delara, interrupted

WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

At the expense of not calling my brother on his birthday (nor sending him a belated birthday card yet - YET!) and not blogging for the past 10 days or so, I have been knee-deep (chin-deep?) in wedding planning. Just call me J Lo. But Charla and Pierre are married now!!!!! And as Sharon (Charla's sister) said, "FINALLY!" It was just the most perfect, beautiful wedding ever. It was a lovefest. It was fabulous! And I'm taking a LOOOONG nap tomorrow. He he.

Photos to come, on this blog and I'm sure many others that are linked here. And for those of you who have called me in the past few weeks and I have not called back, I will be calling you back soon.

Posted by Delara at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have not had this much fun online since Wendy's weight watcher cards went up. Along with the other peeps in my office, I have been laughing non-stop for the past 10 minutes. I think I have stomach cramps from laughing so hard!

Please enjoy this and when you view the 11th photo, remember this - to quote the fabulous Lacey Graves - "Because when you think of basketball, you think of crime scenes and police tape."

Can this day get any better?

Posted by Delara at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What is the world coming to when along with stories about saboteurs exploding oil pipelines in Iraq and Chicago Public Schools losing millions of dollars in funding for Internet connectivity there is a FRONT-PAGE STORY in the Sunday Tribune (the SUNDAY TRIBUNE, people!!) about a prison in India that only houses monkeys?!?? Yes, you read correctly - MONKEYS! The story was called "Doing Hard Time in Monkey Jail" and highlighted things like:

"The thief threatened children with bricks and ripped the buttons off shirts. He stole tomatoes from one home and snatched bread from another. Down the street, he briefly fled with a differential equations book and beat a calculator with his fist.

He was one bad monkey. And last week he was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, inmate No. 13 at the country's only known monkey jail, where very bad monkeys are sent to live out their remaining years."

Dude, if I could get my hands on some differential equations I'd be a bad monkey too.

But wait, there's more!

"This place angers people such as Maneka Gandhi, an animal-rights activist who is also the daughter-in-law of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

She said monkeys can be rehabilitated, taught in sanctuaries to live in groups and eventually released into the forest.

'You can't treat them in the same way as humans, as bad and good,' she said. 'You can't just jail them.' "

WHA?!??????

No disrespect culturally speaking. I'm all for animal protection and cultural preservation and all, but FRONT PAGE?!? I mean, is it really vital to my life to know that somewhere out there is a jail for monkeys that have gone off the deep end?

Oh my. I may need to rethink our subscription.

(btw, the link to the story only works if you have a subscription)

Posted by Delara at 03:15 PM | Permalink

You say it's your birthday? And you have a deadbeat sistah who hasn't called or written you an email message? What? Can that possibly be?

Well, sad but true. BUT I DIDN'T FORGET!! I am just busier beyond busy. Although really, for the ones we love that should not ever be an excuse for not sharing some love.

So, I'm sharing some love here at least! And I'll have to make it up to you in some other outrageously fantastic way!! I'm sure you'll think of something. He he.

Posted by Delara at 11:16 PM | Permalink

(This one is dedicated to you, Moj and Melody!!)

What I learned today from VH-1:

Nelly has 40,000 (THAT'S FORTY FRIGGIN' THOUSAND!!) pairs of shoes valued at over $500K. He generally only wears each pair once, apparently.

Well then. Who says television isn't educational?!

I'm thinking Paul had better NEVER again roll his eyes in disbelief when I buy yet another pair of shoes. He he!

Posted by Delara at 04:57 PM | Permalink

Today was an interesting day of opposites, or something:

1. Around almost every corner of Evanston, Lacey and I discovered a new, more repulsive smell - from sulphur and bad eggs, to street tar, to exhaust fumes. And then, we had the MOST scrumptious lunch at Tapas Barcelona in celebration of Naseem's birthday! And lunch smelled divine...

2. I had almost nothing on my schedule and I have been working NON-STOP today! And getting a lot done, thankfully.

3. I am tired because I've had weird dreams all week and haven't slept well, but I have so much energy to get stuff done and stay focused.

