Hair. A love story.

28 Jul 2021 2 Comments

by wifemothereventplanner in Brave New World Tags: , , , , , , ,

Well a love/hate story for me.

My hair today is naturally wavy which means it leans frizzy.

Before I had kids. Before I got married. Before I got old. My hair was smooth, thick and very healthy. I’m not blaming my husband and kids for any turn of events, I’m just stating facts.

Beside a low point when I decided to try to “perm” my hair and ended up with a tight Afro for half a year – my hair has been good to me.

It’s the kind of hair that people would comment on. It’s so shiny. It’s so pretty. Yada yada. Indians have good hair. Ask Chris Rock – he did a whole documentary on it.

Sometimes stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my hair.

For those of you reading this who can’t relate, good for you. I would love to be so irreverent. But I can’t. For me, it’s all about the schedule. The hair washing schedule.

If I’m having a good day, if I’m not having a good day…it’s about the hair.

No. Not a good hair day. That’s cute. I’m talking about a daily, hourly evaluation of where my hair is at.

Day one to two of washing – it’s amazing. I’ve cared for it. I’ve blown it out (or I’ve had a very nice woman named Lydia blow it out). It’s peak. I’m peak.

Even during these peak days there is a struggle. Or at least now there’s a struggle. When I wasn’t working out – it was no big deal. But now there’s a delicate but immense balance between clean, blown-out hair and working out.

In the winter months I was walking my literal ass off and breaking a minor sweat. My hair was in great shape after a 10K walk.

Now…in this thick, hot, steamy heat…I look like a drowned rat after I walk. And that’s me being kind to myself.

I have to plan my workouts/walks either before or after a peak day. That’s right. My health journey is fully dependent on my hair schedule. I told you this shit was complicated.

Oh…try dry shampoo you say? Genius. I’ve done it. I’m on it. I’m in it. It can help – but it can’t perform miracles. I’ve also tried hats, hair bands, hair nets, etc.

I plan my workouts and hair washing like some people do meal prep during the week. Here’s my week….here’s what I need to look good for…here’s what I can get away with…ugh. It’s an ordeal.

Listen – I know I have like tier 2 hair issues. There are black girls reading this and rolling their eyes. I get it. I bow down. But it’s still a thing for me. A big THING.

To add insult to injury, last year, during the height of Covid…I started losing hair. It just started falling out. Was it stress? Was it hormones? Was it a cosmic joke? I dunno – but what I do know is that it was DEVASTATING.

I freaked out. I bought hair vitamins. I bought expensive products. I googled every hair remedy I could find. I prayed to the hair gods. And then finally, I let it go.

It was what it was. I no longer had that thick, rich head of hair that people commented on.

I was now buying products for “thin hair”. Oh the irony of finally buying something for myself labeled “thin”!

I asked my doctor about it and she said words that resembled menopause and I tuned out completely. What do they know? I’m going back to my old, trusted friend. Instagram.

On Instagram I found my new favorite shampoo.

It’s expensive (by my CVS standards). It’s hard to find. Gwyneth Paltrow uses it. These are all good enough stats for me.

And because my algorithm is now ABBA dance routines and hair products, Instagram also brought the WOW and IGK products into my life. And of course I love them too.

I’ve been using these products for about 2 months and I have to say…legit not one thing has changed. But I’m still into them.

So! If you want to try something that I cannot say has done anything for me except make me feel good -give it a go. My only bit of good news recently has been that Lydia noticed baby hairs growing and said,” Meha (that’s what she calls me), your baby hairs are coming in black not grey!”.

I cried I was so happy.

Hair. It’s ruining and ruling my life. Who wears wigs? DM me.

Here’s 3 peak days I’ve had this summer (one is just to show off my earring TBH):

Homemade – semi

07 Jul 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in Cooking! Tags: , , , , , , ,

Remember that show with Sandra Dee or Sandra Lee? She would always be swathed in really good lighting as she made things with cake mix? I think there was always a color theme too… like when she made green and red food she’d be wrapped in the Italian flag or something. I enjoyed it.

This past weekend I took this dip – which was totally inspired by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen – and bastardized it ala Sandy.

An Yotum Ottolenghi recipe was also involved. Stay with me.

