Adventures of a Desi Blonde

Even pistols have soft spots...

2012-05-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it -- I can be a real hardass. (Once, while travelling in Europe, a hotel manager called me a "pistol." To my face. But let's leave that story for another day.)

Despite being a self-described hardass, I do have a soft spot.

That soft spot is for animals. And more specifically, for dogs. You know, the cuddly, furry, loyal kind. (Just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same thing here.)

My Mother's Day was spent with my mom; my cousin, her husband, and their son; and surrounded by 8 dogs -- 3 at my cousin's house, 3 at my mom's house, 1 at our house, and 1 more. And it's that 1 more dog that I'm writing about today. (Though I'd be remiss not to at least mention how hard I laughed at my cousin's dog who spent most of the day licking the sliding glass door.)

You see, when I got back home from my cousin and mom's houses, I took a short break at home and then got in the car to run an errand. On the way to that errand, I found a stray dog just wandering on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. And call me crazy all you want, but seeing that stray dog was enough to divert me from my errand (even if only for a short time).

So...as if some superhero theme song was playing in the background, I u-turned and pulled off to the side of the road and -- without thinking -- coaxed the dog until it was close enough for me to grab its collar. I'm crazy like that ~~about dogs~~. (Now you see how soft that soft spot really is.) There was no thought about how the dog might have rabies or how it might not be friendly or how it might not be the smartest idea. No thoughts along those lines whatsoever.

So there I was on the sidewalk, holding a dog I'd never seen before, trying to read its tags so I could call the owner to come get it. Just as I'm leaving a cryptic voicemail message, a dude comes sauntering around the corner and calls the dog's name. (Ok, this whole thing sounds way less dramatic in written form.)

Confused, but still focused on my original goal of returning the dog to its rightful owner, I asked the guy if it was his dog. He barely answered me yes, to which I responded by asking why the dog is not on a leash. (After all, we live in a pretty urban area where its illegal not to leash a dog.) No answer to my question, but he told me to let the dog go (so it could walk towards him). I did and then I started to tell him that he should get a new tag for the dog because it was really hard to read the phone number. The only response he gave was a pretty gruff thank you (which felt more like a brush off than legit appreciation) as the guy turned and started to walk away with the dog.

So...yeah. What an unappreciative reaction to somebody trying to help. I just rescued your dog, dude!

Anyway...I don't think this will deter me from rescuing any more dogs (this was my 3rd in 3 years), but it has definitely shaken my belief in humankind. I mean, I did the right thing. (I don't even want to begin to think how beside myself I'd be if my dog ever got lost.) Now what kind of person not only doesn't appreciate when someone does something nice for them but also acts like a jerk when that happens?

So now I ask you, dear readers: has anything like this ever happened to you where you tried to do the right thing...only to be rebuffed?

Warmer weather means BBQ...

2012-05-08T19:46:00.001-07:00

In the last several years, my husband and I have become big. time. foodies. But that doesn't mean we're food snobs.

On any given weekend, you can find us at any one of our old hole-in-the-wall haunts or some chic new eatery or coffee shop. But sometimes eating at home can be just as good as eating out.

BBQing the lamb chops

Usually, when people think of California, they think of sunny days and hot temperatures. Other areas in California might feel that kind of weather, but because of being so close to the bay, we generally experience milder temperatures throughout the year in the area where we live. Even in June/July, sometimes it's not hot enough to even wear shorts. Two summers ago, we were wearing winter jackets in San Francisco -- in the middle of the day! Still...the last couple of weeks have been unusually hot around here for this time of year.

Yum!

Which means tonight was a perfect night to BBQ one of our old favorites: lamb chops!

My husband marinates these lamb chops with some kind of magic Shan masala spice mix. And they are...ah-mazing.

I had ~~about a hundred~~ 30 or so lamb chops already marinated and just waiting to be BBQ'd and eaten...so that's just what I did!

Bread and more bread

2012-04-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, I get in a baking mood. (I call it my "Sadie Sadie, the married lady" role.)

A few months ago, I made loaves and loaves of both pumpkin and zucchini bread. Fall always does that to me -- puts me in the baking moo (especially when it comes to quick breads).

At the time (oh so many months ago), I had recently had the pumpkin bread that they serve at Starbucks, which has pepitas (pumpkin seeds) on the top of it...so last time I tried something similar with mine.

After I made it, I remembered that the slices you get from Starbucks actually have the pepitas all chopped up on the top of the pumpkin bread, so a few weeks later when I found myself making more pumpkin bread loaves, I tried that instead. But I was a bit disappointed to find that while they baked, a lot of the pepitas got sucked further and further into the loaf. I still ended up with quite a few on top, but they were also concentrated down the middle of the loaf too. (Bummer.) Regardless...they were good enough for my amateur purposes!

Lots of times, I bake it just to share it with others, and that's what happened. I ended up with about 8 loaves total from the batch I made in the fall, and it wasn't hard to find homes for them. My supply didn't last long though...and I soon found myself making another 8 loaves (about half size instead of full) around mid-February.

I'm always experimenting with my wrapping techniques for them. Typically, if I'm giving them away the same day just shortly after I've taken them out of the oven, I wrap them in foil like the ones shown here. Other times, I wrap them in plastic wrap + baggie and freeze them so they stay fresher longer.

These days, I'm gearing up for some new quick bread recipes I plan to try!

I usually get my recipes from Allrecipes.com, but lately I've been trying to find stuff on Pinterest (I love the pictures!). The ones I plan to make are:

Banana Nutella bread (I'm not such a huge fan of banana based foods...but I thought if it has Nutella, it might be ok.)
Nutella toffee banana bread
Caramel glazed apple bread
Pumpkin zucchini bread
Blueberry zucchini bread

I'm not going to do them all at once of course. I'll let you know how they turn out!

Valentine's

2012-02-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

I'm not a Valentine "grinch," but I can't say I totally love the idea that retailers and restaurants jack up the price of things...in the name of love. (I do, however, love all the heart themed/decorated stuff like kitchen towels and coffee cups.)

"XOXO" V-day cookies

I usually do a baking day with my mom during the winter holidays (around Christmastime). A few years ago, my cookies were a big time #FAIL. I wanted to do cookies again last year, especially since my cousin is now living nearby and could join us, but things just got way too hectic in December, and as a result, our baking day got cancelled/delayed. (Wah wah wah)

I ended up getting together with my mom and cousin a couple of weeks ago to make Valentine's Day cookies, and it turned out to be a great day for baking.

I made three batches of sugar cookie dough based on a wonderfully delicious recipe I got from Anna of Cookie Madness. I thought I might have made too little (or not enough?) dough, but we ended up with lots and lots of cookies....and not enough time to frost them (boo!). I was on rolling pin duty, my mom and cousin shared oven duty, and my cousin and I put the finishing touches (frosting and sprinkles) on a lot of them. As an aside, the dough cooperated nicely with my rolling pin, and I was able to make super thick cookies...just the way I like them. As another aside, after taking a whole box of them home, I think I can safely say that I ate nearly every last one of them myself. (Sorry shauhar.)

V-day lips and heart-themed cookies

My husband and I don't go too crazy on V-day gifts. The last 3-4 gifts I've given him have all been tea themed, and this year's V-day gift from me was no exception--I got him a new (Bodum) 8-cup tea press. It's huge(!) so it could fit tea for the gigantic mug he uses every morning. I'm happy to report that it makes great tea...the hubby loves it! (I was even able to use a 10% off coupon to buy it at Cost Plus World Market...which made me even happier!)

We regularly go out to eat a couple of times a week, so eating out is no big thing for us which means we usually skip the overpriced prix fixed menus offered for Valentine's Day dinner and opt for something at home.

Valentine's Day tulip bouquet!

We'd already exchanged V-day gifts earlier last week, so I really wasn't expecting much last night. Boy was I surprised when my husband showed up with a bouquet of my favorite flowers (tulips!) in my favorite color (pink!). (cue: "Awwwww")

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. How did you celebrate?

Friends for the holidays

2012-01-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

I've written about our dog before.

