Countdown

That is right my friends. Ten days. Ten days until we head home to be with family for a season. The countdown has been going on for a long time for me (blush), but now the official countdown has begun! Start counting.

P.S. I added a "like it" tally below my post. Leave me some love if you don't have time for a comment! That way I can see your excitement too!

Look who I found!

I was geeking around at work the other day trying to find something to inspire me while I was surrounded by grey and puke blue cubicle walls and florescent lights. I found her! Boy oh boy did I! HERE! I love creative people and Katie is so refreshing! I highly recommend having a look at her work. She makes me smile- big time! She is a freelance photographer (I think that is my newest aspiration) and she regularly works alongside the makers of "Improv Everywhere"- who I also love. They remind me of my friend Katherine and I when we were in High School. Oh these videos make me miss those days! Enjoy.

Daddy- Daughter slippers

My brother in law told me he liked my slippers so much that he wanted them in BYU cougar colors for himself and his new baby girl. So I went to work. It was a fat yarn and I couldn't quite get the sizes right so I did my best. The results are two pairs of overly sized slippers in Cougar blue for daddy and daughter.

I showed my brother in law the slippers on skype and laughed my head off. Ben modeled the slippers for my blog post and laughed his head off as he wore them. I think my brother in law isn't quite sure what to think of them yet, but I am mailing them off this week, so he will have a better idea of their great greatness soon.

Cooking Confessions

I feel like Clotilde from Chocolate and Zucchini is my little French friend. I laugh at her blog, take her advice religiously in the kitchen, admire her courage and love her creative mind. I registered to get her monthly newsletter months ago and get excited every time I see it in my email. This month she said something and I knew she was speaking directly to me:

"...I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage you to nudge yourself out of your comfort zone, too: whatever it is we feel like making, it's often just a matter of reading up on the subject beforehand, in order to feel calm and prepared when we actually get to work. And the reward -- that wonderful feeling of accomplishment, of having grown a little as a cook and baker -- is worth a lot more than the time and effort we put into it."

I have a fear of French cooking- it is such an intense fear! I love eating French food, but I just can't push myself enough to do more than a crepe, nicoise salad, or a quiche! A 'live life to the fullest,' adventurous, beautiful friend of mine is a professional chef and writer; said friend told me to just do it and not to make a big deal out of it. I have taken that advice for many things, but not for French cooking. I am going to find a good French cookbook and I am making a goal to learn at least 3 good recipes before the end of this year. My grandma has more cookbooks than she knows what to do with, so she will be my library. :)

I am challenging you too, my friends and family, to do take Clotilde's challenge. Get out of your comfort zone and make something new, and maybe even slightly intimidating.

Grateful

The only downside, that I can see, to being married to Ben is that I don't have a pet like this (he hates cats, but I'm still working on adjusting that perspective) or a room like this (MarieClaireMaison ... I absolutely know he would go nuts with all that color and wildness).

As sad as I am to not have those things in my life, I am more than seriously grateful for the puppy dog we will be getting next year, for Ben hugs every time we cross the threshold at home, for cooking with Ben, for dancing in all rooms of the house, for encouragement in all my endeavors, for 'inside jokes' everyday, for the copper spot in his right eye, for cuddles in the morning, for walks holding hands, for ... The list goes on. I am more than seriously grateful for my husband.

"You know you are in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." - Dr. Seuss

Happy Halloween

Doha Film Festival

Last night we went to the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and it was fantastic! A good friend of ours told us we should go early to the out door festival because the seats would fill up fast. It was a free show after all and boy was it packed! They had a free shuttle service to the Doha Museum of Islamic Art (where the outdoor theatre was set up) so that traffic and parking wouldn't be so bad- very smart! We were really grateful for it and praised the organization of the event.

So we showed up and grabbed some chairs and then listened to the Doha Philharmonic Orchestra as we waited for the movie. They showed us all about the making of the event later on and then we sat back in our lawn chairs and watched Amelia, a movie about Amelia Earheart. It was fantastically done. We really enjoyed the movie and would love to see it again!

