated her and then we had to send in information about her and also pictures of her designs and so we did all that. Then they called and Laila and my mom had an interview with the people and now it's all over and I just really hope she gets picked for the show.

Third thing: Saudi. So my father has been in Saudi Arabia for a while and he's really liking it. Especially in the city he's in. So what's going to happen(InshaAllah(godwilling)) is that he will come back for the Summer which we will all spend here and then we will all move to Saudi at the end of Summer. So we're trying to get prepared. Especially because apparently we'll be going to school with people who speak the tiniest amount of English. We need to practice our Arabic and fast.

Fourth thing: Tea party!!
My mom's cousin's mom(therefore my great-aunt) is having a mother-daughter tea party this weekend and we're going so we've been getting ready and finding all the accessories we need to go with our outfits and all that. I honestly cannot wait for it.

Fifth thing: Spring Break
My older brother is coming down for Spring Break. He'll arrive the day we leave to go to the tea party so we won't see him right away but we will spend the rest of the time after we come back with him. While we're gone to the tea party he'll hang with my cousin(who came down a while ago), my little brother, and probably my uncle too.

Sixth thing: Life
I've been really evaluating how my year is going so far and I've come to the realization: not so good. The only thing from my "resolutions" list that I've stuck to is brushing my teeth more often. I've been trying to exercise and stuff but I am so pathetically lazy and I really don't feel like it sometimes. I'm trying really hard to think about what language(besides Arabic) that I will sit down and say: I'm learning this one and staying dedicated with it until it's complete. I know I said Spanish and I really do want to learn Spanish. However, there are other languages I want to know as well. But I've decided that I'll learn Spanish for now. Throw myself into it and when I'm done and I know it pretty well that's when I can learn another language. I don't have to rush with it.

So, I think that's pretty much all that's been up these past couple of weeks. Thank you, whoever you are, for reading and I'll hopefully write again next week or if I want to post before that then soon.

Signing of for now, au revoir, sayonara, annyeong, adios, ma'a salaama, goodbye!!!

Sumiyya <3
 

Visiting and Leaving

Hey!

I am making today's blog super short because I am very busy and shouldn't really be writing right now but u just had to tap this out really quick and give an update because I missed last week. 

So, if you were wondering why I did not post last week it is because I went on a road trip to Ohio to visit my older brother. We stayed from Sunday morning until Monday(which was my mom's birthday!) late morning. It was such a short trip because supposedly there was to be a storm in the area and my parents wanted to clear out before it hit. I don't think that storm even ended up coming. Anyway, we rushed back gone and I was kinda mad about that but oh well. 

The reason we went up there in the first place is that my father's job offer in Saudi was going through well and they were getting ready to have him come over so he wanted to go and see my brother before he left. 

Though, even knowing that my father was leaving soon, we didn't know how soon. And to our surprise, soon was Saturday. 

Yes, he's gone now and my brother is still in Ohio so that means for a while we are a 5 family. :D Also my younger brother is stuck with a lot of girls. 

Anyway, that's pretty much it. I do have some really exciting news but I do not have the time so I will tell this exciting news at a later date. Although, I don't know if it'll still be exciting/good news next week. 

So, signing off for now, annyeong, sayonara, adiós, au revoir, salaams, byee!! 

Sumiyya <3

Going Vegan?? Plus OOTD

Hola!

Bienvenidos a mi Lunes blog!!! 

Hey, what's up? If you don't know, I'm Sumiyya(it's kinda easy to see that so I don't know why you wouldn't). Anyway, today is Monday so that means another pointless blog that little to no one will read. :D Welcome!

So, contrary to the title, no I'm not going vegan. You see my father has adopted a "semi-vegan lifestyle" where he basically eats like a vegan and occasionally has chicken or fish. 

Except his vegan lifestyle mostly consists of entirely raw vegetables(not cooked at all) with no extra flavoring whatsoever. Also of burgers made out of any type of bean he can find. He's been seeing great health results so starting this past Saturday he decided that we should all try this vegan lifestyle with him. I tell you since then I've been living a food nightmare. 

Don't get me wrong, normally I love cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and broccoli but when these vegetables are completely raw with no flavoring at all except the occasional sprinkle of the juice from green olives. The burgers have been great though. Also he's made meatloaf(also out of beans), lentil soup with brown rice(which we had started eating even before the vegan thing), and mashed potatoes made from cauliflower. So not everything is bad about his vegan lifestyle but the raw spinach, okra, broccoli, and all are just completely grossing me out. 