Santa frog and gingerbread monkey
(click photo to view larger)

If you've been reading this blog for very long, then you should know by now that our dog is a bit...well, neurotic and a big goofball. (Did I mention he also isn't that fond of having his picture taken?)

In December, he had to go for his annual shots.

The problem is that my guy...he well, hates the vet. It's nothing personal as our vet and the vet assistants who work there are super nice and do a great job. It's just...well, everything about that place. Once we pull into the parking lot, he's excited but nervous, and as soon as he steps foot into the lobby and his feet start slipping on the tile floor, it's mostly downhill from there. The only good part about the vet is when we're done, which is usually followed by a walk around the nearby park.

As you can probably imagine, taking him to vet is just not something I look forward to. (Our visit to the vet in August was a "success" but only after it was extremely traumatic...for both of us.)

With all his friends
(click photo to view larger)

So imagine my surprise when our visit in December actually went...well and was over fairly quickly. I was so ecstatic that I went on a little mini shopping spree with the dog that day.

Petsmart had a sale on Christmas-themed squeaky toys, so even though we don't celebrate Christmas in our home, the deal was too good to pass up. I bought him a huge Santa frog, a gingerbread man monkey, a small gingerbread man, and a snowman.

I'm usually pretty good about buying a bunch of toys and then setting a few aside so that he doesn't have too many toys at once. So, in December, he just got the frog and monkey (see picture above). But while cleaning up a little bit this morning, I ran across the snowman and gingerbread man still in the Petsmart bag and thought, Why not?

Yes...why not? Why not is that now we have a little bit of a toy overload (see picture on right). But I digress.

After we finished liberating the toys that day, we set our sights on a new harness and leash. After all, his old leash was broken, and his old harness was over 5 years old and looking pretty worn. Or at least that's how I justified those 2 purchases. He looks pretty handsome in the new harness, don't ya think?

1 casserole recipe + 1 dessert recipe = a good deed

2012-01-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

I was never that crazy about the tv show ‘Friends,’ but I know a lot of people are (were?). My husband has seen practically every episode. Sometimes when I sit down on the couch, he’s watching it, and I end up getting sucked into an episode.

So there’s this episode of “Friends” where Joey’s agent gets him a gig “co-hosting” a PBS telethon. Joey says he’s doing it because he wants to do a good deed, but Phoebe says his “good deed” is a selfish one (because it will result in him being on TV). Joey argues that all good deeds are selfish because they make the person doing them feel good, and Rachel agrees. For the rest of the episode, Phoebe sets out to prove Joey wrong -- by trying to find a true selfless deed. (For those curious, the episode is The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS.)

Not bragging here, but a few days ago, I did a good deed.

About a month ago, some good friends of ours had their first baby. We’d met them for dinner just 2 days before she went into labor. I was looking forward to meeting their new daughter, but as it turns out, I fell sick with some kind of flu/cold thing a few days after that, so I wasn’t able to visit them (without infecting them + their new baby with my virus). Soooo I waited (which was fine by me since I didn’t have a gift fully prepared yet anyway).

During the couple of weeks that passed while I was trying to get over my cold/flu/ear infection, I thought about how hard I’ve heard things are for new parents during the first few months. And this in turn made me wonder whether I should take some food (or something else?) to help out our friends who’d become new parents.

I did end up deciding to take them a meal...but had no clue as to what exactly to take. Though I’ve sometimes dropped off cupcakes or homemade bread or part of a dinner meal to some friends or a nearby neighbor, I’ve never really given a whole pre-prepared meal to someone like this.

Now, back to those friends of ours. We’ve eaten out with them a few times, but the restaurants have been ethnic, serving foods that I knew I most definitely could not replicate at home. We’ve had our friends over to our house for dinner a few times, but the meals we cooked at home weren't really the kind that can be stored and/or frozen and warmed up later.

When I lived in Iowa, I knew how (and regularly did) make a casserole or 2 or 3. And I even made a few casseroles after moving to California. But ever since I met and married my husband, casseroles have just not been a regular part of our menu.

So I was stumped. What kind of food should you take for someone who needs to prepare it later … with minimal effort?

I read on the web that lots of people bring pasta dishes for new parents, and I thought that was a great idea...until I read some comments from a few new mommies who said that, after awhile, the couple gets sick of all that pasta. I desperately wanted to avoid that scenario.

Next, I consulted my friend Laura from iGriza. She recently had a baby, and I’ve also read a few of her blog entries about cooking/recipes, so I knew she knows her way around the kitchen. Laura suggested taking something sweet (dessert) because she said that’s what she craved when she was in that phase of having no time or energy after taking care of her son.

Still at a loss as to what to make that wouldn’t be too weird or “old school,” I consulted cookbook after cookbook and paged through entire “casserole” sections in some old Quick Cooking compilation cookbooks that I had socked away. (Those cookbooks tend to feature more of the “Midwestern” style of foods -- if there is such a thing -- so I thought they’d be my best shot.) Most of the recipes I saw either looked too weird or were too focused on “meat and potatoes,” and I really wanted to make something that I felt our friends might like.

Finally, I landed on a recipe that was like green bean casserole...with chicken. I’m not sure I can say the recipe was perfect, but as a huge fan of green bean casserole, I at least felt that it might do the trick. But not before a few adjustments on my end.

So, without further adieu, here’s what I made.

Green Bean Casserole with Chicken
Note that this makes 2 casseroles, each of which serves 2-6.

Ingredients:

2, 4 oz packages of Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice (only 2/3 -- 6 oz -- of finished rice is used)
4 cups from a fully-cooked rotisserie style chicken, chopped
approx 2 cups fresh green beans, cooked
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
approx 1/4 cup onions, diced
approx 1/4 cup green peppers, diced
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can mushrooms (pieces and stems)
1 1/3 cup fried onions (2/3 for each casserole dish)

Directions to cook 1st portion (unfrozen):

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
I started by preparing the wild rice boxes according to the packages. (I cooked both of my boxes in the same pot.)
I then cut the ends off the fresh green beans and cut them smaller (they needed to be bite size since they’d be inside the casserole). I then boiled a pot of water and cooked the green beans in the pot for about 4-6 minutes (they should turn bright green). After that, I drained the beans and set them aside.
I pulled all the (good) meat off the rotisserie chicken and chopped all of it (including some pieces of skin) up on a cutting board. It ended up being a lot of chicken (about 5 cups worth).

Cut chicken (not the greatest picture, I know)

I combined the soups (undiluted), mushrooms, green beans, chicken, onion, green pepper, and soup mix in a bowl and started to stir. This is where things got...well, ugly. My bowl was too small, and the ingredients were just too...massive. So here’s where I’m gonna recommend that you not do like me and that you start with a colossal sized bowl to begin with (which is where I ended up after trying to power through...much like wading through snow up to your knees).

My itty bitty bowl

Once I had everything assembled in my massive bowl, I ran my spoon down the middle to split it into 2 portions (since it makes 2 casseroles, not just 1) and spooned the ingredients from 1 portion into an ungreased baking/casserole dish. (Incidentally, after seeing the whole thing put together, I wouldn’t be opposed to adding another cup or more of green beans next time...but that's just me.)

Bigger bowl

I then covered the casserole dish in foil and baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I removed the foil and sprinkled 2/3 cup fried onions over the top and then cooked it an additional 5 minutes (or until the fried onions look "golden").

Completed dish

Since this makes 2 casseroles, you could make 1 right away (like I did) and freeze the remaining mixture for a future meal or even freeze both of them. If freezing, follow the directions below for cooking.

Directions to cook 2nd portion (frozen):

Thaw the mixture in the fridge. About 30 minutes before baking, remove it from the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cover and bake the 2nd portion at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes (or until heated all the way through).
Remove the foil and sprinkle the remaining 2/3 cup fried onions over the top and then cook it an additional 5 minutes (or until the fried onions look "golden").