Deb Perelman’s cooking, if you don’t know it, is right up my ally. Fuss free but impressive. In my book of lady cooks I turn to – it’s Ina, Martha and Deb. The order changes depending on recipe. A whole Turkey for Thanksgiving? Martha’s my gal. Baking? Hello Ina. And everything in between is Deb.

Back to it.

So I wanted to make something to take to a July 4th Party. Deb had a great recipe for hummus piled with a tomato and cucumber salad.

I’d made it before. It was delicious. I just had some issues. My number one being a deep dark secret. I don’t love tomatoes. Are you still there? Do you hate me? I’m sorry. It’s a very controversial statement. Almost as bad as “I don’t love berrries”, but don’t worry. I wouldn’t go that far. And if I did – I wouldn’t tell you. Yum berries!

So I tweaked the recipe. Kept the cucumber, added a radish. Yes a radish! A totally under appreciated vegetable that can take the place of an onion in many salads. And I doubled the amount of parsley and mint. Maybe tripled. When I showed this recipe to a friend she said, ” oh like tabouli….”. It is tabouliesque.

Radish + Cucumber

I really wanted a salty brine to it and found this in my pantry. Perfect.

I poured half the jar in. With the dressing.

Side note. A couple of years ago I bought this thingie, this can-opener-pop-up thingie. It’s amazing. It works. Thank you Darcy for making me get it.

Now that we have the salad done. We need the hummus.

This is the part where you could totally just buy the hummus. It would still be homemade. You still chopped shit for gods sake. But hummus you make, even semi-make is so much better than the stuff in the store ( not judging, I’ll eat that all day long).

But making it IS actually easy and it ALWAYS tastes better. Last summer I dove deep into all the recipes from Yotem Ottolenghi. His books are beautifully photographed and easy to follow – check out his website https://ottolenghi.co.uk/

His recipe calls for soaking dried chickpeas overnight, fresh garlic, lemon and tahini. That’s it. I followed it to a semi-tee.

I didn’t measure anything. I just eyeballed/tasted it.

Canned beans? Yep. Garlic in a tube? Absolutely. Still worked. Add some tahini and fresh lemon (see..FRESH) and voila!

Stuff it all in your son’s Nutribullet and let it whirl!

You’ll get a consistency that’s softer and runnier than store bought hummus. Don’t worry – you didn’t do it wrong. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours and it’ll firm up a bit, but still be smooth and creamy!

Plate it all on a festive dish – add some feta cheese and good olive oil to gild the lily and go impress some people!

RIP Small Talk

09 May 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in I need to tell you about this right now Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So the last post was about unwanted conversations and maybe this is part 2? Or a prequel? It’s connected for sure.

I don’t know what’s going on but I’m finding myself much less willing to chit chat.

I’ve never loved small talk but lately I have no use for it.

Last week I joined a call early and found myself alone with someone I barely know at work. She started the usual weather convo and I just couldn’t do it.

I asked her how she survived Covid. Did she get sick? Did she know anyone that did? Does she live alone?

Let’s just say she was surprised by the direction of the conversation. I think her response was,” yeah it’s ok” before someone else joined and she was put out of her misery.

Maybe it’s because last year brought me all the feels. Sadness. Anger. Stillness. Joy. How am I expected to come out of a Global Pandemic and a social justice juggernaut unaffected?

I can’t talk to you about weather! We were just in a fox hole making banana bread to avoid the news. Don’t you have PTSD when you look at puzzles like I do? We’ve changed together haven’t we?

I want to know more about you. And faster.

Did you spend last year alone? Or where you trapped with your family?

Did you think it was a hoax? Or did you wash delivered groceries in the garage with gloves on?

Did you get a pet or a therapist or both? I need to know.

Are you like me, feeling optimistic and ready to party? Or are you still cautious and taking it slow?

I sound like a lot. Maybe I’m the unwanted conversation now.

I don’t want to sound cheesy and say that I’m appreciating things more and enjoying things more – but I kinda am.

I still don’t want to hear an Uber driver tell me his deepest darkest racist thoughts. But I do want to get to know my people more.

And by my people I mean the ones in my life. For whatever reason. Work. Friendship. Family. I’m done with small talk. That’s PC to me. Pre-Covid.

Some of you won’t notice a change at all – because we’ve always gone deep. But others I admit I can do better with.