So now let's get on to my OOTD!

Today my outfit is what I call "Schoolgirl Chic"(you'll notice that with me, a lot of things will have chic in the name XD) 

So for my top I have two shirts on. One is a black long-sleeved shirt with a ruched turtleneck from a brand called J.Jill(never really heard if it). I got it from the thrift store. 

The second shirt, which is in top of the turtleneck is a grey and white shirt. It looks like a white blouse-with a slight ruffle front and sorta puffy sleeves-with a gray vest over it except it is attached and the white doesn't go any further than the chest area. The brand is Love Always, another brand I've never really heard of and this shirt is also from the thrift store. 

For my bottoms I am wearing a NoBo(No Boundaries) skater skirt that I got from walmart. It looks like this: 

Also underneath I am wearing black footless tights which are actually also in the above picture. They are also from the  brand NoBo and both items were purchased at Walmart(so was everything else in the picture :D)

For accessory type things I am wearing black gray and white argyle socks that look like this: 

And I'm wearing a black scarf(which is a commonality in my outfits unless I wear another color scarf or another with it). 

Also I have my handmade black and white ring and my white Timex watch. 

Last but not least for a pop of color, I have on electric blue fingerless fishnet gloves. I don't know the brand, just that my grandmother bought them off Amazon. 

So that's it! Hope you enjoyed today's blog. I will see you(not really) next Monday. 

Signing off for now, sayonara, ma'a salaama, bye, annyeong, au revoir, adiós and hasta el lunes!!! 

Sumiyya <3 

Trying New Things

Konichiwa!

Today is Monday again! I'm happy or today because today is the area switch meaning I'm not on the kitchen any longer. Well, at least not until another 3 weeks from now. :)

Anyway, what this blog today is about is: We went to the mall on Saturday! Cool, right? We don't often go to malls on Saturdays as a general rule seeing as there are usually a lot of people there on that day but we made an exception apparently and so to the mall on Saturday we went. 

Now, we were supposed to go there to shop for clothes. However, mall clothes are pretty expensive(at least for us) and so even though I saw a couple of things I wanted, I decided not to get them because I wanted to make sure I really wanted then before spending a quarter of my budget on them. 

So we basically just window shopped and also we went to Books A Million and read manga.

Also, on the title of the blog, I tried two new things. Well, kinda three, seeing as going to the mall on Saturday was kinda new too. 

The first thing I tried was a Starbucks drink. I had a Caramel Frapp and it was pretty good. 

I also sampled some of my sister's Double Chocolate Chip Frapp and I have to admit that was way better. I think if I get Starbucks next time I'll get that. Hopefully in a Grande next time not a Tall. 

The second thing I tried for the first time was Godiva chocolate! Godiva chocolate is really expensive a lot of the time which is why I never really tried it. 

The chocolate bar was sooo good. Unfortunately I had to share. :( But what I did eat was pretty good. Also in this picture is a bookmark I got at Books A Million(actually I bought both there). It totally describes me and I love it!

Also I wanted to do a quick OOTD for Saturday. Here's what I wore: 

Scarf: Hobby Lobby

Over garment: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Glasses: 99c and up store

Gloves: Claire's

So that's pretty much it. Mall "shopping" I pretty fun. So is trying new things. 

Well, signing off for now, annyeong, adiós, au revoir, salaams, bye, sayonara!! 

Sumiyya <3

February!

Hello all!

Today is another Monday in the constant weekly Monday cycle. Yeah, I have no idea what I'm saying. 

Anyway, it's February! I was so excited for February 1st. Here are my reasons: 1. February 1st was the day I was finally finished with my now candy until the end of January. I did it! I was really happy. Speaking of that, now that I have been eating from my candy stash, I only have a little left(and it's only been 3 days!) but my youngest sister helped me with that because she kept on asking for candy. *Sigh*

2. A lot of the giveaways I entered were being announced. I quickly realized I didn't win any though. :(

3. It was World Hijab Day. That is so awesome that they have a day dedicated to recognizing what exactly hijab is and experiencing for yourself what it's like. 

4. It was the opening day for Rita's so they had everything 50% off so we went and got stuff. I got a Blendini made with chocolate Italian ice and coffee custard and chocolate chips. It was pretty good. 

