Oh Sunday morning. The unofficial beginning of the week. I wake up to steaming hot coffee and place myself on the couch, not wanting to get up, ever. The stove in the kitchen is yearning to feel the weight of the hard anodized frying pan and the chopping board is all set for the fête champêtre with its friends, namely, onions, spinach and potatoes. Today is the cooking day. I have to cook for the rest of the week and it can be a real pain in the wrong place when am not in the mood for it. I want to stick my lips out, roll on the floor and bawl like a toddler who's toy has just been snatched away." I don't want to cook!". Neither do I want to eat out. I want to be lazing on a sunny beach somewhere in the Caribbean, lying in a cabana, listening to the waves splash, sipping a lemon drop and letting the masseur use her arty fingers to shoo away the stress built in me. Boy, that sounds fabulous. OK, let's get realistic. I got to go now. Kitchen's calling. Ciao!
Now, that depends on who my neighbor is. Ha ha, ha-di-ha. My conversation with my neighbors would go something like this:
"Am sorry, I won't be able to look after your pets when you are away. My house is not pet-friendly. Neither am I."
"You want me to watch your child for a few hours tomorrow? Sure....why not? Just let me know when the babysitter will be in and I'll drop by your place and watch them both ;-)"
"Thanks for dragging the trash can back to the house.....just that it is not mine.."
"Well, Hello! Did you just move in? Welcome to this neighborhood!...That corner house, huh? That's my favorite house in this community.....a mad woman used to live there before...she was upto all ugly stuff....but, enjoy your home!"
"I think my son knocked off your potted plant...I am so sorry for him,...thank god, he didn't get hurt. It was an old pot..."
"Oh, so you are from Seoul! The land of stinking kimchee, right??"
"Hey there, it's been a while since we met! Why don't you come over for Coffee? Just get the Espresso that you usually make, I have the mugs, so don't worry about that. And a couple of slices of Coffee Cake will do...How about 4:30pm?"
"We are throwing a party this weekend...at your place! You are invited, but it is OK if you can't make it. We totally understand. Just make sure to order the Pizza before you leave."
"I watered your plant every single day while you were away. Glad to help. Didn't realize that it needs to be watered only every other week.....poor thing is washed out...."
"This package is for you, I picked it up on the way...So, Rogaine seems to be working, huh?"
Few months back, copies of Eat, Pray, Love were up for grabs - stacked in the book shelves at Libraries, but no one cared to borrow one. They were scattered - like the million stars on a clear sky, bright and shiny - hoping to lure atleast one ardent reader. On the contrary, it turned out to be a fruitless effort, because, I (and few others like me) merely glanced at it and thought "no, not that sad sad book...no...can't do" and walked past to grab the latest of Jackie Collin. But now, like the California gold rush of the 19th century, people (including me) are flocking from far and near to get hold of a copy of the darned book. There's not one copy in the Library that I could borrow. Something like, the book is now getting back at all those poeple who ignored it. Fine, so be it. I decided to place a hold and wait for it, infinitely, if that is what it takes. I was the 700th in the wait list of 70 holdable copies and that means, I'll probably get one same time next year. But, it wasn't so bad. Three months later, it was my turn.After flipping through a page, I asked myself why I didn't even consider reading it once before?
The book is fully loaded with massive sentimental and emotional stuff, but I like the way Liz makes even the most dire and hopeless situation bring a smile on your face. The onset of an emotional downpour is swept away with an impromptu breeze of humor.
The time she spent in Italy was a much needed one, from what I can see. She was brave to give up everything she owned, pack two suitcases and leave for Italy, where she had no clue what she would do, other than learn Italian. She ignored the mind and followed her heart to fulfill the epicure in her that longed to speak Italian like a local and eat to her heart's content.She found comfort in pastries, gelato and double cheese pizza. And apparently, following your heart is ultimately the best thing to do, for you won't have any regrets in life.
