heylooo

omggg i have been mia for soo long i didnt even realize it!! so many things happened
1) I got a Toshiba Satellite A305-S6872 Laptop. My first laptop ever. It was $652 (ny tax included). I got it at Best Buy and I think it was a pretty good deal. So yeah its fat and a little bulky, but so am I and I have managed to get through life quite okay lol.
2) I am stuck with a fluish sort of cold. I have no sense of smell. Everything is clogged, blocked, closed, etc. Go Theraflu warming syrup and Theraflu Apple Cinnamon drink.
3) It snoweddd like a mother, then it all melted and got semi-sunny, and then it snowed again last night.
4) I am contemplating proactiv because moi skin has been just cwazayy.
5) Happity New Year to all! Be safe :)

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Well not just yet but say around Jan 25 or 27 I will be on a plane to Oman. Yes folks, I am ending the job search and heading home. I have mixed feelings but mostly I am happy that I will get to be home with my parents and don't have to miserable and lonely anymore.

Lollygagging

So...I am writing from my extreeeemly sloowww computer. My friend kawsar let me borrow his really old computer (because thats the only spare he has and I really, really appreciate him bringing it over for me!). So yeah, I can check my email, check facebook but not see albums and stuff, I can't have too many tabs open in mozilla and yeah thats about it. So my 'web' life has become very limited. You know, I love reading people's blogs, watching videos, browsing facebook, listening to songs and checking my email all at the same time and this 98 compaq presario just won't allow all that multi-tasking. Anyways, so I have been feeling very down-in-the-dumps lately. Looks like I will have to leave after all. Nothing has been looking up. Nothing (job wise). What grinds my gears even more is that my student status is one of the biggest hinderances to me getting a job. It just makes me so sad everytime I think about it. I mean of course the citizens of america have the right to employment before me so anyways don't want to talk about this depressing stuff anymore. On to really smart interesting stuff: I sat on a pot of boiling water on Friday. Real smart eh? I was getting ready (read: superfast) for a holiday party and so I went on to make some tea and I usually boil the water in a small saucepan. Anyhoo, I brought the saucepan in my room (so it would cool faster and I could drink it sooner and apply my lipstick sooner) and put it on my chair (because I have such limited table-top space) and within 20 seconds I forgot about it and attempted to sit on the chair while flat-ironing my hair. It spilled all over my butt and burned soo bad. I have marks :( Anyways, I guess worse things could have happened. The holiday party I went to was this company's called CTG. A recent acquaintance has been trying to help me join this company and he thought going to their company holiday party would help me foster better connections. Ahhh I love finger foods and this party was a really elegant one and the food was topnotch. From turkey sandwiches with cranberry mayonaise to crab cakes to portabello mushroom sandwiches (which btw I am allergic to so sucks)to all kinds of decadent desserts (my fave is pecan pie). I ate a lot but didn't really get to meet too many people. I met this one recruiting manager and she seemed to like me and most of the other people were busy. I tried to keep a straight face with a heavily burnt *ahem*. Its muuuch better now. I have been slathering everything from vaseline to coconut oil there. Geez louis, I am such a klutz sometimes. Okay, so what else? It sucks that I can't see videos, go to hulu.com and catch up on my heroes lol. I did something crafty these past few days like paint christmas ornaments. I even put glitter on it. Yeaaah...Well,hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. No matter what, try to be happy because before anything comes family. As long as you're with your family (or at least on good terms with them) and everyone's happy and healthy, there's no reason for a frown. So anyways, I am gonna go now have some ice-cream or like do something interesting.

No computer so no updates

kapish

Meaty

Here Atanu :), a rather shabby picture of the quasi-meatloaf I made today! It didn't turn out too bad. I threw all the grease that kinda pooled up on top.
In other news,
Lately, I haven't had the 2 most important things in life:
1) Steady, continuous internet.
2) Clear, painful-pimples-free skin.

So my skin kinda went bonkers. Mainly my forehead and chin, my cheeks are safe so far. These pimples popping up are red and painful. I don't know if its because I am using the wrong acne medication or what. I just hope it goes away soon. I have been staying at home mostly, not going anywhere, because even with the thickest concealer (viz. MAC Studio Finish Concealer) you can still see them and you know when you reach that point when people are talking to your pimples and not you. Yeah---I am there. Anyways, I try not to be whinny about these things but hey I've been dealing with the skin issues since this past summer and also, 25 is not an age to deal with pimples...16 is! What else is new? I brought a truckload of groceries today. Groceries make me happy. I bought whole wheat flour tortillas, 4-cheese mix, pecans (to make pralines to add to my ice-cream), fabric softner sheets (because theres enormous static everywhere in my apartment), and of course cotton balls. I can't live without cotton balls. Just saw the Victoria's Secret Fashion show and now am nauseated at my own body. Man these girls are made of something else. Their bodies remind me of a tan surf boards. My favorite is Miranda Kerr. Her face is like an angel and those dimples are priceless. Okay, I am gonna go lay down.

Thanksgiving and other stories...

Hello one and all! Happy Belated Thanksgiving!I am sure all those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving are stuffed upto their necks with amazing food! I had two dinners yesterday. The first one was at Julie's aunt's place in south buffalo (tier of south buffalo actually) where it was sooo snowed in compared to erie county (where I live). The drive was wonderful. It was as if we were entering winter wonderland. As we drove further into holland, the name of the town, everything started looking so quaint and small town like. It was beautiful. We arrived 40+ minutes later to a house full of Julie's wonderful relatives including her mom and two brothers and many more. The dinner was splendid. From beautiful carved turkey to home-grown mashed potatoes and home-grown acorn squash. It was delicious and we had a great dinner-table-discussion about several things. The dessert was amazing as well especially the candy apple pie, the one I can't absolutely get over. I also found a link with a similar recipe. Dobble whammy yummy! Seriously! The drive was beautiful as well...Julie showed me more of East Aurora (where the famous fisher price headquarters is). What a quaint little town. Beautiful with the snow lacing everything kind of like a white wedding dress adorned with string pearls. We hoped to grab some coffee somewhere together but everything was closed (duh its thanksgiving). Julie dropped me home and I heated up the mashed potatoes I made to take to Gowri's casa for dinner no. deux.

Peoples, not to sound narcissistic, I made some mean mashed potatoes. I added meanies like generous helpings of butter and heavy cream along with salt, pepper, garlic powder. Yummylicious! Gowri's brother made a beautiful turkey breast and auntie made some beautiful sides such as cut beans, glazed carrots, etc. After devouring yet another meal, I got the itis (itis means being full). We then lazed about on the couch and watched family guy clips and whatnot. Fun evening overall! My day was cast with a shadow of sadness due to the unrest in Mumbai. Oh and another sad story today, a wal-mart employee got killed today in stampede at a wal-mart store due to the overeager crowd for the black friday sale. Just amazingly annoyingly devastating. I never did the Black Friday thing and I don't think I ever will. And the freaking media needs to stop driving people nuts with huuge doorbuster sales at so and so place. Obviously theres a huge number of ppl who wait for this one day to do one years (or more) worth of shopping. Ugh. I don't even want to talk about this anymore. Just hope that this world stops using bombs and guns soon and also becomes less materialistic. Nuff said, time for the 40 winks. Night.

Coupons shmoupons

So for all my lovely readers in the US, here some coupons for the holiday season (some actually expire soon so check them out soon!)I have some for my lovely out of US readers as well, but not that many :( sorry, but still love you all just as much :-D

$5 off any purchase at American Eagle Outfitters
$10 off $25 purchase at JCPenneys
25% off at Victoria's Secret on any single purchase (its in my email and I can't save it as an image so if you want it, let me know, I will forward it to you :)
10% off purchase on eBay, use code CHOLIDAYNOV2008 at checkout (expires 11/30)
15% off purchase on eBay, use code CHOLIDAYSAVE15P at checkout (this one I am not too sure about but try it out)

For more coupons, try www.retailmenot.com or www.dealio.com

Ring ting tingling..

