House Furnishing for the weekend

This last Sunday was an official islamic holiday which extends our weekend by a day I knew I won't be spending out. I was just not mentally prepared to go out and needed couple of days to meditate at home and just focus on internal organisation of my life at home. I'm not the super mom when it come to house keeping and never will be like my dear mother who dedicate every possible break to clean and sweep the floors even when they're shining bright; but I do have a sense of responsibility to lift the dirt and tide up my house when needed. LOL

if I were a magician at home.. LOL

Last couple of weeks I headed to IKEA at Dubai Festival City with a mission ( and measures of course, never ever go without those two!) to design a huuuuuge clothes closet for future investment and finally get rid of my husband complaining about his clothes right of holding a space in our closet.*angel halo* I also had a small bookshelf and a desk in mind if I lay my eyes on any good designs.

I do admit my husband and I got carried away a little and got 3 meters set of two bookcases and a desk to hold our antiques, books, paper documents and well be a decent study area for both of us. We went to bed feeling accomplished and proud to finally get what we had planned for months ago and couldn't sleep thinking about when it will get delivered to our empty room.

IKEA Designing system, totally loved it!

so this weekend I had a welcoming task to do for my IKEA purchases! :D

The delivery service was so reliable and respected time just the way I love it. Although the installation of our new furniture took a while for bringing two staff only, they cleaned their mess and that was enough to forgive them :P

Here's my wide big closet ~

I love the mirrors in the middle which substitute any need for stand mirrors and a great motive when I exercise woohoo!! 

I designed a part to be for my baby's stuff which is a lot more space efficient than having those small expensive baby closets and had it provided with baby hangers, baskets and glass shelves that are not in stock right now but will go to get them later in June. probably gonna post about it later when all is well organised..

  

and here is my desk and bookshelves!

To me this is a dream perfect desk with a perfect lightening coming in, I can't wait to study and write in this corner. The place still looks empty as there're a lot more to add here and there but its a motivating start ..

Thank you IKEA for being so creative and making our houses prettier! Now all I need is a good quality time to get everything in place in those shelves *cries* 

Peace,

Amna Al Dhaheri

Book Review: 2 Books for Marriage preparations

I was supposed to post this before my wedding, but there were many things on hold at that time. It has been really stressful months. I didn’t have the time to update my blog much but I was trying my best to stick to the bunch of TV series (comedy ones) and some books to lighten up my mood and help me forget for few hours a day that I was gonna get married. 

I do love life educating books yet I didn’t believe in marriage education that much. The logic behind that in my mind was like “I don’t need book to teach me how to love, respect, care for my family” but man there were a lot of things to learn, If not learn then at least remind us of what we already know.

The first book I got from a colleague at work is “Why Men love Bitches!” by Sherry Argov and unlike what the cover says a bitch here has a different perspective than what we are familiar with. The writer describes her as an independent woman who knows how to make herself happy and at the same time maintain a strong loving relationship with her partner.

I do love this book because it gave so many helpful situations from women of all kinds, although most of the scenarios were common sense or I already came across them I found myself happy with the strong reminder and in some cases wondering how she’s gonna react in such situation! It will help you to keep hold of what you like and want in your life and never to let this new relationship with a man makes you forget yourself and be what she calls a “nice woman” who is easy to deceive and willing to naively give all she got sacrificing her time and energy

Things I loved about this book are:

1- It gradually guides you through your relationship starting from date one and how its enough to have popcorn for a meal so you build a solid appreciation and respect for the coming meals lol

2- There are couple of comparison tables through the book drawing both scenes on what a nice girl and a bitch would do in each situation. Its scary to know you might be too nice without noticing sometimes and how its perceived by the opposite sex is even scarier!

3- when the writer gives a tip; she explains the logic behind! For example, ….. focused lots of her efforts to explain why its important to have a job of your own and that independence will not only keep the guy unable to predict your next move but even the richest men will sense your value and your addition to the house. Now before I thought rich men wouldn’t bother paying us for a lifetime long, not seeing the inner damage of image it can give to a woman.

The second book is a one I wanted to read long time ago but forgot all about it until recently when I was wedding shopping in Dubai. I couldn’t resist not buying new books and getting scolded by mom to focus on more important matters at that moment lol

Since the writer Steve Harvey is not a writer but a comedian he stated that the book will not be the same of that of a writer’s. It was simple, well organized and sweet. The book is a guide from a man to women on how to understand men explained in the shortest way possible. Through the book I loved these two facts as they worked in making me more realistic and more understanding to not expect a woman’s behavior from a man.

Two facts I loved:

1- A man is a good one if he feels good about himself and that happens when he knows: who he is, what he does and how much he earns.

