Faint

I had a dumb day two days ago, I fainted at work, in my boss’s office no less. It was really embarrasing and sort of scary, becasue I hadn’t fainted before.  But everything is okay with the husib and I was poked and prodded by doctors and their needles and they also took a lot of blood and an EKG. But the nice thing was, we got to see a quick glimpse of husib who is much larger even in these few short weeks.

I am so excited for my friend Jessica who finds out tomorrow if she is having a boy or a girl! Yaaaaay! Sending good vibes her way.

Everything in Excess

Thanksgiving is one of the few days that its absolutely okay to be as indulgent as possible. In fact, at Thanksgiving dinner, after I gave thanks, I raised a toast “To excess.” I know , I know, excess isn’t really a positive value , but every once in a while , I think it is absolutely okay to be indulgent, especially in our current day culture of all pervasive guilt. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the guilt actually stops anyone from bad behavior- we still consume too much, waste too much, want too much, dirty up too many dishes, have too much clutter, etc, etc. And most of the time, I really do try to be a better human being and I feel guilty about all the ways my existence is damaging the planet and corrupting society and bloating our society but it is nice to have a day to indulge without the guilt. Really, isn’t that the spirit of Thanksgiving – to thank the world for its shower of bounty and all things good in life. So, that is exactly what I did on thanksgiving- ate too much, drank too much, used too many ingredients in my recipes, simply because I could and most of all, I had too much fun.

J stuffing mushrooms, while giving “Layla’s pathetic face”

Anyway, that was my rant and onto the fun stuff. For Thanksgiving this year, J and I spent the morning and afternoon cooking up our contributions to our Potluck thanksgiving dinner. We had decided on a non traditional thanksgiving menu so my contributions were.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms>>>>>Recipe

Green Beans with coconut>>>>> Recipe

Smashed Eggplant w/ Malaysian Roti ( Baigan Bharta)>>>>>>Recipe

Catfish in Yoghurt Sauce ( Doi Maach) >>>>>> Recipe

Around 5:30 we headed over for dinner and started on our night of drinking. There was about 10 people and there were nearly 20 bottles of wine, which I am happy to say were all consumed by the end of the night. As for the food, there was Goat Cheese with Fig sauce, my mushrooms and Eggplant and spinach dip for appetizers. For our main entrees and side dishes we had Turkey with Mole Sauce, mashed potatoes, asparagus with pinenuts, brussel sprouts, green beans, mustard greens with Kielbasa, sweet potatoes and so many more dishes. For dessert, we had homemade sweet potato pie and chocolate pecan pie.

It was a great thanksgiving. 

Recipes

Here comes the holidays!

Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays ever! This year we are going to a pot luck at our friend DS’s house and we are required to bring one dish and one bottle of wine per person, so 2 dishes and 2 bottles of wine for me and J . But I’m in a cooking mood, so I’m thinking I’ll actually make a few things.

So far, my menu ideas are

Stuffed mushrooms- appetizer

Shepherd’s pie- entree

green bean casserole – side

or

green beans with coconut-side

I might also make some sort of potato dish. Also, I feel like I might cook a bigger meal later into the holiday week, b/c J wants thanksgiving turkey leftovers, so it might be fun to have a random big meal a few days after thanksgiving.

In other news, I am leaving for India in less than 3 weeks and my Mom has already left to get things ready for the weekend. I am starting to get really excited.

And on the day after….

The day after the wedding was very mellow! We met up with our set of friends who had stayed in Brighton and went to breakfast at the Silver Fork Lodge. After breakfast we met up with everyone at the Lodge and spent the whole day like a snow day. Everyone just relaxed and played pool, or blackjack or watched a foot ball game. Some people relaxed and gossiped around the fire while other people cooked delicious meals. It was a wonderful, warm, family day and J and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

We found cans tied to the car and the windows decorated with ” Just Married” the next day.