Things I love to do:
~Browse at the seasonal holiday decorations in a mega-mart. Absolute therapy! Some of these christmas ornaments (in Walmart that I saw today) are just too delicious looking! and they're only $2 a pop. Nice present idea eh.
~ Looking forward to a fridge full of good food after waking up in the morning. Dork.
~ Watching snow fall from my window.
~ Staying up till wee hours of the night to make sure I catch the episode of family guy on adult swim (2:30am to be precise, hey I love my family guy!)
~ Putting makeup on and trying out different techniques and methods. Today I tried something my sweeties nora and tilova donned during mahrin's wedding, wearing teal liner in the waterline (or outside the waterline). I don't have teal eyeliner at the mo so I just went with teal eyeshadow. It looks pretty neat.
~ Doing exercises with free weights in front of the tv watching 70s show.
~ Using dishwasher soap for cleaning kitchen counters. and other stuff. its a miracle liquid.
~ Making lists like these. :)

Helloo

Okay, so I was just reading my couple previous posts and they have been so boring cos I kinda stopped writing in detail. I mean what is going on? Definitely not writer's block...maybe lazy-person-who'd-rather-see-whats-new-on-facebook block! Anyways, so what's been up man? Its snowing outsidee!!! I went on-campus to the post office to mail out a few thank you and happy holidays cards! Argh it was so cold. Still is. My ears probably fell off. I dunno. The whole transition from summer to fall then fall to winter can sometimes be a little tumultuous but nonetheless is a part of life. So I've not been working out simply because I don't feel like it. Mahrin's wedding was a big motivating factor and although I didn't work out as much as I would have liked to prior to that, I did do some. So my hair is so short (for me). I can't put it up with a claw clip, I can't braid it, argh! I guess I am going to have to wait for it to grow. I was watching food network today and all the gazillion recipes of oven roasted turkey, stuffing, candied yams, green beans (i like to call them haricot verts) and more was making my mouth water! I love thanksgiving food but it also induces thanksgiving coma (the drowsy, sluggish, sleepy feeling you get after consuming copious amounts of wholesome food). I miss mommy, daddy and sissy a lot! I want to go home. It's time.

So whats new

Sooo I am back in b-to-the-lo-hello (buffalo) as you can guess. The trip back was fun with rinmeister's parents. Its been raining and cold here...I am enjoying it(*evil grin*). Mkay, so lets see whats been happening. Nothing much. Getting very bogged down with the job situation. I mean its been a while now and I am losing patience. The only thing that makes me happy these days is food. Lots of it. Btw, I bought back so much food with me from new york. All fo mee!!! yay! fridge looks so beautiful now with all the kababs, sweets, shrimps, etc. etc.! Um what else? I am so out of it. I need to eat something.

mahrin and tawheeds wedding

Oh my god I had the most wonderful weekend ever! Attended Mahrin's gaye holud (pre-wedding celebration) and her wedding! Everything was just perfect. It was well-planned, well-executed just well overall! I never attended a wedding here in the united states before this one. Thank you so much Mahrin for inviting me and making me a part of this joyous occassion. Okay, I am trying not to start another toast or speech here lol. Mahrin looked absolutely gorgeous---the makeup was perfect, the hair was perfect, the dress was perfect and I can just go on. Us girls were in tears when she entered the hall underneath a red veil being held by the cute bridesmaids. So beautiful! I am posting a picture of the gorgeous couple here for you all to see. This girl is a gem and not to mention the wonderful man she is married to. Tawheed is such a nice guy and has the cutest smile ever! He looked spiffy in his white suit and traditional turban. *sigh* May god bless the two lovebirds!

OBAMA!

Happy Obama everyone! I am in nyc, came here yesterday with Mahrin and her family. Mahrin's wedding is this weekend hence my trip to nyc. I am so excited...so many things are happening, an excellent man has been elected president (yes, I too like historians am worrying in bits whether he will be able to live up to the ginormous expectations but hey let's enjoy the victory and worry a day later) and Mahrin's getting married this weekend. Fun fun fun...I got a haircut today at a russian barber shop for 12 measly dollars. yeah. he cut my hair well...it felt like childhood times, when daddy would take me and sis to barber shops and we'd get a quick cut boy style. lol. more later.

I was tagged!

Hi Everyone,

I was recently tagged by Le Midget to share 6 random facts. So here goes!Here are the Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website

Six random facts about me:

1. I love salted butter. I have to have butter in my fridge at all times or I get paranoid. I dab some on hand-rolled bread (roti), I add some to my dal (lentil soup) and the list goes on. Every time I go to Denny's or IHOP I always ask for extra butter on the side. Clearly, I am not concerned about the huge bulges forming on various parts of my body. Final point: I love butter!

2. Night-time weirdnesses: I grit/grind my teeth at night a lotttt (probably pent-up stress). The nice orthodontist in Oman gave me a night-guard to wear while sleeping. It helps. Another, I wake up at least twice to pee in the middle of the night.

3. I am terrified of loud noises. Could be a thud, a burst, crackle or anything. From fireworks to gun-shot sounds, I am absolutely horrified of all kinds of loud disturbing sounds. Hence my hands are always shoved up in my ears in the event of a loud sound (even when I go to sleep I shove a bit of my blanket in my ears to block any sound).

4. I like walking around aimlessly in grocery stores and I'd rather do that than go out dancing. I go from aisle to aisle peering at the latest deals and steals. I particularly enjoy the bulk nuts/candy section...nice to try stuff out while I am there :-D

5. I have never had a laptop. Ever.

6. My absolute favorite food is tandoori chicken (besides many more). Particularly, the one that is sold at a food vendor 5 minutes drive from my house in Oman. They make the chicken just right on the grill with optimum char and they provide a delicious tart yogurt dressing on the side. Right next to that food stall is another stall that makes stuffed bread and I love their chicken stuffed and cheese stuffed breads. They make them hand-fluffed inside a clay oven. You could wolf an entire meal for about 5 dollars and be stuffed up to your neck.

And now I tag:
Le Midget
Nessasary Makeup
Makeup By RenRen
A Day in the life of Jinah Chae
Ask a Makeup Guru
The Indian Make-up Diva

contacts or not to contacts (colored might i add)...

So I think I've mentioned before that I used to have brown contacts before (like in 2005). I got the non-prescription disposable ones. I wore them for a while and then obviously I had to throw them. Recently I got the urge again to get them. I like how they bring focus to your eyes and of course draws much more attention to them. Anyways, so I was at Sephora on Friday before Brad's halloween party and I notice a friend who is a makeup artist in sephora (I promise the contacts part will tie in soon). She was like ' I can do makeup for you if you want'. She did my makeup and she did an awesome job. I just came home and put on some fake lashes. So while she was doing my makeup she goes like :'You know I like you because you're one of those real brown girls who doesnt do any of that bright red highlights and contacts shi*.' I was dumbstruck...how did she know? lol. She probably said it just as a passing comment. Obviously after having heard that from her no way can I get contacts. I mean she called me 'real'. Thats something that I want to live up to. So...no contacts :(. But I guess I have to embrace what I have (blech I was so excited about getting contacts. So guysss its so greyy and horrible outside...yuck! I made some pineapple cake with cranberries and walnuts. I also added cream cheese..Yummy. Okay, I think I should probably go eat some more lol.

