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When I was a kid my family never took us to Disneyland or Disney World and I always wanted to go.

I used to love watching the Sunday night feature on TV at my grandparents and it was always a Disney movie that the whole family could enjoy.

We didn’t have a TV at home but we’d catch the shows here and there, and I reveled in it. I wanted to be one of those characters and act and sing and dance, it looked like so much fun!

The funny thing is as I grew up I always thought in the back of my mind that one day I would visit Disney World, and eventually it did happen.

My husband and I went to Orlando, Florida for our Honeymoon and pretty much return every year. We haven’t made it out there this year yet, but hopefully if things work out and we get situated with our jobs and perhaps a move to a new place, we’ll go.

I think what I love about Disney World and the whole brand in general is its focus on happiness and positivity. I love the idea of going on vacation and being immersed in an environment where people are smiling and nice and want to make sure you are having a wonderful stay.

That’s what I call customer service!

Back when I lived in Central Illinois my family and I would come up to Chicago maybe once or twice a year.

Visiting the big city was very intimidating. I would see homeless people all over asking for money and I didn’t know what to do. I had heard of scam artists before, but this wasn’t my city, I had no idea who was real and who was just too lazy to get a job.

Flash forward to the present.

Living in downtown Chicago has been quite an experience. What used to seem like a scary and overwhelming city is quite the opposite!

Now that I know the area like the back of my hand, I can tell you for certain who the scam artists are.

Right outside our building there are the regular 2 or 3 guys that ask for change or try to sell you a free newsletter (if you are a tourist you wouldn’t know any better).

One time I was heading out to work at 4:30 am to do the morning drive on the radio. It was still really dark outside, and the streets were empty. I asked the doorman if he could please turn on the cab light. It’s like a police light but it hangs upside down from the front awning and signals to the taxi driver that someone wants to be picked up.

I waited what seemed like forever and then I see headlights a few blocks away. I’m praying it’s a taxi so I can make it to work on time. All of a sudden two guys pop out of the 7-Eleven that’s attached to the high-rise I live in. They see me waiting, they see the cab that I had just spotted, and then they are in the street waving and trying to flag it down.

One of the guys tries to open the door for me while the other one starts to talk on his cell phone.

The guy who opens the door, “Spare any change?”

I look at him and smile politely, “Sorry I don’t carry cash.”

Which is the honest truth. I rarely have cash on me, not even a penny. I like to travel light and rarely carry a purse (as I write this I realize I don’t even own one anymore).

I’m not sure if these guys were actually homeless, it seemed like they were just trying to make some money.

But let me tell you, if you ever go to Union Station you can be sure to get scammed.

These guys come out of the woodwork trying to open your cab door, or “find you a cab” when the taxis  are right there lined up. And if you ignore them and don’t offer them money, you can be sure to hear them shout profanities. Usually they don’t approach me because I do my best not to look around as if I’m lost or confused. That’s seems to be what tips them off that you’re a newbie and they can pull one over you. I’ve witnessed many a tourist pull out a map and not know what’s going on, that’s when they’ll pounce on you like fresh meat.

One late night as my husband and I were returning on Amtrak after visiting my parents in Central Illinois, we got out to look for a cab. That evening, because of delays, the train arrived really late to Union Station. We got out and walked around looking for a cab but the few there were taken. Then this guy comes out of nowhere (don’t they always?) and approaches my husband.

In Arabic I’m telling my husband, “Don’t talk to him!” Because I sensed he was going to ask for money or something.

My husband asks him, “You have a cab? Where is it?”

The guy is trying to talk fast, “I’m a veteran, see here is my ID,  I’m parked down there.”

Again I repeat in Arabic, “Don’t talk to him!”

Well it’s almost 1am and we’re tired and my husband seems especially so.

I’m about 8 months pregnant and carrying my 2 year old, and my husband has our luggage and our daughter’s carseat as we traipse along a few blocks down following the random guy.

My husband: “Where is your car?”

Random Guy: “It’s just down there.”

My Husband: “Is it a taxi?”

Random Guy: “I’m a veteran, look I’ll show you my ID.”

OK with the ID already!

We get to his “cab” and it’s a white car with tinted windows. There was something creepy about it.

