Top December Must Haves

Hey guys/darlings/my lovelies,

As you can tell I'm in a good mood. It came to my realisation that I haven't posted anything about fashion and so it was high time that I did that. Since its December and fall fashion has hit the markets a couple months back, it would be most appropriate to make a list (however long or short) about items that must be bought!

That's right, I'm talking long coats and pashmina scarves as well as hot chocolate, churros and æbleskivers (for those of you who have the pan to make such treats on Christmas Day). December is also the last month before the New Year and so it's my duty to have a list of must - haves so that on Boxing Day I shall be more than ready to grab some deals.
I sound as though I am preparing for combat!

Despite clothes and food, I also take advantage of book deals and so Amazon and the Book  People are my number one online book stores.  And yes, I will buy the Maze Runner set for a tenner. I know, I know you're all probably thinking that I am not up to date but I am however why watch the film first when you can read the books?

Long coats

Those of you that have them are purty (old 50s word for hot/pretty) in them. Those of us that don't (me included)  are also purty nonetheless.

Zara, H&M, Urban Outfitters, John Lewis, Debenham, Select, Ebay and more stores sell these long coats.

Wardrobelooks.com

All the above are from Zara :)


and this one from Select at only £29.99!

Pashmina Scarves

£8, ASDA

Online and in-store

£8. ASDA


Online and in-store

Bags

ASOS

ASOS

ASOS

Gifts

GettingPersonal.com


What could be better than you're own personal mug?

Amazon, now £49

the better way to read books...

Amazon

Books are a girl's best friend...

Okay, second best friend ( 1st are diamonds...I mean, COME ON!)

Amazon

£52.50

Rituals Laughing Buddha Secret Extra Large Gift Set

Perfect for relaxing in the holidays after spending so much time shopping and preparing for the big day!

Who can ever go wrong with chocolate?


Amazon













That's my December must-haves AND some gift ideas for your loved ones or if you fancy, for yourself...


Happy Holidays and have a great week! Ciao bella! :)

World's biggest problem and how I'd fix it

Hey guys,

In this week's blog post, I thought I'd address an issue in the world that has been going on for long enough. When I hear the words " Whats the worlds biggest problem?" my mind immediately thinks of world poverty.
This is not a pretty topic and it isn't a light topic either. In fact, its tragic in every sense and although most of us think that we cannot change the image of the world but we can.

"Every little helps". Its also the slogan for Tesco, for those of you who reside in the UK, like myself.  This statement could not be anymore true. Really. Some of us may be thinking that one person cannot change the world, however we can. It'd be like...a DOMINO EFFECT! One person starts it off and it continues to another and another and before you know it, we've created a better and brighter future for the next generation to take over.

To solve world poverty there are many things developed and richer countries can do. They could reduce the interest they add on to the debt that LEDC's owe them. Also richer countries could clear the entire debt. But this is solving the problem when you have a higher authority which unfortunately many of us do not. We can however give back to our local communities and give a couple pounds, euros, dollars or whatever currency they use where you live. You'd be surprised by what good you can do by just starting in your area. Before you know it, more and more people would follow in those steps and entire countries could start by getting back on their feet.

Poverty image 

Together you'd be surprised at what can be achieved. I know that this blog post today may not have been what you were expecting but then again it's good that I keep surprising you all with light hearted and real-life related things out there in our world. Besides we've been blessed with Earth and it's our job, individually, to all look out for one another.

Till the next time
~ The Girl Who Loves The Little Things ~

P.S. World’s biggest problem isn't the world's biggest problem if it can be solved by us. If it's in our power, it isn't as hopeless as it seems. So, keep on smiling and living life. Ciao :)

My very own short story

Hi everyone,

Hopefully you all enjoyed reading my last post "The Kite Runner book review" as much as I did when I had re-read it in case of spelling mistakes or bad grammar.

Being 16 is a riveting stage in your life, according to me. Personally it's that stage where you think about university/college, future career and family life (if you want). However, although I spend most of my day thinking about the future, there are aspirations that I do have in life. I have always since I was 10 and learnt to speak and write fluent English, having come to the UK at age 8. I have thought of writing as a passage to the beautiful and mysterious human mind. Writing is a way to vent out and express all of your feelings unto pen and paper. I was inspired by Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" & Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" (yes, I have finished reading the book) to post my mini story for you all to enjoy.

