:: Plaid + Sequins ::

Shirt : American Eagle (old) |  Skirt : NY + Co {old} | Jacket : ASOS | Shoes: Old Navy | Tights : Target | Necklace: Banana Republic

A short and sweet post today.  Here's what I wore to our 5 year anniversary date.  Something fun and sparkly to celebrate!

Hope you're having a great week so far! xo

:: Arabian Nights ::

SATC II 

via The Glamourai

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 

With the majority of my friends overseas right now and Ramadan coming up sooner than I can wrap my head around I've got all things exotic Arabia on my mind.  Maybe it's because of my Middle Eastern background but I'm slightly obsessed with camels.  That camel picture must make its way to our home ASAP.  I wish I could blow it up and have it cover a whole wall but I'm pretty sure that this is one crazy thought Alaa will never go for.  Oh well, I'll just settle for a bunch of pretty, pretty exotic paraphernalia.  And I'm thinking that the camel sugar bowl can double as a flower vase.  See how I just justified it's purpose?  It's practically a two for one!

:: Welcome Baby ::

Exactly one week ago Alaa and I welcomed our sweet baby girl into this world.  This past week has been life changing to say the least.  The baby and I are trying our best to adapt to our new lives - and to get as much sleep as we can (successful on her part, unsuccessful on mine).  

I'll be back soon with a couple of guest posts.  Thank you to those of you who sent well-wishes!

<< So long 2012 >>

shirt: jcrew | vest: old navy | jeans : guess | boots: steve madden | belt, glasses: f21 | purse : kate spade | watch : michael kors | ring: ysl | necklace : Swarovski 

Just popping in to say hello!  Can you believe we'll be in 2013 in just a few days?!  Insanity I tell you.  2012 was a great year, and I'm hoping that '13 will be just as good.  We've already got a lot of exciting things to look forward to - mainly welcoming our baby girl into this world.  

Today Alaa and I are going to celebrate our 4th anniversary ( it was on the 27th) by running around downtown taking pictures of ourselves and hopefully snagging a few things for the baby's room.  Speaking of the babe's room - it's finally coming along!  There's still so much to do, but I can finally breathe now knowing that at least she has a crib in there :-)

Oh, and keep your fingers crossed for me today.  The majority of my clothes don't fit so I'll be getting pret-ty creative with my outfit. 

Have a great weekend! xo

<< Breakfast Run >>

sweater: ann taylor | shirt: j. crew | denim : old navy | shoes: elie tahari | watch: michael kors | bracelet: apricot lane | necklace: f21

I've been trying to be pretty good about what I eat throughout this pregnancy (*ahem* with the exception of my daily intake of dessert).  I really haven't had any "got- to- have-it" cravings, but after dreaming about cinna-stack french toast and belgium waffles for the past few days I figured I should pay good ole IHOP a visit.  And so as soon as my sweet husband opened his pretty little eyes on Sunday morning the first words out of my mouth were "Let's go to IHOP!"  And off to IHOP we went.  While I would have loved to indulge in both the french toast and  the waffle, I retained some sort of dignity and only ordered the french toast.  That stuff is heaven on earth I tell you.  Forget that it's probably a one way road to diabetes.  It's good.  Real good.  I brought the rest of it home and we've been bonding.  Ya know, nothing is better than quick one-on-one times with leftovers.

Leather, neon, and Arabs

top: jcrew | pants: topshop | shoes: zara | baubles: asos, apricot lane, michael kors, ysl

Alaa and I haven't had a real date night in a while, so this past weekend I took it upon myself to invite him out to dinner, coffee, and a movie.  I would like to add that I had every intention of whipping out my wallet to pay for all of these events....but I kinda- sorta forgot. 

 I remembered on the drive home.  

Whoops!

And that is reason #3478904 why I love my husband.

We ended up going here , and ohmygosh, it was so good!  I'm already dreaming of going back!  Alaa has been wanting to see Taken 2, so that's what we saw.  It was good, but I'm ready to see a movie where Muslims/Arabs aren't the villains.  It's stereotypical movies like that that make me want to stand up and say "I'm a Muslim/ Arab and I like butterflies!  And pink!  And hugs! - I'm not a bad person! I'm not what you see on TV!"

There are so many misconceptions about Arabs and/or Muslims and I really hope this blog dispels a lot of them.  I can't say that I represent 100% of our population, but I do think that I fit in with the vast majority - either living here or overseas.  I always find people to be hesitant to ask questions about Islam and/or the Arab culture for fear of sounding stereotypical or mean.  In all honesty, I would rather you ask me and get an honest answer , than just assume what you've read or heard is true.  

You can always e-mail me here if you have a question! 

 I'd love to hear it :-)

P.S. The tag of these pants blatantly say "keep away from fire". After noticing that, I was a little paranoid all night long.  

My thought all night long :

Must. Stay. Away. From. Flames!

