The Power of Gratitude

A few months ago, my sister shared an episode of a podcast called #TaqatHob on @hakawati.fm that talks about the power of gratitude and thankfulness – it got me thinking a lot.

Inspired by a thought that was suggested on the podcast, I’ve decided to make this #GratitudeJar. Every night, I’d write down on a small piece of paper what I’m thankful for today.

The episode basically tackles how we perceive every incident/action around us, and the way we interpret it. More often than not, we only focus and emphasize on the negatives that happen to us, and forget about the things that we take for granted – the positive things in life.

With the current situation of the Coronavirus that we are experiencing, it is a great time to reflect on life.

Simple things such as walking at a park, is no longer accessible to the entire Saudi population – and the world as a whole.

Who would’ve ever thought that there will be a curfew imposed? That malls will shut down, that we can’t dine out at restaurants, that we can’t enjoy the beach.

See how simple these things sounded, and you took them for granted.

I took them for granted too.

Our health, we took that for granted too..

It’s amazing how when we sit and think about these blessings, we know that we are too lucky to have them, while other people in the world might struggle to have them, or they may not even be accessible.

My last message is please try to practice gratitude, even on days when you feel low and down, be thankful that you’re still alive, well, and healthy.

What are you thankful for?

#الحمد_لله

Take care, till next time!

😊💗🙏🏼

Guess Who’s Back?? (Skydiving Experience)

Helloooo ladies and gents,

First, I wanna say that I have missed blogging so much… it’s just that with work, family, and traveling, I rarely find time to write.

Plus, I have been really enjoying my time at work, not just with interviewing and writing articles, but also planning and directing photoshoots! 😍😍

Which was something I’ve always enjoyed doing (reminds me of the days when I used to take my camera and tripod, and wander around Tuscaloosa -my college town- to take photos of myself). 🙈

Back to the subject.. what was it? 😅

Yes, blogging. I don’t know where I should start.. I feel like I have to catch up on a lot with you guys. Let’s start with my bday!

12/12/2017 When I turned 25! Man, I still can’t believe I’m 25 lol. I decided to do something absolutely insane and crazy, to jump out of an airplane on my bday in Dubai. Why? Because I wanted to always remember my 25th bday, I wanted to get over my fear of heights, and I wanted to feel brave.

I won’t lie, I was extremely terrified, especially while I was reading the release form, that basically said if I die, it’s not anyone’s fault. Cool, right?

Wrong! But I did it. I traveled on the 11th, jumped on the 12th, came back on the 13th, and had a photoshoot then. Am I insane? I think so.My breakfast before jumping out!! On my way to the mall, first💁🏽on my way to SkyDive DubaiAll set and ready to go! A truly exhilarating experience.

What was scary about it is when we reached the altitude we were jumping out from.. I was the last to jump. Which means, I saw everyone jump out of the plane before I did. Scary af.

I felt like everyone was jumping to kill them selves 😂😂😂

When I reached to the edge of the plane, ready to jump off, I felt nothing. I think I was numb from the fear.. but it was cool, because I felt like I was dreaming haha.

The fall was sooooo beautiful. I felt like a bird, it was so fascinating and so amazing to actually be flying in the air. Never thought I’d ever experience that! Seeing the clouds and feeling the breeze and just admiring beautiful nature, was everything. ❤️❤️❤️

Also, I don’t recommend watching videos of people sky diving and getting heart attacks or dying during the fall. Because surprisingly, that’s what I did before getting on the plane. And I honestly still don’t know why!!

Haha anyways, it was a beautiful experience for anyone, really.I’m terrified of heights, and I decided to do this to challenge myself, and I did! I recommend you guys to try it, even if you’re chickens like me! 🐔 🙋🏽

Planning on going soon, in September to do this again. Holla at me if you wanna come along. 😊

Until next time. 💕Peace out. ✌🏽

One Day Getaway

Helloooo ladies and gents,

Man, it’s been a while. Sometimes, I actually kinda forget that I have a blog. (I’m slowly working on realizing that I do have one).

So, a lot of you have been wanting to know more about my trip this past Friday to Riyadh. For those who know me well, I am not into comics, and I am definitely not into Comic Con. Although I had the chance to attend it a couple of times in the US, I just never thought of actually buying a ticket and going. Because, why, you know?

Idea
Now, Filza, my colleague and a very good friend of mine, was absolutely DYING to go to Riyadh to attend it, and to also meet the man of her dreams Jason Momoa. Literally dying (sorry, Filza). So she suggested that we go together on a train.

