Inspiring Movie .. a New Task is Born !

For Foodies & Food Lovers .. This is the movie to watch ! It's combines two stories of two women and their journey in finding themselves through food and recipes. Julie & Julia (2009)
The movie talks about a young woman who's frustrated with her government job, her & her husband's living arrangement in Queens and her purpose in life. She takes on a task of cooking 524 recipes of her idle's book; Julia Child's Mastering the art of French Cooking. She starts blogging about each recipe and the struggles, the accomplishments and all the emotional challenges she faces. The movie also takes us into Julia Child's journey in the making of the book and her career as a legendary chef.

This inspired me to do the same. I have many chefs that I'm inspired by and would love to try all their recipes. Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Todd English, to name a few.
I would love to start out trying to cook almost everything in Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking & the Art of Comfort Cooking.. I already have tried so many recipes from it and why not go for the whole thing from cover to cover?!

So there, another task to add and another challenge to tackle. I'm contemplating the timing and the deadline.
This is a fun idea to take on, I'm still processing it.. so this is pending until I post the start & due date.

Pending until further notice....

NO to Resolutions .. YES to Taking Charge of my life !

Since the end of last year 2010, I made a promise to my self, never to make resolutions for the new year. Especially ones that I can't keep or procrastinate in doing! 

So many years have passed and I keep doing the same old thing, making promises to myself and never deliver! I owe it to ME to stick to my word! I have no interest in disappointing myself anymore..
I have decided that change should not be planned and put on a To-Do check list, in fact it should be put to action right then and there! 
Through out the years most of my resolutions do not see light and end up being carried over to the new coming year resolutions list. I think that's just sad! I either couldn't afford to do them and got distracted, or I was simply too lazy!! What ever the reason was, I'm not going to make excuses for not practicing more self discipline! 

PROCRASTINATION.. !! I already filed for divorce! I'm divorcing your a$$, I don't want to make promises I can't keep to myself, I don't want to be hard on my self either.. I'm not going to delay, postpone or even cancel my decisions any more. ACTION is my new best friend!


Taking charge is great, but it's a heavy load with lots of obstacles and difficulties. I can do it.. I know I can, I believe I can.


There............... 




Done..!

A promise is a promise, and I promised myself to take charge..


Beginning .. 


Today..


This is Day #1 of practicing Self Discipline. 

Happy New Year 2011.. Blah!

Yeah well.. Happy new year & all that stuff! .. okay.. so I became such a boring writer.. But, hey, who said anything about being good in the first place ?!..

It's all game and fun.. isn't it? ... I guess..!

Anyways.. nothing special to write about, although a lot has been going on in my life, but, I'd rather keep that hush hush for the time being.. maybe share those things in later posts. At least that way I'd have something interesting to talk about.

As for general stuff, it's too cold to do anything except eat, so I've been doing a little bit of cooking and more & more eating.. less work and more sitting..

Having FB, twitter, a new iPad and a brand new iPhone doesn't help when it comes to moving !! I keep downloading applications for my iPad & iPhone.. don't feel like moving..

I should exercise more.. I know.. but really? can I? it's too cold :(

How about a song?..

Updates on Recipes:

Oktoberfest Bavarian Potato Salad

http://wellfedclub.blogspot.com/2011/01/oktoberfest-bavarian-potato-salad.html

بالعربي

http://wa9fa.blogspot.com/2011/01/bavarian.html

Eating is Believing ! a recipe blog

The well fed club.. my recipe blog.. updating it when I can.. and adding more recipes when possible..

A new post.. a new recipe.. it's been a while..

http://wellfedclub.blogspot.com/2010/09/syrian-oozie.html

My new Addiction.. BBT!

I have so many addictions and more obsession...
This is my most recent addiction..

This show has geek written all over it, but honestly with their 3rd season now, this might be the funniest sitcom I have ever seen!

The Big Bang Theory really works for me.. maybe I'm a geek at heart!

My two Favorite characters are Rajesh Koothrappali from India. An Astrophysicist who has a social anxiety that is suppressed by alcohol and cannot talk to women if not intoxicated. Then comes Sheldon Cooper, or should I say Dr. Sheldon Cooper MSc, PhD. from Texas Who works as a Theoretical physicist. His character is way too complicated to explain, must be observed to understand!

I give it 2 thumbs up!

I'm in Love......

I'm obsessed.. and my new obsession is Christian Louboutin Shoes..

Vibrant colors for his new Spring 2010 collection..

I think I'm in love.....

an unstipulated dedication !

