tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73931377429572980012024-03-04T20:47:19.302-08:00Everybody Loves Reh.Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-69178432508267425022015-07-09T20:13:00.002-07:002015-07-09T20:41:08.716-07:00Msrehreh has materializedWell hello again, it's ben a long time! Missed me? I'm attempting to restart this blog. Every time I have wanted to pick blogging back up, I am derailed by the long absence that I have left you with and all the negative self-deprecating thoughts that plant themselves in my head, paralyzing me till I concede defeat. With that being said, I need to get over myself and just dive back in. Whether that means there is 1 person interested in what I have to say (thanks mom), then so be it. Writing was always a form of escape from my everyday - I'm hoping you will ride along.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our innovative #selfie game was on point 13 years ago. #tbt</td></tr>
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So much has happened since my very last post but here is a quick recap. My baby boy Isa is now 2.5 years old, my middle spunky daughter Zaina is 6 and my eldest baby girl Leila is 12. I am a bonafide <a href="https://blogs.cisco.com/author/rehanarehman" target="_blank">Digital Marketer</a> at Cisco. Yup, you are correct, I have moved on up in the world finally. You can find <a href="http://msrehreh/" target="_blank">me</a> on Twitter, babbling away and while you're at it follow my sports obsessed husband <a href="https://twitter.com/ichaudhry79" target="_blank">Fish</a> if you want to talk ESPN all day everyday. I am doing well, happy and very healthy. Not healthy living healthy, but more inhaling at high speed every morsel of food on my plate, kinda healthy. I have so fallen off my motigirl diaries diet and have fortunately gained all the weight back much to my scale's dismay. More on that coming in later blogs (hopefully)... </div>
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I plan to dive deeper back into writing more consistently and let the creative juices just flow. I'm the most at peace when I can allow myself to let words take me away. As an adolescent, I avidly wrote in my journal. I'm hoping that this blog will allow me to simulate the same exuberant cadence that I once had as a teenager. Although I haven't narrowed down a cohesive theme for my blog, I humbly request that you bear with me. It may vary like my mood swings. You might get a glimpse into my work world, the crazy life of #soccermoms, my failures as a parent of 3, my gluttonous appetite for consuming delicious things and then regretting it later all wrapped up into one. Don't say I didn't give you a fair warning. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or say what's up below!</div>
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Msrehreh is signing off for tonight. Deuces. </div>
Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-35787777146111968142012-07-13T13:55:00.000-07:002012-07-13T14:28:15.299-07:00Moti Girl Diary: Moti Girl is indeed MotiSalutations! I suppose I should make it official and confirm that I am indeed preggers with my third child. Yes, it has been a while since my last post so I wanted my next post to be special. Well I had my 18 week appointment to find out the sex of our baby today and I was doing everything in my power to calm myself down before I got there. It's a 50-50 chance right? Boy or girl? Boy or girl? AH I am blessed with two spirited girls and it would have been so nice to round us out with a little boy.... does our wish come true... see below to see my results....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin our ultrasound technician: Bay Area Maternity</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria my midwife from Bay Area Maternity</td></tr>
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The verdict is in... we are due 12-12-12 iA and <b>your motigirl is indeed Moti with a man child</b> aH. We are super excited, happy and cannot wait! I am looking forward to go shopping for little boys clothes! Who's with me? This is your moti girl signing out... till next time. :)</div>
</div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-89151637219455131942012-03-15T10:54:00.000-07:002012-03-15T10:54:37.689-07:00Moti Girl Recipe: Tilapia a la FoilBonjour! Or shall I begin with Ni Hao this morning? I begin today's blog post with a yummy-in-your-tummy, healthy Asian inspired Tilapia recipe with a fancy French name. As my quest to shed my Moti Girl pounds continue, I came across an interesting recipe that I reconfigured a little bit to incorporate all my favorite ingredients. It's quite simple, low maintenance and a delish recipe, that I had to share with you all!<br />
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I'm not much of a measurer, but I will do my best for you guys.<br />
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Ingredients:<br />
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<ul><li>2 tablespoons of chopped chives</li>
<li>7 garlic cloves grated in a microplane (I tend to throw in a few more cloves for added flavor)</li>
<li>1 teaspoon of grated ginger</li>
<li>1 tablespoon of red crushed pepper</li>
<li>2 tablespoons of Sesame Oil</li>
<li>1/4 cup of low sodium Soy Sauce</li>
<li>1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice seasoning</li>
<li>5-6 pieces of fresh Tilapia (you can probably do this with any kid of mild white fish)</li>
<li>Splashes of Ponzu sauce</li>
<li>Foil</li>
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</div><div>Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients and whisk it till the marinade/sauce is nicely blended together (chives, garlic, ginger, red crushed peppers, sesame oil, soy sauce and 5 spice). Whisk it good...</div><div><br />
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</div><div>Take the Tilapia out of the fridge and rinse it under the sink and make sure to pat dry it with paper towels. This is more so your marinade/sauce doesn't get the excess water in it.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rinse the fish</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pat dry</td></tr>
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</div><div>Now tear out a large piece of foil out and place a piece of Tilapia in the middle of the sheet. Depending on the sizes of fish, you can either put one big piece or a couple small pieces of fish together on the foil. Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of the marinade over the fish and then splash (a teaspoon of the Ponzu sauce over the fish as well). Ponzu is a citrus-based Japanese sauce and is available at any grocery store. I personally like to peruse the Asian markets for stuff like this, because it is a lot cheaper there (yeah I'm cheapo) and you get way more variety. I like using it because it gives the dish a little bit of citrus flavor without overwhelming it with fresh citrus. I am partial to the lime flavored Ponzu Sauce.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEvoE6U3j7XqIb3hcBx1InNQXfPYeG_CdQ2CshiuYBL8MQcRePaXEZOKz5oTZJEH63hJ0MEoQ7P6GgnybbXY_6-cm82pOegxoKJ7U49wJR9in63v_ZpwZ6QmLOWHWO-M-Ow8_9UrSPSE/s1600/more+sauce+on+fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEvoE6U3j7XqIb3hcBx1InNQXfPYeG_CdQ2CshiuYBL8MQcRePaXEZOKz5oTZJEH63hJ0MEoQ7P6GgnybbXY_6-cm82pOegxoKJ7U49wJR9in63v_ZpwZ6QmLOWHWO-M-Ow8_9UrSPSE/s320/more+sauce+on+fish.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">adding marinade</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMS0452CWgsVta8din2D7uZHGuqlWtkmrq9_FngsI0-v8jdEhJOq2LR8LOx4d0vCSEeEWUCGPbB7-JRtk9JB0KbEP4ruZuNiLFQEN2zOdC9cVyJlxo5WIPrhac7Kr3AMt-K91JN01XbM/s1600/ponzu+sauce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMS0452CWgsVta8din2D7uZHGuqlWtkmrq9_FngsI0-v8jdEhJOq2LR8LOx4d0vCSEeEWUCGPbB7-JRtk9JB0KbEP4ruZuNiLFQEN2zOdC9cVyJlxo5WIPrhac7Kr3AMt-K91JN01XbM/s320/ponzu+sauce.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lime flavored Ponzu sauce</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Neatly enclose the fish into a foil packet and place all the packets on a baking sheet.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxPZoYf8xx76kNkrcWvynGyafIfaPeF6iZuhyphenhyphenn7dJQHICr4Y7b-XP1kMcdoCLGb59axthGCueMNrkRMEXMQ4lj5EWndHG5uCC_gw-VZrkTJKdd3NEOfclijRS69rrXO9PzH_dgBq91y8/s1600/completed+foil+packets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxPZoYf8xx76kNkrcWvynGyafIfaPeF6iZuhyphenhyphenn7dJQHICr4Y7b-XP1kMcdoCLGb59axthGCueMNrkRMEXMQ4lj5EWndHG5uCC_gw-VZrkTJKdd3NEOfclijRS69rrXO9PzH_dgBq91y8/s320/completed+foil+packets.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foil packets of Fish</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Bake the fish for 20 minutes in the oven. You'll know that the fish is close to being done when the foil packets puff up with steam and sauce emerges from the corners of the foil packets. <b>Variation: </b>Sometimes I like to add shredded carrots and broccoli on top of the fish. Trader Joes has this awesome ready-to-go shredded vegetable mix for cole slaw that works perfectly with this dish. I like to sneak in as many veggies as I can for the fams.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaa8RGqtxBVYIlKEwvWEaq8i8gnEnBaGUZXi-VUXiy45rcyUk4mxtWqVxt4MJwHqA887XOZIFR3fYhND6fWz7TkZgxc-FGl-t5scks36ObuI-N30tA77ij9kivL4xIOwLZQswVHp7NR7I/s1600/peek+inside+oven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaa8RGqtxBVYIlKEwvWEaq8i8gnEnBaGUZXi-VUXiy45rcyUk4mxtWqVxt4MJwHqA887XOZIFR3fYhND6fWz7TkZgxc-FGl-t5scks36ObuI-N30tA77ij9kivL4xIOwLZQswVHp7NR7I/s320/peek+inside+oven.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puffed up foil packets</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>Now take the baking sheet out and open the foil pack with care, a lot of steam will escape as you open the packet. You don't want to give yourself a facial while cooking.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguuz-6WGp6TnhOG77crIw6SLR13bFPO_EHDWmEq6O-cxAAg3QS0iM3Vxcij2XzSKjvxfzsyWGYTpsOmw1Lsnkos7eaMho9bne-T2AAdy4xqVKUtFyw6bksQXMbwh76RtvT__nnqTz-hqg/s1600/open+foil+packet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguuz-6WGp6TnhOG77crIw6SLR13bFPO_EHDWmEq6O-cxAAg3QS0iM3Vxcij2XzSKjvxfzsyWGYTpsOmw1Lsnkos7eaMho9bne-T2AAdy4xqVKUtFyw6bksQXMbwh76RtvT__nnqTz-hqg/s320/open+foil+packet.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">open with care</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBmYnlRYFqR4NsaBLlFzzC2cVBy7BwSp65uLY06yhDdp4GRb0DLSPsivKu66Zhcdvp4pfZR4cpm5ABJsfeFQwuqYZKOhDliTHpjPkBjCsqxgV3PBOT77qIiMPaHQ_Qkpk9ETeIFvRWA8/s1600/finished+product.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBmYnlRYFqR4NsaBLlFzzC2cVBy7BwSp65uLY06yhDdp4GRb0DLSPsivKu66Zhcdvp4pfZR4cpm5ABJsfeFQwuqYZKOhDliTHpjPkBjCsqxgV3PBOT77qIiMPaHQ_Qkpk9ETeIFvRWA8/s320/finished+product.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yummy tilapia</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>I like to make this with some brown jasmine rice and steamed bok choy. This particular day I made it brown jasmine rice with corn and shitake mushrooms and steamed baby bok choy with garlic. I will share the bok choy recipe later this week.</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvHFBUHgSNUGB0BT3Ra74XaPptFTkiuQZ5v6-Ci947dKQOkRBxe0PQZehfhFavvV_ofkL52B5THtkU06M9_d4hFs7oyNr-1Iv2lr4X60KPhFsZWl3EaoJVCOD59rCmfirsMZR8E2Jfa8/s1600/voila.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEvHFBUHgSNUGB0BT3Ra74XaPptFTkiuQZ5v6-Ci947dKQOkRBxe0PQZehfhFavvV_ofkL52B5THtkU06M9_d4hFs7oyNr-1Iv2lr4X60KPhFsZWl3EaoJVCOD59rCmfirsMZR8E2Jfa8/s400/voila.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Voila</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>I hope you guys will attempt this recipe and enjoy it as much as I do. It is truly very simple and tasty, not to mention healthy. I think cooking in foil or parchment is easy and makes for a very flavorful meal Feel free to leave comments on what you thought or on variations that you might have attempted. </div><div><br />
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</div><div>Thanks again folks, this is your Moti Girl bidding you adieu! :)</div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-33252283308787877712012-02-21T23:26:00.002-08:002012-02-22T12:44:35.934-08:00Guess who's back for some Moti LoveWell hello my faithful friends... do I even have any left out there? Thanks to some very persistent and encouraging gal pals (yes, that's you Ms Lakhani) I have bellyflopped back into the land of blogging. I know you're enjoying that lovely mental picture I just gave you. I can't even being to explain why I took such a long hiatus from this world... suffice to say I'm baaackkkk. You ready for me?<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCjsQeVU-qEJTTRwjka8RGzOZF4JlejZ-kPnIwsDZxW2KWKzgd6ubKE23BqJ-GIcyhsobi30-bIizjrDvouXoYzUCRl7DFNPmUzF5V3Izdr8JwYIatfBTWL9zqlE4KY3w-CNomNPBBlY/s1600/IMG_0945_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCjsQeVU-qEJTTRwjka8RGzOZF4JlejZ-kPnIwsDZxW2KWKzgd6ubKE23BqJ-GIcyhsobi30-bIizjrDvouXoYzUCRl7DFNPmUzF5V3Izdr8JwYIatfBTWL9zqlE4KY3w-CNomNPBBlY/s320/IMG_0945_2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
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</div><div>So I have absolutely no idea where to start. New year, new beginnings, new fat I have found chilling on my body... yeah what a great start. So, I begin 2012 with a promise to myself and my 2 followers that I will attempt to write weekly. </div><div><br />
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</div><div>When I first fell off the wagon of blogging, a good friend of mine had advised to write about my struggles and challenges with sticking with Moti girl, or to focus on how hard it is to stay motivated. But I didn't heed the advice of the wise and the more time that passed, the easier it became to put it off even more. The next time I checked, six months had gone by sans blogging and I felt like such a loser and a quitter. I need to follow through and hold myself accountable. It wasn't so much about the dieting and losing weight, it was about making a lifestyle change that stuck. Plus, the routine of blogging weekly was so great for my soul. I wasn't ready for all the changes that came my way once school was over. I didn't manage all the different hats I was wearing and more importantly I didn't prioritize very well. So I plan to ameliorate that and hope to do it with your help. :)</div><div><br />
</div><div>Unfortunately or maybe luckily my scale's battery is dead, so no picture today. However the scale will be back this weekend and I will snap a picture and throw it on this blog on Monday next week. I leave you today with one word and that is HOPE. I HOPE to keep up with blogging. I HOPE to make better choices and I HOPE that I won't bore you to death with my ramblings of all irrelevant things. Until next time... this is your Moti girl signing out.</div><div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVwYBx7z7TFmeKxc0Xptk2WMnyKV4B5JAjWhfmYMhftqMqdfnH2Xh01gZYroSv2I1j0ar6zaGHlVMgn2eP1vSlGAqHUu8yaKAbO2TixeVlRtVv5o6o958fL_Ybjrb1odpz1RwLXJPGEk/s1600/hope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVwYBx7z7TFmeKxc0Xptk2WMnyKV4B5JAjWhfmYMhftqMqdfnH2Xh01gZYroSv2I1j0ar6zaGHlVMgn2eP1vSlGAqHUu8yaKAbO2TixeVlRtVv5o6o958fL_Ybjrb1odpz1RwLXJPGEk/s320/hope.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
