Rehab who?

This past Sunday, March 6 2011, a day before my daughter turned one, I lost a dear friend. Within 24 hours, I faced with a heartbreaking loss and tried my best to appreciate the life and blessing that is my first daughter. I did not do either one justice.

Over the past week, there have been Facebook pages and messages dedicated to Rehab El-Buri, countless articles, a foundation started up in her name and much more. I've read all over the Internet "What an inspiring person", "I did not know her personally, but wish I had", as people described her as pious, faithful, generous, patient, dedicated, and all kinds of amazingness. And sure, mashalah, she was all that. I have no doubt that she died clear of sins and will be in the highest level of heaven. But the more I read about her online, the greater the divide grew in my head. This incredible woman people keep talking about online, she sounds great, but she's not my Rehab. She cant be, because my Rehab is here in this duniya with me. I just saw her, remember we drove down south together (ok it was only 35 minutes away, but we agreed anything past Newark in south). We talked about my hate for navigation systems and her utter dependence on them (when she first moved to NJ). Who is the Rehab they keep talking about? And Rehab, when are we going to give persian food another try?

My First

First times are always great, right? First roller coaster, first trip overseas, baby's first steps (or so I've heard, not that I can remember my own).

Yesterday was my first time baking cupcakes from scratch. I even made the frosting on my own. My absolute favorite- red velvet with brown sugar cream cheese frosting.

This might surprise most people, but I don't bake. It's so easy to buy desserts. I love food and I love to cook. But baking was always out of my reach.

So, what would then compel me to start a dessert catering business with my best friend Abeer? Well, she is an excellent baker. She makes delicious treats and is an talented decorator, after taking classes a few years back. She's practiced this skill many times over. I am the apprentice, she is the master.

So, she's the baker, and I'm the big mouth. Mashalah she's also got a great business mind, so this seems a very imbalanced partnership. But Inshalah, with time, she finds that I am as much a contribution to this partnership as she is.

So, with some duas, and some resistance from naysayers (my own mom), we've registered our new business: Haute Cakes. We' currently working on the website and business card, but you can check out the facebook site we've created for it. At the end of this month we have our first gig; it's not paying, but will be a great opportunity to get the word out. We are baking 300 cupcakes favors for the Wafa House fundraiser. It's a wonderful cause and I hope many people make it out. Click on the word fundraiser for details.

So that brings me back to my first time. It went a lot better than I anticipated, and it wasn't a disaster, thank you very much. I made the cupcakes for a dinner party, and my husband honestly thought they were great. But what other people thought I may never know, as my hosts and friends are probably too polite to be brutally honest.

Food Trip Recap

Asalamu Alaykum,

This weekend, after turning the big 3-0, I went on what was dubbed a food trip, for the amount of eating we planned on doing. My friends Rehab, Samina, Lobna and I drove 5 hours (thank you fog and rain) to Boston, MA for a weekend visit with my sister Saria.

I haven't been to Boston since graduate school at BU until my sister moved there. I find so many things astonishing..that my baby sister went to college..that she graduated college..that she's in grad school (I was in grad school!) and that she left home..and she's actually growing up..she's living on her own, learning to cook..and,unbelievably, surviving away from my mom. Really, if you knew Saria, you'd be as impressed as I am. I am so, so, so proud of her. I'm surprised that she ended up in Boston like I did, but Alhamdulillah she certainly seems to like it more than I did.

By the way, I blame that on reading Jhumpa Lahiri for writing extremely depressing novels based in the city.

So it was a great weekend. I love girls trips. Husbands are awesome, but it's just not the same. Both are wonderful in their own way.

You don't stay up talking until late into the night with your husband. Okay, maybe you do sometimes...but you always do it with girlfriends. Husbands don't like to take as many pictures as we girls do. And girls are just so outgoing. We ran into old friends, and made new ones. We cooked meals together, we shopped, we ate and ate and ate, and we talked. Not gossiped of course! We just talked about what bought us to where we are, what we hoped for the future, what not to wear :) etc. etc.

Of course, being that we're girls, and we were traveling, there was a bit of friction. And the indecisiveness was over the top. "I don't know, I'm fine with anything, whatever she wants to do, I don't care what we eat, whatever you want." A group of non-decision makers don't make an effective bunch. We spent much of the time deciding what to do next, but it was still fun because we were together.


Thank you ladies for a great weekend. Alhamulilah I feel so blessed to have amazing family and friends, and opportunities like these to enjoy it all. I can never hope to match my gratitude to everything Allah has given me, but I will certainly try.

Sameera