Waris the man

Waris Ahluwalia is awesome. Not only did he play a great role in Inside Man, but he continues to prove that Sikhs can make a mark in America's film industry. This guy just doesn't let the man stop him! For a Sikh man to walk on set and only do roles that allow him to speak English without a fobby accent is pretty rare. Props to Waris.

He's also in Wes Andersons' new commercial for American Express - you can watch it here. He's a great role model for younger Sikhs (and I'm basing this on his career, not personal life, of which I know nothing about). He even has his own line of blinged out stuff called House of Waris, which I can't afford. What a pimp. I want a House of Sonia! Ok, that doesn't sound as cool.

I think I saw him the other night in the city (which would be sighting #2). Should have gone up and said congrats =)

Updated: So my husband went to Sikh camp with Waris. And he also went to camp with Vikram Chatwal. Oh, you better believe my 5 year olds will learn all about networking and plaxo!

More Updates

So I wrote up this long post with updates on my life but somehow managed to delete it before I could save it. So here's my second, possibly shorter, attempt.

Hubby left his job mid-last week and we didn't have time to plan a real vacation so we took a mini-vacation and stayed in the city. There's a lot of places I haven't really spent time in, even though I've lived out here for almost 3 years. So exploring is what we did.

*Thursday we went to eat burgers at Shake Shack - this place only opens in the spring/summer and we waited over half an hour in line. But the burgers were delish and really hit the spot - it was also really nice to be able to eat outside. Then we went to Central Park to take a boat ride on the lake. Hubby rowed us out to the spot where he had proposed to me (the day before our engagement party haha). That day he told me we were walking to Tiffany's to pick up my ring but instead we walked to this little area overlooking the lake. That was fun =) At night we ate at Candela which is supposed to be one of the most romantic restaurants in nyc but was disappointing - oh well, the food was good.



































*Friday I wanted to walk around the neighborhoods that we rarely go to. We had falafels at Taim which were amazing - really wanted to try this place and I wasn't disappointed. We were hanging out in the West Village and saw that the store Details was going out of business - 50% off. We stocked up and then hauled our butts over to the larger Chelsea store and stocked up there as well. Sucks that it's closing but it worked out for us =) That night we met up with some friends and went to see Desipina's 7-11. It was really funny and great to see South Asian actors doing so well. We had dinner at a tapas place called Sala - food was good, not great, but atmosphere was fun. At one point they were playing "It's the time to disco" from Kal Ho Na Ho. That was hilarious. Anyways, no evil stares from the waiters even though we were there until 1am.

*Saturday it rained and it was a sucky day so we cut our trip short because we had to be in Long Island for dinner that night.

Overall, a very fun trip and I learned a lot about subways =)

It's free ice cream day

It's free ice cream day at Ben & Jerry's - go get some yummy stuff for dessert =)

Tagged

I got this from OpinionatedinJerzee's Blog and I'm bored so here you go =)