I have always been a pretty forthcoming person. I’m a bad liar so I avoid it most of the time, which is a good thing. But I’m also bad about bringing up tough stuff. I have a habit of keeping things “light”. I want to change that up a bit. I mean there will still be time for vapid, silly rabbit holes about Bravo shows and I’ll never let go of Tik Tok – but it’s time for balance, I think.

I hereby pledge to not ask surface, generic questions. I promise to listen – really listen – not just think of a response as you’re talking. I promise to ask more things about you and talk less about me. And I promise not to take you for granted. Not for a minute. I’ve missed our time together and if we get it back – I’m using it better.

Don’t be scared. It sounds intense but it won’t be. It’ll just be Big Talk. Deep Talk. Fun Talk. Sad Talk. Real Housewives Talk. Anything but Small Talk.

Are you in?

Diet tips…Vol.1

22 Mar 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in Cooking! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

First have a healthy, balanced dinner.

Then walk to the kitchen, pass a pizza pie your 17 year old with a metabolic rate of a cheetah ordered as a snack and keep walking.

Loop around, go back into the kitchen once he’s done and spy the box.

Because being wasteful is bad, decide to not throw out the leftover slice. But since you’re also literally trying to walk your ass off, only cut off a small piece. Go back to watching tv.

Loop around. And again.

And again.

Calories consumed in small pieces don’t count. It’s a law.

When finished delete your 17 year olds door dash account to show him who’s boss and project your anger and guilt.

Here’s the tale visually

Vol. 2 coming soon… how to eat a donut in 29 bites.

TikTok’d

12 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in Cooking! Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Every night, I leave my husband downstairs to watch the news and head upstairs to bed. But I’m not really going to sleep. I’m going upstairs to be alone and dive deep into my TikTok hole. And I love it.

Have you done it? Isn’t it great? Synchronized dancing? Quick cooking recipes? This is the place for me. I’m sure my algorithm is totally different than yours – sometimes people tell me about some crazy video they saw, not me. My TikTok videos are a mash up of what they think a 10 year girl and her grandmother would like to see. It’s all cleaning hacks and babies dancing.

No matter what your algorithm- the one thing on everyone’s channel is the famous TikTok Feta Pasta! It’s all the rage. It all started in 2018 when a Finnish blogger posted this recipe. It didn’t catch on until this year when another Finnish blogger reposted – and all of Finland went mad over it. They ran out of feta cheese! They ran out. I mean, aren’t you glad we live in America? We may run out of toilet paper, but not cheese. Never cheese. Or wine.

Anyway – back to it.

Soon the recipe was all over TikTok. Every other video was someone making it. And because I’m easily influenced, I had to make it too.

The premise is so simple: Toss a block of feta, tomatoes and a bunch of olive oil together in a pan and throw it in the oven until softened, before mixing it all together with pasta and fresh basil (I subbed dried oregano because I didn’t have basil). I also added in garlic… well because garlic.

In the oven it goes – 375 degrees for 45 min or so. Couldn’t be easier.

Once out you mash it all together and combine with your pasta.

And… drum roll please…

It was ok. It was meh.

It was fine. I ate it. Mine came out a bit dry, so I ended up adding a dash of heavy cream. That helped. I also added a good bit of salt and pepper. That helped. And then crushed red pepper. Again it helped.

I’m really glad I added the garlic. Maybe I used the wrong feta? Maybe the Finnish feta is creamier?

Or maybe these TikTokers have never had good pasta. Or they’ve never combined pasta with cheese. Even Snoop Dog’s Mac and Cheese is better than this – I’ve tried it!

Whatever the case, I didn’t feel the euphoric high they seem to get from this dish.

I really wanted to love it. I wanted to be a cool kid. As always – not so much.

No Bueno

25 Jan 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in I need to tell you about this right now Tags: , , , , , ,

I broke my cardinal rule.

No, it’s not don’t eat potato chips at 10pm.

I was only going to eat 12. Which is one serving. Promise. Stop looking at me.

So what’s the rule? I’ll tell you. My cardinal rule is… don’t eat fused food!! I hate fusion! Ok not hate, but like really dislike.

I like mango. I like habanero. Why do they need to be combined?? And why did I fall for it?