Update 1/19/2012: I made this recipe again last night with a few more slight modifications, and it was just as delish! This time, I left out the chopped onion and green peppers, cut up the canned mushrooms a bit so they were in smaller pieces, and also used 2 lbs of regular chicken (instead of pre-cooked rotisserie chicken) which I cooked in about 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil. (I chopped the chicken into small pieces before cooking it.) Also, forgot to mention earlier that the original recipe called for frozen green beans (instead of fresh ones), so if you're short on time, you might want to consider that short cut.

Since my friend Laura suggested that I take something sweet, in addition to the casserole, I also made (and baked) some Deep Dish Cookie Pies (recipe), the recipe for which I’d recently pinned through pinterest.

With the Deep Dish Cookie Pies recipe, the only deviations that I did were 2 things:

I used all light brown sugar (instead of some dark brown sugar and some light brown sugar), and I only did that because I just didn’t have any dark brown sugar on hand at home.
When I pulled the ramekins out of the oven, the middle portion tasted a bit “goopy” to me, so I ended up throwing them back in the oven and cooking them for another 7-10 minutes to ensure I wasn’t serving my friends something that could potentially make them sick. (I’m sure it wouldn’t...but I sometimes worry about serving new recipes to friends.)

After I finished baking the Deep Dish Cookie Pies, I put them in some food storage containers in preparation for taking them to our friends' house.

If I lost you somewhere after the 2 recipes...bummer. If you’re still reading because you want to know what happened with my good deed...great (and read on)!

When I reached our friends’ house, it turned out that their new daughter had woken them up every couple of hours the night before, and from the looks on our their faces, they were a bit worn out. To make a long story short, I did a good thing. I gave our friends at least 1 less meal that they had to figure out themselves. And doing that good thing...felt good.

As to good deeds (and mine in particular), I’m gonna have to side with Joey on this one: I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a selfless good deed because even a simple “thank you” makes the doer feel good. And, unlike Phoebe, I value the recognition and appreciation that come from any efforts I take to do something nice for someone else.

(Ya see what I did here? I made this short “story” about a simple recipe into a looonnnggg story.)

Silicon Valley Reads 2012: "Muslim and American"

2012-01-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, my mom told me about (and invited me to) an upcoming author event kicking off this year's Silicon Valley Reads. It turns out, this year's Silicon Valley Reads theme is "Muslim and American," and they've scheduled over 100 calendar events between January and April (2012) in support of that theme.

The (kickoff) event is later this month and will be an on-stage interview of:

G. Willow Wilson, author of The Butterfly Mosque
Sumbul Ali-Karamali, author of The Muslim Next Door

by San Jose Mercury news reporter Mike Cassidy.

I gladly accepted the invite from my mom…and then subsequently forgot about it. Until about a week ago, that is.

As of a little over a week ago, I had yet to read a single page of either book. (Oops!) I finally got my act together and bought G. Willow Wilson's The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam for my Kindle (it's also available in hardback and paperback) and...subsequently finished it in under a week.

I've never participated in Silicon Valley Reads before, but I hope to read a few of the books this year. I'll be attending the event at the Heritage Theater in Campbell, California on Jan 25. For those of you in the San Francisco Bay area, leave a comment and let me know if you'll be there too!

Staying "true" to acquaintances and avoiding back-biting

2011-10-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today I want to talk about a concept that I think is really important.

Muslims refer to it as refraining from "back biting." Other (non-Muslim) people sometimes refer to it as following the "golden rule." Whichever terminology is used, the concept is similar.

Let me back up a little bit and explain what I mean.

As you've probably figured out from reading some of my other blog posts, I'm a practicing Muslim. I've touched on a few Islamic-related topics (on this blog) here and there (like the Islamic holidays of Eid and Ramadan), but for the most part, I've tried not to get too preachy (I hope I've succeeded in that effort!).

The reason I've done that is because, for me, religion is something that's extremely personal. People's motivations for staying with or choosing one religion over another vary by person, and a lot of people (like me) don't appreciate others telling them this, that, or the other thing about religion. The reason I'm talking about this concept is because it's something that I think everyone should follow...regardless of religion.

Now, on to that explanation.

In Islam, "back biting" refers to the act of talking about someone behind his or her back. But not everything said behind someone's back is considered "back biting." What's actually considered back biting is when something negative is said behind someone's back and if what's said is true. (If what's said is not true, then that's actually considered slander.) To break it down in its most simplest terms: "Good" Muslims don't back bite. Even "better" Muslims defend other people when someone back bites against that person. (As I said before, I'd prefer not to get too preachy here, so I'm going to keep this discussion at a high level. I'm not going to go into details on where specifically back biting is discussed or how it's considered to be a "sin." If you're looking for that kind of information about Islam, I'm sure you can find it on Google.) In Islam, "back biting" even covers gossip, something which is also discouraged. I think some people find exercising restraint from "back biting" to be a difficult aspect (of Islam) to follow, but like anything, people do their best.

The thing is, I tend to think of back biting in even more simple terms.

Outside Islam, I tend to think that the "golden rule" (people should treat others as they'd like to be treated) covers this issue as well (just maybe in a more broad sense).

I lean towards not doing it not because Islam tells me I shouldn't or because it's considered a sin (although those are both great reasons)...but rather because I think about how I would feel if I were to ever find out about someone saying negative things behind my back. I know I would feel incredibly hurt and angry if/when I ever found out about it happening. I imagine that the damage that would be caused through finding out would be irreversible, and whatever relationship I had with this person (who is discussing these things about me) would be scarred or possibly even severed because of this.

I think sometimes we say things about someone else under the guise of "venting." And that act of venting may help the person discussing the issue, but what about the person being discussed?

As I said before, I think some people find exercising restraint from "back biting" to be difficult aspect. Nobody's perfect (and I don't want to sound like a goody-goody here because I'm just doing the best I can -- just like everybody else), but I think you have to ask yourself: what are the intentions of the person doing the back biting?

Sometimes the impression that you're left with after listening to someone back bite is not really that the person they're discussing is a terrible person (as they'd like to have you believe) but rather feeling a bit sorry for that person. What I mean is, for me personally, I start considering whether the person doing the talking is being 100% truthful or if he/she is only telling 1 side of the story. And more importantly, I think about how the other person would feel upon finding out what's been said about him or her.

What about you -- are there any "rules" (religious or otherwise) that you follow?

10 posts in the last 2+ years that shaped this blog

2011-09-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

As I think I've mentioned before, I read a lot of other blogs. I love reading about south Asia, so one of those blogs that I read is Full Stop India. A couple of weeks ago, Full Stop India hit its 2 year anniversary (of the site) and the author published the post Full Stop India Turns 2: 10 Posts Which Shaped the Past Year, which I really enjoyed.

They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery…so without hesitation I'm going to say that part of the idea for this post came from that Full Stop India post. The other part of the idea for this post came from the My 7 Links post that I recently did on my travel site, Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde.

TripBase's 7 links project only did 7 topics, whereas Full Stop India's did 10, so I'm going to follow their model this time. My blog turned 2 back in June, but I'm not going to let that stop me from (loosely) following Full Stop India's model. Their post described topics that shaped Full Stop India in the past 1 year. I'm going to span my entire 2+ years in this post.

Before I get into that, I also wanted to take a moment to say how much I love seeing comments and reactions that people leave on my site. If you're a longtime reader (or even a new reader) of this blog, THANK YOU!

So, without further adieu, the topics are:

Most Popular Post
Post Which Never Took Off
Most Helpful Post
Most Controversial Post
Most Surprising Post
Most Rewarding Post
Most Fun to Write
Most Eager to Write Post
Most "Lost in Translation" Post
Most Honest Post

Most Popular Post: Have a Smurfy day! ... iPad style
So this one is kind of a hard one to answer. My true most popular post is actually the time I wrote about a celebrity sighting in Vancouver. But…that page has since moved to my Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde site, and I already flagged it as the most popular over there in the My 7 Links post I did.

After that, my 2nd most popular post was my Introduction page which is understandable given the amount of traffic I get from organic Google links. My guess is, people Google something that lands them on my site, they read the one thing that brought them there, and then they want to know more about me. Maybe some stick around and become followers, maybe they don't. Either way, I was surprised at the sheer number of people who've read my Introduction page.