So, why did I agree on going? 
1. I’m a travel addict, if you haven’t noticed.
2. I’ve never been to Riyadh before. (That’s a white lie. I did once, but only to get a US visa 11 years ago, and I literally went from the airport to the office and back).
3. I baaaaadly wanted to visit the Urth Caffe in Riyadh. My favorite spot when I used to live in LA, and I’ve missed it so much.
4. I’ve never taken a train in Saudi before, so I was intrigued.
5. I wanted to go with Filza because it was her b-day weekend, and I wouldn’t let her go alone. (Yes, I know.. I’m such a good friend!)
You can sign up for a friendship petition, I’ll add a link later. 😉

Day of adventure, Nov. 24th 2017
Filza, God bless her, booked the train tickets and comic con tickets. That’s a downside of applying to be my friend, you gotta pay for shit. (JK, I totally paid her back).
On the 24th of November, I woke up super early, got ready and left to the train station in Dammam.  I always think of Dammam as this foreign city in the middle of nowhere, since I live in Dhahran.

I was shocked that I got there in 10 minutes! Considering I left around 6:10 am, the train leaves at 7, so technically, I have to be there by 6:30.
Of course, I didn’t have time to have my coffee, so I was kinda grumpy, (but I did order some on the train, so yay!)

It was a bit chilly that morning, luckily I was prepared and wore my H&M light sweater, and my New Look awesome dark green booties. The train station was alive, apparently the 7 am train was in high demand. We went through the security checkpoint, and walked out to ride the train.

Train Ride!
We got first class seats, and were greeted with complimentary Arabic coffee and dates (how cute).☺️

The trip took about 4 hours. While I was hoping I would nap on the train, the ride was super fun so I stayed up. Filza and I were chatting the entire time, and we totally had a makeup session💄 (other passengers were staring at us in a weird way, but the kids wanted us to do their makeup).

I also started reading an Arabic novel for the first time ever. 💃🏼

Hello Riyadh!
I
11:40 a.m and we’re finally here!
G
ng out of the train station was tough. Careem and Uber, weren’t working for some reason. 😩Taxis charge an insane SR 80 for a 15 min ride. Magically, Careem App worked on Filza’s phone. Our first plan was to, of course, head to Urth Caffe and have brunch!😍😍😍

We go
ere 10 minutes before they opened. I was filled with complete joy and happiness as soon as I saw the “Urth Caffe” sign. (I teared up a little. Shh don’t laugh). It has been exactly a year since I have been back in Saudi, and of having it in LA.❤️🙏🏼
We waited
iently at the door until they opened (thank God we went early, because waiting lines are insane, and it’s a known fact about Urth).

Ordered the Salmon Platter and of course, the Spanish Latte that I’ve been craving for a whole damn year. Filza ordered a salad and a latte. Urth’s food is famous, so I won’t need to describe what it tastes like, but I would say it’s probably the closest thing to heaven on earth. (You better go and try if you haven’t)

Comic Con Fiesta

r having our mighty bunch, we headed to Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center. For not attending a Comic Con event before, I didn’t know what to expect. There were different stations and booths throughout the center.

Cool, new and fresh concepts like the Spark store, and the Rani room, kind of like a photo booth (you walk into a glass room and act silly while there’s a cam that takes your photos.
Best thin
s? I got to meet more friends there, like Ajwa. 💕
Now, the c
rities were another headache. Don’t want to talk about that a lot, but overall, the whole thing was a mess.
Mind you,
s still wearing my booties since 6 am, and it was already 6 pm.. so my feet were dying by then. 😭 #Beautyispain

12 Cups
Af
the madness, Zahra and I were reunited! She’s a friend that I haven’t seen in over 2 years. She picked us up, and we went to 12 Cups around 7:30 p.m. I’ve heard a lot about it, so I was happy to try it.
Ordered the
ro Cold Brew (Infusion) with milk, and it was delish! ☕️

Goodbye Riyadh.. You’ve been good 💕❤️
After
small chat that lasted for about an hour, I had to say goodbye to Zahra..
Although I was
, but so happy I got to meet up with her! Our train was at 9 p.m, and it was the last train to leave back to Dammam. So if we don’t catch it, we’ll be screwed!
Thankfully, we
.

But let’s take a min to admire this train station!