Most often, it really is a blessing to make friends with strangers who know nothing about your past. The painful details that you want to forget and move on is forever buried. Best of all, they never know anything, so it is a fresh start for you. Imagine you were dropped from high above, somewhere from Heaven, or Hell more like, and you landed on this strange place and you don't want to talk about what happened in Hell, ever again. Period.Your old friends (in Hell) know what happend to you, and even if it is never discussed, you seem to read their silent pitiful gazes, making you want to take off to some place where there are no other humans but just you and one other person who has been with you through the sufferings and without whom you could never have survived even one day of the million devastating days that just went by. Of course, if your are single, you just want to be alone. That is exactly what Liz did. Went to Italy where she knew no one and started afresh, exploring the food, culture, language and making tons of friends.
I want to travel to Italy too. I didn't go through a break up or anything, for I am happily married. I want to do it because I love travelling and I love writing and I want to write about my days in Italy. The food. Just the thought of it makes me want to leave NOW. Two days in Rome, One day in Naples (Just for the food), One day in Florence, One day in Bologna and 2 days in Venice. Then, I want to cruise or atleast drive along the Amalfi Coast, exploring all the teeny tiny coastal towns.I want to eat the local food. Chocolate Pizza to start with. Before that, I have to learn to speak some Italian and lose atleast 30 pounds. Imagine all the work involved. But, it's worth it!
A couple of days back, I found a great background for my blog that reminded me of the indelible times spent at Siesta Key beach, and I thought it would be apt for my blog, as after all am a beachbum. But then, there was this thought lurking in the corner of my mind that said my blog looks too plain. It is colorful, but very plain. It needs to be more arty. More eye catching. I rooted around for a template that would quench all my finicky demands. And I found this. So, I changed the template, yet again. To clarify - this does not mean that the time spent at Siesta Key Beach didn't mean anything after all. I would do anything to go back there again :)
How do you like this new outfit I have adorned my blog with?
There are those weekends that are meant for shopping. Then there are those other weekends that are meant to just hang out, in the sunshine, at the beach or at the Pile place market, sampling food from all the tiny holes in the wall and clicking pictures of every little thing that catches the eye. And then, there are those other weekends that are solely meant for guests. Entertaining guests. And the last weekend was one such weekend. The whole week was spent in cleaning the huge monstrous house. No, I take that back. I love my house. So, I'll call it the huge lovely house. Then the menu was planned and lists of things to buy were made. Thursday was devoted to shopping for the said things. And Friday the marathon started.
I had invited K for lunch at noon. Just me and her. I made Pav bhaji and kande batate pohe. For dessert, she sampled the Jamun and little bit of the pista roll. She brought me a lovely gift from Lebanon. A pen holder stuffed with Malban. I was so excited! It has been so long since a friend has given me a gift. Of course I don't have any real friends now, where I live. And I in turn gave her the rose syrup that I had specially got for her from India. Boy, was she thrilled!We chatted about everything from work to interviews to her car pool buddy to the light rail system to holidaying in the Mediterranean. Wow...maybe we should do this more often.
Friday evening, P & S came over. We had planned a cook and eat biriyani night. P is a champ in making Hyderabadi Biriyani and we just decided to get together and cook and have fun. And, we made Mirch Ka Salan too. I finally learnt how to make the awesome biriyani and it is not that tough! The guys volunteered to make the Dessert -Icream Sundae : fruits, honey, nuts and Vanilla ice cream.
Saturday, we took a break and headed to IKEA. A won a free lunch at Punjab Sweets and so we hand lunch there. It was a great day and the plan was to go to Alki Beach in the evening, but it got really late and we had to do other groceries for the next week. We got back home and watched We are family. And dinner was the left over Biriyani.
On sunday, E and his mom came for lunch. I made veggie puffs and kande batate poha for them. Pav bhaji was already made. The lunch was great. They totally loved it. A made the ice cream sundae, this time just rose syrup, honey and nuts on vanilla ice cream. It was fantastic!
Now, tell me, don't I deserve that week long vacation on Amalfi coast?
