Versace for H&M: Pink and bling

Versace for H&M by mishaican featuring dresses

Good news for fashionistas on a budget, Versace for H&M is going to be launched on November 17th 2011. Now you can have that designer  style that you covet for high street prices, they are n't as cheap most of H&M fare, but so much cheaper than the Versace for Versace! According the H&M's Saudi site, the fuscia dress with matte gold embroidery will be for a cool SR999!  Although in the U.S it will be $199 (SR746) only, I hate it when designer brands are more expensive here! The big brands know that people here will pay more no questions asked!

The sandals will be SR 499 in the States the price is $129 (SR484)-ok not much of a difference on this one
The gold studded fuscia handbag SR prices is unavailable but in the U.S it'll be $199
The leopard print scarf  SR prices is unavailable but in the U.S it'll be $199
The gold bracelet SR prices is unavailable but in the U.S it'll be $199

Maybe its time for a U.S shopping trip..I'll be saving money :-) that should cover the cost of the plane ticket surely, Rebecca Bloomwood logic at work.

I know I've played it safe on this set, this is more my style, I won't to do one more edgy set- will post it soon.
What are your fave pieces of this collection?  

Update: There are certain rules for shopping this collection!
Excerpt from Glamour website :The Telegraph reports that wristbands will be distributed to customers on a first-come basis beginning at 7 a.m. local time that morning. Shoppers will be allowed in stores 20 at a time and will only be allowed to shop for—wait for it—10 minutes.  Customers will only be allowed to buy one of each item—and in one size only

Read More http://www.glamour.com/fashion/blogs/slaves-to-fashion/2011/11/hm-will-enforce-rules-for-shop.html#ixzz1diwNW4MW

I wonder if they will apply them in Saudi? People don't usually go crazy over such stuff here...as far  as I know.

 

 

Restaurant Review: Dreamy Dining at Darsdasha (Evania Spa at Park Hyatt, Jeddah)

Jeddah's Park Hyatt, Marina Club's Evania Spa for women houses a restaurant called Dardasha; they were running an offer in October for a buffet for afternoon tea and finger sandwiches and gourmet desserts the charge was SR99 per person. My friend and I decided to give it a go as the desserts on the voucher looked absolutely mouth-watering, so on the last Thursday of October we made our way to Dardasha.

We arrived and spied the wooden door with a sign for Darsasha hanging near it, there was only one car in the car park, we guessed that most customers were dropped off, being it a women establishment. We pushed open the door and walked inside, entered a spacious hall with arches and corridors leading away on all sides, the place seemed very quiet and empty, and we walked around taking in our surroundings.

The walls are white, and white arches adorn every corridor, doorway and window; white gauzy curtains frame the arches creating an ethereal atmosphere. The white of the walls is broken up by dark foyer furniture beautifully inlaid with mother of pearl. Majestic mirrors reside over stately chests, flanked by regal chairs.

Soon however, we spotted a few ladies dining in the distance and we headed to find ourselves a table. We were received by a waitress and her manager; who were very polite, relieved us of our abayas, and offered us the choice of buffet or a la carte, after glancing through the menu out of curiosity we stuck to our original plan and went for the buffet.

We were informed that we could order tea or coffee twice, and we started off with tea as we thought it would complement the fresh scones, (which we had spotted on our way in), nicely. I know it is meant to be hi-tea, but I wish they had an alternative to caffeine like juice or even sparkling water, for those of us that are caffeine intolerant or wish to sleep early!

We started off with the wonderfully buttery, almost shortbread like, scones accompanied by sweet strawberry jam and delicious fresh cream. Readers, this was the best and most filling part of our meal, we had seconds and they offered to heat up our second scones to great effect.

We were also served a selection of fresh berries: red raspberries, blue berries and blackberries, they were soft, sweet and surprisingly tasted fresh.