updates

So, the weather's been a brat. It's been changing like a mad man but mostly its getting cold and as sinister-ish as it may sound, I am liking it :-D. Maybe I've been in Buffalo for just that long that now I am used to it. Anyways, so I have been going to the gym and doing a lot of free weights followed by cardio because this one friend I know (who has personal trainer certification) said that doing weights before cardio is much more effective in burning fat. I am happy and all with my workout plan however, I have not lost any weight per se, I have actually gained weight. The only thing I can hope and pray is that it is muscle weight. I don't know man, I work out then I get home and gorge on a big plate of rice, curry and what nots while piercing my eyes into either tbs or food network. I mean, I give up...I will never ever be pin skinny or needle thin or whatever jargon they use. I will always just be a little bigger. Day by day this world is losing some if not all appreciation for flab a.k.a meat. Everyone wants to be skinny skinny skinny with voluminous hair, voluminous lips, voluminous *ahems* and everything else should just be juiceless and emaciated. Most of the people that matter to me and are close to me never complained about me being a chubster. I really am doing this for myself...Mahrin's wedding on the horizon is also a big, big factor but I am trying to make this a regular thing. *Mahrin I am so excited to catch up with you!* I definitely sleep better at night after a day of working out. Ew I've written so much about workout. So tomorrow is Brad's Halloween party and I won't really costumize myself...um just got like a $3 kiddies princess set which has a tiara, wand, ring (that i broke), earrings (that don't stay). So, yeah, I'm just gonna don that. Mkay. So peoples, my skin is being bad again...I am so sick of this. I don't care anymore...it is what it is. Job status: Zero. I am probably really brave to put that on here so openly. I mean, for the last few weeks haven't heard from anywhere. I have started applying to other countries now mainly united arab emirates. I say that I am being brave because I have seen people who recently got laid off (from fortune 500 companies) and one person went like 'I just didn't want to do the big city thing anymore so I resigned'. Yeah okay...you worked for a year in a company on wall-street and you quit beacuse of what? pshaw. okay, sorry, i shouldn't be so mean and believe what they say but it really is hard to when the economy is in a coma and ppl are trying so hard to keep up.

funtimes

I had a wonderful weekend (beginning Thursday night). I just did a whole bunch of fun things from meeting up with girlies to hanging out at the mall to watching a movie. Yeah. My life is so drab that stuff that might seem mundane to others is delightfully fun to me. The movie I saw was 'Body of lies'. I really, really, really liked the movie minus the overpowering title. I just felt that the title wasn't as befitting. I won't start a movie review here but yeah, I liked it a lot. I am a little lazy to write today but here's a picture of my delicious caesar salad that I had in fuddruckers on Friday! Good times!

*Skin Alert* and then some

So guys, I am so so so sooo grateful to God that my skin has started to clear up considerably (compared to a month ago). I am so happy---although my forehead is still a little grainy. I just think my skin likes fall and winter season much more than the summer. I just hope nothing else pops up. I am okay with monthly singular zits but not a patch full of little ones. Anyways, so I have been diligent about going to the gym but not so diligent about eating healthy. I mean I ate burger king and fries for dinner :p. So as I was saying, Mahrin's wedding is less than a month away and I just know that it will be a fabulous wedding and lots of fabulous people are going to be there and I want to try to look...well fabulous! I always need some kind of motivating factor like that to give me the drive to workout. So Mahrin, you are doing me a huge favor! Brad's halloween shindig is also the weekend after next. I don't know what I am going to be...I am probably going to do a ganguro look that I saw this beauty blogger, Le Midget do and it looked awesome! Job status is still sucky--I am considering going back home (to Oman) early January. I had a very disturbing dream last night and I just realized 'why am I here ridiculously far faraway from my parents and sister?'. What am I achieving out of this? The slim possibility of finding a job? *sigh* I have to be home with my mom and be able to give her a hug anytime I want.

My story...

*Took the pic while walking to the gym today...it was a beautiful day and I had to get a capture of a perfect autumn day!*

So whats my story? I mean yes this blog is all my story but then again is it really 'my' story. LOL. I'm just messing with your heads! I just wanted this post to be about somethings that a lot of you might not know about me. I have only listed three facts as I have gone to great lengths to explain each of them. Hopefully I will list more facts later that will help you all understand my story.

1)I have ridiculously low self-esteem and I (most of the time) do a ridiculously good job at hiding it. Explanation: Ever since I was a little girl, I always felt unpretty. Always. As I grew up, I always kept an eye out on how to beautify oneself. I am pretty darn sure that this fact has raised over a dozen eyebrows...Thank you so much to all those of you who consider me beautiful. I will be ever grateful to you. Trust me though, makeup and other shennanigans helps a lot! I am not not not not naturally aesthetically appealing! But the fact remains, when I look in the mirror---I see an insecure, unsure and confused person trying to make it through every day. I need lots of reassurance! I am trying to change that and hopefully I one day I will!

2)I cannot, cannot, CANNOT stand dirty, staunchy, musty, laundry. I wash clothes all the time (even at 2am!), be it three t-shirts, one hoodie or even two *ahems*. I love it when all the clothes and linens around me are smelling fresh and fragrant of some fruity or floral laundry detergent. To press your nose against a cold, freshly laundered pillow case (in a pillow)---heaven!

3)I love good bread with good butter or dipping oil. I am an aficionado of all things carbohydrates and as much damage as it has caused to my gluteus maximus, I still continue to gorge on fluffy, moist and luscious loaves of bread with sweet cream butter or some flavored oil. I am particularly in love with this one type of bread at the moment that this local grocer makes, its called Cheese Bread and its baked with tons and tons of cheddar cheese. I usually eat it with some sun-dried tomatoes pesto and slices of turkey breast on it. It's amazing!

::My new dish sponge::::

So excited to try this.

Pure Luxe Pigment Samples

*Make-up Post*
All those of you who love MAC pigments but don't have the nerve or budget to shell out $20 a pop, Pureluxeminerals is the best place for you. You can order samples for $1 and you get enough for a lifetime!!! If you're in the U.S, shipping is only like $3.50 (for up to $10 worth of products). Check out this video on youtube to figure out what colors look like: Pure luxe sample swatches. I haven't bought any yet but do plan on getting some soon!

In other news, nothing much has happened. I hung out with Brad for a bit today and he is the most awesomest person ever! There should be more people like Brad! Also got to see Vinny for a bit since they both were meeting up for some game-buying related stuff. It was like a mini-informatics gathering in front of the center for the arts. I came home, watched American History X (lovee Edward Norton). What a beautiful movie! Loved it. Well, beautiful might not be most appropriate to articulate it but it really was a good watch!

Career fair..

And there I was, standing in a huge, blue auditorium, among five thousand boys and girls where and odd combination of professional attire and bulky bookbags prevailed. The list of employers were semi-impressive. I has to go through the list of employers to see the ones that are accepting students with OPT eligibility and there were only 15 or so out of 79.(previously)You know I was having one of those days, when you're running late, printing out resumes, scooping out dirt from under your nails all at once. yeah! I didn't have a snazzy suit to wear (read:deadly broke). I wore a black button down shirt and grey trousers instead and ironed my hair pin straight because thats how I like it best although the process i abhor. I liked Bloomberg, Valucentric, Cannon Design and Synacor in particular because they had positions specific to my major. The guy at Bloomberg was particularly nice and I got this nice bag with lots of goodies in it from a t-shirt (hello gym clothes) to a memo pad to a rubik's cube. I saw people treating the goodies laid out by the various employers like dishes at a buffet bar. They grabbed everything they could and more no matter whether they had talked to that employer or not. I somehow can't/couldn't do that. And seriously, how many mouse pads, magnets, pens do I need? After 2 hours (which flew by miraculously by the way and which I didn't feel because I wore flats! yes flats! nice black shiny flats though--- because its not like someones giving me a job!!!), I went back to the women's locker room where I'd stashed my workout clothes. I changed and stepped out for a bit to get some fresh air and also use my phone (tmobile sucks and doesn't work ANYWHERE!). I got hungry and ate a boiled egg and a turkey sausage that I brought from home but then I got more hungry (read: fatass). I went to Starbucks and saw that they had this new menu where they listed supposedly healthy stuff---I couldn't resist the multigrain roll with almond maple butter. mmmm it tasted just like it sounds...delicious! After eating that I went to the gym and biked for a little...didn't feel like doing much. I'm sleeppyyyyyy....mmm...oh I made flan by the way! recipe in another post...if ur on my facebook, i put on my status so there :-D

I don't know what to say...

