The beautiful, the wonderful and the Crazy Life of The Ozturks

Turkish Latte!

2011-11-23T14:43:00.001-08:00

Throw a latte lover in the jungle and she'll whip you one up with coconut milk.

Or so the saying should go.

Mommy needed a latte when Starbucks was too far. So she employed all her resources (and Google) and invented her own twist on the traditional Turkish coffee. 3oz Turkish muddy coffee topped all the way up with hot frothed milk.

I am still campaigning for a cappuccino machine for our 7th wedding anniversary.

Trail mix musings

2011-11-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

The best trail mix I'd ever had had to be Sherri's bowl of insanity at Karma Kids NYC while training for teaching yoga to kids. It might have been effected slightly by the amazing mind set I was in in those times...all healthy and om and centered and whatnot.

The second best trail mix might be the one I mixed tonight in my Turkish kitchen. All full of delights that I collected over the course of one night and two..count 'em...TWO shops! Malatya Pazaar and Koylu Peynircilik, both found in my amazing neighborhood within walking distance of my apartment.

I started out small...

...but ran short of space and I had only added about half the goodness.
So I enlisted the otherwise rarely used soup bowl.
Yum. Now it's all in there.

Dried bananas, pineapples, papaya, apricots (Wizard's dad's own), cranberries (yaban mersin in Turkish FYI), and kiwi. Hazelnuts, cashews and peanuts cover the nutty department while shelled sunflower seeds add a band or at least a pretty heavy pattering of vitamin E.

What yummy goodness would be in your dream trail mix?

One of those legendary times...

2011-11-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Wizard's sister Mubareh, sifting through their dried apricot depot. We have 2 kilos of these coming soon.

placekeeper-1

2011-11-04T01:31:00.000-07:00

This post shall have no pictures

2011-10-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

And you can blame my kids for that.

On Saturday we took a trip out to Torium, the biggest shopping mall near us. It boasts many international brands not found in other smaller malls like, Nine West, Marks and Spencer, H&M, Mango, Zara, Pull&Bear, Gap, Sephora, and Swatch. Not to mention, an indoor snow play ground complete with hills to sled down. Skis and snowboards can be rented as well.

As for us, we'd have enough of snow the last winter to last for a life time. So we shielded our eyes from the evil white condensation and walked on.

At first, it seemed like it will be an easy day out as they do provide a 50 minute free play area pass for kids's Monster's age. I spent those 50 minutes flying around H&M trying on clothes.

After that, it was all downhill. Monster tried several times to run away from us (but that's hardly anything new), tried to take off her clothes in a changing room. At Mango she nearly pulled down a rings display, had a meltdown at a shoe store, and lastly jumped off a stool at the food court banging and cutting her lip against the table. We ate food to the "music" of her continuous whining, and the intermittent gagging from Falafal who insisted on biting of chunks of potato fries stolen from the table.

We still managed to keep our spirits up until it was time to go home. We missed the last free bus service provided by the mall that takes you home so we had to hop onto a crowded mini bus. It still would have been fine if BOTH my kids didn't decide that this was the perfect time and place for having a meltdown....in the middle of armpits and asses and bags hitting me in the head and Falafal clawing my scarf off my head.

Falafal was still easy to handle, all I had to do was take him out of the carrier and let the crowd entertain him (or was he entertaining the people?) Monster continued to whine and cry and poke me in my ribs asking for more space (we did manage to get a seat thanks to a friendly rider). By the time we neared home, I had resorted to tuning out to my own kids pretending they were not mine, even considering giving up ONE for adoption (only as a joke of course). Then I felt sorry for the people who would adopt them and decided to do this kindness to humanity and raise these devils on my own.

One thing was confirmed though and I informed Wizard of this too: I am good with these 2 kids! I have no wish to go through these days again with another 3 year old and a 6 month old. We'll have to tolerate Falafal since he's here anyway and hopefully make the 6 year old Monster take care of his 3 year old issues (muahahaha). No way am I messing up this situation any further.

Of course, Wizard laughs at me and goes "In a few years you will want another baby and you know it."

So I had to tell him "I shall write a detailed blog post on what happened today and use that as a hormonal deterrent."

So here it is, the post that shall be tagged so I can read it "when hormones attack my brain cells" and I am conned into wanting another child.

Are there days when you want to contact a child psychologist just to explore your options, or contact a mental hospital?

That one image...

2011-09-30T04:37:00.001-07:00

Every time I head out in the world, I am always on the look out for that one moment in time captured in a photograph that can sum up my life. I have yet to find that one image that will contain my life inside a frame...

I am not even sure if it is probable. My life has been so complicated from the very beginning. I used to think my early years were probably incident free but came to realize that they still had a great impact on my adolescent years. There is a 6 year old hiding in my heart and she remembers everything.

Perhaps, it is merely wishful thinking...wanting to go back to those days when we were living our life not aware of how it will change our future. Had I known about my future, I might have stared at a neighbor's garden a little bit longer, committed to memory the feeling of stealing falsay from a tree a little bit harder. I would have asked another question or two, I would have acted to certain people differently. More kindly.

Had I known. Had I known my life will be so interesting in the future, I would have felt better about the mundane little things that brought me down.

I confess, it will be a hard task to find an image that will sum my life in a photograph. Yet, I keep on searching... for me it's the journey that is the adventure, not the destination.

Got Milk?

2011-09-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sure, I have some recent unforgettable moments too, like the one with Wizard's sister in law showed me her milk cabinet filled to the brim with packaged milk. I naively asked her "Won't it all go bad? Why isn't it in the fridge?" As if I've never seen UHT treated milk before. *Sigh* It was becoming a fad as I left Pakistan in the fall of 2003 and we did prefer it over unpasteurized milk because our milk man kept trying to keep the traveling milk cool by melting ice blocks in the milk cans....ice blocks that had been sitting next to horses and their copious dung!

(Side bar: When we moved to Lahore from Karachi in the summer of 1997, my brother wondered why his hair was turning a slight shade of green by each evening. A kind cousin explained it was the dried horse dung hanging in the air over Mall Road.)

http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/hsingh2/articles/milk.research.pdf

To be honest, I'm not convinced that UHT treated milk is good for human consumption. I'm of the times when unpasteurized milk was boiled twice and cooled before drinking and that was that. We never got sick, and certainly were not lactose intolerant. I do remember the first few times we started drinking Haleeb Milk (Pakistan's UHT treated milk brand), yes, it caused a number of issues with too many bathroom trips afterwards. I never really connected the two.

All I know is, you can't make yogurt with UHT treated milk and that is cause for concern hahaha.

Edit: Since I started writing this post, I have discovered the existence of unpasteurized milk in Istanbul as well. I'm seriously contemplating switching us all back to that.

I'm curious to what my few readers think. Please share your experience with unpasteurized, pasteurized, and/or UHT treated milk.

Turkish surprise number 19

2011-09-13T01:53:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, hubby will bring something new from the market and ask me "Did you have this in Pakistan?"

Thank you for rubbing in the wounds my love, no, even if we did I won't remember it because I haven't been back in ages!

This time though, we had an interesting argument. He brought back "Kızılcık," a small berry that grows on trees the height of apple trees. It looks like a cross between cherries and cranberries. My first bite into it, I cringed...it was extremely tart! While I was trying to bring myself back from tart-induced-confusion, Wizards exclaimed "I KNEW you'd like it!"

Huh?

I about died from the possibly poisonous berry and what part of my flailing for water and gacking into the sink did I look like I enjoyed it?

"Oh you ate the unripe one, they still need to sit and ripen a bit."

Why thank you for that important piece of information!

Three days later, I bit into the now darker berry tentatively. There was still a hint of that fruit of death tartness, but it was more pleasant this time. The flesh left my mouth feeling dry and it reminded me of...

Jamun!

Could it be? Have I found jamun in Turkey?

Jamun you see, has some beautiful memories associated with it. It gets harvested from tall trees late summer into the monsoon season. My earliest memory of Jamun happened at our neighbor's home where older girls seasoned the purple berries with salt and pepper. With the jamun in one bowl, and another bowl held over it, they would shake the berries till the salt made some of the juice start leaving the fruit. "To lessen their tartness," they explained.

Most other times I ate jamun, the memories were ruined by the stupid worms creeping out just before we were about to pop the entire thing in our mouths. There were a few times when after finishing off half a bowl of the purple fruit, we'd realize that every berry was in fact compromised and o.m.g. we already ate like half a kilo of worm infested fruit!!!!

Thank fully, the worm prefers to reside not in the flesh of the jamun, but the seed. Or so I like to tell myself every time I remember that god damned (yet extremely tasty) fruit.

To replicate the same memory, I seasoned kızılcık with salt and pepper, shook them till they got watery and inspected for worms.

No worms.

As I dug into my bowl of jamun-related-but-better berries, I realized, I had found yet another silver lining.

My Very Own Pepper Chain

2011-08-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

Drying peppers grown in Wizard's family garden in Malatya.

Monster's first "person" drawing!

2011-08-17T02:48:00.000-07:00

Monster, 3 years and 3 months old. Draws her very first person drawing =) Complete with eyes and NOSE!

Salma Said It: Daddy would have Killed you!

2011-08-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Every time I am cutting watermelon slices out, slicing precariously close to the whitish parts, I know I'm NOT doing it right. As it is, Wizard happens to be a scrooge about wasting food, so in spite of all my pleadings that "the white part is NOT for eating, it is the reason you get stomach ache after eating watermelon" he refuses to let me waste it. So I continue the atrocity that is, not sparing the white, and cut it out as Wizard showed me.

