Malak.Xo

With the Holiday season quickly approaching and the donation bins and charities calling to people for donations, I would like to present people with a challenge. I have created an "Acts of Kindness" calendar for the month of December. The challenge is aimed at children but adults are welcome to join and maybe tweak it a bit to suit adults substituting "school" for "work" and etc. It is a great way to encourage children to be kind and realize that their are people less fortunate than them in the community and even around the world. Although traditionally I do not celebrate Christmas, the atmosphere it creates is beautiful since it is supposed to be a time of love, happiness, and inclusiveness. It all begins with our children, teaching them to respect all people and to be kind towards one another. I hope a lot of people decide to take this challenge and feel free to share it with co-workers, friends, and family :) Happy Holidays everyone and good luck

I have been wanting to review the Clinique Sonic Brush ever since I got it as a gift from my sister back in September. I love this brush! The bristles are soft on the skin but they dig deep and clean out your pores. The brush comes with a charger that you only need to charge once approx. every three months.  I use it with my Clinique 3-step skincare products for oily skin when I do use it. I start out by applying my face wash to my face and wetting the bristles of the brush with warm water. Press the button and the bristles vibrate for 30 seconds, I repeat this twice since I have fun doing it hehe. I usually do this after I remove my makeup with wipes. The best part is seeing the makeup on the brush while you are cleaning even after it has been removed with wipes. The recommendation for using the brush is twice a day once in the morning and once at night. If you have sensitive skins it would be better to stick to once a day for one 30s vibration. Although the bristles are soft exc

We awoke this morning with rainy, gloomy weather but we hoped for the best so our fun-filled day could begin. Malak was festive in a red Canada shirt and grey shorts with a maple leaf on the side. The look was completed with cute pigtails and a tattoo on her cheek. We spent the day at the park playing at all the kids stations. We were all fasting but Malak and Shatha got in on some of the snacks the park had to offer. Malak played on some cars and the bouncy castle with grandma and I took her to the playground and bubble stations. Malak loves to play and see people, she is so friendly. Every year they call up children onto the stage to sing the National Anthem and Malak went up and stood with the kids and even ended up lip-syncing the words (remember she's a one year old). It was the cutest thing ever! Malak even ate a slice of cake from the big flag cake that was served. Her being happy made me just overjoyed. It was a great day! Although it did get chilly throughout the day.

I am helping my sister Shatha with her new YouTube channel called The Shatha Show. The videos star Shatha opening surprises, reviewing products, or just having fun in her day. We would appreciate thumbs up on the videos and some subscriptions. The Shatha Show They are kid-friendly videos appropriate for all ages. Shatha and my daughter Malak both are guilty for watching kids open surprises on YouTube so we thought it would be fun for Shatha to do her own videos. We are open to suggestions and would love to see some interactions on Shatha's channel. Stay tuned for more videos! Our goal is for once a week but we will see how that works out for us :) Thanks all!

Happy Father's Day to all of the terrific dads out there! Our go to guide for looking for cute father's day crafts was Pinterest . It is full of everything worth looking up! Malak is going to help me make crafts for her daddy and grampa and my little sister Shatha is going to making some crafts too! Since Malak is still a young the cutest crafts always contain footprints and handprints, after much debate this is what I decided to make. For Grandpa we did a framed picture and it turned out adorable! For supplies we used cardstock, pencil, markers, pencil crayons, paint, frame, bow, and Malak's cute little hand :) If you would rather do it on a canvas instead of framing by all means go right ahead, be creative! Another option if you don't like your writing is you can use letter stickers or stencils to make pretty letters. After that I outlined the letters to make them nice and dark. This step requires tons of help we got paint everywhere. I should

With Ramadan on our doorsteps I thought I would dedicate a post to it. Ramadan is a time to better yourself, get over bad habits, and spend time together as a family. Muslims from all over the world begin their fast from sunrise and do not break it until sunset. It is 30 days full of benefits including detoxing the body and mind. Fasting the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars of Islam include Shahada (accepting Allah as your creator and the Muhammad as your Prophet), Zakat (Obligatory Charity), Salah (Prayer), Ramadan (month of fast), and Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). Since Ramadan is a time of love and spending time together as a family there are many activities you can do with children and loved ones. Try to encourage your children to partake in activities from a young age so as they get older they continue to partake and encourage their children one day. Some activities include making Ramadan cards and duas, prayer trees to colour in wh

On the morning of my birthday my husband woke me up with a surprise to take us to the Toronto Zoo! I was totally excited I've never been before and it was a chance for us to spend the day together as a family. We packed up and left we were on the road by 9 and got to the zoo at about 11:30. On our way there Malak was pretty good until she got tired at about 11 that's when she got restless and put us through about 15 minutes of crying and whining until she fell asleep. The weather was beautiful outside it was about 21 degrees and the nicest part about going at this time was it wasn't as busy as it is in mid-summer. There was a lot of people but not nearly as much as the busy days so I considered myself lucky. I was most excited to see the pandas and the penguins. The pandas were the first things we saw since it was the only place with a line-up to see. A fter that we proceeded to walk throughout the zoo! I suggest if you go to the Toronto zoo do not pick a real