Hint: it is a short passage by a young girl (monologue)

Home

I was here. It had been exactly 10 years since I stepped my two feet in this room. Now it looks different. Of course. Life moves on. Whether you want change and welcome it with open arms or not you cannot prevent it from happening. Unfortunately. She's a tall, majestic and yet, gentle figure. Standing at the end of the hall. She takes a step. And another and another. Till she is in front of me. I see that her hazel, button-like eyes are filling up with tears. 

Suddenly, I am pulled towards her. Gently but quickly. But of course. I am her 27 year old daughter. When I left I was still a mere child. Immature and still trying to find my way in the world. And yet when I left I knew my mother would be in hysterics. But I still hugged so tightly, afraid to let go, in case her eyes grow with rage and anger at  how I had broken her heart and stolen her soul. 

After a few moments, she lets go ever so slowly and starts to study my face. She knows it's me but I think that she cannot believe that I am finally here. She needs proof and seeing is believing. Unless like my mother you are wired at all times and have a history of mild schizophrenia. She sees things that are not there. They call it hallucinations. I call it imaginary friends. At least...I used to.

Now that I have also studied my Mam's face, I noticed she has not aged gracefully. In fact, she is the opposite of chubby. She has grown thin and seems so frail. Like all children, I'd rather say she seems gentle. Her luscious blonde curls have turned to flimsy, thin, sandy blonde hair. I can tell that she's been through the worst kind of hell without even entering there. Soon I know why she is still teary. Her wedding band is gone. Her smile vanished. It hurt me to hear the words that came out of her mouth following the gasping sobs. It was enough to make me curl up and die. 

"Kate....I- I don't know how to..."
"Mam, what, what is it?"
"It's your father. He's...he's gone."
"What?!"
"Heart attack back in 07' while at the...er..."
"...factory?"
"Yes. High blood pressure."

Nononononono

"I'm sorry"

Nononononono

He's gone. He didn't survive the attack. My mother is pleading with me. Begging me to not lash out. 

She thinks I'm like her. 

I am worse. Much worse. I go from happy and relieved to angry and vengeful. And when I'm vengeful I'm the last person on Earth you'd wanna come across. Trust me.

"Life's tough kid." Famous last words by my dear ole Pa. It doesn't matter. Not that much. I guess it could be worse. That's maybe the only rational answer I have for you right now. I cannot feel remorse but I can feel guilt and resent.

 I am not a sociopath. I am an ill, demented, young and cunning woman. I major in psychology and sociology. Just because I ran away from home doesn't mean I gave up on my GPA of 6.9 and bright future that my mother had always predicted for me.

I know - it's rather odd having me confess that I am not at all well in the head, however you wanted the truth...right? And that, is exactly what I gave you. Before you jump to conclusions, keep in mind that I can and will come after you. I will use every resource that I can get my small, bony fingers on and I will undo you and unravel your dirtiest secrets and lies and use them against you. I will plan so articulately that even you shall be gobsmacked to find yourself in a 4x4 cell in Guantanamo Bay all alone in your used orange jumpsuit. 

So go on, I dare you.

And that is it. And yes I have made this all up without previous planning. And yes if you want to advertise this, please do give me mention me and do not use my work as your own.

All in all, I thought it'd be best if I got this week's blog wrapped up with a short story. However this is just a small passage. I may or may not be thinking off adding on to this work but do leave me any comments good or bad and I will take them into consideration.

Till the next time,

~ The Girl Who Loves The Little Things ~

The Kite Runner Review

Hiya everyone,

So before 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini,  I basically read novels by Jacqueline Wilson and Judy Blume. However, since my encounter with this interesting novel, I can honestly say that the end of my 2014 summer was mainly memorable as I had finished reading such a provoking and emotional book. The book itself was beautifully written with anecdotes by the main character and the way the story unfolded was truly unique and riveting.

The novel is about twelve year old Amir who is desperate to win the local kite - fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realizes that one day he must return to Afghanistan under the Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot offer him: redemption.

My favorite character in the novel was Hassan and the main reason for this was as he was kind and also the type of friend that you can count on no matter what. Additionally,  his loyalty throughout the MAJOR events that took place in his life never changed his affection and loyalty to Amir. In my opinion, all the characters felt real and as the story was based on some real-life events, such as the Soviets invading Afghanistan and the years under Taliban rule, this story opened my eyes to what war can do to people in today's world, for example how 2 close friends could be divided between conflict and the aftermath of such despair on a country and its people. 

The story never failed to give me goosebumps and there were countless moments when I felt as though I knew what was going to happen, however bigger surprises hit me in the face ( in a GOOD way).