Don't dwell on the past
Of there was lost and didn't last
That summer bloom is fading fast
But I'm falling for you

Don't dwell on the pain
The tears you've cried
An autumn rain
That fair weather's here and gone again
But I'm waiting for you

Don't dwell on the loss
The fool that would steal break and toss
That winter's heart will spurn and double-cross
But I'm yearning for you

Don't dwell on the time
The seasons change
And so does the clime
That old flame has cooled
But I'm burning for you

2009.. a resolution for no resolutions!

 

At the end of 2008 I made so many plans, so many resolutions for 2009. I went through my list that I jotted last year, scratched out what’s been taken care of and of course as I do every year,  I shifted the ones I hadn’t !

But sometimes and throughout the years life throws interesting situations your way and divert your path. In my case I knew exactly what to do. I embraced that change and with open arms I let it in my life. It brought tears and joy, laughter and pain, but most importantly it brought promises, broken promises. Or was it me with all those high expectations and hopes?? I’m not so sure!

I wanted to post my New Year resolutions list, just like I do every year. But then it hit me! Why? Why waste so much energy when we can’t really control what happens in life.

I’m making myself a promise to delete the damn list and live life spontaneously. No plans, no agenda. Just live it day by day as it comes, keeping “change“as an option without putting my hopes up too high.

Horraaay for new beginnings. 

Listening to....

Dear Diary, a.k.a. Blog .........after a bit of shopping we decided to.....

Day: Sunday
Date: August 3rd 2008
Time: (22:31) 10:31 pm
Location: Marina Crescent, Kuwait
Exact Location: ayyame Restaurant - Arabic Fusion أيّامي

picture borrowed from Google Image

Pre dining: Entered the restaurant..requested a table...sat down.. annoying waiter.. dirty napkin..waiter argued it was a print on the napkin.. I argued it was used napkin.. waiter agreed to get a new napkin.. went ahead and ordered...Order consisted of:

شــوربة حريره
شــوربة عدس
سلطة فلافل
كــشــري
2 عصير رمان

The order itself was a ticking bomb, never mind that.. it got worse..

picture borrowed from google image

we both had our soup.. a bit too much cumin but hey,, no biggi.
the salad was ok.. nothing special ..it was a green salad with falafel pieces and taheini dressing.

Kushari tasted like 3aish w daqoos..

so far no problem.. not a great experience but ..eh, what the heck it's a try out.
so while digging into my kushari and through my 4th bite I choked.. seriously choked!! I couldn't figure out what was that I sensed in the back of my throat.. sorry for being too graphic.. but I neither could swollow it nor could I spit it out !!

After 2 glasses of water and a few sips of my pomogrenate juice I was finly able to wash it down!
I was still puzzled by the sharp sticky object that I couldn't swallow.. so I did my little investigating technique and searched through the kushari bowl to find out what was this little surprise they served me.. it was a small piece that looked like a raw onion, yet not exactly?!..

So,, my partner in crime decided to dissect the object to find out what it was.. to our astonishment it was not a rough onion nor a cooked one!!!.. actually,, it was not food at all !.. and after all the smelling, pinching, bitting, nipping and tearing of the object.. to our surprise it was nothing but PLASTIC! yes ladies and gentleman plain old plastic.

picture taken by 3abeer

our conclusion was that while preparing the extravagant dish.. and putting the ingredients together .. some of those ingredients came in a plastic bag .. and ofcourse... a little plastic gift was stashed in there for me to discover

Ratings:

Service: Average
Atmosphere: Good
Food: Guess!!! Bad
Over all experience: in my case BAD


moral of the story: check your food prior to eating it.. you never know what kind of surprise awaits you !

Note to self: NEVER go to ayyame again!

Fly away... fly fly fly away...

Plan ahead and keep it handy..
a Travel Check List.. No one will want to take all of these things on vacation, but they are listed so you won't forget anything.
First thing's first.. Call and confirm your airline reservations 48 hours prior to departure.

The list includes things you should do pre-departure and Da List of things you need, might need or want to take along for the heck of it!
Pre-departure make sure of the following:

Passports !!
Personal Identification - drivers license
Extra Passport Photos
airline tickets
Emergency Information
Insurance
medical insurance card
Hotel Reservations
Traveler's Checks
two lists of check numbers (leave one at home with friend)
Money and Foreign Currency a little for each country you are going to visit
Credit Cards - Visa American Express ATM card (your best source of money)
Small Duffel or Tote for Souvenirs
Maps
Special Event Reservations tickets for art, popular festivals, sporting events
Travel books (or copies of important pages)
Phrasebook / Dictionary
Currency Converter
Money Belt / Neck Pouch
Document Organizer
Portable Reading Light
Neck Pillow, Eye Shades, Ear Plugs
Swiss Army Knife
Address Book
Travel Journal
Glasses, Sunglasses and Repair Kit
Safety Pins,
Pen
Language Books
Reading Materials
Mini Sewing/Repair Kit
Portable Lightweight Travel Iron or Steamer
Travel Clothesline & Clothespins
Mesh Bag for Dirty Laundry
Zipclose Plastic Bags
Inflatable Hangers
Clothing!