Alas, every time I cut a watermelon at my sister's house, she never misses a chance to tell me (accompanied with a dramatic gasp) "If Abbu (our late father) was alive, he would have killed you." You see, my dad loved watermelon and took delight in cutting and delicately picking out the seeds out of single bite pieces for his family. He would NEVER have left the white meat on.

Each time Salma tries to keep me from adding on the pale pink and white meat on to the watermelon slices, I think to myself "But Wizard will kill me if I waste the white part and HE IS ALIVE!"

Here you go my love, enjoy the stomach ache that is sure to follow.

Cultural Nuances

2011-08-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Add this to my list of cultural food that I laughed at and then ate my words because I loved them!!!

Sure, it looks innocent enough. Kinda like, Tang, no?

Except, this baby is going to get a HOT bath!
And no, it doesn't have Vitamin C in it, although that would have been a great idea.

The two other foods that I initially laughed at and then later loved are "Ketchup with Omelette" (Thank you Sadia and Omer!) and Mexican Mangoes with Hot Sauce. I kid you not!!! You'll thank me for pushing you over the prejudice! TRY IT!

Ozturk Family's first day out

2011-08-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

A candid shot of Father and Daughter at a doner place in Taksim Square, Istanbul. August 3, 2011

Just a regular breakfast table

2011-08-04T15:07:00.001-07:00

The Wizard choreographing the breakfast table while I snap away--July 18, 2011

Another door, another world, another life...

2011-08-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

(Avcilar Sahil, July 17th, 2011)

The Ozturks have moved....

One of our dreams is finally materialized...of living in Istanbul!

We took a chance, at adventure and here we are. It seemed like the right time to escape USA and spend some time with the other part of the family for a while.

What happens next, is still up in air, while we tread smoothly, waiting, patiently for our feet to touch the ground.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my adorable Monster!

2011-05-23T17:51:00.001-07:00

May 18, 2011

Monster's New Castle

2011-04-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

Wizard brought this home yesterday for the princess. She was so excited she actually slept with the unopened box next to her bed.

This morning I tried to set it up...well the box said "Sets up in minutes." Minutes, my ass! I had to spend quality time trying to figure out first, where the slots for the stilts were and then, how the heck do I set it up from the outside???

I think Discovery Kids saw the original European models of stilted tents but only saw the equipment, not how they are set up. FYI Discovery Kids, the stilts go INSIDE sewn, protected tubing that children cannot mess with, and the insert points for those tubing are OUTSIDE the tent where the parent can easily reach them.

Unless you honestly thought a 3 year old will be able to set it up from the inside.

If you are going to copy a design at least make a more than half assed attempt at cheating.

So it starts...again.

2011-04-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Look carefully, that my friends, is a poop stain.

I'm not quite sure if it's from today or from yesterday. What I do know is, I wore this skirt to the dentist...he may or may not have seen it.

The End.

Sleeping in Simon

2011-04-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

April 2nd, 2011 Mr. B, joining the family breakfast table.

March 25th, 2011

2011-04-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

Mr. B, born March 25th, 2011 at 8.03am at home. Weighing in at 6 lbs and 6 oz, 20 inches long...a peanut. Photograph taken at day 3:

Knitting Projects

2011-04-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

Long ago I'd read somewhere, "if you learn knitting by knitting a scarf, that's all you'll ever knit!" So after I did learn knitting by knitting a scarf, I promised myself I'll try my hand at more complicated things. So here are the projects I've made so far:

These still need to be lanolized but are going on the squishy's bum soon! Just as soon as he grows enough to fill them in =)

More DIY projects

2011-03-21T05:52:00.001-07:00

After finishing several double sided wipes, couple of wool soakers, this Mama was feeling confident enough to try her hand at DIY changing pad covers.

The fact that store covers are 16.99 each and I'm short on cash to spend on pretties was another factor pushing me.

I found a cute tutorial online here, and this couldn't have been easier! Even without a sewing machine, it just took a little more careful than usual hand stitching, and the result is spectacular so far. The measurements and instructions are spot on and easy to understand, and I bet it would have taken me even less time had I been using a sewing machine. Without a machine, it took me barely under an hour to size up, cut down and stitch up. I still have to go around making the tube to feed the elastic through it, which I'm judging from my own speed will take less than 10 minutes.

Monster's last ride

2011-03-15T16:04:00.001-07:00

In this particular carrier at least:

Just look at that face!!!

In preparation for Falafal

2011-03-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

I'd been busy making a wrap out of Osnaburg and needed to fancy it up. Wizard wanted elephants, so I found elephants.
And then, decided, that Wizard needed a carrier of his own:

So I got him a black Maya Tei from the For Sale or Trade forum on TheBabyWearer.Com and made this:

Who says babywearing has to be expensive?
Cost of Osnaburg+zigzag hemming for shrinking+supplies $49+, Cost of Maya Wrap $60.

February Memories

2011-03-15T15:55:00.001-07:00

Sledding through the neighborhood
Menands, NY

My dancing Ninja

2011-02-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

I asked Monster to strike a pose and this is what she gives me:

I really do think she's about to pounce! After many blurry pictures of begging her to stop moving (how DO you make a toddler stop moving??? Benadryl? But how do they pose?), we had one worthy of sharing.

Well, it's better than the rest of the 15 shots I took...

Thank you Emilie for the gorgeous gift =) You, Miranda and Bruce are one of the kindest people I came to love in Sunnyside, NY! We miss you *muah*

My first Granola made at home

2011-02-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

Granola is the one thing that even Wizard doesn't hesitate from splurging on regularly. If I can find it for cheap, his eyes light up and he chalks the store down as the preferred granola source for a long time.

I got some great/cheap/tasty/crunchy granola from the Honest Weight Food Coop here in Albany but something got me thinking, and I picked up rolled oats, organic raisings, dried cranberries too. One month later, I gather all required ingredients including real maple syrup and hunker down to look up recipes.

By the time I find one that I like, we've drained the maple syrup on the Fluffiest Pancakes on the Planet. Shucks!

Plan B, honey. Now, honey is not cheap! Especially the one Wizard has in his browser Favorites and that he orders every few months. More on that later when our next order comes in.

I had to improvise and keep costs down, so instead of the fancier $10 variety, I picked up a Hannoford store brand blue berry honey...which isn't bad, not bad at all.

I mashed up a few recipes to include all the ingredients that I did have, and exclude the ones that I didn't. This was the base recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar*

Smattering of ground cinnamon

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp+2 tsp canola oil

Two drops of vanilla (I hate the artificial vanilla I have at hand)

Mix all dry ingredients together, I added chopped cashews and hazelnuts, maybe a fistful.

Mix all wet ingredients well and pour over the oats, nuts combo. Stir together well and spread out on an ungreased baking sheet. I took bunches of oats and squeezed them into balls to make them stick to each other. Then stuck in a preheated over at 345 degrees for 10 minutes.

Facebooked for 10 minutes, thought about Nutella and how I must. not. buy. another jar.

Came back, stirred the now nicely toasting oats and added a handful of raisins and cranberries. Stuck back in the over for another 5 minutes.

I love looking at my jarful of homemade granola =) All it needs is a little yogurt topping, maybe a a tablespoon of strawberry preserve and it makes the crunchiest parfait I've ever had.

Of course, I eat it most regularly to make my midnight cereal snack crunchier =)

Snowflakes

2011-02-01T05:32:00.001-08:00

In school, I used to be obsessed with creating geometric snowflakes. While girls were doodling FLAMEs with their names and names of cute boys, I was busy with filling my notebook with snowflakes everywhere. Drawing them inspired me, so it is no surprise to me that watching snowflakes stick to my car window made me want to take photographs again....even in this dreary snowpocalypse weather.

New Year, New Place, Same old Me

2011-01-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

Like a new chapter of a story, our January started.

On the morning of January 1st, in the midst of mountains of snow from the blizzard, my brother, Wizard and his friend C started emptying out our Sunnyside apartment. One by one, my memories were taken down and out: the dreamcatcher hanging in the foyer because I didn't know it was a dreamcatcher until a friend told me, the kitchen shelf that caught a small fire when Monster stuck a plastic bowl inside and turned it on just before heading out with Wizard and which I discovered just before I went for a shower! It was trashed of course.

I had packed all the fridge magnets the night before and emptied it out. I hated staring at that white blank piece of thing: it had suddenly lost all personality.

In my mind, I held on to the thoughts of my friends and who will still be here when I make my way back. I hadn't even left Sunnyside yet, and was already dreaming of coming back in a year.

By 4 o'clock--5 hours off schedule, we were ready to strike the tarmac. My brother left with the uHaul first, C and his girl friend took my brother's van and Wizard, I and Monster led them into Albany.

Late into the night, the men worked to heave everything up into our third floor apartment. It will take even longer for me to put everything in its place not just for organization, but to also restore some of the character our knick knacks collected over the years tend to bring to our space.

I'm still working on it. I had to work on getting Monster to accept this space as her new home first though. Only recently does she not yell at me angrily when I say "we're going home" and drive her to this apartment. The first few days, she'd think we're going back to Sunnyside everytime we got into the car. It broke my heart and it took a lot of strenght to not break down into tears in the middle of I-87 South and just keep driving till I entered NYC.

Even now, whenever I am driving along this route, I have to fight the urge to miss all exits and just keep going South, south to my home.

