Monthly Archives: August 2014

Aug31

Personalize it!

Posted on August 31, 2014 by samoorstuff

Some of the best gifts are those that are personalized. I love having things made specifically for myself or my children.

As much as I love making things myself I sometimes resort to online shopping (AKA online Therapy) It gives me more choices and great value for money.

Tiny Prints is one of those one stop shop that you can get anything from labels to weekly planners, mugs and more that are completely personalized to you.

In our busy schedule it’s sometimes a perfect idea to buy birthday gifts in advance and have them on hand once the birthday rolls in… A real no fuss meaningful gift.

Oh!! Don’t forget to check out their Back to school collection. So much to choose from and will surely play a big role in Making Life Memorable for your kids.

Aug30

Officially Sick

Posted on August 30, 2014 by samoorstuff

Officially Sick

One of the hardest things of being a mommy is getting sick… the last thing we need in our busy schedule is not to have energy to do it all.

This past week I have tried to fight it as much as I can but I guess it caught up on me.

So in the process I have researched natural remedies that help in speeding the process of recovery. As much as we all would like to believe that there are remedies but in truth a cold is going to take a week with or without medication but all we can do is relieve the pain.

I have found that ginger really help in relieving soar and itchy throat. There are many ways you can take it. As a tea as a “shot” but my favorite is blended in my smoothie.

It’s a fairly simple Recipe

1 Green Apple
1 Carrot
1/2 inch Ginger
1 1/2 Cup Water

Blend it all in your blender and enjoy the zingyness.

If your prefer not to have it textured and own a juicer just do the same but omit water.

It would be nice to say that I hope you won’t have to use this one day but the likeliness of that is minimal.

So here’s me signing off and hope I get well enough to continue Making Life Memorable.

Aug28

Migration

Posted on August 28, 2014 by samoorstuff

Migration

I’m always going to be creative and try to improve the blog… In this process there comes a time when you think of better ways for the blog….

I am therefore migrating to self hosting. So while I’m busy doing a technical process I hope you are busy Making Life Memorable!

Aug28

Brunch Frittata

Posted on August 28, 2014 by samarhajjaj

Brunch Frittata

I am no chef or culinary expert but I cook from the heart and have been fortunate that it turns out good.

My technique is probably like thousands of other moms around the world… See what we have on hand and make! Luckily with our Middle Eastern habits we tend to have lots of fresh veggies always on hand. So it makes it easy to whip something healthy.

Another habit of all moms is that we don’t have the luxury of time to spend hours in the kitchen. So I came up with a quick Frittata that can be prepared in advance and heated as needed. It’s also perfect for brunch.

Heat Oven to 180 Degrees C (about 350F)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup shredded Squash
1 cup shredded Carrots
1/4 Cup chopped Parsley
1/4 Cup shredded Parmesan
2 Tablespoons Flour
1/4 cup Milk
3 Eggs

DIRECTIONS:
1. Beat Eggs and Milk Together in a bowl.
2. In a larger Bowl mix all the other ingredients.
3.Add the Egg mixture and whisk all ingredients until mixed well.
4. Spray a baking Pan with cooking owl
5. Pour batter into baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Here’s to Making Life Memorable in the Kitchen!

Aug27

Back to school Countdown

Posted on August 27, 2014 by samarhajjaj

Back to school Countdown

To say that I’m excited that we have less than 2 weeks away for the girls to go back to school is an understatement.

Even though I have managed to keep a very good routine between the 2 hour homework morning sessions, free play, going out, crafts, seeing friends and swimming lessons it’s a lot of effort. Doesn’t leave much time for me and work.

With the girls back to school I think I’m most excited that I get MY routine back a good stretch of time in the morning to go to work and dedicate time to the things I love.

So because of that my excitement I was inspired to do a School countdown craft.

The first thing I did was make print out cut outs for the girls to color.

I decided to do a 10 day countdown to “Blast off”

I then cut them out using a ZigZag scissors for fun…

The girls then colored each day and the big “Back To School”

After organizing them in order we found a nice place on the wall to hang it in (it was a challenge finding an empty wall in the playroom). We used a ribbon and hung the paper with mini clothespins I had in my magical craft cabinet of “I’m going to need this one day”

And Now we have a countdown that at the end of each day we take down one paper in anticipation of School.

I hope that this gives you inspiration to do something in Making Life Memorable

Aug26

Movies & Flops

Posted on August 26, 2014 by samarhajjaj

Movies & Flops

I love going to the movies….the dark and silent theatres, the popcorn and the excitement of the unknown. Unfortunately sometimes we’re not sure what to expect and that can be a bad thing rather than a pleasant surprise…..

There was one incident of going to the movie that was so bad that my friends and I walked out and it was back when I was in college. To my disappointment it was a movie that had one of my favorite actors “Johnny Depp”. I never thought I would go to a movie that could be this bad.

The first few minutes we thought ok this is going to get better….it has to get better Johnny Depp is in it….then we realized this is a joke and isn’t getting better. The movie was Ed Wood. Such a waste of resources and good talent.

Thankfully there were very little complaints from that movie back in 1994 to now. Back then I used to go to the movies a whole lot I was young and FREEEEEEEEE.

