Escapade Vol.2 Issue2

And it's here again! Escapade vol.2 Issue 2 .. Second time around was a better success, even though I loved the first one .. It's a learning process I guess .. It's a bumper issue this time, 30 pages cover to cover .. A big achievement for the 'staff' who haven't worked this crazily ever xD

A big thanks to the designers for this issue .. I know us editors put you through hell and back, but you guys came through in the end .. I think if we weren't the great friends that we are, we would have killed each other by now! Thanks for putting up with the craziness of it all!

Another thanks to my Editor-in-chief, the lovely Dee .. The crazier times with this magazine are still ahead of us, and we have loads more work lined up .. But you know we're gonna miss it when they will force us to hand it to the kids (whom I don't trust til now btw) .. We have senior year ahead of us, and we gotta make our mark just like those of Echo before us ..

So what's in this issue?

-Memoirs in NY, written by a dear friend <3,>our first male contributor in the university magazine for an all-girls university, our lovely friend Andrew from the States ..

-Leadership with limits, how ZU wants the girls to become the leaders of tomorrow while becoming hypocrites and get our parents involved in every minute detail of our university life ..

-Proximity log, yet another way that ZU give the overbearing parents a change to keep MORE tabs on the girls ..

-Trip to Thailand, where ZU girls got to visit Thailand with Habitat for Humanity and build a home for a family in need ..

-Limited Parking, otherwise known as the catastrophe that is the ZU parking ..

-Embarrassing Moments, anonymous embarrassing moments from the students ..

-Babe on a Budget, things to do in Dubai for under 100Dhs!

You gotta read the issue to find out the rest! :D

Write The Future

One of the best Nike ads I've seen .. And that's saying something as I do enjoy their ads .. The future can change in a matter of seconds ..

Blog Layout

It looks kinda weird but I think the colors work together .. I had black with a bunch of colors that bordered on neon, so I decided it was time for a change .. I don't remember where I saw this color scheme but I liked the colors; I thought it was weird ..

What do you guys think?

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!