* No, I’m not going to talk about the show “24″ or Jack Bauer (Sorry, Marzouq!)…

I’m turning 24 on August 12th, and I’ve been planning a birthday party ever since the 12th of July lol

It’s going to be a costume party so all the people I’ve invited have enough time to decide, design and get creative with the costume of their choice… The only rule I have is that nobody should dress anything cat-like…

Nobody knows what I’m going to be since I didn’t specify what cat-like thing I’m going to be, it could be anything.. Catwoman, a black cat, a white cat, a black & white cat, sheraaziya, a tabby, a lion or even a cheetah with spots lol

The only thing that’s bugging me out is that everybody’s away in August.. I love having my birthday on the exact specific date since it’s pointless if it’s a few days before, and I don’t want to stretch it out for a week or two if the party’s waaayyy after the date…

And everybody’s either away already or about to travel around that time.. the only people I understand are the ones away on serious business like Juju (hope your dad feels much better soon :D) but the others are malaaqaaaa *rolls her eyes*

I’ve been getting sms messages from friends asking what to get me and to put together a wishlist so nobody gets me millions of perfumes or something…

I thought that was a great idea since I always wish everybody had a wish list for their birthdays.. I’m not a personal fan of perfumes, I know 100% that that person would want something better… So if you’re coming to my birthday and you want to get me something, I’m a size 14 (UK) and my shoe size is 38 lol and if my old Amazon wish list helps out, then why not, just click on this button…

* I’ve been quite busy with Toastmasters these past few months.. Laialy & I have been running around tweaking some things here and there and I’d just like to use this personal space to thank her.. You’re my TM partner-in-crime and we work great together, so thank you

* Why’s my Mac’s software update freezing up?! It used to freeze up when it reached 80% or 85%… I fixed it after reading Carolyn Samit’s suggestion here and it loaded just fine, no problems.. now it’s updating iTunes and it’s just stuck here…

And it won’t budge!

* I’ve been playing around with StumbleUpon and it’s so much fun!

It’s amazing how the internet is full of these really interesting websites that match my love for photography, crafts, humor, books and movies… I’ve been stumbling for a few days now and that’s all I’d be doing all day, with small breaks here and there to check my e-mail or feeds reader… here’s one of those gems I found:

* I’m preparing for the upcoming semester (yes, I’m that much of a geek).. and I have enough exercises to shut up any complaints from the senior teacher or tawjeeh.. and for the new school year, I have a resolution, ba9eer na7eesa and I won’t share whatever exercises I design since I’ve noticed that some teachers scribble over the names and use the papers as their own.. wela chena ta3bana 3alaihum during the summer.. so no more of that generosity when it comes to people who don’t deserve it…

And that’s about it… what’s new with you guys?

Things I Hate:

1* When a teacher asks me about a students’ grade and she’s not related to the student.

2* When bloggers/non-blogging commenters aren’t nice. (Shame on you!)

3* When people give me strange looks when I say “Thank you!”, “Please?” and “Can I help you, 7ajiya?”

4* When a guy calls a wrong number and won’t hang up until he knows my name. (that’s when I pull the “Ello dear, you seem to have a wrong numba, daaah-ling… My name is Eliza Doolittle, would you like to speak to Mr. Higgins?” trick.)

5* When Hollywood tries to ruin classics like “My Fair Lady” (site has some language you may not like)… Who can ever replace Audrey Hepburn? Nobody.

6* When a person thinks that he/she has every right to be a racist bitch/bastard just because they can.

7* When I see my students at the co-op, they come up to me to say hi but are trying to glance at my brothers.

8* When I invite somebody into my own house and they yell at me and then giggle like it was nothing.

9* When somebody constantly (constantly constantly) complains about a specific country they’re living in (and its nationals) but still continues to live here and interact with the citizens. If you love your country so much, why didn’t you just stay there! 7emdaw rabkum 3ala kil ni3ma! If you don’t like it here, get the fuck out and never come back!

10* When my younger brother treats me like a child. I changed your diapers and wiped the drool off your face when u were a little kid, punk! So try a little respect, will ya?! Don’t make me slap it into you and you know I can, I don’t care if you have a moustache!

Things I Love:

1* Finally getting my own car. I can’t believe a hunk of metal just gave me my freedom. I hate sharing cars.

2* When I use the cigarette lighter thing in the car to burn incense… my car smells niiice :p

3* When me and the girls finally agree on an outing! *can’t wait, can’t waiiit*

4* When I do something I’d promised and the look on the person’s face is “I can’t believe you still remembered!“

5* Running my own errands without waiting for somebody to let me borrow the car. (It’s related to 1, but I’m still happy about it hehe)

6* When I play with Photoshop at work on my own laptop or work on a sewing project and sink into my own world.

