This Is For You, FourMe

I recently discovered a fellow blogger, FourMe, is suffering from Hodgkin's Lymphoma .. For those for you who don't know what that is, it is a form of cancer that originates from the white blood cells .. I did my research on this kind of cancer and el7mdilla found out that it is one of the few cancers that has an extremely high survival rate, even when detected at the later stages .. And this post is dedicated to her ..

FourMe, I may not always comment on every single blog post, but I do read every single one of them .. Half the time the do express stuff that I'm feeling or can relate to .. But this isn't about whether I'm an avid reader of your blog; this is about you .. You have cancer .. It's there and you can't run away from it ..

I'm not here to try cushion it with pretty words that mean nothing .. I'm here writing this blog post to encourage you, to pray for you, to show you that there are people all around the world who are giving a damn about you! I have seen what cancer does to a person, and I've seen what happens when someone gives up .. DON'T GIVE UP! I know you're a strong woman, one of the strongest I know, and something like this isn't going to kill the spirit that you have ..

We are all here, we are all praying, and you are in my prayers everyday dear FourMe .. I pray to Allah to give you the strength to fight through this and kick the cancer's ass into oblivion .. I pray to Allah to ease the pain that you are going through, and to keep your faith strong throughout all of this .. I pray so that he gives you the ability to face each day as it comes, to keep that smile on your face through all this .. I know it's painful, and tiring, and exhausting, and every other adjective a person could think of in that context, but do NOT give up ..

I can keep going on and on but I won't .. I'll leave my words for the prayers I keep you in .. Allah yshfeech hun, and keep fighting!

www.pray44me.com - A site to keep giving the woman encouragement and strength to fight this!

xx

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Into The Sensory Box

I was mesmerized while watching this .. Looks like a lot of hard work!

As Long As Nutella Is Involved

Photograph credit: SUGARCOOKING

So this is what I do when I've done everything else I can think of online .. Look for a feast for my eyes and stomach, and I found it in the form of cookies ..

These cookies are, how do you say this? Well, all I can say is, as long as there's Nutella in the mix. I mean, what kind of person would not enjoy these Nutella chocolate chip cookies? As if cookies alone were not enough ..

You guys could probably tell that I have a sweet tooth the size of the UAE .. And sadly, I'm being forced to cut down for the sake of keeping the results of the gym up! Yes, I'm being a good girl *sure :P* and hitting the gym again .. Frankly, I got jealous of my cousin after seeing him lose 16 kgs in 2 months and toning up becau

se of regular hours at the gym and a healthy diet .. I want instant results though

But I'm only human, and I'm still me, and these cookies are just BEGGING me to make them and eat them, and hand them around my friends because as soon as they'd hear Nutella chocolate chip cookies, I can forget about leaving any for the late-night hunger pangs ..

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies (Taken from SUGARCOOKING's blog)

Photograph credit: SUGARCOOKING

Yield: About 24 - 30 cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4

tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
7 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp.
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (it's just what I had in my pantry. feel free to just add more of the regular chocolate chips instead)

Directions
-Mix together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.
-Cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in Nutella and vanilla extract. Mix in egg.
-Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chips.
-Chill for 1 hour. (This step can be skipped if you want, but I always chill my cookie dough because I think it makes a huge difference).
-Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for about 11 minutes until the edges look set. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then carefully remove to cooling racks.

I showed the recipe to my best friend, and straight away, I got the question "When are you gonna make them for me?"

NY-sick

I'm back from my whirlwind visit to the US, where I went to the Big Apple and Newark, Delaware. It has got to be the best trip I've ever taken, partly because I was with my friends and no parents (we still had chaperones because it was a university trip, but they were the coolest chaperones a person could ask for.. Most of the time xD)

That's it! I've adopted NYC as the home to my heart <3

Pics coming up in the next post, after I've collected a decent amount from 17 other girls!

Escapade

It's always nice when you see your hard work being brought to life. See what you put down on paper become a reality. Watch people admire your work. Know that it was time and effort well-spent. It's what motivates you to go at it again and watch your had work transform into something tangible.

And that's what happened today! Standing in front of you dear bloggers, is the new Co-editor of my university's magazine, Escapade! And, to tell you the truth, I never thought it would be something I'd ever be doing. But hey, there's always a first time for everything. My lovely Editor-In-Chief is Dee has formed the perfect team for this new takeover :* Ironically, the permanent team of Escapade are all made up of Dee's and my close friends :D

Escapade is finally FINALLY on the stands in university! My first issue as Co-editor, and Dee's first as Editor-In-Chief. And we're proud as hell of the hard work we put in this issue. Most importantly, we couldn't have done it without the amazing team we have!

Our topics range from a profile feature of 3 graduates, to the 10 booths to watch at our in-campus carnival, to a blast from the past, and our own column from the blogspehere's very own Hunoof. You're a great addiction to our Escapade family, even though I haven't met you yet.

For all you ZUers of the Dubai campus, you better pick up your copy! Trust me, it's worth it!

10 Things

In university, I'm taking a photojournalism course .. Has nothing to do with my major other than being part of my college but I've taken it for the heck of it ..

We had an assignment, our first assignment for the course .. And the assignment was: Photograph 10 things that you will miss should you ever go to space and never return, aka the Spaceship Assignment ..

Easy, right? WRONG! The photo actually has to mean something while being a decent photo .. And that's not as easy as it sounds ..

So my 10 things were:

The big Kahuna in the house, I can't go without my father!

Mama <3

I am beyond obsessed with shoes, and these are my all-time favorite pair <3

FOOTBALL!

We have these alphabet and number magnets on our fridge in the kitchen and I love playing with them and writing stuff, especially my name .. Unfortunately, so do my little sisters, who always remove what I've written .. So I'll miss them, even if they're annoying as hell!

No girl can be without her trusty red lipstick!

My karak .. Milky goodness <3

Strawberries.Chocolate.Whipped Cream. Need I say more?

Of course I'll miss cupcakes, but I'll miss baking even more .. Baking is my way of de-stressing and relaxing .. It's my therapy

And finally ..

The beach, because I adore the beach and it's my getaway place

Now my question to you guys is .. What would be your 10 things that you would miss?

RIP McQueen

"If you want to feel like a Queen, dress in McQueen"

I heard that phrase a few months ago, God know's where from .. And I hear that McQueen hanged himself in his London home yesterday, at the start of New York fashion week and a few weeks before he was due to show his new collection in Paris fashion week .. I also heard a rumor that he hanged himself cuz him mother died a few days before .. Maybe he was depressed and that pushed him over the edge?

Of course I heard it off Twitter ..

Ah McQueen was an artist! Your eccentricity in fashion will be sorely missed!

RIP Lee Alexander McQueen March 16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010