Watching the game late at night

Playing pool on a snowy night

We know how to win at Black Jack

 Early morning breakfast

All things Bridal

Wednesday Oct 3rd was a complete opposite from my gruelling tuesday. It was a beautiful, sunny , fall day in the mountains and it was also the day of my Bridal Shower! We ate a fabulous breakfast at our hotel and then my mom and I drove to downtown SLC, near Uprock Records for my bridal. I chose to do my bridals near graffiti walls and gritty urban backdrops and my photographer did a fantastic job of it! I had originally been really hesitant about shooting bridals but it was a really fun photoshoot and i enjoyed feeling like a model!

After the photoshoot was over my mom and I spent some alone time and got a manicure and pedicure and soon after that it was time for my Bridal Shower!

 My Bridal shower was hosted at my friend KD’s house and it was cohosted by HotHotJJ and KD. HotHotJJ had sent out invitations in advance with a surprise theme! The party started with everyone eating delicious appetizers of pears and cheese and socializing. Then KD asked 3-4 people to go into a room to work on a “secret project” We also had a delicious dinner of Pasta and Salad and a cheesecake for dessert. Everyone seemed to be hanging out and having a good time. At the end of the night KD and JJ showed me their secret project, which was a handmade scrapbook and each page was designed by a different person and had wedding advice for me.

It was so wonderful to be with all my female friends and relatives all under one roof and I love having a handmade book of advice.

P.S J’s friends were also really creative about his bachelor party- They set up every kind of musical instruement that they had in a room and all the boys just had a really long jam session. From what J told me, it was apparently really fun.

Vegas Baby Vegas

After the wedding festivities were over, J drove me down to SLC on sunday over to my old haunt and now KD and her husband’s home on Capricorn Way. We spent an hour or so figuring out our ceremony and then it was adios to J and we were on our way to Vegas.

The drive to vegas just flew by that day, since KD and I had so much to talk about. Since we left slc in the afternoon we reached Las Vegas at my favorite time. Driving on I-15 there is a hill about 20 mins away from vegas that lets you see the whole city ahead of you just glittering in the vast wilderness of the desert. Plus since travellers come up on it suddenly, it serves as a great introduction to vegas.

In spite of our quick drive and beautiful view we did run into some car problems right as we hit the strip, the car had overheated and thankfully we were able to make it long enough to pull into the hotel. After puttin some coolant in and deciding to let the car rest for a bit, we checked in and decided to head out for the night. I dressed it up to the nines and wore my green dress that I had originally planned to wear to my nonod’s wedding and KD dressed up in her super hot black shirt. We stopped by a 50s style diner for a late dinner and then hit the strip.

Drinking Whiskey and Coke at Carnival Court

Outside Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce.

KD at the HotelM lobby.

The first place we stopped at was a outdoor bar in front of Harrahs called carnival court. They had a cover band playing and the place was rocking. We drank some whiskey and cokes and danced and ogled the super hot frontman. We then headed down the strip to Mandalay Bay, we were looking for a specific club but we ended up at at place called Ivor Kane’s Forty Deuce.  This place had previously been out of our budget b/c there was a $25 cover charge, but since it was sunday and not a busy night they let us in for free.

This place had a completey different vibe, it was super upscale and whenwe ordered our vodka and cranberry drinks, they only gave us top shelf vodka. We made our way to the dance floor bar where it seemed that something was about to start. That something was a burlesque show! Yep, KD and I got to see a super cool, old school style, jazzy burlesque show for free in Vegas. It was an awesome show and the two girls were simply amazing in their acrobatics and of course they were gorgeous.

Drinking at the Pool Bar

The Stratosphere tower and hotel from the pool

Free Martinis at the C Bar

We spent the next day in Vegas just hanging out by the Stratosphere pool and enjoying the free buffet that we got. It was bliss, just lying in the sun, reading and drinking fruity drinks. That night was the night of the Blue Man Group and since I had never been to a BMG show before, I had no idea what to expect. It is something thats definitely different from what one expects , but for the better. I think not knowing anything about it made the show seem really cool, so I won’t write anything more about it, but the picture should suffice.

 Start of the Blue Man Show

 At the Venetian

Vegas at Night

Back in Town

 

HotHotJJ and I at Thai Spice for Lunch. The bloggers catch up in real life.

