myfreeiran.com - young, brave, & beautiful Iranians

Kabab 0 Matic

Can you believe that this exists? I am going to buy it for Dad:-) The video is long, once you've seen them make 10 or so, you've seen them make 100, so just watch for a bit, in awe, and then shut it off:-)

Pretty Pretty

These are a couple of pictures swiped from aroomsomewhere.blogspot.com  Just a glance through will knock your socks off. This girl has exquisite taste. I love everything. Just to look, you know, we can't have everything, but we can look. And anyway, where on earth would one wear this? 

This crocheted collar necklace is so so pretty with this portrait neckline. From Irregular Expressions, on Etsy.

This photo makes me think of pretty Sarra...

Mark is home!

I picked up Mark from the airport tonight, and I was so excited I was actually jittery and weirdly distracted. It was so fun - we talked for two hours about everything - he is pure eye candy right now. He had some exciting adventures and took lots of pictures, a couple of which I hope to snag. I am so thankful that his trip was fun, and safe, though he was approached by a wierdo in the Paris train station.

Ash e Jo (Persian Barley Soup)

I was checking on line this morning for a recipe for Veal Scallopini, and found that Ash e Jo is the Recipe of the Day at allrecipes.com. Must be their way of showing support for Iran:-)

Check it out; this soup is delicious!

Free Iran!

Mark

Mark is coming home on Monday and I am so excited to see him - he has been galavanting across the globe, Tunisia, Paris, London...I will be happy to have him back home, safe and sound. He is smart, so I try very hard to NOT worry, and hope that he is using the beautiful brains that God gave him to their maximum potential. Hopefully I will have some photos soon.

Teeth Whitening on the CHEAP

How did we live without YouTube? I found this really great way to brighten your smile...I tried 7 days worth of Crest Strips once about 6 months ago...it was a bit of a pain, I really wanted them for Mano, but he is against all things that taste bad, with the exception of cigs...that's another story, so I tried them. I think they worked a little. Some people have naturally whiter teeth, and you know, as you get older they can yellow a bit, so this seems like an easy and INEXPENSIVE way to whiten teeth. I'll try it and post the results, but here is the vid:

My friend Gwyneth

Gynneth writes a blog that is actually quite good. I am including her recipe for Quick Roast Chicken & Potatoes here. To view her blog, go to goop.com and click on any of the topics - Make, Go, Get, Do, Be, or See, or click on the upper right 'view this weeks newsletter'.

Quick Roast Chicken & Potatoes

By removing the back and thigh bones, which is a lot easier than it sounds, you cut your cooking time in half. Also, this is a flexible recipe — you can vary the herbs and substitute any hearty vegetable for the potatoes.

SERVES: 4
TIME: 1 hour

• 1 3 to 4 pound chicken, washed and dried
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• a few sprigs each fresh rosemary, sage and thyme
• coarse salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• about 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 dozen fingerling potatoes (or any small potato), peeled

Preheat the oven to 450ºF (on convection if possible).

Using a pair of sharp kitchen shears, remove and discard the backbone of the chicken (or save it for making stock). With a sharp pairing knife, remove the thigh bones — simply follow the bone and let your knife do the work for you. You can also ask your butcher to do this.

Lay the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting tray and press down with your hands so that it flattens. Squeeze over the lemon, getting the juice on and around the entire chicken, and throw the lemon halves into the tray. Toss in the garlic cloves, being sure to tuck a few underneath the bird along with the fresh herbs. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken and drizzle over enough olive oil to coat — about 3 tablespoons.

Meanwhile bring a saucepan of water to a boil and season with a few pinches of salt. Boil the potatoes for 8 minutes. Drain the potatoes, put them back in the pot with the lid on and shake vigorously to ‘fluff’ their exteriors. Put the potatoes in the tray with the chicken and drizzle with olive oil to coat (about another 3 tablespoons) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover the tray with tinfoil, roast for 20 minutes, remove the tinfoil and baste with the juices that have collected on the bottom. Roast for an additional 20 minutes, uncovered, or until a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers at least 165ºF and the skin is browned.