Let me clarify that there are certain things that work – sour cream and onion, magic! Salt and vinegar, genius! But can we just calm down?

Chocolate wine? Dill pickle bagels? Please. PLEASE. Stop.

Anyway these are not great.

Mango?? Nope. Not there. Don’t taste it. Mango is unique. Mango is not just sweet. It’s nuanced and sometimes tart and fibery (it’s a word) and makes you feel Islandy (it’s a word).

Habanero? Ummm maybe a little black pepper or something. Go ahead and give it to your toddler – it’s fine. No heat. There’s almost nothing there. Those fiery Cheetos do more harm (btw love those).

There’s not much more to this post, I’m afraid. Don’t buy these chips. Also I wanted to say crisps because I’ve been watching Bridgerton but I fought the urge.

Tomorrow will be better.

I ate the full serving. If I’m being honest.

Date Night

14 Jan 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in I need to tell you about this right now Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Every Thursday night, my husband and I go out to dinner.

I don’t remember when or how it started. Our kids got older. Weekends were busy with family and friend stuff. But Thursday was a “free” day to sneak in a date night. Before Covid when I was still commuting, it was also the last day of my commute. Friday I worked from home and didn’t have the 5:30 am alarm (remember commuting? I kinda miss it. Just a little)

Sometimes we go fancy, but more times we keep it low key. I put on some make-up and he wears his dress crocs (yes).

Sometimes we go with other people, double date night!

Where we go depends on weather, mood, and our last good meal. We’ve been known to go to the same place for months if things go well. Sometimes we go locally, sometimes we go far. A lot of couples go out to try new places, try new food. That’s not a priority for us.

Before Covid our favorite way to have Thursday date night was to sit at the bar for dinner. Yes, we are those people.

Once or twice a year we make it an overnight and sneak into New York City. Treat ourselves to a hotel.

Unless we’re sick, the rule is you can’t miss it. Does it have to be magical? Hells no.

We’ve had plenty of good fights on date night. Lots of driving home in silence. But guess what? It’s fine. We can try again next week.

Sometimes we talk about work or kids or family. Sometimes we talk about money or vacations or bills. Most often we talk about the day. We keep it light. This isn’t the night to solve major problems or make big decisions.

When things started shutting down last March, our date nights came to an abrupt halt. We spent the next few months eating at home and sheltering in. Which was nice too. Then, in early summer, things started slowly opening up. We were back in business… kind of. But it was better than nothing.

This pic is one of our earliest dates. Look at those young, care-free kids with the good hair.

Here’s the years since…

Pre-masks!

Why does be make faces?? I dunno. That’s for another post.

I’m a poet, you just didn’t know it

08 Jan 2021 Leave a comment

by wifemothereventplanner in Brave New World Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



Goodbye Christmas lights and holiday sights.

Goodbye cookie baking and prime rib making.

Goodbye gift buying and bow-tying.

Goodbye White Russians for lunch, I really loved you a bunch.

Goodbye to my Santa mask, which was really up to the task, It made people smile and kept me safe all the while.

New Year’s Eve was so fun, I love a good Cosmo clearly. Thank goodness for our pod, I love them all dearly.

Resolutions were made and good wishes shared. We brought in the new year with people that cared.

So here we are in the new year, and it’s not that great so far, I fear

But I’m still thankful and full of hope, see sometimes it comes in handy to be a silly dope

So let’s keep our friends close and our naysayers at bay, and make sure you do something good for someone else today.

Things will get better, they always do, but even without the news, it’s easy to be blue.

So thank you Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max too, Bridgeton and Cobra Kai will help get me through.

So I’m sending you love and hugs Covid style, I hope this little ditty helped make you smile 😊

#fail

01 Jan 2021 5 Comments

by wifemothereventplanner in Cooking! Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

This is not a sign of things to come. In no way does this frame the rest of this year. This is just a little blip. 2021 will still be full of positive outcomes and good intentions. That’s what I’ve been repeating to myself for the last few hours.

This post was supposed to be called FRYday. Cute right? It’s Friday… I was going to post a fried appetizer recipe. I had a plan.

To make things even more interesting the recipe was an original. Totally my invention…well kind of. Years ago Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond fame had a very short lived show on Food Network. I watched every episode. It was the mash-up of my two favorite things – food tv and sitcoms. One of the episodes was on a leek dip. I’d never made leeks before and it looked delicious. I started making it for holidays and book clubs and gatherings. It was a hit! I mean I liked it.