So we are all aware of the recent/current showdown on wall street--as a result of which many people and their lives have gone into a sudden financial shock. I just read this story about a 45 year old man in L.A. who shot his children, wife, mother-in-law and himself because of financial woes. The man had a master’s of business administration in finance and had worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but he had been unemployed for several months (New York Times). I am so disheartened to have read this. Unimaginably devastating. I am praying day and night that all these problems go away soon and everyones lives that has been affected by this crisis be restored to normalcy. On a different note, I went to the gym today for a bit. Don't have any energy but I just go because I get to sit on a bike and watch E!. Whats up with b.o that smells like puke? Something to think about...(unless its like a real disease).

time to eat something. yes its 2am

Eid Dinner 2...

This time the dinner was at Mohammed's place. This guy single-handedly made an array of dishes for so many people. For main course he made biryani, kababs, tandoori chicken, yogurt salad and for dessert he made creme caramel and to top it all he also made some chai with zesty spices such as cardamom and fennel. Wow. After devouring that delicious dinner, Kanta apu put henna on the top of my hands ( i dont like putting it on my palms because it becomes a task while washing face, making food, etc.)I am not a big aficionado of henna (because of the herby astringent like smell). I let her put it on me anyways after seeing the beautiful design she drew on zinnia's hand. As you can see from the picture, she really did and amazing job! I really enjoyed this Eid. It was a fun night. It relieved me of my sadness and depression that I was undergoing due to not being able to celebrate eid with my family back in Oman. So there is this tech career fair on Tuesday and I am thinking of going to it. I need to go and buy a suit or nice button down shirt. All my stuff looks kind of run down. I overwash all my clothes and so they start looking really tattered within months of buying. Oh so my cousin, Shabab, (mom's sister's son) is getting married early november. I wish I could be there. Gosh sometimes, I just regret being here, I should be back home with family and relatives. I mean I love my friends here and my life here in general but my heart does lie somewhere else most of the time. I didn't grow up here and this isn't my home. Just a temporary sort of camping spot (weird analogy). The untimely deaths of my uncle and aunt keep running through my mind and I am left stark sleepless at night. I wouldn't be able to sanely live with myself if (god forbid) I have to hear any more news like that while I am still here thousands of miles away. I am sorry that I took a sharp turn from eid dinner to deaths but yeah I just thought of writing about it. Hope to make it to the gym today for some biking. I just realized that my clothes are getting tighter...

*shoutout*

Hey Kawsar, I know that you frequent my blog sometimes...just wanted to give you a shoutout.
Thank you for always dropping me here and there and everywhere.
Thank your for all the great cookouts and everything for many years.
Thank you for always being so so nice:)
P.S.: I didn't have any clearer picture of you :p
so every once in a while guys, I will make a shoutout to someone special...who knows, it might just be YOU next:-D

Eid dinner...

Its starting to get cooler now (it is 44F now and feels like 41F)-- so thats kind of cold for fall. Anyways, I went to the gym today for some low-key workout (ever since my backache, I haven't been able to run or go on the elliptical). I did that for a bit and came home to get ready for the eid dinner at ifti bhai's house. I had an awesome time. Ifti bhai's wife just came a few days ago and she prepared a delicious spread for a bunch of us. She is this beautiful and serene woman who has the prettiest smile ever! She made khichuri (rice with lentils), chicken curry, egg curry, etc. and boy she made lots of it! Enough to feed a few armies! I ate so much and as you can tell from the pic, I wore a salwar kameez after so long! It felt good :) We chit chatted about so much stuff. I miss hanging out with bangladeshis...theres just a handful of us here and with conflicting schedules we rarely get to hang out like this. Just got back not too long ago...going to go to sleep soon *yawn* after finishing my relaxation tea (which is a blend of peppermint, licorice, chammomile and some other jazz). I really like it.
*Runs to kitchen to pour tea*

Jobs: Worst in 5 years

How I spent eid...

Eid Mubarak everyone! Yay! Smiles! Okay, so my day went by like any other day mainly because it was a weekday and no one really did anything today. This weekend hopefully there might be some eid celebrations. I went for a walk, but before that I whipped up this amazing salad and I have to, have to share with y'all:

Wheatberry Cranberry Salad (adapted from ellie kreuger's recipe)

2 cups cooked wheatberries
1 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 chopped cucumber (ellie kreuger used celery)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Mix, chill, eat.
Yeah its health food it is so so good.

.

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When things go bad...

Arabian style biryani

So today, I decided to make some biryani but not your traditional, run-of-the-mill biryani (well, mainly because I can't lol). I had some cut up pieces of chicken breast from before so I marinated them in this arabic spice I had sitting in my cabinet for a while now. I opened it for the first time today and turned out, it is zatar. For those of you who don't know what zatar is, it is a wonderfully aromatic blend of spices using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, salt, etc. I have had zatar bread plenty of times in Oman. They make this fluffy breads in clay ovens with the zatar spice copiously sprinkled on it and sometimes they even put cheese on it. It is absolutely delicious. However, the flavor of zatar is one that can be appreciated through acquired taste. So anyways, I dunked the chicken pieces in the zatar spice, besides garlic, lemon juice and other stuff. I then boiled some rice, folded everything in with generous knobs of butter here and there and heating the whole dish through in a heavy pot. It tasted better than it looked. I am watching the 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' right now on E! and as much as it is weird and strangely scary, I am still drawn to this movie. I just finished reading a thorough synopsis of the movie on Wikipedia because my puny little brain can't understand such a twisted movie. Kate Winslet did a fine job with the american accent I must say. Okay, enough blab for today...gonna go get some back rest, have this mother of a backache. Later gator.

College students...

Yes I used to be a college student not too long ago and this post is dedicated to those numerous individuals who are still in college. Um so yeah, when I was an undergrad, I was sort of self-absorbed and kind of always immersed in my own world. I would just go about my day and think about 'my' life and 'my' world. One day however, my darling sister Naima, told me that 'hey ungrateful piece of ****, you never say thank you to the bus drivers while getting off the bus'. At first I was like 'what is she on?' but then I realized that I kind of didn't do that. Well that was some 4 odd years ago. I have changed immensely ever since however the new college kids haven't. I don't really have to go to school anymore now but I do take the shuttle to go to the gym and I see all these completely self-absorbed people entering the bus, phone under their ears, talking louder than you could imagine. Yesterday this girl was talking so loud, thank god I didn't have a bat. They don't say hi or thank you to the drivers (gosh, y'all must be thinking I'm running some kind of custodial appreciation day here lol). Then there are those who cannot wait for people to get off the bus first and just jump on it (ipod or phone in ears). Okay besides the bus etiquette violating crew, there are the kids who block doorways and entrances and expect you to squeeze through this sliver of a space that's barely enough for a squirrel--and this is after you've said 'excuse me' at least 3 times. Those are just a few instances of how some of us (former and current college students) become too self-centered to notice anything else. Will it change? Probably not anytime soon. I am glad my sister taught me that it's not always about you.

EDIT: This might be a personality/cultural problem and not so a 'college student' problem.

Top 15 fall looks

So, I know I am a little useless at times and this is a useless post but I entered this contest for a fall (the season) look at yummiebitez's blog. The picture was actually taken after I came back from dinner (iftar) at my friends house so my makeup wasn't as crisp as when I had left the house and kind of wore off by 12 midnight! But hey, she chose me among her top 15! Yay! So all my lovely readers, please vote for me on that post !(all you have to do is comment on the post). If you like someone elses look, vote for that person :-D. I hope its me though :-D/ Here is the link to the post.

P.S. Please don't enlarge this pic...you can see the hideous skin condition I have. All I have been using ever since my nasty skin situation is mineral makeup which provides very bad coverage but is supposed to be better skin-wise than my MAC studio fix.

Handy dandy tips

1. Avoid tears while cutting onions, store them in the fridge.
2. Freshen up your dishwashing sponge by microwaving it wet for 30 seconds. (it has to be wet or it will explode :-O)
3. Dab undiluted tea tree oil on pimples or acne marks to lighten them.
4. Take four/six uncoated aspirin tablets, add a drop of water and some honey. Make a paste and apply to face. Best unorthodox peel ever (unless you are allergic to salicylic acid).
5. Soak cut up chicken pieces in a mixture of water, vinegar and salt to rid them of that 'bony and bloody' smell.
6. Mix visine or any eyedrops with loose eyeshadow/pigment to give them more vibrancy.
7. Add a slice of cucumber and a wedge of lime/lemon to add oomph to your drinking water.
8. A quick mani/pedi is soaking hands and feet in a solution of water and soda bicarbonate (baking soda).
9. Kandoo Baby wipes make great make-up removing clothes and are cheaper too.
10. Add a stick of cinnamon to your cup of tea to spice it up.