My husband turns to him, “Look I respect what you’ve done for this country, but I’m sorry we can’t get in the car with you.”

These are just a few things that happen, there are MANY more experiences so I’ll write some more later. I don’t want to overwhelm you and I have to save some stuff for future posts right?

When my mother tells this story, she says that she was getting ready to rush my older brother to the ER for something, when I started crying:

“My button, I lost my button.”

She says she had no idea what I was talking about and dropped me off at her friends house so I could stay there while she took care of my brother’s emergency. I think he had hurt himself at the playground (yet again) and had to get stitches. This was back in the day when kids actually played outside.

In the meantime, here I am playing with the neighbor kids (I think I was about 3 or 4 years old at the time) and I sneeze into my hand.

Lo and behold out pops the button!

I was so excited that I ran up to my mom’s friend and held out my hand, “I found my button!”

Not sure what the lady did with it, but that wasn’t the last she would see of my antics.

Another time this same lady was watching me and my siblings when her kids brought me a bottle of liquid Panadol. It was a big bottle probably the size of the liquid Nyquil you’d see today. I remember them telling me to drink it, and of course being the deprived child (we weren’t allowed to have candy), I chugged that thing down.

My mom happened to come by at that moment and I remember walking down the stairs to greet her with the empty bottle and red mustache.

Of course she flipped out and next thing I know she had given me medication that made me vomit continuously.

Moral of the story: don’t deprive your children of candy, they’ll try to find other ways to get that sugary taste!

I keep going back and forth about whether to continue writing a personal blog here, or if I should just leave this as a place for my professional profile.

Maybe I can do both?

In the meantime for those few readers out there who check this regularly, I have a few stories I just wrote for Hijabtrendz that you might find interesting and worthy of a juicy read.

How I Met My Husband

How I Got Engaged

How I Got Married

Living in Chicago has its perks because one often runs into celebrities.

It can be quite a cool experience if you’re like me and actually read celebrity news only to be like “wow these people are real” when you finally meet them in person.

Anyhow, two summers ago after I had my daughter (she was probably two or three months at the time) I was walking around downtown with my husband and mother in-law. We live a few blocks from the main shopping area so it was just another nice summer day of walking and enjoying the sunshine.

I had no expectations of meeting anyone famous and I was used to seeing millions of tourists everywhere so I just did what I always did, busted out the puke green colored sweater poncho my mom gave me.

I think she ordered it and didn’t like the color and initially I was skeptical about it, but it turned out to be the best thing for breastfeeding in public.

So I put it on and was walking down Michigan ave. with baby in tow underneath.

All of a sudden we see Aaron Eckhart standing there talking to some woman, and I’m like “Wait is that the guy we just saw in a movie”?

Of course, I failed to realize I was still nursing the baby beneath this ugly poncho and my mother-in-law who doesn’t speak English was right next to me completely oblivious to why I was going up to some strange man.

Me: “Are you the guy from Thank You for Smoking?”

Aaron Eckhart: “Yes, I am.”

Me: “That was such a good movie, we loved it!”

Aaron Eckhart: “Thank You.”

Me: “So are you enjoying Chicago?”

Aaron Eckhart: “Yes it’s beautiful, we’re here to start filming the new Batman movie.”

Me: “We won’t keep you just wanted to say hi”.

Then he said bye and ran off and caught a cab.

Now, later I realized that this seemingly normal conversation was probably very awkward. He was very polite and nice but I can only imagine what he must have been thinking.

Here is this trio of Muslims one of whom is extremely disheveled, scarf wrinkled and out of place, with a huge puke-green-fringed-poncho. What is she hiding? Is that a small foot poking out? Are those strange noises coming from under there?

I have learned my lesson and try my best to be a little more presentable when I leave the house.

There are just days when I’m so tired and lazy and think who cares if I go out in my pajamas? But those are usually the days I end up running into someone famous.

It’s a catch 22.

Back in the day there was a channel called “The Box” and it used to play music videos all the time.

It was great because my family didn’t get cable and I didn’t feel deprived of MTV. My brothers and I would jiggle that homemade foil antenae at the back of the TV until we could get some reception.