Not here, not for now

2011-01-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

365Tasveerain will be going on a temporary hiatus, until I find my will to take pictures and write about life again.

Till then, send positive vibes towards the general direction of Albany, NY. I'm sure the sheer force of gravity of my specific blackhole will attract them all in. Many thanks, Ayesha

Play dates and friends

2010-12-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

December 26th, 2010

So my lovely friend Wafa decides to make life easier for me and invites us over for her son's birthday (he turned 4!) on the day we were dreading spending all alone due to the impending snow storm/blizzard creeping towards the North East.

It was so exciting! The prospect of hanging out with my cool desi friend (plus some more!) and add to that her cooking and CAKE?! Are the lucky stars shining down on me at the end of this year or what? Armed with a gift (that was a snap to shop for by the way! Shopping for boys' clothes may be a pain in the butt, but much to my delight, I've discovered that shopping for toys for them is a fun filled snap.)

Iza's first question to me when I told her where we're going was "Who is Mus-tafa?"

Of course, when "Mustafa" opened the door she immediately shouted MU-FADA! So apparently, that's the only way she knows him and that's how he shall stay =)

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2010-12-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

Just like Eid is to Pakistan (and other Muslim countries), Christmas is to NYC. Some stores do the wild thing and stay open 24/7 for last minute shoppers, unaware that in a country far away, 24/7 shopping is the norm during Ramadan.

To me, the crowds in NYC are no different, the streets lit with holiday lighting none the brighter that what I grew up seeing in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan. In my own personal mind, when I'm in the middle of NY shoppers and tourists, I'm back in my country during Eid. Which is probably the real reason why I love Christmas time now so much.

We'd tried taking Monster to see the huge tree at Rockefeller Center twice before, once in 2008 and then in 2009. Both times, little miss Routine was fast asleep.

Above, 2008,

And here, again she's asleep on Wizard's back.

Finally this year, we saw her face light up brighter than the tree when she craned her neck upwards to taken in the giant!

We managed to show her the nutcrackers outside Radio City Hall in 2008 below:

But it was in 2010 she showed any interest in the giant-sized toys:

In spite of all that she does to make us tear our hair out and make Wizard go prematurely gray haired, I can't help but fall in love with her and every time she gives me this sweet big smile.

This girl is truly my little super Star!

Last days in NYC

2010-12-25T14:28:00.001-08:00

It had to happen one day, right? It is as if with every child you conceive, you are inviting a change in destiny. All that happens next is attached interminably with the destiny of the new person who you're bringing into the world.

We'll make the most of our time left in NYC, memories, pictures, Wizard's funny comments will all be immortalized here. One day we'll look back fondly at these entries.

Friday 24th, 2010

Playground at 14th Street Union Square

One of the reasons I have always loved NYC is that like us, numerous families bring their children out to play in the playgrounds despite freezing temperatures. The small apartments make it almost a necessity to step out and let the children run around in the cold air to let their wheeby jeebies out.

At the end of the day, we went down our list of most favorite snacks and food available only in NYC, and tonight we decided on paying a visit to *our* cupcake haven...Buttercup Bake Shop. Other people might prefer Magnolia, but we would never brave the lines.

Why must I always...

2010-12-18T16:42:00.000-08:00

...get obsessed with evil-natured food?

First it was these that resulted in the end of my continued affair with pre-pregnancy jeans into my sixth month of pregnancy. Now, Smitten Kitchen's beautiful pictures of Buckeyes lured me in in an new trap: chocolate coverd peanut butter balls.

Yes, I said that right. CHOCOLATE covered PEANUT BUTTER balls.

In what universe does that NOT capture everyone's every single waking moment of thought?

I should never have, never ever have gone to that page twice. The more I read it, the easier it seemed to accomplish.

Unfortunately, seeing them disappear is wreaking a havoc on my guilt system.

I present to you, the evil Buckeyes:

Yes, I'm perfectly aware they look a little...weird. I'm not good at dipping stuff, and who the hell cares when it's PEANUT freakin' BUTTER and CHOCOLATE?

You can find the recipe here, but beware and enter Smitten Kitchen at your own risk!

Chickpea's first gift

2010-12-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

This is the first thing we've bought for ChickPea yet! We're luckily covered for clothes (lots of gender neutral clothes that I never used for Monster because they were too....yellow or green, will finally come in handy). We're also good with newborn toys, cloth diapers and socks. Since there wasn't much to buy this time, I splurged on this amber necklace from Inspired by Finn.

These necklaces allegedly help with teething, colic and general discomforts of newborn babies. I'm eager to try and see if they really do make a difference. I'll be especially interested in how it affect the baby in the 6th month sporadic sleep period, during which Wizard and I had official joined the league of zombies when Monster was teething.

Warm Sweet Flashbacks

2010-12-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

It's a typical Karachi winter night with just a slight chill in the air and the lights go out. The neighborhood is dipped in darkness during another power loadshedding planned by the city. At this time, another far away part of the city is washed in lights after their own few hours spent without power.

This is the time the neighborhood buzzes the most. The TV sets are off, the kids cannot do their homework anymore and the best thing to do is to hang out in the gardens, courtyards or verandahs of the houses. Each family probably has the same impromptu set up as we did in our home: chairs and tea tables are brought out and set up in a circle. The parents chat with each other and with the older children, while the younger kids run around in and out of the homes finding their pals in the dark.

This one of the fondest memories I have treasured from my home in Karachi, Pakistan. Long before the terrorism started, we'd never heard of shoot outs and the only gun I'd ever seen was a BB gun that we shot the feral rats with. Late into the night, or early hours of the morning depending on whether it was a weeknight or not, the children would run without fear as far as several blocks away from homebase.

If there was one thing that was successful in collecting all the AWOL children, it was the mong-phali waala, the peanut-seller. In pitch darkness, we'd hear his copper bell chiming, as he'd roll a rickity rectangular rairi , a largish flat bed cart, piled high with roasting peanuts and myriad sweets into the street.

Long before you hear the bell chiming, a few seconds before you can see the halo of lantern light near the corner at the end of the street, you can smell the fresh roasting peanuts. Our sudden calls to Abbu, Baba, Daddy, Ammi, Mom or mama for money are drowned by the mong-phali waala's now loudly chiming bell.

The women shout out their own requests "Aik rupay ki revri bhi lena!" "Mere liye chilli hui mong-phali!" as we sprint to the mong-phali waala, trying to get there before others and beat the crowd. Washed by the yellow light of the lantern, warmed by the slow roaster sitting on the rairi, you see all your pals waving money and being rewarded with steaming packets of peanuts, roasted corn or digging in immediately in the cones of candy being handed out. One of them, my favorite and that is all I'm here for. Gijjik! I may mix it with my sister's shelled peanuts order, and I know she won't want any of my Gijjik. Most of it ends up on the eater's clothes and hands, so kids are usually the only ones who truly appreciate the fluffy, flossy goodness.

Years later, having married into a new culture, I am pleasantly taken back to my childhood whenever I see Pismaniye, or Pashmak as the Iranians call it. A desi version of cotton candy, before machines started spinning colored bits of sugar into a cloud, we had Gijjik. Pulled sugar, often spikey where the sugar strands crystallized too much, was still a pleasure to pull with your fingers and carefully place in the mouth trying not to lose the powdery bits too much.

Pismaniye is the grown-up version of Gijjik! Sprinkled with pistachio powder, the pulled sugar is softer and finer than I remember. It's a light delicate taste that melts in your mouth almost as soon as it appears. Also known as Dragon's Beard to the Chinese, it is perhaps one of the most tangible, most available treasure keeper of memories most fond to me.

I've been having pismaniye on special occassions when we find it in a store and I wrote this for my friends and family to understand where my obsession for this otherwise ordinary sweet comes from. Those nights are special to me, as they preceeded all that happened in my life after: moving to a new neighborhood, losing my friends, growing up in a household rife with financial troubles and me a 12 year old suddenly realizing that I can understand what not having enough money means! Onwards to losing my father, losing so many loved ones as I am moved to a different city....on and on...and on goes my life.
Even in the darkest times in my life to come, dark nights like this, of running with friends and shelling roasted peanuts on an utterly dark night, always shined the brightest in my memories, and I was able to escape in my mind to that innocent oblivion. So when I keep talking about pismaniye, I hope my friends now know, what I'm really talking about in between my lines.

Forget a melon, I have the entire salad covered!

2010-11-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

Each Friday, I receive a cute little email from Babycenter informing me that I have in my tummy anything from carrots, to avocados to this week's, spaghetti squash. Yes, the miracle I'm growing is beginning it's little life being compared to vegetables.

The spaghetti squash threw me for a few minutes as I tried to recall the size of this type of squash...I'd only seen it a few times at Whole Food's grocery section!

Well, I can't complain because to be fair, I myself have been calling it "our little chickpea" and plan on calling it a falafal when it's all done in March next year =)

Another little Ozturk is joining our team of Anne, Baba and Monster. I'm hoping I have someone who doesn't find it funny to disappear in a small living room within 5 seconds while only scooting backwards!

Our third eye, or is it love?

2010-11-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

I love my couch and it's well known so that Wizard doesn't really mind when at the end of a long day, I boss him around to fetch me things...often as random as my glasses or hand cream or Monster's library book.
Tonight, I'd just found a very comfortable spot and realized I'd left my iPad plugged in in the kitchen. Wizard was just in the kitchen but didn't reply when I called his name. I thought he didn't hear me so I didn't tell him anything, thinking I'll just send him back when he comes out. I hear him behind me and turn my head to ask him to get me my iPad and what do I see in his hands near me?