As everyone started to walk to the shuttles after the end of the movie there were fireworks that went off to celebrate the very first Doha film festival ever and because it was opening night. It was magical.

Mac-seen (Pronounced Maxine)

Benjiman loves our Mac computer. You may confidently call him a Mac nerd and not have to worry about hurting his feelings. He readily admits it and is proud of it. Well, he and the computer spend so much time exploring the Mac realm together that I, naturally, started to joke about the Mac being loved more than me (We love exagerated jokes). Last night I upped the anny and said, "Why don't you just go tell your precious Mac-seen, maybe she'll care!" He laughed his head off.

The next thing I know Benjiman is in the kitchen with me, sitting on the couch with Mac-seen and he is playing with the computer voices. I'm cutting up vegetables and I hear, "Oh Benjiman, I love you!" In the computer sexy voice. It was all I could take to keep my feet under me; I was laughing so hard. He continued to make his computer say other things that were just as funny to us, but probably just because we were out of control laughing by that point.

Handmade awareness

I think looking for things to make your day more beautiful, meaningful and cozy is a righteous endeavor. There are so many common things throughout the day that scream disposable, cheap and cold, and it weakens our sense of value. In my efforts to make things more personal, pretty and meaningful I am seeking out gift ideas that have heart to them. I am almost finished with my mystery/surprise baby blanket for my new niece and it has caused me to become reflective on my life- like so many simple experiences can. Almost a month's time has been spent making this gift (I've worked on it nearly everyday) and now giving this gift means more. I have noticed that other handmade gifts have made me feel this way too; like I have given love, value and history to someone. I prefer these types of gifts.
 I am often searching for ways to make the things in my life more beautiful and personal. One thing that I have done is to work on avoiding things that are immediately thrown away- like plastic bags of all kinds, wrapping paper, take out containers etc. I haven't reached perfection because sometimes there is no going around it, but I am conscious of it.

Today I saw this idea online and loved it! It is called a furoshiki and they have used them in Japan for ages! Wrap up a gift, a bundle, your hair or use it to wipe your mouth at a picnic! Whatever you want! I think it personalizes a gift by being that extra warm and cozy aspect that I appreciate.  You can buy it HERE, or you can figure out how to make your own. They even have neat instructions on different ways to wrap things up on the website. I am going to attempt to use the furoshiki idea this holiday season, I'll update you when I do.

User Review- Crystal deodorant

About  a month ago I started to use this product and I am now here to report that I really like it. You only have to read that far if you want. Know that the rest of this post will be talking about armpits, so if you aren't up for that then I'll see you later in the week.

I really don't like how other deodorants make those bumps on my armpits. It makes shaving very uncomfortable and nearly ineffective. I looked into why those bumps occur and I found that it is because deodorant/ antiperspirant clogs the pores and doesn't allow sweat to pass through. So it just builds up water bumps under my skin! Sweating is not an issue with me; I will sweat regardless of what is applied to my armpits, I'm of latin decent. So I am done with regular antiperspirant sticks. Plus, I think it is weird to try and stop a natural bodily function from happening. That can't be healthy.
One day I saw Crystal at the grocery store and I remembered one of my mom's best friends used it and loved it. I was ready to try something new and so I purchased it. You apply it to the armpit after a shower (you must be clean) and the salt based Crystal works to fight the natural bacteria that reside on the armpit that create the smell. I love that it goes to the source of the problem to stop it and doesn't just mask the smell. Sounds good right?
For a normal day of working at the office, going to the grocery store, cleaning my home and the like, Crystal works well, not much sweat and no smell. I apply Crystal in the morning after my shower and then spray some perfume on my armpits to make sure that I don't smell at the end of the day. Without the perfume I get a little musty in the evening. When I work out, I sweat more than I normally do, but who cares?! I'm working out! When I am walking around outside for a long time (it is still fairly warm here in Qatar) and happen to sweat, it is much more than with other deodorants, of course, but I don't have deodorant stains on my clothes and I, personally, dry faster with Crystal deodorant.