More in another post...
(like the house i drew in paint ? lol)

Low blow...

Yes this is a ranting post so if you're feeling too sunny or just plain don't like rants, you can leave. Ugh, you know in life you need at least one of the following things to keep you happy, healthy and glowing and (in no particular order) they are:
-A secure, well-paying job
-A secure, committed relationship
-A good relationship with ones family
If all of those are in tow, one must be completely pimple-free, radiant and just too happy for words. But we all know that all of those are sometimes too impossible to achieve or sometimes just too short-lived. For the past couple of months I have been losing a lot of my already thinning hair, I have been having a blast of pimples on my forehead, chin, etc. and I have been binge-eating everything in sight. Clearly, I am quite depressed. On top of some of the three things I just mentioned, being far away from home doesn't help either. I try to keep my chin up and go about my day everyday. I keep myself thoroughly distracted with a number of things from the latest makeup trends to the latest thai recipes. I am trying to go to the gym regularly as I have gained so much weight that another 5 pounds and I would qualify as borderline-obese, kid i not (I am NOT one of those girls whose a 120 pounds and complaining). Anyways, I don't think it would be too wise to explicitly state all the details of what exactly makes my life so ungreat here. Famously said, it takes one to know one. Prior to typing this, I glanced at the mirror at the hideous blue-black pimples that have taken over my otherwise semi-clear forehead. I think about all those people who are lawyers, doctors, etc. who have confirmed jobs awaiting them a year before their graduation and think that they probably wake up most days with this stride of confidence. The other day I met an old cohort in the women's locker room and she was just saying how abundant jobs are lined up for occupational therapists (her major) and they don't face 'such' problems of not finding jobs. I kind of froze for a second because that was just plain obnoxious and no I don't care whether she didn't realize what she was saying. I mean she said it after I explained about my not-being-able-to-find-a-job-due-to-f1-status thingamajig. I mean I feel good that some very good companies have contacted me and conducted phone interviews with me and that the only reason that stops them is (once again), me being a f1 visa. Anyways, moving on to the secure and committed relationship part--it's supposed to help you look beautiful and flood you with copious amounts of endorphins. Don't have that either. Lastly and probably the most important, a good understanding and relationship with your family. I would like to believe that I have a good relationship with my sister and parents. That's the only thing that is holding me together in this rough time. And yes, I do take the time out of everyday to thank god that I have a roof to sleep under, food to eat and hands and legs to function with. I am not for a second ungrateful...maybe just upset at the situations and circumstances of life. End of rant.

Pink book...

...a dear friend sent me this beautiful journaly/diary today. I will keep it as a personal diary to write things down. Thank you so much! It will be good handwriting practice too. Can't wait!
p.s. yes, thats my humungous thigh the book is sitting on. don't worry, i am going to melt it soon...grr!

I forgot to share this fun story...

Yup that is a Belkin Wireless-G Router. So my babe Gowri just got road-runner lite (high-speed internet) installed in her house. She wanted some help in setting up the router that she bought at Wal-Mart. So went over to her house and set everything up (hardware) and then proceeded to install the CD. The CD kept saying that the router is not detecting any internet connections. I checked everything over and over again to no avail. Finally, made a call to Time Warner (the isp) and then they said the internet is working fine. Then made the most interesting phone call of my life. Called tech support over at Belkin. A friendly, indian voice answered and started to help me out with the router. In between the helpdesking, I asked him where he was and he was like 'Bangalore- India'. Wow. I've only heard of the outsourcing phone-based customer service/tech support. He was really patient and then he asked me to reset the router and this is the funny part, he said 'take a hair clip or paper pin and press the hole on the back hardly'...I couldn't help but crack up, along with Gowri and her brother, Pratheep. In between, randomly he goes like 'whats your email address'. I was like 'um this isn't my internet or router, I'm just helping my friend'. He said 'no problem' and a brief moment of silence followed. Anyways, after pressing all holes and stuff, nothing changed. The IP address and default gateway were not the expected configurations (It had to be like -.-.2.1. and it was -.-.1.1..weird). Finally the guy was like 'someone from a higher level will call within 24 hours'. Thank God, I was going to have an ego-attack in case it was something totally dumb that I couldn't figure out by myself. I think today level 2 support called her house and they kind of got it working. Anyways, the guy was nice and everything...but it just felt so weird talking to someone almost half-way across the world from here.

What's new today?

New Facebook: Zomgah! Disaster! Yikers! Someone ate crack, injected LSD into themselves, ate one too many twinkies and then came up with the worst interface ever! May you trip on a thousand banana peels!

Gym: Smelly socks-rotten eggs-rotten onions kind of smelly. It's called a deodorant and its cheaper than your ipod! Fun stuff? Seeing girls change in the locker room. Gotta love how they open everything right when you make an entry. I am liking--KIDDING!

Weather: Cool, breezy and beautiful. Hello Fall!

Sleep: Not getting any, hence ugly puffy eyes...bought me an eye cream today. Gotta love the aging process!

Beautiful thing in the mail...

...so today started very wonderfully as I received Mahrin and Tawheed's wedding invitation in the mail. Ah, absolutely beautiful cards--you can see from the picture. Can't wait for the event which leads me to next order of business. I have actually started going to the gym regularly after going on a 2-month hiatus and knowing that there's a snazzy wedding to attend in November, I have all the more reasons to. I hope I stick through because this whole not-having-a-job-yet thing doesn't exactly flood me with undying enthusiasm everyday. I must throw in a little fyi that I have been contacted by a few places over the last month but don't want to mention any names here until something is a sure thing. I did mention earlier that the thing that gets me off their list is me being a future-sponsorship-requiring individual. Anyways, so back to my starting over a new-leaf-in terms-of-health---I went to Wal-Mart with my one and only lovely Gowri today and we brought a lot of stuff (food-wise) to start off our 'healthy' schedule. That girl is in perfect shape and is gifted with a speedy metabolism (knock on wood) but I am not one of those girls who has angst against thin people adopting a healthy lifestyle. I think everyone, thin or fat, should try to maintain healthy ways. So anyways, we got a whole bunch of fruits from peaches (lurvee peaches) to apples to plums, etc. I also bought the Special K vanilla almond flavor..mmm. The last time I had a visible reduction of weight was back in the fall of 2003. I did some crazy stuff like running 10 laps everyday on the track plus cardio, eating cereal and cucumber salad, etc. The results were amazing though and I felt so good. Lately, I have been feeling so sluggish. So ya'll wondering where this new found enthusiasm suddenly came from? Besides the dreamy wedding that I have to attend in November..Ugh..I stepped on a scale. Really high numbers I tell you, really high. I am planning to plaster my walls with friendly reminders such as 'Forget about that quart of vanilla icecream sitting in the refrig.' Jimminy cricket! it is time to sleep

Unusual iftar...and some other tales

So back after a lot of tweaking around with my blog template, I decided to stick to the old one and also many thanks to those who voted on the poll regarding the template. Anyways, so today I had a very unusual iftar.All those of you who are unaware of what iftar is, it is the meal one takes at sunset after completing a day of fasting from sunrise to sunset. So I felt like having piaju (lentils paste fried up into small balls) or beguni (slices of eggplant dunked in a batter and deep-fried) for ifter. Since I don't have a blender and I didn't have eggplant, I decided to make deep-fried broccoli instead. I dunked them in a batter made of besan (chick-pea flour) and threw some random spices in there. Turned out quite okay. So I had a glass of orange-tangerine tropicana and the deep-fried broccoli. Yummy! So in other things, I have been really sad lately because of all the sad news that I have been hearing. Back to back, two deaths related to car-accidents. I don't know these people first-hand, but it breaks my heart thinking about the pain they must have withstood and now the pain that their loved ones have to endear. I just think it is so important that we take the time to express our love to our near and dear ones because you never know. In other news, anyone hear about that big bang shenanigan? God knows whats going on with that. I am a little scared to tell you the truth. My computer flickered for a moment today and I almost died. *Note to all: I am a scaredy-boo* So what else has been going on? It's been raining a lot here and has been really muggy and foggy lately. Nothing else popping this Saturday night...can't believe it that last year at this time, I was undertaking a full-blown semester with classes and part-time work under my belt. Ugh, no good movies showing on tv either.

