La vie de Mme. Monstre

What's in my bag

2009-11-07T05:08:00.000-08:00

In my vintage ysl envelope pouchette:
.louis vuitton planner
.Tuscan leather
. Good ol' pencil sharpened from both sides :p
. Loose sheets of sketches of my current interior design project
.Nail file and buffer
. A little moleskin sketchbook ( to record anything )
. A jeweler's business card
. Walletless bill notes floating around
. MAC full fushia lipstick
. Nude shimmery lipgloss
. Blistex lipbalm
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2009-10-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies,
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies,
When the love is gone.

- Francis William Bourdillon
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l'été

2009-09-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

so here comes the late post..

im a natural procrastinator, by now i guess you do know that

anyhow .. here is my summer in pictures

i've been spending half of my life's summers in the little town of Evian on lake Geneva.. all my life i've seen it as 'the boring place where there is nothing to do' .. but this year the so subtle getaway was not exactly all relaxing.. i've actually been busy and on the go most of the time.. a typical non-eventful day in Evian consisted of french classes in the morning, maybe a stroll or tennis ( which i vowed to but didnt committ to *flutteringeyelashes* ), watching friends and painting, then i'd have the sunset strolls avec digirebel ..

constantly recharging pour demain

one of the days i decided to have an urban hike to the Royal parc Evian avec ma souer and her friends ..

savior of the day

reaching our desitination

since Evian was 40 minutes away from Geneva, it fulfilled our urges to shop ( not exactly fulfilled lol.. it was more of a temporary ta9beera as they say ) well one of the days i stayed late with my sister and had the times of our lives ..

and i played the ride one more time in the evening .. i found it especially enchanting at the right-before-sunset time

Lausanne, also 40 minutes away from Evian by boat .. it actually did fulfill the shopping urges ( compared to geneva )

Petite souer Meme hugs Evian from a distance

that day i had a bonding stroll with Meme .. waiting for our boat to come

all my life i have never seen the Evian-ese lights flicker from a distance, digirebel and i wondered how they looked like .. and i got to see them first XD

the boat was late that day .. and here's my sister attempting to catch the lenses' attention XP ( she'll kill me when she reads it )

just before the summer ends .. we noticed that we didnt have a single roadtrip to anywhere o,0! .. usually we head to Paris ♥ ... just not this year :( .. anyway .. we went to Barcelona instead.. it was tiring .. worth it thou..

why dont we have this here ! .. i was basically living on it the whole summer !

at last! .. approaching Barça

the famous street we didnt get to go to .. my father refused because of the crowds, the flu, and my handbag! .. i only packed one ( again in attempt of light packing )

so i walk into a shop, that seemed to me very spanish designer, i get an evening gown, and just after swiping the magic card, the salesman told me that they recently opened a shop in Dubai ! oh no, but that's not it, my mother's friend has the exact same dress :) ..

as soon as we reached the city, my brothers made a fuss about the FC barcelona Camp Nou.. so thats where we headed first .. so we can enjoy art scene in total calmness -,-"

just in the suburbs, there was this very calm beach, were kids were playing, men were fishing, and that fish went straight to the little bungalowesque little restaurant that grilled them and had you enjoy it on their deck that was surrounded by oil lamps.. the place was very calming,, i didnt have the fresh fish whatsoever ... i was busy climbing that game that is now extinct ( i think ) .. i had a very nostalgic moment ..that, and all the peace .. *sigh*

the Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya .. that i insisted on going to XP .. tortured everyone else too .. lol as my sister and i were walking from the romanesque to the gothic to the baroque periods , that was mainly all christian art .. my sister asked me " why is all the art torturing people the same way ?" .. later she went and took a picture of a sculpture that was labeled " head of jesus " she was so excited about it w she said " omg, i think this refers to something " .. o.o i was about to faint =p i told her that all the things we've been seeing, all the men tortured were refering to jesus !! ,, lol she is so killing me for posting this

i was excited about seeing all the Gaudi attractions.. couldnt fit it in the 2 days we had .. !

we managed to see the parc guell .. which was truly amazing .. i would have loved it more if there were no tourists !! .. people actually stood in a que for taking pictures with some monuments ..

I would have loved to stay in that hall for a long time :( it seemed as though it would be soothing .. but the TOURISTS are crawling all over the place ..

after Barcelona, we were supposed to head to Lugano, the little italian swiss city .. we were there in 12 hours :) .. it was the day i was in four different countries in four hours,, if it wasnt for the full batch of the 10 seasons of FRIENDS .. i would have died 0,o.