( ) Smoked a cigarette (No smoking for me - I want to live a long life)
( ) Drank so much you threw up (I don't drink dawg!)
( ) Crashed a friend's car (Yikes, no way)
( ) Stolen a car
(X) Been in love (I love my jaanu)
(X ) Shoplifted (Ok, do you guys remember pogs? One of those things that was huge and then disappeared. Well, I once stole a couple from a cart in the mall when I was young. I know, I'm horrible. Sorry pog cart man!)
(X) Quit your job (Yup, to start my current project)
( ) Filed for divorce
(X) Been in a fist fight (With my sister - does that count?)
( ) Broken a bone
( ) Saved someone's life
( ) Been arrested
( ) Gone on a blind date (I'd be way too shy)
(X) Lied to a friend (Yes, I'm sure I have - but with good intentions)
(X) Skipped school (I've skipped a class or two, but I don't think I've ditched for a whole day)
( ) Seen someone die
(X) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(X) Been on a plane (Many, many times)
(X) Been lost (Yes, but not like on the show)
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country (Uh, hello, I was born there!)
( ) Swam in the ocean (I can't swim. No, really, it's the truth. I knew how to swim when I was young and took lessons. Now I can't swim. And no, it's not something you never forget because I have forgotten!)
(X) Felt like dying (Long distance relationship fights can do that to you)
(X) Been stung by a bee (I think back in 2nd or 3rd grade)
( ) Played cops and robbers (No, but my cousins and I used to play "Air Hostess")
( ) Recently colored your hair (Highlighted my hair in India and it needs some major highlighting now)
(X) Done somethin' you told yourself you wouldn't (Life would be boring if you didn't X this one!)
(X) Made prank phone calls (Haha, I had a family friend call a bunch of girls in my 8th grade class and say that he was a guy from class and he liked 'em. Oh, the days before caller ID).
( ) Lost over 20 pounds (If I lost 20 pounds I would look like Nicole Richie)
( ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue (I've opened my mouth while it's snowing but I don't think I've ever caught one)
(X) Danced in the rain (Of course! I encourage my niece to do it with me!)
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus (Hmm, yea, I don't think so)
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Had your opinion printed in the newspaper (I've been interviewed a few times for different papers)
(X) Taken a bubble bath with someone (Stay on the Concierge Level at the Venetian and buy the Romance bubble bath package - HEAVEN!)
(X) Made a bonfire on the beach
( ) Crashed a party
(X) Gone roller-skatin'
( ) Ice-skatin' (On my husband's list of things he will make me do)

David Blaine!

I have been in love with David Blaine for years .. ok, my love has wavered recently but there was a time when I would drool over him. For those of you who don't know, he's this magician guy who also performs these crazy stunts. You may remember hearing about him suspending himself inside a box over the Thames River in London and fasting for 44 days.

Anyways, now he's pulling a crazy stunt in New York. He's going to live underwater for 7 days.

"The "human aquarium" in which Blaine will float is a specially built
8-foot acrylic sphere. He will receive liquid nutrition through a tube and the
water will be kept at a balanced temperature to help keep his core temperature
close to 98.6 degrees F." (Link)

This guy is crazy. I love it!! I'm going to go see him - he starts living underwater on May 1st.

Other men who used to be extremely hot include Enrique Iglesias (when we used to sing his songs in Spanish class, before he became the big star) and Craig David (not sure if he's still as hot anymore).

Rich Weddings

I love attending weddings thrown by rich people. Seriously, that sounds mean, I know. But come on - weddings are amazing and if you have a higher budget, you can do more amazing things. I was able to pull together a bunch of unique touches at my wedding that I'm sure lower budgets would not have been able to do. However, with more money, I could have done amazing things. Ok, I'm just trying to justify my first line.


So hubby was a frat boy back in his college days (an Indian frat - IND). He was one of the founders and very close with his boys. I've been to a lot of their weddings and they've been great experiences. Now there's one coming up that I'm dying to go to because they seem to be pretty loaded. Unfortunately, it's Memorial Day Weekend, which is the weekend of my birthday. We were hoping to get away for a couple days.

But I weighed it out and have decided that I must attend this wedding =) Then I took a look at the hotel where the wedding is and it's absolutely gorgeous. So I think we'll stay at the hotel for 2 nights and turn it into a mini-getaway, as well as attend the wedding. It's the Hilton Pearl River in New York.

Ooh, and the Hiltons really seem to like me, so maybe I'll get us another free upgrade to the concerige/club level =) Free snacks baby!

Lakme Fashion Week

One of my dreams is to be able to attend Lakme Fashion Week. New York Fashion week would be great and all, but I'm a sucker for mixing east and west when it comes to clothing. These Indian designers really are amazing. I would love the chance to see some of these shows - and to attend the parties that follow =)

I remember telling my dad about this last year while watching a recap of the show on tv, and he was actually sad that I wanted to go so bad and didn't. This is the same man who, while sitting in California, miraculously arranged for me to meet Salman, with whom I was enamored at the age of 15, in Bombay. I hate Salman now, but that was definitely one of the highlights of my life.






Seriously, every time this show happens and I read the articles about it, I get sad that I missed yet another chance to go. Not that I could go - I think you have to be invited. Not sure if they'll let IndianWeddingSite.com press come see the show and do a write-up =) But hey, it's worth a shot. Hmm, I should look into this.














