There's Still Hope!

My new friend Mounir with the cutest smile :)

You know what's funny? I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately, soap operas and shows. One thing I have come to realize. Only human disposes of their new born child. No animal gives up on its baby. But humans do!

Due to the nature of this blog and the positivity I tend to spread. I'm going to look at this from a constructive point of view and just leave all my - wanting to kill all those parents who dump their kids - aside!

Last week I went on Samsung's "Bus of Hope" to the SOS village in Irbid-Jordan. I have to admit it was both a happy experience and a sad one. I was sad to see this huge number of kids without their real parents. With no real support after they turn 18. But I was happy to see that they managed to find their homes at this established village. They have all the facilities they need and most importantly they have a Mother. A lady for every house to take care of the children and provide them with, what I saw a lot more love than what they'd get with their biological parents/ mother.

Lara from the Samsung team getting all comfy with the kids :)

To be honest I was amazed when I saw the SOS village. All these big companies investing in CSR, investing in creating a good life for these kids. Yes, they shouldn't be looked at differently. They deserve to play, have fun and most importantly live a healthy dignified life.

Not fair, photographer cut the half that I was in :(

Of course Samsung's team placed their investment, which was I think equipping the computer lab, then all the employees hurried outside to play with the kids. I swear I could only tell who they were from their white Samsung pullovers, otherwise you couldn't have seen them among all those kids. Face painting, balloon shaping, Muppet show! You name it, it was all there. What's even better, but shhhhh don't tell anyone, was the McDonald's lunch we all had together.

It was truly a day filled with fun and laughter. Soon enough SOS had to tell us to leave because the kids had homework and we were kind of distracting them. So yup, we got on that bus and were on our way back to Amman.

Again just in case you didn't know what's the status of orphans in Jordan please check this short film by my good friend Widad Shafakoj. After all maybe this is a call for all corporations in Jordan to join forces, like Samsung this season and Umniah last Ramadan, to give back to the communities they are part of.

Thank you for joining me and I look forward to reading your comments and replies :)

 

Man, I feel like a Woman!

Last Thursday was one of the most exciting days of my life. You know when they ask you: what would you rather be doing now? Or who would you like to go out to lunch with & why? Better yet imagine your answers coming true! How cool is that?

I had my 1st wish granted & my Thursday morning at Bidaya was cut so I can enjoy a day at The Spa at Four Seasons Amman. Yes sir, I had received an invitation to go & try their heavenly Balinese massage. Oh my, the strokes, the music, the welcoming of the staff right at the door…I have to say it made me feel like a celebrity.

It gets even better, I had the chance to lunch with 3 influential ladies in Amman; Mrs. Shirene Rifai, Editor in Chief of U Magazine which is –AHEM- just the top fashion magazine in Jordan & Middle East, Mrs. Fida Taher Alawieh, CEO & Founder of Zaytouneh, a very simple cooking site that shows you how to cook a meal in 1 minute & Ms. Halla Rafati, Director of PR at Four Seasons Amman. And, may I say, how wonderful it was to lunch with these intelligent women? We tried amazing food, shared shopping experiences, funny travel stories & women empowerment discussions.

This experience was very enlightening. I'm not going to talk about how amazing everything was because it was beyond writing to be honest. It's the feelings I encountered while I went into that massage room -  the aroma, the soft lighting, the smooth music. The minute I laid on that heated bed & the massage started I felt a different awakening to my senses…one that no tweet can describe. I felt a connection with my soul -  the energy was being renewed by a stroke of a finger. The facial later on was just purifying…I have never touched my face the way this expert did. I'm telling you ladies & gentlemen, if you're still reading, this is one experience you'll have to try. One funny thing about it though is that it leaves you starving, for food that is!

At The Spa -My very own heaven.

You guessed that right, Vivace restaurant at Four Seasons Amman was ready for our re-energized selves & hungry tummies. I'll leave you to indulge in the pictures I took before the food was devoured, leaving us to crave at their sight every day.

Shirene Rifai, Chef Juan, Halla Rafati, Fida Taher and Myself

Thank you Chef Juan again, as we say in Arabic "Abda3t"; thank you Halla & everyone from Four Seasons for preparing this whole get together; and, thank you to the lovely ladies who made this experience a wholesome one for me..

