Vacation Fun

Surprisingly i'm still exhausted from my mini break last week.  What is it about vacations that make you more tired at the end of them.  Isn't the whole point of a vacation to get some rest and relaxation?  It seems every time I take a break from school/work, it's harder to get back into it.  And, well, it's Monday, and I hate Mondays.  But on a happier note, i'm only 4 days away from another weekend :D haha!
 
Here are a few snippets from last last weekend.   

Coffee date with my mum at Le Pain Quotidien :)

 

We did some quick shopping and found some cute things!! Check out her new bangles :) I'm so jealous she can fit into bangles....

My mom has a love for elephants.  She has a small collection of elephant figurines, and I think this necklace adds perfectly to her collection :)

The hubby and I took a short trip to the beach last Tuesday.  It was really lovely to finally have some time together.  It's been a while and as with all great things, too short! One of my favorite beaches is Corona Del Mar.  The view from the top of the cliff is amazing and we got lucky with wonderful weather! 

Coffee and Sprinkles Cupcakes

Cinnamon sugar and my favorite, pumpkin.

 

 

 

A small hint of a rainbow made its way across the sky :)

Grilled chicken with mediterranean salad from Pita Grill.  It's was spicy, but oh so good.

 

 My husbands niece and nephew left last Monday and my in-laws house was filled with their toys.  The toys had to be sorted back into their respective bins (Legos in one, cars in another, blocks in their box...) before they could be put away, but somehow the men got distracted with "organizing" and ended up playing.  The next hour and half of the evening was spent playing with Legos.

I made a pretty little garden, while trying to sort out the cars and blocks from the legos :D

that was then attacked by a fighter jet/machine thingy...sad day for my pretty garden...sigh, MEN!

 

Congrats To My Hubby

My hubby just defended his thesis yesterday and he passed (with flying colors if I do say so myself).  I'm extremely proud of him.  It was a hard struggle for so so soooo many reasons, but he did it, he passed, and they were impressed.  I'm a very proud wifey :)  We got him a small cake to celebrate last night, and we are planning more celebrations to come; yes Mr. Hubby, it's spoilage time! :)

I have family visiting from out of town these next few days, my hubby has a nice long weekend break and I will be busy having fun :D I'll be back to post more next week.  Hope everyone has a great weekend to come!

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Happy Iranian New Year!!

Today is the start of the Iranian new year and the first day of spring.  YAY!  Happy Nowruz! It actually started at 4am this morning our time (vernal equinox as it is also called).  I wrote a post last on year on what it all means and the significance of each item that we place out on our table spread, but I listed it here again.

This year our little haftsin got a bit bigger, not sure why, but of course it still had to go where Fishi is, given she is one of the most important parts of it (as I was telling her to get her all excited and explain why there was a huge mirror blocking her view of the world).  I also added lights this year as I was feeling extra festive (take that school housing!).  My family is coming into town this weekend and my brother-in-law and his three munchkins are also visiting, so it's officially a large family renuion.  I love family gatherings, it's like Christmas but for us Persians...except this year it sucks because Nowruz fell right in the middle of the week :(   

So here is a list of the items included in the haftsin:

    - Sir (Garlic), symbolizes health and medicine
    - Samanu (Wheat germ pudding), symbolizes affluence
    - Senjed (Dried fruit from the Oleaster tree), symbolizes love
    - Sabzeh (Wheat, lentil or barley sprouted in a dish), symbolizes birth
    - Somaq (Dried sumac berries), symbolizes the color of sunrise
    - Sib (Apple), symbolizes beauty
    - Serkeh (Vinegar), symbolizes age and patience
    - Sekkeh (Coins), symbolizing wealth
    - Sonbol (Hyacinth plant), symbolizing the coming of spring (or tulips)
    - Holy Book (Quran), symbolizing wisdom
    - Ayneh (Mirror), symbolizing clarity
    - Sham (Candles), symbolizing enlightenment and happiness
    - Tokhmeh Morgeh Rangi (Colored eggs), symbolizing fertility
    - Bowl of goldfish in water, symbolizing life within life (fish within water)
    - Yummy and delicious Iranian pastries as well as nuts and dried fruit are 

       sometimes also included.