Anyway back to my fail.

Today is the new year. I wanted to make something special. Something celebratory. I’ve also been a bit obsessed with frying things lately. No, I don’t have an air fryer. Yes, I know you love yours and I should get it too. But I’m not going to. So anyhoo, do you fry shit? Like in actual oil? It’s hard. I’m telling you it’s not easy.

I’ve also been thinking about wonton wrappers. Is that weird?

So I decided to take the leek dip recipe and combine with a cream cheese wonton recipe. Leeks, goat cheese, cream cheese and dill. Delicious right?

Ok here’s how it started…

Leeks, goat cheese, cream cheese, dill, butter and wonton wrappers
Leeks are dirty. Chop and soak in water
Dry them and wring out any water
Sauté the leeks in about a tablespoon of butter

So far so good right?

Once done you’ll combine with the cheeses and dill (it’s dill heavy)

Basically now you’ve almost made the dip. The only thing I didn’t add is the cream.

This is when things started going downhill. Now you heat the oil.

Heat about 2 cups of the oil in a small pot

Why a small pot? I dunno. I’m scared of hot oil and it makes me feel better if it’s in a small pot. My mother and my aunts would laugh at this sad display. They use a wok like large pot with atleast a full bottle of oil. DANGER!!!

Now on to the wontons. I don’t know if I got the right ones. They said vegan. Are all wontons vegan? I’m pretty sure I didn’t go to the right place to find them. They were next to the kimchi so I assumed all was well. Who knows.

I started the construction.

(I forgot to tell you that you also need an egg wash. Just one egg and 2 tablespoons of wager)

Still looking ok…. but wait for it… wait for it….

Ummm what the hell is that? Ok, new plan. New shape.

Ok that’s better. But big. I wanted them smaller. One bite size.

Then I started failing… err… I mean frying.

Then I tried another shape. This is before I gave up and started eating cookies.

Look at those sad little babies. Unloved. Misshaped. Cooked unevenly. Sigh….

Btw – these are the best ones. There were 50 others that I couldn’t/didn’t even photograph to save my dignity.

I packed up the rest of the filling which I’ll freeze and use as it was meant to be. I’m sorry Patricia Heaton. I should have stuck to the plan.

Well, nothing like spending 3 hours on 5 appetizers. Good times.

Frying food. It’s not for amateurs. First lesson of the year.

Happy New Year all! Xoxo

Product of India

20 Dec 2020 2 Comments

by wifemothereventplanner in I need to tell you about this right now Tags: , , , , , , ,

Remember this tin?

If you are a child or grandchild of an immigrant, then the answer is most likely yes. You’ve had this blue tin in your home. You may still have it, full of nails or thumbtacks or something. Check your junk drawer.

We never had Oreos or Chips Ahoy in our house – not that I remember. We had Parle G biscuits and this blue tin. Parles were shipped from India and never came in a big package. You got them in these little packs of 10. Most likely due to how many preservatives you were allowed to ship at once overseas. They were/are sweet and crispy – with just enough aftertaste to know the FDA didn’t approve them.

Yes that says Glucose!

Listen, there’s no such thing as a bad cookie right? So I’m not complaining.

My husband, on the other hand, did grow up with Oreos and Chips Ahoy. But he also spent a lot of time with his beloved Nana. She was a feisty, strong Ukrainian woman who came to this country without much and raised four sons. As the matriarch of the family, she had all the grandkids over every weekend and holiday. And ofcourse, she always had this blue tin of cookies.

The cookies were super simple. Just a shortbread cookie. Each tin had a few different shapes that all basically tasted the same.

I got excited last week when I saw a cute little version of the blue tin. I grabbed it right away for my husband. Thinking it would make him smile and be reminiscent about his childhood. When he saw the tin, he immediately smiled and cracked it open. It didn’t taste the same. Something was different.

We took a closer look and it turned out that this tin was a phony. A fake.

Artificially flavored?? Danish Delights? Oh no. And here’s the real kicker…

PRODUCT OF INDIA!!

My poor husband. He just can’t get away from products from India. Lol!

Happy Sunday all.

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