:: pink + leo ::

top : unknown (similar)  |  pants: gap  | heels : f21,old (similar)  | tote: zara | scarf: love culture, old (similar)  | watch : michael kors  | lipstick : ysl

Happy Monday pretties!  How was your weekend?  Every week I'm anxiously awaiting the weekend so that I can catch up on a million things ( the house, baking, painting, blogging!) and then suddenly it's Sunday night and I've barely scratched anything off of my to- do list.  I always say this - but I need to start waking up at 6 a.m. so that I can be more productive.  As I'm typing this I'm laughing at myself - aren't I supposed to be enjoying my sleep now while I can?! I'm already starting to worry how I'll be able to juggle work, home, marriage, and a baby.  It won't be easy, but I'm so lucky to have Alaa and my family here to help me.  As much as I'm enjoying pregnancy right now, I cannot wait to meet our little girl!  Eeek! I can barely wrap my mind around the thought that Alaa and I will have a mini-me.  Blessed and thankful are definitely understatements.

and just because he hasn't made an appearance on the blog in a long time...here's my habibi 

:: fall forward ::

shirt : jcrew | jeans: old navy (similar) | shoes : zara (0ld) | fedora: unknown (similar) | necklace : paris (similar) | lipstick : sephora

Monday? How did that happen?! As much as I'd like to be laying in bed right now, I had a great weekend.  It was equal parts productive and fun, which is always great.  I think it may be the great weather we've been having.  Being able to spend time outside always brightens my mood.  There's nothing like a nice, crisp breeze blowing  to get you motivated.  

Now, if only I can convince Alaa that apple cider is actually quite tasty.. hmmm

Striped Dress

Dress: self made  |  Shoes : Nine West  |  Belt:  F21 |  Baubles: Swarovski necklace, Apricot Lane, F21, and DIY

Seeing the new Emerson Fry collection inspired me to pull out my sewing machine and get creative.  You can never go wrong with stripes, and the fabric is light and airy - perfect for hot summer days.  

p.s. hope you didn't get fooled yesterday.  alaa tricked me pretty good by coming into the house screaming ( he was mowing the lawn).  i ran thinking that he cut his hand and would have to rush him to the hospital.  thankfully, it was just an april fools prank , but he seriously made my heart stop.  

yes, i am 100% gullible and yes i do love him like crazy.

Just a quick post today.  Hope you had a lovely weekend

To my husband....

In exactly 5 days Alaa and I will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary as husband and wife. I feel a little silly celebrating only 3 years of marriage. Truthfully, I am so so lucky and blessed to be able to call Alaa my husband and best friend. I'm lucky enough to have gotten the better end of this deal and I cannot say how much my heart swells with pride when I hear people complimenting him. He truly is the most self-less person I know and I cannot wait to celebrate 50 years of marriage with him. So because he asked me to do this as a sort of guide for all presents to come, I've compiled a list of things that I'd love to have-because apparently I'm hard to shop for? Some things are reasonable and well within budget...others, well um, not so much ( i'm talking about you Chanel!). But everything on this list I adore and have wanted for a while.

1.)YSL Arty Ring in Turquoise ( you knew this would be on here)

2.) Zara Dress

3.) Custom Illustration (1 or 2 )

4.)Gorgeous Etsy Fashion Art ( absolutely love this)

5.) Chanel...anything, absolutely anything

6.) Wide Leg Trouser Pants (1 or 2)

7.) Gold Cuff Wrist Bracelets

8.)Wedge Shoes, Leopard Loafers

9.) Books! (of course) 1,2,3,4

and number 10 on my list is to share more laughs, love, and life together.

I hope this helps habibi. Love you.

xoxo

N

Balloons

for alaa's birthday i wanted to do something special and fun.  since we were out of town the weekend before and i had my very last exam (yippeee!) the day of his birthday, i was a little pressed for time.  so i decided to fill the living room with balloons, and not just any ole balloons...huge 36" balloons :)

here is my cute boy blowing out his candles.  i'm pretty sure i have an old picture of him making the exact same pose...except he was 8 :)

so the next morning i wake up and some of the balloons had already started to fall, i wanted to make sure we (I) got enough fun out of them.  so out to the backyard we go!

outtakes

Birthday Boy

happy birthday to the worlds most easy going guy.  to the one person who makes me feel comfortable in my own skin and who accepts me as i am.  happy birthday to the one who encourages me, makes fun of me, holds me, and loves me.  i thank god for creating such a magnificent and humble being.

i love you habibi

Photoshoot

I've been wanting to do a fun photo shoot  of just Alaa and me for a while now.  I asked a good friend (who is a pretty amazing photographer) if she wouldn't mind taking some pictures of us downtown.  So when she agreed I was pretty excited to get in front of the camera and have a good time.  

 (One day I will master the jump picture...it's officially on my bucket list)

 This one is my favorite :)

Despite it being hotter than hades when we took these, we had a really good time.  I smile every time I look through these pictures and I am eternally grateful to the photographer.

I'm also eternally grateful to have such an incredible husband who doubles as my best friend.