The Story Of Us

After 6 years we finally made a trip back  home! We were planning to go three years ago but remember that little things called Covid, yup we were in lockdown that year and had to cancel everything.  By home I mean Karachi, Pakistan. While I didn't call Pakistan my home until I was 10 when my dad uprooted us from our life in Chicago and decided to move back. In fact I'm pretty sure I still didn't call it home for several years finding it difficult to fit in and adjust to such a drastic change. But I am so happy that my dad did what he did, I was able to get the best of both worlds. M on the other had was born and raised in Karachi, work took him outside the country for the first time and from London to Singapore he finally landed in America.  While Pakistan is a beautiful country it is many other third world nations, plagued with corruption, stuck under the foot of first world nations like America who uses it as a pawn against Afghanistan, China and Russia and Britain...

this post was meant for last week but some error occurred and it disappeared and in the craziness that is life it took so long to re write it :( Happy Labor Day my fellow American's... hope you are all enjoying your long weekend   Flying to Karachi is a minimum 16 hour ordeal.. there are no direct flights either. We flew via Emirates with an hour and a half stopover in Dubai. I started planning weeks in advance.. not so much for once we landed but mainly for the 16 hours it would take to get there.. I was very nervous about the flight. I packed snacks, water bottle, candy in case of emergencies like a crying fit.. I also packed a book each, a coloring book for H  those invisible ink ones , activity book for D, a bag of lego's and play doh.. my bag was full! Plus of course extra change of clothes for everyone and plastic bags.. D is our resident vomitter.  Thank God some twenty hours later we were safely in Karachi.. I say twenty because we had some flight del...

When I left home to go spend to months in what was once home, I had planned on documenting everything. What I wore, what we ate.. everything.. the thing is plans don't always work out. There was so much happening that I often simply forgot. So I'll share what I can.. The first thing to understand is that like almost all weddings, they are big productions.. but an Pakistani/Indian wedding is that times a hundred. There are a minimum of five to six events as small as a hundred people and as big as a thousand.. two thousand people. During each event there are several little rituals and traditions.. This particular wedding had eight events.. eight! Thousands of invitations were sent, the most important fifty or sixty were hand delivered by us with a little gift. This gift can be just about anything.. we decided to gift everyone a bottle of honey with a sachet of kalonji  aka fennel flower, black cumin as well as several other names. Kalonji is an Asian spice said to ha...

Turns out it's not all that easy to blog while you're on vacation.. and you don't have wi-fi because dial up is a thing of the stone ages. So I'll be back in July with stories to tell and pictures to shares.. till then. Take Care. In case you're new here and wondering where I am and what's going on  I'm here Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

 Bonding with his nanu (my dad) over a game of solitaire  Hanging with the boys (his two cousins)  and love for his phoppo (aunt) I'd get better pictures if everyone hint D would just stop squirming and wiggling.. he's loving the attention. In case you're new here and wondering where I am and what's going on  I'm here Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

It's been a week.. though it seems like a lot more.. I had almost forgotten just how intense the heat here could be. My parents are at the tail end of renovations in there home.... so you can imagine the chaos.  We had a pretty decent.. 19 something hours flight.. though the fact that D threw up two hours before landing was no fun.. gross.  He made a friend  Meeting my mother's parrot. An interesting bond they are forming.. D is just scared enough of him as to not touch him or pull it's tail.. but brave enough to steal his toys and tease him... the parrot is cautious for now.. questioning his expendability.. but a few more weeks of a crazy toddler.. not sure how much more he'll be able to take it.   Teaching his grand father and great grand father the in's and out's of an iPhone..   Fruit Stand  Shopping for some clothes..  Bold prints and patterns.  I hate posing for pictures. The fash...

Yup it's that time of year again when we start to pack our bags and head off on another adventure. But this trip is going to be different.  Which is why I have been prepping for it way more that 30 days before take off.  We're going home. pinterest The trip will start with just D and I and we'll be gone for a few months.. spending time with grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles and great uncles and aunt.. seriously our family is huge.. and not to forget cousins.. and so many other people. And towards the end of the trip M will join us to attend my little brothers wedding.  So I am making lists, buying presents, cooking and freezing meals so the M doesn't starve nor has to resort to take out every night. And while I'm excited I find being away from M for so long extremely difficult..and M finds being away from D for so long extremely difficult.  But I haven't been home in two years.. I last saw my mom and brother ...

I was about 15-16 years old when I started drinking tea.. once a day.. usually in the evenings.. and though I have switched to coffee..mainly because whatever I do it just doesn't taste the same, plus it reminds me too much of home, friends and family. So now we drink it only when in the company of freinds or family. Tea back home is called chai and it has nothing to do with chai tea (which actually doesn't make sense because chai and tea mean the same thing.. so you're just drinking tea tea.. or chai chai). Unlike tea, chai is made with a strong black tea that is cured in a special way creating tea granules instead of leaves. It is inexpensive. The method of preparation  (this I did not know)  is also different. In a kettle you take water, tea and sugar and simmer to a boil until a rich aroma engulfs the room and the water becomes dark. Then milk is added and the mixture is once again brought to a boil. It is then strained into cups. (methods may slightly vary) ...