Mar 19, 2017

What's the perfect gift for a mom on her day?

I was not supposed to blog about gifts for mothers day. I chose to skip that post for this year and focus on my social media ranting post earlier this week (here). But I was surprised to wake up to a message from a friend asking if it was okay to buy a dishwasher for his wife on mother's day.

NO!!

I'll make this short, simple and to the point:
Mothers day is the one day of the year where the woman should be spoiled as a woman not as a housewife, mother or whatever else this superhero does all year long.



Don't get me wrong; there is nothing wrong in cleaning, cooking, making the beds, the dishes, the laundry, taking care of the kids and of the social happenings of the couple, and everything else a mother and/or wife do. I'm not the kind of woman who would pull a “mish shaghelté” or “I work all day, go do the dishes yourself”. But seriously…

Let's think of it this way: would you rather receive a new project from your colleagues as a birthday gift or a cake to enjoy?

I'll answer that! A cake. The project will still be here tomorrow morning and they can allocate the work to you that time. Today is your day and you shall enjoy it.

Same goes here! You know that dishwasher? She wants it, needs it, and you are going to get it anyway. Buy her something that will make her smile. Something that has: this is your day and I thought of a way to make you happy sweetheart.

This can go from jewelry, clothes, handbag, spa treatments (my favorite! All mothers need this) to flowers, cakes or a handmade card with a sweet note if you're on a budget.

Just get her something that has “you're an amazing WOMAN” all over it. She deserves to feel that on this day!

Mar 16, 2017

My rant about Social Media - March 2017 edition!

Okay, I think that's it. I've had enough!

With the latest updates on Whatsapp and the stories going live on all sorts of social platform* life is just not as we know it anymore.  Almost every person I know is a blogger**, a photographer***, a traveler**** or an “influencer” (what the hell is that anyway?!). All pictures are loaded with edits and filters, and there is nothing normal or natural about anything anymore! Going through Snapchat, Insta-Stories and Whatsapp Status, I see the same images and videos on repeat as if one medium was not enough! Hey neighbor, did you forget to check my Snapchat today? Oh cool! Have a look, I copy pasted it on Instagram and Whatsapp! And to make things even worse? The shares on Facebook are growing by the minute…. I’m driving through traffic (because traffic is uncommon in Beirut) and hey look it’s raining outside! (because when it pour all over the country, it only does where you stand!  People have lost their minds in the need of self-validation and everything is just out of control nowadays!

*my favorite still is Snapchat – it just serves the purpose perfectly and provide you with a notification of any screenshot!
** before you comment, I don’t claim to be one! I write for fun and I don’t post consistently to call myself a blogger)
*** even if he only owns a phone camera
**** even when Dubai is the only place he has visited

Before you remind me of how much of a Social Media addict I am (yes, I admit I am), I would like to point out that I use each medium to what it originally was created for: my photo albums go to my Facebook account, my writings go to my blog, my instant pictures go to Instagram, silly shares go on Snapchat (thank God my boss does not have a Snapchat account!) and so on… I do occasionally edit and filter photos but I try my best to keep it real.

When I’m out on a date, I try not to hold my phone too often (unless I am not interested in what is going around!) and when I’m out with friends, I enjoy the moment and capture a few happenings on cam or video for the sake of the memory. But I post what is as close to reality as can be… In fact, my profile if full of non-flattering pictures of myself, non-edited ones, pictures where I look silly, stupid, ugly or fat. I post what I can, when I can, in the best way I can. And the best way I can is the most truthful. I post what is real.

But what exactly is real nowadays?

The more people are getting submerged by applications, connection mediums and accounts, the less real they are becoming. I miss the days where people would go and comment on blogs - back in the days we had the Facebook notes and everyone had something to say or comment or debate on those shares. I miss the time where people would take a minute to write a nice comment on pictures instead of automatically scrolling through their feeds and liking whatever picture and/or post they see out there (though I am guilty of this sometimes).  I miss the time where social media did not control my life, my family’s and my friends’… the time where we could sit and enjoy a long talk over coffee, in front of a chimney…. the time when taking a picture would take 10 seconds not 50 (10 seconds for a Facebook photo, another 10 for Instagram, another 10 for Instagram story (let’s switch angels), then 10 for Whatsapp status and 10 for Snapchat…) and maybe we could record a video and a boomerang post while at it!

I miss the time when people were real… the time where freckles showed on pictures, where eyelashes were not combed and long (hey guys! there are apps that do this for us girls!) and where people’s lives looked like what they shared and people’s pictures actually looked like what they were like in real.

I miss the time where I would see my friend at the end of the street and recognize her… the time where people looked like themselves in pictures and their live looked real in posts!

So to all of you out there who think what you scrolled through today on your various platform is real, relax… Life is oh so different out-there!