I'm going to talk about the 3rd most popular post in the Most Controversial Post topic below.

Which brings me to my 4th most popular post about an iPad app that I found to be a huge time suck, Smurfs' Village. At that time, we had just recently gotten our iPad, and I was still trying to find good apps to buy. I was a huge fan of the Smurfs when I was younger, and even though I hate Farmville, I thought "OK, cool, I'll give this a shot." For several weeks I nurtured that Smurf Village…even fast forwarding my iPad clock to force my crops to grow faster. Several times, I talked my husband into harvesting my crops for me. And that was about the time when I had to cut myself off. So…if you like getting involved in activities that are huge time wasters, Smurfs' Village might just be the perfect app for you!

Post Which Never Took Off: Give a drop charity for clean water
Maybe it was the fact that this charity involved clean water…something which not everyone in the world has access to. Or maybe it was the fact that it involved a singer I really love, Jewel. Either way, I really liked this topic. But I was disappointed to see that this blog post failed to deliver and get people reading.

Most Helpful Post: 3 Most Important "Phrases" in Urdu
As I've mentioned multiple times before, I speak several languages, but one important one (with respect to south Asia anyway) is Urdu. I've taken several Urdu classes over the years, and my Urdu improves immensely when we travel to south Asia. I still use my Urdu a little when we're in the U.S. (mostly when we're at some party talking with other desis), but it gets used the most when we're visiting family in Pakistan. Last time we were there, I got left at home with our servants (my choice, since the alternative was riding around in a hot -- cramped -- car all day), and we communicated together just fine.

Most Controversial Post: Not Trying Hard Enough?
I'll admit that I'm not really one to write on controversial topics even though I did post something about animal abuse when I first started blogging.

Something about this other topic got me really fired up at the time. Because of that, I wrote it in point-counterpoint style. (This post was also the 3rd most popular post on my site.) In this post, I talked about the efforts that I've done (and continue to do) to make desi culture a part of my life. Some people liked this post…other people, not so much. Check it out, and you be the judge.

Most Surprising Post: Master bedroom redecorating reveal
We bought and moved into our home 3-4 years ago. When we first moved in, we had a mishmash of furniture that seemed to work out ok in the apartment where we previously lived but did not work well in our new home. We initially bought new couches and a dining table for the living areas downstairs, but the upstairs bedrooms remained, well…a mess. That is, until some cousins decided to come stay with us last summer. Their visit spurred us (and our wallets) into action, and we made quick work of redecorating both the guest bedroom and the master bedroom (and have since made over the office too). The paint colors in our bedrooms have all turned out quite nice--one is green and earthy, one is blue and serene, and one is purplish and airy. What surprised me the most about the post is the number of times people search for some combination of "master bedroom redecorate" or the various paint swatches that we used in the rooms and land upon this page. I guess a lot of people are looking for inspiration for their home decorating efforts.

Most Rewarding Post: Help make my friend Laura's iLatch invention a reality
More times than not, we all get so busy in our own little lives and forget that other people are doing great things…that sometimes require support. My Twitter friend Laura is just launching a product for iPad, and she could use all the support she can get while she tries to raise money and get it off the ground. She didn't ask me to tweet about it (multiple times). She didn't ask me to promote her product on my blog. But I did both. Now, I can't tell if any of my blog readers were motivated to go out and donate to Laura's Kickstarter project, but I sure hope they did. It felt good (OK, rewarding!) to help someone.

Most Fun to Write: Breaking up is hard to do…
I wrote this post around the time when I was doing a lot of online and in-store shopping for clothes for my daiwar's (brother-in-law's) wedding. I had fallen in love with a particular pishwaaz style shalwar kameez I'd found online. I obsessed about that pishwaaz for weeks (months?), and this post was about how the price had gone up which forced me to let it go. I really enjoyed writing this because the title and subject became so funny and misleading. A lot of people who read this thought my marriage was having some kind of problem (because of the title and subject--not because of any basis in reality!) and that cracked me up.

Most Eager to Write Post: I've got a bone to pick
I'm a huge fan of customer service and treating customers right. In America, companies usually care about how the customer is treated. In Pakistan, not so much. This post was about a couple of different companies (both on different sides of the world) with which I had some customer service issues.

Most "Lost in Translation" Post: Respecting elders big and small
In south Asian and Pakistani culture, elders get nicknames as a term of respect. This post was about those names and how the names can sometimes be funny or confusing, depending upon who they're referring to. This concept of respectful names is just "lost" in American culture and America since we don't really have any terms of respect that people get other than Mr or Mrs or sir/ma'am/miss.

Most Honest Post: Three cups of…
Quite often, I don't mince words when I talk about my love for the people of Pakistan. I've been there more many times in over the years, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my visits. I love seeing family there, and I get completely caught up in shopping and eating out at my favorite restaurants. Many years ago, I read a book about someone else's travels there and the work that he's doing in that region. That book was Three Cups of Tea, and it touched my heart. This post was about how the author's organization and work recently came under fire and my feelings and thoughts on the subject.

I kind of hemmed-and-hawed about this topic for several weeks while deciding if I really wanted to say anything or not. (After all, all the facts weren't in yet.) I felt like saying something in support of the author and his organization would put me on the wrong side of the fence if it later turned (turns) out that there was (is) some wrongdoing….but I felt like NOT saying something just didn't seem like the right thing to do. (If you're looking for another honest post, here's another good one to try: Where in the world is…Meliha?)

That's it for me. Is there any particular post or topic that I wrote about that you especially enjoyed?

Help make my friend Laura's iLatch invention a reality

2011-09-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

These days, I'm more active on Twitter than in blogging. Tweeting is 140 characters (or less!) and blogging requires a lot more time and energy. For those of you not on Twitter, there's a hashtag called #FF (or #FollowFriday) where you're supposed to suggest someone cool/fun/useful to follow on Twitter. Several times, I've done #FF for my Twitter friend Laura.

If you haven't heard me talk about her before, Laura writes on her blog, iGriza. She's super down-to-earth and is full-on cray cray (that's crazy, to those of you not into slang) for all things Apple. I'm talking iPhone, iPad, apps, whatevs.

I've been following Laura's blog for probably more than 1.5 years now, and a little over a year ago, she had a baby. And you guessed it -- her baby is also into Apple. From what I understand, he loves to watch stuff on her iPad and iPhone.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

Laura has invented something called iLatch. It's a doo-hickey that helps connect your iPad to other stuff (like a stroller) so your kid can watch iPad without you having to hold it.

If that looks and sounds like something you might be interested in, then I urge you to help fund (pledge) money toward her project: The iLatch Ipad Case for iPad 1 & 2 on Kickstarter. Even just $1 earns her undying appreciation and larger donations get you something too!

If you've got a kid and an iPad, then you need this thing...but you can't get it until the Kickstarter project is fully funded! So why not donate a dollar or 2 or 3 (or 100)? And when you're done then, I hope you'll also help spread the word to others!

Disclaimer: I earned nothing for writing this blog post or for promoting this product. (Actually, Laura doesn't even know I'm writing this.) I'm just a big fan of doing nice things for others and helping people make their dreams come true. (Cue: "awwww!")

Best friends...

2011-08-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

I've been on pins and needles for the last several days.

You see, one of my oldest and dearest best friends has been going through a rough time. He went to the doctor on Sunday for an examination and, well, that doctor visit was kind of stressful and traumatic. And now for the last several days, we've been waiting for his test results from that doctor visit.

And I've spent the better part of those last few days…in worry about this best friend of mine.

You see, this particular friend came to me when I was going through kind of a tough time myself. And just a short time after we met, I moved away from everyone I knew and loved and lived on my own in a new city (where I knew no one!) for 6+ months, and this friend of mine remained my constant companion during that time. He helped introduce me to new friends and occupied my time when I got lonely or bored, and we've remained best friends for over 9 years.