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</div></div></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-37470887554212845592011-06-07T03:10:00.000-07:002011-06-07T03:10:48.156-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Fourteen Dolce Val Niente<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRogbCv5u2yIr9Kmkou4ki0OyH1wZh_fl2mns8zlT8uzpLWrS0mv1z2LOrPqHS9gy1w2koTE_FV_QvCnx7l1RA74qOkt98Ue_Rhtp_o7KfmBb72Km03rJVfVVcxKRPzERxCGJ9xs_0I0/s1600/my+temperment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtRogbCv5u2yIr9Kmkou4ki0OyH1wZh_fl2mns8zlT8uzpLWrS0mv1z2LOrPqHS9gy1w2koTE_FV_QvCnx7l1RA74qOkt98Ue_Rhtp_o7KfmBb72Km03rJVfVVcxKRPzERxCGJ9xs_0I0/s320/my+temperment.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Temperament</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Good evening my fellow friends. This is your Moti Girl checking in for my weekly update. What's cracking people? This kooky Bay Area weather is driving me insane. 59 degrees in June? Are you kidding me? Aside from the weather, I am feeling quite cranky because I have absolutely nothing to do. I didn't realize how busy my life was the last five years with school and now that that chapter of my life is finally complete, I feel barren. I should punch myself in the face for sounding so ungrateful but I didn't realize I was going to be feel so lost. Now what? Everyone so kindly keeps reminding me to enjoy myself and to just relax. I don't think I'm wired to relax. Do I even know how? I have a plan, well at least I think I did, but right now everything seems to be moving in slow motion. It's only been a week and I feel so incredibly suffocated by all the time that I have? Does that even make sense? I need to find a hobby and things to do to take up some of my idle/free time. Any suggestions? I downloaded the Instagram App on my phone and have had a lot of fun taking pictures recently. An amateur photographer I am not, but I am definitely enjoying playing with this unique little App. (This one was taken at Half Moon Bay on Memorial Day weekend. I think the picture perfectly encapsulates my stormy temperament right about now). Find me, my screen name is msrehreh.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPkFFueDLkCsBX-AUSP2fKIg1c2es5-e7lFP2_eyxUTZT3sBNLqI18UfJwEVu0h-grCiMGWDTvXQwbitBoyNFTL7IFSkeH3Cqz1Qx-0hoB-4vGHDbeh-wcY-BsGtRg874NBQvKhb7K2I/s1600/aminabday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPkFFueDLkCsBX-AUSP2fKIg1c2es5-e7lFP2_eyxUTZT3sBNLqI18UfJwEVu0h-grCiMGWDTvXQwbitBoyNFTL7IFSkeH3Cqz1Qx-0hoB-4vGHDbeh-wcY-BsGtRg874NBQvKhb7K2I/s320/aminabday.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Birthday Lady</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This last week has been good to me. I celebrated my girl Amina's birthday last week (Happy Birthday Woman!) with some lovely ladies and much needed "me" time . It's always so therapeutic to hang with just the girls sometimes. We all need to take our Mommy and Wifey hats off for a few hours and just let our hair down and be enjoy the girlfriend hat for a change. The laughter, the jokes, the sharing of stories the yummy food and dessert made for a memorable night but also reminded me of the importance of sisterhood. That night I realized that it's so easy for all of us to get lost and lose our sense of self as we navigate through the different chapters of our lives. Being with other women and exchanging/sharing stories about our fears, challenges and stressors really allows us to not only engage with each other but highlights the simple fact that we aren't alone and our issues are not unique. It makes it easier to know that there are people out there who share the same crazy talk that swims around in my own head. Okay well I think I have hit the cheesiness quota for the day with this post. I might sound like an after school special, but I stand behind my epiphanies, as corny and cheesetastic as they may sound. :) <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8xV-yZiPct_n0yTa619zwsQAxE7FkoclMqTdu5bwtGvvHfP4N6qowNGN0tM3gpJsdggFDXaqvj1XfEJAcXxC9rYeZAbI_5VePujOIr89Np0KbLwwCkr52rbq2h25qetIHT057aNIP18/s1600/treatbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8xV-yZiPct_n0yTa619zwsQAxE7FkoclMqTdu5bwtGvvHfP4N6qowNGN0tM3gpJsdggFDXaqvj1XfEJAcXxC9rYeZAbI_5VePujOIr89Np0KbLwwCkr52rbq2h25qetIHT057aNIP18/s320/treatbot.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Treatbot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So another highlight for this week has been a couple things. I gave the food truck CurryUpNow a second go (the first time I had the burritos and was not a fan) and was pleasantly surprised by their yummy Kathi Rolls and deconstructed samosas and I also got to indulge in some TreatBot goodness. These two trucks park regularly in Sunnyvale near El Camino and Remington on Tuesdays evenings. You should check them out. CurryUpNow is your good old Desi food and Treatbot is ice-cream with a twist. They have a karaoke machine there and if you dare to test out for vocal chords and manage to score higher than 90, then you get yourself a free dessert and a very excited audience that will cheer you on with much vigor. It's definitely something entertaining to experience.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjbBicgDw8TpQFkEYTmWEZuLVnIZZfFmeTMyjHqwgC54zp2gXVdhhaZ7cGrNeJQQtm1GlZRJDOqtjxLSfCMT_frMV35Y2lKWwQuSUOar7O7f7wt2CJvEUB32XVnR_EwH4JGSmyzPQFtw/s1600/curryupnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjbBicgDw8TpQFkEYTmWEZuLVnIZZfFmeTMyjHqwgC54zp2gXVdhhaZ7cGrNeJQQtm1GlZRJDOqtjxLSfCMT_frMV35Y2lKWwQuSUOar7O7f7wt2CJvEUB32XVnR_EwH4JGSmyzPQFtw/s320/curryupnow.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CurryUpNow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I also purchased thanks to an awesome graduation gift card my very own Zumba Wii game. Woo Hoo. Now I can Zumba whenever the hell I want, forget trying to get to a class at 24 Hour an hour before. I excitedly peeled it open and threw it in the game console to discover that I was in dance heaven. It came with a nifty belt that neatly holds the Wii remote. The moves and music are exactly the same as the class, and a good workout was had. Anyone wanna come through and join me at home? Feel free to hit me up. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluPDNbSFZIulyk0fz8p3fk3882DpvcXmdF-cd6iL9g5_flXGnfbu_MnPiegYpePAWa5Cozp38PBOBJbU0pS83rGtnkhWQ96Ec6aTs2V0YoJWxFArxe2JdItEaTcgLsoIox4n3MPw0u0I/s1600/zumba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluPDNbSFZIulyk0fz8p3fk3882DpvcXmdF-cd6iL9g5_flXGnfbu_MnPiegYpePAWa5Cozp38PBOBJbU0pS83rGtnkhWQ96Ec6aTs2V0YoJWxFArxe2JdItEaTcgLsoIox4n3MPw0u0I/s320/zumba.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">zumba</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I know this post was a bit lack luster but you know I can't have it all. Well here is my weight this week:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSe1zXbMGWWluuwlPqx7uAKZG0IkiyiTxD8R43cC_nxXEvDguGxz3BsM6hsQ97LyqdbjcNmLMMilogv4aQbzJCC5BOujq7SzJeG6Ce2a6OqVZSr4MpiWSnVWEy5h_lbxkwrb_xeFuuX6E/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSe1zXbMGWWluuwlPqx7uAKZG0IkiyiTxD8R43cC_nxXEvDguGxz3BsM6hsQ97LyqdbjcNmLMMilogv4aQbzJCC5BOujq7SzJeG6Ce2a6OqVZSr4MpiWSnVWEy5h_lbxkwrb_xeFuuX6E/s320/scale.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I gained 0.2 pounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Well, I'm not feeling too bad about this week. I know I could have probably done a better job with calorie control, but I was also recovering from being sick last week and 0.2 pounds is really nothing. So my friends... that's all for this week.. until next time. You know you love me XOXO. :)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; color: seashell; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arvo; font-size: 10.8333px; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 5: 4/4/11: 156.8</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 6: 4/11/11: 157.9 (break)</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 7: 4/18/11: 157.6</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 8: 4/25/11: 155.8</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 9: 5/2/11: 155.0</span></b></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 10: 5/9/11: 156.6</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 11: 5/16/11: 156.0</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 12: 5/23/11: 153.8</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 13: 5/31/11: 151.0</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 14: 6/6/11: 151.2</span></b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-49576376139497222302011-06-01T01:51:00.000-07:002011-06-01T01:51:26.588-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen... Bye Bye Berkeley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibUNrWV1guLMPi3b4FJ55rdRqJstkFFDE7zQW-2baWMyulwIvazLUVsY4vYoPFRv9WmfaxGGsw-XmOfCRau2IxKQuCqW7Cm2oqL99Dplvmt91JPcyliKJVLR0OKwt9AerozogyF6buWus/s1600/gradfinally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibUNrWV1guLMPi3b4FJ55rdRqJstkFFDE7zQW-2baWMyulwIvazLUVsY4vYoPFRv9WmfaxGGsw-XmOfCRau2IxKQuCqW7Cm2oqL99Dplvmt91JPcyliKJVLR0OKwt9AerozogyF6buWus/s320/gradfinally.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, the day has FINALLY come aH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Howdy party peoples... yes I am finally back. Come on, do the happy dance with me. Four incredibly long weeks since I have last graced my own blog. I know pretty pathetic, but I had a damn good reason. I had to study for finals, write like a book's worth in papers, handle the whole graduation thing and just veg out. If you don't already know, (how could you not with all my shameless self-promoting status updates, tweets and pics?) I have finally procured my BA in English from UC Berkeley aH. Feel free to say it... Hallelujah. I say it all the time. I will post a video as soon as I get my hands on it, but I was the last one to walk on stage the day of the commencement and I got to walk on with my two babies by my side. It really was one of the most incredible and unreal moments of my life and I have to say, my kids have been the best motivation to complete school. I'm a better person because of them.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3c6_nrCpJYlMa2eJGvykICf-RZInGl7DyHoSFPvYLUAIZDNHwwQbgRgX2UgOv9VyuE9MunX2kjErQi0OqSsO01On7xDE3AZtZ2WHurjH8YbpzeztNaKZIuFm_Mpoia5t0xlZ4oGsQRco/s1600/grad.fam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3c6_nrCpJYlMa2eJGvykICf-RZInGl7DyHoSFPvYLUAIZDNHwwQbgRgX2UgOv9VyuE9MunX2kjErQi0OqSsO01On7xDE3AZtZ2WHurjH8YbpzeztNaKZIuFm_Mpoia5t0xlZ4oGsQRco/s320/grad.fam.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally.. it's happened to me</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
So much has happened in the last few weeks, that I don't even know where to start. I was going through all my pictures... and I was taken aback by all that has happened in this month! Do I write one long blog post and go verbal/written diarrhea about everything that has happened? Do you want to know how my disciplined calorie counting and gym visits went right out the window? Do I dare to admit that physically annihilated any food in sight? No really I did. I was so busy with papers and studying, shoot even Trader Joes' microwaved macaroni meals were not only gourmet but a damn luxury. Do you know the amount of guilt I've been carrying around about sharing this with you all? What were you all going to think? How could I have just fallen off the boat? However, I continued with the weekly weigh in pics and I nearly died of a heart-attack... Unfortunately I will not be entertaining you all today... No frills, no fun anecdotes, no wannabe witty banter this blog post... Just gonna get right to it. I was at 155 pounds according to my last official weigh in.... read it and weep with me...<br />
<br />
<br />
As of May 9th I was...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI-vQJz5dLoC0viOxHgSWGObOEH8ln-RASKShNmKorN8Vm4y5G62pgJaNl67OPiak8SiWpBrjLAIIEVZM7gx-C95KfGo8VqwUIH5CKTnWacwrXwZg4sW-BFIXLrKOPUFkMCr0cPr2NhI/s1600/scale+156.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI-vQJz5dLoC0viOxHgSWGObOEH8ln-RASKShNmKorN8Vm4y5G62pgJaNl67OPiak8SiWpBrjLAIIEVZM7gx-C95KfGo8VqwUIH5CKTnWacwrXwZg4sW-BFIXLrKOPUFkMCr0cPr2NhI/s320/scale+156.6.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gained 1.6 pounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div>As of May 16th I was...<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa_INnvIS6qsySXBKih_UEZ_vQcEoOOImKFgeLrE-PHeqm6UNdOVFWN42-jxAhVUJgEm7DmV0AwY4XbkpAhWcaPioOuu0qNnBChpoVW6DJILD1x1YpTtcj5HhpqaJkMNWn_CBDd9-ObQ/s1600/scale+156.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa_INnvIS6qsySXBKih_UEZ_vQcEoOOImKFgeLrE-PHeqm6UNdOVFWN42-jxAhVUJgEm7DmV0AwY4XbkpAhWcaPioOuu0qNnBChpoVW6DJILD1x1YpTtcj5HhpqaJkMNWn_CBDd9-ObQ/s320/scale+156.0.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I lost 0.6 pounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div><br />
</div><div>As of May 23rd I was...</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQoCP29vy4B5GGeL2fLQ5zAakkVhuDGbIclxTEh6rT0475KKW6AyeZ0PGZvC7CeTULSfu83-DMeL45hAkVkiDfZYYIiKIvdJQIupKAZ4tvkYh_LiDQZLrj2QYgKZ25iF03LjVvuQUtx4/s1600/scale+153.8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQoCP29vy4B5GGeL2fLQ5zAakkVhuDGbIclxTEh6rT0475KKW6AyeZ0PGZvC7CeTULSfu83-DMeL45hAkVkiDfZYYIiKIvdJQIupKAZ4tvkYh_LiDQZLrj2QYgKZ25iF03LjVvuQUtx4/s320/scale+153.8.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I lost 2.2 pounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
<br />
<br />
As of May 31st I was...<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm1-w-jjp4ezDNPPzEIeQ6fySu-h9dTiR9AdwN8w_1p-DK5aPWGRVuja98twCAb5pg8pxCdtoo9PjCMXDcWR2cl1pZJfM8lYDVFuRC7bNSVADr-ENt6kVUt3B5fchblJba_E_H0FuwLA/s1600/scale+151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm1-w-jjp4ezDNPPzEIeQ6fySu-h9dTiR9AdwN8w_1p-DK5aPWGRVuja98twCAb5pg8pxCdtoo9PjCMXDcWR2cl1pZJfM8lYDVFuRC7bNSVADr-ENt6kVUt3B5fchblJba_E_H0FuwLA/s320/scale+151.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I lost 2.8 pounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Um yeah... you can close your mouths now. Are you as shocked as I was? So there was indeed weeping, but lots of happy tears. <insert Nutty Professor's Hercules Hercules (my equivalent for the happy dance)> I wasn't watching my calories, didn't have time to go to the gym, pretty much ate whatever the hell I pleased and miraculously I lost weight. Go figure, my friends, go figure! I have to say though, this last week's weigh in might be off because I did get sick a couple of days ago and kinda loss my appetite. I haven't regained it fully... but seeing these results I question if I even need it back? I kid I kid. :) This has to be a fluke or a gift/nudge from mother nature for finishing school. Whatever it is, I will take it. I'm just grateful and feeling blessed for where I am in my life aH... <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUj3B0o2DqsJz8mIBqwUthqWLjownHQ71hBKR7hCjR4FsuoVvBHkr0EFDnpC3iHOHOMsab4si8m51tETvAaZjqxYORsWhHDKn1BesSk1vyI7ZNkwUoO6m8-cTEpXvG8og736MXX-joWys/s1600/fishyreh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUj3B0o2DqsJz8mIBqwUthqWLjownHQ71hBKR7hCjR4FsuoVvBHkr0EFDnpC3iHOHOMsab4si8m51tETvAaZjqxYORsWhHDKn1BesSk1vyI7ZNkwUoO6m8-cTEpXvG8og736MXX-joWys/s320/fishyreh.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To Hawaii and beyond</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