I love Manish Malhotra, as does everyone in Bollywood. He even designed the lounge, Earth, in new york city. The place is gorgeous. Ashish Soni is also great.

What sucks is that even if I wanted to buy their clothes, I wouldn't be able to. I wish these Indian designers were still doing things at Indian prices =) Unfortunately they think they're the next Versace so completely out of my budget.











They even had their own Janet Jackson-ish wardrobe malfunctions at the event. To the left you'll see a falling halter top, and I believe there was one other top incident. Then, of course, there was a skirt that completely split from the back, exposing a model booty.

Oh how I hope to be at the next show! (Ok, not because of the model booty, though I see how it could sound that way)

Vacation Plans =(

Ok .. so an update on my vacation plans.

We were thinking Belize .. but upon further research decided that it's not the best spot we could go. So then we kinda put it on the back burner. Then hubby got a job offer and yesterday we realized that he can leave his current job a couple days early, giving us a wednesday to sunday time frame to go somewhere. So I went back to the AA reduce mileage awards list. I explored a bunch of them and then fell in love with St. Kitts/Nevis in the Caribbean. There's great beach, it's a tropical island, there's safaris and hiking - reminded us of our honeymoon in French Polynesia. So I spent yesterday researching my butt off and figuring everything out. I had checked for flights online and everything seemed fine.

BUT .. then last night I call AA at 10pm to book it and they tell me that I can't look at the normal AA flights - they only designate a certain number of seats for their promotions. So, of course, there is nothing to this area in the times we need. Then I check every other damn destination on the list and there are no flights coming back on Sunday - only on Mon or Tue, which obviously doesn't work.

So long story short, no fancy schmancy vacation for us. Regular flights to St. Kitts are around $800 each so that's not happening. None of the last minute packages available are appealing, or work in the time we need to go.

Sigh.

This sucks.

I'm currently brainstorming other ideas. Let's see what happens.

Weekend recap

Hey everyone - how's it going? I'm off my blah slump that I was in while writing my last post ... for now =)

Friday night hubby and I went to watch Failure to Launch - yea we knew it wasn't worth it but we wanted to see something and there was nothing else interesting. It was a cute movie, obviously not worth a trip to the theatre =)

Saturday we took my niece to Chuck E Cheese - wow, that place was horrible. I have so many great memories of that place from my childhood. It was nothing like that! This one was tiny and cramped and the kids were all over each other. We didn't last more than 40 minutes in there. But she had fun and got a couple useless trinkets that I'm sure she'll never look at again =)

Saturday night a friend of mine from CA was in NY with some of her friends so we met up with them. Went to a Thai place called Klong. Strange name, I know. We also did a stopover at a place called Chickpea which reminded me of Chickpea. Klong was good but not amazing (not like Spice which I still thing is the best thai food in the city). We got home around 3am which means it was a good night.

Sunday we had to go to jersey for a family friend's birthday. Now normally, all the 30 and unders would have sat around bored, probably playing scattergories. But hubby woke up with the idea of taking our volleyball set to their house. This was a godsend. We had the best time playing and didn't even realize where the time went. Most of us sucked, but that's ok. What a perfect way to make a trip to Jersey fun =)

Summer is coming and I'm so excited!!!!

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Ok, on another note - what website/service do you use to keep track of blogs? I'm still doing it the old way - randomly checking all the blogs I like that I have bookmarked. I tried bloglines.com but I didn't really like it. What do you guys use?

Goodbye California?

I feel like I'll never make it back to California. Like I'll be stuck in Connecticut for the rest of my life.

When I first got married and moved out here, a part of me was excited - excited about leaving some drama behind (even though it meant leaving my good friends and of course, my family). I was excited about starting a new life as a married woman. That excitement soon turned into a slight depression. The fact that I couldn't find a job and was at home didn't help me feel any better. Helping raise my niece did help though, and brought me out of my misery, as did finding a job.

Back to when I first got married - I knew my husband wanted to move to California so I figured it was only a short matter of time before we made the move back to the land I love. A year passed, two years passed, and this summer will be 3 years, and we're not going anywhere. It's funny how I had it all planned out and nothing worked out that way. It seems that as each year passes, we move further away from being in a situation where we'll move to CA.