2- If a man loves you, he will: give you a title (my wife, my fiancé, my girlfriend …etc), provide for you (money, food, shelter… etc) and protect you (he will not let any man harm you in any way)

I felt like it’s a father daughter kind of message and it didn’t miss a little sprinkle of his sense of humor. It’s a nice addition to build yourself a full picture beside the previous book. And now when I have feminine doubts on whether my husband cares for me or loves me I just remember those guidelines and drift away from all this negativity lol.

From my personal view, these two books are just a basic start for anyone. There are hundred of ways to learn and educate yourself and you have to pick the most comfortable ones for you, ones you think are interesting and will add to your balance of information. All in all, try to read books and learn from life as it’s the best teacher you will ever encounter and never take advices from people who are not professional in family relationships, these are serious stuff and we should handle them in a more serious mindset. 

And remember, marriage education still goes on even after getting married :)

Interesting fact from Women's Day.com : "Wedding and engagement rings have been worn on the fourth finger of the left hand since ancient times. The Romans believed a vein in this particular finger, called "vena amoris" (a.k.a. the "vein of love"), leads directly to the heart."

Peace,

Amna Al Dhaheri

Book Review: "The Art of Forgetting" by Ahlem Mosteghanemi

I've heard about Ahlem from a very close friend few years back, by that time her book "Nessyan.com" was out. My friend used to like poetry and had a romantic sense of perceiving emotional writings

I didn't like any writings that would mess up with emotions that much so I never dared to borrow it from her even though she offered couple of times.

I knew Ahlem was amazing from couple of lines but that was it for me in the past.

When Abu Dhabi book fair was opened (which unfortunately I missed) my best friend went there a picked Ahlem's new book for me "The Art of Forgetting" and by that I was forced to explore her literature happily.

Ahlem writes in Arabic language but her writings were translated to English

When I first read the first few pages the translation made me take the book seriously!

I didn't read so many rich english books but this one was a wealthy one

I believe its because the English text was derived from Arabic language and Ahlem is a juggler with metaphors and imageries!

So if you knew how to read Arabic I would suggest going for the original arabic version, it will make your reading more enjoyable with all the pictures and famous arabic sayings

As for the structure of the book, it was simply divided into 2-3 pages chapters that gave a proverb then follow it by an example and conclude it by lines of thoughts or sort of poetry

I like how there are quotes everywhere from different authors especially Arabic ones, those masters of arabic language too bad we have few accesses to their vintage work

Authors like Nizar Qabbani, Abu Nawwas, Mahmoud Darwish, Ibn Zaydun and Ahmed Shawqi.

on the contrary of what I thought; Ahlem was not about depressing emotions but a light guest mixing humour with well built facts, in this book she directs her messages to her friend who had troubles getting over the guy who left her by giving her calls every morning helping her to forget

By the end of the book, Ahlem placed a charter called "The charter of feminine honour" and asked all the women readers to sign it on her website nessyane.com as funny as it might seem it really asks for real commitment which is what we need to move on.

inspiring lines from the book comparing japanese reaction against earth quakes and the Arabs':

"A minor quake hits an Arab country: it totally wipes out a city and chokes life for a number of years. This is because the Arabs are inherently fatalistic. They let life take care of itself. In life, just as in love, they see no further than today. They are quite ready to die as victims of natural, or amorous disasters because they have a genetic predisposition towards mindless self-sacrifice, for the sake of the nation and despotic ruler, for family, friends and the beloved."

The book is light and sweet

I have so much respect to this author and hope to meet her one day

Thank you Ahlem for paying so much effort to left the women all over the world especially those in the Arab world and thank you Sara for getting me this book :)

peace,

Amna Al Dhaheri

Book Review: Married to A Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen

Over there on the shelf lays a book that caught my attention couple of times while passing by the supermarket

OMG ! a foreigner marring a Bedouin even I as an Arab wouldn't dare to do it !

she must be looking for adventure or seriously not aware of what she brought herself into !

these were my initial thoughts and my motivation to read this book

my mom rolled her eyes asking me to stop reading about women who had unusual marriages in their lives but that was exactly the beauty of it and the reason to make me excited about my own marriage!

was it bad?

was it good?

was it worth it ?!

"Married to A Bedouin"

 by Marguerite van Geldermalsen

Marguerite is a New Zealander tourist who was traveling down the Middle East with her girlfriend when they came to stop by Jordan down in Petra around the late 1970s !

Another proof that love can happen regardless of your background and language

She met Mohammed (her husband) who was good in English and ambitious bedouin she had the urge to extend her stay in Petra and fate played its magic on getting them two together despite the huge difference between their worlds

Through the book only two thought were on my mind

when she's gonna quit?; stating that she didn't speak Arabic

and how she maintained her health eating bread and sweet tea and little milk diary only?

but she lived through it all, learned the language, became a Bedouin, raise her 3 kids and lived the true adventure to retell it in her book

How a Bedouins society function is simply like this; people act based on their nature and without any formalities! seems too simple but its way simple for a complex person coming from a modern society

that what you will be living with Marguerite description about the people who lived there and I guess the childhood spirit and the curiosity helped her a lot  

The author included phrases written in Jordanian Bedouin accent which I had to read the line twice to get, but was a pleasant addition to her stories beside the personal pictures from Petra in the middle of the book !

