Dee-zai-neh!

Are you a big fan of famous designers but you are too afraid to show your fondness in front of your friends since you might pronounce the designers' names incorrectly?

Fret not! Here are some pronunciation lessons that you may want to practice while dolling yourself up. ;p

Have fun getting your tongue twisted!

Agnes B: Ah-ni-ess Beh
Abaeté: Ah-bye-ah-tay
Alejandro Ingelmo: Allay-handro In-gel-mo
Alexandre Herchcovitch: Ah-le-zan-dreh Hair-ch-co-vich
Andrew Gn: Andrew Jen (rhymes with “ten”)
Andy Thê-Anh: An-dee Tay-Ann
Anya Hindmarch: Ahn-ya Heind-march
Arthur Mendonça: Ar-thur Men-doe-sa
Badgley Mischka: Badge-lee Meesh-ka
Balenciaga: Bah-lin-cee-ah-gah
Balmain: Bal-mah
Bebe: Bee-bee
Bettye Muller: Beh-tee Meu-ler
Bottega Veneta: Bo-tega Ven-e-ta
Bulgari: Ball-gah-ree
Burberry Prorsum: Bur-bur-ree Pror-some
Carolina Herrera: Caro-leena Hair-era
Cartier: Kar-tee-aye
Cesare Paciotti: Che-sah-ray Pah-cho-tee
Chaiken: Chay-ken
Chanel: Shuh-nail
Christian Lacroix: La-Kwa
Christian Louboutin: Loo-boo-tahn
Dana Buchman: Day-nah Buck-man
Dior: Dee-or
Dries Van Noten: Drees Van Know-ten
Diane von Furstenberg: Fur-sten-berg (pronounced as spelled)
Dolce & Gabbana: Dole-ch-aye Ga-bon-na
Dries Van Noten: Drees Van Know-ten
Emilio Pucci: Eh-mi-li-oh Poo-ch-ee
Ermenegildo Zegna: Er-men-a-geel-do Zen-ya
Etienne Aigner: Eh-tee-yen On-yay
Furla: Fer-luh
Gareth Pugh: Gareth Pew
Gianfranco Ferre: Gee-an-fran-co Fr-aire
Giles Deacon: Jy-els Dee-kin
Givenchy: Jee-von-shee
Giambattista Valli: Gee-ahm-battista Valley
Gucci: Goo-chee
Hedi Slimane: Eddy Sli-mahn
Hermès: Err-mez
Hervé Léger: Air-vay Lay-jay
Issey Miyake: Ee-seh Mi-yah-key
Jean Paul Gaultier: Zhan Paul Go-tee-aye
James Perse: James Perse (as in a lady’s purse, not ‘pierce your ear’)
Joeffer Caoc: Joe-fur Kay-ock
Junya Watanabe: Joon-ya Wah-tah-nah-bay
Lambertson Truex: Lam-bert-son Tru-ex
Lanvin: Lon-vahn or Lon-vawn
L’Wren Scott: Le-ren Skot
Loewe: Low-ev-ay
Louis Vuitton: Loo-ee Voo-ee-ton
Longchamp: Lon-chahn
Madame Gres: Mah-dam Gray
Marchesa: Mar-kay-sa
Mainbocher: Maynbo-shay
Moschino: Mos-keen-o
Monique Lhullier: Mo-neek Loo-lee-ay
Narciso Rodriguez: Nar-siss-so Ro-dree-gez
Nicolas Ghesquière: Ni-co-la Guess-ki-air
Olivier Theyskens: Oli-vier Tay-skins
Pierre Cardin: Pee-air Car-dain
Prada: Prah-da
Proenza Schouler: Pro-enza Skool-er
Ralph Lauren: Ralph Lauren (as in Lauren the girl’s name, not Sophia Loren, RL is an American)
Rei Kawakubo: Ray Kah-wah-koo-bo
Rodarte: Ro-dar-tay
6267: Six-two-six-seven (not Sixty-two-sixty-seven)
Sonia Rykiel: Saun-ya Ree-kee-eel
Sophia Kokosalaki: So-fee-a Ko-ko-sah-lah-kee
Tapeet by Vicini: Ti-peet by vi-ch-ee-knee
Thakoon: Ta-koon
Thierry Mugler: Tee-air-ree Moog-lay
Tibi: Tbi or Tu-by (not Tee-bee)
Tocca: Toe-ka
Ungaro: Oon-ga-ro
Versace: Ver-sah-chee
Vionnet: Vee-oh-nay
Yohji Yamamoto: Yo-jee Ya-ma-mo-to
Yves Saint Laurent: Eve San Lor-ron
Zac Posen: Poe-zen