Beautiful Routine - So You Think You Can Dance

Not much needs to be said, we have all been touched by Breast Cancer, and cancer in general. I thought this dance routine was beautiful, and very moving. I lost my sweet Aunt Bev to breast cancer, and my Dad to lung cancer, but I am far, far from alone. Too many of us have lost loved ones to cancer. Enjoy this touching depiction of a troubling topic.

My CM Virtual Open House

For those who take photos and make albums:

I know your summer is busy, and that’s why I am offering a fun new opportunity for you to see our summer product launch without having to leave your home!

Beginning today I am offering a Virtual Open House that will allow you to see all the new products we are releasing for summer, along with some page ideas, product specials and more!

What is a Virtual Open House? This is a recorded media presentation that you can watch from your PC or Mac, at your convenience 24/7. The presentation is about 25 minutes in length, and can be paused so you can jot down page layout ideas. This audio/visual presentation is best viewed with a high speed internet connection.

How do you participate? At any time during the next 3 days you can click on the following link to watch this presentation.

http://antiochcompany.cachefly.net/video/2009/06/Virtual_Open_House_Canada.wmv. Then when you are finished watching, send me an email and let me know you have seen the presentation.

Get 25 FREE Memory Keeper Club points when you let me know that you have seen the presentation – and Get 50 FREE Memory Keeper Club points when you also place any order! Get your Free exclusive gift sooner!

I am excited about this fun, new way to showcase our new summer products in a way that works with your busy summer schedule!

Remember to reply and let me know when you have watched the presentation for your Free Memory Keeper Points.

Talk to you soon!

Heroism is still Alive

My Dad

It is nearly a year that my Dad passed away, I called him 'Daddy' all my life...I miss him very much. I always think of him with love and memories of his kindness and endearing personal traits and habits - he will come to mind spontaneously often, when something reminds me of him. I remind my self of him some times, and oh my...my brother is looking more and more like our Dad.

I am thankful to Karen Dawley, my step sister, for this photo taken at his gravesite - I will visit the site myself hopefully this Fall - it is at the Fort Rosecrans Cemetary in San Diego, CA. A fitting resting place as my Dad spent much of his life in the area. Oh how I wish I could hug him one more time, and that I could hear him tell me that he loves me, and then I could say...I love you too.

The Flexitarian Table

I thought Sarra might like this book..it gives options to go back and forth between meat and vegetarian dishes...so that you can cook both, or either or...I haven't tried it but Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag(s) (they try out different cookbooks and then recommend them, or not) gave The Flexitarian Table their seal of approval. I might check it out at the library.

Favorite Make Up Items

This blog is all over the place...how do you go from Iranian Activism to Favorite Make Up?

A friend prompted me to think about all my favorites...and why I like them, so I thought I would expand here.

Here are my favorite products, and a bit about why I like them.

Urban Decay Primer Potion - regular or 'Sin'

Benefit FYEye (it's a base)

Mac Prep and Prime Eye

Any of these make sure that your makeup looks fresh all day; they all work wonders!

Next, my top picks for different make up items:

Make Up For Ever - Aqua Eyes eye liner pencils...these stay on perfectly, all day. Don't bother buying any other brand with the exception of Urban Decay 24/7 - they also stay put and give you some color variety from MUFE (though MUFE carrys a huge selection of colors!).

Urban Decay - Liquid Eye Liner. This goes on easy and again, stays put. Great colors. I like Oil Slick, Honey, Smog...basically all of them.

Also in Urban Decay - Cream Shadows in Whipped, and Suburbia - these can also be used as a base or stand alone. They are very pretty, and soft, and apply well.

Mac - where to begin:

• Blush - Sunbasque, Springsheen, Well Dressed, Plum Foolery - really all Mac blushes are wearable by most skin tones.

• Eye shadow - whew, there are too many. If I had to choose 5, Vanilla, Soft Brown, All That Glitters, Cork, Satin Taupe, and Sketch...ok that is 6. Then woodwinked, Naked Lunch, Honesty, Twinks... These are all neutrals. There are myriad shades and collecting them becomes addicting (a warning:-) If you like to collect, purchase the 15 slot palette and buy the pro palette form shadows - $13 ea.

