Another random post!

Nothing much is going on around here! I'm just busy getting my research paper done. I hate to be away from blogging for that long but I'm really busy. And when I'm a little free I try to do things I really enjoy and unfortunately blogging is not on the list these days!!

Today is my younger daughter's birthday. She is 5 today, and she is so excited about it. She even wanted to go bed early last night to make her birthday come faster!

Nothing much other than that. Busy but happy and content :)

Lately...

My hubby came back last Thursday. YAY!! It was the best day ever after a rough week. I know I need to be tougher in such situations but it didn't work this time. El7amdellah he is back safe and sound. BTW, He got me these things from Singapore :)

 gold ring

 silk fabric 

Nothing new other than that. I work on my research regularly. I did a lot of shopping in the last couple of weeks, and I got a lot of things for myself (makeup, boots, purse, and clothes). Amman in the air, I guess!! We booked the tickets for this June :)

My baby is getting bigger. He is gonna turn 5 months tomorrow. I started giving him solid food such as cereal and mashed fruits. He still wakes once or twice during the night. Recently, he is giving me hard time to sleep outside the house. The only place he can sleep in is the car while moving. I find this annoying when we are visiting some friends during night time. I wish I can take his room with me sometimes. I can't deny that he is a good boy and even when he is not feeling good he is not that annoying but still I find it uncomfortable. Do you think that I need to stop visiting friends late until he is bigger, or what do I need to do?

Home alone!!

I know that you can't be "home alone" with three kids, no one can be! But this is how I feel when hubby is traveling. He's in Singapore until Thursday. We can't wait for him to come back!

I have not been into blogging recently. However I have a lot to blog about, but I guess with things happening in the Middle East, everything does not seem worthy to talk about. The good thing that I can see the change coming, regardless of the rough/long way. The Arab world will be a better place soon inshallah. 

I learned few things from those revolutions: Arab youth are so brave and strong despite that they were raised by the weakest Arab generation (sorry to say that but this is my opinion). And that there will be always some people, and thank God they are some, who are loyal to the regimes no matter how bad the regimes are. The problem that I can't tell if those people are stupid, ignorant, cowards, or that they just can't live without being insulted!!

I'm now praying for the people in Libya. I had my own experience with the revolution there as my brother was working in Benghazi and he just went back to Jordan last Thursday. It was so scary to hear the news when you have someone really close to you there. last Tuesday I was sick worried that I couldn't stop crying all day. I was sick worried about him and his wife and baby girl. But el7amdellah he made it home safe and sound after a rough trip through Egypt. When I was worried about my brother I thought about those who lost their loved ones in the revolution in Tunis, Egypt, and Libya. You need to be in their shoes to feel their pain. I'm so sorry for their losses.

I wrote the above post last night but I didn't feel posting it. I was not home most of the day today. I just came back, fed my baby and put him and the girls to bed. I wanted to post what I wrote but then I felt I want to add something, anything. I just want to talk. I'm feeling down, suddenly. I thought about calling my friend here but I couldn't, I didn't know what to say. I hate to be that weak and I just hate when my husband is far away and I can't talk to him!!!

My new template!

If you got to read this post I guess you've already noticed my blog's new template. I tried to have it personalized with some of my own pictures. I also tried to make it as simple as possible. I hope you like it!

I think this is the only thing I have been up to recently. It's too quite around here; hubby and kids are back to work and school after the winter break. And I have been trying so bad to get some work done on my research since then.

I'm also trying to get some of this year's resolutions done. In addition to those resolutions, I have a list of things to do in the coming weeks. First thing will be getting my teeth fixed after having some major troubles with them during pregnancy. My next step will be getting them whitened. Oh yeah!!!

Pregnancy had also its bad effect on my skin. I had bad acne on my face all around pregnancy that left dark spots which are not going away with any face cream. So I'm thinking about consulting a dermatologist on treatment options. I might do some laser treatment, if recommended, will see!

That's it! I guess it's all about my look. I need to get back in shape before heading to Amman this summer :)

On a last note, my thoughts have been lately with my dear friend who's taking care of her very sick dad. Please keep her in your prayers. Thanks!