Cote d'Azur was sort of on our way .. i Insisted for Cannes .. i needed to have the pizza i had in winter .. it doesnt look the same thou .. it tasted reallllly extremely good thou

my dessert was a pistachio soft scoop ice cream that melted way too fast for human consumption! .. and a stroll by La Criosette .. i had a moment of perfection .. after the icecream that is .. i was rocking the black blazer, with the white basic shirt (high necked that is.. not a very good idea with the heat) .. and a beigelenin-blend -haremesque-high-waisted-clinched pants, kelly, Loeffler Randall stingray adeline sandal ( sliced my feet! ), and a brooche cluster and pearl statement necklace .. social restrictions are not allowing me to post a picture of that ensemble >,<

Cannes in summer and in winter are two very different places .. i like the winter one .. im not a fan of crowds, heat, and extreme-nontasteful-arab-superficiality .. in cannes .. i only spent 1 hour this summer .. and im glad i got to see it lol

c'est tout mes amis .. i wish from all my heart that i wont forget the french i relearned this year lol ..

like in a fashion year , starts on september .. when i usually come back from voyage .. is when i set my year's resolutions : - be strict and laidback - stop the procrastination - be productive - stop listening to your brain your heart has long been ignored - have the time of your life

excerpt

2009-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

bonsoir all :*

yep its been long ..

a quick update :

-Im in Evian

-Im in for a productive summer ( physically, intellectually, artistically, and skillfully.incookingthatis. )

so i have been reading this book lent to me by digirebel .. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely .. i too highly recommend it..

in it i read: on the size of closets:

In houses built in 1890, there were no closets whatsoever. Houses in the 1940s had closets barely big to stand in. In the 1970s, they were deep enough for a fondue pot, a box of 8-track tapes and a few disco dresses. But today's closet if of a different breed. " Walk-in closet", that you can literally walk in for quite a distance. And no matter how deep these closets are, we have always found ways to fill them right up to the closet door.

well said !

sacrifice

2009-06-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

I hope this template works for unlimited's eyes >,> .. and i have no idea were my posts and blog roll disappeared!

anyhow .. lol i fixed it .. i miss blogging

layout ?

2009-05-31T12:55:00.000-07:00

Im sure everyone saw what i did to my blog lol .. i attempted htmling it .. but then i realized that i forgot everything i used to know ..

confession : im hating the quality of the image .. i'll change it as soon as i can

i promise *flutterslashes*

As if I have nothing else to do

2009-05-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

I began exploring calligraphy for the first time .. Shuffling arabic songs in my ipod and writing the first sentence of each songs .. its been a month since I last blogged ! .. I miss it .. I'll stay intouch enshallah , although I have tons of deadlines till the next few weeks .. * sigh * .. Allah y3een

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Je ne vuex pas

2009-05-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

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Timed

2009-04-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

" You only fail if u fall off the roof " he's pretty cool this teacher .. I like people-teachers- who like what I do ..

-and grade-generous
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7 hours worth

2009-04-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

I've been working on these for 7 hours .. Which btw are only the sketches of the project .. 2 will be discarded :) .. If she doesn't like the outcome of the one she chose .. She'd deduct marks ! Mama u chose it!!

.. Allah ystr ..

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would you

2009-04-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

loubie sneakers

viagraziauk

Recent Realization

2009-03-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

apparently ..i cannot become any kind of designer .. or i can .. i dont know .. the thing is .. i just cant create things that other people want when i dont agree .. i have a certain style that i would describe as sophisticated minimalism .. i can go shabby chic at times ... bas i dont know .. i cant create something that is not 'me' and stick my name to it .. sorry .. not happening .. im not sacrificing my 'dignity' as a designer

maybe a middle solution, je ne sais pas ..

and yet .. la vie en rose .. i should always remember

1st monotype

2009-03-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

I loved the procedure !! I even thought of dropping interior design and going into visual arts .. But then I said :p I can take it as elective .. Clever me ..
This btw is not the initial intention .. The ink layer was too thick for me to see the photo I mounted at the bottom of the plastic thingy .. When I realized that the damage has been done .. I decided to scrape off something from my imagination .. This was the out come .. The image is a one I had in mind lately ,, when I was kinda gloomy .. I wanted to turn it into an oil painting ( something I never done too ) ..but I quite like this one .. And due to my lazy-forever-procrastinating nature I'll not do the painting :) .. Ha! Typical moi ..

I missed blogging

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Dans Lhbab

2009-03-07T01:44:00.000-08:00

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two tags

2009-02-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

i started receiving tags .. ta6awr lol ..