And while 9+ years may not seem like very long, it sure has been a long time for my friend. He's now 55 years old (or about 10.5 years old in human years). He has floppy ears and a goofy demeanor to go with them. He's a real goofball (just like me).

He might be 55 years old, but he sure doesn't act like it. (Nor does he look it--unless you catch a glimpse of the slightest wispy whitish-gray hair on his baby face.) He still has a lot of energy and loves chasing squirrels in the park near our house or running up and down the yard at my mom's house when we visit.

Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ~Roger Caras

For the past year or more, our dog has had a couple of lumps -- one on his back and another smaller one on his front leg. He's not such a big fan of going to the vet (actually, that's an understatement), so although I told the vet assistant about the lumps last time we were there, I really wasn't in such a rush to get them examined properly -- especially since they don't seem to bother or hurt him.

But the last time I was at the vet picking up his flea medication, they kind of insisted that he get examined, and I was in no position to argue (considering he needed a refill on that flea medication).

As I mentioned, to say that he's not such a big fan of going to the vet is kind of an understatement. He hates pretty much everything about it there -- the smell, the way his feet slip on the floor, that they want him to get up on the table, and that every time he goes there he gets shots. The only part of the vet visit that he's actually willing to do is getting up on the scale to be weighed.

Taking him to the vet is highly stressful -- sometimes for me more than it is for him. When I know I have to take him to the vet (for his annual shots or something else), I start dreading it several days before we have to go.

So a couple of weeks ago when the vet assistant insisted that he get an exam, she assured me that they would be able to examine the lumps…they'd just have to put him to sleep first. But before they'd be able to put him to sleep, they'd need me to slip him a little pill to mellow him out and help get rid of some of his anxiety. (Nevermind my anxiety.)

No part of that sounded easy. Because not only is he terrified of the vet, he's also extremely picky about treats and what he eats. I had no idea how I was going to get him to eat the pill.

When Sunday rolled around, we got up and did our usual walk around the block. And, as it turned out, tricking him into eating the pill was easier than I thought it would be which kind of made me feel a little guilty about the whole thing. The vet actually recommended and sold me these treats called Pill Pockets which are like the Play-Doh of dog treats. It was extremely easy to shape the treat around the pill, and he was none the wiser that I'd even drugged him. (My husband even tried to warn him.)

I spoke with the vet assistant on the phone several times before the 3 of us left for the vet's office on Sunday.

The Vet Visit
Sure enough, as soon as we got there, it was extremely traumatic -- for both of us (my husband remained cool headed). Despite our dog's general displeasure with being there, he did manage to jump up on the scale to be weighed….just before going back into panic mode.

The vet assistant managed to wrangle him enough so that the vet could inject him with something to knock him out. And that's when I really started to feel bad for our dog. He lost control of his body and then peed on himself and the floor where he lie.

That was about the time when my husband got roped into helping carry the stretcher (with our dog on it) to the back area.

The vet and his assistant worked quickly and managed to draw blood, draw fluid from both lumps, and even clip his nails in less than half an hour while he was under. And then it was time to wake him back up.

The first lump turned out to be just fatty tissue/fluid.

The second lump -- the one on his back -- was the one they were more concerned about. They explained to us that they'd have to send a slide of it to a lab so they could examine it in more detail. (For those curious, the lump on his back is about the size of a marble. I did take a picture of it, but I'd rather not post it because I just think that's...well, kind of tacky.) They told us we'd have to wait 3-4 days before they'd get the other test results (blood test, the fluid from his lump, and heartworm test).

They put our dog in one of their caged areas so he could wake up on his own and they sent us back home until that time.

Back at Home

When we came back to pick our dog back up Sunday afternoon, he was pretty energetic but still a little groggy. We took him home and tried to keep him comfortable while we waited for the medications to wear off. But it seems no one really enjoys lying around when they're sick. Because the first time our dog saw my husband go down to the garage, he was up on his feet chasing him. Which would have been fine…had he had not still been groggy.

A couple of hours later, I tried to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and I think our dog panicked (because I was leaving) and started to follow me...until his legs failed him. He didn't make it very far before he ended up on the floor. By Sunday night, he seemed to be doing better but his 3rd eyelid (Google that if you're ever curious) was still showing and, at times, he seemed to be moving in slo-mo.

By Monday morning, he looked physically better (no more 3rd eyelid--yay!) but I was practically dragging him on the morning walk. By Monday afternoon, he was back to chasing squirrels in the park.

Waiting...and waiting
But…we still didn't know his test results. So we continued to wait.

In the meantime, a contact of mine recounted stories of his dogs who've all died of cancer originating from the same type of "lumps" that my dog has. I guess maybe he was trying to prepare me for the worst(?).

I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better. They fight for honor at the first challenge, make love with no moral restraint, and they do not for all their marvelous instincts appear to know about death. Being such wonderfully uncomplicated beings, they need us to do their worrying. ~George Bird Evans, Troubles with Bird Dogs

And prepare me, it did. I tried to stay positive about the still unknown test results, but by Tuesday night, my whole dog's life was flashing before my eyes, and I have to admit that I started feeling despondent. I tweeted 3 times in succession, each one less hopeful than the last…culminating in this one.

And in those quiet, desperate moments, I tried something else: I told God about what a great friend my dog has always been to me and I prayed to Him not to take our dog yet. (Ok, so that might have been a little over dramatic. But if you've ever been in my situation or even known a person who is very very ill, then I'm sure you'll understand what went through my mind.)

I am NOT ready to say goodbye to our dog just yet.

The Test Results
I spoke with the vet today and got our dog's test results.

His blood and heartworm tests were perfectly normal. The results of the fluid from the lump on his back were a "little suspicious" but inconclusive. The vet said there's no show sign of malignancy but if we want to be 100% sure, then he suggested a biopsy of the lump. Given that just having them take the fluid from it was pretty traumatic, I think we'll hold off doing any further treatments (like a biopsy) right now. He suggested that we keep an eye on the lump and that we shouldn't worry about it as long as it stays the same size.

Even though the test results weren't 100% conclusive, I'm relieved. And I'm looking forward to spending more time with my best canine friend.

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. ~Author Unknown

We're all a little loopy around here right now...

2011-08-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

During Ramadan, sometimes when I've been fasting for a long time and when it's getting close to the time of iftar (when I can break my fast and eat again), I sometimes tend to get…a little loopy.

Ok so I may or may not have done a few, um…things after getting home this evening. But whatever I may or may not have done, I blame it all on my hunger…no, make that my exhaustion…no, make that this loopy feeling I have.

So...in the spirit of honesty while I'm fasting, I want to come clean about a few things I may have allegedly done this evening in my Hyde phase:

We sometimes get flyers on our door from local business (cleaning services, repair people, church organizations--you name it). I believe in free speech (and free religion, in the case of the church organizations), but when it comes to my home, I hate solicitors and solicitation. So…I may or may not have called one of those businesses and left a pleasant message asking them to please stop leaving flyers at my home.
We live on a small street with limited parking spaces. The parking spaces are on both sides of the street, and each one only fits 1 or 2 cars. (The 1 car spots really require that the driver parallel park.) For at least the past month or more, 1 specific driver has been driving straight into (not parallel parking) one of the 1 car parking spaces. The parking job is so terrible that the car is usually hanging half out in the street. (My husband and 1 of our neighbors even commented on it!) So…I may or may not have left a note on the car's windshield nicely asking that neighbor to start parking better.
I recently became a member of HiltonHonors (and Gold, no less!). In the last 2-3 days, someone has called twice from a number I don't recognize, so I haven't picked up either phone call. I ignored it the 1st time…but the 2nd time I saw it, I got curious and returned the call later. ...And subsequently got a voice mail message belonging to Hilton Grand Vacations. So…um, yeah. Not totally digging the phone solicitation. So I may or may not have left a message on that answering service asking them to remove me from their call list. I also may or may not have called HiltonHonors and asked them to remove me from that end as well.

They say you shouldn't let your emotions get the better of you. Which is why I'm pleased to report that, in all three instances, I remained calm and pleasant and didn't get upset or angry with anyone.