Baby Abdurahman is here :)

Hello there,

We were blessed on Monday October 11th 2010 at 8:35 AM with a baby boy. We named him Abdurahman. Alhamdulellah, things went smoothly, C-section was easy, and our baby boy is healthy :)

I miss you mom

أحن إلى خبز أمي
وقهوة أمي
ولمسةِ أمي


رحمك الله يا أمي

It is Ramadan in the air!

Ramadan is about to start, and inshallah it will be a blessed month to all Muslims. I'm so excited about the holy month, I'm not sure if I will be able to fast though! I started my third trimester couple of weeks ago, and as my belly gets bigger as I need to eat more frequent. I barely can survive two hours without a food or my whole body will start shaking so bad. Last time when I was pregnant, I was about 9 weeks pregnant when Ramadan started and elhamdulillah I fasted the whole month. However, I was so sick and not feeling to eat at all. This Ramadan, I will try to fast on the first day to see if I can do it or not, if it doesn't work I will make it up in winter, inshallah.

Last week we went to Paterson, NJ and did some grocery shopping for Ramadan. We bought yummy dates, Arabic cheese (too many kinds), dried apricot, spices, and too many other things. I just love Ramadan grocery shopping because it puts you in Ramadan atmosphere. Since Ramadan doesn't feel here in US the same way it does in Arab countries, we're trying to create this atmosphere ourselves so my kids and we enjoy it. I'm kind of worried though because of the long hours of fasting and the short sleep nights. It would be really hard on my husband and us, and I'm not sure if we can keep organized and productive as we hope to. Ramadan is all about fasting, praying, reading Quran, doing tahajud, and being too close to Allah, and I just hope we can perform well in this month. May Allah accept our worship in the holy month.

Now back to the food :) I haven't decided what to cook on the first day yet! Any suggestions?! My sister insisted on us to go to NYC and break our fast with them, but I don't think we will be able to do so because my husband will be working on that day, and it's gonna be hard to drive for 90 minutes for just having Iftar and then coming back on the same day.

It was the 10th anniversary for our official marriage (katb kitab) yesterday. This day is much important to me than the wedding day itself because it's the day on which we both became tied to each other and officially married. Time flies by so fast; it feels like yesterday and I remember all the details, the smallest ones. It is the best thing that ever happened to me. I'll be always not able to thank Allah enough for his blessings on me and my family.

Ramadan Kareem!

17 weeks to go...

I'm back! I know it has been a while since my last post, and I guess I just didn't feel like blogging. I even started writing this post few days ago and I never finished it!! I'm even not posting new recipes, I know!! But this summer I'm not in the mood for cooking or baking! Maybe the last dessert I made was the apple tart! But I will try to come back with some good recipes for summer soon, inshallah.

By the way, I'm pregnant! Yes, I'm 23 weeks pregnant. May be this is why I'm not that productive these days. I'm sleepy all the time. I barely can work on my research or at home. I'm excited though, we are all excited especially the girls. They can't wait to have the baby :)

Regardless of all the side effects of pregnancy, I love being pregnant and try always to enjoy every minute. I try to ignore all the weight I'm gaining, all the acne I'm having around, and every unexpected unwanted symptom I'm experiencing now and just enjoy the little precious baby inside who is playing soccer all the time :)

I guess that's it for now. I hope it will not be too long before I come back.

Take care!

Coffee cake

I baked this cake last Saturday. We had some friends over and since my Saturdays are always crazy busy, I wanted to bake something that is easy and fast. And so this cake came to my mind. I always order it whenever we're at a coffee shop. I find it irresistible :) Later in this post, you will find the recipe I used for my coffee cake. I hope you try it and enjoy as much as we did!

It's Monday, typical Monday! Woke up early, fixed breakfast, packed lunch, and then said goodbye to Sinan and Lina. I then fixed my morning Nescafe, checked my email, Facebook, blog list, and news before updating my to-do-list for today.