There's the cup looking ugly and all. XD

So yeah, I was really excited. 

So things, the most recent things:

We went thrift store shopping with my parents. It was really fun. We got a lot of stuff. Our total was $100. At a thrift store. So yeah, we shopped hard. Although $60 itself came from everything my father got. 

Also yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday so we went to my grandparents' house to watch it with every one. Mostly I just slept. And then ate. And then slept a little more. Then I cleaned up and then I slept and then we left. My aunt was so mad that the Seahawks won. She has to get my grandma a jewelry case now. :D That's why it's not good to bet.

Oh, and today I mostly did homework(I'm almost done catching up!) and I talked to my older brother on Facebook Messenger. We had a nice conversation. 

So that's pretty much it. Oh, yeah my father is getting ready to leave to Saudi soon but I think I already said that. 

Signing off for now, au revoir, sayonara, annyeong, adiós, ma'a salaama, goodbye!!!! 

Sumiyya <3

Sick Week

As Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh(full Islamic greeting meaning: Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessings of God)!

Welcome to my weekly blog. You know, weekly sounds so boring. Bi-monthly, bi-annual, annual, all that sounds cool but weekly sounds well, weak.(pun totally intended :D)

Anyway, this past week has been my sick week. I think it started on either last Monday or Tuesday but I caught a dreadful cold and I believe I'm getting over it but I'm not sure. 

It started out as just a sore throat and then it worsened horribly to laryngitis and an even sorer throat, then a sore throat, a raspy voice and a blocked nose, then it's kinda been where it is now: kinda sore throat at times, lots of throat clearing and an on-again, off-again blocked nose. 

Anyway, here's how the my past week went: during the past week, my mom's cousin came over, my mom's cousin's husband made chocolate cake, my mom's cousin made killer guacamole, we smashed on fried broccoli, and I exercised and stayed sick and slacked on homework. 

Speaking of exercising, I might have mentioned it in my last blog but we started doing a whole bunch of monthly workout challenges including The Gorgeous Glutes Challenge, The 30 Day Ab Challenge, The Squat Challenge, The Back Challenge and a sort of treadmill challenge as we have a treadmill at my house of which to use. Btw, did you know that if you strut on a treadmill it works out your hips better? 

So today was the first weekly weigh in and I lost an okay amount. I plan to lose more(no more fried broccoli!) and my no candy until February thing is kinda helping. 

So basically that is it for this week's blog. InshaAllah(God-willing) I shall be less sick if not completely healthy by next week's blog.

Signing off for now, sayonara, annyeong, adiós, au revoir, bye, ma'a salaama! 

Sumiyya <3

Showering Babies

Ahlan wa Sahlan wa Marhaban!

Yesterday, I went to a baby shower. The second baby shower I've ever been to. I still have the pictures from the first baby shower I went to:

Anyway, this baby shower was for my mom's other cousin and she's around the same age as the one who the other baby shower was for. 

It wasn't as huge this time but it was quite fun. We played Name That Baby Song, where we named songs with baby in the title and Baby Jeopardy. My mom set up both games and we helped a little but not so much that we knew the answers and weren't able to play. 

The baby-to-be is a boy and so everyone had to wear blue or green and a tie/bow-tie. A lot of people, including us, forgot the tie part though. 

So this time I didn't get any fancy pictures of the gifts or decorations because I myself was busy but I get little favors and all and I took a picture of those here at my house.

The boxes have candy in them, the little jars have a sugar scrub(brown jar) and a salt scrub(blue jar), there's a bookmark, a mustache pop, and two nail polishes(one is a Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear nail polish in Blue Me Away and the other is a Klean Color nail polish in Aqua Blue), and the bow was not actually a favor but a decoration that I liked and was allowed to take. 

So yeah, I had fun and the trip was nice. 

Oh and on another note, today we measured ourselves and weighed ourselves because we're about to go hard on some month long challenges and eating right and all that. It's going to be quite a month. We're having a celebration after the month is over. It's on the 24th which is my mother's birthday but the celebration is not for her birthday, it's for her Fab at 40 plan. She turns 40 that day and she wants to be ultra fab(aka slim, healthy, rocking, and on her deen). So we're trying to really help her achieve that goal and if/when she does, we'll have a party for her. 

So that's pretty much it for my life update this week. 

Signing off for now to go do some late night homework, bye, annyeong, sayonara, adiós, au revoir, ma'a salaama! 

Sumiyya <3