Enjoy the pictures…I'm warning you though, they're dangerously enticing and yes, the ingredients go in together.. awakening every taste bud in your mouth.

Mixed green salad, blue cheese dressing and caramelized apples

Tomato Gazpacho, watermelon sorbet and strawberries 

Grilled Sea bass and artichoke ravioli  

Chocolate, cranberries and passion fruit

Let's not forget of course the souvenirs these beautiful people at Four Seasons left in our cars. Thank you for this beautiful gesture. This day will never be forgotten.

My very own custom made bath robe.. They sure know how to make you feel special!

  

Definition of Love ~ By Bob Marley

This is probably the best definition of Love I have ever encountered.. Enjoy;

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you.

When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful.

There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face.

In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon.

You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.” 

http://youtu.be/sonYFxHHvaM

O Beach? nO Thanks!

      Hello everyone, it's me again! Yes, the storyteller, the reviewer and might I say this time: The Adviser! As I wouldn't want this experience happening to anyone so here goes. I went to O Beach last weekend with some friends so we could spend a good time and enjoy the final days of the summer. The memories I have of O Beach from the past year were beautiful. Hosts dressed in white welcoming you to what might be your perfect getaway from the real world. Anyways, we were welcomed by men who made a fuss about our gift vouchers and seemed very unwelcoming. We did manage to get through expecting the resort to be full, I mean why would they make that big of a deal if it weren't, right? It was EMPTY.. OK except for the one couple in the VIP area and six other people in the main area. Seriously? How are you running a business O Beach? How are you benefiting the facilities?

      I'm a positive person, or so I would like to believe, so we took advantage of that whole area being ours for the day and prepared our tanning beds. As we stepped into the pool this rave started, the DJ decided that we were supposed to dance hysterically by 11AM.. Have you heard of chill out music buddy? I don't think so! Again we were OK with it and went into the water and to the pool bar so we'd order some juices. I personally ordered a pineapple smoothie which I can assure you was expired. As I'm writing this I really feel sorry, this was supposed to be one of the touristic attractions of the Dead Sea and look what they have done with it. The restaurant doesn't have a menu nor billing system, tables are dirty.. But, what topped it all was two couples who entered at around 5pm along with a family with kids; clearly they hadn't paid and were there to spend an hour. I'm not against wanting to spend an hour or so but what is this?
        Again my dearest friends, if you're planning on spending money at the Dead Sea don't do O Beach.. check out Marriott Dead Sea or Moevenpick you'll have a good time worth the money you paid. As for you Mr. X behind O Beach management, you better get your act together and fix this place up. I'm still hoping next summer it'll be better..

Stars Come To Find Their Own Light

I've always considered myself a talented girl, or so I'd like to think! I used to play the piano, not professionally but according to what I would hear. Choreographed some dances for the school team, again according to stuff I used to see on TV and so on with bits & pieces of appearing on JTV :)

I never really got the chance to be trained professionally by international or even local artists. I would've loved that! That's why when @LaraHadi invited me to this STARDUST Academy show I was super excited and didn't know what to expect.

As soon as I reached the Montessori school - Amman I got in to make sure I don't miss the show. It felt really good to see all those talents dancing, singing and performing "CATS" for that matter. It was all funny, artistic and just purely entertaining. What's more important is that those performers were having fun, you could actually see them smiling and just having a good time.

To my luck Lara told me anyone could sign up so "Hurrrraaaaay" I'm heading back to school to dance and perform. I hope I still have the flexibility I had when I was actually IN school.

I advice everyone to check it out, if you have a talent or know someone who does, this could be their "Big Break" . Just fill in this registration form and get your dancing shoes/ vocal cords/ acting skills ready.

Thank you for inviting us Stardust Academy team. You were all amazing

For more on what they do check out this video.. Phenomenal! 

Choices!