I know I can suck it up and make the most of my life here ... but I don't want to. I want to raise my kids in a place where they can play outside 9+ months out of the year. Not one where it takes 15 minutes to strap on a sweater, gloves, a jacket, boots, a hat, etc before going out. Even the summers here are ridiculously humid.

I feel that as we move further from moving to CA, I move further from wanting to have children. I figure if we can't make the move now, how are we going to do it with a baby? With a toddler? With a child in school?

My husband is in a new situation now where I'm happy for him, beyond belief, for getting what he wanted. But I also know that this will only keep me away from California that much longer.

I know he still wants to move, but wanting is never enough ... is it?

Let the Parties Begin!

It has officially started. PARTY SEASON.

Now the all caps may seem like I'm excited, but I think I'm more stressed than excited. Everyone knows I love a good wedding (uh, hello), but I wasn't expecting this onslaught of them. I now have 3 on schedule between now and the end of May. But let's not forget the Sweet 16's and all the other reasons people celebrate. On one Saturday in May I have a communion and the reception for the communion in Long Island, a wedding reception in Poughkeepsie, and a Sweet 16 in New Jersey. I suddenly understand how this one friend of ours who is always juggling 2-3 events on a Saturday night feels. And I thought he was lucky!

I feel cheated out of weekends. Let me rephrase that - weekends with warm weather! I want to go out and play tennis and have picnics. Instead I'll be getting primped and pinned for parties. Why do you people take away my summers! Have your parties in November dammit!

Ok, who am I to complain. I had my wedding on a long weekend in July and ruined anyone's chance of a 3-day summer getaway =)

Hey, I'm sorry, it was a bicoastal wedding!

Working out Letdown

I've been working out pretty consistently. Last year I think I was good about it for a few months - going to the gym, taking a step aerobics class. Then I took a month and a half break in which I don't think I went to the gym once. And now we're on a roll - going 4-5 days a week for an hour.

So this is supposed to do something for me, right? Well it's not WORKING! I've never had to work out to stay in shape before so it's really disheartening knowing that I'm busting my butt at the gym and I look the same. Especially those damn step aerobics classes where I want to just lay down and die halfway through while the other chirpy women have a blast.

Granted, I do not lead a very active lifestyle, and granted, I like to splurge on dessert once in a whlie - but come on now! I've even become a label-reader and I never thought that would happen. Grocery shopping for 6 things on Sunday took hubby and I an hour because of all the labels and low fats and low sodiums.

I'm trying to eat fruit instead of chocolate, but that doesn't seem to matter either. One issue I have is eating dinner late at night. We can't get to the gym before 730 which means we get home at around 8:45 and then we eat dinner. Eating before the gym isn't really a possibility for us unless hubby wants to eat a cold sandwich on the train everyday.

Ok, I'm just ranting here, but goddamnit I'd like to see some changes if I'm going to put myself through this! Hell, summer is coming up and I can't afford a new wardrobe! I'm not very patient and up until now I've always had bhangra teams that I competed on to keep me in shape. Sigh.

One day this will work ... right?

Right??

Of course.

And then I'll get pregnant and fat and have to start ALL over again.

I need some chocolate.

Glasses

I hate glasses. Reading glasses, sunglasses, you name it. I don't understand how people can wear them all day. Glasses hurt my nose, even the itty bitty light ones. And you can only see directly ahead of you! What if I want to point my eyes to the sky without moving my head? Tough luck. I won't be able to see a thing. Thank God for contacts.

And sunglasses? I guess they serve a purpose but it's so refreshing to take them off and actually be able to see clearly.

My husband, on the other hand, loves his glasses. He also likes girls who wear glasses. He tried to convert me into a glasses wearer. When we were in India on a family vacation we found a store and the entire family got multipe pairs of glasses. Even I jumped in and got a funky pair. And then later I cried because I couldn't see shit because I'm so used to the flexibility of contacts. So, yes, he failed to convert me.

To all the glasses wearers, I don't know how you do it. Contacts are so much better!