A special shout out to the hubby for hooking up a one week family vacay to Hawaii this summer as a graduation gift. Thank you! It's the best present ever and our first real family vacation! We have never been to Hawaii and are so excited to finally get to do so! Woo hoo!<br />
<br />
<br />
So in the spirit of feeling good and not looking like a Motigirl in Hawaii because you know I'm all about the itsy bitsy teenie weenie... yeah right! Haha ok the wannabe witty banter had to escape somewhere. I apologize for making you puke. I just thought it would be fun to add that for shock value. Ahhh, I digress. Anyways, I am planning to get back into the gym, make better food choices and shed the pounds the right way. :) There has been some weight fluctuation, but at least I've been somewhat successful at keeping it off. I feel damn good too! But you can't beat any geek off the street... (I'll stop there, before I become too silly) Thanks for coming back and sticking with my weird sense of humor and my Motigirl adventures. Until next time my friends... good night.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arvo; font-size: 10.8333px; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 5: 4/4/11: 156.8</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 6: 4/11/11: 157.9 (break)</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 7: 4/18/11: 157.6</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 8: 4/25/11: 155.8</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 9: 5/2/11: 155.0</span></b></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 10: 5/9/11: 156.6</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 11: 5/16/11: 156.0</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 12: 5/23/11: 153.8</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.72225px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999;">Week 13: 5/31/11: 151.0</span></b></span></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-48525680438910478402011-05-03T01:48:00.000-07:002011-05-03T01:48:12.218-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Nine... I'm over the rhymeHey there friends, Moti Girl checking in on this beautiful evening. How are you all doing tonight? I'm chilling, enjoying my Laker game and am desperately trying to suppress the dire need to violently place a muzzle on the Hubby's mouth. He is the biggest Laker hater in existence and I just want to punch him in the face right now. Yes, I have a lot of pent up aggression, but his constant heckling and jabs at Kobe Bryant bring out the worst in me. Great the Lakers lost. Man I need to go sedate myself now. In honor of the Fish and his hating ways, I am adding a small video clip from a few months ago when the Lakers and the Heat played, so you could get a glimpse of the torture I have to endure on a daily basis. Enjoy all you Laker haters out there... it ain't gonna last long. Can anyone say 3peat? :)<br />
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</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8378zBOUXY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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Anyways, back to Moti Girl... So this week was filled with dessert temptation galore. So Baskin Robbins had their 31 cents scoop day, food blogger extraordinaire Azmina Aboobaker <a href="http://www.lawyerloveslunch.com/">http://www.lawyerloveslunch.com/</a> came over with deliciously exquisite mini cheesecakes (also special shout out to Seher who brought over a beautiful flan, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it) and my hubby surprisingly brought home a delectable box of Belgian Hazelnut Chocolates to celebrate my last day as a berkeley student. I don't know how I am suppose to watch my caloric intake when every other day I am tempted to turn into a dessert Pac-Man and just gobble everything in sight. I know I sound like a broken record, but as long as I get a little taste of something. Luckily for me, the day Azmina came over, it was obviously free day so I actually ate the whole thing. It was ahhhh-mazing. I urge you to check out her blog. It's fun to read, witty and she has some really great recipes. Check it out now!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyaUz_pa-FkZKW5FCB4o6Xr30Fc0UrKWDy_V-paUFx-BTyrRgZQ9u9gyglJnWtkQrj-MK6-dp79GwDCHvm_SOC9mA7N1T-nBafNqLqIPo45nLw7A1O2Utmrq22x99e6M4_DcsEdRwPTY/s1600/cheesecake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyaUz_pa-FkZKW5FCB4o6Xr30Fc0UrKWDy_V-paUFx-BTyrRgZQ9u9gyglJnWtkQrj-MK6-dp79GwDCHvm_SOC9mA7N1T-nBafNqLqIPo45nLw7A1O2Utmrq22x99e6M4_DcsEdRwPTY/s320/cheesecake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mini Cheesecakes<br />
(Photo courtesy by Azmina Aboobaker http://www.lawyerloveslunch.com/)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I went roller skating this Saturday with my family in San Ramon at the Golden Skate. I haven't been since my 21st birthday. Wow! It was hilariously fun and brought back so many happy memories from my middle school days. I think it's high time to do a GNO there with the ladies... maybe a retro night? I can't believe I just used the word retro. OMG How old am I? 32 is any of you are wondering. Needless to say, it was a very memorable time and the fact that Leila was soooo incredibly happy just made my day. I only fell once and it was only because I got all brave and tried to bust a move while skating and landed flat on my back. Yes, it was ridiculously funny. I woke up the next morning feeling like I got tossed around in the dryer. Note to self: it wasn't skating with the stars... I need to check myself before I wreck myself. Trust me I did. :)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sZ_EfxdRgp8D0btTcfqBTSo3bVYGR5JPeyMWhIFsptHRPeyTp6NCNsnL7yHCa3eGvYAu-osvJJ8MFtLt7D1GD3LzbWj_m8sf4icbpGxMEKrpIMDLAlPQpF-Ty9lhu0KQcJSAUNiCoLM/s1600/BR.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sZ_EfxdRgp8D0btTcfqBTSo3bVYGR5JPeyMWhIFsptHRPeyTp6NCNsnL7yHCa3eGvYAu-osvJJ8MFtLt7D1GD3LzbWj_m8sf4icbpGxMEKrpIMDLAlPQpF-Ty9lhu0KQcJSAUNiCoLM/s320/BR.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">enjoying 31 cent scoop night</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div>I haven't really done anything extraordinary this week. Just trying to eat well, drink lots of water and get some exercise in whenever I can. Besides the fact that I have one final on the 9th, I am feeling quite good. No stress. I feel weird that this journey of completing my undergraduate is finally over, but at the same time I'm happy that all the hard work, the sacrifices have paid off (aH). Anyways, I don't feel like being a sap today, just wanted to share my 2 cents. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Well here it is...</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwIcW-ctItw2iWSXkxUm2X2vhZOaCMdluGoCrIKdOHnMFDybL_Q4JTRKcC913IMXXNsI8YwpT7m5UrrW-v_RjRYg2Vsa8a1QUPYk4jis8YdpcVgiTlv1KpNiSinS1AXverKfMHDYZZrE/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwIcW-ctItw2iWSXkxUm2X2vhZOaCMdluGoCrIKdOHnMFDybL_Q4JTRKcC913IMXXNsI8YwpT7m5UrrW-v_RjRYg2Vsa8a1QUPYk4jis8YdpcVgiTlv1KpNiSinS1AXverKfMHDYZZrE/s320/scale.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I lost 0.8 pounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>I didn't lose as much as I would liked, but still going in the right direction. Until next week, this is your Moti girl calling it a night!</div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 5: 4/4/11: 156.8</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 6: 4/11/11: 157.9 (break)</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 7: 4/18/11: 157.6</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 8: 4/25/11: 155.8</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.6667px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 9: 5/2/11: 155.0</b></span></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-76383821005322620642011-04-27T01:19:00.000-07:002011-04-27T01:19:07.100-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Eight, I want CAKE! No make that browniesGood evening peoples, this is your Moti Girl bringing you a play by play of my adventures in fat extraction. I'm feeling good today. I apologize for lagging, but this is my last week of instruction as a Berkeley student and the work load has piled up tremendously. I'm back though! This week has been good to me. I have hit a stride and I'm enjoying the ride. Ooh the lyricist in me is escaping... :)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFBy1qyjXczAbNrq1WoGscCvuv2qu-vbdc5MaaWbfo5khEz9X3le0d8z1UTgLxr25DN3qIgV36KEpgJQby8n8tULCINM17hDpTtJG7lCzkjBloELmvDDBiN0i5J3prgtp7mejiEzZgl0/s1600/samoa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFBy1qyjXczAbNrq1WoGscCvuv2qu-vbdc5MaaWbfo5khEz9X3le0d8z1UTgLxr25DN3qIgV36KEpgJQby8n8tULCINM17hDpTtJG7lCzkjBloELmvDDBiN0i5J3prgtp7mejiEzZgl0/s320/samoa.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my faves</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgms4-aeV5nNK1-UmnzjLMNActLWDmx0C7HOqeCjWhNDwx3eQxJJVm4pLVeJy7JYgjqo7y4nxjFQCx4smwiXFSMq24FGTiiZ0pEmm4Au6WaEj9Ut2miDrQDbbL8cQkCgrnqDIyp1qvma5s/s1600/reh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgms4-aeV5nNK1-UmnzjLMNActLWDmx0C7HOqeCjWhNDwx3eQxJJVm4pLVeJy7JYgjqo7y4nxjFQCx4smwiXFSMq24FGTiiZ0pEmm4Au6WaEj9Ut2miDrQDbbL8cQkCgrnqDIyp1qvma5s/s320/reh.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my "Lesbian Look"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I had an epiphany this week-- I know imagine that. I was talking to my girl Amina and we thoroughly discussed how feeling good about ourselves has a lot to do with how we dress on a daily basis. You all know that I love wearing my regular boot cut jeans, usually paired with comfy cotton t-shirt, socks and kicks. My hair is pulled back in a ponytail and if I want to be be extra snazzy I will don a funky headband to spice it up. Yup, I'm living on the wild side. It's nothing special, just something I am comfortable with. My friend who shall remain nameless calls this my everyday Lesbian look. Yup you read it right, the Lesbian look. I think what she really means is the Butch look, but deliberately chooses to use the word Lesbian to ruffle my PC feathers. Yes, I'll admit I have many fashion faux pas in terms of styling, but who hasn't? I'm just not that into to clothes or fashion. I think I can play if off (sometimes) or at least get by. It's just not my thing. So I wear what makes me feel comfortable. May this blog be my witness, but I am acutely aware of the abdominal obesity that I see everyday in my reflection, so yes I choose to wear things that are very loose around my waistline. Tshirts make that a reality. I mean why should I subject anyone else to the view of my tires of fat that will immediately cause stomach bile to swim in your mouth? Yuck. Well I am working it on it. Are you enjoying my vivid imagery today? Anyways, getting back to my epiphany I realized that although I love my daily "Lesbian" Look, it might not hurt to actually put a little effort towards making myself a little more presentable, or well put together. I'm not talking about a drastic makeover, just a subtle changes to allow myself to feel good. I don't know about you guys, but there's something about when I put a little more effort in how I dress, I all of sudden feel a small boost of confidence shoot through. So any of my friends out there, want to step up and help a sista out? You know I need it. I'm not ready to retire my daily wear, but maybe add a few more articles of clothing that will broaden my limited wardrobe. :)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7p2zNfyIdSJ76OHJphpC3OMmrZ8sxhmKhBaW3cnvrGJQbUlAr_L4VF0DBa8cfmUEbZeB45sFPi59HeyzDFz5TwjYwN44KbXDtGZVeOk2e0PznXWX98RBMDpTszIln22T7UXwoG7AbfWI/s1600/yolatea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7p2zNfyIdSJ76OHJphpC3OMmrZ8sxhmKhBaW3cnvrGJQbUlAr_L4VF0DBa8cfmUEbZeB45sFPi59HeyzDFz5TwjYwN44KbXDtGZVeOk2e0PznXWX98RBMDpTszIln22T7UXwoG7AbfWI/s320/yolatea.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yolatea's Coffee Yogurt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anyways, I digress as usual. Back to Moti Girl. I'm doing well. I'm feeling good. I went to the gym twice this week, but I also had dance practice twice this week for my daughter's talent show which surprisingly was very grueling. As far as food is concerned, I think I have finally found some balance. I'm not being anal about counting calories as much. I have a firm grasp on how many calories I am approximately consuming and just trying to stay close to 1200 calories, which I found not too hard. I love my free days, but they are slowly losing their appeal. Not because I'm not interested in food, but think I have found some balance and I feel comfortable. I also discovered No Sugar Added, Fat Free Coffee Frozen Yogurt at Yolatea in Saratoga and can I say that I wanted to jump for joy because it did not taste like Sugar free stuff. It was flavorful and didn't feel lacking in anyway. Yolatea not only sells yogurt, but Gelato Classico, Crepes and Paninis. It's a cute little spot and a favorite for after school kids to have a snack in downtown Saratoga.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QEjgPh4SEmU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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This week I was doing the happy dance in my bedroom because I discovered my jeans were loose even with a belt on. I started singing the chorus to "The Eye of the Tiger" and dancing around like a chimp on crack... I looked up and there standing in the doorway were my kids. I was so lost in my delirium of happiness, that I didn't notice the lil monsters watching their mother in bewilderment. Leila asked me why I was dancing around without my pants on? I told her it was the cool thing to do and that I was doing the happy dance. She laughed at me and said Mom, you're so funny and turned and walked away. At least she didn't call me weird. I'm sure she was thinking it though. Zaina just snickered and joined me in my happy dance and started singing Slippery Fish. Yes, Zaina definitely falls on the Rehman side. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT48jRJtvbumniuJmETxOXLtUYMGCrn_cw35rMVbdywYzScT0yb8S-jap9uITDckFOyALkM5edhEY8d-m0m47dlLPvMBL28i6y5sQYxtTYiv9iocelA7Fq_n0_rPMGlZ4xNmRJYpQsByw/s1600/mint+brownies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT48jRJtvbumniuJmETxOXLtUYMGCrn_cw35rMVbdywYzScT0yb8S-jap9uITDckFOyALkM5edhEY8d-m0m47dlLPvMBL28i6y5sQYxtTYiv9iocelA7Fq_n0_rPMGlZ4xNmRJYpQsByw/s320/mint+brownies.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my guilty pleasure</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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Well, after I weighed myself yesterday, I couldn't help but eat one delectably yummy mint brownie and a tall glass of milk. Can I just say it was sooooo needed and savored every bite! Now if it was a reward or a guilty binge eating, you will have to stay tuned and see for yourself.<br />