My favorite part of the book was when Amir and Rahim Khan were discussing about getting Hassan's son back, however in order to fully convince Amir to undertake such a task, Rahim Khan had revealed to us all, the readers, that Amir and Hassan are actually brothers (share the same father) and this really was one of the biggest surprises.

One of the many scenes that captivated me:

"Sohrab!" I called, rising from my bed. "I have great news." I knocked on the bathroom door. "Sohrab! Soraya jan just called from California. We won't have to put you in an orphanage, Sohrab. We're going to America, you and I. Did you hear me? We're going to America!"

I pushed the door open. Stepped into the bathroom. 

Suddenly I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming through my clenched teeth. Screaming until I thought my throat would rip and my chest explode. 

Later, they said I was still screaming when the ambulance arrived.

This scene was so detailed, that I felt sadness and started tearing up, once again, and this proves just that the way Hosseini words each sentence and paragraph is powerful. The book made me cry as the adjectives used by the author were very descriptive and the way the scenes happened before my eyes were truly unforgettable. 

The story had gripped me so much that I had read it in a couple of hours and honestly I was so provoked to also pick up 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', which is equally as great and amazing.

Overall, I would rate the book a solid A+++ and 10/10. It had everything a good, coming-of-age book should have. It had mystery, love, family and adventure and there was not a single moment that I felt bored. That's how great Hosseini's novel was. 

If you also enjoyed this book as much as I did, I would recommend reading both 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' and 'And The Mountains Echoed'. Both are equally interesting and riveting as The Kite Runner.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this week's blog as much as I had whilst writing it for you all. In case any readers out there would love to purchase all 3 books, here is the link: All 3 Books by Khaled Hosseini

Also, for more reading, check out 'The Works' & 'The Book People' websites. If you're like me, surrounded by friends who are amused by books, like my dear friends Sana, Mandeep, Humaira and Zara, I'm sure they'd be more than pleased to find out about websites which can offer them amazing deals on great book titles.

Till next time,

~The Girl Who Loves The Little Things~

This was not a sponsored blog.

Hiya guys!

Today's Friday and I could not be anymore glad that my weekend has already started. Firstly, its been raining. Like, a lot. And today the rain made my face and hands turn from brown to pale white. and i had goosebumps. Sadly, I had to walk a decent 7 minutes to the bus station from my school and I had immediately yearned for a heater fan and most of all...for a hot cocoa. With marshmallows. And Grated chocolate with whipped cream. Am I making you drool all over your computer/mobile yet? Sorry! Honestly, I thought of a new blog post to write up. And it includes a list of "warm, sunny places i want to visit" and to be honest I LOVE the warmth of the sun but also because tropical countries have an interesting culture and I AM OBSESSED with culture. So....here goes nothing!

MY LIST OF TOP 5 EXQUISITE AND BREATHTAKING PLACES TO VISIT

www.sunmaster.co.uk

1) Morocco. And the reason why is simple. Very simple. The Moroccan culture and history never seizes to amaze. Like, first of all, I would kill to wonder around all the endless "souks" (shops) in the market place and see pyramids after pyramids of spices and allow all my senses to run wild. Not to mention take endless photographs of the historic and contemporary buildings all around the country.

2) Somalia. For the second time in my life. I went there for holiday in Summer 2013 and honestly, despite being war-torn due to 20 years of civil war, there are still some places out there untouched by it and those include the villages. I went to a small village and had my mothers family there whom we stayed with for 3 weeks. I had gone to my late grandfathers farm and one of the many palm trees on that land was being breezed softly by the wind and oh, so beautiful. I had been lucky to capture this image with my Blackberry 9300. This country is my everything and in spite of all this tribalism at the end of the day, we share the same place.


3) Bulgaria. I watch The Vampire Diaries and when I had discovered one of the characters backgrounds came from Bulgaria (fictionally, of course) I was tempted to search the location. What I had come across was literally breathtaking and yes I really want to visit this place so badly but not as badly as I want to visit Turkey.

4)Turkey. Oh la la. Its full of life and beauty. Not only that but the culture and history of Turkey is also inspirational. The Blue Mosque, Nemrut Dagi and Topkapi Palace Museum, Turkey has it all. Not to mention that a mere 2 hour drive in Istanbul will leave you gobsmacked. I only spent a couple of hours, about 24 hours ( transit, en route Birmingham Airport) and I may have had a limited time period there...but, each second of it was beautiful. We spent the night at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel and the 5* accommodation was excellent. I have no word to describe it. Unfortunately, no pictures of our room although we were only based on the 3rd floor and we (me and my cousin) took pictures after we woke up, so it wasn't exactly good. However here are the pictures I took:

A fuzzy image of the front of the hotel where we stayed. And yes, I know its fuzzy, but I was a 15 year old teen with a bad camera phone so...and plus, the mini bus was moving...