...And soon, this loopy feeling I have will wear off, and I'll be back to my super syrupy sweet self (say that 3 times fast)...which is not to say I wasn't super syrupy sweet in all of these...well, alleged instances. In the meantime, I think I'm going to lay low...just in case.

Ice cream flights of fancy

2011-07-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading this blog for very long, then you've probably already noticed that I'm a sucker for desserts and sweets...especially cupcakes.

When my (now) husband and I first became friends, one of the things we used to do quite frequently was go into the city (San Francisco) for dinner at a popular south Asian/desi restaurant, Shalimar, and then have ice cream at Ghiradelli Square.

Fentons menu

Some friends of ours have been living in the East Bay area, and (at that time), they quickly turned us on to Fentons Creamery and Restaurant. Fentons has been around since 1894 and recently became even more renowned from its placement in the Disney-Pixar movie Up! After an initial trip to Fentons with our friends where we unknowingly overordered and ended up with "leftovers" (yes, really), Fentons replaced Ghiradelli as our go-to ice cream place. They have lots of ice cream flavors and toppings and everything comes in ginormous portions.

Last year, Fentons had a "ice cream flights" option on their menu. I guess it was Fentons' version of "wine flights" that are commonly served in restaurants. I thought it was cool, so I ordered the "flight."

Ice cream flight at Fentons

Every month, Fentons has a special (called Myrtle's Creation) that, when ordered, a portion of the purchase go to charity. Last month's creation was S'more a Great Cause which benefitted the 4-H clubs of Solano and Alameda Counties. Sadly, we didn't make it up to Fentons to enjoy that one, but here's a video of it (below).

This month's creation was Cosmic Collision which benefits the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. We went to Fentons this weekend and ordered it. We (of course) ended up with leftovers and ~~overate~~ had a great time out with our friends.

I'm a celebrity on the internets

2011-07-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

I may not be blogging much lately, but I haven't forgotten about this writing thing (which I love) or any of you fans (for whom I'm so appreciative).

This week, I was quoted twice in articles/blog posts on the internets.

Earlier this week, I was quoted in a post by Downtown Traveler titled The pros and cons of Google+: Early users weigh in on the newest social media platform. (Look for a screen capture of a tweet from my Twitter account about 3/4 of the way down the post.)

Then today, I was quoted in a Blogger Buzz post titled Why do you blog? (My quote is in the 4th paragraph.)

Both quotes came from tweets I made on my Twitter account, @desigurrl.

Gotta go now so I can check whether or not my head has gotten any bigger.

Happy 2nd anniversary...to this blog!

2011-07-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

I started this blog slightly over 2 years ago (happy anniversary to it!) and since then, time has just flow by (which is something I'm finding to be especially true these days).

Two years ago, I didn't have everything figured out nor did I know exactly what I wanted to say (sometimes I still don't). Nevertheless, I've appreciated and enjoyed seeing my fan base and followers steadily grow (even when I haven't been writing much lately because I'm so crazy busy I barely have time to ~~sleep~~ ~~eat~~ breathe).

If you just recently became a fan of or started following this blog, welcome! Here are a few of my personal favorite blog posts in case you missed them before OR are just getting started reading this site:

About me:

Out of the shadows and into the light

My "love affair" with south Asia/Pakistan:

Some comments on inter-cultural relationships/marriage:

Thanks for your continued reading and support of this blog. As always, feel free to leave reactions or comments on blog posts or drop me a line. I love feedback!

Running as fast as I can...

2011-06-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have that feeling like life and things are just moving waayyy too fast? Like no matter how fast you run, you just can't keep up?

My magazine subscriptions have been going unread for months. The RSS feeds I subscribe to collect over 100 news stories and blog articles every day (which may not seem like much, but they really start to pile up after several days). Last weekend, I spent 3 hours cleaning out our master closet and bathroom.

When I'm in Iowa, everything seems to move at a much slower pace than things do here in the San Francisco Bay area. These days, my life feels so hectic and hurried and there's rarely a time when I don't have multiple things weighing on my mind. (Unfortunately, I've been feeling that way a lot recently.)

"There is more to life than increasing its speed." Mahatma Ghandi

In case I haven't said so before, I really enjoy travelling. (You can read about my travels at Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde.) Often times, I find that by "stepping out" of my regular routine (through travel), I'm able to think more clearly.

Last month, I took a trip to Sacramento. While on that trip, I thought maybe I'd get some free time to write some blog posts, catch up on my RSS news, and maybe read a few of the magazines that have been stacking up.

Unfortunately, none of that happened. In fact, instead of being able to think more clearly about the issues rattling around in my brain...my mind went completely blank. It was as if from the moment I got into the car and started my journey to the state capitol, my mind went somewhere else. (Don't get me wrong, it was good to NOT think about "things"...it's just that I was sort of banking on having some kind of epiphany too.) So I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed when I returned from Sacramento to find the same thoughts were waiting for me like a lost dog at my front door.

So...if you're wondering why I haven't been writing many blog posts lately, it's probably because I'm falling behind in...oh, pretty much everything. I'm hoping to find some long term respite from the craziness going on these days, but I don't see that happening (at least not anytime soon). So I'll try to squeeze out blog posts as and when I get time. (I haven't given up on blogging...I hope you haven't given up on me!)

(Btw, if you ever find that you just can't get enough of my writing (haha), you might want to try reading my travel site: Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde. The blog posts there typically have multiple pictures of the places I visit, and there's even some posts about Pakistan. I'm doing my best to write about all of the places I've been, but there are only so many hours in the day... The next place I'm headed is to Vancouver!)

Three cups of...

2011-06-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

For the most part, I try to avoid a lot of controversial subjects on this blog, but today, I want to say something that many will probably see as...well, controversial. And though these sentiments may be coming ~~a little~~ quite delayed, I still want to make my feelings known.

Let me back up ~~a little bit~~ a lot. You see, 7+ years ago when my (now) husband and I first met, a lot of my family and friends had never even met anyone from Pakistan. (Until my (now) husband, that is.)

And then I went to Pakistan for our wedding 6+ years ago, and I came back safe and sound. And I told everyone about my experiences...about how Pakistan was kind of disorganized and chaotic but that the people were some of the most loving and kindest ones I'd ever met. (If you've read this, then you know these sentiments are not new for me.)

I made a couple more trips to Pakistan after that. And then 5+ years ago, when my nand was getting married, I again travelled there to attend her wedding. While I was there, our family took a bus trip from Lahore to Islamabad and back again. Along the way to Islamabad, we had a great time playing charades (and I am soooo not a fan of charades) and the bus broke down (while we were all dressed up for valima!). And for entertainment on that bus ride, I'd brought along a new book I'd purchased in the U.S. by an author I'd never heard of before. And that book was so compelling that I read it cover to cover as we traversed Pakistan on that bus that trip. And when I finished that book, I recommended it to pretty much ~~everyone I knew~~ anyone who would listen. I even wrote personal emails to the 2 authors of that book telling them how much I enjoyed reading it.

That book was Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin.

Most of you probably already know what the book is about. To sum it up (for those who've been living under a rock for the 5+ years or even the last 1+ month), it's about a man from the United States who sets out to build schools for children in Pakistan and Afghanistan after a failed climbing attempt on K2. His theory is that by educating the children -- especially girls -- it helps fight terrorism.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."--Bumper sticker

And ever since reading that book, I haven't cared (much) about what other people -- who've never been to Pakistan -- think of the country. Because here was a man with no family or friends or prior relationships to Pakistanis who was building schools in and helping Pakistan. And he wasn't just helping people -- he was helping the people who I'd already found to be the kindest, most loving people I'd ever met.

So to say that it made me proud to see someone championing their cause...well, that's putting it lightly. Words cannot describe how greatly I appreciate the work he's done when he could have just as easily travelled back to the United States and done nothing to help.