For Both male &Female Travellers

your favorite pair of jeans
Jewelry
Scarves/belts
Carry-All bag
Shorts
Underwear
Swim suit & coverup
Dresses
Sweaters
Dress shoes
shirt/socks/tie
Blazer
Slacks
Shoes walking/sandals/black/tennis
Shirts
Socks
Rain Protection Raincoat, hat, poncho
Shoe horn
Hat


Camera
Video camera
batteries/battery-pak
chargers for battery/bat-pak
Laptop battery & charger
mouse
Travel alarm clock with new battery
Converters / Adapters (electrical)
Camera Batteries (internal)
Medications - Pain Reliever - Cold Medicine
Alka-Seltzer
Q-Tips
Nasal Spray
Diarrhea Medicine !! just incase!
Insect Repellent - for those adventures you take !
Suntan Lotion/Sunscreen
Sunburn Relief
Antibiotic Cream
Motion Sickness Medicine
Personal Prescriptions
Vitamins
Toiletry kit (recommend hang-up style)
Skin Care Lotions/Creams
Make up
Hair supplies
Blow Dryer
Comb/Brush
Shampoo & Conditioner
Curling Iron
Nail supplies
Manicure Articles
toothbrush/Paste
dental Floss
mouthwash
Personal hygiene supplies - Deodorant Soap--Personal & Laundry
Plastic Bottles (for shampoo & laundry soap)
Shaving supplies - Electric razor - Shaving Gel
First Aid Kit
Home checklist
Stop deliveries
Have Post Office hold mail
Arrange for care of lawn and house plants
Set-up a timed lighting system
Take out garbage
Turn off lights
Turn down thermostat or turn off heat or air conditioning (من حبنا لها نوفر لها)
Turn off water heater (if gas ).
Store valuables in safe deposit or safe place
Lock all doors and windows
Leave appropriate message on answering machine
Set window shades, blinds or drapes for a lived-in look
Make good-bye calls!!
Empty refrigerator
Eliminate possible fire hazards (unplug appliances, etc.)

have a safe and wonderful trip..

تجيبها كده ... تجيبها كده ... هيه كـــــــده

ما تترقع ! كل الأحداث اللي قاعده تدور على المستوى المحلي والعالمي وحتى الشخصي ما تترقع وين ما أطقها .. عــــــــــــــويــه



لبنـــــان

الكــــويت





أمـريـــكا

اييييييه وبعد

وعلى الصعيد الشخصي

الأغنيه هذه معلقه معاي

ويبييييله سفره

Emotional weather.. cruel intent..

a few days back the weather Gods weren't so happy with us .. so they hit us with what I call ..
Hurricane Manayer

Kuwait weather forecast for this week..

since our weather has been a bit moody and unpredictable.. there are no guarantees on how accurate the forecast is !

as far as my love life goes..
nizar qabbani .. hit home !

إني عشقتك ... واتخـذت قـــراري
فلمن أقــدم - يا ترى - أعذاري

لا سلطـة في الحب ... تعلو سلطـتي
فالرأي رأيي ... والخيار خياري


نزار قبـــاني

poke each other using facebook !

موحد القطرين

it's a small world after all !

Six degrees of separation

everyone is no more than six "steps" away from each person on Earth. Several studies have been conducted tomeasure this connectedness. While the exact number of links between people differs depending on the population measured.

That been said .. I think it's 2 steps when it comes to facebook.

have you been facebooking lately???

a friend of mine thinks it's a conspiracy.. all of our personal information being out there.. everything we do or did.. the fact that we are monitored all the time is freakin' him out.

ana agoola.. 3adi.. no one is after you.. you're not that special.. so get over it ;P

and to my facebooking friends..

I give you this song..

uuuhhhh.. what the hell was that?!!?!!

Kuwait -
Time: 1:00 am or something..
Location: home
Specific location: My bedroom, working on my computer.. yes a desk-top!
Reason for being up this late and tomorrow is a working day: cause sleep won't come to me !

...Suddenly.. I feel it! .. oh my God.. everything is sorta shaking!

did I just accidentally bump into my desk and cause all this movement? .. well I'm clumsy .. I have established that..and everyone knows I am.. but ... the thing is .. I would've known if I had hit the desk!!.. simply because I'd either feel the pain of that hit or get a bruise the second day...hmmm none of that!

so what the hell happened?? why were my tower of Cd's moving? why was I feeling as if I was being shifted slightly ??

next day I get a call and now I know....

