Sh!ma

baby Mythilli

I have some free time, so I thought I’d update the blog. It’s old news now, but we ! had ! a ! baby ! and she ! is ! awesome !.

People say that after you’ve had a baby it’s hard to remember all the unpleasant things that go along with being pregnant and giving birth. I need to make sure I record somewhere that it is/was not all fun and games. The whole process has it’s ups and downs and even though I wouldn’t change a thing, it is a bitch and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Nonetheless, Mythilli is the cutest baby ever. Yes, I think it’s okay if I, as her mom, say that. I think it’s time people come out and say that they think their baby is the cutest thing alive. There is no shame in that.

Bastani Akbar Mashti

Starting Monday, for the two weeks while I wait patiently for tummy-baby to be born, I have grand plans of making a new Persian dish everyday!

I have three sources I go to whenever I want to try something new:

1. My Persian Kitchen
This website is probably my greatest find on the internet. I’ve tried a number of the recipes and each time the final product has turned out to be pretty close to what my mom use to make (that’s my test of a good recipe).

2. A Persian cooking book (which I have forgotten the title of)
This is an excellent book which unfortunately is out of print. I have looked high and low for it but have never been able to find another copy. This book is so good, that after giving it to my brother and sister-in-law as a wedding present, I promptly took it back about 6 months after. I know, how horrible, but they weren’t really making use of it and I’ve used it so much.

Update: The book is called Persian Cuisine Book One: Traditional Foods by M. R. Chanoonparvar. It turns out they have used copies on Amazon. I don’t kow how I missed Amazon in my search. Anyways, you should go and buy it. It’s great!

3. My dad
Whenever I have a quick question, I call him up. The problem with my dad’s instructions is that that’s not how I remember my mom cooking stuff. Nonetheless, my dad’s cooking is probably just as good if not better than my mom’s cooking, so really I should just listen to him and do what he says.

Oh, if you’re wondering Bastani Akbar Mashti is basically my most favourite Persian desert ever! btw, I think “Bastani Akbar Mashti” translates to old man Akbar ice cream.

Free Passes to Toronto Museums

Did you know you can borrow free visitor passes to some of Toronto’s attractions at your public library?

I remember as a kid, I looked forward to the free ROM and the Science Centre visits we’d take as a family. The time was limited but we’d make multiple visits so that we could see everything. And then somewhere along the lines I learned that there were no more free Friday nights at the ROM. I was pretty annoyed, if you couldn’t tell.

But everything is A-Okay now, thanks to your public library.

I bought a pair of super awesome skinny jeans from GUESS at the end of the summer this year. I was pretty happy with the last pair of GUESS jeans I had bought about four years ago so I didn’t mind paying lots of money for this new pair. I figured if it lasted me another four years it would make up its cost over and over. Fast forward to the Fall, I noticed the hem of my jeans were fraying. I’d never seen anything like it before. I know it wasn’t because my jeans were dragging on the ground at all. Skinny jeans don’t allow that sort of thing, especially if you have been blessed with big ass calves like I am. Over the holidays one day my jeans were fine and then the next day I noticed my jeans were completed ripped near the butt. I was pretty pissed off because I wasn’t sure if I had officially gotten fat or that my suspicions were right: GUESS jeans weren’t all that great.

I wasn’t sure if I could return the jeans because: I honestly couldn’t remember when I bought them – it definitely wasn’t in the last month, how I ripped them and I wasn’t sure if GUESS had any sort of completely satisfied or your money back policy. But I figured it was worth a shot. I went to the GUESS store where I had originally bought my jeans after work yesterday. As soon as I showed the sales girl my jeans she was surprised as well. She confirmed that the rip had something to do with the “premium wash” jeans not being as tough as their normal jeans. She was real nice and offered to give me a new pair of the same jeans. I was ecstatic! Go GUESS.

Now if I can some how figure out how to stop getting faulty products. (Yes, Faulty is slowly dying on our dinning room table.)

She is MY Niece

As of 4 am this morning I have a new niece: Layla Elizabeth Mirkarimi. That means the grand total of Mirkarimis in Canada is three and the grand total of nieces I have is two! Woohooo!

Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales

On Saturday night, Brenda and I went to see the Sound of Music production at the Princess of Wales. I really enjoyed the evening. The show was very well done. I especially enjoyed Elicia MacKenzie playing Maria and Noëlla Huet playing the Mother Abbess. They got the accents and songs down perfectly. I was less than impressed with Captain von Trapp and Rolf Gruber. I think it was because I wanted the play to be like the movie so much. The stage was another highlight of the show and I won’t ruin the surprise at the end, but it was a little creepy. All in all I would really recommend the play to any die hard fans of the movie.

I spent a ridiculous amount of money on two boots I bought this week because I have decided that it’s time to celebrate my big ass calves.

I also spent the weekend in Barrie and if that doesn’t make you want to prepare for winter by buying all sorts of winter clothes than I don’t know what will.