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Ok well here it is my friends...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFQfCHSRouR_aLSIBnBMiy0XMUOn_1v13GHpFdQ4NWs2O7387EucLXQEzAMMHfKSoVjWB57MCE3nCnj9E2pTLB53gUzFICzsVf3H0IpNqGUgh1YliG7DDcKig6z-eOTJPH5DuGIJBWIY/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFQfCHSRouR_aLSIBnBMiy0XMUOn_1v13GHpFdQ4NWs2O7387EucLXQEzAMMHfKSoVjWB57MCE3nCnj9E2pTLB53gUzFICzsVf3H0IpNqGUgh1YliG7DDcKig6z-eOTJPH5DuGIJBWIY/s320/scale.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I lost 1.8 pounds!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Phew, I can't believe it! I was worried that I was going to either be at the same weight or definitely gaining a pound or two. I think I need to break out in song now... "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Risin' up to the challenge of our rival, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger" Haha... well that's all folk, tune in next time. This is your Moti Girl happy dancing away! :)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</b></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8</b></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 5: 4/4/11: 156.8</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 6: 4/11/11: 157.9 (break)</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 7: 4/18/11: 157.6</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 8: 4/25/11: 155.8</b></span></div></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-51697125996450051592011-04-20T02:32:00.000-07:002011-04-20T09:46:03.886-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Seven?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAAXH9_4iLw8Q1kpUfVxk1xuF-36UYwv75AetxMZEDePpqJIyIfqJLh_UegQf_7bH1TH0jodcaVkLz9peRPhu_2A419OcTB7GnuUdGmIA50OZNuP1zIFiyPuQo4bnrmbozuP_yu9owkE/s1600/nunu+zuzu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Ciao, my Moti-girl readers. Well what to do. I apologize for the break in the regular scheduled programming, but somethings were just far more important than my trials and tribulations in my fat exorcism. :) I'm back to bore you with all the mundane details of my life. You ready?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SBbObyiaW0FZYCCk4hUCJ2Cj89_ICoz__9R7GpRZ6G11AYDHv9bDUw9Fz1Xd7zYKEoASmNqPf9v5gp5qUZuG-aepPgVSCaW2ugqk3bGm372Bj_8JrjyZKqRjjpbvJ62gmkFcXsTKwvo/s1600/moi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SBbObyiaW0FZYCCk4hUCJ2Cj89_ICoz__9R7GpRZ6G11AYDHv9bDUw9Fz1Xd7zYKEoASmNqPf9v5gp5qUZuG-aepPgVSCaW2ugqk3bGm372Bj_8JrjyZKqRjjpbvJ62gmkFcXsTKwvo/s320/moi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go Lakers!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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As far as the whole food and exercise goes... well I kinda fell off the wagon this last week. Just had too many things going on and I'll be honest my focus was just not there. Suffice to say, I'm back. The weight gain from last week was a small blow but to be honest it was an expected one. Is this suppose to be the slump? Maybe I am lacking motivation or maybe the results are showing too damn slow? Either way, I really need to learn a lesson in patience. I can't expect the excess weight to just melt off me, can I? One could only hope. In any case, keeping up with good food choices is as hard as keeping up with all the new Kardashian shows that keep popping up every couple of months. Yeah, I'm not a huge Kardashian aficionado as you can see, indeed they are all pretty women but something about the nonstop-in-your-face-attention-whoreing thing just doesn't sit well with me. Anyways, back to the whole food thing, there were a few times where I simply didn't have those better choices available because the pantry was running low. Exercise also took a bit of hit from 4 times a week to 2 times. Well, if I plan to stay to reach my goal by August, I have my work cut out for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyVfywUZWLrXRmUqOTzFEdOPtIuNH_qVF08IsVFJr6OPK2-4cjUF8Uwx_GO0Fe1E2xTizM7f253LmfyM-9VX2NJ6gfvczOAoRg-ES5y38iRLFvTbTB1m3kK6E-zx7Sz3c8kCy3z4PoR4/s1600/avah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyVfywUZWLrXRmUqOTzFEdOPtIuNH_qVF08IsVFJr6OPK2-4cjUF8Uwx_GO0Fe1E2xTizM7f253LmfyM-9VX2NJ6gfvczOAoRg-ES5y38iRLFvTbTB1m3kK6E-zx7Sz3c8kCy3z4PoR4/s320/avah.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new addition to our family, Baby Avah!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
In the last two weeks, three pretty cool things took place: my Zaina's 2nd birthday party, my niece Avah came to visit from LA and a few friends and myself threw a a Bake Sale for Japan. The two events were a hit, thank goodness ah. Zaina and her friends had a blast at her park birthday and we raised a little over $1600 for Japan. I wanted to share some pics and without much fanfare I will just simply post my weight. Again, I apologize for the short post, with looming finals and graduation I just need to get through these next three weeks. Enjoy the pics my friends and thank you for all the comments, encouragement and love.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_XodtxXUbCLPJIGjdhKngfBr0LezLn5vGk5sZmXIAM0OsQ9kIMohpfRi2NkSPioNdM2yw2_xIL-hrgBGWqrDDsvOtk5l3GEFbhRqgv7yA-aV0I9QShelYzjEZem4qywhFvcXVV6BxMY/s1600/Zaina+N+Mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_XodtxXUbCLPJIGjdhKngfBr0LezLn5vGk5sZmXIAM0OsQ9kIMohpfRi2NkSPioNdM2yw2_xIL-hrgBGWqrDDsvOtk5l3GEFbhRqgv7yA-aV0I9QShelYzjEZem4qywhFvcXVV6BxMY/s320/Zaina+N+Mom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ZuzuBee beating Elmo. Not the best word choice used that day.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0_S7dzQ_Bfe2DpH6LQiHr7c8yCjx1CfqDW3z4AIKpbBnpR9YYrFhh3QXn2HCb4mfTfxp4IQN3uAZUcXNh9oj5K_tr3-qiABtnbQmMpB45o0E8TUzyh4w4l-ucVm8z93lcqkspn8-M8-M/s1600/bs-melieu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zuzu & Nunu loving the bubble machine!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdz8CNAa6-bfnvu0W4BJ2l7-QGiNsuDl6zF9xNkTwPbXXk0WL5xJkKzvaif2JIVWkMzpt_8haVZBzlJuaNbPxJI6okDB_7eRbseKFz553xo6BR5RCNtnjJp11OhmURci8eL6UoVPyQLg/s1600/bs-samo+n+zaina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdz8CNAa6-bfnvu0W4BJ2l7-QGiNsuDl6zF9xNkTwPbXXk0WL5xJkKzvaif2JIVWkMzpt_8haVZBzlJuaNbPxJI6okDB_7eRbseKFz553xo6BR5RCNtnjJp11OhmURci8eL6UoVPyQLg/s320/bs-samo+n+zaina.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lulu & Samo doing their part.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1DK17-nu5NKQBNWQtK6o6PKYJiYBm3o5A6A8N4O1nJV2SjhaHJxqiEprKYCL9-bsTaUvZKMcHUMlgwVlGs8I9IrfmfKxeUUagbx9MIQGXrtxyx33f2dpyJayUGRCdxr3jFYGM9z7-uY/s1600/bs-saimah+sofia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe1DK17-nu5NKQBNWQtK6o6PKYJiYBm3o5A6A8N4O1nJV2SjhaHJxqiEprKYCL9-bsTaUvZKMcHUMlgwVlGs8I9IrfmfKxeUUagbx9MIQGXrtxyx33f2dpyJayUGRCdxr3jFYGM9z7-uY/s320/bs-saimah+sofia.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a couple of the Superstar helpers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAqw4GQPkVWr7uLVs3JWu9ZDlQCa5q7GdYZA_tWriOFgfq-vBwIEpiR958BjZVuuUD4NrE9RyvEbCzhzCJwYE23ZLcyDxQc3M311DlL0PAqsE9C4ffziy0uXJHqRDz-1Vsg3douXwoAo/s1600/bs-melieu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAqw4GQPkVWr7uLVs3JWu9ZDlQCa5q7GdYZA_tWriOFgfq-vBwIEpiR958BjZVuuUD4NrE9RyvEbCzhzCJwYE23ZLcyDxQc3M311DlL0PAqsE9C4ffziy0uXJHqRDz-1Vsg3douXwoAo/s320/bs-melieu.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bake Sale for Japan raised $1600</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> Well here you go, homies...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFP-Q0M5n4MgNBJmC-B_D3YuTe_RAOJ3LWBEVhE-vhL7yUge75iapx9uqSRvVvN16N1IE3G-KeB-TuTQDyBQgOlZ7U7Ln4FHmFbmUs6oKT8dJ2ZaR5Ga4t7cx3J7OCWyDq5_FLn0e-eA/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwFP-Q0M5n4MgNBJmC-B_D3YuTe_RAOJ3LWBEVhE-vhL7yUge75iapx9uqSRvVvN16N1IE3G-KeB-TuTQDyBQgOlZ7U7Ln4FHmFbmUs6oKT8dJ2ZaR5Ga4t7cx3J7OCWyDq5_FLn0e-eA/s320/scale.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">0.3 pounds... woo hoo!</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> I was completely expecting to be back in the 160s already, but I was pleasantly surprised. Especially since I really wasn't sticking to my weekly regimen. Well that's all for this post my friends, this is your Moti-Girl saying so long! :)<br />
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<div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8 </b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 5: 4/4/11: 156.8</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 6: 4/11/11: 157.9 (break)</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 7: 4/18/11: 157.6</b></span><br />
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</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-84454307620076443372011-04-12T00:15:00.000-07:002011-04-12T00:22:00.358-07:00moment of silence<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Hello my faithful readers. I am sorry to disappoint you, but I will be taking a break this week. My batteries for my scale are dead but I did measure myself the night before and I was 157.9. I gained a pound. It was bound to happen. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I am writing with a heavy heart. Today, I dedicate this post to all the people who have lost special loved ones in their lives. <i>Innalilahiwainniilayhirajioun</i>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return". May Allah give us all the patience and strength we need. Ameen.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Please take the time to appreciate and be thankful for all that we are blessed with and what is given to us by the grace of Allah. Other than being an emotional support we can help by offering as many prayers as we possibly can for the ones that have passed and take comfort knowing that one day in the future we will be reunited with them. I humbly request that everyone who is reading this right now to please take a moment of silence to make a special prayer for loved ones we have lost.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGM0dyxQe5q14W-KFlFf-hNvgO7tAWFtqA6prNWlv4V3DSmW4p8aJGnDRzj-Eo2L_ZImg2YMU_qGoE2X6jlewuLwgJ2YO3NlK5eqx8Fy6nw31Il48fhvxs-mqXbZuA6WeOZd5evsRi6E/s1600/dua11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGM0dyxQe5q14W-KFlFf-hNvgO7tAWFtqA6prNWlv4V3DSmW4p8aJGnDRzj-Eo2L_ZImg2YMU_qGoE2X6jlewuLwgJ2YO3NlK5eqx8Fy6nw31Il48fhvxs-mqXbZuA6WeOZd5evsRi6E/s320/dua11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #228822; font-family: arial; line-height: 15px;">Photo courtesy by www.islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you for your patience and I will be back iA next week. :) With much love and respect, this is your Moti Girl wishing you a good night.</span></span>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-32754737599223283362011-04-05T02:28:00.000-07:002011-04-05T02:28:43.552-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Five, will I survive?Hi there my faithful readers, this is your Moti-girl checking in. I don't know why I just don't feel very motivated to write this week. I don't know what's wrong with me? Is this the plateau everyone talks about? I'm not feeling as excited and most importantly I am seriously-aggravatingly-annoyed at making the better food choices. I'm a carb girl. I love me some rice, bread and potatoes. The more the better. For someone who has a rich family history of diabetes, I need to avoid these yummies at all costs. Even knowing that and being reminded of it daily, can I please be excused for being annoyed at this and rant about how I miss my good ol' carbs? With my brother's Moti girl song constantly playing on repeat in my head, I feel like there is caldron of irritation brewing inside me ready to unload on any unsuspecting well wisher. Well, now that you get a feel for the nasty mood I'm in today, please continue to read the nonsense that I spew. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYXLpBdHFt6YMfPmpA90MetNOmy_uNwY1aGd0i4W5CM6Y-aoNFLAAdtxPpIvsz8E9g4piHT3o2DeBEcbmK6QtdnBEojx8ew7HK5dWkJf4QvV6RKtP4SDUU0XqzN7OeQaJSGV5kkl64CU/s1600/don%2527tdoit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYXLpBdHFt6YMfPmpA90MetNOmy_uNwY1aGd0i4W5CM6Y-aoNFLAAdtxPpIvsz8E9g4piHT3o2DeBEcbmK6QtdnBEojx8ew7HK5dWkJf4QvV6RKtP4SDUU0XqzN7OeQaJSGV5kkl64CU/s320/don%2527tdoit.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bossy Boots</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><div>So while Leila was at swim practice, Bossy Boots (aka Zaina) and I were sitting off to the corner just horsing around. Zaina was blissfully playing with her Barbie and picking the red flowers in the picture above to make a bed for her Barbie while I was staring distractedly into space trying to prioritize my workload for the rest of the week. Whenever Zaina's attention was diverted, I kept sweeping away some of the broken flowers back into the planter. Heaven forbid, I might come off as an irresponsible parent who allows her kid to rum amok, make a mess and forget to instill the value of living things by all the onlooking parents in the area by the huge heap of dead flowers at my footstep. Sometimes I have mad OCD. In my lame attempt to be sly, I discovered the kids' forgotten snack bag and immediately indulged the growling rumbles of my tummy. I fervently unzipped the bag to discover, FRITOS! Yes, I had tunnel vision and the only thing on my agenda was to savor every ounce of salty crunchy goodness. I mean come on now, who doesn't like Chili Cheese Fritos? Well I sure as hell do and as I closed my eyes to inhale the chips, I was suddenly rudely interrupted by a squeaky voice telling me, "No, Mama, don't do it!" Emphasis on the "doooo". WTH? Are you kidding me? Now my 2 year-old is keeping me in check too? I woke up from my wannabe drunken food stupor to find Zaina scolding me, not because I was about to devour her snack but because she discovered that I was sweeping her flowers back into the planter. Go figure, yes she is quite the cheeky lil monkey. I laughed, took her picture and chuckled as she continued to scold me for the remaining 14 minutes of Leila's practice. I accepted this as a sign from God and refrained from polishing off the Fritos. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiRz2VBVXMTtG1XJWgOPVmQBmhaA3GRE9tmL-t6lEVDqjgkMW9wHwhJ3_joQJd2cjdlBBDe5dsID2IXQBEr3H-HPJfqOTwHmEChRUbkMKrtxvUo-5W9s2aW3tRff4pbAv2Ng3Fsr2Vms/s1600/pigging+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiRz2VBVXMTtG1XJWgOPVmQBmhaA3GRE9tmL-t6lEVDqjgkMW9wHwhJ3_joQJd2cjdlBBDe5dsID2IXQBEr3H-HPJfqOTwHmEChRUbkMKrtxvUo-5W9s2aW3tRff4pbAv2Ng3Fsr2Vms/s320/pigging+out.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rib Eye Slider</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So on my free day I pigged out. Surprise surprise. On Saturday night, I was suppose to check out a friend's band Resurrection Men (find them on iTunes) in Cupertino with my brother-in-law Ausaff, but he declined to go and insisted that the Hubby and I enjoy a date night on him. Wow! So we ventured out in shock and attended their fabulous show and when the set ended we had no idea what to do next. Thanks to twitter and my unhealthy obsessive following of all things food related, I discovered that after SJ Eats (which we sadly avoided due to the overcrowding) the Mogo BBQ food truck (follow them on twitter @MoGoBBQ to find out their location) was happily residing in downtown San Jose till 2:00 AM. Yup, so I dragged Hubby and we took off on our FoodVenture, thus this hideous picture of me took birth. I will save my formal review of this food truck for a future blog post, but suffice to say the Rib Eye Slider that I am am making out with above was beyond scrumptious! I really wanted to try the Short Rib slider which my friend Amber raves about, but unfortunately they were all out. I probably couldn't tell you the calories I consumed, but really who cares? The delight I had experienced was well worth the 2000 I calories I ate in that 2.5 seconds. As Rachael Ray would say, YUM-O!<br />
