Child Sponsorship

I wish I had the money to sponsor all of them.


I sponsor one little girl in Nepal. But what about all of the other girls and boys waiting for a helping hand?

Right now I'm totally dependent upon hubby's money. If/when I get a job, though, insha'Allah I will donate more. I have so many clothes in my closet, yet I keep buying more.

Sometimes I realize how materialistic I can be. I have tons of movies to watch, books to read, CDs to listen to, clothes to wear...yet I still buy more.

I'm going to make a resolution, like a New Year's resolution...only in August. Maybe it can be my Ramadan resolution...although I want to carry it out for longer than a month!

Okay, my resolution is: At most, i will only buy myself one item a month. That's still a lot compared to others out there...but compared to my usual buying habits.....goodness this is going to be a struggle for me. I'm already debating myself in my head going "how about one clothing item as well as one other item?" Hopefully I can shut out these greedy thoughts and really follow through with this.

I'll need you to help w/accountability. You know I generally post when I buy something new. :)

I don't even wear abayas...

But these are gorgeous! I especially like the middle two. Hubby (saudi) even says I can get by in the third one (with black hijab, instead of turquoise) in KSA when we visit (eventually...). Sooo, that gives me a reason to purchase, right? They're all from East Essence and each around $30. I could even see myself wearing the second one to work. (teaching)

I hate spending money on something I'm unsure if I'll wear, though. Especially now while I'm still not 'out' as a Muslim to my family...

ooo they're pretty, though.

I'm Too Small

So, I had been drooling over this skirt from Christa-Taylor for months...

It finally went on sale (only $5.50 off...but I -really- wanted it) so I splurged and ordered. It came today, I had been planning on wearing it next week when my husband takes me out of town for my b-day. I ripped open the package and....HUGE. I mean, it's not huge, it's a small...but I'm smaller. I could have taken at least 6 inches off the length to get it the length in the photo. Don't even ask about the waist. Grrrrr. :( I'm sending it back, thus, losing money on shipping. I'm afraid to order anything online. A lot of the sites that sell 'Muslim' clothes start at size 4, 6, or sometimes even 8. (american sizes) I wear a 2. The maxi-skirts I have have elastic waistbands which i roll 3 or 4 times to get them short enough.

The swim suit I posted as wanting earlier says their small is the same as a U.S. size 8. They don't take returns so I'm afraid to even try. It's really the only Muslim suit I could see myself wearing, though. The others just aren't me.

*Sigh* What's a petite Mulsimah to do?

Swim Wear

Two summers ago you would have caught me swimming in a little number like this:
Last summer you would have caught me swimming in shorts and a t-shirt...because I was pregnant and didn't want to show off my protruding belly.


This summer I bought something like the following to swim in:only...well, what i bought matches, but i was just giving you a general idea. Anyway, when I bought the boardshorts and rash gaurd (like seen above) I thought i was being SUPER modest. Really I just ended up wasting a lot of money because I'm already searching for a much more modest suit. I think the super tight ones, even though they claim to be for Muslims, are not for me. I mean, if the suit is completely hugging my body, I honestly think the shorts seen above would be a better choice. For that reason, i have chosen this suit. (seen below) I'm reluctant to buy it, because I already wasted $$ on the suit above and don't want to change my mind again.

But here it is, it's from modestkini and is 50 euros, so, um, more in U.S. dollars, lol. I'm used to paying a lot for swimwear, though. And at least with this you're actually getting something for your money! (as opposed to some of the $80 bikinis I've purchased) I also think it could double as a track suit in case I wanted to ride my bike or...jog? Ha! I don't jog. But I do love my bike. Anyway...what do you think? Be honest about how you feel about its modesty, as well as its look. I don't want to buy anything ugly!

Billions of dollars of baby clothes!

So I'm staying with my husband this weekend, as I do most every weekend. But yesterday he took us out of town to go shopping! I do love shopping, but at the same time, I hate spending money. So it was a fun, yet painful, day for me.

We spent too much money (i think), but most of what we bought was for our son. After being born premature, he has more than made up for it by already growing out of his infant carseat. He's now growing out of his 6-9 month clothes (at 8 months) so we had to buy the next size up. Hubby's all for buying 'the best' for our son, so he got spoiled with clothes from Baby Gap, Osh Kosh, Gymboree, Nike, and Carters. If it had been me shopping alone...the whole trip would have been done at Wal-Mart, lol, not even kidding. I'm just uncomfortable with a $20 pair of shorts if they're only going to last 6 months (or less at the rate we're going). I was raised to pinch pennies and treasure coupons whereas hubby apparently had a less frugal childhood.

But, putting all my money matters aside, we got some really cute stuff!

Here are some of my faves...
cowboy jammies! He wore them last night and looked super adorable!

Also, this shirt for his b-day (not till november but we bought a size up)
He also got the most adorable little Nike shoes. I think infant/toddler shoes are just too cute.

I got a great pair of white cotton pants at the Gap. They're wide leg and light weight enough to be very comfy in the summer! (yet not so thin you see my undies)

And, hubby bought me a nice dress to wear on my birthday (at home, it's not hijab friendly, lol). My b-day's not until August, but we don't go shopping together that often.

I like staying here on weekends for many reasons, of course. 1) I get to be with MY HUSBAND whom I love dearly. I wish we could live together, but alas, my parents care more for insurance 2) I get to PRAY WITH HIM...i really need to work on memorizing the prayers by myself so that if i have a free moment at home with my parents I can pray independently and 3) he always takes me out of town so that I can WEAR HIJAB without worrying about my family/friends seeing me and squealing to my parents and 4) he either takes me out or cooks me yummy HALAL food. :)

I wore hijab yesterday. Hubby asked if I noticed people looking at me funny, I replied "I actually expected more of a response than I've noticed." He seemed surprised by that. He said he did notice some people giving me looks that weren't good. I didn't notice any of those. What I did notice was people looking at me with curiosity. I held the door open for sooo many people and they all looked kind of surprised when after saying 'thank you,' I'd reply with 'you're welcome' in obviously american English...no accent here. :) I look caucasian (i'm italian/polish), but I've been told i look lebanese....so i get the feeling that people assume i'm foreign until they hear me talk, because obviously no American born female would choose this for herself! ;)I like hijab. It reminds me to be a lady, it also made me feel that by holding the door for people and by just being friendly and polite in general, I was serving the greater purpose of testifying to the American people about the character of Muslim(s), and Muslim women specifically. We as Muslim women DO have personalities, DO have self-esteem, and DO have compassion for our fellow human beings whether they share our beliefs or not. I don't know how to describe it, but it really made me feel good. I kind of felt that by outwardly showing my religion(i.e.Islam because of my hijab), any kindness I bestowed upon someone directed their attention to God or my faith in God/Allah, as opposed as directing their attention to me in particular. It's neat to think that I could make someone pause and think about faith just by opening a door for them.

Uh-oh...my son is whining for my attention... It's great to be loved, even if it is by a chunky little baby. Although sometimes it's hard to get anything done!

Ma'alsalamah, sisters!