Me with author Greg Mortenson

If you've been reading this blog for very long, then you should know by now that I love celebs. It should come as no surprise then that several years ago, I even met Mortenson personally when he was speaking at an event at a nearby library. At that event, Mortenson talked about his failed K2 climb and gave a presentation about the work he's doing. I found his story to be extremely impressive and him to be a down-to-earth guy.

Unfortunately, a month or more ago, a ~~broohaha~~ firestorm (or "Teagate" as some people are calling it) was ignited over Greg Mortenson and the charitable organization he's involved with, Central Asia Institute (CAI). The news articles and blog posts being written about Mortenson's alleged "lies," "ommissions," and "mismanagement" of CAI by Pulitzer prize-winning journalists, writers, and bloggers came so fast it was hard to keep up. (I did my best, but after awhile, I threw up my hands. As of this writing, there are over 160 articles that I'm aware of.) Since then, Mortenson has continued to sink deeper into quick sand: he's now being investigated by the Montana Attorney General and is being sued by multiple parties, including the people who he says kidnapped him. (Correction: "allegedly kidnapped him")

As to my contribution to his charitable organization, it was a pittance...a small token to simply acknowledge his efforts. (I understand others invested quite a bit more money in CAI than I, and they deserve answers as to whether those monies were misused or misappropriated.)

It looks like it may be some time before all the facts about the situation are known (or maybe even longer considering that Mortenson seems to be suffering from some kind of heart ailment). I don't have access to the kind of resources and people being interviewed by those Pulitzer prize-winning journalists, writers, and bloggers, nor do I want to join those who are already serving as judge, jury, and executioner against Mortenson. (As far as I'm aware, people are still considered "innocent" until proven guilty in the United States....unless something has changed?)

So, like many, I'm still waiting to see what happens with the firestorm of the investigation into the works of Greg Mortenson.

In the meantime, I feel slightly heartbroken and as if a hero has fallen. With regards to that amazing story I read while making my way through Pakistan on our way to my nand's wedding, at this point, I don't know if I really care whether the story is true or partially (completely?) fabricated. What I cared about then -- and what I still care about now -- was in reading about familiar places and experiences and in relating to something that touched my heart so deeply like that of the actual people of Pakistan. Will that feeling change if the story turns out to be fiction? I don't know, but I hope not. I really want to believe that there is good in the world...and Mortenson's story gave me that opportunity.

At this point, I -- like many -- am watching and waiting. For the time being, I'm still standing behind Mortenson and the work that he's done (albeit from a distance). After all, he did spend time away from his own family in order to travel to a 3rd world country to build schools for children he doesn't even know. (Even I don't claim to be that altruistic.)

Sound off in the comments area below: Have you read either of Mortenson's books (Three Cups of Tea or Stones into Schools) and what did you think of them and the recent news on Mortenson?
Have you ever read a book (or seen a movie) that you could completely relate to?

Being sick sucks

2011-05-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Nobody likes to be sick, and I'm certainly no exception. In fact, I hate it (especially when it's something as simple as a common cold). I hate those taking-cough-syrup-and-cough-drops-staying-home-watching-daytime-tv-napping-in-the-middle-of-the-day days. I'm sooo not a fan.

About 3 days ago, my husband came home with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Since then, I've been bringing him soup (in a couple of different varieties!) and tea. Even with me trying to take care of him, we still made our best effort to steer clear of each other to avoid passing whatever "bug" he has (had?) between us.

But it seems that was all for naught because now I feel slightly sick.

It's just a cold, and it doesn't (yet?) seem as bad as what my husband has (had?), so hopefully I'll feel better in a few days (iA). But, in the meantime, I can't help but think of what remedies would help speed up my recovery.

Whenever I got sick when I was younger and was still living at home, my mom would make me strawberry smoothies (sometimes multiple times a day!) until I felt better. I'm not sure that they had any special "healing powers," but they at least tasted good. (Even as an adult, I still like to have smoothies when I'm sick!)

Whenever I got sick when I visited my in-laws in Pakistan, my saas (mother in law) would trace/write some special words of prayer on my forehead (with her finger). I've gotten sick to my stomach quite a bit during my trips to south Asia, and when that happens, my saas makes me daal chawal (daal with rice) to eat.

Now that my husband ~~has the spring back in his step~~ is about 80-90% recovered, it's kind of his turn to do the taking care of. My husband and I have different methods for getting over illnesses quickly. He tends to rely on regular cups of hot tea (which I'll admit does seem to help somewhat with the sore throat) while I'm more of a load-me-up-with-whatever-over-the-counter-drugs-you-can-find kind of gal.

So you better believe I'll be washing down my lunch today with a strawberry smoothie followed by a cough syrup chaser.

And while everyone else is enjoying their Memorial Day BBQs...I'll be holed up in the house watching reruns on TV. In between napping, that is.

What kinds of remedies do you use for getting over a cold (or other illness) quickly?

The blanket

2011-04-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, one of my husband's favorite shows was Everybody Loves Raymond. At that time, we used to watch reruns of it almost every day. One of our all-time favorite episodes of the show is one titled The Suitcase/Baggage.

The premise of The Suitcase/Baggage episode is about a suitcase at the bottom of the stairs that neither Ray nor Debra want to move, and, like most things involving Ray on Everybody Loves Raymond, hilarity follows.

Anyway...it doesn't sound as funny when I describe it. So, here, watch this clip on YouTube:

Last week, we had a similar situation in our home. You see, the weather lately has been cold-rainy-warm and sunny-rainy-warm-cold-sunny (pretty much in that order). During one of the warm spells, we turned off the heater.

Rumpled blanket by paulisakson

A few days later, it got cold again, and my husband pulled a blanket out of the closet to use on his side of the bed. The very next day it turned warm again, and the blanket later found its way to the hall floor...abandoned in a rumpled mess. And there it remained for 1-2 weeks. (To be clear, in our home, we share the cleaning duties and other household chores, so this has nothing to do with gender roles or my husband thinking I should pick it up.)

Even though the blanket was right in the middle of the hall walkway, both of us pretty much forgot about it. I myself passed by it several times without giving it a second thought.

A few days ago, I was doing the laundry and noticed the blanket still lying there outside the laundry room door. So...I put the blanket away in the hall closet.

So shauhar (husband), I know you're reading this, and I warned you I'd be writing about it. So just so there's no confusion about what this means...it means: I'll be the one...who put it away. :)

Have any of you ever been in a stalemate with your spouse that ended in a funny way, and if so, what happened?

What to do when a cow is chasing you?

2011-04-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those days where you find yourself Googling strange topics? That was me the other day when I Googled: "what to do when cow chasing you."

Let me back up a little bit. Several years ago, my husband and I, along with James and his wife, were training to hike Yosemite's Half Dome. Those days, we were doing a hike pretty much every weekend, and Fremont's Mission Peak Regional Preserve was a great hike for our training (it's 4 miles up and has a 2,100 feet elevation change). We ended up doing Half Dome that year. (Actually, the gals skipped the cable portion but otherwise did everything else, so that's still over a 14 mile hike.) Then the following year, we all hiked 8.5 miles on Yosemite's Panorama Trail (the guys actually hiked more that day). Then 2 years ago, we hiked 9.4 miles on Yosemite's Upper Yosemite Falls trail.

Paragliders at Mission Peak
(click photo to view larger)

The last couple of years have been kind of hectic, so we haven't been able to do as much hiking even though I wanted to because hiking really keeps me in shape. (Though I did hike Mission Peak by moonlight with some friends on a cold night in late 2009.) So this year, my husband and I agreed to try to get back into our hiking habit.

Fremont's Mission Peak is a great hike in that it's challenging (did I mention the 2,100 feet elevation change?) and offers sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay Area.

My husband wanted to get up early and climb Mission Peak like the "good old days" in less than 3 hours -- and before breakfast. We I didn't want to push ourselves too hard on the first hike after such a long hiatus, so I suggested we take our dog with us on the hike since Mission Peak allows dogs off leash. It seemed like a great idea to me because as soon as the dog would get tired (and he gets hot and tired pretty quickly!), we'd turn back.