I have experienced my first earthquake!! and where?? not in the US..right here in Kuwait.. after all the tornadoes in Florida.. after all the major thunderstorms in Miami and the Hurricanes... now this





did anyone else experience it?

Everybody's doing it ... and so am I !

Celebrating a year of blogging..
which had a lot of fun, boring, exciting, and boring ..again.. memories.

and now it's time to ask myself and my fellow bloggers.. what is it that I added through this year of posting and typing and rewritting and..so on..!

the answer is...

Absolutly nothing


I'm doing it for fun aren't I?
hope you enjoyed it as much as I did ..
and no I'm not going to quit!! I'm here to stay !

Can you change habits? can you turn a mule into an arabian horse?

How to turn this...



Into that....





Does it really work ???

Word of the day...أمخر عباب

Update

We are taking Arabic classes!!
our appologies for being on the ignorant side!

So.........

we go out..

just the two of us..

in slacks..

decided to eat..

Craved Chinese..

went to peacock..

ordered food..

enjoyed food..

yummy food..

done.

left restaurant..

heading out.. we spot a funny looking statue resembling a woman holding a tray..

on it ..

scattered flyers..

about a trip on Al Ghazeer..

Radisson SAS..

nice idea..

but..

what the hell is..

أمخــر عبــاب ؟

- to know what I'm talking about.. please double click on the image to enlarge

To M.

a little Amkhar 3abab dedication.. feel better.. soooooooooooooon..

and remember..

ma ye7la el tan ella fog el so6ooo7i..

moral of the story...

READPROOOOOOOF people!

Tagged by Alia..

1- Available or Single: being single is being available! and in both cases.. hmmm.
2- Best friend: Naj
3- Cake or Pie: cheeseCake and may I say banana Chocolate cheese cake
4- Essential Items: my lip gloss
5- Favorite Color: Blue
6- Gummi bears or Worms: gummy bears
7- Home town: Florida.. and in rare occassions .. kuwait
8– Indulgence: shopping .. it runs in the family
9- January or February: December!
10– Kids: Love kids.. others kids.. I might kill my own that's why I don't have any
11– Life: Life is good
12- Marriage: If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married ;)
13- Number of siblings: two.. a girl and a boy
14- Orange or Apple: Strawberry or Mango
15– Phobias: will provide a list of 7 pages later!
16- Favorite Quote: The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.
17- Reason to Smile: my friends and family
18– Season: Summer all the way.
19- Tag three people:
Spontaneousnessity
L's Brain
DR
20- Unknown fact about me: I'm dori from finding nemo.. I suffer from short-term memory loss!
21- Worst habit: I play with my hair alot that it gets on my dad's nerves
22- Your favorite food: Thai.. Green Curry Chicken
23- Zodiac: Sagittarius

Back with a vengeance..

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack..................................... if anyone gives two quids (a quid is a pound - British slang)

oh .. and don't mind the title.. it just sounded catchy.. I love drama..

So my trip to London went successfully.. the weather was amazing and it was two weeks of fun, laughter and intense shopping ;)
and since I came back it's been partying.. partying.. beach and more partying.. so I'll just post some pictures and you'll get the "picture" ;P

Cheers..

we take off.. mind you I have fear of flying.. but I still took this picture..

The first thing I pick up when we arrive..

Oxford Street people.. and there's Selfridges - far left..




China Town..



Yummy don't ya think ?!! eewww


So .. take a look..


I wouldn't be a true tourist if I didn't head to Madame tussaud's..


and for the 3agad..



Train station .. on our way to Bicester.. a (shopping) mission....




and ofcourse .. couldn't miss Les Miserables The musical.... it was breath-takin'..




BUT.. while heading to Camden I came across this shoe shop.. and I couldn't stop myself from crackin up! offensive .. yet funny..

London in a nutshell..

Beautiful weather..Oxford Street..Selfridges..Laughter..Fendi..Sofra Restaurant..lack of sleep..St.christophers Place..rain..Chinalife..ipod..Piccadilly Circus..Trocadero..Tottenham Court..Harrods..Eat Thai..Christian Lacroix..Tube..Goofiness..Naval Piercing..walking, walking and more walking..London Theatre..Book shop..oyster card..virgin..Bicester village..a few hours of sleep..Haruki Murakami..Bond Street..Saturday Market..Covent Garden..Pret a Manger..Reiss..sexy shoes..AbdulJabar el 7mar..Edgeware road..Dune..House of Fraser..Body Piercing..Harvey Nichols..Slot machines..Sha7en wi jnaaaa6..Flu..London Terminal to Bicester North..no tattoo..nap..HMV..Green curry chicken..reading..Baker street..Madame Tussauds..London eye..Les Miserables..Puma..Borders..ta3ab..safa restaurant..nina..wi bas kafi.

bas te3abt..