We laughed lik
azy people throughout most of the train ride (we were sleep deprived and really exhausted). I was able to sneak a quick power nap.
We arrived 12:
.m, I said goodbye to Filza, and as soon as I got home, I totally passed out.
Jk, I stayed u
til 3 am for some reason. haha

Final Thoughts
Although this
was super quick, I got to meet up with my friends, got to see Riyadh, and I attended my first Comic Con event! The highlight of my day was Urth Caffe though..

Hope this is didn’t bore the shit outta you, I mean for those who voted YES for me writing a blog post, tough luck. You had to read all of this.

Anywhoooo, I CAN’T WAIT TO GO BACK TO RIYADH AGAIN. soon inshallah!
and I was also
ally joking about the friendship petition.. or maybe not.. I don’t know I’m not in the mood to create a link and stuff.. so, yeah.

Take care lovely people.
Until next tim

My Skincare Routine

Hello people!

Hope you’re all doing well.

Just wanna take a min to talk about my night skincare routine.

As you can tell from the photos, I

absolutely love Loreal’s beauty products.

I’m gonna talk a bit about my bi-weekly skincare routine.

After having a long day at work and right after I get home, I like to take a quick shower and then get on with my routine.

I use the Loreal Pure Exfoliating gel, it detoxes, and refreshes my face, while also preparing it for the next step.

What I do is, I rinse my face with water. Using a pea-sized amount of the scrub, I distribute it evenly on my forehead, nose and chin. In a circular motion I focus on scrubbing these areas, then the rest of my face. Rinse it with warm water and voila!

Next, I use the Loreal pure clay mask, I spread it all over my face and wait for 15 min. I literally feel like my face is tightening and getting lifted while I have it on. Of course, I only use the mask twice a week max.

After I wash it off, I put my Sephora Algae mask, to get rid of those stubborn dark circles out of the damn way. Drinking water and sleeping longer is another cure as well. But, you don’t get that luxury as an adult sometimes. Am I right? 😅

To be honest, I love the mix and play line from Sephora! Will do another review on that later. 😍

Annnd finally.

I’ve been using this Olay night cream for the past month, and to be honest, I think it’s actually evening out my skin tone.

Here is my simple night skincare routine!

Will do more reviews about masks/hair masks/ and creams.

Also, can anyone suggest a good face day cream that also has SPF 30? I want your recommendations!

Until next time. 😘

Fenty Beauty

Hello lovely people,

Hope you’re all having a terrific weekend!

I’m just so glad I got to lay in bed and got to be lazy this morning. 🙈

So, I’ve never done a makeup review/post on my blog before. I usually do it briefly on the magazine, but not like, extensively.

But, let’s do this!!💪🏽

So I’ve had these amazing Fenty Beauty products since 2 weeks ago.

Let me just talk about how amazing the gloss bomb is. It’s literally (the bomb)!

A lot of people warned me not to buy it, they were like it’ll be like a drugstore lipstick.

IT’S NOT!!

You guys, this lipgloss is probably the best I’ve ever had. 😍

It’s so smooth, tastes and smells amazing, it really plumps my lips and gives it a touch of color. It looks like my lips are naturally glossy (which is like a dream come true).

Let’s move onto this #bombass Killawatt Highlighter in Girl Next Door shade.

I was debating on buying Trophy Wife, but since I’m not a makeup junkie, I knew I would probably use it 5 times throughout my entire life.

Girl Next Door however, is so me!

As some of you may know, I absolutely love anything pink! 😍💕💕

It looks and feels absolutely natural, giving me than natural glow, with rosy cheeks. 😊 I also use it as an eyeshadow!

Totally recommend the lipgloss, and it’s not that expensive, totally affordable and totally worth it!

If you don’t wear full makeup often (like me) then don’t get Trophy Wife even if you think it’s gorgeous. (I really wanna pull it off, but I know I won’t).

Shoutout to all the Insta glam gals out there who rock anything they put on their faces. 😭❤️🙌🏽

Soooo that’s it for now!

I really can’t wait to get my hands on more Fenty Beauty soon.

Until then.💕

Nai Cafe – Khobar

Hey!!

I’ve missed writing on here. Hope you’re all doing well.

This past week was intense, and kinda emotional for me.😅

But all good now. And hey, it’s the weekend!

Speaking of which, if you ever wanna go to a cool spot while you’re in Khobar, hit up Nai Cafe.

Their decor is so unique. Classy, yet hip at the same time. Their music playlist is on point, very relaxing atmosphere with Arabic writings and poems on the wall, in addition to their lovely coasters.