For Girls Only :)

So, ever since I learned to put liquid eyeliner on (which was when I was 13), I have been hooked onto the art of makeup and beautifying oneself. Don't kill me for saying this (because it's not me saying it), but ever since I was little, I was always referred to as the 'one with nice personality but not great looks'. No, I don't have any weird complexes or all that jazz. I am fine. But hey, when there are relatives saying things like that, it does take a toll on you. So I have always been a few pounds overweight and not so milky white in complexion (god bless america for having so much love for olive and tan skin) but that doesn't make me completely worthless does it? So, back to the eyeliner initiation phase...I slowly found a tweezer somewhere in the house and started playing with that and then discovered an eyebrow pencil to fill in my like-a-chicken-without-feathers kind of eyebrows to give them more definition and frame my face better. Slowly, I learned how using two different shades of eyeshadow helps giving depth and dimension to eyes. I didn't quite know how then (probably 16 by now). I mean now I know theres a crease brush, smudger brush, etc. Anyways, as time went by and the internet took over, I watched celebrities closely and tried to copy their looks but to no avail. What did help me learn a bunch of tricks of the trade was actually the internet. Makeup bloggers and youtube beauty channels have been flooding cyberspace for a while now and as a result I have learnt a majority of the tricks. I must warn though that I haven't applied all those tricks to myself yet...little to scared to deviate from the real me. But here's a few things that I wanted to write down here that can take you from boring to va-va-voom. I've placed WINNER next to the things that make big that-guy-finally-noticed-you kind of difference.

1) Eyebrows done (threaded, waxed, tweezed, etc.) and filling them in with a pencil in case they are scanty. (WINNER)
2) Layered hair-cut with side-swept bangs
3) Discreet yet visible honey or caramel highlights. (WINNER)
4) Smooth and volumized hair with loose curls but smooth not frizzy
5) Getting a pair of colored contact lenses (opens up your eyes) (WINNER)
6) Eyelash curler to curl lashes (opens up eyes)
7) A really heavy duty black mascara. (WINNER)
8) False lashes for extra shabam.

And thats it, those are the main things. I've never done all of that at once. I did have colored contacts at one point, highlights at another. Now, I am just trying to reach my zen place by not doing too much. I play enough with makeup already and I think thats deviating enough from my true self. But then again in this fixated-on-outside-looks world, all those things do make differences. I am not a guru on the subject but I have done enough research from online sources,beauticians and the like for a while. So all those girls who are tired of being too normal or too boring...try one of those things. I am pretty sure I could look much better if I did all those things and lost 50 pounds. Dang will that day ever come? :-D. Oh tidbit: Went to gym today after 3 months almost!

My favorite fictional romantic characters*

*not in any particular order

1. Matt Flamhaff, 13 going on 30: This character was played by Mark Ruffalo (one of my faves) and he is shown as a photographer who is this really sweet, down-to-earth, unpopular-in-school kind of guy who has an overgrown classic cut and is always sporting a smile no matter what. I guess you all saw the movie and know how the story goes, but the part I liked most was the pink house that he builds for Jenna for her 13th birthday.

2. Michael Scofield, Prison Break: This character is played by the scrumptious Wentworth Miller. His character is that of being sacrificing, altruistic and selfless with an extraordinary amount of intelligence (they refer to it as low-latent inhibition). He is shown as this really serious, quiet, guy with close-shaven haircut, but you know he is a true romantic just by seeing his love for Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies)

3. Noah Calhoun, The Notebook: This character was played by Ryan Gosling. I was so attracted to his character. At the beginning of the movie, he comes off as one of those street-smart, sleazy kind of guys but as the movie progresses, you see how beautiful a person he is and he cannot get over the girl he fell in love with one summer when he was merely in high school. The ending is rather sad, but if one were to have a character such as him in real life, no problem would seem too big.

4. Robbie Turner, Atonement: This character was played by James McAvoy. This tear-jerker made me twitch and turn after the night I'd watched it and a couple more. He is shown as a poor boy who has big dreams and goals and ultimately is put in a very difficult situation for which he wasn't responsible. Although, the romance between him and cecilia (Kiera Knightley) is not shown for most of the movie, you see the hardships he faces but keeps that love so strong in his heart. Beautiful.

A Day of Reminiscence

So today was a wonderful day. Spent most of it with my dear Gowri. She picked me up in the afternoon and off we were to her place to just hang out low-key for the day. After numerous interesting stories, several licks by Mr. Ginobili (Gowri's cute pomeranian) and a while of lazing around, we decided to go to WalMart to get a few things. Soon after we were out of WalMart, we decided to go...brace yourselves...on-campus! You know, the reason I make it such a big deal is because it all comes with the terrotiry of being a graduate, alumnus, or ex-student of a certain school. You don't want to be seen or heard there in case someone sees you and wonders 'what is she still doing here?'. I know that this isn't the best attitude to move forward in life with but hey, somethings can't be changed. So anyways, the reason we went on-campus was mainly to go to CVS because we didn't find what we were looking for (skin-care stuff)in WalMart. As we entered the familiar zone with now many unfamiliar faces, memories, good and bad came gushing back to our minds. Those breaks we used to take at Sbarros over a slice of pizza (or ziti) between classes or those long hours we spent in the gray (sometimes musty smelling) computer labs where everyone is on facebook. So back to now, we entered CVS where they have rearranged everything totally. There's even a Tim Hortons in the student union. I live for Timmy's and it couldn't have come a little earlier? Anyways, we found our items at CVS and then we decided to grab a bite in Burger King (where the lady who has been working there before the wheel was invented kept dragging the chairs against the gritty tile floors while we tried to enjoy our generously oil-drenched fries). Soon we went to Starbucks (like we hadn't eaten enough already to use wifi). Gowri got some work done while I sipped on my organic chocolate milk (because that was the cheapest cold milky drink in starbucks lol). It was good. The sun had set completely by now and we were on our way now for an impromptu gathering with Julie and Delisa at Paneras for some chatting session. Soon that was done too and I came home, ate a peach and am now writing this.

( This entry has been written so in a style I used to follow 13 years ago when every entry had to be made sound like a bedtime story in my scented, pink colored, heart-shaped diary that had a lock and key lol.)

20 things I could live without...

1. People (possibly old) who turn off the air conditioner or fan while you're still sleeping.
2. Size 2 complaining to a size 6 about being fat and really fat.
3. Hot, humid days when hair is frizzy, face is oily and arm-pits sweaty.
4. Pimple(s) right before a big event.
5. Monthly fluctuations in the body's chemical composition.
6. Unwashed dishes (for a while) with hardened pasta, cheese and sauce.
7. Obnoxiously darkly-lined lips with a no-color lippstick filled in. Ew
8. Smell inside the airplane right when they heat up the food.
9. People who ask about your weight in front of 500 people.
10. Guys who do their eyebrows.
11. Chicken fat (raw)
12. An elevator that smells
13. Jeans that are too tight near the...ahem..
14. Wetness around the bathroom sink
15. Anything mint chocolate chip
16. Leftover laundry that you forgot to do the last time
17. Amy Winehouse
18. Lavender flavored stuff
19. Stores that have huge 75% sale signs and absolutely nothing inside.
20. Little girls who act suggestive.