That girl in the far left corner with black
hijab is my dear cousin...Introducing Ramla!

Never before had I seen suck a shiny
and equally large lobby in my *young* life :) 

the glass revolving door and red rope...
could life get any better?

5) Kenya. I suppose. I have also visited this place, but alas I cannot remember much...apart from the food of course. Unfortunately I have no original photos with me nor do I have much to say except this is the place where I spent 1 year of my defining myself and although I was quite young, I still remember how the beach air smelt so strongly of salt and it was breezy but not in that cold way in the way that the ways crashing had released me into euphoria. When I reminisce about my time there all that comes to mind is the resorts I had visited, the endless beaches, the corn-on-the-cob grilled with powdered chili...and most of all, the family I had met there. All my uncles, well most of them and some aunts as well as my only grandfather whom I hold dear. 

I would love to go to each one of these places as they hold a significance for me either physically or emotionally and when I do, I still hope I can share my experiences with all of you guys.

Although I have been to the majority of the places mentioned, there is always more things to be discovered and most of the great moments in life are the ones that happen off camera.

Love,

~The Girl Who Loves The Little Things~

P.S. Comment/Follow/Share 

Success and EPIC failures

Hi everyone,


"Success is key in life. If you persevere, you will succeed in life." - Me

Basically, we all know the saying "practice makes perfect" or at least now you do. But sometimes despite all our efforts there is something that we lack at. Whether it's sports, academics, the art, fashion or even cooking, there's something we cannot succeed at. For me, personally, I have had a few baking disasters despite what you may think. Once upon a time, during Ramadan, I attempted to make pretzels. Unfortunately i went wrong somewhere along the line.

That's not to say that I'm a terrible baker/chef. I'm pretty alright actually. Especially when it comes to Somali cuisine. I watch YouTube videos and conduct my cooking based off the. And yes, I guess you can say I'm a visual learner. Always have been and always will be. I recommend watching the videos from "Xawaash SomaliFoodBlog" (That's how its written). I have made the majority of their recipes during Ramadan as I had the pleasure of cooking for 30 days. Oddly enough i also made some Italian, Moroccan, Mexican and some Eritrean cuisine over that month.

Enough about food. I don't know about you..but I'm craving some homemade chocolate chip cookies right about now....

They taste better than they look. Besides you can't judge a cookie by its cover. In case any of you are wondering...
I used: Butter, White chocolate, Milk chocolate, milk, 1 egg, self raising flour, vanilla essence and caster sugar. The end product? An amazing batch of warm, homemade chocolatey cookies, resting downstairs in the kitchen. And yes I have made another batch for my family because I have gone through 4 cookies already.

The recipe is on Tanya Burr's  YouTube channel.



Some people are lucky. Their talented in everything they do. Like you guys. Yes, you. The person reading this blog. Thanks very,very much and stay awesome. The fact that you're here is the whole reason that I'm even dedicating time to writing this. Oh...and yes don't forget to share this with your friends.

Ciao,

~ The Girl Who Loves The Little Things ~


P.S Comment/ Follow/ Share This Blog xox

Who Am I?

Hi everyone,

I thought of this whole "blog" idea as a way to post my thoughts about everything and anything in life. Lets see...I'm 16 and I love reading books especially fictions that have romance and drama in them. I also love baking cookies and cakes and cooking of course.

I am a HUGE fan of travelling with my family to other places in Birmingham, UK, especially to a nice restaurant in our local community. The other day I tried some Indian cuisine for the 100th time and it was amazing!

I recommend it :)

As well as all this, I am a social person. And I LOVE TV shows. Especially the American ones. Oddly enough i am intrigued by a new fall show, "Stalker" and oddly it goes against the whole stalker numbers have tripled due to social networking sites. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this wont happen. Right?
Anyways, have I mentioned I'm insane about books. Currently I'm hooked on "The Lovely Bones" but next I'm planning on reading "Memoirs Of A Geisha" and "Cellar Girl".





I also have a large family and I am the eldest for any of you that were wondering...

Ciao Bella,

~The Girl Who Loves The Little Things~