Try Something Different this Christmas.
A friend of mine Lynn El Bizri (and if you’re an active Lebanese blogger or tweep you definitely know her) posted this status today that I just had to share because the message is wonderful:
Buy Christmas gifts from small businesses this year: from a handcraft shop, from a friend who makes unique jewellery, from the little bookshop round the corner, from the guy from your street that does everything he can to maintain his shop next to a supermarket..
Let’s give our money to ordinary people who need them, not to international tycoons and big entrepreneurs who underpay their employees and relocate their factories to the other end of the world.
If you do so, more people will be happy for Christmas.
Check out some creative suggestions of local designers, shops and boutiques below. This year, consider getting your gift items from them and let’s encourage local talent with our purchases this Christmas season (and check back here often as will keep adding to the list in the coming days):
My top picks for the season: 1. FlashBag camera case 2. Cupcake bra by Bras for a Cause ME 3. Earrings by Lylus Jewelry 4. Scarf by Viola for Sarah's Bag 5. Pin by Luanatic 6. Rings by Ctrl+Z Jewelry 7. Candle by Art Candles
* ACCESORIES *
- Ctrl+Z Jewelry by Zinab Chahine
- Nada G: Jewelry Boutique (shared by Nisrine Sabbagh)
- plastic pills (shared by We Run Beirut)
- Elsa’s J: High Fashion Silver Jewelry with Precious Stones (shared via Rouba Abou Zeid)
- Lylus Jewelry (shared by Lynn El Bizri)
- Rima K - Handmade Jewelry
- Over the Rainbow – Unique Handmade Glass Jewelry
- Satish Creations (shared by Lynn El Bizri)
- Concepts by Dima – Unique Handbags and Clutches (shared by Dima)
* CLOTHING *
- Jujule Lemonie (shared by Lynn El Bizri)
* HOME DECOR *
- Shop the Old-Fashioned Way by Layla Totah
- Lamia Saab Muhtar - Custom hand-made painted and/or mixed media gifts
- Double U As Wood: “What wood would become once married to other media…” (shared by Rouba Abou Zeid)
* GENERAL GIFT ITEMS *
- Carilou: Gift Design (shared by Marie Nakhle)
- Luana el Turk/Luanatic (shared by Marie Nakle)
- ArchArt (shared by Marie Nakle)
- Tamyras‘s 2012 Agenda (shared by Marie Nakle)
- Viola’ Line of Illustrated Bags, Prints and Postcards by Nadine Feghali
* CHOCOLATE AND YUMMIES *
- Chocolat Fée (shared by Rouba Abou Zeid)
* FOR THE KIDS *
- Dee Little (shared by Lynn El Bizri)
* GET ARTSY *
- Ceramics & More (shared by Lynn El Bizri)
- Ceramics Lounge (shared by Lynn El Bizri)
* SHOP LOCAL EVENTS *
- Fashion for a Cause‘s Christmas Sale (Dec. 2-4)
- Join Jancouz the Clown to collect and distribute toys to street children with(Dec. 15)
- “Christmas Bra-zar” for Bras for a Cause ME (Dec. 21 and 22)
- Afkart Fair: The Lebanese Designers’ Christmas Week – A semi-annual event for self-starting designers at BIEL (Dec. 16-22)
* SPECIAL: FOR AND BY PHOTOGRAPHERS *
- FlashBag – inspired by and for photographers (via Fustany.com)
- Give your friends and loved ones prints of your photos nicely framed with Pic N’Print
- Memento Photo-Boutique - print your photos in cute little books or other keepsakes.
Feel free to recommend more for this list. Spread the message and the cheer this year!
Good Night SMS
You know you’re in a relationship when you suddenly start getting (and sending) good night texts on your phone.
That’s romance for this generation’s couples and one of the small ways to show you’re thinking about that special someone in the next-to-most-intimate-way you can reach them – via their phone. No matter how silly or corny these messages are, they’ll invariably put a smile on your face. And if you don’t receive one of those messages one night, you get to wondering: Is something wrong? Is he/she ok? Are we ok?
