Throwing a Grad Party

My cousin ‘Ru’ is graduating from college this Saturday and so my other cousin (Ru’s sister), my sister, and I are throwing her a surprise graduation party. The party will be the same day of her ceremony so it will be a busy day. 

Funny part is she thinks it’s my surprise graduation party. I can just imagine her being the only one screaming, “Surprise Zahia!!”…instead she’s going to hear me and the rest of the girls screaming, “Surprise Ru!!”… She will be so confused. Can’t wait –giggles-

I wanted to share a few things that my sister and I have worked on so far for the décor. We've done a lot more but I'll just try to remember to take pictures of the final outcome this Saturday. 

Almost everything was inspired by DIY projects I seen on Pinterest or ready made decor on Etsy

Gold Fringe Numbers

Making a banner reading 'Congrats Ru'

Cardboard numbers we spray painted, jeweled up, and glued together

Wooden frames we also spray painted and jeweled up. We'll use these as picture frames - everyone will take a picture with the grad before the party ends.

Alameda Beach

[google image]

My husband and I recently took Lexy, my in-laws dog, for a walk on the Alameda beach <3

There’s a neighboring island city called Alameda which is connected by a small bridge just 5 minutes away from my house... and you wouldn't believe the difference you'll find in a 5 minute drive. Although my house is in Oakland, I live in Alameda. When my husband and I go out we usually find ourselves taking walks, shopping, or grabbing a bite in Alameda. In my opinion it is the most beautiful city here in the Bay Area and my dream is to one day buy a house there. Speaking of the houses in Alameda, they are known for their well kept Victorian houses which are pieces of art themselves. The shops are more of my taste and the people are friendlier. The overall environment is lovely <3

There’s 4 places I usually visit when I'm there; their beach on Shoreline, the old Navy Base, South Shore Shopping Center, and Park Street. I think I might go there today for some more sushi or a Chipotle burrito... yum.

Husband + Jellyfishes = Stress Relief

Finals are over and I’m just feeling so dang free.

The start of a semester and the end of a semester... I usually end school and find myself back into another semester soon afterwards. I’ve been through this plenty of times but this time is different because I'm actually looking forward to something exciting since I’m not attending summer courses for the first time this year. What in the world am I going to do this summer? I need to make plans.

Between finals my husband took me to the city. We hung out at the Piers and visited the Aquarium of the Bay which was such a stress relief. Subhan’Allah, I had no idea how beautiful jelly fishes were. They were hypnotizing and are by far my favorite sea animals at the aquarium.

Although I used to go to the city almost everyday when I attended University there, I'll never get tired of SF. The Bay Area <3

Shark + Husband

24 Hour Kitten

[She quickly claimed my living room throw as her 'spot']

[Playing with a fluffy mouse toy my husband went to buy her at 11:30pm last night!]

[Falling asleep on our comfy shag rug]

[First thing I see when I woke up this morning was her climbing on my husband]

Mayweather and Cotto’s boxing match was last night, so everyone in our house was glued to the television. It was so busy that I believe my husband used that opportunity to sneak a kitty into the house! Lol no wonder he was 30-40 minutes late from work. I thought he just stayed back to chat with a co-worker and then fill up gas or something before he came home. Long story short, after I talked to him he realized he had to give her up. The kitty came last night around 6pm and just left today around 11pm to a nice young couple. Although she stayed with us for just a little over a day, she was a lot of fun and also a handful. Btw, my husband already named her Zamzam. She is already missed.

Muslimahs not Giving Salaams

[Image from IFAM]

Asalamualaykum

Why is it that when I go out (of my house into the public) and see Muslim sisters and give them the Muslim greeting of salaams, they don’t reply walaykumasalam? I brought this up because it just happened to me again yesterday. A Muslim couple moved just 2 blocks away from us and I finally came close to the sister and before I had the time to say salaams, she quickly turned around and acted like she never seen me. This always happens to me.

I learned that when a Muslim greets you, it is obligatory for you to respond. Forget about responding, Muslims should rush to be the first to say it since the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Those who are nearest to Allah are they who are first to give a salutation. Even if I didn’t know this hadith, I am just always happy to see a Muslimah so I’m always fast to be the first to say salaams, but 80% of the time I get the cold shoulder. I honestly get embarrassed and feel like I’m talking to myself.

 Am I missing something? I always try to give someone the benefit of the doubt instead of getting upset, so I thought about it and I realized that sometimes my husband is next to me when I give salaams to sisters, so maybe they are shy to respond back in front of him. If that’s the case then I understand and happy to witness their haya (shyness and modesty).

I wear niqab and get a lot of negative comments from Muslims as well (not just from non-Muslims) so I thought perhaps I don’t get responds because of that? Maybe they feel like a Muslim like me, who commits such an evil act by wearing niqab (sarcasm), does not deserve a ‘walaykumasalam’?  I remember this Muslim lady being so angry at me and told me that I’m not following Islam because I wear niqab and that I need to take it off (it’s funny because she didn’t even wear hijab and had hair so short you’d think she was a lesbian). That was the worst experience I’ve ever been through since wearing niqab, and it just so happened to be caused by another Muslimah. If that’s the case for other Muslimahs to not greet me, then God forgive and guide them.

What about the other times? When there are no men around (my husband or other non mahrams)? I will be grocery shopping or in the women’s section of a clothing store and will still not get responds from Muslimahs.

When my husband is in public, he always gets warm greetings from other brother’s and often has 5 minute conversations before moving on. I’d ask him if he knew the brother and he’d tell me no, that they just met. Why can’t it be like that with the sisters? My husband thinks women just have certain issues, and greeting and being friendly with strangers is just one of them.  I’m starting to think he’s right because of seeing the difference between how Muslim men and women socialize in public.