Every Monday, I have the cleaner over. I finally found a good cleaner. I'm so happy because having a big house is not always a plus especially when there is no one to help you cleaning it. I'm one of those nut people who like to see the house clean and neat all the times, but with this big house and all the responsibilities I have, I really needed a cleaner to keep up with this.

It's raining today. I believe it was raining when I last posted too. It's Spring, and Spring is the most rainy season here. I have no problem with the rain as long as it's warm. And it's warm, actually it was really hot yesterday. In such hot days I thank Allah all the time for having a central AC at home, I can't survive without it!

Now check the recipe below. Thank you all for reading :)

Coffee Cake Topping:

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (I used Hershey's kisses)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Coffee Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream or milk

Coffee Cake Topping:

In a small bowl stir together the sugar, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, ground cinnamon and flour. Set aside.

Coffee Cake:

Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) a 9-inch round pan.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the butter using electric mixer (or a hand mixer) until softened. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and keep beating, and then add the heavy cream. Mix until combined.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Sprinkle about half of the nut topping on top of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter and then sprinkle with the remaining nut topping.

Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before releasing of the pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

A busy week

First, I just posted two new recipes, so check them out. I was supposed to post them last week, but I was too busy that I couldn't. I have some more recipes to post, and I will do as soon as I can.

One of those recipes is my younger daughter (Lily)'s birthday cake. She turned 4 on April 14th. I made her a fondant cake, and this by the way is my second fondant cake.


She wanted a pink cake. She also wanted a cat or a horse on the top, and wanted the cake to be decorated with different cool colors. I tried to add everything she wanted to the cake, and it was not bad. My two girls enjoyed watching me making it. Lily felt so special that day :)

I'm planning to clean my house today. I have tons of things to do. Monday is always a cleaning day for me but today it's going to be Spring cleaning. It's good because the weather is so bad outside that I have no desire to go out. It has been raining all night and it's going to continue all day today. I need to finish all cleaning today because I have to go back to my research work tomorrow. I'm also invited to ladies' lunch at my neighbor's house tomorrow. She is a nice lady from Afghanistan. I like such gatherings where I get the chance to meet other ladies.

last Thursday, I had a very nice day with one of my best friends. We spent the whole day together. What was special about that day that we were kids-free. It was a "bring your child to work" day, so her kids went with their dad to work. My husband also took my older daughter with him. My younger one went to school and I was able to leave her for extra couple of hours.

We met at 9:00 am before heading to NJ. We stopped at a small bakery on the way and ate breakfast. We were heading to a nice mall that is 45 minutes away from my place. As soon as we arrived we got some coffee before starting shopping. I guess we did too much shopping and talking that it was not that long before we felt hungry again! We ate our lunch at a very nice Italian restaurant. We then did more shopping, and more talking, before heading back to Easton. It was an unforgettable day.

Our coming trip

We're leaving to Amman this Saturday, inshallah. We will stay there for 3 days and then we'll start our Haj trip. We'll stop by Medina for few days and then go to Mecca. I still can't believe it. I pray everything goes well and that we have a safe trip. I will leave my daughters with their grandparents for 11 days. This is my first time to be away from my children. It's going to be so hard on me and them. I'm trying not to think about it, because I have no other choices. Inshallah Khair.

I have been working on the preparation for this trip for 2 weeks now. I went shopping like a million times and I'm not done yet. I had to buy lots of clothes for the girls. The problem that I totally forgot how the weather looks like in Jordan at this time of the year. I also had to buy some stuff for my brother's wedding. This part was the best. I love the dresses and the accessories I got for the girls and myself :)
I was planning to finish shopping today but I couldn't, which means I will have another shopping trip tomorrow's morning.

I will be busy all day tomorrow. I will be cleaning the house, doing laundry,..., and PACKING. I'm so excited and happy. I'm so concerned and worried at the same time. The girls and Sinan are so excited. We will be having fun at the airport and on airplane. I'm sure that the girls will enjoy every minute.

I guess this post will be my last one until I come back. So, take care and please pray for us. May Allah accept our Haj and grant us an easy and safe trip. Ameen.

Take care!