It is hard to believe it is already Monday and am at my desk sipping Coffee, munching on my Perfect Zone snack bar and juggling between various windows on my computer. What an amazing and productive weekend it was! On Saturday, we were woken up at 7:15 in morning by the shrill ring of the telephone. The DISH network guy was calling to say that he's on his way to our house.What?? It is after all not even 9:00 am, the onset of civilized hours for us on weekends. But A was very eager to kick Comcast off and welcome DISH, and was delightedly conversing, giving him the directions to our house. He'll be here in 15 mins, said A. Oh great! We brushed our teeth and A went down to the kitchen to make Coffee. That's how it is at our home - A makes Coffee every morning. And, on weekends, he makes special frothy Lattes and I look forward to it. We usually sit with our Coffees and engage in small talk until A has the urge to.....you know. But on that day, just when he took the mugs out of the microwave, the doorbell rang. Great! Now, the DISH guy has ruined my chances of a cuppa Latte as well. By 10:00 am he was out and we had DISH. Finally. We had lunch at home and left at quarter to 1:00 pm to return the Comcast box and terminate the connection. Then we went to the Apple Store in Alderwood mall to upgrade the iPad to the 3G version and then the fun began!
We drove to Alki Beach. It was nice and quite for a change. We walked the long stretch along the beach, ogling at some beautiful beach houses and colorful flowers that were all over the place. We looked at the Happy Hour menus stuck outside the bars, but controlled the temptation to perch our ass at one of the tables and indulge ourselves in reckless eating, as we had plans to dine at Ephesus. A booth and candle light for no occasion at all. How I love these little pleasures!
On sunday, I made spicy bisibele bath for lunch. We got a new area rug for the family room. A light golden color, it perfectly accents our home. We took turns fiddling with the iPad and installing all the cool apps. And then, some more cooking - mirch masala for the rest of the week. End of day. Hello Monday! And back to work.
October has certainly began in a very festive fashion. I hope it will turn out to be a very lucky month for me and A.
Last evening, A got me a surprise. I completely failed in guessing what it would be. For one thing, he'd brought it from his Office and it was in his bag. In most cases, it could only mean that he has got me some sweet treat, like a European Chocolate or a Turkish Baklava or the American Pumpkin Pie and so forth. On occasions like B'days or V-Day, he strolls to Sephora (near his Office) and surprises the epicure in me with the most sensual perfume on earth. So that's the thing - There's no occasion in October, unless I have two Bdays :). So I gave up guessing. He asked me to go upstairs while he took the thing from his bag. I was sitting on the stairs with my face in my hands, when I heard him ripping something with a knife. When it was all ready, he asked me to close my eyes and go to the love seat. OK, I can't walk when I close my eyes. I admire the blind, but I stood rooted to the ground and was escorted to the couch. Under one of the cushions lay the thing........
I took it in my hands and saw the picture of a gray apple with a bite taken out of its right side. And then, the letter i. My eyes refused to scan further, but my brain knew it! And then I saw the letters i.p.a.d!!!! I gasped and covered my mouth with my fingers as if I had just seen a dead body.
The first thing I uttered was , "What are you saying? iPad ?? OMGGGGGGG!!. I can't believe it! You got me an iPad? What...I....You got it delivered to your office?" And then, our man, A, says with a straight face, "I won it." Another loud gasp erupted from me, followed by squeals and hugs. For the next five minutes or so, I was clapping my hands and jumping with joy. What luck!! Totally cool. I think this day will be captured and saved as those Moments. And, can you believe it? A won it, but very humbly gave it to me! He might be the next Dalai Lama. So, in an effort to learn from Him, I have decided to loan my Compaq Netbook to him for a few hours everyday. How nice of me, I know!
It was a beautiful day today.K and I rented bikes and biked all the way from Log Boom park in Kenmore to UW and back. The trail runs along Lake Washington and was a very picturesque sight. Beautiful homes made the ride more worthwhile. I just have one complaint. All the bikes for rent suited left handers. It took some time to get used to it and the N number of stop signs were a pain. We covered 20 - 24 miles in 3 hours, took an hour's lunch break by the fountain at UW and talked about all sorts of things. It was amazing. I think everyone in Seattle must do this atleast once. In the end it left us happy and with a pain in the butt. Now I know - when someone calls me a pain in the butt - what a pain I must have been! Ouch!