p/s : Which one is your favourite?

Haf ya?

Have you ever cried in your dream?
and woke up to realise that you're crying in reality too?
Have you ever felt so paranoid to close your eyes?
Afraid that you might fall asleep
And dream of the same dream
that smashes your heart to smithereens.

Have you felt so insecure that you are afraid of your own reflection?
Because it may laugh at your own weary soul.
Have you ever felt like running from your own shadow?
Because it may swallow the only pride that you have left.

Have you ever wished
that for a moment,
There will be someone who will actually hear your sadness
Through your laughters
And see your pain
Through your smiles.

No, you haven't.

10 Tips on How to be a Successful Husband

This was not originally written by me. I found it as I roamed around Facebook. But since this is such a beautiful piece, I can't resist the urge to have this shared here. The original entry can be found by clicking this.

Remember how normal husbands are very keen to do polygamy, by stressing that it is part of sunnah? Then, they should read this, as it is a must-read for husbands who want to live by the 'sunnah'. Happy reading, fellas!

10 Tips on How to be a Successful Husband 

1.) Dress up for your wife, look clean and smell good. When was the last time us men went shopping for designer pajamas? Just like the husband wants his wife to look nice for him, she also wants her husband to dress up for her too. Remember that Rasulullah SAW would always start with Miswak when returning home and always loved the sweetest smells.

2.) Use the cutest names for your wife. Rasulullah SAW had nicknames for his wives, ones that they loved. Call your wife by the most beloved names to her, and avoid using names that hurt their feelings.

3.) Don’t treat her like a fly. We never think about a fly in our daily lives until it ‘bugs’ us. Similarly, a wife will do well all day - which brings no attention from the husband - until she does something to ‘bug’ him. Don’t treat her like this; recognize all the good that she does and focus on that.

4.) If you see wrong from your wife, try being silent and do not comment! This is one of the ways Rasulullah SAW used when he would see something inappropriate from his wives Radiallahu Anhunn. It is something that very few muslim men have learnt or practice with their wives.

5.) Smile at your wife whenever you see her and embrace her often. Smiling is sadaqah and your wife is not exempt from the muslim ummah. Imagine life with her constantly seeing you smiling. Remember also those Ahadith when Rasulullah SAW would kiss his wife before leaving for Salah, even if he was fasting.

6.) Thank her for all that she does for you. Then thank her again! Take for example a dinner at your house. She makes the food, cleans the home, and a dozen other tasks to prepare. And sometimes the only acknowledgement she receives is that there needed to be more salt in the soup. Don’t be that person; thank her!

7.) Ask her to write down the last ten things you did for her that made her happy. Then go and do them again. It may be hard to recognize what makes her happy. You don’t have to play a guessing game, ask her and work on repeating those things in your life.

8.) Don’t belittle her desires. Comfort her. Sometimes the men may look down upon the requests of their wives. Rasulullah SAW set the example for us in an incident when Safiyyah RA was crying because, as she said, he had put her on a slow camel. He wiped her tears, comforted her, and brought her the camel.

9.) Be humorous and play games with your wife. Make her laugh, have little ‘inside’ jokes and moments with her. Honestly your wife's laughter is one of the best sounds in life. Make her smile keep and her happy. Look at how Rasulullah SAW would race his wife Aisha RA in the desert. When was the last time we did something like that?