So there you go. A healthier, natural way to take care of your hygiene. They even have a guy version in black so Ben doesn't have to hide the fact that he uses purple deodorant. Ben says he likes Crystal too and agrees with my review. You can find where to buy it HERE if you like. I recommend it.

9 out of 10

We had a near PERFECT day today. Honestly. Ben and I decided to take an "us day" today and I am so glad. You see, we have Fridays off together, but that is set aside for church here and so we never get a play day together unless it is planned. So today we moved around our days off and did almost everything we wanted! We slept in and then snuggled in bed and laughed at the birds attacking our windows (they see their reflections in the mirror finish to the windows). Then we got up and made eggs and toast with jam.  Our breakfasts we bring to work are good, but no one can beat breakfast in PJ's. I love a good, tasty breakfast.

Then we sat around in our PJ's planning out what we wanted to do with our day and I worked on the final squares of a surprise baby blanket for the newest baby in our family :). (Now is the time to put the squares together and restrain myself from ruining the surprise!!!) So we cleaned up as slow as we wanted to and then headed out to lunch at Johnny Rockets! I love a good burger about every other month. It is strange, I really only enjoy red meat when it is smothered with other things like mushrooms and onions or wrapped up in a hamburger.  Ok get this, so from there we went to the Ritz Carlton on the Pearl (the man made island in Qatar) and got massages for an hour!!!
I describe the whole experience as a little Lebanese girl, who spoke with a French accent in English, rubbing love and health into my muscles. It was wonderful. I felt like cotton when it was all said and done.
From there we went to Villagio and leisurely purchased our groceries, ran simple errands and got some fun things too. For instance, this arab style lavender oil burner to bring the lovely smells of my massage experience into my home.
And then this dead sexy sweater and a shirt for my handsome husband! He says I love getting things for him more than for myself, and he is right!

After our shopping trip we went home and I started to make salad night salads. When I was in High School my mom and I made up these ultimate salads that really were a meal! They have a ton of veggies, which compensates for the heavy dressing, in my opinion.
There are veggies, chicken, eggs, sometimes croutons and ranch dressing! I remembered the salads when I made ranch dressing from scratch a few nights ago and then I just had to make salad night salads for Ben. He isn't a huge lettuce salad type of guy, but if something is done right he can't deny it, and this my friends was clearly done right. He loved salad night salads. Well as we were finishing up the dressing and pulling the chicken from the rotisserie chicken we remembered it was Tuesday night and we had people to pick up in 2 minutes to go to our church youth group weekly activity!! So we threw everything into plastic containers and ran out the door.
The activities were great, but we didn't get to watch our movie and cuddle in a blanket before bed because of it, so I have to rate the day a 9. It was tough to give a 9 when a 10 was so close, but you can't bend the rules with perfection. Wow we really got close though!

Oui, Galettes

I saw galettes on a blog I read last week and I decided I wanted to make them too. I also want to find more ways of using honey instead of sugar since sugar isn't very good for you and honey is more natural. I didn't have a recipe for my galettes with honey, but I had an idea of what I wanted so I asked Ben to find me a few recipes for tarts and pies with rubarb. He did and I started to experiment. We were just about to try the pretty ones from my first batch and take a photo, but destiny made me drop them. I never do that. I should have taken it as a sign, but I didn't and took the two other galettes and tried them. They were way tart- yuck! So I worked with Ben to find a way to make them less tart. 

We came up with this: I took a pot and put my remaining rubarb in it, then I put in about 2 tablespoons of sugar, about 1/4 cup of honey, 2 tablespoons of butter and grated a bunch of orange peel into the pot. I cooked the rubarb in the pot until it just started to look soft. Then I took a spoon with holes in it and put the rubarb in my crust circles and folded up the edges. I put the rubarb in the oven (for 20 minutes) and continued to cook the juices left in the pot until they reduced to a syrup. After the galettes were cooked I put the syrup on them and let me tell you, they were divine!!! Rubarb is Ben's favorite kind of pie and so he was quite happy.