Has our phone’s inbox become a the cupid of romance? You can say so in keeping up with technology and society’s habits. In my opinion, love texts remain somewhat more intimate than love emails yet nothing beats a handwritten love letter (feel free to call me old-school). One day when you’re old and you’ve discarded of your iPhone and Blackberry (that day will happen), all that will remain is that which can be put in your hands. Printed out love texts or emails don’t have the same sentiment as someone’s actual handwriting
For all of you that disagree and find phone texts incredibly sexy, here’s some ultra-corny good night texts to spark some romance:
I’ve gone to bed happy, i’ve gone to bed mad, and sometimes I’ve even gone to bed sad, but when I go to bed thinking of you, that’s when you know I’ve gone to bed glad!
My day may be hectic, my schedule may be tight, but I would never let the day end without saying “Goodnight”.
As you go to bed tonight,I beg the moon to give you light, telling my angels to hug you tight and make sure you will be alright. I ask the gentle breeze to kiss you goodnight!
I ran up the door, closed the stairs, said my pajamas, put on my prayers, turned off the bed, and hopped into the light, all because you kissed me goodnight! (I just realized that someone once sent me this one. Sounded familiar!)
If you find yourself in a room filled with bloody walls and thumping sounds, don’t worry – you’re just in my heart. (Kinda creepy, no?)
This generations love letters. Image Source: Gather.com
If you simply can’t get enough of these texts and want more, visit this link.
Now readers, I want to hear from you: what was the most romantic good night text you’ve ever received or sent?
The “Carrie” Necklace
I’ve been back to watching old episodes of “Sex and the City” again recently. They’re especially fun to watch while working. Call it a late trend to catch on to now, but I’ve suddenly become obsessed with Carrie’s necklace.
Ladies, you know the one – but in case you forgot, here it is:
The famous necklace, as worn by Carrie from "Sex and the City"
It seems to be the perfect accessory for any outfit (it’s a classic and simple) and think of all the time you’ll be saving on introductions when you meet new people: “Corrine is it?” Not to mention eliminating the need for those painful dictation sessions whenever you need to spell out your name: “Yes, that’s with a “y” not with two “e”s, thank you”. Wearing this necklace, it’d simply be a matter of pointing to your neck.. and hoping the other person can actually read.
All kidding aside, as the minimalist accessorizer that I am, this is one of the few things I could definitely see myself wearing.
What Success Really Looks Like
The other day I came across this illustration:
Originally posted on The Green Manager
Looking at that drawing, I couldn’t help but feel a certain “been there, done that” sentiment. If I had to place a dot for where I felt my life was at, it’d be certainly somewhere in the messy haze but slowly trickling out of it and making it’s way up.
At 27, I finally feel I’m on the path I wanted for my career. I’m doing what I love and been doing it well (and people are noticing). Working on my own was probably the toughest and easiest decision I’ve ever made but it’s been worth it and I can’t see myself living any other way now.
But of course, as with anything in life, that didn’t come easy. Success is never a sure-thing and it’s important to distinguish what success is, and what it isn’t. Too many people think they’re a success after their first and only achievement. Success is not a TV interview (everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame, especially in Lebanon) and it’s not an award. That’s only the beginning. I believe success is in longevity and the power of influence. It’s people like Steve Jobs who’ve changed the way the world thinks and whose lives are a testament of their vision. They’ve been up, they’ve been down but they’re still doing it. Don’t forget, success takes time and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears to get there (that’s where the support of loving friends and family is especially vital to overcoming that and maintaining your sanity).
The road to what-is-still-too-premature-to-call-success has not been all sugar and roses. I’ve been down, I’ve been tired, I’ve been angry, I’ve been frustrated, I’ve been wrong, I’ve been wronged and I’ve been broke. But the “I’ve” I’ll hang on to after all that is “I’ve learned” and that’s priceless. I’ve learned life moves on and what doesn’t kill you can truly make you stronger (as cliche as that sounds).
One day, I’d like to post something about the lessons I’ve learned (and the juiciest part is HOW I learned them). Who knows, someone else might benefit from my experience. Just this year alone, I can make a list of at least 15 things I’ve learned, but I’ll leave that until the year is truly over as who knows what I’m yet to learn in the coming month and a half.
I’m looking forward to 2012, to carrying on lessons learned and keeping that arrow pointing upwards, even if a storm might shake it up every once in a while. As long as it keeps pointing up, I’m happy.
Feeding the Lion
Dreams are a strange thing.