Oh yes. My iPad.

He snickered that he knows what I want before I want it.

And I simply fell a little more (as if that's possible) in love with him.

Salma said it: Standars are like water

2010-11-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

My sister occasionally produces these marvelous brain farts that can convey pretty deep messages if you can stop laughing for a few minutes. These need to be immortalized somewhere before she writes her own book and gets picked by the Oprah Book Club.

Her friends will really appreciate this =)

Today I confronted her that her standards are different for whenever it suits her and how come she can't make up her mind, she came up with this:

"It's like water, it gets stagnant if you don't change it often. Standards need to be changed so they don't get stagnant."

=D

Wizard's Pearls of Wizdom

2010-10-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Veysi: Monster has body hair appearing on her legs!!!

Me: Yeah, so? She's half pakistani, what else did you expect?

Veysi: It's not from spicy food, right? She ate some today.

My poor hairy desi girl.

An emotional night for me

2010-10-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Granted, a lot of things make me emotional these days, this one is a gem.

Wizard and I have frequently talked about instilling Islamic values in our daughter and agree on most things except one: Hijab. I think Monster should wait till she's 16-17 years old to even consider covering up and personally, if she decides not to it wouldn't be an issue with me if she at least agrees on staying true to other qualities of hijab apart from covering the head.

That is the age when I took up the hijab and I'll admit, peer conformity may have played some role. Even at that age however, I made the conscious decision that if I'm going to adapt someone else's way of life, I'll make sure it's something better than what I'm used to. Every day with the hijab, I was aware that I had definitely traded up.

I can only hope, Monster makes those kind of friends at that ripe age who make her want to be better than she is...and not just socially but religiously as well. After all is said and done, it's the trust in HereAfter that will carry her through many a heartaches, let downs, and disappointments. If there is one thing I can leave my children with, is the knowledge and hope, that this life is only temporary and not half as important than the life that will begin at the end of this world.

There is a saying in Persian that goes Avval qawaish, baad dervesh. Practice begins at home. Tonight as I set the table, Wizard joined us late at the table because he was praying. Monster wanted to "pray" (her version of whispering into her little jaa-e-namaaz and kissing it for sajjdah) as well, so I promised her she can pray with me after dinner. She confirmed from me several times that I will pray too and settled into dinner.

After dinner, I made wud'u and she picked out a scarf for me to wear, then continued to dig for a scarf for herself. She told me to tuck it "under chin" and stood patiently while I wrapped the longish scarf around her. Then she told me the magic words.

"I look pretty!"

Sniff, yes you do my little heart!

Bonus funny:

After praying, she asked me to stuff one baby doll down her shirt and the other one to be wrapped on her back. I'm raising the next generation of Muslim Attached Parents:

Grilling saves dinner

2010-10-18T18:27:00.001-07:00

I don't need to rub it in my own face, yeah, dinner is not my favorite activity. Eating? Yes. Cooking? Uh, not so much.

I try to get out of long cooking sessions as much as I can. I've even mastered the fine art of cooking intricate Pakistani dishes in batches done in morning, noon and night instead of all at once. Oh hell, I'll admit more: I skip at least 10-15 minutes of sauteing, frying and "Bhoon-ofying" of masalas at every step, so I can finish cooking quicker. So there really isn't any surprise that my dishes come out only half-assed lolz.

The one thing I love doing however, is grilling. Not the outdoorsy kind, just the electric kind. If we were to stay in US longer than mid-next-year as is in the cards right now, I'd go buy myself a fancier electric grill pronto.

Among grillable foods, my favorite and by far the yummiest is grilled chicken breast. I don't use any premade spices. All I use are freshly grated garlic cloves, a bit of salt and lemon juice. I oil the meat as it sits on the grill and recycle the drippings that collect in the grill tray.

I did this time though, use a bit of chicken tikka masala I got from Patel Brothers, and I think it might have come out better if I had used a lot more than I did. Monster ate the ones grilled without masala, mixed with white rice (her staple, of course), while Wizard and I made mini tacos with corn tortillas.

October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2010-10-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

1. Use picture of a pink ribbon as your Facebook picture for a month.

2. Trend one tweet each day and quote a breast cancer statistic.

3. Dedicate a blog post to creating awareness about Breast Cancer and encourage readers to get mammograms regularly.

4. Start an email petition asking your address book friends to sign the petition once they've a. scheduled a mammogram, or b. talked to a mother, aunt of relative about scheduling a mammogram.

5. Start a text chain asking all the females on your contacts, "Did you have a mammogram this year?"

6. Promote breastfeeding by forwarding a link like the one included in this post to a pregnant friend whose researching her feeding options.

Share articles on your facebook, not where you leave your handbag. Even if you're serious about creating awareness and not repeating suggestive updates, the message does nothing to encourage women to get checked regularly. They do as they are told, laugh a little at the shock value and then go on with their day.

An article gets them thinking, hitting trackbacks, reading related stories, reading comments, commenting. THIS is awareness.

A study by Yale University researchers showed that women who breastfed for two years or longer reduced their risk of breast cancer by 50 percent.

From Lewin Farms, Long Island

2010-10-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

Photographer Me

Camera Sony dsc h10

Natural light

Chivalry is so not dead in our home

2010-10-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Me: (faced for the first time with a can of coffee that needed a can opener to be opened) I really need an automatic can opener, ~~so I can feel fancier~~

Wizard: Why? I'll open them all for you baby.

*swoon*

Mothers of two or more, I respect you!

2010-10-05T11:27:00.001-07:00

Talk about imminent nervous breakdown!

How do moms do it with two, three or oh my God three kids? How do you go shopping?

It's not the process of getting there, neither is it the hunger pangs, or whining....my Monster is past all that. We're well versed in the miracles of secret baggies of pretzel snacks procured right at the start of a tantrum. Its the happy moments that leave me tearing my hair out.

We decided a rainy Monday morning would be the perfect time to go shopping for winter clothe for Monster who has out grown all her clothes from three months ago. I knew it would be useless to even try to fit her in her last year's winter clothes (if I could actually remember where I stowed them in my cavernous one bedroom NYC apartment.)

Children's place was packed by people who obviously share great minds with us. I wish they'd also learn to spare personal space. I swear I may have unwittingly used this small lady as a step ladder a few times as she kept creeping right.behind.my.huge.bum. Really? How many times do you want to get your feet crushed before you get the hint that maybe standing right behind me is not a good idea?

Then there is my unstillable spinning top who needed to try on the adorable jeans I found in her size...plus a few bagfuls of clothes. I managed to reduce the pile of try on clothes to save me the trouble of dancing around little restless. I was near tears anyway after the fiasco of trying on snow boots with no success even though they were a size up , until Wizard reached in and pulled out a wad of paper from the toes.

I had to park my bottom on the nasty floors to push, tug and yank clothes on and off little angle, who looked so adorable in every outfit that I needed to think long and hard about our financial situation to put back a few of the more expensive outfits.

After all the bloodless limbs, torn scarves and scratched faces (mine, each time Mknster decided to lean against my facial skin for support) , we came home with a decent enough addition to her wardrobe.

The purple hoodie top right was $4.99 and the green leggies just $2.99 on clearance. SCORE!

The darn snow boots with hidden compartments, and the ultra mod pink leopard skirt that was also on clearance for just 5 bucks!

I'm still looking for more jeans, tights and clothes to wear at home. Holding a clothing swap two weeks from now that I'm hoping lots of moms will bring 3T clothes to exchange. That should be interesting.

I knew this would happen

2010-09-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

In the early years of our marriage, I used to go to a nearby Turkish cultural center to learn the language from a great teacher, Zafer. Our class had great chemistry and we looked forward to class after work/college every week. We missed each other during the off days so much that we forced Zafer to meet with us over the weekend as well. We'd study grammer and then wrap up the class over tea and snacks, sharing stories from each other's day.

Somewhere in between, guests would come and join us. There was one lady, a latina married to a Turk, and who also had a 18-19 year old half Latino/half Turk son. I don't remember much about the lady, but the kid was a piece of work! He spoke English well enough but when he started speaking Turkish, it was like a stand up routine. He'd only have to ask for another glass of tea and we'd be laughing ourselves out of our chairs. It had to do somewhat with the accent, a bit with the word placement and I bet now, a whole lot with him just milking his Turk-lish charm on us.

I told his mom, I bet when I have kids, they're going to talk just like him and that I couldn't wait!

Well, it's happened. I have a Turk-lish speaking child. Since she's still under three, the charm is natural and the mix ups for real. However, instead of enjoying it, I'm a bit concerned for her.

Tonight, as I was cuddling her and kissing the top of her head, she suddenly piped up "Kiss-may!"

Huh?

And then she pushed me away laughing. Ok kiddo, I get it you don't want me to kiss you, but what did you just say?

Monster: Kiss-may!

Me to Wizard: Does she mean Opme? As in Turkish for don't kiss?

Wizard, always trying to come up with genius solutions: No, she's just saying "me" with a drawl.

Ummm...I don't really think that's what it is.

We can add another Turklish made up words to Dictionary of Monster. Her other Turklish phrases include:
Water-Su, Window kapat (close the window), sit burda (sit here), where is cocuk (where is the kid)among others.