The Box would play artists like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mandy Moore, and Jon B. I can’t remember who else, but those artists stick out in my mind for some reason. Whenever I hear those songs I remember a certain time in my life.

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Music has a way of holding onto memories. There are certain songs that pinpoint a specific memory for me. For example the song “You are not alone” by Michael Jackson takes me back to the beaches of Saudi Arabia and the mountains of Colorado. Those were two specific moments in my life where I was so carefree and happy. (Not that I’m unhappy now, but it reminds me of my teenage years).

With regards to Jon B. his songs remind me of when I first settled in Illinois and started making new friends. I would sit around with the girls and we used to listen to Jon B. and debate what his background was.

“I swear he’s Arab, doesn’t he look like your brother’s friend Amir?”

“No I heard he’s a convert.”

“He has to be Muslim did you see the video where he’s in the desert and there are tents?”

I crack up thinking about it now because we had such intense conversations about someone we didn’t even know. And in those days it never occurred to us to look him up on the internet.

Since I’m writing this I decided I should look him up, and apparently he has a website and is working on a new album.

We’re finally going to go home yippee!

I just booked our tickets on the Megabus for tomorrow and It’s going to be a new adventure.

If we don’t drive we usually take Amtrak, but lately the train situation has become unbearable.

Because the passenger trains in Illinois share the same track as the freight trains, we are often stuck sitting on the tracks while we wait for the freight to go by. A trip that normally take 2.5 hours turns into a 4 hour ordeal. And what’s worse is the kind of folks who are on the train with you make you want to pull your hair out. And in my case I’d have to rip my scarf off first and then pull my hair out.

Last time we took Amtrak someone was watching a DVD without headphones so we all had to hear the violent shoot-em up movie the entire ride. Then there were the 2 kids that were so obnoxious my own daughter couldn’t fall asleep. One was a little girl who was probably about a year old and she was crying so hard she started to almost go into convulsions. I was so stressed out. I mean what do you do? Ask the parent if you can help or ignore it or call child services?

The other kid was a little boy about the same age as the screaming girl and he was standing on his seat about to tumble over the side while his mom sat there texting and then later I noticed she decided to go to sleep. This kid was whimpering the entire ride and trying to get his mom to notice him.  It was so depressing to see.

I vowed I would never ride Amtrak again.

So, here we are now, about to embark on a new form of transportation that has only received glowing reviews from friends. It’s cheaper than Amtrak and it gets to where it’s going without delays. I hope it lives up to its hype of  “air conditioned, clean, free wi-fi, free snacks and a bathroom on board.”

My only fear is that if it’s this good, it will soon enough be taken over by the train folks!

I quit my job this past January as a morning radio news anchor because the hours were getting to me. I would wake up at 4am and run off to catch a cab to work. Then I’d hustle back home by 9am so my husband could get to work.

In the beginning it was the perfect arrangement. I’d never have to put my daughter in day care. But as time went on it took its toll on me. I felt too tired to even take care of my daughter during the day. And if she ever woke up in the middle of the night, due to teething or other issues, I’d be lucky to get 3 hours of sleep.

The money I wasted on cab rides was quite annoying as well, at least 5-7 bucks one way.  But it was too dark outside to walk,  and the area near my work was a little on the iffy side. ( I had encounters with crazy drunks while trying to get out of the cab on some days).

It took me so long to muster up the courage to quit. I kept thinking that if I left this job I would have no identity left. People would automatically assume I was just another housewife or mom and write me off.

The reason I felt like that is because as soon as people knew I was pregnant it was “Are you going to quit?”, “If you stay home too long your brain will turn to mush”, “If you quit your job in news you’ll never get back in because they want people who are up to date on everything”.

So of course I felt like a complete failure, but I knew I had to do it. I had to get myself back on track and able to function during the day.

I had to sacrifice some of my dreams in order to fulfill the dreams of a little human being who stole my heart the moment she was born.

Thank you for visiting mariamsobh.com

If you were ever wondering who she is, or have come across her name during a Google search, this is the place to be.

You’ll finally know the true story of her life and what she’s all about.

This site includes regular updates on what she’s up to as well as stories of her past and where she’s been.

Feel free to stay awhile, this is going to be an interesting journey.