Art History and me

Today, while looking at emails that I had saved for later, I came across an email from an old art history professor. She just started a new site called Art History salon and invited past and present students and art lovers alike to join in the weekly discussions. I browsed through it, not really noting anything in particular, and thought I'd just come back to it when I was more in the mood. So then I stopped by some sites I like to go to for inspiration for the day (I have an artsy postcard I need to make) and I saw that a dear friend had written on her blog. She was an art history student too (I met her at church when I was on a study abroad in Paris and she was an Aupair)  and had seen the new site as well, only she took part in the discussion on the site. I loved her response- witty, insightful and honest to her. That got me in the mood and so I thought about it and I responded to the question of what piece of art I would take with me were I stranded on a deserted island.

"I immediately thought of Rene Magritte. He is a strange thinker, but I think I would want something like his “Golconda” or “The beautiful relations” to keep me company on a deserted island to keep my mind occupied with “what if?”. It would be nice to think about magical possibilities and alternatives when all alone and stranded."

My response took me on a journey through my head that I rather enjoyed. Magritte was the first artist that I studied. I was in my senior year in High School and was writing a biography on anyone I wanted in history and I thought it would be interesting to learn about a new artist, so I chose Rene Magritte. Sure I had studied a little about artists here and there and I had taken many art classes at that point, but I hadn't jumped in so deep before then. I loved Magritte's colors, his strange subject matter, I loved the flatness to his work and how simple it made things. His history was striking to me and his influence on history was interesting as well. He was my favorite.

My 2nd year at BYU I discovered art history. I never knew it existed until a friend told me she was taking an art history class for  a civilization credit. I was so excited and signed up. Professor Gough was my instructor for my entry level classes. That man had so much passion, feeling, love, admiration and even a friendship with art insomuch that I couldn't help but fall in love with art history. I had to be apart of it. So I went with the feeling and changed my university study plans from advertising to art history. I studied sociology, archeology, anthropology, religions, history and- of course- art in my courses and got an amazing perspective on life and the world that truly changed me. I couldn't deny what I knew. I had to go with it. So one event after another led me to languages, cultures, food  and travel- I indulged in them all and tried to make them apart of me.  Eventually I had amazing friends who were interested in the same things and helped me to grow even more. I met Ben through one of those friends and now another personal evolution is going on in me in a different aspect of my life.

I am amazed at what experiences change the course of a life. I'm glad they happen.

BAGs

I am an environmentalist!! There I said it. I'm not a nut, I've just had a healthy dose of earth saving assemblies, books and outdoors loving friends.  My free spirit heart makes me want to save plants and animals and minimize my carbon footprint. My friends here even joked about whether to get me the hippie camel figurine at the souq, but thought I might think of it as excess plastic. Ben likes to tease me about my green ways, but he really thinks my efforts and such to be environmentally friendly are pretty great. He agrees that God did make us stewards over the earth and we should take care of it.

In Spain, people think recycling is pretty great too. They had reusable sacks in almost every store we went to. They had recycling bins on almost every corner we walked around- even in the villages. And... they even had campaigns to eliminate "bolsa caca" (bag trash). I loved that. Qatar could really learn from them.

I like reusable shopping bags. For instance, a man in Spain said, "You are green peace," with a jeering smile, when I told him I'd carry my purchase, I didn't want a bag. I don't know about that, but it was funny. I just got a book recommendation from a friend for a book called, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," it inspired her to not use plastic bags. I intend to check it out, maybe you could too.

My newest venture is in saving produce sacks. I have eliminated grocery bags in my home, so now it is time to save other plastic bags,  we eat lots of veggies (we are meat minimalists) and so we have a good bit of those. I did stop buying sealable bags a few months ago; I now use my bento box or another small plastic ware container. If I can't use a plastic box, I use my vegetable sacks, but I don't like it. I would rather have something like THIS. I want to make my own sack, stamp and everything!

Slippers!

I found the idea for these online HERE! I laughed at them and then I had to make them. I adore my new slippers!