I suppose I should just sit back and enjoy the show for now, and send her to good schools later. I'm additionally scratching plans of teaching her Urdu. That will just limit the pool of potential baby sitters that can speak the required languages to communicate with her to...zero.

Almost Rainy Day

2010-09-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

There have been so many of these that when there is a small break between pouring raining and flash flood warnings, we try to enjoy the short calm and let Monster roam free in a park.

Her last time in Lou Lodati a few days ago, she had her face painted for the first time. It was a perfect small, quick application by a nice lady that showed up with a kit and painted butterflies on all kids' faces.

Kid: This is fun! Me: This is sad!

2010-09-21T11:53:00.001-07:00

At Lou Lodati Park:

Some older kids deconstructed the barriers put up there to keep kids away from a particular corner of the park, and piled everything together to make a wobbly see-saw.

At first, they tried sitting on the ends, pushing each other up and giggling like innocents kids do. Monster was curious too and they even let her sit in the middle securely for a while. I felt such sympathy for these kids as they ooh'ed over the structure they rarely see in NYC playgrounds. I wished for a moment that the city would start including see-saws in the playgrounds again.

Then I immediately took my generous sympathies back when,

The kids literally started jumping off of the slab of wood using it like a diving board! A few times Monster barely got out of the way as the slab swung sideways because someone just pushed it without warning.

This is why city will never include see-saws in the playgrounds: Too many kids getting creative and breaking legs, too many lawsuits over a $100 piece of metal.

Times like these, I wonder how in the world were we such benign children! What are us moms eating now to produce such dare devil children? Or is the lack of opportunities to get hurt naturally making kids curious to test their boundaries?

Should there be a waiver of all rights when parents bring their children to a city park and let them play like we did in the old times? Would it be better for children to fall a few times, skin a knee or two and learn how to stay out of harm's way? Or should we continue over protecting our kids so much that they forget to look both ways when crossing a street?

The View from my napping place

2010-09-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Gantry Plaza, LIC September 21, 2010

Mike Posner Makes us very happy

2010-09-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

Waiting in the car is not something I tolerate well. As young couples, if Wizard took too long inside a shop while I waited outside, I used to spend time fantasizing about taking off and wondering what his face would look like when he can't find the car. I may have moved the car once or twice just to freak him out hehehe.

Waiting in the care with MONSTER is, how can I put it nicely, hell on my nerves. Nope there was no way around it, I have to be honest.

As she's getting more curious, it's a big big risk to let her entertain herself in the driver's seat. What with coins lying around, the car only a push button away from starting, a hand break we couldn't find for the first 5 minutes of leasing the car, there are a host of possibilities what she can do.

In an attempt to entertain myself while keeping her occupied, I desperately try to find her favorite songs on the radio and encourage her to dance so she keeps busy enough to not notice that the cd slot may be a great place to hide coins yikes, Nephew has already done it to my brother's car.

So who gets her attention these days?

Mike Posner You're Cooler Than Me

Ke$ha Take it Off

Enrique Iglesias I Like It

David Guetta Gettin' Over You

Eminem and Rihanna Love the Way you Lie

Selena Gomez Round and Round

among others.

What songs do your toddlers like, and if they are still only dancing to Barney and not interested in Pop, introduce them to some Brooklyn culture! It's all the rage!

Venture into URDU-land

2010-09-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

Eid Mubarak my peeps! Did you all wake up at 3 am starving? No? It was just me then? Shucks!

Well, now Monster is up too, so at least I'm not alone forced to chat with myself. She going to be out of reach for at least another 25 minutes while she watches Curious George with her morning milk though, let me take this time to share what happened the first time I tried to teach Monster anatomy in Urdu.

I pulled out a Karen Katz book one day, determined to at least teach her a few more words in Urdu. She already responds correctly to idhar aao, haath ooper, and calls drinking water her paani-su (yes, it's half urdu, half turkish. Her name for water to play in is water-su).

We successfully talked about haath (hands), pair (feet), naak (nose), kaan (ears), munh (mouth) and then the motherload came...the belly button!

The belly button??? What the heck is a belly button in Urdu??? Soorakh? That's hole! Not very accurate. I can't teach her that there is a hole in her tummy!

So after a few painful seconds of delibration, I put on a big smile on my face and told her "That's yooourrrr......BELLY BUTTON!"

She can find this one out on her own.

Is it my turn now?

2010-09-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Among Wizard's frequent urging for me to speak with Monster in Urdu more, and requesting certain Pakistani dishes, I think we are slowly bringing about a change in our family dynamics.

For the last 5 years, we've been mostly Turkish in all we did. Hung out at Turkish restaurants, with Turkish friends, ate Turkish breakfasts, most food I made was Turkish, even the way I dressed was predominantely in the Turkish trends.

Could it be that it's my turn to revert to my Pakistani roots, and Wizard is actually egging me on?

For example, a few instances of what has been cooking in our home recently:

Fruit Chaat

Dahi Phulkiyan!

Chicken curry with naan (that Wizard ACTUALLY ate!!!)

For those of you who don't know him personally, he's a wheat bulgur guy...through and through. Doesn't eat white rice, brown rice, pita bread, or naan of any kind.

I'd say that this Ramadan, we had parathas 98% of the time for sahoor! And tonight instead of Turkish tea, he ASKED for Rooh Afza... and had two glasses!

I have no idea what's going on in this man's head currently. I'm just riding it out and enjoying the now frequent trips to Patel Brothers =)

Part deux of my Ramadan Resolution

2010-08-30T02:38:00.000-07:00

Remember my resolution to do some charity work at the end of Ramadan? Now here is a way everyone can join me, whether you are or aren't from this flood affected country.

Pakistan's rural areas are currently in crisis with millions of people homeless and waiting for help, or living in crowded situations in relief camps. Helping them is very easy: Just prepare a box of supplies as directed by this video, and contact Pakistan's national airline PIA, on instructions on depositing the box. The airline has promised free shipping to all boxes prepared for flood victims.

Upon landing in Pakistan, the relief supplies will be handed to the Pakistan Army, the most trust worthy organization and the one with the best logistical means to reach all victims.

My only addition to the box would be a pack of sanitary napkins. It would be nice if you can wrap it in a plain paper with a picture of a woman on it, so they know what to do with it without embaressing the women as they open the care packages. (Rural women are extremely shy about this business.)

Contact me if you have any question regarding sending the packages and I'll try to start collecting all information.

EDITED TO ADD INFO:
Procedure of dropping care package at PIA Cargo building can be found at this page.

Oh just leave me alone!

2010-08-29T17:31:00.001-07:00

I had an inkling that this would happen, me falling off my own bandwagon (or horse). It all started with that darn (good) pasta. I didn't fall totally off though, I just stopped eating.

It's just muesli, Joe's-O's and yogurt these days. I'm too sick to cook with my heart. Wizard needs food, so I whip something up for him now and then in large quantities, but I rarely touch it myself.

I tore intercostal muscles on my left rib during Karma Kids Yoga teacher training...on the second day. It sucked! I missed all these great games that the teachers kept helpfully reminding us to enjoy because we wouldn't be able to play games like the human conveyor belt, and human knot and group chair with kids.

Thank you so much for those words while I sat on the sidelines holding my poor ribs.

But, they were nice enough to invite me back to a refresher course a few weeks later and so when I heal, I can experiences the ~~games~~ training again.

While I'm trying to heal, one night Monster decides she needs to stay up all night...no literally! ALL NIGHT! All night as in slept from 9.30 to 12 am and then up till sahoor and went to bed with us at 6.30am.

And of course, she HAS to jump on Anne's poor ribs...sev.er.al.times.

Turns out, SHE'S GETTING SICK TOO! After a night of high fever, and thinking she's just teething, we took her to the doc anyway just to make sure (maybe parent's intuition?). She has the coxsackie virus (that I mentally pronounce to the tune of a much worse two-word adverb curse). Her poor mouth is full of lesions (that are now healing, Alhumdulillah) and blisters on her hands and feet.

PLUS, it's the last week of Ramadan, when I was planning on having my few friends over for iftaar in between the odd-nights of prayers.

As of now, Wizard is the only one unaffected. I'm considering giving him a big blue pinch just to make sure he suffers and doesn't get any sicker than that....Or else, who's going to take care of US?

My Silly Man

2010-08-20T02:06:00.001-07:00

Wizard and I routinely sit down after sahoor and have random chats from dhikr to childhood memories etc.

Yesterday we realized that Monster's new bike will be delivered soon and we wondered how lucky she is that she's not even three and she got her first bike. He asked me when I had my first one. "I probably had a tricycle when I was around 4 I guess because I have clear first memories of riding around the driveway of the house I grew up in," I told him. "But my first real bike, a BMX, I got when I was 10...ish."

"Hmm, I got my first bike when..." Wizard pretended to think. "Wait, I never had a first bike! Cetin [Youngest BIL] got his when he was 4, and all of us three older brothers took turns riding it. Bedri [Older BIL] was 17 and he was forcing his body to fit the bike and managed to still ride it around while Cetin watched. I wonder why it didn't break right away!"

I was laughing so hard, I had stitches in my jaw and tears running down my eyes.

Then this morning, he managed to almost get me crying with laughter again.

We were talking about Julia Roberts getting older and I told him how she reportedly feels better about her age when she thinks that if she's getting older, Richard Gere is also getting even older! My sister shared this with me this piece of gem and yeah we decided (she and I) that we should look at more ancient people to feel better about ourselves getting older.