Grumpy tag , Silhouette Crime - this one is old by now .. sorry luv i was really busy lately ..

The rules are as followed:

1.Put a picture of any grumpy person.

2.Then Mention 3 things that are just abnormal.

3.Two things that irritate you.

4.One trigger to your anger.

5.Three people you can't live without

6.Two people you don't want to see.7.One of your favorite foods.

8.Three of your favorite songs

2. abnormal things : those towerheaded people, really heavy wacky makeup, people filth*ifying the place ( why why ?! )

3. Irritating things : flu and cough and soar throat, being indemand ( in a certain way ) -,-"

4. Anger trigger : being ignored

5. 3 people i cant live without : mom, dad, and everyone else i know (a)

6. 2 people i dont want to see : art teacher, arabic L teacher ( talk about personal space )

7. Favorite food : ice cream .. creates happiness (a)

8. 3 favorite songs : that is a very unstable thing .. at the moment : thats amore, Dean Martin .. Wain yal'3ayb, Meehad, Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai, Rab ne bana di jodi .. ( diverse .. non ? )

.. feel free to use this tag .. if you want 6ab3an ;p

the other tag .. i was tagged by Pomegranate and Patchouli ..

The rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

1. in a way .. im anti-social .. i think .. its just hard for me to get along with someone new

2. lol .. im interested in world cultures .. just a few though .. French, Indian ( jussst the culture ), Mediterranean, and Irish 6ab3an

3. whenever im bored, sad, angry, or just anything.. i'd turn on my iPod and run to my room .. and dance

4. im not a gym rat .. i like to feel fit .. yet i hate working out.. i cant run or do pushups and hal stuff .. lol my version of working out would probably be dancing, pilates, kickboxing ( the last 3 were actual workouts lol )

5. food excites me

6. i've been going to Evian every summer from almost 10 years .. its a really boring little town in france .. i hated it .. but the weird thing is .. that lately im starting to long for it !

i taaag .. Silhouette Crime, Maitha*, Limited, SERENDIPITY, Fastidious Babe, Nawary

mmmm.. i just had a brainfreeze .. i'll update sometime soon inshallah .. people .. pray for my blackberry to revive , my service has been down for a while .. je ne sais pourquoi .. à bientôt for now

Trani .. 6fart !!

2009-02-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

By the time I graduate .. I'll probably be cross-eyed

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Now that was

2009-02-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

Fairly good !! .. I was never enrolled in an art program , in school it was a joke .. All we did was cut confetti flowers for cheesy events .. This is my first still life sketch .. And I feel good lol .. I thought I'd do a bad job at it

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2009-02-11T02:02:00.000-08:00

i got this sent by email .. i really loved it i wish it could just happen

SC

2009-02-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

Teaching Silhouette Crime to blog from bb ..
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Voyage d'Hiver ... ;) Numéro Deux

2009-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

once upon a weekend somewhere between the frenzy assignment deadlines and the freej volunteering thing and exams .. i sat among my dear aunts who all wanted to go to Bangalore ( which they've have been going to regularly until my grandfather passed away in 2005's summer ) .. they have been going for what seems like 13 years .. and they stopped .. and my whole childhood i used always hear the stories and fun things that happen in their summer and i would have always compare it to what my summer was like in Europe ( which often only includes my nuclear family and no one else .. ).. i was anti-europe my whole childhood .. only lately i have began to experience its' beauty .. anyhow .. i joined the party lol .. in that time when i decided to do so .. i was really sick and fed up with the hectic life i was leading here and really wanted to get out.. ma3 enneh i almost just got back from my London-et-Côte d'Azur winter voyage .. the two weeks really managed to erase all the sense of calmness and la-vie-en-rose i had .. Fa .. i decided to head to incredible India .. ( lets see about that incredible .. i think the ad should be reported as fraud .. ) bas i really had ALOT of fun over there .. somewhat like the stories i heard in my childhood .. oh and most of the attention was on me because lol .. i traveled with neither my parents or any brother or sister .. everybody was my aunts and cousins (a) .. and grandmother .. who became my mother figure over there .. heh .. and also .. they all wanted to see how i see india after being in europe my whole life ..

so half the fun i had there was due to the Rikshaws ( that are called " auto " there .. and some of you know it as " toktok " ) i prefer to call them Rikshaws ,, much more authentic .. che of the golden age ;) .. the rest of the fun was due to the lovely people i was with .. other than the rides to-and-from the airport .. i never rode a car .. except only twice .. when i had to accompany my pregnant cousin .. >,<