Now this post will sound very weird, it felt weird writing anyways. Have you ever stopped to wonder at any crossroad why you take one way and not another.. no i'm not trying to be philosophical and i swear i knew you'd answer "Well because i know the way from here". I'm talking about when you're looking for a location for the 1st time & you have two roads, one that has a clear end and might be the easiest route, while the other seems to have some sort of maze. You tend to take the road with the maze. You're automatically set to make that choice, i don't know why but i think it's human nature of wanting to have other options. Wanting to KNOW that we have other options.

Let's take another example, what makes good looking guys players? It's choices, they have unlimited number of choices that keep growing and growing giving them more opportunities to be players while other guys, who might be not as good looking sometimes, are satisfied and ready to settle down. One theory is it's because they don't have choices, or let's say multiple options like good looking players. A second theory would say because when you have too many options you end up not getting anything, but when you have an item or two and you just have to pick one your chances of buying that item are way higher.

I'm no psychologist but i tend to study people around me, study their behavior whether it's in relationships, purchasing, or just dealing with daily life. It seems that people vary at wanting choices from one thing to another. Like one guy would want to go to a restaurant that has many options on the menu. Another person might want to go to a restaurant simply because of the specific plates he can order, that's when he orders "The Usual"

This was just a though, listen to the music link i posted below which i do in most of my posts, i think it'll just give you something to think about..

Good Night Amman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU6sTWXiHRg

Prince Who??

I've been going through a lot of debate lately on when's the right time to get married, what are the criteria of the best husband aka prince charming & what not to compromise when finding a decent man. I don't always get into that debate, i try to stay neutral, especially after i listen to so many opinions which are all right sometimes.

My hair dresser says: A man wants to get married at 3 phases in his life, 21, 26 & 35. If he passes any phase he would want to wait for the next stop to think about it again. That's the best timing to start husband hunting.

A guy friend of mine says: Marriage is a waste of time & money not to mention it ruins friendships & real relationships.

My mother says: 27 is the right age for you to get married, before that don't even think about it unless it's prince of Wales.. well mom too bad, he's taken!!

My grandmother doesn't say much but i'm pretty sure she thinks i'm a spinster since she started giving me hints about getting married when i turned 17, that was like 6 years ago!

Caricature showing a woman's criteria of her prince charming at different ages. Starting for Brad Pitt look a like to NOTHING, just the fact that he's a man!

A girl friend of mine doesn't miss a chance to traditionally get introduced to guys, it doesn't matter if they're losers, doctors.. anything just to make sure she doesn't miss that train.. literally!

Another girl friend of mine has certain criteria for the marriage in mind, a checklist with figures & prices. If they're not met, there's no need to even pass by for that coffee.

An older girl friend of mine says: Don't compromise anything, he should want you for who you are. You should be the one wearing the pants & showing him how it's done.. Sometimes i wonder why she's still single (nothing wrong with that, just saying!)

Anyways just wanted to give you a thought of what's going on here. What do you think? I'll let you know what i think in my next post :)

Good night everyone!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZyIdICb3Uk

Sayings of Love

I found this on StumbleUpon this morning & couldn't just let it go by. I think it's one of the most amazing love notes anyone could say. I won't elaborate much, will just leave you to wonder. Have a good one :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIz2K3ArrWk

Wishing Upon A Star..

"Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it" where have I heard this before? Eminem sang about it, Zebrahead did too & let's not forget PussyCat Dolls who repeated it constantly in their "When I grow up" song. Is it true though?

I have constantly watched documentaries, read books even attended seminars on that. The new trend was to actually harness your wishes so you could get what you really want & not just what you wish for. Moreover, what you wish for might not be what's best for you so in order to have your final result your wishes should be well directed.

I can't believe I'm even writing about this. What does that have to do with Cherry Pink & everything so pink & nice? Well, ladies & gentlemen, I have to assure you that it is true. You do get what you wish for. Not in the desperate "Pretty pretty please" way, but in having your dreams somewhere in the back of your head, thinking about them positively, looking at them whether online, in magazines or on your cut-out clipboard. Just look at it & know that you want it & you just might get what's even better.

But be careful, this is kind of like Bedazzled.. you might get one thing but not the whole package. So make sure you know what you wish for, set the priorities & just like when you set your professional objectives make sure these wishes are credible & can be achieved. Don't go wishing for Megan Fox or Brad Pitt now, they're happily married :) Try the single ones ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG_iKM5WYJM

BlackBerry .. NO!

