Layla’s first trip to the library

Sometimes when I need to get things done, I have a “bad mom moment” and hand Layla my iPad, knowing that YouTube videos and the occasional Elmo game will occupy her for the next two hours.

On Thursday it was time to redeem myself. Layla made her first trip to the local library. This is great because she gets tired of the same books. Now we can switch them out, and she can occupy herself with new books when I need a break.

So during our first visit, Layla pulled out a Dora and an Arthur book and headed straight to a chair to start reading.

She loved the computers and the giant red stuffed Clifford dog in the kids’ section.

I picked up some books on home organizing and one called “Waiter’s Rant” about the restaurant industry.

There is a beautiful lake/park with a swinging bench just walking distance from the library. And it was a nice breezy day. But instead we found ourselves at Monster Dessert Bar with a molten chocolate lava cake. Sajan had a meeting but soon met us up.

Fun place to hang out!

A weekend in Austin

It was the summer after my freshman year of high school. I was 15 and spent two of the best weeks of my life at … wait for it … debate camp in Austin.

Oddly enough, I’ve visited Austin since then, but I never stepped foot on the UT campus again until this past Friday. 14 years later!

The memories came flooding back. My roommate and I had stayed in The Castilian, room 1921. The view was breathtaking. Through the wall to wall window at night you could see hills and trees and the lovely landscape of Austin lit by moving cars trailing around.

My unforgettable roommate Lis would read 19th century poetry aloud as I fell asleep. These two weeks totally redefined what music and literature I would enjoy.

Every morning we would eat breakfast at Einstein’s. I would have a cinnamon sugar bagel with a honey walnut schmear.

As I walked through Guadalupe Street Friday , so much had changed. Tower Records was gone but Einstein’s was still there. I met up my friend Avraham and we had coffee/tea from a place next door to Einstein’s.

There was no room to sit, so we sat on some steps outside a church and people-watched at the intersection while catching up.

Soon, Sajan and Layla arrived from Houston on the Megabus at Dobie Center. I was so excited to see them and ready to start our weekend together.

We stayed with our friends Aaron and Nancy and their dog Zoe, who happens to be my favorite dog in the world.

We also had some fine burgers at our friends Samir and Mindy’s house with their toddler Rizah.

You can read the fine details of the weekend on Sajan’s blog. We love Austin and relished the weekend away and the chance to bond with old friends.

Pizza Night

Every visit to the Thomas house is a culinary adventure. I think I had one of the best pizzas in my life there. It had to be that signature ingredient of handcrafted food — love.

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When Layla Helps Daddy Pt. 2 – Raking the Leaves

Yesterday, Sajan was raking swarms of leaves in our lawn. Layla loves to help.

This is her “I know I’m doing something wrong, but aren’t I cute?” face.

She threw leaves in the air, in her hair and in her shirt.

 In between running around and even taking a yogurt break, she stopped to pose for pictures .

And then, she played Hug Monster with Daddy. This where she runs around with a monster voice yelling “HUG!”

I’m letting this crawfish secret out of the bag

One Sunday, our friends Benson and Marsha invited us to eat crawfish in, of all places, Missouri City. For this, I am eternally grateful. Crawfish Heaven lives up to its name, my friends.

Sajan and I each had one pound of crawfish with a side of fries. The sweet potato waffle fries and seasoned french fries are equally good.

This place is so good, all night we kept running into people we knew! It was so good, it was worth wearing a lobster bib and looking ridiculous.

Fancy, seeing you here, Earle

Before we left, we immortalized our names on the building.

It all took me back to my first taste of delightful crawfish.

weather you can walk in forever

One day in late January the weather was something beautiful and we kept the back door open.

The little one wandered outside.

She has a routine in the backyard. First she pulls little green weeds in a corner of the garden. Next she bangs on an overturned wheel barrow. Then she takes the withered weeds and squeezes them through the slats of a steel side table.

On this day we pulled out a basketball goal, her Christmas gift from Uncle Shane. She loved throwing the ball (and whatever else she could find) through the hoop.

We tried out her new swing from her friend Maya.

And Layla lounged in a green hammock for a bit.

Here’s to more fun days outside.

A Lot Happens in 5 Years

Happy 5th Anniversary to my honeydew mango blossom, Sajan.

This was us three years ago.

And we’re still happy as ever!

On our one-year anniversary we made a little road trip to San Antonio.

Year two, we ate at Perry’s Steakhouse.

Year three, somehow I was with my brother and Sajan had dinner with our friend Liz.

Last year, we were snuggling with our 7-month-old baby, and this year we’ll be at my dear friend Sonal’s wedding.

A walk down WordPress lane shows some interesting memories:

• me getting mad when Sajan says my name

• fitting into my wedding dress 2.5 years later (ladies and gentleman i have retired that dress for good….this body is now for child-bearing not skinny dresses)

• losing our breath making our way up machu picchu in peru (mind you this is after a bus took us up there)
• having back yard parties. we love grilling it up! and putting up little hammocks. and making s’mores over a cracklin’ fire.
• adventures in India

I remember when we were 6 months married I thought it was a milestone. Five years makes us marriage veterans!

This is us almost one year before tying the knot. At TCBY in Rice Village when I was 23 and Sajan was 25.