The day i took the kids to bowling .. the ones in the pic only the ones i managed to fit in one rikshaw with myself they were excited like theres no tomorrow .. and they all loved me .. remember kaif i used to say there was only 1 kid ( afra ) who liked me .. and now alll of them like me .. no they love me .. btw these are the kids who fought with me .. except the one in the middle .. she was usually very timid w ma tsaweeli salfeh .. now she tells me " it3arfeeeen .. ana a7bich akthar mn M e5ty "

im not so good in this thing .. but i sure do feel like royalty,, na ? .. :p

I lovvved .. the night-time rikshaws .. they're scary.. bigtime .. lakn so much fun .. at night we tend to hop into one rikshaw .. that will be me and my 3 other cousins .. we would be high and laugh our way to the hotel .. :p .. i doubt that any driver didnt drop us with one big headache .. someone would say " abhi left jayaiga .. " " no no right jayaiga ... " " abhi undar dirwaza jayaiga " .. { confession .. : the word jayaiga is the most thing i repeated during this trip .. lol .. i decided to make it the word of the year .. i just love it >,< }

one of the very hard things to do in india is cross a road .. a one lane road like this one takes forever ( that is for us ) to cross .. the pedestrian stripes are there .. but are long ignored .. until you just walk infront of the car/rikshaw/motorcycle .. then it will actually stop .. or maybe slow down .. oh and dont get me started with the horns .. its like saying "hi" over there .. the road is clear and all .. but they'll still honk .. Laish ya nas laaaaish ..

we, the girls, had a routine there .. wake up , pray , get out of the house, shop a little, and stay at barista till we are called to get back to the hotel .. only a few times i broke this routine and hanged out with my aunts .. since well the girls tend to sleep in .. and im not much of a sleeper .. well the barista sittings were not that enjoyable .. they seemed to enjoy it .. i just sat there .. thanking god for blackberry .. i would endlessly wander about in the blogspheres reading and reading

UB City is probably one of the best things that happened to the place .. it opened a week before our arrival .. it reallly looked like mercato i'd say .. but housed nicer brands .. there was LV, Etro, Paul Smith, Lanvin ♥, Moschino, Stella McCartney, Burberry, Tods, Salvatore Ferregamo, and their inbrand Kimaya ( which had alot of great finds btw ) .. oh and more .. oo they also had hot mid-high end restaurants in the terrace, one of which is noodle house .. its name is different over there .. i knew them mn the doors, menu and logo ofcourse :p .. a place like this .. is not what i expected waiting for me there .. oh and its also EXACTLY next door to where we stayed !

There were alot of these painted banners and ads over there .. vintage.. na ? .. ( vintage being the very overrated word these days .. i hate it when it happens .. when suddenly something becomes all the rage .. and everybody starts doing it .. thats when i'd typically hate it and abandon it .. no matter how beautiful it is .. pour example : the Blair Waldorf headband craze .. jeez .. even Blair herself abandoned it ! )

in india .. there are alot of things that you get to see .. only there .. and no were else .. like cows wandering in the streets :)

another thing is this .. i first saw it and thought it was face cleansing or makeup removing wipes .. but oh no .. it turned out to be doood > milk in Urdu i think .. je ne sais pas .. the kids taught me the word

being there .. i couldnt but admire their style ;) .. hot .. na ?

on the rikshaw ride back to the hotel .. one thing you grow addicted to in a noisy place like india ( where probably you wont understand a word .. not even from the movies .. nothing like the movies btw ) .. oh and u see the green bag .. its a story itself .. so i was in that shop .. ( where its not fixedly priced ).. and the guy who works there .. is known from my aunts' previous visits that oh he is a 7arami and never lowers the price for arabs .. even for loyal customers like my aunts i'd say .. so i was telling him " yallah yaaar.. this is my first time to visit india and you have to give me a good impression about it .. thats why .. you must give me a good price for what im buying .. " .. he tells me " ok who told you to come to india .. go back to your country !! " .. i was shocked/dumbfounded/dumbstruck .. u name it .. everything !!! i still bought what i had to buy because not only they were too pretty to stay in his shop mr.uglyface.. but they were the last pieces.. i never went to the shop again lol .. when i came back to dubai and told my mom .. she got all angry on me .. enneh why did still buy after he told u that !

i never see this plant anymore .. why .. qyoo .. pour qoi .. :( .. they remind me of my childhood .. i used to eat them * flutterseyelashesinnocently*

why is there no Vogue and Elle dubai .. shay in India ! .. bas their grazia .. its tacky ..