For savoury, there was limited selection of sandwiches with an assortment of tuna, smoked salmon, smoked chicken/turkey/beef. There were also shot glasses of shrimp cocktail, consisting of steamed shrimp and bits of mango with an oil based dressing. The micro mini Caesar salad was a hit with my friend, although I found it a bit dry. There are also carrot, cucumber and celery sticks accompanied by a choice of two salad dressings for your munching pleasure.

The sweet selection was wide; there were the very locally popular pink macaroons, personally, I find them too sweet for my taste. There was chocolate mousse, pureed melon, mini tarts, and a few others I was too sugared out to try.

The view of the Red sea as the sunset was enchanting, and if you wished you could enjoy the ambience on the tables and chairs outside, unfortunately due to some water seepage issues it didn’t smell that great. We took a tour of the grounds, the landscaping, the palm trees, the lighting all transport you to a magical place.

To conclude, I enjoyed my visit possibly more due to the ambience, and the fact that my abaya sleeves were not in my way, rather than because of the food: the scones and berries are keepers. It was quiet as a tomb, there were only 2 tables occupied the entire time we were there, and it was so  quiet that it made us prone to whisper! Some light background music, or sounds of waterfalls, or birds chirping in keeping with the spa theme, would draw attention away from the emptiness-at least until it fills up.

I understand that Dardasha, as part of Evania spa want to keep hi-tea healthy and posh, but their hi-tea buffet needs a bit more variety, and few touches such as the fresh bread, mini croissants, tapenade and butter, cheese and olives, alternatives to caffeine, complimentary water, wouldn’t go amiss, if only to ensure that they don’t send customers home jittery on a sugar and caffeine induced high which might not necessarily make them come back a second time

You can find my review on Jeddah Food as well.

Eid Al-Adha: The History Behind the Sacrifice

Dear Readers,

This is my first Islamic knowledge post, I've always been a bit nervous about posting it as you have to make sure what you say is accurate and that you say it well, as this maybe the first and last impression of our beautiful  religion somebody might get.

As you may know Muslims have been celebrating Eid Al-Adha all over the world for the past few days. The festival involves the sacrifice of a sheep, goat, camel or cow for by every family. The sacrifice is traced back to Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) (alayhisalam/May Allah bless him), when he was tested  by Allah/God to sacrifice the son he begot in his old age Prophet Ismail/Ishmael (alayhisalam/ May Allah bless him) when he became a boy of age, old enough to be of aid to him, he received the Divine command to sacrifice Ishmael.

When Ibrahim  informed his son of the Divine command, he told his father to do as he was commanded. Both father and son were ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of Allah. Ismail was laid on his forehead so that he wouldn't be able to see the knife, and the father wouldn't lose his nerve at the last moment seeing his son's face. As he closed his eyes and lowered his knife for the sacrifice, his son was replaced by a ram by Divine intervention and slaughtered instead. Both Prophet Ibrahim alayhisalam and

Prophet Ismail alayhisalam had proven their total love and submission to Allah and passed the ultimate test of faith. The sacrfice was accepted; and this is the spirit of sacrifice  that Muslims celebrate and will continue to do till the end of time. Prophet Ibrahim alayhisalam was rewarded by the news of another son Prophet Ishaaq/Isaac alayhisalam in his old age.


Below I have given the interpretations in English of the Chapter 37 verses (99-112) from The Holy Quran which relay the incident:

(99)[Ibrahim prayed ]"My Lord! Grant me (offspring) from the righteous." 
(100) So We gave him the glad tidings of a forbearing boy. 
(101) And, when he (his son) was old enough to walk with him, he said: "O my son! I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering you (offer you in sacrifice to Allâh), so look what you think!" He said: "O my father! Do that which you are commanded, Inshâ' Allâh (if Allâh will), you shall find me of As-Sâbirun (the patient)." (102) Then, when they had both submitted themselves (to the Will of Allâh), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (or on the side of his forehead for slaughtering); 
(103) And We called out to him: "O Abraham! 
(104) You have fulfilled the dream!" Verily! thus do We reward the Muhsinûn (good-doers - see V.2:112). (105) Verily, that indeed was a manifest trial. 
(106) And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice (i.e. کبش - a ram); 
(107) And We left for him (a goodly remembrance) among the later generations. 
(108) Salâmun (peace) be upon Ibrâhim (Abraham)!" 
(109) Thus indeed do We reward the Muhsinûn (good-doers - see V.2:112). 
(110) Verily, he was one of Our believing slaves. 
(111) And We gave him the glad tidings of Ishâq (Isaac) a Prophet from the righteous. 
(112) We blessed him and Ishâq (Isaac), and of their progeny are (some) that do right, and some that plainly wrong themselves.