Started off with their well known pomegranate mojito. Yum😍👅

Moved on to their num hum fries. It’s soooo fattening. But so worth the calories! (I kinda still feel bad about the calories though lol🙈).

I then ordered the grilled chicken with mashed potatoes. The chicken was a bit dry, but still juicy.

The mashed potatoes were good, but not the best. It kinda felt like it was a mixture of ready-made mashed potatoes and real mashed potatoes.

Finally, on to the dessert.

To be honest I was already reallly full.

But my sister was like, let’s get dessert.. and Dalia can’t say no. Not to chocolate at least. 🙈

This was realllly heavy.. tasted good.. but still heavy.

Ice cream was little compared to the portion of the brownie cookie.

Had Turkish coffee, it was thick but so on point. 💯💯

This was my second time here, I would probably come by again to try new dishes.

There’s this pasta dish with peanut butter that I wanted to try, because you know, it sounds good!

But the waiter was like: it’s really heavy, only guys eat it.

Then I was like okay, maybe next time I’ll go to Nai starving, and order that pasta and eat it like a man. 💪🏽

Sounds like a plan to me!

Give it a shot!

Peace out. ✌🏽

Happy Eid

Hello lovely people!

It’s been a while! I miss writing on here.

Hope you’ve all had a lovely Eid with your families and loved ones. 💕

I’ve had a great Eid! With awesome food.. and lots and lots of desserts 🙈 but oh well.

Just wanted to share with you my Eid outfit.. to be honest I didn’t even plan for buying an outfit, but I went last minute and I found these pieces.

Blazer: Zara

Top: Mango

Pants: Dorothy Perkins

Heels: Quiz

Parker’s

Hey y'all!

So by now, everyone has pretty much tried Parker's in Khobar, right?
Well, I haven't, till yesterday.

To be honest, the concept to me was idiotic a little bit😅. Why look for a key, to get into a restaurant that's not that special. Just another restaurant.. and there are tons of restaurants in the area with good food.

I was against going, just because it seemed stupid to me lol.
My colleagues at work wanted to go yesterday after work, after convincing, I agreed.
We went, it wasn't that busy, we sat upstairs, nice atmosphere.

Since it was my first time, my colleagues recommended some dishes for me.
We ordered mac and cheese nachos, fries, the shrimps and I got the chicken tacos.

Food overall was yummy, but nothing extremely special about it.

I didn't want to do an intense review, since pretty much everyone knows how the place looks and how the food tastes. Lol.

Just here to ramble about my visit😜

However, Salt's ice cream was the best part about it!!
It was so on point, I wanted to cry. No joke.

I might actually pass by sometime and try other dishes maybe!

Paul – Dhahran Mall

Heeey!

It’s been a while! Again, I have been pretty busy.. good busy though! 

I know I haven’t been posting much, and I have soooo many things to talk about! I’ll do my best in posting at least twice a week! 

Anyways, I’ve been going to Dhahran mall almost every other day😅 Not for shopping though, but for a project. 

And the other day I decided to chill at Paul for a bit with my sister. There were seatings outside by the hallway, and ther were ones inside. We decided to sit by the porch-like area. 

When we first sat and they brought us the menus, they brought a bread basket too, but the bread was cold! 

I was going to order an appetizer that had salmon ( I don’t remember its name) but the waiter informed me that they don’t have salmon for the day. 😦 I was disappointed, but nonetheless, I had to eat something lol.

I ordered a chicken quiche appetizer (I realize I’m bad with remembering food names so I’ll try my best next time) 😂🙈🙈.

It was really yummy, made with puff pastry, chicken, and veggies inside, topped with cheese. It came with a lil salad. The salad’s dressing was on point. 
I also orderd an apple mojito. It tasted good, but was too sweet for me. Maybe next time I should ask them to make it unsweetened. 

Overall, it was a little noisy (considering it being at a mall) but it’s a nice place to get quick good food!

Ramadan Diaries – Beit Misk

Hey y’all!

A little quick review about my last visit to Beit Misk.

As you all know, I absolutely love coming here for the food and atmosphere!

Came her in Ramadan with my family, and the service was absolutely amazing! All the waiters were taking really good care of us.

The food was great as usual, however I was very disappointed with the fattat hummus, it didn’t have the same consistency as usual, didn’t have much flavor, and it didn’t taste good. 

I ordered chicken shawerma for the first time and it was yummy. Hummus, tabbouleh, lentil soup were delish 😋. 

​​
Will definitely go back again to try the fattat hummus, and hopefully it will taste as good as it does usually. 

Until next time! ✌🏽