10.) Always remember the words of Allah’s Messenger SAW: “The best of you are those who treat their families the best. And I am the best amongst you to my family.”

Try to be the best! Never forget to make dua to Allah SWT to make your marriage successful. And Allah SWT knows best. :)

Weddream

It's been a while.
Again.
I know.

So, Hello! ;)

Anyhow,
A friend of mine liked this wedding business on facebook and out of curiosity, I clicked the page too and voila! I found heaven. I was drowned in the idea of a perfect wedding for a while and truth be told, I can't believe how wedding-enthusiastic I've became. Waaaah!

I wasn't a big fan of weddings until recently. Couple of years ago, I set my priority and kept my focus on creating my version of a perfect career. It was my biggest dream to be successful, career-wise. I was so focused and couldn't be bothered to think about getting married. In fact, I would get really grumpy and peevish every time my mom asked me to accompany her to attend a wedding ceremony. Don't ask me why I developed such preference but I must confess, the idea seemed to excite me. I frequently spent my time thinking about ways to earn more money and to keep myself occupied. Tho money wasn't really my omphalos, I can't deny that it somehow motivated me to keep going. So that was me then. When I was in my early twenties, energetic and ambitious. When weddings were just not my thing.

What have changed, you may ask.

There is only one answer to that. I have found a guy that knocks my heart (and he still keeps knocking) and I am eager to let him in.

Now, at the age of 25 (please, read this as SEVENTEEN), I change my mind and start to think that weddings are not as bad as I used to think. In fact, they are not bad at all. On the contrary, they emit positive vibes, the kind of feeling that makes you feel like you want one of your own too. So yeah, I am proud to announce that I no longer despise the idea of me getting married. Yayness!!

Anyway, let's get to the real deal.
I have been surveying a few dias(es) or better known as pelamin among us Malaysians. And I found a few that catch my attention.

For instance,

this one,

or this one,

and this one too,

or this,

And for cakes, I love something nerdy like this one,

or fairytale-ish like this,

and this one too,

And finally, here are my preferred wedding invitation cards,

and this one too,

and this pop out card,

Eyecandies, they are, right? For sure, I won't be getting anything like those for my dad is a very super duper creative person and knowing him, I am 110% sure that he will getting me something more beautiful than any of these. Okay, perasan je. There are many more actually but I am too lazy to copy the links. Hehehe. 

I also have a few wedding gowns/dresses that left me breathless but since I have plans to mix and match them, I would rather keep them to myself so that it will come out as a surprise when my time arrives soon. Weee~ 

Aite, at this point, please don't get me wrong. As much as I love weddings, I have no actual realistic plan to organize one any time soon. It will most probably happen next year, or the year after but certainly not this year. I still have few things that I need to attend to and until everything is fully resolved, there is no way anyone can hear my wedding bell rings.

Really, thinking about a dream wedding is rather addictive and I can't seem to find a way to stop. I wonder whether guys do occupy their braincells with thoughts like this too. Tho I highly doubt that. Ehee.

I prefer my wedding to be simple yet memorable. ;)

And with that, I have to put this entry to its end. It is almost eleven and I have to go.

Tata!

Semoga Allah permudahkan urusan jodoh kita semua. 

Amin. 

;)

Eid Mubarak!

I, Siti Aqilah, would love to seek forgiveness for any hiccup, mishap and misdemeanor that I have accidentally or purposedly done, intended and caused, be it physically, verbally, emotionally or mentally.

May this Ramadhan conclude with Allah blessing us with His forgiveness and barakah. May He grant us with the chance to meet Ramadhan again in years to come, insyaAllah.

Eid Mubarak to all kith and kin, beloveds and enemies.

p/s: Yes, you will be seeing this on my Facebook too. Heee..

A Little Du'a for The Singles Out There

Read a very meaningful article/du'a on facebook and I'm thinking about sharing it with my readers (Let's just pretend that I have at least one). ;D

The day you marry your wife, is the day Allaah places a trust and responsibility on you to give her the rights as a wife and she becomes your family, your comforter, the mother of your children so fear Allaah in regards to your duties as a husband.