7* When a beloved friend of mine finally posts again with amazing news.

8* When I use a bag I’d sewn to carry stuff around and somebody thinks it’s cute *yay*..

9* The TEDTalks podcast on iTunes.

10* When I’m nominated for awards related to creativity. I’m very very flattered *turns into a 6oma6a* Thank you Purg & Jewaira!

Yes, ladies & gentleman… I’m turning into an old old lady.. I’m sewing and baking… *sighs* Boredom does wonders :p

As all of you know from my “Quick Updates” post, I’m getting back into sewing…

And as most of you know, I love working if it involves working with my hands…

What none of you know is that i love ties.. I love them on men, i love their texture and their creative potential…

Since my sewing addiction is starting up again, and I happen to have ties to work on now… Well, this is what I got:

The Buttoned-Up Tie

You wear it over your head as if you’re wearing a necklace, the knot’s sewn into place so you don’t even have to know how to tie a tie… and the loop’s wide enough… even a mit7ajba can wear it and the knot would show..

The Mobile Tie

Not just for the mobile, it can fit anything as wide as an iPod video or a Sony Ericsson P1i :p
It doesn’t dig into the back of your neck like those strings that come with the phone and it looks nice…

The Brooch Tie

Very girly accessory.. worn vertically so the buttons fall down.. I sorta stole/got/adapted this idea from my aunt’s friend.. she uses ties are brooches too, but here’s the catch, she makes them puffy and bigger than this one here.. uses Swarvoski crystals and the whole thing is very eye-catching and.. well, very Kuwaiti.. so this is my Swairified Simplified approach to her idea..

Any orders? :p

Then we move on to my baking lol I’ve always been into making cakes.. so i once went to this exhibition with my mom and bought this…

These qawaleb are so much fun.. When the cakes are done, they look like flowers.. i made small chocolate, vanilla and orange-flavored cakes.. I couldn’t take a pic of the chocolate and vanilla ones, but here are the orange cakes..

Yes, I sorta burned some.. but just the edges! They were very very tasty in general…

Any orders? lol

Warning: Very Girly Post! For Shoppers Only!

Apparently, on my “Randomania” post, one of the silent readers sent the link to the people at La Merletto! AND they loved how it was a tiny little random mention, but after a few e-mails went back and forth with their sales manager (one of the two young Kuwaiti ladies who’re founders of the website), I thought it’d be even better if I post a little ad here for you guys to enjoy too.. Here’s the information that I got..

* La Merletto is Italian for Lace, hence the website’s lace header.

* It’s a shopping site founded by 2 Kuwaiti young women.

* The main idea for the website is based on surveys of what customers would like to buy from brands that are not available in Kuwait.

* Cash on delivery (i.e. Nobody steals your credit card number) & just 48 hours for delivery.

* If you like a brand or a piece of merchandise that isn’t available in Kuwait, you can contact them and they’ll gladly buy it for you if it’s possible.

* It’s still quite a new website, so they’re open for any suggestions or comments that can help them improve.

* They even have a crafts section!

* Customer service is very friendly.. I e-mailed them to ask about the size of one of their pajamas and the reply was quick and informative..

Here are the pajamas I bought & other stuff :p

For more details, click on each number to see a clearer image of each item: 1, 2 and 3…

Like I said before, I exchanged e-mails with the site’s sales manager, and she ended up giving me a pretty cool offer for my blog readers ;D

Which brings me to item number 4 in the pic above lol

If you buy anything from the website, and mention that you’re a Swair Blog reader at checkout, they’ll give you this cute little heart medal to hang in your car.. It was supposed to be for Valentine’s but I got busy *slaps her forehead*

Anyways, you have to check them out, it’s a pretty cool site, it’s local and they buy u things from outside Kuwait and bring it to your house.. How cool is that? :p

OFFER ALERT UPDATE!!
I just got another e-mail, here’s an even better deal, and I quote:
“Special Offer for “The Swair Blog” readers: Get 20% Off our hand-made accessories… @ checkout, write this code: “Swair Offer” & you’ll get an e-mail confirmation of your discount!”

Woohoo! Don’t I really really rock? :p

Happy New Year everybody, I hope each and every one of you spent it in their own special way, etc, etc, etc…..

So by coincidence, I just noticed that this is post number 500 on my blog and it’s the first day of the new year.. so let’s see what’s going to happen  and how many posts I reach by the end of this year..

On with the post…

Wow, 16 people with various questions is pretty good… Thank you ChikaPappi, Blue Dress,  Very.Q8ya, Broke Saudi, NoNoWa, Peony, William, Purg, Ms. Loala, Yara, the simper, Bojacob, Intlxpatr, jewaira and EarthQuaker for asking ;D

Click on “more” and see the asnwers to your questions…

more…