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Anyhow, this week has been good overall. I'm definitely keenly aware of what I am eating and the exercise thing doesn't seem like such a chore anymore. Yeah, I know I'm quite the Shakespeare. :)<br />
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Well here it is my friends...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YAnqOfmuzwHQqd1TopiVLKeYk6_McyGot09WlvXXiFRYywnoNKsN0d-LOiLS1RhhZhbTW8J3rexs6aEfZrJUmnmm3q_YIGwHAMh0BehRaP93jMlELWwuZDqzijrPVmRHRp6-J1s0JKQ/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YAnqOfmuzwHQqd1TopiVLKeYk6_McyGot09WlvXXiFRYywnoNKsN0d-LOiLS1RhhZhbTW8J3rexs6aEfZrJUmnmm3q_YIGwHAMh0BehRaP93jMlELWwuZDqzijrPVmRHRp6-J1s0JKQ/s320/scale.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woo hoo I lost 2.0 pounds!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Who'd a thunk it? I actually did the Moti-Girl happy dance which is a cross between my horse dance and the cabbage patch. Remind me to share a video, I promise you will literally fall over laughing your ass off. Sorry for my crankiness at the beginning of this post, it just escapes sometimes. I'm out homies, thanks for reading! This is your Moti-Girl saying Adios!<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 5: 4/4/11: 156.8</b></span></div></div></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-25623735928959242732011-03-29T01:14:00.000-07:002011-03-29T08:11:33.403-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Four, oh what a bore!<div style="text-align: left;">Hello there fellow blog readers, Moti-Girl here to whet your appetite with my story about losing weight, eating better, exercising, stop being a moti-a-holic and start getting real. Oops, sorry the dork in me escapes from time to time, plus sadly I need to catch up on my episodes of Real World. How are you all doing? Me, not too good. I have been plagued with a crippling migraine all day today and just not feeling my happy-happy-joy-joy self. So please bear with my lack of humor this evening.<br />
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</div><ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRpXGN4nC2l8k3prSSZEoQsdmkiUweoc92C1S-qfl_mt1QZC37mo-iwglFqv_KET9qV6SLk7zw-RR1y-nthMWM0_Oe6vNXYPYFUhJaM7G80qQhYEOf87RSFtldDS2ZbHWZ7PMU36NUvk/s1600/billy+dance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRpXGN4nC2l8k3prSSZEoQsdmkiUweoc92C1S-qfl_mt1QZC37mo-iwglFqv_KET9qV6SLk7zw-RR1y-nthMWM0_Oe6vNXYPYFUhJaM7G80qQhYEOf87RSFtldDS2ZbHWZ7PMU36NUvk/s320/billy+dance.jpg" width="240" /></a>
<li style="text-align: left;">I went to the gym four times this week, on top of exercising at home for an hour in front of the TV courtesy of On Demand and Mr. Billy Banks Jr. Wow talk about a vigorous cardio work out!</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">I went to two birthday parties this weekend (Happy Birthday Fahad & Mimi!) and ate like a ravenous pig on free day. Was there any doubt that I wouldn't?</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">I nearly passed out on the elliptical because Desis for some unintelligible reason don't feel the need to use deodorant. I mean why, for crying out loud? Why must you torture all innocent gym goers to your ignorance? I feel like I should stand outside the gym and hand out free samples of deodorant and insist with the desi vigorous head shake from side to side to please try this revolutionary product that will help ameliorate your body odor problem. I know I sound like a rude d-bag, but why does my gym experience have to marred with bouts of dry-heaving?</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">Why doesn't my hubby feel the need to read my blog? This is a totally irrelevant rant, but a gripe I will post to see how much time will go by before he reads this post. (The ball is in your court, Fish!) Last week I asked him what he thought about my last two posts and after ineffectively avoiding eye contact and then mumbling some incoherent response, I realized, wow he didn't even read it. He promised to read it this week, I'm not holding my breath. I guess I talk his head off enough everyday of his life that he doesn't see the need to read my drama-queen-antics as well. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little a butt hurt. Who doesn't need a little validation from their own spouse? Fish, the WARRIORS suck! Maybe that will get a rise out of him? :)</li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For Free-Day I had the pleasure of attending Fahad Khan's 26th Birthday dinner courtesy of Chef Seema Aunty who made us a delicious Afghan meal. The iphone camera does not do the food any justice, but feel free to salivate over them. Her food by far surpassed any Afghan food that I have ever ordered at any restaurant. Yeah, even more than Kabul in Sunnyvale! There are not enough words to describe the food heaven that I was in this Saturday. Made me realize that I need to adjust my free day so it's not so close to weigh in day. ;O)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDSHeEz7NfWIGvkKkQrN4rA8YHTLG2PcaRry_PoAaEUo-ZCM0739ZZm1jcjJ-L0m5_34-QCRJ7odxXFb-uuTTTdvU6Yg-f_NzwacileyDXFuA2Uw_8ujpnPbq-nJbksMjZwlYJ_KzVRo/s1600/Bagenah-Borani.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDSHeEz7NfWIGvkKkQrN4rA8YHTLG2PcaRry_PoAaEUo-ZCM0739ZZm1jcjJ-L0m5_34-QCRJ7odxXFb-uuTTTdvU6Yg-f_NzwacileyDXFuA2Uw_8ujpnPbq-nJbksMjZwlYJ_KzVRo/s320/Bagenah-Borani.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boranee Badenjan</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5p4GFDapzFT9dd3mt5amDKQ0m-ijRwUYt7t-8PqV5yue0UeipgjjfTroX5GvQTcrESJUuM2TU9XnHitlXaoefM1Nyhtu7MGoefV6QICqXYYLtsxKyAVK6K1QoS8qfCTGZELaGpWH8sVc/s1600/Kormeh-Ruinaan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5p4GFDapzFT9dd3mt5amDKQ0m-ijRwUYt7t-8PqV5yue0UeipgjjfTroX5GvQTcrESJUuM2TU9XnHitlXaoefM1Nyhtu7MGoefV6QICqXYYLtsxKyAVK6K1QoS8qfCTGZELaGpWH8sVc/s320/Kormeh-Ruinaan.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kormeh-Ruinaan</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrILoAWtAnmSGhwIqplegWCdAwK5F_g1cQbr6uKbK71XrDUT9Bhj7CskoGDum01Jo7wkzw6vrODLjf_EeVTR9fQqZHCI4MBf47RLtH8pPG2t41Y92VsnLEYgHZ3ZrGDWZQMUxcvwVtzQ/s1600/Qabuli-Pallaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBrILoAWtAnmSGhwIqplegWCdAwK5F_g1cQbr6uKbK71XrDUT9Bhj7CskoGDum01Jo7wkzw6vrODLjf_EeVTR9fQqZHCI4MBf47RLtH8pPG2t41Y92VsnLEYgHZ3ZrGDWZQMUxcvwVtzQ/s320/Qabuli-Pallaw.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kabuli Pallaw</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">No suspenseful build up today...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-3yDZWePZCJ0QoGXqgQxrsEZ-4esEexHh7HCTJLQsGTBO3iePBN1JGjnCG6DzeRFp0ntpyLGKyLZ2H75-6l-WxQsozr3_Hkxm7l_GRW6LLThmj-qXnbMXmawEx3a_YVLoQzH2aNUfsY/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-3yDZWePZCJ0QoGXqgQxrsEZ-4esEexHh7HCTJLQsGTBO3iePBN1JGjnCG6DzeRFp0ntpyLGKyLZ2H75-6l-WxQsozr3_Hkxm7l_GRW6LLThmj-qXnbMXmawEx3a_YVLoQzH2aNUfsY/s320/scale.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost 0.4 pounds hah!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So I'm a bit of a Debbie Downer today because it was only 0.4 pounds. I know the fat isn't going to magically melt off of me (I wish), but wow I didn't think it was going to be this miniscule. Nevertheless it is still progress and I can't be so easily derailed. Bummed, yeah, but not discouraged. Not to mention, working out does give you more energy which has been a really nice change. Thank you all again for the comments and all the well-wishes! I wish I could properly articulate what that does for my morale. It's like a drug and I want more! All jokes aside, I truly appreciate all the love, it has helped me immensely and I am humbled by your generosity! Well iA next week will produce more satisfying results. Well that's all for tonight, this is your Moti-girl signing off, you know you love to be Moti... xoxo</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arvo; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Week 4: 3/28/11: 158.8</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-28636438737391715692011-03-21T20:26:00.000-07:002011-03-22T07:46:55.340-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week Three, time to party!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDET2vC-f18bUi-RDaLIplPTCobti_FLZV-_sXNEE3RyDAu9jPn2NCX36KaQ3Tj0OKtCdqUg5AhKBJJw1n9PW9Odn4VO1UHO_7iHltvLOkllqD-rCiZ_fFD4gSZOSYiRZu0GUILSffgA/s1600/yogurtland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDET2vC-f18bUi-RDaLIplPTCobti_FLZV-_sXNEE3RyDAu9jPn2NCX36KaQ3Tj0OKtCdqUg5AhKBJJw1n9PW9Odn4VO1UHO_7iHltvLOkllqD-rCiZ_fFD4gSZOSYiRZu0GUILSffgA/s320/yogurtland.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hmmmmmmm sooo goood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hello Blog Readers, your one and only Moti Girl here to give you the 411 on my mission to extract the fat from my body . I can't believe it's already been three weeks since I've been on this mission! It's actually been a decent week, no real complaints. Well on second thought, maybe a few grievances, but all in good fun. I finally feel like I'm getting into the swing of things, in terms of controlling my need to stuff my fat face. :) I know I just gave you a lovely mental picture. Enjoy! I think a lot of my self-control this week has to do with the knowledge of how many calories there are in certain foods. Again, moderation is key. One bite of something totally satiates the moats in me. So why not? I indulged in Yogurtland's Devil's Food Cupcake Batter and died went to Moti Hell. Yes, calorie wise, it's not too bad, but after tasting it I wanted more than 1 measly ounce. I felt like putting my mouth under the yogurt dispenser, holding the lever down and just guzzling as much as I could before I choked. Yes, I might shed some pounds and make better food choices, but the Moti Girl soul will live on forever.<br />
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Things that annoyed me this week: (Moti Girl rants)<br />
<ol><li>Skinny broads complaining about their non-existent fat around their waists. Seriously, I am hard enough on myself, I don't need nor want someone else to imply what a water buffalo I am compared to you. When you are pointing out your fat, can you please consider your audience? I'm all for everybody working on bettering themselves, but just be conscious of how your words can be perceived and how it can effect another. Can you talk about you losing the fat around your waist when you are around another waif-thin friend like yourself? Thanks! I certainly would appreciate it and will refrain from punching you in the face, in my head. That way I don't feel like a giant elephant next to you? Just a thought. For example: my whole life (ah) I have been blessed with pretty good skin. I never really had any pimples nor zits and I will be completely honest I hate washing my face. When I get a random pimple here and there and the drama queen in me seeps out, I always consider refraining from whining about it around people who have struggled with skin care. Just out of consideration. I hate the way the 'Fat' thing makes me feel... why the hell would I do it somebody else? </li>
<li>Secondly, to the people who walk around naked in the Gym bathroom... why? O-M-G!!!! Why must I have the vision of your naked body, fit-or-not branded into my memory? As if the vision of my own out-of-shape body in front of mirror isn't enough to scare me for a lifetime, now mixed with yours I might as well just keep slapping myself till the memory falls out of me. I get it, your comfortable with your body and you don't care what anybody thinks. That's fine and all, but there is nothing wrong with a little (a LOT) of modesty. </li>
<li>Lastly, to all the a-holes who lie to my face and tell me that I don't need to lose any weight and that "a little meat doesn't hurt", get the hell away from me pronto! That's the nicest possible way I can phrase that. Um, really? Do I even need to rant about why I found this comment so offensive? I would like to be clear, if I haven't been so already, but I am doing this not only to lose weight but to have and maintain a healthier lifestyle. I'm sure vanity has a little to do with it, but mostly it's because I don't want to suffer with heart disease nor diabetes. Losing some weight might help me with my confidence and I want to be in shape. That's it. What the hell is wrong with this? Simply put, being a 161 pounds with a height 5'3 is not good. So quite lying to me, it's not about being polite, consider using phrases like "good for you" or "good luck". Maybe these people were trying to be polite because they didn't know what to say, but it really has an opposite effect. Just my two cents.</li>
</ol><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBi1NF5zquCld17mITIUTuQQD3Sud_2jv8s7fMo02zVR_hCNu4ug3uvQXxzvNPUu97a4rHdnVTOU26-0JkjozPohTkSIKwl9GkndMyZhAQeTe_3wvW8Q-oxB3hzKZNsbQqOnXfzk4H7s/s1600/Reh+uniform.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBi1NF5zquCld17mITIUTuQQD3Sud_2jv8s7fMo02zVR_hCNu4ug3uvQXxzvNPUu97a4rHdnVTOU26-0JkjozPohTkSIKwl9GkndMyZhAQeTe_3wvW8Q-oxB3hzKZNsbQqOnXfzk4H7s/s320/Reh+uniform.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daily uniform</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As I was getting ready to write my post today, my 100-questions-a-minute daughter decided to inquire about what exactly a blog was. I tried to give her a short answer and be done with it, but a million additional questions followed. So I showed her and told her what I was up to. Her response was "That's cool Mom, you should take a 'before' picture so that when you lose the weight you can remember what you looked like." Damn, she is a know-it-all smarty-pants just like her dad. So I took the advice of the wise-one Jr. and had her take a picture of me. I don't know if it's because she was sitting down and I was standing on the ottoman, but it's not a bad picture. I don't look as obese as I normally do. Phew. :) On a side note, this is my daily uniform/outfit-du-jour 24/7. I live in jeans, t-shirts, kicks and a sweatshirt. I will refrain from any further details because it reserved for my fashion faux pas posts-to-be. <br />