Psychologically, they mean you’ve reached your ultimate state of relaxation – the REM cycle – so that’s always a positive indicator of a good night’s sleep, but emotionally, dreams can jump into your consciousness (where sometimes they don’t really belong) and get you thinking all day.
Image Source: Real Magick
I love dreaming and enjoy the morning-after feeling when you can actually remember the dream. Not everyone can, so I savor those mornings and try my best to capture them for as long as possible. During some periods of my life, I’ll have very elaborate dreams, dreams that make me wonder what my subconscious is trying to tell me. Those dreams are often very strange and mysterious, which is why since I’ve been 20, I’ve kept a copy of Tony Crisp’s “Dream Dictionary” by my bed. It’s around the thickness of an encyclopedia and literally has every thing or scenario your subconscious could possible conjure in a dream, but you also have to know how to pick it apart the right way.
Now although I don’t always agree with the interpretations, and like such things as horoscopes where no two astrologers will have the same reading, it’s nice to know I have a starting point for understanding them better. My friend’s mom is also great at interpreting dreams but she lives in Dubai, so the book will have to do.
I woke up this morning intertwined in the dream I’d just had. Don’t you just love that feeling? Right before I had a chance to get out of bed to write it down, my boyfriend called so I was able to recount the dream to him before I could forget it. If you can’t write it down, telling it to someone is almost like backing it up on a hard drive. Then that dream is yours for at least a few more hours of that day.
So you must be wondering by now, what was that dream already? (and if you’re into interpreting dreams, some insight would be much appeciated)
Somewhere in between my 2nd or 3rd REM cycle last night, I entered another world. Suddenly I was at a large amusement park area, it was a bright shiny day out and there were lots of people around. I was one of the event organizers (which is ironic as that’s all I’ve been doing lately in real life. That’s a big sign I need a break) and we were busy setting up a huge show. Our team was big and I remember sitting in an office-like room away from the center stage guest area with our laptops going over the details of the show. Suddenly, one of the other organizers pulls me out and tells me it’s time. Dream-me seemed to have forgotten what that would mean until she walked with me out of the room, leaving my laptop and phone behind on a couch, and told me I’d be feeding a lion. We’d promised our guests that so I had to deliver. Scared sh@%less doesn’t begin to explain how I felt. I kept trying to back out of it, but she kept pushing me on: “No, it has to be you. It’ll be completely safe – you’re working with pros.”
Looks so sweet and fluffy doesn't it? Image Source: Helping Animals
After several resistant “no, I can’t”s and “do I really need to do this?”s, I made it into the backstage area of a large buzzing arena with nothing seperating me and a hungry lion but an iron bar door. As the zookeepers helping backstage began to cut the meat, they tried to soothe me “Don’t worry, just walk in like your boss and start feeding him. We do it all the time.” but all the while I’m thinking: What if that lion is having a bad day? What if he doesn’t like the meat I give him? What if he simply doesn’t like me (or rather, would like a piece of me)?
That’s the thing with lions, you can’t really guess what they might be thinking and that’s what was terrifying me – that unknown. As time slowly passed in the waiting area facing the cage, I grew quickly more nervous. The meat had to be sent back – it wasn’t fresh and the lion was now waiting at the iron bars obviously as impatient as I was to get this over with. Another 20 minutes later, I was handed a pail full of meat and shoved towards the iron door. The lion was now back at the center stage of his cage so I’d have to walk all the way towards him to feed him (what if he jumped at me as I made my way over? what if he thought I was the meal?). And that my friends, that moment of anticipation is when I woke up. My subconscious should be a thriller film director because I woke up thirsting for more. What had happened to me? Did the lion eat me? Was I able to show him I was boss by walking proudly in, feeding him, receiving public applause and walking victoriously out?
I’ll never know and neither will you I guess. But as a firm believer that dreams aren’t just there to entertain our brains, I’m sure there’s something there worth analyzing. The Dream Dictionay wasn’t of much help this time unfortunately so I’m left to my own interpretations: Am I worried about some big event coming up? Who’s the metaphorical lion I’m afraid of facing? And would I ever, in real life that is, consider entering a lion’s cage for the experience?
Guess that’s something to add to the list of things one must try once in their life, even if it was all my subconscious’ fault for giving me that idea in the first place. And who knows, maybe I’ll be able to face that fear that I couldn’t in the dream.
Would I ever be able to do this?