Wizard looks at me, amused and asks "So are you thinking that when you get old, I must be getting older?"

Uhh.....not really but...

"I'm like wine baby, I'll get better with age. You can't compare youself to me."

Oh man...

On the 9th Day She Cheated

2010-08-19T18:00:00.001-07:00

August 19, 2010

On her vegetarian diet, that is.

But tell me this, what living being can say no to this?

Topsy Turvy Thursday

2010-08-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

*I think Topsy Turvy Tuesday sounds better. Next week!

I'm curious to see any comments from sisters fasting this year: If you had to pull off a non-breakfast Sahoor, and a non-dinner Iftaar (not including the traditional Ramadan snacks), how would you do it?

My first attempt would be to have some kind of protein and carbs in the morning, Goulash for instance with pasta, potatoes and meat and normal breakfast fare for iftaar--maybe some stuffed parathas (fried flat bread), omlettes etc.

Editted: There ARE pictures, man!

Wizard's bunch of left overs
My breakfast-for-dinner!

Ramadan day 7

2010-08-17T18:45:00.003-07:00

August 17, 2010: Stuffed Eggplant, patlican dolmasi.

I don't want to talk about it.

What day is it?

2010-08-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

No really, what day IS it?

I'm totally out of it. Just before iftaar, after preparing the food I laid down for a little rest. Before getting up, I sat up for a few seconds so the blood doesn't rush to my head when I stand up. I -stand up thinking I should be fine now and crash-bang into the dresser...blacked out.

Thankfully it only lasted a few seconds like all my black outs do...maybe it's not really a black out. Anywhooo...

Day 5 of Ramadan marked my birthday =) and I was lucky to have a great friend who offered to watch Monster while Wizard and I got dinner out at TJ Sushi (something he'd been craving for a long time.) So we kissed Monster bye and in the spirit of prancing out into the night sans toddler, forgot my camera at home.

I know!!! I kicked myself on your behalf.

Here is the extremely bad picture of an extremely delicious platter of TJ rolls... it's not often I pinch myself mid-bite to check to see if I've died and gone to heaven:

And me, after I took a long time to clean up to "appear" non-mom-like. Check out my huge earings.

Luckily, they're crochet and weightless. I haunted Etsy endlessly for something like these, and ended up finding them in a small shop in Newport, Rhode Island.

So, back to today and we're working on left overs from the last 5 days of Ramadan. Maybe I need to make this routine.

Vegetarian funny

2010-08-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

Don't remember who said it that being a vegetarian means eating only side dishes? lolz, cracks me up every time =D

Day 3 of Ramadan was nothing worth talking about. We had iftaar with friends at the Turkish Cultural Center in Queens. Everyone ate kebabs that smelled heavenly (except they AREN'T!) except me. I ate salads with the pilaav and cut my lip on a plastic spoon. Yes, you read it right the first time.

Today isn't any better. My blood pressure didn't improve and I felt dizzy most of the day. We ordered out but I managed to make this beauty of a salad. As most beautiful things go however, it only looked good.

Maybe I shouldn't share everything on this blog.

Ok readers, who are you to know when I'm lying? It tasted fantabulous.

I feel a little better.

Day 2- Chicken VS

2010-08-13T02:27:00.000-07:00

2 down 27 to go: August 12, 2010

No pictures as food was the kind that is extremely yummy but very difficult to present: red beans and aaloo ki bhujjia. On the Wizard's plate was chicken karahi that came out pretty good (I ate the gravy, was that a cheat?)

I finally got to do my shopping and in the cart were:
Crisco for parathas the next morning
Extra firm tofu
Veggie patties
Vegan Waffles

I tried to find eggless-eggs but even at Trader Joe's they didn't carry any. So I'm glad to announce that I'm not obliged to give up eggs as they make a huge part of our breakfast. (Squeeee!)

Ramadan Day 1

2010-08-12T01:08:00.000-07:00

1 down, 28 to go: August 11, 2010

Breakfast was a vegan fail. I forgot to get Crisco and couldn't make the breakfast I wanted. We couldn't go to Trader Joe's for my other vegan options. I had to bow down to the power of a bagel-egg and cheese sandwich.

Dinner was a success until I added a huge dollop of Ranch:

Yum!

Midnight ducks

2010-08-10T01:56:00.000-07:00

August 8th, 2010: Sheepshead Bay, close to midnight

It's the simplest thing that inspires

2010-08-10T01:48:00.000-07:00

August 7th, 2009: Imran bhai's home

Ramadan Resolutions

2010-08-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

In just a few days, lives of Muslims all around the world will take a drastic turn. For a month, the followers of Islam will hold fasts for the love of Allah and all He commands. We will increase our efforts to do everything that is good and abstain from everything that does not become a Muslim.

This is how I always see my month in Ramadan. I want to do something special this year and would love to see more sisters and brothers join me in this effort. Here are my Ramadan Resolutions:

1. Abstain from meat, dairy and poultry for the entirety of the month. Not drinking water before or after eating, only sipping between bites. Also, no cold water.

2. Do dhikr every moment of quiet (when I'm not required to talk to other people). To facilitate this, and as a reminder I've already started wearing a tasbeeh in my right hand all the time.

3. No swearing, not even modified benign versions of my favorite curses. So, saying crap instead of $hit does not mean I've kept my promise. Instead of swearing, SMILE! It's very hard lolz, try it for a day!

4. Forgive everyone and everything, and ask for forgiveness in return. Let's not have any burdens of our earthly debts against our brothers and sisters. Insha Allah, once our heart is cleansed from grudges and negative thoughts and negativity against us, our prayers of forgiveness from God will be truly sincere.

What are your resolutions? Even if you aren't Muslim, would you would you "fast" by giving up something you love dearly? Or would you join me in the most charitable Ramadan Resolution yet?

5. For each day of the month, collect a can for a food pantry. At the end of the month, donate the 29 cans AND at least an hour from your day to volunteer at a soup kitchen or pantry.

I'm looking forward to reading what your Ramadan Resolution is.

I must be crazy posting this

2010-08-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Word to the wise: if the kid is crying in the back seat, try not to console her from the front seat. Even for if it will only last a few minutes.

Possible outcome: A badly twisted sacral joint that needs immediate realignment and then days of recovery.

Which is how I'm finding myself unable to funtion beyond my apartment door, spending most time lying on my back on the floor and trying to entertain Monster from this position. Not being able to go out obviously means that TV has become the most reliable form of entertainment. Oh the horror of watching your toddler become a couch potatoe in front of your eyes!

In an effort to cut down on TV time, I'm trying someone today. Each half hour she watches a show she likes, she and I spend the next hour or so either recreating the story, dancing (mostly Monster) to the show tune and drawing pictures of what we watched.

My first attempt at drawing Angeline Ballerina. And my last:

I hope my mom doesn't see this and throw up.

The "Mine is better than yours" debate

2010-07-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm watching this discussion on my neighborhood's listserv unfold these days regarding the parks in the neighborhood.
We have four parks in the Sunnyside-Woodside area that are most frequented by moms: Windmuller, Lou Lodati, Noonan, and the only private park in the Gardens.
It all happened when one naive mom admitted to having walked in the private park because there aren't always people checking membership at the gate. A flaming, ugly debate ensued with members calling the mom out for abusing the park policies. Members started singing praises and listing reasons why public parks are so horrible for the development of their children.
One phrase however, caught my attention and the debate became a thorn in my side haunting me even when I'm not reading the emails. The members' "sense of entitlement."
It's "their" park.
For me, the automatic second thought unsaid for the phrase is "it's not YOUR park." For the love of Goodness, is greenry and playground equipment customized for your DNA and therefore the paid park is better than the public park?
The other thing that started bugging me when people mentioned that Noonan Park is not enclosed and children can run out on the street. The reason being that I distinctly remember members of the park petitioning (even getting me to sign it, even though I don't even live nearby) to set up a traffic signal in front of the private park's entrance so that parents and children can cross safely.
So, it's worthwhile to spend time and energy to petition for something that benefits the few hundred members of the private park, yet not one mom ever considered petitioning to enclose the Noonan Park. Why? Because it's not YOUR park? Even my response email inquiring about petitioning for it went completely ignored.
There are just so many things that irritate my now with the private park that even though I would have joined had I lived closer before this discussion started, that I feel repulsed that members feel this "sense of entitlement" only because they're paying a fee of $395 a year. How come they don't feel a sense of entitlement to parks build from their tax dollars?
I am not planning on teaching my kids to treasure a sense of entitlement. Toddlers already have a skewed concept of ownership.

Zoom zoom Monster

2010-07-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 27th, 2010: Lou Lodati Park; Monster works on her scooty skills

However, I can safely claim that I worked my spine into a hunch teaching her how to ride a scooty. When she got it down, she traded her "safe, wide" pink scooty for a zippier, more streamlined variety and took off (much to the dismay of the poor boy left holding on to hers).

Little Miss Diva

2010-07-29T18:44:00.001-07:00

Monday 26th, 2010 at Lou Lodati Park: Accessories courtesy of Aerin and Samantha Z.

Lovebirds outside my window

2010-07-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sun 25th, 2010

Monster will learn everything in the park

2010-07-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

I literally don't have to do anything. She'll find her teachers herself, like she found this girl to teach her how to ride a tricycle.

I'm not worried

2010-07-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

I don't mind that Wizard offered the best piece of the watermelon to his friend.

I'm prettier than him.