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Great things this week:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLsKMRn9MBbHtpj3m4rB-gLtyKh1jBA8gkpnwR78e2WGHZ6NiaOr1Ffdq2vkIX5dArNYcT9Tvxx5unwQs5QyI2f7AD8edzoM0mzIcCZbhLsPcDiZzuW7oOtuGsqYOJSrWntfNm9ik4XA/s1600/fage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLsKMRn9MBbHtpj3m4rB-gLtyKh1jBA8gkpnwR78e2WGHZ6NiaOr1Ffdq2vkIX5dArNYcT9Tvxx5unwQs5QyI2f7AD8edzoM0mzIcCZbhLsPcDiZzuW7oOtuGsqYOJSrWntfNm9ik4XA/s200/fage.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><ol><li>I discovered Fage. Um, can I just say it is by far the yummiest snack/breakfast ever. So filling and delicious! You can't go wrong. I found it at TJs and I fell in love. I have been eating this a few times a week with a banana and I am totally full. (I think my stomach really did shrink). It's strained Greek Yogurt with Honey. (thank you Wadalawalla for this tip)</li>
<li> The gym doesn't seem as daunting of task as it used to be. </li>
<li>Homegirls that come through with great healthy recipes (Doof) to add to my meal planning and ones that hook up yummy food and bring it to your house when least expected (MKL). I'm gonna be redundant, but I am only able to do this because I have a great support system. So thank you!</li>
<li>So grateful for FREE DAY! I got my grub on Saturday night and then felt so sick I wanted to throw up so badly, but settled for dry-heaving instead, which is even worse. Yes, my eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach. Note to self: my stomach shrunk, so calm down on free day. :0)</li>
</ol>*Highlight of the week* I got down to "Dus Bahane" in my Zumba class. I got such a kick out of jamming to a Desi song. I hate admitting it, but it was very entertaining and unexpected, but I felt like such a dork singing along to the lyrics. Dorky Desis Unite!<br />
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Now, for what we've all been waiting for:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnx8HNhnLE6iaC_7G1oRrsomOfD-DgQHWklPfd3hPOMldfV-rVrF9uS1ZBSI-whrsgf3NUetcQ6_eZwH6FVEFS00pllyW9QIC6Bf31jgdtyChDjwNpY1aQPy9msfNNr0oEVVPaiB_sMs/s1600/scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnx8HNhnLE6iaC_7G1oRrsomOfD-DgQHWklPfd3hPOMldfV-rVrF9uS1ZBSI-whrsgf3NUetcQ6_eZwH6FVEFS00pllyW9QIC6Bf31jgdtyChDjwNpY1aQPy9msfNNr0oEVVPaiB_sMs/s640/scale.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">success I am now 2.6 pounds lighter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I am (ah) 2.6 pounds lighter. Who would have thought? Well I think I have rambled on enough today. I love the comments... keep em coming please. :) Thank you all for reading my nonsense, this is your Moti Girl throwing deuces. XOXO<br />
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Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8<br />
Week 3: 3/21/11: 159.2Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-42586534627788075912011-03-18T00:33:00.000-07:002011-03-21T21:51:03.413-07:00HBD Zuzu Bee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzh3IoewQBK2wHVFedVB45mwFU0TbvtCW_4pkTK6Pob3S7FZSSTHoVCliBU9hzzq1Ll3uIN3z2hK1vxUsrBQw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>In honor of my lil demon's birthday, I wanted to share this "Up, Up Up!" video with you. Zaina is a feisty little thing and keeps us all on her toes. She will not give up till she gets her way.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUUUWxVH4gJlyzsnSK7EGSpLDdSyDN8yle2vqwo96T2g7Y-JSjtiQCw78AKwuEawY5FjWo_VGwFDUaKsb2VwYuwMWujouI9IoLjI_9PdkbKzG0ai9HeQSxmZaz4lCGWu-3srGKjMdPdM/s1600/hear+me+roar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUUUWxVH4gJlyzsnSK7EGSpLDdSyDN8yle2vqwo96T2g7Y-JSjtiQCw78AKwuEawY5FjWo_VGwFDUaKsb2VwYuwMWujouI9IoLjI_9PdkbKzG0ai9HeQSxmZaz4lCGWu-3srGKjMdPdM/s320/hear+me+roar.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am two! Hear me ROAR!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
All day today, we persistently sang her happy birthday, to have her tell us incessantly that it was not her birthday but her Api-Jan's birthday. Zaina, if you ever read this, besides the fact that we all love you to pieces, you have brought so much light into our world and your spirited nature always brings a smile to our faces. Here's to many more birthdays (ia) and we hope that your spunky attitude never diminishes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTGYgWgxdDxj2dykdkEhkeDYMhO018nzfC64pgvDPda1kiVpjanYNy2yNd9J-hZ2a1y-9ADRaeuNjAhZiNCZCkfvvCLtThuWPS8QUiKwEV7AscT0-axKV76Q7TH0eOD6VO7DoTjJ4Wwk/s1600/amina+mami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTGYgWgxdDxj2dykdkEhkeDYMhO018nzfC64pgvDPda1kiVpjanYNy2yNd9J-hZ2a1y-9ADRaeuNjAhZiNCZCkfvvCLtThuWPS8QUiKwEV7AscT0-axKV76Q7TH0eOD6VO7DoTjJ4Wwk/s320/amina+mami.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thank you Amina-Mami for dressing me up today!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-35048366505118845262011-03-14T18:53:00.000-07:002011-03-15T01:43:40.983-07:00Moti Girl Diary- Week two, what to do?Salutations my friends, Moti Girl here checking in for duty after a VERY long Week One. Holy crap, I did not think I would make it. I would like to start off by saying, that this by far has been one of the hardest challenges I have ever undertaken. Yes even more than school. Basically I have set myself up for utter failure so the whole world can watch in awe my eventual demise. Alrighty then, now that I have the dramatics for this post out of the way, I will continue with the importance of this week.<br />
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Challenges:<br />
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<ol><li>Motivating myself. </li>
<li>Making better food choices. </li>
<li>Not feeling bad that I can't have certain things. </li>
<li>Getting my fat butt to the gym. </li>
</ol><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_LaW2s0V1KTHbFE5I4UDFwnSMzNxmkUIMScU2FBebqAN6h_BxRWSrUgKy3hxUIn6TP1D8-j2AT-txfrbfyfqzJJiPDMTgYG2a4ODWQMYhswjOgYbszC5rqaxeUrAuag3LAkeQ7DjmbU/s1600/dark+chocolate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_LaW2s0V1KTHbFE5I4UDFwnSMzNxmkUIMScU2FBebqAN6h_BxRWSrUgKy3hxUIn6TP1D8-j2AT-txfrbfyfqzJJiPDMTgYG2a4ODWQMYhswjOgYbszC5rqaxeUrAuag3LAkeQ7DjmbU/s320/dark+chocolate.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my 100 calorie dessert </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div>Things I learned:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ol><li>I don't have to forgo dessert completely. One night I had small bowl of blueberries, pieces of mango and pomegrante (antioxidant fruit salad) and a few of the other nights I treated myself to my new favorite Trader Joes 100 calorie dark chocolate bars. It's yummy, completely satiating and the one bar is more than enough. Best part it's a $1.99 for a box of 5 Belgian Chocolate Bars. Come on, that's a steal and if you aren't into dark chocolate, then they have milk chocolate too. I went with the dark to capitalize on the antioxidants. </li>
<li>Did you know that there are 240 calories in 2 tablspoons of Olive Oils?!!! YES! I know my jaw dropped too. With that being said, it's great for us and has lots of healthy fats and is awesome for our skin and our hearts (Thanks Saimah)</li>
<li>Moderation is key. I mean I can't have ice-cream and girls scout cookies along with a huge helping of lasagne, but I can have a little to just appease the Moti Girl inside me, so I don't feel completely deprived.</li>
<li>Everybody needs a free day to eat whatever the hell they please and NO counting calories. Hopefully the week leading up to this day will automatically make me a little more cautious about my greed. There is no need to stuff my fat belly to death but then again I also don't need to starve myself either. I will never be a skinny girl that's for sure and quite frankly, I don't want to be. I just want to lose a good amount of weight and eat better. <i>Khalas</i> (That means, that's it/the end/ it's done in Arabic) A little bit of my Dad sneaks in here and there. Anyways the free day is either Saturday or Sunday. It's my choice, depending on what my social calendar for that week looks like. This week I went to a friend's birthday dinner at Sultana in Menlo Park on Saturday so I chose that day to kinda splurge. Can I just add that I had THE most delicious meal ever. I had the Pomegrante Kebab and it was to die for. It was grilled lamb and beef kebab rolled with spinach over garlic yogurt and topped with a pomegranate sauce served with rice. I honestly inhaled it as if I was being held hostage and hadn't seen food in weeks, but I also was generous and shared one of the kebabs with Fish and my brother in law Ausaff and surprisingly I was full. Maybe my stomach did shrink? One could only hope.</li>
<li>Family, friends and fellow bloggers encouraging comments have really kept the positive energy flowing and quite frankly, this is what got me through this week. As cliche as it may sound, but when people really believe in you, your confidence soars. SO THANK YOU!</li>
</ol><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAT_shFCKOSgSmILdQAuQ1kLkmJhCMUOmWj0EI3zeRf-BVWfDVikOQVFk2XGQpF-UFUEjMRUYMg1eAv109NmGL27dpT_kM59WWZAXGI6QvbOGZeHicMxtEcyMugXWd6lhkkLd2sX-Fs8/s1600/Pomegranate+Kabob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAT_shFCKOSgSmILdQAuQ1kLkmJhCMUOmWj0EI3zeRf-BVWfDVikOQVFk2XGQpF-UFUEjMRUYMg1eAv109NmGL27dpT_kM59WWZAXGI6QvbOGZeHicMxtEcyMugXWd6lhkkLd2sX-Fs8/s320/Pomegranate+Kabob.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pomegranate Kebab at Sultana</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div>I have been dreading the weigh in all weekend and mostly all day today. All I kept thinking was what if I didn't lose weight? What if I gained weight? OMG what jack ass I'm gonna look like after this. What if this was all in vain? After I shut up the pessimistic Moti girl inside me, I realized that I am a little too hard on myself and that this was my first week and that whatever the scale reads, doesn't matter (really). For the first time, I'm doing something about it. About damn time too!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHpiuzreKCUf9i8k2BtuI4aAC99XvLAq8_-0laGZAU26q_rQHxwpXSUUr4oKYvmNCEYEz8I6pARbVnD3hLQf7OtRwfmlDRG5oLTJyvXYb5_1IZnNmEma9mvO1uP07Mmx4alQaag728vLM/s1600/lose+it+pt1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHpiuzreKCUf9i8k2BtuI4aAC99XvLAq8_-0laGZAU26q_rQHxwpXSUUr4oKYvmNCEYEz8I6pARbVnD3hLQf7OtRwfmlDRG5oLTJyvXYb5_1IZnNmEma9mvO1uP07Mmx4alQaag728vLM/s320/lose+it+pt1.png" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My day today</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGthejRcH6Wxi80pQGPgOmpYxooiVsUKl3vAkb26DbGplIEs7VAPmXV_zn_luMngMyrbe7GuJ_3zFpDt14jcWEW45jebl_pNng4NeZRcp3iXFobQ9Q4oA33DRcaU5vUQZ7vRJneUE53ms/s1600/loseit+pt2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGthejRcH6Wxi80pQGPgOmpYxooiVsUKl3vAkb26DbGplIEs7VAPmXV_zn_luMngMyrbe7GuJ_3zFpDt14jcWEW45jebl_pNng4NeZRcp3iXFobQ9Q4oA33DRcaU5vUQZ7vRJneUE53ms/s320/loseit+pt2.png" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My day today continued<br />
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Without further adieu, here it is...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydYrWWtRGBuARiHJ7G62sW5iwfrvV4BPKmTnAxOTFNDO4kA7VhCDWv2JsK4waQx_G4UgyhvWZd6msIol-kVF7LlSlhouHXZXddvPc48m_GuQCSO-Vr0FRZ4YDXwg7wAadgkiHFgdAdhI/s1600/3%253A14%253A11+scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydYrWWtRGBuARiHJ7G62sW5iwfrvV4BPKmTnAxOTFNDO4kA7VhCDWv2JsK4waQx_G4UgyhvWZd6msIol-kVF7LlSlhouHXZXddvPc48m_GuQCSO-Vr0FRZ4YDXwg7wAadgkiHFgdAdhI/s640/3%253A14%253A11+scale.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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Yes some success ah! Well at least I didn't gain anything. I lost 1.4 pounds. Not too shabby, if I must say so myself. I'll be honest, I thought the 3 gym trips and my soccer game, plus the deprivation of food, would amount to much more weight loss. But my nerdy husband aka the know-all-about-fitness made sure to remind me, that that's not realistic nor healthy to lose 5 pounds in one week. Yes Oh Wise One, I concede. Woo hoo, I need to go buy a chocolate milkshake from Baskin Robbins now... just kidding. Ok well my work here is done. Feel free to leave a comment or two or follow me thru my journey of exiting my Moti girl Land. This your Moti Girl, peacing out.<br />
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Week 1: 3/7/11: 163.2<br />
Week 2: 3/14/11: 161.8</div></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-70590443601301777462011-03-11T11:35:00.000-08:002011-03-11T11:47:35.339-08:00Pray for Japan. Pray for Libya. How we can help!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0AjB0OmdlNEeG0BHkpjo9PT-FyVKc6dPSgVIIaVpLTslk9kuQeF-vIzxRufKMSW7MgYiyaDIDJHoLlCCESpE2KGpwYIn2MFxZJaoZHlGI40GPJ9RPXo-UwMcAD-KjPsVxDoOzSCezslI/s1600/muslim_dua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0AjB0OmdlNEeG0BHkpjo9PT-FyVKc6dPSgVIIaVpLTslk9kuQeF-vIzxRufKMSW7MgYiyaDIDJHoLlCCESpE2KGpwYIn2MFxZJaoZHlGI40GPJ9RPXo-UwMcAD-KjPsVxDoOzSCezslI/s400/muslim_dua.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of www.hizb.org.uk</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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With a heavy heart, I just wanted to ask people to pray for Japan & Libya. I was working on another post but just don't feel right about posting it today. I can't get the images of the tsunami sweeping over the Japan like that out of my head. I can't believe that Gadhafi and his army continue to bombard the city of Ras Lanuf with heavy artillery, air raids and rockets. When does it end?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cZYT6BjfBro?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/SFeu8jhUWOA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><br />
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<b>Here's what we can do now:</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
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</div><div><div><ul><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You can Donate to the Red Cross where they have an options for both Japan & North Africa and Middle East civil unrest. </span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_FrontPagePanel">http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_FrontPagePanel</a></span></b></li>
<li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Txt REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation!</span></b></li>