First off I would like to say congratulations to Ayah and Samer! We had a fantastic time! The work leading up to the wedding was stressful but it was worth it in the end. We were a little flustered with the schedule of the day but who doesn't have timing issues on their wedding day? I wore a red one sleeved dress with a sparkly off white shirt underneath and an off white and red hijab. I ordered my dress online off of AliExpress. Cleopatra Hijabs  did my hijab style with the two headscarves I brought with me I recommend her for all the Londoners who style for their special occasions. My sisters and I are always given the best service and are always happy with the way our hijabs turn out. You can see the side view of my style in the picture. I did my own makeup at home. My friend Barihan came and did my sister's makeup and boy did it turn out beautiful! She works at MAC and made time for us to get a trial done and then came and did the Bride's makeup at our house in the mo

My sister Ayah is getting married soon and as a surprise to her I planned her bridal shower and invited her friends. It took place May 1st, two weeks before the wedding. The colour theme for the shower is pinks, white, and gray. Originally I was going to make it a Beauty and the Beast theme for her favourite Disney princess but it seems harder than a colour theme and I was on a budget. My sister Iman can over yesterday and did some baking, it took longer than expected to bake eclairs and cookies but they turned out beautiful. Here are Iman's not so famous eclairs, they always turn out delicious! They didn't rise as much as we had hoped but they are still very tasty.                                            Just some beautifully decorated sugar cookies! It was messy but they turned out delicious and pretty! This is my second attempt at making a cupcake dress cake, the first time was my sister Shatha's fifth birthday. This time I made my own cream cheese frosting

Now that it is officially Spring some good weather has come along with it! Just the other day I put Malak in her stroller and walked to my parents house, it took about 15-20 to get there but it was great! I got some exercise and Malak got to see nature all around her. She was amazed by the construction flags that were stuck into the grass, every time she saw one she would say wow! I want to commit to going on more walks this year and get out of this lazy phase that I am in. I guess my problem is that I do not like to do things by myself but things have to change if I am ever going to get out of this rut in my life. My Spring cleaning is slowly getting done. I am cleaning out the apartment bit by bit. Today I scrubbed down the fridge and did my weekly whole bathroom cleaning. I finally got to that pile of laundry I have lying around a few days ago and man what a relief that was! The problem is that there is always laundry to do! Tomorrow's commitment is scrubbing the stove to

Traditionally we do not celebrate Easter but Westmount Mall (London, Ontario) had a day planned for children for Easter and I could not resist taking my little girl. They called it an Easter egg hunt but it was hardly that. The London Rangers Baseball Team was in the mall that day signing autographs for the children, there was about six stations set up. Each station had a baseball player sitting and a container full of treats, after each signing children would take a treat and place it in their bag. There was an Easter bunny taking pictures with the kids and handing out treats and also a girl in a costume with the Salvation Army that was also passing out treats. Baby girl had a great time running around with her aunties and uncle but most of all she loves spending time with her grandma. I loved it! We got our signed poster and a bag of goodies which included pencils, Easter straws, pencil grips, an activity book, crayons, chocolates, and gummy eggs. I have to admit Malak was a little s

As a woman you are always caught up with everything going on you forget to take care of yourself! We always seems to have trouble spending money on ourselves as we are worried about everyone and everything around us. That is what Pinterest is for :) I have some home made pampering hair, face, nail, and feet masks and scrubs. Turmeric face masks: -Turmeric has many health benefits when consumed in foods such as cancer fighting qualities and retaining elasticity, etc. It also has brightening and acne clearing qualities when used in a face mask, and it even helps to whiten teeth! Turmeric + Honey                  Turmeric + Lemon + Honey Coffee Scrubs: -Coffee helps remove dead skin cells and if applied to areas on the body with cellulite it can help to reduce the look of it. Now you have an use for the coffee grinds leftover from the coffee machine! Coffee + Olive Oil + Plastic Wrap Apply this mixture to areas on the body with cellulite and wrap with plastic wrap to help it ab

It's the best feeling when your baby hits the 6 month point and is able to be fed food! I loved my baby at all ages but 6 months is the cutest! It's the stage where she can sit upright but she can't talk and she sits and smiles in all her chubby cuteness. When it came to feeding though I started feeding Malak plain rice cereal around 5 months since breast milk and supplemental formula feeding weren't doing it for her. I gradually started it with her making about one teaspoon. Nestle sent me a small sample of the rice cereal in the mail and it was the first thing I introduced her too. At her 6 month check-up my doctor gave us the okay to start with the peas and carrots. She told me to make a big patch and freeze them in ice cube trays to make it easier for me. At first Malak didn't mind it but she quickly grew to dislike the frozen cubes, she ate them only when they were freshly made. I don't blame her I'd hate having to de-thaw my food too! After the okay