All in all, I can't ruin this simple book anymore; she put it all beautifully and ended it beautifully too !

Peace,

Amna

Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie

by Mitch Albom

This book is a true story first published in 1997 takes the scenario of a course attended by one student and his favorite teacher every Tuesday

It tells the story of Mitch Albom reuniting with his favorite teacher Morrie Schwartz after losing contact for around 16 years! Unfortunatly Mitch reconnected with Morrie when he saw him on Tv interviewed about his fatal disease the ALS or what is known as Lou Gehrig's Disease ( refered to the famous baseball star Lou Gehrig who got it around 1930)

 The ALS attacks the nerves in the body gradually paralyzing its parts until it hits sensitive organs as lungs so you can no longer take a breath or as throat muscles so you get choked by food..and both are terrible deaths..

I was just discussing this book with my friends and they asked me about the last lecture by Randy Pausch and I said well every book has its beauty where Randy was trying to teach us how to live, Morrie was trying to teach us how to die !

if we were in that spot of as Mitch called it "crossing the bridge" how will we interact with life matters ?

The reason why this book has moved me to tears is that I'm living the same story with my Math teacher at high school. I've heard about this disease from the Japanese drama "One liter of tears" which was a piece of art representing a girl's journey with this disease till her last day. However, whats on tv is nothing like living the experience with someone used to occupy a part of your memory. My teacher used to be an active smart teacher who believed in me and always put up good words in front of other people although she was very strict in classes and that's what I always admire in a teacher. I talked with a lady I know from her relatives and she said "no one knew what she had; in fact this disease is scarily wide spread but very rare in a small country like UAE.." and still there she is with a smile raising her 6 kids mashallah.

Now I'm left with thoughts of wanting to see her again but I wonder if I'll ever find the courage to do so.

The books discussed the ideas frightening this generation like death, relationships, marriage, money ..

and Morrie focused on loving and forgiving repeating those two words again and again in his speeches.

Picture from Tuesday class

The book gave these thoughts an access to my brain

• is it worth it to hate a person and never give him a chance to explain or move on?
• My grandmother constant complain about her knees; how hard it is for someone who used to run one day?
• Family is a bless and we shouldn't hesitate when it comes to starting a new one
• Go back to Nature, technology is sucking the life out of us
• We are equal as long as we share birth and death (As Morrie once mentioned)

Beautiful piece, easy language, meaningful advices and a touching story!

 

peace,

Amna

Book Review: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power 

 by Robert Greene

This is one of the smartest books I prefer to call the BLACK book of power !

While I was reading this book I felt this kind of enjoyment and motivation as if I found my guru for acquiring power! And since during university I had a chance to be exposed to the field of leadership and power it is not a foreign topic to me and I was reading each rule saying yes I did this, I've seen that and some people did that ! but this will not be less exciting to those new out there !

 

this book is not only for those who seek power but those who need answers of how things work in a world filled with power seekers or protection against power itself! It helped me deal with problems accompanying power including how to deal with those above you, jealous enemies and even yourself when it gets drifted away by the seduction of power

 

So there is an extended version of the book but I went for the concise one with around 500 pages, its international best seller by the American writer Robert Greene and shocking thing is the book was first published in 1998 !

The laws might seem really malicious and deceiving that you would doubt your ethics while reading them and question yourself whether to apply them or not at some point, However; there is a reason why you should follow it and side bar stories and quotes from famous people, kings and philiosphers from centuries ago showing the success of their tactics and methods! The stories are really pleasant and interesting !

From my opinion there's no book as straight forward as this book, it would literally drop the boom over your head and let you stand in shock saying that is actually right !

This a must have book and I would gladly refer to it for any issues in future !

peace,

Amna

Book Review : The Secret - Rhyonda Byrne

Just finished reading the Secret book by Rhonda Byrne !

This book explains the hidden secret followed by great people from old days till nowadays which is called the law of attraction. It is stated that negative thoughts bring negative things to your life and so you have to train yourself to think about positive things and focus your efforts on stating what you really want from the universe not what you don't want !

The book may seem too plain for some people as all things written are already known and based on common sense but what I think is that this book will do its magic only when you are in need for spiritual support! its good to keep it within reach but keep in mind it is a training book not a knowledge source.

The book consists of many sections related to different issues, for example : the secret to Money, Relationships, Health, the World, You and Life. I loved the health more as it was more related to weight loss strategies and it was so encouraging during this depressing process that I could see the changes in my mental reaction toward weight :)

I really enjoyed it and it provided me with really useful techniques for focusing on what I want in life and I recommend it for anyone who has problems with defining his/her goals, confidence or facing depression.

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