<li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Huffington Post has a great article listing what organizations there are to help the refugees of Libya. </span></b><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/02/how-to-help-libya-refugees_n_830040.html#s247744"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/02/how-to-help-libya-refugees_n_830040.html#s247744</span></b></a></li>
<li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You can donate through Global Giving. They have already raised $48, 114 for the earthquake and tsunami victims. </span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/">http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/japan-earthquake-tsunami-relief/</a></span></b></li>
</ul></div></div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Lastly, if anyone is interested I am going to try to mobilize some people to have some sort of fundraiser so we as community can do our part in helping people in need. Please email me if you are available to help.</b></div><div><b><br />
</b></div><div><b>Please pray for all people who may be suffering. </b></div><div><br />
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</span></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-52081786846356989322011-03-07T22:31:00.000-08:002011-03-07T22:31:33.161-08:00Moti Girl Diary- Week oneHola! Moti Girl here... So the madness called my life continues, with my kids' alternating sicknesses, looming midterms, all the upcoming events that keep my head spinning and the mountain of laundry hanging out in my living room to remind me what a wonderfully capable housewife I am. As if all these things weren't enough, I have finally decided that I want to bid adieu to the fat that has comfortably taken residence all over my body.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS53KRC7GVl_OudnpoVCKl0UAtEIF4Pt4aaMcY9vndcHmlADqg0HwC9jDYGE5T4j6AI-ObjUwxC-1_moJlAOzmd1KwSMbl_6L7CV9Zae1dV-n9ybe-DtUsldiNRMLYKUMsO9plEn199EE/s1600/amputation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS53KRC7GVl_OudnpoVCKl0UAtEIF4Pt4aaMcY9vndcHmlADqg0HwC9jDYGE5T4j6AI-ObjUwxC-1_moJlAOzmd1KwSMbl_6L7CV9Zae1dV-n9ybe-DtUsldiNRMLYKUMsO9plEn199EE/s320/amputation.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">inside my pantry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>A few months back, I placed a bunch of note cards all over my pantry and refrigerator to help motivate me to be more conscious of what I was putting in my mouth. Suffice to say, I just don't even see the signs anymore. For your viewing pleasure I have littered this post with these reminders so you can also laugh at my futile attempt. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmuxm6eopABhMp6zhxOU1BB7lrVx6timWwdlS9d_tsPsnXlYNKENbs7gEqMeI0Kq6Y0O7vMA6B9PzN9sp1f-UuPUccTtLEonQLs7kKe9WSN1_wZoO7K72CqZ94Gkmh1AvmuJ0_DOl9jo/s1600/Dontdoit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmuxm6eopABhMp6zhxOU1BB7lrVx6timWwdlS9d_tsPsnXlYNKENbs7gEqMeI0Kq6Y0O7vMA6B9PzN9sp1f-UuPUccTtLEonQLs7kKe9WSN1_wZoO7K72CqZ94Gkmh1AvmuJ0_DOl9jo/s320/Dontdoit.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><b>The Facts</b>: 24 hour fitness loves club members like me who have been members since 2004 and have probably utilized their facilities about 10 times, over the span of the last 7 years. I have an unhealthy obsession with eating, I love food and the fattier the better. (Maybe not completely true, but I mean come on now, the good stuff always has all the bad stuff in it). I will never have the svelte, super-bionic metabolism that my hubby is so blessed to possess. I wish I could eat 10 meals a day and not gain a single pound. I find working out in the gym mundane and rigid. I have tried Zumba and I love it. But really who has the time to go an hour before the class starts to get a pass so that you can actually partake in the class? LAME. I like being active and playing sports, but that to me doesn't feel like working out, it's fun and a total win-win! But who the hell has time to organize a soccer/basketball/softball game with friends with our crazy schedules on top of our crazy kids' schedules? Good lord. So right now gym is my only real option.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/22AxBsV-be4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
For the last 8 years and much to my utter dismay, my Mom and Dad have now affectionately been calling me "Moti". "How are you, Moti?", "Where are the kids, Moti?" and "Wapas, agaye, Moti?" (You're back, fatgirl?). There is no malice or ill intent with their use of the word, it's just that I have gained some weight since I was last 23 years old, so why not point out the obvious? Ironically, my younger sister Amina's nickname growing up was "Moti" because of her ravenous love for milk when she was a baby. Cue the 'Moti Girl" song, my clever little brother Mishal substituted the words 'Macho, Macho Man' out of the <i>Macho Man </i>song with the words 'Moti Girl' and anytime Amina would annoy him, he would bust out with the Moti Girl song complete with a waddle-wiggle dance and puffed up cheeks. Think the Stay Puft Marshmallow man from Ghostbusters trying to get his groove on. That's what it looked like. Anyways, now that mongrel (love you Mishoo) has transferred singing this lovely song to me. Yes I am <b>that</b> lucky! Ok fine I will leave the realm of denial and admit that I have gained a lot of weight since my the years of my prime.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZfEU0iDMrealzpD8dfxHeH_Tv1G493JUIRkIhwWg-F4i-sTL6dbZLJb7WFNTQ81A84o7eKnUXi4bxaMzUx2PIQQOaIYgpXXwPpRdM5kV04Vh9owAPEOvRgUs8zdcJUcgJG7nWuaBINE/s1600/obesecowforever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZfEU0iDMrealzpD8dfxHeH_Tv1G493JUIRkIhwWg-F4i-sTL6dbZLJb7WFNTQ81A84o7eKnUXi4bxaMzUx2PIQQOaIYgpXXwPpRdM5kV04Vh9owAPEOvRgUs8zdcJUcgJG7nWuaBINE/s200/obesecowforever.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">inside of my fridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b>The Plan:</b> I'm going to take my life back now! I am going to use my blog as a means to motivate my ass to do something about it instead of expressing my incessant displeasure. So the plan is to post a picture of my weight from my scale every Monday. Yes, Fish if you are reading this, get ready to shit your pants because you will finally see how Moti I have become. For the last 9 years of our marriage I have successfully been able to avoid exposing my weight to him. Yes, of course I'm embarrassed. What woman wouldn't be? But, not anymore. You know what, <b>it is</b> what <b>it is</b>. Hiding the number doesn't mean it's not true. This will force me to FINALLY do something about it, or be the laughingstock of the Internet, well, maybe just in the eyes of my 14 faithful followers. (thank you guys :) btw)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lose It App</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So I begin by ridding myself of spanx forever (a little white lie, maybe not forever but it sure sounded good), being honest with myself about how much I weigh, setting a realistic goal of shedding 30 pounds by the end of summer, eating better foods and incorporating exercise to my weekly regimen. I plan to use my Lose It app to help stay under 1200 calories a day. Work out 3-4 times a week with my homegirl Amina (you still on board mkl?) and I should be able to lose 2 pounds per week. Realistically, I know I will have days that I just can't stay under my calorie count or I might want to give up altogether but I will definitely try my hardest and I believe this epiphany/blog posting will bring me success I crave. I resume playing soccer in BAWSL this week, so hopefully that will allow me to stay on track. I will record my progress every Monday and conclude each posting with a picture of my weight loss/gain on my scale. Now if this doesn't work, well holy crap I'm not sure what will. It's about the journey right? Are you guys with me? It is either I am incredibly brave or ridiculously stupid, either way the only thing I lose besides my dignity is my weight. (I'm hoping at least)<br />
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Daym, OK so I have some work cut out for me but I am up for the challenge. Please feel free to comment and let me know what works best for you. I could use all the help I can get. This is your Moti Girl signing out... xoxo<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_GE58kY1cCXhjpD7FTxHaX_2pXjWeBtWVe4KpqGxie6-PNhCq_YWV35JlEoeFh-WcyjNMGLUlJgwlGxcSYuWkfmBz83pSCHd2q6ReprxpcsXse5sk_cXlr5qiMy1ALTLBREdBzIqCbc/s1600/weight+3.6.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_GE58kY1cCXhjpD7FTxHaX_2pXjWeBtWVe4KpqGxie6-PNhCq_YWV35JlEoeFh-WcyjNMGLUlJgwlGxcSYuWkfmBz83pSCHd2q6ReprxpcsXse5sk_cXlr5qiMy1ALTLBREdBzIqCbc/s640/weight+3.6.11.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monday 3.6.11 163.2 pounds</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-1045799379853380872011-02-27T21:29:00.000-08:002011-03-21T21:50:21.397-07:00I am<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I don't know why, but I'm feeling so incredibly nostalgic today. As I was poring over old pictures from a couple of years ago when I was pregnant and starting Berkeley, I instantly felt compelled to post one of the poems I wrote around that time for this next blog posting. I took the Poetry for the People class (a popular spoken word poetry class founded by the one and only June Jordan) at Berkeley in Fall 2008. Suffice to say, the class was phenomenal! I am still not able to completely let go and perform in front of a real live audience, but I'd like to work toward that. Hopefully, this blog can nudge me in the right direction. This was the first poem I wrote in this class. It is an "I am" poem. It's still a work in progress 2.5 years later. It would really help my editing process, if any of you out there were to please leave a comment or critique. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I performed this poem in my class for my final and there aren't enough words to describe how empowering it felt. I was lucky to have Aya De Leon as my professor and she was not only inspiring but she trail blazed a path for us students that allowed us to truly let go and be free with our words. Anyways here it is. Enjoy!</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am the sweet basil of my </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Dadi’s</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> breath.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The luscious orange mango of Pakistan and </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">the rhythmic beat of a Trinidadian steel drum </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">fervently fuse inside my hungry soul. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am wining down so, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">to my mother’s incredible island lullaby </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">and to the soothing sermon of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Pak, Saar, Zameen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am an American born Camel Jockey.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">a hyphenated American with terrorist blood </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">pumping through my black heart.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am standing up to salute Tupac’s Anthem, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">the darker the flesh the deeper the roots.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am at your service,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Pat your grubby charcoal hands against my fearless body,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">spread my feet and arms like a silent starfish statue, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">your warm dank breath barricades my fiery outrage</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">held captive in my sweaty throat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Bludgeon me with shame as your</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">evil sights are set upon on my daughter. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am your random security check.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My Muslim name tattooed in blood across my forehead,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">a whirling dervish that expels your poison.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am still the broken girl who allowed you </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">to plough through me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Stolen sweet innocence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Burning flesh with crimson scar-less wounds.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Words did not escape my cowardly mouth; </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">your sweat-filled fingers asserted fierce forceful submission. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am the teenager that hid the dark bruised eyes, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">the swollen scarlet lips and the midnight madness bloated cheeks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am the young girl who watched her life</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> dissolve into a pool of silence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am writing to defend myself</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">no longer naïve.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">not gonna lay down without a fight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">a militant mother,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">vigilant woman of color, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Obama supporter, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">a poetry lover.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Free to spread my white wings,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am home.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">All ideas, expressions and mental impressions on this site are all protected under copyright laws.</span></b></i></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrHBXPprCTlvs-fnNXlexL4mho6joQTLplJP62mgIUepZVC1Ds7AUHW59nG1YA31ICnTuEEGpAX8M_4r9rnOE2qzavXio2goaxpwN-w7kOyAVjc19qoub_eX9KRfRKrL22BKDMC3J7ow/s1600/closed-eyes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrHBXPprCTlvs-fnNXlexL4mho6joQTLplJP62mgIUepZVC1Ds7AUHW59nG1YA31ICnTuEEGpAX8M_4r9rnOE2qzavXio2goaxpwN-w7kOyAVjc19qoub_eX9KRfRKrL22BKDMC3J7ow/s320/closed-eyes.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Photo courtesy of http://prachieee.blogspot.com/<br />