      Ever since the Blackberry came out everyone was asking me to get one. "What's your BB pin?". They'd ask often. "You don't have a BB?". Amazingly no, I don't need one. "You're into social media & you don't have a BB?". Making me feel like a technology retard. Well, no I don't have a BlackBerry & never in my life would I want to get one.
      I must admit I was intrigued a lot of times to actually go get one of these shiny toys, especially with the cool flashy covers that came along. But after I see the quality of life those Blackberry users sink into I step away & hug my cute gold Nokia E72 which grants me my freedom at any time & doesn't make me feel like I'm his trapped genie or something. It even allows me to blame it sometimes for not being able to get online or even better when it messes with the SIM card & people can't reach me sometimes.
I love how it self adjusts itself so it doesn't tick me or annoy me.. I love how it simply gives me my space & doesn't intrude on my time away from work.

      Turning away from the relationship I have with my phone. This is not a review, I'm probably going to get attacked by these companies when it goes into their monitoring systems. I just wanted to circulate this piece of advice. If you think working hours aren't enough, if you want to frustrate your OFFLINE friends who are waiting for you to make your next move at that board game or say what you feel about their story but WAIT after you reply to that insignificant email I would advice you to get 1 of these stupid devices. It will surely deprive you of your final offline moment where you could actually enjoy some fresh air without those mobile waves damaging what's remaining of your brain cells!

I Heart U because..

Never thought I’d start my new post with this title. I’m a hopeless romantic, I know.. some people say I easily fall in & out of love. I don’t think that’s the case, I think it’s more of me wanting to find my Mr. Right, my knight in shining armor, my Old Spice dude..

Well, now that I hope i found you -fingers crossed, eyes squeezed shut with a grin on my face- i give you some of the reasons that made me fall for you..

1- You open the door for me ALWAYS - even if it’s pouring rain outside.

2- You have a crazy smile when you happily accept a compliment.

3- How you’re always trying to make me jealous - not behind my back kind of way.

4- The state of mind you’re in when you hear a motorcycle VROOM.

5- How you get angry when you’re hungry - I always keep something to eat in my purse just in case.

6- How you don’t like horror movies or even thrillers & it doesn’t make you less of a macho man to me.

7- The sounds you make when you eat good food “MMmMm..” just make me want to eat you up.

8- You don’t think I’m crazy when I dance & lip sing to every song on the radio - you like that I have lyrics Google up in my head.

9- We have our own pet names & goofy little gestures that no one knows which makes it hard for me to even picture my days without you.

10- Most of all I <3 you because you are you & you love me for who I am..You don’t try to change the hopeless romantic I am today, what’s more is that you caress the little princess i have in me - which is somehow coming out now so i have to stop!!

I Heart U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-HM3XUMbOw

Chapter 1 Finale

My Dearest Friends,

I stopped blogging 6 months ago, couldn't feel what I was writing anymore. Felt like i was just blogging so I could keep up with the social scene. Everyday I woke up feeling bad because I hadn't blogged yet or let's say haven't recapped where I left off.

Truth is I lost my inspiration or let's say it just took another direction, that is my inspiration.. What was more interesting is that a new chapter in my life started that I just didn't know how to integrate into my story. You might say: but this is not your journal Salwa, it's not your day to day diary. I know it's not & most of these stories are just made up of pure fiction. It just that i had a motive to write & the new chapter wouldn't go under the same book.

It inspired me to move to another book, a prettier one. One of fairy tales & rainbows. I though that was my book with all the pretty pink colors, but no it was filled with spider webs & evil wolves. Now I sound like little red riding hood & it makes you freak out about reading my next post. Unfortunately I'm going to stop boring you now & send you to my new link once it's online.

Moving from one thing to another isn't easy, it was never easy for my but it's a challenge & Ihope you join me in my new home once I'm settled & ready to share my address..

As for Love in The City Chapter 1 .. it's ready to burn

Love you & Leave you

Salwa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR29Sj5Zgng&feature=related