For more background on Prophet Ibrahim/Abraham you can read from chapter 37 verses 83-99.

"The flesh of sacrificial animals does not reach God and neither their blood ; only piety from you reaches Him." (Quran 22:37)

So when Muslims perform the sacrifice, it represents the submission of your will to Allah, which is in essence what being Muslim means, and its celebrates the esteemed Prophets who passed the ultimate trial.


I hope while we feast and fill our stomach with food we give some thought to the spirit behind the sacrifice and ponder the level of our faith and how much do we submit our wills to Allah, how much do we love him, and how do we face our personal trials?-Food for thought.

Eid Al-Adha Mubarak Everyone!

Dear Readers,

I wish my Muslim readers a very warm Eid Al-Adha Mubarak, may Allah accept all our prayers and sacrifices. Ameen!

 "The flesh of sacrificial animals does not reach God and neither their blood ; only piety from you reaches Him." (Quran 22:37)
 
I  hope Allah accepts the haj pilgrimage of the 2.5 million hajjis, (worshippers) gathered not too far away in Mina, and may they have a safe hajj.

I will do another post on the background of Eid Al-Adha and its its significance in Islam, today's post is dedicated to celebrating Eid and I'm doing it in a rush.

There are certain things which we all associate with Eid, certain dishes, desserts, and rituals. We grow up surrounded by them, and if you are surrounded by family, friends or a Muslim community chances are you will continue to associate  Eid with them wherever you are in the world.

For me one of the best things about Eid was new clothes and Henna. As you grow older, many people buy something few months beforehand and say this is for Eid, and if need be you wear it before Eid once (a thing unheard of for children, clothes had to be brand new!). Other  associations from my childhood include Eidi or money given as a gift to children by family, relatives and friends on the days of Eid. Alas, once you grow up and start working that stops. Henna remains a lasting association with Eid, although somehow I managed not to apply any last Eid, as I was so busy I didn't have time- the horror of having bare hands on Eid! :-P

This year I patiently applied henna to my hands both front and back (I was trying to compensate for last Eid). I was using an old Rani cone tube, it was a bit watery and I bit out of practise, so the results were n't great. But I was satisified, it felt like Eid!

What are your associations with Eid?

Do you like Henna, what kind of designs do you favour?

Travel Profiler-What's your travel sign?

Dear Readers,

PRECHTAKYAHY

While I was getting my daily dose of online Glamour, I came across a rather interesting post, about a travel company called Nextpedition that arranges two mystery trips over a one week period for you according to your travel profile. What you have to is complete and 15 question questionairre, which is followed by a few indepth interviews with the company's staff covering things which you have liked in the past or what you absolutely would NOT want to do. You find out where you first destination will be only 72 hours vefore you depart--Argh!-packing nightmare! The second destination the night before-now seriously packing dilemma- I couldn't do it for this reason alone!  I wonder how they cater for couples? So the point of this post is (not to recycle somebody else's post) was that I went to the website and took the free travel profiling test... and my result was:

Glamologist

Hey, Glamologist. That's right, you travel the world digging for glam like it's gold. Vintage jeans nourish your soul. You feast on flannel and faux fur and revel in the contrast. Anything to complete your look. And, Glamologist, you look good.

Please check out the website and take the quiz and let me know what your travel sign is?
Does it suit you, do you agree?