i found this little girl who was sitting beside her mom who was selling those colorful funky horsies in the street .. the little girl was applying nail polish .. in the street .. now thats something u dont see everyday .. the girls eyes mashallah are very expressive .. you can easily read that her childhood was not that happy .. then again .. a reminder to count our blessings .. el 7mdillah .. more than half the world doesnt have a fraction of what we have ...

one night .. i was watching an episode after an episode after a movie after an episode and realized .. that a'th'an el fajir .. so we decided to pray and pull the day further.. my cousin was awake too .. she didnt sleep at night .. she'd stay until el fajir .. turn my athan alarm off, pray herself .. and leave me asleep .. ! lol .. she says she wakes me but common .. im not that heavy of a sleeper .. anyhow .. we decided to eat in leela kimpenski .. ( precisely when i blogged heading to the place )

ahh the leela .. one of the very few things i loved in india .. its one of those places you'd see in old bollywood movies .. where grand bashes and weddings are held .. and the bride runnnns bare footed in the wet-because-of-rain marble floors .. with half of her saree fluttering after her .. and then she'd throw herself on a surface and cry the soul out of her body .. lol .. its a scene i want to live for a minute lol ..

the breakfast was typical continental .. nothing really different from europe's breakfasts .. lol .. but it was the only breakfast i had in the whole trip .. >,<>

one thing that grows worse in India .. is the blackberry addiction .. oo i'd always hold it in my hand afraid that someone would pocket-pick it from my tote ..

so this was the last evening spent in Barista .. eventful i'd say ..

The tissue note was sent from F .. lol .. the almost-goodlooking-one in the pic above .. oh yeah one thing .. in India ... y6al3ooooon wayed ! .. there is no personal space / privacy whatsoever .. lol .. i kept on figuring out whats written .. :p .. i remember it " you are worth a million bucks .. " bas whats this :p !

the barista sittings grew boring with time .. we had to get a source of entertainment .. and the security dude of the cafe hated us .. plainly hated us -,-" and so did the rest of the staff.. except for MadhuMadhu .. who we hated :p

so on the last night in india .. we decided to eat indian food .. you heard me .. :p just the last day !! .. we headed to the rooftop restaurant in Barton center .. it was chilly up there .. the heat from the food managed to warm us

our flight back to Fabulous Dubai was an evening flight .. so we hanged around in our favorite place .. the Leela .. just saying goodbyes and hugging the oh-so-elaborate pillars .. ( just kidding .. we didnt do that )

Thats it folks .. India is a once in a life time experience .. literally .. i dont think i'll go there again .. They say .. Bangalore is a much cleaner place than Mumbai ( which i haven't been to ) .. and yet .. i see alot of filth in alot of places ! i cant imagine Mumbai .. one of my aunts ygoolkom .. she despises Paris .. her exact words were " a55 ... ella malat 3ala Parees el 5ayseh .. w share3ha el 5ayes Shanzilizayh .. ella mazeeen Banglore el n'6eefeh el 5neenh " .. Paris being my favorite city where i enjoy every little bit of .. 6ab3an ma ar'6a .. even then and there .. before going to India .. when i heard that .. i was like " Excuuuuuse me !" .... lol .. not out loud .. that would be just rude .. anyhow .. India .. wasnt nice .. it didnt take my breath away .. its not one of those places where you stand .. inhale as much air from the place .. and sigh in wonder .. no its not .. that isnt recommended either lol .. you'd choke in heavy raw onion smell ( that got me dizzy one day that i skipped the barista ritual and have a looooong hot shower followed by bed .. i decided .. that there is no place like france .. and i also decided .. i'd give india a 4 .. based on what i loved there .. the music and movies, clothes, food, and their palaces .. c'est tout

oh and i forgot to credit my cousin M since half of the pictures are uploaded from her camera

Chaussuers rouge

2009-02-02T05:55:00.001-08:00

One of the few things that make me happy
*its che burgundy .. They look dark in the pic *

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OH MY!

2009-01-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

sha5bariiii <>

i"ll make a post on my indian trip *when i feel like it .. lol * ,,,

My date with 3abood

2009-01-28T03:49:00.000-08:00

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Khanna À La Noodle House

2009-01-27T03:06:00.000-08:00

And who thought so !

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Haha adventure du jour

2009-01-24T19:50:00.000-08:00

So my cousin and I didn't sleep the whole night .. and usually by this time we are deep asleep .. For a change .. We're heading to have our first breakfast in a week !! As we speak .. We are in the raksheh de la sexy Rohit ..

Good morning Dubai*ers

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