Saturday night

With two handsome uns:
1) Bissell Vacuum Cleaner
2) Clorox Greenworks Natural Dilutable Cleaner in Pure Tangerine

Oh yeah, I went on a cleaning spree. Kitchen floors, kitchen counter tops, kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bathroom potty....you get the gist and I am sure nobody wants me to elaborate lol.
Just inhaled the big, big bowl of pasta I made yesterday. Oh by the way, awesome news!!! It got cooler today...Much, much cooler. Right now it is about 58F(about 14C). Can't wait to duck under the covers and hopefully get a good nights sleep after a really long time.

Makeup Shennanigans :)

So me love makeup so me take pics everytime me paint my face. So here are piccies. Yes, I know I am just THAT bored lol.

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Annoying News

Brownie news

(This happened two days ago) Mixed up duncan hines chewy fudge mix with tons of chopped walnuts. Didn't realize that the roomie had left the dial at 450 degrees and the numbers on the dial are kind of washed away so I read it as 350 but in 10 minutes I smelt it so I realized it and turned it down to 350 but it overcooked a bit anyways because I only made half the box. (
This happened today) So anyways, have been trying to revive it ever since and so today I warmed up some of it in the microwave, topped it with some vanilla ice-cream and let me just say, my tummy was very happy :)

A conversation

I boarded the North Campus shuttle today to go to Wegmans to get me all the things I need to make a turkey sandwich with cheese bread and sun-dried tomato pesto. Don't ask---I conjure up all kinds of recipes in my head. So anyhoo, I climbed up the shuttle and it was the lady (whose name I don't know) who I see all the time. She works horribly long shifts most of the time yet sports a dazzling smile all the time and maybe mumbles once in a while real low. So today, I was the only person on the shuttle. I asked her how she was doing and she told me how was tired because she works two jobs. That moment, seeing her eyes filled with tiredness and sadness, I couldn't help but ask her if she had any children and if they were old enough why weren't they taking care of her. This lady is 61 and I don't think anybody at that age should be working two jobs. She then smiled and was like ' American kids ain't like ya'll...they just grow up and leave'. I subtly tried not to agree because I believe a notion of that magnitude shouldn't be generalized or stereotyped. She continued, 'kids over here are too self-centered and individualistic and only think about themselves'. 'They want to heat up their lean cuisine dinners and eat stuff that can be made in a microwave.' 2 minutes and my stop had arrived. I got off the bus trying to make her feel better and she said 'its okay, I know all of them not like that, but most of them are.' I then walked to CVS to exchange some stuff. I then was getting ready to take the mall shuttle when julie called saying she was craving some gelato. We then went together to Wegmans. I am all happy now that I know I have my cheese bread, turkey and sun-dried tomatoes pesto sitting in the fridge. I also bought a block of parmesan cheese to add to my pasta dishes. I love real parmesan cheese. Its so much different from the instant kind. I need to stop talking about food. So anyways, going to take a shower now with eucalyptus oil and all. Yum.

Ramadan Kareem~

So a lot has happened. My monitor died on me yesterday and I was computer-access-less for about 27 hours. My mind was in shambles. What is happening on facebook, did I get any new emails, what is new on ebay, what is new in the world, etc. etc. Then I had to calm myself down and think about life before the internet. I am not going to bore you with that topic because I am sure thousands of people have written a lot about the pre-internet, pre-web 2.0 era. So, instead I decided to focus my energy on other things such as grocery shopping which my roommate enticed me into last evening. I kept in mind that I need to stock up on all kinds of food from frozen mixed vegetables, canned chick peas to pasta and eggs. All of them life saviors. After I came home I once again realized 'no computer'. I decided to focus my energy onto cooking. Made a dish with strips of chicken breast, chick peas and red potatoes. I also rolled out some whole wheat rotis. Yeah, I know you're probably thinking where I get that energy from and why would I know how to make them. Well, one of the most vivid memories I have of my childhood are those of the intoxicating fragrance of buttery hand-made paratas and beautifully scrambled eggs filling up the entire house, as disney cartoons (with arabic subtitles)are playing on the tv in a tiny living room filled with an obnoxious amount of sunlight, yet happy. I have loved hand-made bread since then and it took me a while to figure out how to get them right. I am still in the process of testing and trying. So anyways, I woke up at 5am last night and had some of the chicken dish and rotis while watching Law and Order. Come today and I was so impatient. I was on an empty stomach and didn't have a computer to browse on. I am sure most of you will agree that that is a deadly combination. I still kept my cool and did little things around the house. I looked on my roomies laptop for craigslist listings for monitors for sale and called a bunch of them. None of them picked up but one lady did and she goes 'its my daughters birthday and we have the yard set up so not today'. Finally, with the help of robdob, who was looking at craigslist listings for me in the buffalo area. He finally found one and gave me the number. So everything worked out and I got another monitor. Soon it was time for going over to kawsars for an impromptu iftar (fast-breaking) gathering. He did a lot of work and made a whole bunch of stuff along with the help of his friends. As unhealthy as it may seem, iftar is all about eating all kinds of fried-fritter like items. Usually we do it with lentils paste or brinjals or onions and the list goes on. It was a ton of fun and it was nice that all of us broke fast together. I miss it you know because I am here all alone and have to usually do it in my closet like room with a glass of tropicana and some kind of chicken and rice kind of deal. Okay, I have yakked a lot today. Ramadan Kareem everyone!

7-grain pasta

I've just discovered a fun way to eat pasta. We all know that when we hear the word 'pasta' our mind conjures up images such as big hips, cankles and bloatedness. True to my bangladeshi roots, I have always loved rice and bread more than anything else but I also like pasta every now and then. So anyways, I haven't been able to go and buy rice for a few weeks now so I reached out for the Ronzoni Healthy Harvest 7 Grain Blend Pasta that was sitting on the counter. I love anything whole wheat and multi-grain so I loved this one too. I made it real easy. I sauteed some chopped shallot, garlic and serrano peppers in some olive oil. Followed with some chopped shrimp, turkey sausage and mixed vegetables. I seasoned it with some italian herb mix, salt and pepper. I closed the deal with some shaved parmesan cheese (I use the block and not the stuff that comes in the green shaker bottle). I drizzled some more extra virgin olive oil in the end to make it even more delicious and shiny. I know you're thinking all those stuff are probably the weirdest things to go in a pasta, but it actually came out quite really good (although I did end up putting a little more oil, sorry mom). So anyways, don't put too much oil because then it defies the whole point of having health food. But this multigrain pasta is not bad at all. I am definitely going to make it again. Sorry was too hungry and forgot to take picture. Next time.

Sarah Palin

Umm..

So I have been frequenting YouTube a lot these days for all kinds of videos particularly makeup tutorials. Please don't stare at me like I'm a freak. It's better than having a hobby like knife collecting or smelling shoe polish (I used to like the smell when I was 10 or something--not anymore). So as I was going through some videos I came across a particular user and she had a video where she was going to show her skin care routine and before she proceeded to do so, she mentions that she is trying not to say 'umm' between phrases so she will just pause instead of saying 'umm'. Okay---everytime she paused (eerily long pauses), my ears braced for an 'umm' and it never came and it annoyed me a lot because that 'umm' would have been smaller than her pause. I am used to 'umm' because I 'umm' too if it is a casual conversation or something. I mean obviously phone interviews, in-flesh interviews, presidential speeches and courtroom procedures are some instances where 'umms' are absolute no nos. But for normal activities, using 'umm' has actually become commonplace. We are the 'umm' generation. It shows that you are thinking aloud. Of course when people do long 'umms' multiple number of times every millisecond, it can get very irritating. But this particular situation was vexing because she mentioned it prior to starting the tutorial. Only if she hadn't. By the way, I am not promoting 'umming'. I just think that for all those unscripted moments in our lives, umms are just normal. Geez, look at me, talking about something that is probably a little more important than what ants discuss about carrying on their backs. Oo-kay, time to put the lame brain to bed.