On its way

2010-07-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

My Sony DSC H10 is on its way to Laredo, TX for repairs.

In the mean time, I'll be surfing through DSLRs just for dreaming...

...Wouldn't be so miraculous if my advance point-and-shoot comes back as a DSLR?

Sigh.

The Concept of Sharing in the park

2010-07-22T17:53:00.001-07:00

When you do not share the "borrowed" toy camera,

You are not entitled to "borrowing" a "borrowed" toy stroller

In which case the stronger toddler wins the prize.

PS In the last photo, Monster is NOT crying, she's actually still taking pictures with her toy camera of the girl walking away.

Religious Significance to Yoga

2010-07-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

I wanted to address the question "is there any religious significance to yoga."
To people who think they should do yoga just for the sake of exercise, I feel is like saying "pray namaz just because it's fard."

Unfortunately many Muslims do pray namaz just for show, or to fulfill a requirement for access to jannah. Before I confuse anyone, let me say that after learning the philosophy behind yoga, my namaz has become longer and longer and longer....because I finally realize the ultimate purpose of namaz....and yes, YOGA TAUGHT ME THAT!

First let me show you the similarities in surya namaskar and namaz (and also the medical reasons why staying in each pose is so important)

1. Tadasana--we open our heart, spine erect ready for the practice ahead.
1. Qiyyam-- we stand erect hands on our navel (an energy powerhouse btw), and with Allah u Akber, try to leave worldly thoughts behind.

2. Uttanasana-- spine is inverted, head close to knees, and in Uttanasana variation, spine is exactly parallel to floor, so the spinal fluids travel from the base to the brain.
2. Ruku-- spine is straight, parallel to floor, we stay here for 3, 9, or 11 tasbeehahs

3. Ardha sirsasana--Knees on floor, raising the tail bone, the forehead on the ground, weight pressing on the peneal gland (third eye) releasing seratonin that " affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns and seasonal functions (wiki)". This pose is preparationg to Sirsasana, also known as King of Yoga poses.
3.Sajood--Knees on floor, raising the tail bone, forehead is laid to the ground, we stay here for 3, 7, or 11 tasbeehats.

4. Vajrasana--a sitting pose, sitting on heels, toes touching each other, knees together. Meditation is done in this pose along with utilizing several mudras (juxtaposition of fingers in hands)
4.Tassahud--sitting on heels, recite Attahayat, and at Asshaduanna Ilaha Il-Allah!" raising right fore finger.

Now on to the religious significance of yoga: According to Patanjali, yoga is a way to separate the Apparant, from the Reality. His words were further interpreted to "the world from the One Conscious Being or Supreme Being" that is Allah!

We are so immensly lucky that namaz gives us that opportunity to shut out our worldly throughts and think ONLY OF ALLAH! 5 TIMES A DAY! However, how many of us are so hung up on world to do that?

There IS a religious significance to yoga but it's not applicable only to hinduism. It applies to every.single.religion. There are so many rivayat about Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w) staying in sajood for so long that his wives would think he has passed away. He was only meditating, and in the process of meditation, often receiving wahi from Allah subhana watallah.

Did anyone ever wonder why we open our hands to face palms up when making dua? There are two extensions of the heart chakra (powerhouse) in our palms. So literally we're opening our heart to Allah, and showing Him our desires.

May Allah subhana wata-allah help us find Him in this world and in the Hereafter. Ameen.

Spontaneous Picnic

2010-07-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I will live without my sister!

She the greatest, most loving most involved big sister I've ever met. She was my mother when our mom was emotionally unavailable to us during her Great Depression after our dad's passing away.

She was my friend when I was shunned by every girl in a new school.

She is my best source of advice.

Hers and my relationship is such that gets better and better as we get older. I am not looking forward to aging without her. =(

Making Memories

2010-07-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'll miss so many things in New York:

The people, sometimes annoying but mostly great, nice, supportive, understanding, sharing people of New York. I've always said: For every one rude person in New York, there are at least 10 super amazing people who will share a sidelong glance with you and roll their eyes at the rude person. It always sends such a blast of warmth through my heart when I share that special moment with people.

The parks and especially the water sprinklers in the summer.

The soft ice cream trucks.

Buttercup Cafe.

The Halal Chinese on 43th street and Greenpoint Avenue.

Gantry State Park and the beautiful curving garden path, where we always stumble upon young Indian couples making out.

Macy's Fourth of July fireworks.

Six Flags Great Adventure!

Coney Island beaches and the cute fat russian grandmoms that Monster loves to chat with.

*sigh* I don't think there is an end to this list.

Yoga and Salat

2010-07-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

When I first started taking classes in Yoga Philosophy, I felt like I was going to be dragged through mucky confusion. Instead, it opened my eyes and appreciate namaz (salat) in a way nobody else could teach me.

There are opposing views on whether yoga is healthy for Muslims to practice, just like there are conflicting views on everything else. If there is one lesson I could write in stone for my children it would be this "Not even solid science can convince someone who has already made up his/her mind one way."

But a yogini can try, can't she?

Patanjali, or the source book for yoga philosophy begins with the words "This is the beginning of instruction in yoga." One of the commentators defined the use of yoga as "an effort to separate the Reality from the Apparant."

To Muslims, this world is but a dream. Yet, we count so much on waking up every next day and running all our life as if life in this world is the end all. We as Muslims claim we believe in the life Hereafter and then worry about how much money we've accumulated in the savings deposit. What grades am I getting and O.M.G. I hope I get into Columbia! Students in Pakistan and India commit suicides over low matriculation grades. We tend to get depressed when our teams lose the cricket match. Why are we so stuck in the Apparant?

The reason we pray salat, and try so hard to not think about the world while we're praying, Is so we can separate Allah from our worldly thoughts. The second verse of Patanjali translates to "Yoga is the control of the thought waves in the mind."

I don't see the difference in saying Allah u Akbar and reciting Quran to silence the crash of unnecessary thoughts in our minds, to willfully, mindfully silencing the thoughts in meditation and concentrate on being mesmerized by the breath, the air, the body He blessed us with. SUBHAN ALLAH!

And Allah knows best.

Prenatal Yoga Workshop group pic is in!

2010-07-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

I'm really interested in hearing theories as to the orb above my head.

A sneak peak into my fun yoga training

2010-07-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

This has to be the coolest way to get into hand-stand preparation AND give your partner a lower back massage at the same time. Dylan and Cheimi volunteered for the partner balance, while I politely deferred to doing my hand stands against a wall.

Just as June came to an end

2010-07-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Turkish picnic at Croton Point Park.

Sad situation, Beautiful backdrop

2010-07-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

The fish tank in JhonT (my yoga master)'s office sadly needed new water. The direct sunlight was making algae BLOOM in there. You can't even see the other two fishies in there. But it made the orchids stand out to a fault!

One rainy afternoon on Queensboro Plaza

2010-07-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

I said I couldn't pay attention to the blog, but never that I stopped taking pictures. Even when my Sony Cybershot broke down I continued snapping with my trusty camera phone.

So, waiting for the 7 train I find myself staring at this new glass building and the interesting reflection on the panes. I was mesmerized.

The time is nearly here

2010-07-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

For the last month I couldn't pay too much attention to anything besides my daily routine of classes classes and more classes.

It has paid off however, and I am days away from becoming a certified Yoga instructor! In the meantime, I even utilized my luck that Wizard has been working from home to enroll in a prenatal yoga course (since I was already in a training program, it was easy to get in). I am currently a certified PRENATAL yoga instructor as well!

Woah...a month ago, I had not foreseen this turn of events. Had you?

With my guru Janic Clarfield.

And that is not all! There is more news to come in a few days. Hang on to something.

Cookie test subject

2010-07-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

It's not really a confession, everyone knows my baking is even worse than my cooking. I've been trying to make Turkish cookies for an eternity and haven't yet impressed Wizard or anyone for that matter. Something is always off.

So with great trepidation, I figured it's the quickest thing to make for a July 4th party so I went through a few internet recipes and churned these out.

The first signs of "maybe I made it this time" came in the form of repeat requests for more from Monster who was the first to taste them. She continued to steal them occasionally from the cookie basket at my uncles' home.

I am one proud cookie-baking-mommy!

Beautiful Amber

2010-07-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

I wish I could just gird my bank and hit BUY on my cart at Inspired By Finn.

Hopefully maybe she can make it a bit easier for me through this new discount offer of hers. I have a total of like $38 on her website. What's 40% off on $38?

*Calculating....*

40% Off Children's Items. ANYONE can participate

This promotion is only for:

THE PURCHASE OF YOUTH AMBER NECKLACES size 11” TO 16”, THE BALTIC AMBER NECKLACE ALTERNATIVE, LEG WARMERS or TIGHTS. All other items (including hazelwood jewelry and adult amber are not eligible).

BEFORE YOU ARE ABLE TO USE THE DISCOUNT CODE we need your help advertising this sale! We need you to post about this sale somewhere online and post a link back to this page. You can post your link on any online board(s) where you are active. Once you have posted link(s) to help us advertise our sale, post to this thread with links to the posts you’ve created. The more places you post, the greater discount you earn!

Here is the discount code to use once you’ve done this. If you create:

ONE link online to advertise our sale, the code for you to save 20% is: onelink
TWO links online to advertise our sale, the code for you to save 30% is: 2links
THREE links online to advertise our sale, the code for you to save 40% is: 3links

This code can be entered during the checkout process.