• Paint Pots, in Painterly, Indianwood, Constructivist, Rubanesque, Frescoe Rose - used as a base or as a shadow. Love these.

• Mineralized Blush - Gentle, Warm Soul

• Mineralized Skin Finish Natural - Medium

• Mascara X - Dk Brown and Black

• Dazzleglass lip gloss - Get Rick Quick, Roman Candle.

• Lipsticks - Rose Romance, Gam V, Glam VI, Sophisto

• Studio Sculpt concealer - NW25 for face

Mac can be ordered online, from their website which frequently offers free shipping to Canadians - a bonus. www.maccosmetics.ca. Mac is not that expensive in comparison with other brands...for example MUFE mascara is $28, Mac's is $14. Not much more than the drugstore brands for around $10. Eye shadow palettes for the 15 slot palettes are $13 ea.

Other brands mentioned in this post are available at Sephora stores or on sephora.com

There was a time when I didn't really have the time or the money to wear much make up, but now it's kind of a hobby and I am learning a lot! There are some talented people on the internet, YouTube and various blogs that share tips and techniques. It's kind of fun.

For example, I learned this tip recently...if you get a mascara gob on your makeup...let it dry rather than try to get it off right away guaranteeing a smudge on your eye make up...once it's dry, it comes right off with a q tip...just flakes off with no smudging whatsoever. Simple.

Beautiful Iran

About Iran: Even seasoned journalists who have covered the most atrocious and spectacular events on our planet have been moved to the core when they found themselves in the midst of Iranians singing, dancing and marching to the voting booths, and later protesting what they believed was a fraudulent election, and for which they were brutally beaten, arrested, tortured and in some instances even killed. These journalists reported seeing people courageously rescuing one another, even members of the riot police. And again, it is the images of women that they report having carried home with them.

In a moving column in the New York Times by Roger Cohen, he writes,

“No news aggregator tells of the ravaged city exhaling in the dusk, nor summons the defiant cries that rise into the night. No miracle of technology renders the lip-drying taste of fear. No algorithm captures the hush of dignity, nor evokes the adrenalin rush of courage coalescing, nor traces the fresh raw line of a welt. I confess that, out of Iran, I am bereft. I have been thinking about the responsibility of bearing witness. It can be singular, still. Interconnection is not presence. A chunk of me is back in Tehran, between Enquelab (Revolution) and Azadi (Freedom), where I saw the Iranian people rise in the millions to reclaim their votes and protest the violation of their Constitution… Never again will Ahmadinejad speak of justice without being undone by the Neda Effect — the image of eyes blanking, life abating and blood blotching across the face of Neda Agha-Soltan.”

Tearful Goodbyes

I just said a tearful goodbye to Sarra, Tim and my grandchildren...especially Janey. Neither one of us likes to say goodbye...we know we will see each other again soon...it just leaves a little hole anyway. The house seems empty right now, even though Eli and Jared are here...they don't "patter" around with balloons and animals in tow, and they don't give me very many spontaneous hugs and kisses, though the very occasional one will come my way. I miss all those yummy babies already, actually I started missing them last night, but we made a play date for late August, when the apples on our trees will be ready and we can bake pies and make applesauce together. In the mean time we figured out a way to read books and snuggle together on the computer:-)

New Mom's have probably seen these...

...but this is the first cute little baby seat thingy that I have ever seen...Scarlet needs one of these!

This picture is taken from the following blog: aliedwards.typepad.com.

Fun Times at Grammies

Sarra, you will enjoy these photos:-) The binoculars are an idea from the Fun Jar, and the balloon families came from Auntie Y -they played balloon families all day today. The hot tub is making Charlie's skin dry, but he can't resist, so I've been slathering on the lotion afterwards. It's all been fun. Jane is so funny, she gives really good advice to Charlie all day, and he listens, especially if he starts scratching. They are all so sweet.