O dear sister, When you marry your husband you leave your birth home and you become a real woman. your husband becomes your family,your maintainer and protector, the father of children, your friend and lover so treat him well and follow him to the ends of the earth fear Allaah in regards to how you treat him. Marriage in Islam completes half of your deen Do not be swayed by good looks or money as these will come and go. Marry a man who Truly fears and loves Allaah. Who puts Islam 1st before anything Learn and walk in deen together Go in a marriage with the purpose in getting closer to Allaah and Inshallaah it will be a blessed marriage Inshallaah !!!::)

oh Allah in this blessed month of Ramadan I ask you to make it easy for our brothers and sisters to find their partners. Oh Allah accept this dua'aa only solely if my brothers & sisters are practising Muslims and that our sisters are wearing the hijab.Ameeen yaa raaab al alameeen.

A very wonderful piece indeed, ain't it?

Random Piece Of Sheet

I am an active thinker, I believe. An active thinker with a high tendency to overthink. And allows the thinking to take the best out of me. And allows the thinking to suck out the positive vibes out of me and leaves me with nothing but despair and insecurity. Yes, insecurity. Very synonymous with me indeed. Like a good old friend. It knows me very well, inside out. It knows what tickles me. Just like it knows what hurts me. I see no point in writing this entry. I don't have much to say. No, actually I don't have anything to say at all. I just thought that I need to have my mind distracted. And yes, writing about anything can keep my mind from going crazy. I think of what may happen tomorrow. I think about what will happen during Eid. And those are not happy thoughts. Happy thoughts and me don't get along very well. Happy thoughts hate me. Happy thoughts don't see me as a friend. Yes, reading this entry will not lead you to anywhere. This is an empty entry. Like an empty glass. Like an empty jar. So I don't see a point to have this organized properly.

Good nite. To those who are sleeping. And to those who are going to sleep.

Carpe Diem, Aisyah

I discovered that I had been featured on one of my students's blogs. It was a simple entry but enough to have me flattered. Thanks sweetie pie.

This is her blog. Do check it out at Aisyah. She has plenty to share with us on her recent move to Saudi Arabia.

So Aisyah, that very kind gesture of yours earns you my little token of appreciation which happened to be a few lines of wisdom (ecewah. Wisdom la sgt).

Aite. Here you go.

Dear Aisyah,

Pardon me for my failure to see you on your last day at SMKJ. I was sent to attend a course in Kota Bharu. It was on a very short notice so I didn't have time to see you beforehand. I'm so sorry.

Anyway, I wish you well. May everything cruises smoothly and I really hope that things are treating you great. May Allah grant you and your family with His endless blessings.

It was a real pleasure to have you as my student. You completed the homeworks that I had assigned and you were not as talkative as the rest of your classmates. So yay for that! ;D

Do remember that things are not going to be the same with your new school. You will be using English extensively. But don't fret. You will do fine. I believe you will. Don't be afraid to make new friends. Learn about their culture and language. Observe the way they behave and think. You will be amazed at how much you can learn. Seize the chance, Aisyah. Don't let anything stops you. Allah is actually giving you a chance to turn over a new leaf. Start anew. Be brave. Be optimistic. Be adenturous. CARPE DIEM!

But, no matter how far you travel, no matter how deep you dive, no matter how high you fly, ALWAYS ALWYS ALWAYS put Allah first. If you ever have to contemplate about something, do it deliberately. Ask yourself; Is Allah going to be happy with whatever I am doing? Strive for Allah's blessing and put it as your top priority. Take care of your family. Be an obedient daughter. There will be times when you think that they don't understand you. During those times, you have to remember that parents can see what we are unable to see. They are able to foresee the future of their children. So, respect them. Honour them. Aite?

So all in all, take good care of your iman, your solats, your parents and your family, your soul and your pride.

I wish you all the best luck in the whole universe. ;)

Much love.
xoxo