Muir Beach, Chinatown, and Big Sur

This weekend, I herald in the end of summer and commenced the new school year with a few short trips. On Friday, I went to Muir Beach, a semi-private spot tucked away in the cliffs north of San Francisco. It was a little foggy, but not too cold to enjoy a book with your feet in the sand.

 On Saturday, I visited Chinatown.

On Sunday, my mom and I drove down Highway 1 to Big Sur area. Unfortunately, most of the ocean views were hindered by dense fog, but later in the afternoon we were able to see some of the beautiful landscape.

Pakistan Day: You know you are a desi when...

Today, is the 64th Independence day of Pakistan so after some research, I compiled this list to catalogue  some common conventions and customs. 

• You use your saved grocery bags as trash bags. 
• You call every older person you’ve never met before "auntie" or “uncle”.

• You hid things from your parents (I called it my need-to-know rule).   
• You studied law, medicine or engineering at university
(I am an aberration to this rule). 
• You know no one who has studied music.
 
• You still came back home to live with your parents after you had finished college.

• You have friends that got married at the age of 18 (Not 18, but 19. I should be worried).
• You like meat well done.

• You secure your baggage with a rope (Only during trips to and from Pakistan). 
• You tie a piece of cloth to your suitcase's handle to easily differentiate your luggage. 
• You walk out of customs with your trolley at the airport and you see a large group of your family who have come to pick you up (on trips to Pakistan). 
• You go back to your parents’/my country and people treat you like a member of the royal family. 
• You take off your shoes before entering a family friends/relatives' house. You take off your shoes before stepping foot in your living room.
• Your parents call your friends “Beta”.  
• Your parents worry what other people will think if you’re not going to be a doctor/ engineer/lawyer.
• You have a pile of shoes blocking the front door. 
• Your parents tells you to change the channel when something dirty comes on t.v. as if you have no idea what is going on.  
• You know how an Indian film will end even before it’s started (but you still watch it). 
• You’re related to a doctor. 
• At weddings the cameraman only ever "cameras" you when you’re eating. 
• Your parents force you to listen to old Indian/Ghazal songs. For me, it was Rafi songs and I still enjoy listening to them. 
• You own a gold chain with your name/initial engraved on it. 
• You find condiments packets from fast food chains in your kitchen drawer.
• The smoke detector goes off whenever your are cooking dinner (in college, but I think that was a testament to my cooking skills).
• You starts spelling your name to the operator like A as in Apple, B as in boy, T as in train ...well you get the idea.
• You bring over the counter medicines like Iodex and Vicks from Pakistan. 
• You take at least 4 weeks vacation to Pakistan. 
• You try to get by using coupons that have already expired. 
• Your mother swears she never wanted to marry your father.
• You arrive one hour late to a party and it's normal.
• You are standing next to the two largest suitcases at the airport.
• Your parents talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house.Then they are invited back in to sit and drink more tea, and then going through the same routine all over again.
• You notice that whenever you go to another desi's house, your parents always talk about work, politics and business.
• Every few months your parents say they want to move back to Pakistan. 
• You hate to waste food.
• You don't own any real Tupperware -- only a cupboard full of used, but carefully rinsed, margarine tubs, takeout containers, and jam jars.
• You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel. 
• You live with your parents and you are 30 years old. 
• You don't use measuring cups. 
• Your parents use a clothes line even with a working dryer.
• You still prefer driving Toyota and Honda cars.

My Veruca Salt Yearnings

I was a tomboy as a child and most of my teenage life. I took no interest in brand names, labels, or designers. Most of my clothes were from Gap or hand-me downs and I didn't mind at all.  Then came the Hilton sisters with their purses and my fashion sense changed practically overnight. I wasn't their fan, but they did possess enough attraction that influenced me and peaked my interest in labels. I didn't splurge on anything ridiculous, but I did become aware of important names in the fashion world :) Eleven years later I still hold certain items in "reverence":

1. A pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes (blame Sarah Jessica Parker for this).

2. An expensive bag (fulfilled my wish with a Louis Vuitton & Coach bag).

3. Chanel No. 05 perfume

4. A piece of jewelry from Tiffanys (got this onyx bracelet for my 25th b-day). 

Monterey Bay/Cannery Row

Last weekend, I went to Cannery Row in Monterey for a day trip. I saw a few signs with the name John Steinbeck, so my curiosity led me to go online and read his relevance to this area. It turns out that several of his novels, including Cannery Row, highlight this street. The name "Cannery" was inspired by the expansion of the fishing industry (and fishing canning companies) in Monterey. I loved the architecture of the buildings on this lane (you can judge that by the pictures of random buildings) and having a sandy beach right next to it was nice too. 

"Pony" Doll House

As I mentioned earlier, my room is under a minor makeover. Another goal on my list was to organize my bedroom closet space. I went to the Container Store and got a few necessities to store my shoes and out of season clothes. I ended up with some shoes boxes, which I thought I could use in a project with my niece. The project turned out quite cute. I was responsible for the architecture of the house, whereas my niece was the decorator. She calls it her "Pony house". 

Feather in my hair

One of the latest trends of the summer is adding feather extensions to your hair for added style. Earlier this week, I went to Hair International at Stanford Mall http://www.hairintl.com/ and got myself one feather. I took a few pictures today at home of the the look. It is pretty fun and I am so excited about it :)  

Flower Mart: San Francisco

Today, I visited the flower mart in S.F. I found about this place online and it is touted to be the best flower market by Martha Stewart. Naturally, I had to make the trip to see the place for myself. Unfortunately, by the time I got there (around 12:00), half the place was closed. Apparently, you need to get there really early to see the entire selection. Also, you need a badge to get in early, otherwise non-badge people can only shop after 10:00. On the bright side, finding parking was a breeze. I did buy lilies and hydrangeas. Browse the website for more information: http://www.sfflmart.com/.  

Stencil Art

My room has been under a minor makeover the last few months.  Over the weekend, I worked on my walls. I wanted to do stencil art as a border, which is not as dramatic as sponge painting, another option I thought of. I found that online stores had more variety in stencil templates. One website I found was particularly good- stencilease.com. You can find paintbrushes and and stencil paint in addition to templates. Over the period of two days I worked on stenciling. The end product is quite pretty. I decided to not paint the entire perimeter of my room, rather than focus on certain parts.

One of the walls

Around the air vent