Chicken Curry V2.0

Yes that's the chicken curry I made today. Yes it has that glistening citrine colored layer of oil on top but that's trademark of authentic south-asian curries. Eh it doesn't look that good but once it sits on your tongue and seeps through your taste buds, you're going to be in culinary heaven {wow, I sound like a food critique lol}. So I first attempted chicken curry when I was a freshman in college and ever since it has evolved quite a lot. There are probably ten billion versions of chicken curry and usually one tastier than the other. I have many versions but the one I am about to share is my favorite as it is comforting, wholesome and delicious! I must say I borrowed a lot of the ideas if not the whole recipe entirely from mommy dearest. Also, there is no particular reason why I call it V2.0...I just like using it as going in with the whole Web 2.0 revolution. So here it is:

1/2 of a whole chicken (cut up into pieces)
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tbsp garlic chopped
1 tbsp ginger chopped
2 shallots chopped
2 red potatoes cubed
3 seranno/jalapeno peppers chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp roasted coriander powder
1 tbsp roasted cumin powder
1 tbsp roasted garam masala powder
1 tsp pickle (I like Patak's Hot Mango Relish)
Salt to taste
Oil
Water

I marinate the chicken overnight with salt, yogurt, garlic and ginger (so that on the actual day of cooking I don't have to smell like garlic and ginger). Next day, heat a heavy bottomed pan with vegetable oil. Add the cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Wait to splutter. These gems might look like little nothings but they add such a robust flavor to the whole dish. Add chopped shallots and brown them. Add a little garlic and keep browning but don't burn because we all know burnt garlic is as good as burnt plastic. Add the chopped seranno/jalapeno peppers. Follow with all the spices viz. turmeric, red chilli, coriander, cumin and garam masala powders. Roast them for half a minute for all their oils to release. Now add the chicken and salt. Stir everything together and lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Check on it every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.Add some of the mango pickle, stir and cover. Add the cubed potatoes. Now would be a good time to check the salt...nothing like poorly salted chicken curry. Add half a cup of water (or more or less depending on how dry or wet you want it but enough to cook the chicken thoroughly without sticking to the bottom). Cook for another 20 minutes. I like when the chicken is semi-soft and almost falling off the bones---neither like mush nor like cartillagy. Turn the stove off and enjoy it either with fluffy white rice or some buttered bread.

Disclaimer: I am not by any means claiming to be a great cook or the chairman of chicken curry recipes, I just like this one and thought of sharing it with you guys.

And just like that*...

...I came back from Mickey Dees with Gowri at 1:30am having witnessed a very uncalled for situation/drama. So as we were feasting on our caramel sundaes with nuts (lurve) and discussing jobs shmobs, this argument between a middle-aged white lady and a freshman-aged indianish boy caught our attention. So it happened that the boy did a 'finger hand-gun' gesture at the lady who was making an order at the window of the drive through. That's some vision...so she came around, parked her car and walked into McDonalds and yelled the shi* out of this kid and even pushed him. She even made a call to the cops. The boy kept circling inside McDonalds going from table to table looking at all the people and everyone there was on his side. We had to leave because first of all we shouldn't be out this late and secondly we are cat like girls. 2 seconds and the cops were there already and started searching the boy. Poor thing. I mean he shouldn't have done the finger gun, that was just wrong, but this lady was so violent. She's probably one of those people who are so unhappy with their lives that they find little things like these to take their frustrations out on.
*The 'and just like that' title for this blog was inadvertently borrowed from Sex and the City...I've always wanted to use it!*

Distracting myself...

(Picture has nothing to do with my post...I am just reminiscing the good ol days when my skin wasn't a disaster and a victim of 'adult acne'...eww...hope this phase passes)
Back to my rant of the day: Have you ever thought about the mundane things in life to distract yourself from the more serious things in life for a long stretch of time? Well, I have and let's just say I am close to becoming messiah of that department. For hours long I dabble in watching make-up tutorials online, researching the latest deals and steals, reading up on product reviews, etc. all to keep my mind off the more serious, unplayful things in life. But here's the catch--my mind still is thinking about all those deep and in some cases grievous things as I am busy learning about the latest peach-colored eyeshadow that will make my eyes pop. Here's another secret: I am very, very sensitive to listening to sad/mellow/slow songs. On my ipod or on my playlist, I am always listening to annoyingly fast upbeat music that one probably should listen to either on a treadmill or in a party. I know everything that I am saying is summing upto one thing: I am a supresser..which is not good. Well, a supresser (according to me) is someone who doesn't use any kind of outlet to release their frustrations. I do...I just named so many.
Anyways, speaking of reality, what's up with all these burgeoning plane crashes? Aircrafts need to be inspected with a little more scrutiny I believe but then again who am I to say, it was probably fate. What else has been the world upto? Oh, I read this article about whether the legal drinking age should be 21. I think no matter what one makes the drinking age, there's always going to be those who just take it a little too far. Look at me, giving a spiel about not thinking about serious stuff and here I am talking about it all in one breath. Okay, fun stuff :) I am going to the mall with Julie and Gowri tomorrow and we are very excited to use our $10 off coupons at The Body Shop. Yummy! Julie and I might also go to see 'Sex and the City' movie at the cheap theater for like $3. Yes yes we didn't see it yet...we were busy wrapping up our degrees then. Oh, also tomorrow is the first day of fall semester and I am not going back to school...feels good:) Although, the sucky job hunt doesn't...I have been reading so many news articles that are talking about how 2008 graduates are going to have one of the hardest times finding jobs. Even places like New York are facing hiring freezes. Ugh...there goes my sleep for the night. See, every night ever since I finished my thesis and got officially done with school, I haven't had a decent night of sleep unless it was induced by some kind of allergy medication (bad, don't do.) But I still try to wake up every morning thinking about the possibilites of making it a perfect day...

Being fob

FOB means Fresh Off the Boat...A term that many people get labeled with when they come to a new country (USA, UK, Australia, etc.). I am a fob...I mean I was born in Bangladesh, raised in Oman and then I came here to the US just for my undergrad and grad education. Yeah, so I mastered the american accent quite well, discovered frizz ease, flat iron, lipgloss and bronzer within the blink of an eye, learned all the cool slang words like 'snap', 'score', 'watchamcalit', 'thingamjig' , etc. faster than you can spell cat and so I understood american humor real quick (I mean not to forget that back in Oman we were always watching a lot of american movies and watching popular prime time tv shows.) In spite of all of that, I am still a fob because I still love my coconut oil hair massage very much, I still love my spice rack and all the 500 spices it holds, I still love eating with my hands and licking my fingers after it and most importantly, I love where I am from because that is who I am. I know I have changed in ways but not in a way where I would look at someone with a derogatory look saying 'eww he/she is an international student'. No. That is just unacceptable. I see former fobs do it all the time. Makes my blinis boil. I mean just because you became a permanent resident or a citizen 10 years ago, does not make you something you're not.
Back to all the things that I learned as I stepped into the US... I am not saying that I learned all the things out of angst or sort of to win a competition as not be labeled a fob. I did it because I wanted to...It makes it a lot easier if you can roll your r's, spell color without a u and spit out a 'have a good day' every second...I think it is important to understand a country's culture if you are going to stay there for a while (or forever), but by no means does it mean you have to completely abandon the traits and characteristics of where you came from in the process of doing so. Those people never cease to amaze me...they are so eager to ape the host country's culture, be it in any way possible, viz. marry or pair up with someone from the host country and also they almost start hating their own kind (this is nothing against white, black or any non-south asian people). Like many call them..coconut: brown on the outside, white on the inside-lol.
Y'all wondering where this sudden burst came from right? Just thought of it after I came across some people making fun of fobs. So mean. The funniest part is it is usually people of color using that word...I don't think caucasians are much aware of it. So there you go, the same kind hating on each other. Aesthetically, it probably isn't appealing when that boy from india, wearing unimaginably tight (in the wrong place) jeans, bluish white sneakers, hair smeared with oil and a look of cluelessness on his face steps into class or that girl from bangladesh wearing a jacket two sizes too big for her, face covered in talcum powder and a head full of frizzies comes in as your roommate. But he/she is a human being and unless he/she does something completely unethical or completely wrong...there is absolutely no reason for you to judge him or her just based on their accent and fashion faux pas.