 

 Yes, you can see my camera, yes I tried very hard not to get it in the picture, no I don't care because you needed to see the haftsin from this angle :D

These are some beautiful tulips.  When I bought them, I thought they were going to be pink, but they are a mix of yellow and pink and are just amazingly beautiful.  I got lucky :)

Sabzeh

My glittered eggs from last year.  I'm probably supposed to put fresh eggs every year, but ya...I like my glittered eggs :D 

Sekeh (Iranian coins)

 Sib (green apple), Samanu (the brown pudding) and Senjed (sumaq berries)

The Holy Quran

Garlic and Apple cider vinegar :D 

My huasband asked me why we don't have "normal" vinegar, and I said it's because this smells better, but to be honest, it's what we had and I was really lazy to go buy some. 

Somaq

 

Happy Nowruz!

Eid-e-Nowruz Mubarak! :)

Happy Friday

First and foremost, thank God it's Friday.  Secondly, I have found a new lab to join and I'm secretly super excited, or not so secretly, hehe.  I hope I've made the right decision and I hope that it works out in the long run.  Grant money is super tight so as of next year, things might be up in the air with funding, but I hope from now until then, I will get a good project, get LOTS of data, find a fellowship of some sort and/or boss gets his grant re-funded.  This is me being uber optimistic.  But, we'll see what happens.  For now, a small weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can take a minute to breath.  I have to get into gear for a long haul of hard work, so I hope this excitement lasts (or as my hubby put it...it better!).

I have tons to do this weekend for prepping for Noruz, and I have presents to wrap and some baking to do...and tons of non-school related things....fun :D  

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Happy Friday! :)

Apple Slicer

Omg, I have found the coolest little gadget for slicing apples. Welcome the Progressive Thin Apple Slicer. I was a bit skeptical, given my previous experience with cool looking things, but it's PERFECT. I am so excited...sliced apples in one second! I'm clearly lazy...yes!

16 beautiful, evenly cut slices :)

I totally recommend this product.  It came in two sizes, larger slices and smaller slices.  I went for the smaller one.  I think it's perfect.  The blade is really sharp though, so you definitely need to use it carefully and on a cutting board so you don't scratch anything.  But, overall, totally recommend.  I'm so excited :D

New Flowers in My Garden

I wish I had more pots to plant flowers in, actually I wish I had a small patch of land to call my own, but more pots means more care and more hassle and more pruning and more cleaning.  I barely have time for the little garden that I have. 

This time around, I decided to be brave and buy something that most probably will take over my balcony if I don't watch it; a small jasmine plant.  I just couldn't resist the smell and wanted something different this time around.  Something tall and something pretty :) It's really beautiful, and I can only hope that it survives! 

My tomato plant is already budding with flowers :) Yay!

I also spent a good couple of hours cleaning the balcony with some 20+ buckets of water.  There was so much dust and dirt everywhere (not from the planting, but from the rains and wind) and we don't have a garden hose or water outlet, so Fishi's bucket to the rescue (thank you for sharing Fishi).  Although I considered buying a really long garden hose and hooking it up to the kitchen sink...but then I would have to store the hose on my balcony that already has no space.  And then I considered borrowing my in-laws garden hose, but then I realized that I would have to bring it over here, carry it up to the second floor, put down plastic everywhere so that the hose wouldn't get my kitchen and living room dirty and then...ya, no thank you! Too much work.  So, broom, mop, old hubby's t-shirts and bare feet...here we go.  I will spare you the details, but it was messy and I was exhausted.  But, now it's so clean I could lick the floor.  I mean, not really lick, but you get the idea.  My poor neighbors down stairs didn't say anything, even with a waterfall going over their balcony.  I really should bake them some sweets and take it down there.  I would hate to be a neighbor to me. Gosh...so annoying! Kill your plants already will ya!