Like I said, I could just be missing knowledge about women in Islam concerning the public and greetings. Hopefully someone can fill me in or I’ll soon find out myself.

More info on the Muslim greeting:

The Noble Qur'an An-Nisa 4:86

When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, Allâh is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things. 

      Ibn Katheer raheemahullaah explained this verse by saying: "If the person greeted you with the Salaam you should reply in a better form, or reply similarly. However, the extended form is preferable, but the shorter is compulsory. Which means that greeting is preferable but the greeting in return is compulsory, and it should be in the form of the Salaam and not in any other form."

Hadith - Bukhari's Book of Manners #1046

Abu Huraira, r.a., said, "The most miserly of all people is one who is miserly with greetings. The weakest of all people is a person who is weak in [making] du'a (supplication prayer)."

Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 8.251, Narrated Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said, "The riding one should greet the walking one, and the walking one should greet the sitting one, and the small number of persons should greet the large number of persons." 

Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 4.543, Narrated Abu Huraira, r.a.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutation) of your offspring." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika wa Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi.' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation. 

Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi 4649, Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As

Allah's Messenger (peave be upon him) said, "He does not belong to us who imitates other people. Do not imitate the Jews or the Christians, for the Jews' salutation is to make a gesture with the fingers and the Christians' salutation is to make a gesture with the palms of the hands.

(Do not wave your hands with palms facing the person, which has historically been and still is the way  Christians greet with gestures.  Likewise do not use your fingers as the Jews do.)

Fatty Catty

[Peaches relaxing in one of her two favorite spot in my living room. The other is in front of the living room window.]

This is Peaches. She’s is a very blessed cat because #1 she was rescued by a lady and her daughter in Fremont (they rescue many stray cats), may Allah reward them, and #2 she lives with my parents whose house is large with gardens and plenty of low and high hideout spots. She lived with my husband and I until we moved and couldn't take her to our new location. I'm so glad I get to see her when I visit my parents.

The family my husband and I adopted her from told us that she would be bullied by other cats in their house, so they had to quickly find her a new home. I felt so sad hearing about that, but later I realized they had to be big liars (don’t get me wrong, I still think they’re great people and of course Allahu alam). Why do I say such a thing? Because Peaches beats up every single cat in the neighborhood! She’s a freakin’ beast.  I think the truth is that it was the other way around - that they had to get rid of Peaches because SHE bullied all the other rescued cats in their house. 

She loves food and that’s why she’s so fat. People ask me if she’s pregnant and I always have to tell them that she’s neutered (so it’s impossible that she’d ever get pregnant) and just fat. She’ll eat anything except any type of seafood flavored cat food such as salmon (she just sniffs it, maybe takes a nibble, and then walks away). She’s been on a diet, so although she’s still pretty fat, she lost a lot of weight.

She hates getting her fur combed, baths/water, getting picked up, and rarely cares to play with cat toys, even if you try to initiate it by rolling a catnip ball or wave feathers in her face. For these reasons, she’s not a good cat for kids. However, I always tell my husband how lady-like and mature she is. She doesn’t mess up furniture, loves sitting or lying next to you, loves sleeping (of course), loves getting pet/stroked, is always purring, and is a very relaxed and sweet cat. Also, she is so beautiful, mashaAllah <3

Meow.

Lip Cream - An Alternative to Lipstick & Lip Gloss

[NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in 6 Colors]

[Same Order as the Picture Above]

[Color Swatches on my Skin]

 I don’t think I buy as much makeup as the average girl does, but since I am female after all I do own a good amount. I heard about a lip cream called Soft Matte Lip Cream by NYX  through a YouTube makeup guru named Andrea. After seeing more videos and written reviews on it from various sites, I knew I had to try it out myself.

Surprisingly, I only remember owning one lipstick in my entire life. It was a light frosty pink color that I bought for only a dollar from some cheap Asian store. I never really liked the way lipstick felt because it was too dry. If I put lip gloss over the lipstick to make it less dry, it would take away its matte look and instead just look like a highly pigmented lip gloss and would also feel a bit sticky. I was really hoping that NYX’s Soft Matte Lip Cream would finally be what I was looking for.

It was around December when I heard about NYX’s lip cream and it couldn’t have been a better time because I wanted to change things up for the New Year 2012. I wanted to be more 'daring' for the New Year by trying darker and brighter lip colors since I ALWAYS stuck with the lighter pinks and nudes. And trust me, I know other girls who never wore red lipstick either and think that you gotta be pretty brave because it really stands out. I actually know a girl who wears red lip stick at home, but won’t step outside of her house wearing it. Crazy, huh? Well with that in mind while filling my shopping cart list, I made sure to add Amsterdam (Red) and San Paulo (hot pink). I was super excited about getting them for a great deal too because myglam had a coupon code for 50% off since it was included in their December Glam Bag. I ended up getting them for only $3 each. Lucky me!

I ordered six colors in total and anticipated for a quick arrival. When they came and I tried them on I absolutely loved them. They’re highly pigmented in color, were all gorgeous colors, smelled good (like cupcakes), felt soft and creamy, and applied smoothly but dried matte. My sister and sister in law tried them and now own some themselves. 

As for the ‘daring’ Amsterdam and San Paulo, my favorite color between the two is Amsterdam. I can’t believe that I went from going to no red at all to it becoming my favorite lip color. I wore it to a fundraiser dinner party for a local masjid held by the sisters (all sisters party so I got to dress up) and loved how it added so much to my whole look. Seriously, I couldn’t be happier with any other lip product (so far).