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</div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-88016306015677956262011-02-26T03:33:00.000-08:002011-03-21T21:49:50.527-07:00Silencing the Lamb<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hola peoples. So maybe this wasn't best title choice, but I got the seal of approval from Fish who just nodded in agreement because he was too busy zoned in on his precious Warriors to give me a coherent response. Do I need to mention that they were losing by like 20+ points? I guess I shouldn't rub it in :) I digress. So silencing the lamb it is. Or maybe I should have titled it slicing the lamb? Okay, I will stop there I promise. I made my first attempt at cooking lamb shanks today, so if you aren't interested in reading my escapades in the culinary world, it would be advisable to stop reading now! :) </span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My good friend Amina gave me a very mouthwatering recipe for Tandoori lamb shanks but unfortunately for me I was fresh out of Tandoori Masala, the key ingredient (sorry home slice). So instead I used a mashed up version of Munira's Aunty's Roasted Lamb shank with my own. I took the liberty of taking a few iPhone photos for you. My iPhone camera sucks, so bear with me please. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEi1eNxZHM68bJS0uK0YLKc7tAsHE7-sDZ4NOuWQpRxRlzn-6ZCN7arIvwBP8JEsRQTmdtp6T6xVV0xyHi77p1B2HRY0-hgQAD09aTZdbH55W-hnTkr0NYrnd09gdYrI1fD0iGtc8ffg/s1600/safeway+shanks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEi1eNxZHM68bJS0uK0YLKc7tAsHE7-sDZ4NOuWQpRxRlzn-6ZCN7arIvwBP8JEsRQTmdtp6T6xVV0xyHi77p1B2HRY0-hgQAD09aTZdbH55W-hnTkr0NYrnd09gdYrI1fD0iGtc8ffg/s320/safeway+shanks.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last night when I popped into my local Safeway to get milk, I walked by the meat section and was immediately drawn to the lamb display. All the lamb at Safeway is from New Zealand which also makes it halal. Woo hoo! They had quite a variety, from boneless leg of lamb, to bone-in leg of lamb, lamb steaks, racks of lamb, lamb chops and lamb shanks. I prefer to cook the boneless leg of lamb or the rack but since I had never attempted lamb shanks before I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I'm not one of those measuring type people, I prefer to approximate everything. So for all you people out there who need exact measurements, I tried my best to approximate the measurements but feel free to tweak it to your liking. That's what I always tend to do. I was once told by a very wise friend, that if you change 3 ingredients in a recipe, then it automatically becomes your very own recipe. Works for me! :) (I kid, I kid)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2 pounds of Lamb shanks</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2 lemons (zest & juice)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">10 cloves of garlic (use less or more, I'm a garlic fiend so I probably used more)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">3 tablespoons of unripened minced papaya (you can find this pre-packaged now at the Halal Meat store)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon of turmeric (supposedly takes away the gamey flavor)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 teaspoon of cumin powder</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 teaspoon of coriander</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 (or more) teaspoon of Cayenne</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 tablespoon of chops/steak Masala (you can use Shan or whatever brand you prefer)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1/3 cup of Greek Yogurt (Why Greek? Well that's all I had in my fridge, plus I like the taste. I don't think the type matters)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1/4 cup of Olive oil</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1/2 of cilantro</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">4/5 green onions</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 small pear (I just threw this in because Munira Aunty mentioned using Green Chutney in her recipe and I thought it would add a little extra something) </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1/2 cup of mint</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 teaspoon of salt (you might need to adjust this. I tend to measure everything in the palm of my hand)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1 beef cube</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In a casserole dish I added the yogurt, all the spices (cayenne, cumin, coriander, salt, chops/steak Masala, turmeric), the minced papaya and the lemon zest/ juice and gave it a good whisk. I took the liberty of taking of photograph of my handy dandy microplane (and yes that was a Dora reference) because I would be ever so lost without it. I use it for everything. To zest/grind/mince any kind of citrus, garlic, ginger, onions, really anything.</span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdrkhNUNv0KVaABR_Q9AfNmdrNW-4tR9s41EuHU0d5KMzurRP82jfVs_GhjJc87YTMI7OKBR-m2Fu7vOkaaOULMQ1FoDlOTrSzQcN6J0l5JvKAgGBYLBrUF6MmChq-KJGykKoiMz_Uoo8/s1600/My+favorite+tool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdrkhNUNv0KVaABR_Q9AfNmdrNW-4tR9s41EuHU0d5KMzurRP82jfVs_GhjJc87YTMI7OKBR-m2Fu7vOkaaOULMQ1FoDlOTrSzQcN6J0l5JvKAgGBYLBrUF6MmChq-KJGykKoiMz_Uoo8/s320/My+favorite+tool.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPLS1rHXIQvfcmzxTPSNnry71bGjNI-F8QAhY5J52ZiX2TQkl4k7H4mJSQzOP2EsqEsjFzLwbVRKvLU9VRXuW17FtA_gtd7GulrQcIGMyITkYdAKTE2BZ7UAsWiZwleMTXzEAmif0z7I/s1600/Papaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPLS1rHXIQvfcmzxTPSNnry71bGjNI-F8QAhY5J52ZiX2TQkl4k7H4mJSQzOP2EsqEsjFzLwbVRKvLU9VRXuW17FtA_gtd7GulrQcIGMyITkYdAKTE2BZ7UAsWiZwleMTXzEAmif0z7I/s320/Papaya.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In a food processor or a mini chopper put the garlic cloves, olive oil, green onions, cilantro, mint and the pear and mince everything up. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then add this mixture to the yogurt and spice mixture in the casserole dish and make sure it's all blended together nicely. Voila! The marinade is ready.</span><br />
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</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then place the shanks in the marinade and score the the lamb. Cover it and let it marinade overnight or as long as you can. I'm all about marinading forever. I like my food with lots of flavor. Who doesn't?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Score both sides of the meat</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marinade Bath</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The shanks will need to cook in the oven for about two hours. Heat a grill pan on medium to high heat so that you can sear the shanks before you bake them. Bring two cups of water to a soft rolling boil and plop the beef cube in and make sure it properly dissolves. Make sure to preheat the oven to 300 degrees.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Shake off all excess marinade (really shake it off, or it won't get a pretty brown crust) and sear the shanks on all sides. Meanwhile, take the beef stock and pour it all in a new casserole dish with one cup of the remaining lamb marinade. After the shanks are seared place them in the casserole dish with the cooking liquid, cover them tightly with foil and bake the shanks for about two hours.</span><br />
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As you can see that I went a little too sear happy. Maybe a little less char would be better.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After the two hours are over, crank the broiler and broil the shanks for about five minutes tops, also making sure you turn the them so the meat caramelizes all around. Take the shanks out of the oven and now go get your grub on! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_42fKVge6xqhNtwPhHnbl3i5yGuCpAKZE6plxGJSwMHgarx6WUu6EFjuQoEWoLKJKXpkyQxggiVwYz2y56J8l-IR7CjYfdsX-L-5xyBrKhSjmHv1v9JbxvaxEMdxDGI9CelmZZxuzGUs/s1600/Plated+glory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_42fKVge6xqhNtwPhHnbl3i5yGuCpAKZE6plxGJSwMHgarx6WUu6EFjuQoEWoLKJKXpkyQxggiVwYz2y56J8l-IR7CjYfdsX-L-5xyBrKhSjmHv1v9JbxvaxEMdxDGI9CelmZZxuzGUs/s320/Plated+glory.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">According to Fish, it was extremely delicious (he's not the most accurate judge because he says that about everything I cook. He's sweet but biased). The shanks were tasty, but they were missing a spicy kick to it. I loved that the meat fell off the bone and that it had a nice green chutneyish crust to it. I will definitely cook this again but making sure to increase the spice factorial.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9dmSFcBp8b__knuZ-yW1cHBuT7Uz2iZierkYiUnSVhtUpeHATQgDhYzY61ej2DEalvwVi3A5Rl454coTcfdcYaT9PIerAUPUPi3y4Z_LIf3Ya2J3ljZ2GjHg78W6zk9lJBOKFp-MUv2s/s1600/Real+plated+glory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9dmSFcBp8b__knuZ-yW1cHBuT7Uz2iZierkYiUnSVhtUpeHATQgDhYzY61ej2DEalvwVi3A5Rl454coTcfdcYaT9PIerAUPUPi3y4Z_LIf3Ya2J3ljZ2GjHg78W6zk9lJBOKFp-MUv2s/s320/Real+plated+glory.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My plated glory: Roasted lamb shank, goat cheese mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans and quinoa.</td></tr>
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</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Well that's about it for now. :) Enjoy, we sure did.</span><br />
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</span></div></div>Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7393137742957298001.post-22392376061475488702011-02-17T15:40:00.000-08:002011-03-21T21:47:37.137-07:00Bring Daughter to Berkeley DayMy 8 year old daughter Leila had a whole week off from school for mid-winter break and I had pleasure of taking my precocious child with me to Berkeley. So as we got dressed that morning, she meticulously packed her panda backpack with her ipod, her DSi and her Ramona the Pest book along with a good variety of snacks (in case I get the munchies she snickered). She flashed me her radiant smile and said, "Let's go, Mom. I can't wait to be a Golden Bear today!" Yes, all you Golden Bears out there rejoice, the brainwashing as begun! :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMH36yGRL1-XWgwdu_WyUsdfwlIsiKkogtQFarPTeiqAdxznsB59ZHpFdYNdhUfxn86tXUondivyVQSHDQWLMQzOgHqwGi9E08idFw6oZzWUjDlT-V0OPjdeDxHVshNajAkqkP8RHmr4/s1600/Leila-Wheeler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrMH36yGRL1-XWgwdu_WyUsdfwlIsiKkogtQFarPTeiqAdxznsB59ZHpFdYNdhUfxn86tXUondivyVQSHDQWLMQzOgHqwGi9E08idFw6oZzWUjDlT-V0OPjdeDxHVshNajAkqkP8RHmr4/s320/Leila-Wheeler.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing outside of Wheeler</td></tr>
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</div>So as Leila walked around Berkeley in wonder and awe and kept firing questions like what does she have to do to go to Berkeley, will she be able to play soccer there, can she drive everyday from home school etc. I couldn't help wondering as I responded if I was already planting the seeds on how to become an overachiever in this overly competitive world. My responses consisted of keywords like, work hard, excellent grades, being active, being involved in the community. As we people watched from Sproul and I had a chance to digest my words, I immediately retracted my first responses and told her that right now she need not worry about things like that and that she should focus on having fun, learning new things in school and just being a kid. She then looked up at me and said, "But Mom, I want to be like you." Oh goodness talk about mush overload. It made me realize that these past five to seven years of desperately trying to complete my undergraduate degree was because I wanted my then 2 year old to have a good role model to look up to, were not all in vain. My mission was accomplished. I sometimes get so lost in my own insecurities and self-doubt that I missed where my child actually absorbed the message I was trying to send through my educational pursuits. So thank you, Leila for always bringing me to reality.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl4Mi9J5Qlj154Yg5iN6Doli4_iYPSOiWwEYX75HjeDf5xnDUaR7icSlGIUzrWUDx2SInS2GycPu9ucGIYOu9ST-hq296rgh4kIOjLTyQYn8MzU-LKlpXeeDC2_NWdyk-x-_U23gpv24/s1600/leila+classroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl4Mi9J5Qlj154Yg5iN6Doli4_iYPSOiWwEYX75HjeDf5xnDUaR7icSlGIUzrWUDx2SInS2GycPu9ucGIYOu9ST-hq296rgh4kIOjLTyQYn8MzU-LKlpXeeDC2_NWdyk-x-_U23gpv24/s320/leila+classroom.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Golden Bear</td></tr>
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</div>Moving on, we walked into my first class, she was immediately greeted with warm welcomes and hellos, while I was greeted with the usual "OMG <i>YOU </i>have a kid/How<i> OLD</i> are you?" looks. Suffice to say I'm quite used to these sorts of questions and politely informed my classmates of my hideous old age of 32 and that Leila was indeed not my only child. My teacher asked Leila her name and what she wanted to do when she got older and her response was, "I'm going to a Golden Bear, then I will be a Pediatrician or a Cook!" When probed further about what kind of cook she would like to be, she said, "The type of cook that cooks on TV." Well go figure, all my obsessive Food Network watching has totally paid off! She quietly sat in class, read, played with her DSi and iPod. The only time we heard her during the 90 minutes of class, was when she starting singing along to Katy Perry's Firework while playing on her ipod. It definitely provided our Racial Othering lecture with some much needed comic relief.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibM7nTt-mkWYajHM5lersTWGBvlD59rOqeU22MmHTAhSRzf-7pCkjh0VX2_ADHL_Vm5_AbauLl8I_-zH9JJ0fIwbMK5i9clR4JVBgnbwa1w5nX_tKz0rshuVrGwcw6_MocPAw-JMDR4uU/s1600/leila-telegraph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibM7nTt-mkWYajHM5lersTWGBvlD59rOqeU22MmHTAhSRzf-7pCkjh0VX2_ADHL_Vm5_AbauLl8I_-zH9JJ0fIwbMK5i9clR4JVBgnbwa1w5nX_tKz0rshuVrGwcw6_MocPAw-JMDR4uU/s320/leila-telegraph.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tell-tale Telegraph</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1M14pwiivodafvTIKq64JgjVk-zLIUEj4NSkaoL-5-agO7s7RUh8Q23u1L9D9EAc_6TF8gcMVJIph73YcIBQFPwZdUl2SLOGFCErM7QnI40IbsHFowUTVT7w3bMT0zU2genWoghLxNUA/s1600/leila-cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1M14pwiivodafvTIKq64JgjVk-zLIUEj4NSkaoL-5-agO7s7RUh8Q23u1L9D9EAc_6TF8gcMVJIph73YcIBQFPwZdUl2SLOGFCErM7QnI40IbsHFowUTVT7w3bMT0zU2genWoghLxNUA/s320/leila-cream.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eating "heavenly" cookies from C.R.E.A.M.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As we perused the latter part of our day on Telegraph where we both devoured some Blondie's pizza and C.R.E.A.M.'s freshly baked cookies, she was overcome with gratitude (and a sugar high) for bringing her to school with me. When I asked her what was the coolest thing about today, she immediately answered, "To be a Berkeley student for one day. Oh yeah and to eat warm cookies!" Yes, as much I have had a love/hate relationship with attending Berkeley, at this moment I couldn't agree with her more!Rehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00448602061797198313noreply@blogger.com2