Fashion Tuesday: Travel Essentials

I'm traveling to Amman, Jordan this Friday. And so I wanted to share with you the items that I will take with me on the airplane. They are MUST haves for me! 

iPad // Yves Saint Laurent waterproof eye liner // MAC lip gloss // Estee Lauder concealer // Dooney Bourke shopper handbag //Burt's Bee lotion // Huggies Baby wipes // Tory Burch skimmer shoes // Canon Camera

Tasty Thursday: Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pineapple Upside down cake was one of my favorite cakes as a child. I really loved the taste of those sweet sticky caramelized pineapple rings on the top of the cake. Today, I'm sharing the recipe I use for my pineapple cake. You can also use this recipe to make pineapple upside down cupcakes, as I did. Kids will love them. 

You will need:

Cake Batter:

3     cups all purpose flour

4     teaspoons baking powder
1/2  teaspoon salt

1     cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2     cup granulated white sugar

2     teaspoon vanilla extract

4     large eggs

1     cup milk

Topping:

4       tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

3/4    cup brown sugar

1       medium pineapple (peeled, cored, and sliced)

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter spray a 9 inch round cake pan. 

     Topping: 

• Place the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
• Pour into your prepared cake pan. Evenly arrange the fresh pineapple slices on top of the sugar mixture. 

     Cake Batter: 

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
• In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Add the vanilla extract.  
• Add the milk and continue beating.
• Add the flour mixture slowly until all ingredients are mixed well. 
• Pour the batter into the cake pan, and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the top of the cake has browned. 
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. 
• Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and then invert the cake onto a serving plate.

Fashion Tuesday: My Wardrobe - Mix and Match

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend. My daughter's 10th birthday was yesterday. I just can't believe how fast time goes by. But no matter how big they get, they will be always my babies!

Today I'm trying to mix and match some items from my wardrobe. I haven't tried the dress out yet (other than in the store). I'm saving it for our trip to Jordan, and I think it will go nicely with my other items below. I hope you like the whole outfit.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5(similar)// 6

Friday favorites

Happy Friday, everyone! And happy long weekend. It's cold and rainy here in South East PA. I hope you have better weather with some outdoor plans.

Here are some of my favorite finds from around the web. I hope you enjoy them!

Makeup: I saw this tutorial on youtube the other day, and I really liked how simple it is. You can see a big difference between before and after the makeup. The only thing, however, that I'm not a big fan of Lancome. I read online that they test their products on animals, and so I stopped buying their products long time ago. But I guess you can purchase your favorite makeup brand and apply those hints. No big deal!

On my hunt for a white eyeliner, I found this white kohl from Make Up forever. I love it!

DIY: I want to try Pallet gardening next year. It looks awesome.

 

Bread: I made plain braided bread several times but I never stuffed it. This braided lemon bread looks so yummy.

Appetizer: Although I always make Falafel at home, one of my favorite things about going to Jordan next month is that I will be able to eat Falafel, hummus, and hot pita bread all the time, anytime. YAY! Those Falafel in the picture look so good.

 

Cake: I guess my kids will love this zebra cake. It looks amazing.

Tasty Thursday: Chocolate chip cookies

So I feel the need to work more on my blog. I really want to blog more often, because I just love blogging. My current plan is to blog at least twice a week. Let's see how committed I can be :)

Today's recipe is chocolate chip cookies. When I first made these cookies, they were good but too sweet for me, and too buttery for my husband. So I adjusted the original recipe to better suit our tastes. The resulted cookies were amazing!

You will need:

2       cups flour
1/2    teaspoon baking soda
1/2    teaspoon salt 
1       cup packed brown sugar
8       tablespoon butter
2       eggs
2       teaspoon vanilla
1       cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
• Mix the flour, baking soda and salt together
• In a separate bowl beat the melted butter and the sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until mixed
• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter mix and combine well
• Add the chocolate chips and mix well
• Drop by large spoonfuls onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart
• Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes

Fashion Tuesday: Pointy toe pump

Hellooo!!! I have been BUSY lately, really busy. Less than three weeks till our trip to Amman, Jordan. I can't wait.

With all the shopping I have been doing for our trip, I couldn't resist buying myself few things. And shopping online has been my favorite recently. With the free shipping and the easy return, ahhhh... Life is good :)

So lately I have been craving a new pointy toe pump. I guess every lady should have one of those in her wardrobe. They can go nicely with any formal/casual outfit. Here are few items that have caught my eyes. Which one is your favorite? I'm in love with all of them, but there is only one I really want to buy. Can you guess which one?

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

بين العقل والدين

قرأت البارحة مقالا عن الحجاب وخلعه والأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر. الصراحة انا لن اتكلم في ذلك لأني بالرغم من ايماني بواجب النصيحة، انا اؤمن اننا جميعا في امتحان وكلنا لنا عثراتنا وان الدين لا يبنى على ركن واحد.
ما استوقفني في المقال والتعليقات عليه ان كثيرا من الناس للأسف يناقش في أمور الدين وكأنهم يقولون ان كثيرا من أحكام الدين الإسلامي لا تصلح الآن لأن الزمان تغير، على حد تعبيرهم. وأن الله خلق لنا عقولا لنفكر، وما كان يصلح للماضي لا يصلح الان. سبحان الله، ومن قال ان لا نستخدم العقل في حل الأمور المستحدثة. ولكن لا تعبث في الاساسيات. فكثير من امور الدين لا تؤخذ بالعقل كما قال سيدنا علي كرم الله وجهه:"لو كان الدين بالرأي لكان أسفل الخف أولى بالمسح من أعلاه"

What's for dinner?...

This is my girls' daily question. It's always followed by NAYs or YAYs! And hearing the NAYs are really frustrating. So, I hope writing the menu on the board will help in avoiding any frustration/arguments :)