Now with kids things have changed, I don’t go to the movies as often and if I do 95-99% of the time I’m going to a kids movie and not an adult’s movie. The 5% of the time is being blessed with a best friend that would insist on a “girls” movie night.

So needless to say I’ve probably seen every Disney, Universal and whatever other children’s production made. We have Barbie movies, princesses, postmen, fairies, animated and everything under the sun. So far the girls and I have been blessed with fun and exciting movies. Until a few days ago when we went and watched “The 7th Dwarf”……It was the worst kids movie I have ever seen. No really it was sooooo BAD!!

The concept of the movie was cute. The clumsiest of the dwarves is the hero but the execution was terrible.

Funny enough the girls liked it and were oblivious to the tackiness and inappropriateness. I mean why would they have a part where one of the characters wants to commit suicide, Seriously the dragon stood at the side of the cliff with a rope around his neck. WHAT were they THINKING!!! Totally inappropriate for an animated feature.

So if you haven’t seen the movie you are lucky! If you were planning too DON’T it’s a waste of time and money.

So go ahead and find a better way of Making Life Memorable because this movie won’t be one of them.

Aug25

Fish Market

Posted on August 25, 2014 by samarhajjaj

Fish Market

One of the things I remember doing with my father (May he rest in Peace) other than actually fishing is going to the fish market.

The stink the wet floors and seafood galore….It was a mix of stinky and fun all put together. Quality time that I truly cherished. Only now does it hold great value in my heart…..didn’t realize it at the time.

The nice thing is that these days it’s been upgraded. The Fish Market next to Souq Sharq is somewhat cleaner than the one I remember going too. So it was time to pass on the tradition to the girls and take them to the Fish Market.

I let them wear their rain boots for fun to make sure there were not complaints about dirtier their shoes. All the people there were extra friendly, I’m pretty sure they love seeing kids there and showing of their fish knowledge to the little ones.

Off course there’s always that one guy that lets them touch all sorts of things on the counter…. The girls chose to pose holding the jumbo shrimps and so shine their personalities:)

They may not realize it now but this day really helped in transferring my experience with my dad into Making Life Memorable for them.

Aug24

OBB Deal

Posted on August 24, 2014 by samarhajjaj

OBB Deal

Part of owning a gift store in Kuwait or anywhere in the world for that matter is always trying to be creative and providing good deals for your clients.

This week at OBB Kuwait we have a Buy 2 Get 1 free on our world famous Peanuts. (In-store deal only)

So if you haven’t tried our delicious Feredies Peanuts this is your chance to get more flavors for your money!

A Great Deal. You can also follow OBB on instagram ( (obb_kuwait) for more deals….

This is what I do in trying to help others in Making Life Memorable.

Aug23

Recipe Binder

Posted on August 23, 2014 by samarhajjaj

Recipe Binder

One of the hardest things as we grow older is buying a meaningful birthday gift. I was recently challenged with that with one of my friend’s birthdays.

I had no idea what I could possibly get her that was worth her friendship and wouldn’t dent my budget… We are very similar in some of our hobbies and one thing she always came back to me about was some of my recipes.

So I came up with making her a personalized Recipe Binder. Thankfully there were so many samples that I found on pinetrest to help me get my creative juices flowing. I wanted to go simple and meaningful and my design had to be just that.

The first thing I did was buy a regular Binder and separators from the bookstore.

I Chose to go with a chevron design for the labels so I made those for the cover, the separators and separator sides.

Then printed out a few of my favorite recipes to put inside the binder as a quick start.

Viola a meaningful, personalized birthday gift.

I was actually very please and the objective of meaningful was spot on when I saw my friend’s reaction when she unwrapped her gift. It left the exact impression I had intended and that Making Life Memorable!

Aug22

ReShuffle & ReOrganize

Posted on August 22, 2014 by samarhajjaj

ReShuffle & ReOrganize

In every household there comes a time when things just start to get jumbled up and it’s high time to do some de-cluttering and organizing. We just get so busy in our lives that we may not have the chance to do it as often as we would like.

The turn of a New year is always a good time because your mind set is that you’re starting fresh and New… well at least that’s how I initially felt. 8 months later I look at my To-Do list of organization and I haven’t even scraped the surface.

I wonder what happened??? Oh LIFE that’s what happened!

Between my newly relocated store (The original Basket Boutique), running around with my girls, a social life that I try to maintain I hardly have time to do those extra things that make me happy.

My crafting room has therefore suffered immensely!! I started to just pile and pile things over each other. Not only MY things but somehow boxes and boxes of random things from clothes to give away, toys…etc etc.

Needless to say day in day out I would stand in front of the mess for a good five minutes while my husband works on his tidy side of the office. Frustrated and repeating “I need to organize” as though I was chanting and calling for some mysterious organizing elf to come in the middle of the night and solve all my problems….

Then I decided I must take it step-by- step… Like I didn’t know that 8 months ago!!!

Well my first step I took was to go through all this stuff and giveaway what I’m never going to use (including kids toys they didn’t know where gone)

The second thing (which was my last until I find some more time) I went through ALL the papers stashed all over the place and organize them into nice matching boxes and Magazine folders that I got at Ikea. You can check out their small storage systems online in their Paper & Media Organizers.

So until I figure everything else out in my head I’m off to Making Life Memorable while the chaos remains.