This offer is good through July 5. Our round-bead styles are our best-stocked items.

Be our guest to share this post with friends and family who might like participate.

Our youth jewelry
Legwarmers
Tights
Footless Tights

(photo Inspired By Finn)

The Ayurvedic explanation of my cough

2010-07-02T17:14:00.001-07:00

I started coughing a week ago.

Mr. Oz thinks it's because I've been drinking cold water.

Mother Anchari Devdasi (yoga philosophy teacher) thinks I may be holding my words back.

I think I need to speak up about the similarities between Yoga and Islam I've been discovering.

Mr. Oz thinks I'll get killed if I do.

*cough cough cough Cough*

Where was this place?

2010-06-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Our friends Seyhan and Oguz met up with us in Madison Square Park this past Thursday to share a bit of halal gyro and get the kids to hang out in the playground.

They mentioned this place in Soho that had great rice pudding so we thought, Hmmm....new place! Let's try it out.

It was amazing! The first flavor I tested was Man-Made Mascerpone and it was exactly what I loved in the itty bowls we used to get in Lahore, Pakistan. The rice pudding in those clay bowls would be so thick that it wouldn't detach itself even with the bowls all stacked upside down!

As we were enjoying the gumpy goodness, Oguz breaks the news that he knew about this place since 5 years ago.

Screeech...wait a minute.

It's been here for 5 years?

Where was I?

Worst of all, I've known you guys a total of 22 months and you've brought me here NOW?

What? I wasn't GOOD ENOUGH to share this with?

(photo credit: Kean Soo keaner.net)

I think they owe me a bunch of treats at Rice to Riches. Which would be a good thing, because I'm hooked and they're kinda on the expensive side.

Make some money Oguz!

Dana's ridiculous picture

2010-06-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, technically MY ridiculous picture, but Dana took it!

This is what you would have seen when you entered Atmananda Saturday morning: Me brandishing power tools.

I should never again pose for people with iPhones.

Why I almost didn't offer my seat to a pregnant woman today

2010-06-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant with Monster, it used to bug me when people in the subway didn't offer their seat to me. I'd hang around in front of them (literally hang OUT!), with my feet swelling out of my shoes, my body almost drooping under its own weight and mentally call them names if they did nothing more than stare at me staring back at them.
Well today, I almost did the same thing. Which is why I always remind everyone

NEVER TALK BIG!

It's never safe to make claims as I did...."I would NEVER do that to a pregnant woman!"

However, in my defence, she didn't have one of those soccer ball in the tummy bodies...She had more of a sack of potatoes wrapped around her torse-body. And she was wearing black. Which is never a good thing, unless I'm wearing it to hide MY silhoutte (then it's totally fine.)

For the longest time I stared at her tummy (oh my, another thing I said I'd never do!) and wondered if she was or wasn't expecting. Deciding after a while that I'd rather make a fool out of myself than be inconsiderate, I quietly offered my seat.

Which she decline.

Phew. I had a long train ride ahead of me and after performing my good deed of the day, I went to sleep.

Did I tell you?

2010-06-23T13:38:00.001-07:00

Internet,

Mr. Ozturk made dinner!

And not only was it tasty, it was presented so well I actually felt jealous that the dude can cook up food prettier than I can.

Yes, it's been some time since he cooked and I'm still awed.

I had to post this, in case one day I wake up and refuse to acknowledge that the fact really happened.

Morning Surprise

2010-06-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

The place where I've been stealing to lately, has moved into a new space. We'd been cleaning and prepping this new place over the weekend, as our Karma yogic practice. This morning we were supposed to resume our regular schedule however, for the 9 am class we unanimously decided that the studio floor was still waaaay too filthy for our precious mats.

So we took our class to the (haha) freshly watered grass of Union Square Park. For a slightly less than filthy environment.

The first thing I (or rather, my olfactory nerves) noticed: "There is a bum somewhere in the bushes!" And true enough, a bum was sleeping only a few yards away. We must have scared him with our kapalabhati breathing though, because a few seconds into it and she rolled her eyes at us and slunk off.

We were doing our best to close off our minds, but I kept one eye out for park Staff because we were *gasp* breaking a few rules. Who knew the lawns were closed on Mondays? Nobody bothered us however, even when the park staff did show up. However, guess who joined it? A backpacking yogi! lolz. Some white rasta dude just hopped in, rolled out a yoga mat and joined in. Our poor teacher! Leah gave us all a "what the wha...?" look but good hearted Leah, continued her class without getting fazed.

We did make him work for the free class though, we made him take our pictures.

Cleansing my Soul, by cleaning?

2010-06-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'm in a different world in the mornings these days. Where breathing is priority and thoughts are quiet and actions deliberate and aware. I was told that to cleanse my thoughts, my heart and my past, I will be doing what we call "Karma Yoga" or community service.

I didn't know that could include harm manual labor.

Ok, maybe not that hard. But definitely not what I expected.

After sweeping a particularly dusty room in the new center.

At least one of us was happy with our work

Hanging out resting

And then we wondered where the fourth of us was and we look outside the window to this. The best karmic service: guard the moving van in the open air. Thank you Dana!

Finding Peace

2010-06-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

As much as I love spending time chilling and taking pictures, these days I'm completely committed to closing my eyes and taking a step back from myself. I have enrolled in some classes where I'll be taking my yoga practice further and try to reach some advanced stages that I was previously terrified of.
I'll post pictured of the studio soon and you can see where I am hanging out these days when I'm not here.
And to the two people that stopped following me, I forgive you, but man! The things you will miss!

Me and my low expectations from my kid

2010-06-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

Mr. Oz took Monster for a potty break and makes her pee even though she was adamant she didn't "need" to.

Wizard: 1-2-3 PEE!

Monster: giggles and pees.

Me: Wow, I'm convinced of your powers. However did you teach her that?

Wizard: (After giving me a disbelieving look) She's a HUMAN! She understands what we teach her!

And all this time I was thinking of spritzing her butt with water the next time she peed on my carpet.

Wizard's Wise Tips

2010-06-05T21:14:00.001-07:00

Late tonight walking around in Union Square, Wizard and I were reminiscing about her early days together as a young couple. We crashed a lot of late night parties and movies. For instance, I once buyed the tickets for an old movie and sneaked into a sold out movie that had opened that very night, but that's another story for another time.

Wizard was very resourceful in finding out about free events like movies, free admissions to concerts and more. The time we couldn't register in time to watch Napolean Dynamite was the first time we successfully crashed a invitation-only viewing.

He walked up to the greeter oh-so-casually and told them he's on the list.

"Name, sir?" asked the bouncer.

"Aaron," Wizard replied.

"Which Aaron?" the bouncer returned. "There are two here."

"{mumbles something}"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't catch that."

"I'll show you," the Wizard offered to run his finger down the list and stopped at an Aaron Whoever.

"That's me right there," he beamed at the bouncer.

"Enjoy the party sir" and that's how were led into a party we were not even invited in. I bet the couple that crashed the President's party may have taken some tips from my Wizard.

There are two lessons to be learned here:
1. A common name like Aaron, John, Eddie/Ed is most definitely on every printed list in NYC on a Saturday night; and
2. You won't be challenged to prove your identity if the name is ostensibly Jewish.

Go enjoy your life, crash a party for free.

Confession no. 5048

2010-05-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

May 29, 2010

As a child, for fun I ran on walls, climbed trees, stole free rides in privately owned swings by sneaking into the property while people slept during the afternoon hours and frequently wandered off to see my 7 year old boyfriend next door.

As a grown ass woman, I haven't changed much. I'm a terrible influence on my daughter, if you ask me. {Well, at least I don't have a 7 year old boyfriend anymore...Hahahaha. Ha}

Presenting: Muslim Toddler

2010-05-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

I swear I didn't make her do it! When she picked it out of my house-scaves (the ones I wear when I'm cooking/cleaning etc), I didn't expect her to do more than hand it to me and then be on her merry way.

I certainly didn't expect her to wait patiently for me to tie it around her back, and was floored when she spent a few minutes pretending to adjust it like I do ~~and checking out her profile, just like me~~

And then she goes and poses for the pictures. What parallel universe have I stepped into?

On another note, I have found a new obsession. Meet the Blogess, I love her humor and honestly, even though she sounds just as distracted as I usually am, I'm awed by her.

Who am I kidding? I wanna BE her!

Go see her for yourself and tell me you love her!

That's my girl!

2010-05-22T08:05:00.001-07:00

My Monster confirmed today that she gets the more intelligent genes from me, by reading the manual to one of her gifts while Baba struggled ~~with trying to find out how it turns on~~ with opening it.

There is something everyone who knows me can vouch for: I will always read the manual. In this, Mr. Oz and I are the opposites; he'll sign any piece of paper after pretending to look over it but he's actually only placing where to put his signature. Me? I'll INHALE the thing!

I never open/put together/turn on anything without going through the manual first. I read both Mazda's and Subaru's manuals in detail while Mr. Oz dove right in and learned where everything was whenever he needed them. The disadvantage: He'd be looking all over the car for an easier-to-reach cigarette lighter for his phone/GPS/random item frantically WHILE driving and I'll smirkingly flip a hidden latch and reveal the lighter... RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE. Or, he'd be hitting the PRE button on the stereo each time the song ends so he can listen to it again and after the 6th time I'll press a button that would turn out AUTO RPT and he'd be like "Wow, I've been driving this car for one and a half years and I didn't know there was a repeat button."

Dude, next time read the manual.