Grazing cattle at Mission Peak
(click photo to view larger)

Our dog did fine on the hike (though he did get tired really early on, and his excessive panting made me look like a terrible dog owner....even with the constant stops for water). We started hiking back down, and that's where we ran into the trouble. You see, Mission Peak is fenced in and has cows that graze. For the most part, the cows stay away from the trail areas and people, but every now and then you find one of them trying to cross the path.

As we made our way back down, we encountered a female cow with a young calf. (For those wondering, technically, the proper name for it is "cow" instead of "heifer" because it had a calf.) This would have been fine...had the cow (and its calf) not been standing near the only path down. So...we waited (from a safe distance) for them to cross the path. From where we stood about 10 to 20 feet away, our dog had already gone into a stance as if he was afraid or at least submissive.

We waited for both the cow and its calf to cross the path and watched as other hikers descended ahead of us without any issue (while we waited). When the cow got to the other side of the path, we started forward...with trepidation. My husband went first and then me with our dog on the leash (in an effort to be extra careful). The cow had its back to us. My husband passed the cow and its calf with no issue, and I was right behind him with our dog on the opposite side of me (away from the cows). When the dog and I got right up next to the female cow (there was still about 5-10 feet between me and the cow), that's when it started to turn and come after us.

And that's also when I screamed like a little girl.

My husband grabbed the dog's leash from me, and we ran! Well, my husband and I ran, and the dog had a hard time running because he was so tired (and confused about the situation), but we got away as fast as we could.

When we were almost outside the park, we met another woman who said the cows had chased her the previous week and that it scared her (too).

After getting back home, we were able to laugh about the situation. I told my husband that I better Google what to do in case it happens again. So...in case you were wondering, here's what I found online: Yahoo! Answers: What do you do if a cow is chasing you?
I've bookmarked it for future reference, but I'm hoping that was the 2nd -- and last -- time a cow chases me. (Oh, I didn't mention that wasn't my first crazy cow encounter? Well...that's a story for another day.)

Whoever came up with this idea is a genius...

2011-04-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not a regular reader of BBC News, so it was just sheer happenstance that I stumbled across an article today about something cool happening in Pakistan. "What's this genius idea you speak of," you ask?

The U.S. is spending $20 million dollars to "remake" a local Pakistani version of Sesame Street in Urdu! Here's the article on BBC News. According to the article, the show will be filmed in Lahore and will air on Pakistan national TV and regional language TV channels. The setting of the show will be a village and will focus on a girl puppet named Rani.

During one of our recent trips to Pakistan a year or so ago, our nephew was mesmerized by "baby TV," a channel that plays baby- and kid-friendly shows. (In case you're wondering, no I have no idea if that's really the name of the channel, and yes, pretty much everyone in our family calls it that.) Funny enough, that channel even plays kid-oriented shows late at night (like midnight late!). Pretty much ~~the entire country of Pakistan~~ everybody in our family is a night owl (including our nearly 3 year old nephew), so I guess that's why the cable company continues to schedule kid shows late into the night. So maybe the Sesame Street in Urdu will be showing on that channel(?).

According to the BBC article, the intent of the Urdu Sesame Street show is to boost education....what a great idea!

Time to start practicing how to say:

Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street

in Urdu:

Kiya aap bata suktay hain kay hum kaisey
Sesame Street jaaein?

Become a fan!

2011-04-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Like reading Adventures of a Desi Blonde? Great -- become a fan on Facebook!

Like reading my other site, Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde, too? Even better -- become a fan of it on Facebook too!

Out of the shadows and into the light

2011-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

I started this blog in 2009 at a time when I wanted to add something creative to my life. At that time and since then, I've made a lot of effort to shield my picture and identity from this blog and from you, my readers. As much as I love blogging for this site and telling about my life, I guess I sort of felt a responsibility to myself and my family to maintain some level of privacy. And I appreciate all of you who've stuck by me and didn't pressure me while I kept all of that under wraps.

A few months ago, I took a poll asking you (my readers) if you wanted to see my picture, and many of you voted yes. So I'm stepping out of the shadows and into the light to show you who I am. (You should know that I do this with trepidation...but you've all been such good readers that I know I can expect nothing but kindness from all of you.)

For those who are curious, you can now see a picture of me here. For those who are even more curious, you can see another picture of me here on the 'Introduction' page of my travel site (Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde). For those who aren't at all curious, I commend you! (and might I suggest staying away from those 'Introduction' pages to maintain the mystery? ;) )

Anyway...enough about me. Thanks again to all of you for sticking by me. I'm so happy to have so many regular followers...I guess that means I've been doing something right. I'd love to hear from you about what it is about my blog that made you follow/keep reading. And what better way to find out than by taking another poll? Cast your vote below...or chime in with comments. :)

What is it about this blog that made you follow/keep reading...?

5 Myths about Muslims in America article

2011-04-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

I hate reading negative news or stories when I pick up a newspaper, turn on the tv, or read a website. I know there's a lot of hatred and prejudice out there in the world, but I'm sick of seeing stuff like this.

Some days, I feel like we're never going to learn to live together peaceably.

I recently ran across this article on the Washington Post (published last week).

What a great article. I, like many, consider myself one of those (mentioned in the article) who "...see no contradiction between being American and being Muslim..." If you haven't already read the article, I suggest you check it out. Oh and for the record?: I'm a voting American, and I'm Muslim.

For those looking for a little more humorous news, try this article. (And after you read that, check out Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things.)

Rukhsati can mean sadness, happiness, or...hilarity

2011-04-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

In American culture, there can be any number of reasons why a bride might not be too "broken up" about leaving her family behind when she gets married and moves in with her husband. Maybe it's because of it being a "love" marriage (versus marriages sometimes being arranged in south Asian families) or because American marriages often occur at a time the bride and groom are no longer living at home with his or her parents or because the bride or groom are not on good terms with his or her parents or because a lot of Americans live together before getting married. At any rate, sometimes in American weddings, the bride and groom are just way too excited to start their lives together and that includes living together.

In contrast, in south Asian culture, the girl is usually pretty sad after the marriage when she's leaving her family to go live with her new husband's family. (I say usually because there are, of course, always exceptions.) Maybe it's because girls there are treated like princesses by their family or because the bride is worried she won't be able to see her own family very often (especially when families come from distant cities) or because the bride feels like there are a lot of unknowns (how she'll be treated in her husband's family's home, if she'll be given any freedom to pursue her own interests (like a job or other things), how the family dynamic will be and how she'll get along with the family, and so on).

In Pakistani tradition, rukhsati takes place immediately following a marriage. Rukhsati is just a fancy word for the time when the bride and groom are leaving to start their life together. It happens at the end of the shaadi function after all the "I do's" have taken place. It happens when the new bride (and groom) leave the wedding function to go home with the groom's family (the bride's new in-laws).

I'm not sure whether this tradition is specific only to Pakistan or Islam. (Maybe this also happens in other religions or in other Asian/south Asian countries? I do know it happens even in Pakistani weddings that take place in the U.S.) In Islamic marriages, the tradition also involves a Qu'ran being placed over the bride and groom's heads while they're walking out of the marriage hall (as a form of blessing).

At that time, the new bride officially goes home with her husband for the first time and becomes a part of her husband's family. From that point forward, she's the responsibility of her new husband (and his family) instead of her parents and her family (as it was when she was growing up and before marriage). (That's not to say that she can no longer see her family anymore (not at all!) ... just that her happiness, safety, and care predominantly falls to her husband and his family.)

Most times, rukhsati ends up taking on a sad tone because the bride is usually in tears as she's walking to the car (and even after sitting down in the car). Sometimes other members of the family (like the bride's mother) start crying too.

Here are a few videos of ruksati for those curious about it. Don't miss the last video--it's hilarious! (Oh, and in case you're wondering, I have no idea who these people are in the videos.)

VIDEO 1: Rukhsati on YouTube (below)

I've seen at least 1 bride who didn't cry during rukhsati...but I've never seen a groom acting like the guy in this next video...hilarious!

VIDEO 2: Watch Husband Carefully , hahahahah on Facebook