And so on and so forth. In any case, I have had a great past few days. In general, I have been taking mental note of those things which bring me joy these days - all the things for which I am grateful in my life. So, thank you everyone and everything that makes me happy right now!!

(Don't worry, my dark, brooding melancholic demeanor will be back soon enough. For now, just bear with the hearts and daisies. He he!)

Posted by Delara at 04:50 PM | Permalink

Oh my goodness. Family - particularly my family - is just the best thing in the world! Peeps were in town for the Persian conference this weekend, and Paul and I reaped the benefit of this visit by having time with family Sunday night and all day today. Woo hoo! Mind you, this is after having had two (COUNT THEM, TWO BABY!) evenings with Marc while he was in town last week as well. He and Tessera escaped the huge army of conservatives that took over NYC for a few days. (Thank you again, Lou, for dinner - spending time together with you was just so fun!)

So, Sunday evening after Anisa and Amechi's wedding ceremony we got to celebrate family anniversaries and good times together. It has been a while since we had a reunion of sorts out at Lake Arrowhead as we usually do, so time together was in order.

The evening was not to be outdone by the fun times we had in Wicker Park and at the Adler Planetarium today. An architectural boat ride was in order, but when it started to rain this morning we opted for plan B - a much more indoor plan. So, we started out by visiting Orangeskin at its Wicker Park location - a hip furniture store owned by my second cousin Mersedeh's hubby, Giuseppe. (She has her own claim to fame - she designs Nour sunglasses and is just a special, sweet, cool person in general.) Azin purchased a dresser and other items there, and we quickly had some pizza at Piece before zipping off to ORD to catch Azin's flight. Then we met up again with the family at the Planetarium, and despite my skepticism we had a fascinating time. You all know I'm a science geek at heart anyway, so it was right up my alley.

See how gorgeous the Chicago skyline was today. I love my city.

I feel satisfied and content - that feeling you get after eating a delicious, home-cooked meal and sipping tea in front of a cozy fireplace. Aaaaaahhh... the weekend was like a breath of fresh air.

And now, back to the hustle and bustle - first, we prepare for the week by doing some laundry. And then, sleeeeep. 'Cause really, all that fun is exhausting!

Goodnight.

Posted by Delara at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

F-U-N!!!

Oh my goodness - I have not had this much fun packed into three days in a while. From out-on-the-town until 4:00am Friday night (WHA??!?), to date night with Paulie Saturday night, to Anisa's wedding on Sunday, and topped off with FUN times with family in the evening... what more could a girl ask for?!

So here's how it went down. Friday night, I had planned on spending time with Moj and her fab cousin Melody. Arya called at the last minute (surprised?) and invited us to a soiree for Anisa. We started out at Sugar (after picking up Mel from ORD) and had the most amazing desserts I have ever seen. Mine was sauteed banana slices with sinfully rich chocolate and small crepes. Anisa had some crazy couscous and fruit thing with cream. Arya ordered two chocolatey coconutty things with merengue on top. Oh man! The rest was a blur.

Then we headed over to Le Passage - swanky, I tell you. The music was so-so, and at about 1:30 I looked over at Moj who motioned she and Mel were ready to go. But then, just as we were about to get up, the DJ had a personality overhaul and played the BEST mix I have heard in a long time! So, it was no surprise that I finally slid into bed around 4:15am.

And the bride was beautiful, serene and intensely happy on her special day. The marriage ceremony of Anisa and Amechi was one of the most simple and most touching I have seen in a long time. Everything about the ceremony reflected the couple's unique and centered perspective on life. Congrats you two!

But wait! There's more to come! Stay tuned...

Posted by Delara at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I feel like I have a lot to be grateful about these days. For example, our two new youth interns start in the National Teaching Office today! Very exciting stuff!

We had such a great time at dinner last night with Marc and Lou. Whoever said you shouldn't talk about family, politics or religion during dinner parties was whacked - that's ALL we talked about and we had a ball! At the expense of others no doubt.

And this chocolate zucchini bread I have discovered from Sugar and Spice in Evanston is TO DIE FOR! It is just so YUMMY I can't take it!

So, much excitement. Stay tuned...

Posted by Delara at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)