On friday morning , the day after the rehersal, J and I snuck away to do some errands for our own upcoming wedding. We drove down to Slc from layton and met up with our friends Hothotjj and E ( if you don’t know who they are check out her blog) for lunch. We went to a Thai restaurant close to JJ’s work and the food was fantastic and cheap! It was really good to catch up and hang out after all these years.

After lunch, J and I made our phone calls and ran errands and finally started on our drive to Huntsville UT for Nonod’s wedding. I had never been up Ogden/Weber canyon before despite living in UT for years and the drive up was beautiful! It felt so amazing to be in the mountains and to breathe the clear cool air and see all the fall colors.

 

Beautiful Fall colors on the way to Eden UT

We reached Red Moose Lodge in Eden in the late evening and after checking in , we went straight for the BBQ being hosted by the bride and groom. The menu for that night was wild alaskan salmon(some actually caught by the bride and groom) and thick hearty steaks. It was the perfect meal for a chilly fall night. The venue we were at had a silly policy on drinking alcohol which was they were okay with it as long as it was not obvious, so we had to sneak in to the groom’s uncle’s RV and make little drinks in opaque plastic cups. It was still a lot of fun, brought back my days of underage drinking.

With my newest nephew and the salmon in the background

We finally went to bed late at night, after deciding to offer our extra bed to the flower girl.

Something General

It feels like ages since I have updated and I wish I had a cooler excuse other than “I’m so busy” but really, I have been super busy lately and I think it will continue like this.

Last weekend, my parents visited again, it was their last visit for a while, since they will be back in CA as of thursday. We spend Friday night and saturday morning assembling and mailing invitations. Sat night my mom and I had to run errands at the mall and buy favor kits. Sunday we went dress shopping for her, and we also went to our weekly potluck! I made a dry Channa- my take on a traditional Garbanzo bean Indian dish. I think it turned out pretty well and it was a huge hit!

 And now its back to the grind, I already feel like I’m swamped in assignments and due dates and its barely week 1 of school! Add in housework, work, gym, invitation mailing to the list and its just crazy.

Tonight I am going to the first of my 10 classical music concerts/recitals. This one is a rehersal of one my friend’s quartets. I’m looking forward to having a little musical interlude from all the regular worries of life.

Southern Fried Chicken

I have had fried chicken before at restaurants, buffets, diners, KFC but I had home made fried chicken for the first time this sunday.  My friend F who is a total southern girl fried chicken and brought it over for the our weekly sunday potluck and it was unlike anything I have tasted before. I am not even a fan of fried chicken but this was delicious, crispy w/out being greasy, flavorful even on the inside, it was delicious. I guess there is something to be said for home cooked food. We also had fish tostadas, pasta salad, carrot slaw, caviar, seafood salad and my contribution Rasmalai(which I messed up). I love our weekly gathering of food and friends.

Angsty Depressed Music

…..PARTY. Thats right! Sat night, J and I hosted a party at our apt. and we called it our Depressing music party. Everyone had to  bring 2-3 of their most depressing, angs inducing songs to share and they would be judged by everyone. It was a really fun time, ironic , I know for a depressing music party. It was depressing music made less depressing b/c we were among friends. And most importantly, I felt it gave us all a better insight into each others personalities. We also had yummy Seviche Tostadas (courtesy of Y.) and lots of booze. Of course we all go ridiculously drunk and nobody left till 4 in the morning.

 J and I  also made prizes for the winners, which was tic tacs in pill bottles to resemble sleeping pills and we tied it up t o mini bottles of whisky. I’ll post a pic as soon as I upload it, it looked very cute and morbid at the same time. I also got to keep one, because I won second place in the competition, i guess all my years of angst was building up to this moment. Ha!

My two entries were:

Elliot Smith- Fond Farewell

Beck- Lost Cause

I was so busy having a good time and being a host that i forgot to take pics, but I think my friend SVS did take some, so as soon as he makes them available, I will post them. Overall, it was a fantastic night and even J who gets very nervous about hosting events had to admit that things went off w/out a glitch.