Swimming + compliments

Last night after my last training session at the Y I went swimming. I’ve never been in the pool on a Monday night so I didn’t know that there would be a parade of very fit, very strong, very motivated masters swim team members waiting to greet me and all the other inept swimmers. I jumped in and spent the next five minutes just admiring how fast these people were and how much power they could exert from their arms and legs. In fact, I was so mesmerized with them that I forgot to take my goggles off my head before starting to swim. I didn’t realize why I couldn’t see under water as clearly as I usually can until the second stroke. It must have been such a sight: Here were some of the finest swimmers at the Y and me, a very lame swimmer. Or so I thought…

Having about 40 strong swimmers swimming in the same pool as you is a strange experience. As the masters swimmers would do their laps they would create a lot – I mean a lot – of ripples in the water. And I was left to struggle against all these small but significant waves. Nonetheless, I had a great workout doing the same number of laps I usually do. I was also slightly motivated to pick up my swimming pace and try to race these swimming gods. I think it helped because as I was almost through my circuit someone who was swimming behind me stopped before he continued to tell me that he had a hard time keeping up with me. Woohooo! This is even more awesome because I was in the fast lane of the pool, and this guy was relatively young. So I really think he meant it… well unless he was trying to pick me up in the pool. I doubt it though. I’m just going to chalk it up to him giving me my first compliment in the pool!

Maybe working hard sometimes pays off.

2008 Olympics

I know some people are going to be boycotting the Olympics because it’s in China, but think about the athletes. I’m sooooo excited about the Olympics that I’ve contemplated how Ram and I can get a TV for two weeks! lol With the time difference it’s going to be hard to find somewhere to watch the shows. Hopefully I can catch at least a few events.

Go Canada Go!

A Persian Girls Guide to a Tamil Wedding

Here are a few tips I had that I think will be useful for [Persian] girls marrying Tamil boys:

1. Make sure your hair is neatly done up. It doesn’t have to be in a bun but it should probably be up.

2. Make sure you have tried on your sari before hand, make sure the blouse fits and be observant about the areas of your body that will require that extra attention (Read: wax*) for the day of the ceremony. (*You’re Persian, the sooner you accept it the easier it will be.)

3. Have someone who knows how to put on a sari pleat and iron the sari and help dress you.

4. Try on the earrings before hand, make sure they are not too big and your ear hole can accommodate the earrings.

5. When walking to the place of the ceremony, you should kick the pleads with your feet ever so slightly so that you do not trip on them as you walk.

6. During the ceremony make sure your sari’s head piece isn’t caught under you when you sit down, it should fall over your shoulder and over the chair you are sitting on.

7. If you will be changing into a white dress make sure one of your friends helps you put on the dress and avoid any contact with the red powder that will be on your forehead and Thali.

8. Ask someone if you can wipe off the red powder of the Thali off after the ceremony so it doesn’t get on your white dress. Ram says that you aren’t actually allowed to wipe it off… Anyways just be careful. Also I think the powder should wash out if it does get on your dress. I’ll let you know once I pick up my dress from the dry cleaners.

9. Make sure your blouse is not too tight that your bra leaves imprints on your boobs, especially if you have a low cut white dress you are putting on later.

10. Have some body tape on you incase of last minute adjustments you need to make so you look perfect in that white dress.

11. If you have to wear the Thali forever, you will notice it will pluck your body hair, or head hair once in a while. That’s what you get for being Persian and marrying someone who’s Tamil. hah

June 14th

Ram and I got married over the weekend in Ram’s parent’s backyard. Everything about the day was perfect, no doubt thanks to Ram’s parents, brothers, The Cousins, and my family and friends.

CIP Presentation: Check

I did my CIP presentation today and it went alright. I’ll just have to make some changes to the final paper and then you may all refer to me as Master Shima. ha ha..

URD 1021 a.k.a the course made for Shima

Even if someone were to read my mind and figure out what my ideal course would be they wouldn’t have done a better job. I’m so very excited about this one class.

Actually, I must say, it has turned out to be an excellent start to my last year at school. Excellent! I hope it doesn’t all go downhill from here. Well, I do have to meet a certain politician who shall remain nameless next week… so I’ll have to reassess next week.

West End YMCA

Yesterday I found myself at Bathurst and College and so I decided that I’d walk to Lansdowne. I didn’t know it would be such a fruitful walk. On my way I found many things, but the most important was the discovery of the West End Y. I had originally thought that it was located some where in Etobicoke. So could you imagine my surprise? After I got home and after double checking with Ali I told Ram about it. I think we might look at getting a membership there.

I’d always been a little sad about moving out of my old neighborhood. I never thought Lansdowne could measure up to my suburban ghetto. I think one of the reasons I thought this was because there was no YMCA within a subway/bus ride. But I no longer have to fear. I’m so excited. It’s actually pretty sad that I could be so happy about the discovery of a Y! I can’t wait to have kids and to take them there.

There’s no Karate program there, but I won’t hold that against them. I’m so excited. I think the first free chance I get I’m going to take Ram and get a tour of the facilities and sign up! :)

94th U of W convocation

Congrats to all the ES-ers who convocated this morning. Had I stuck to my guns I would have graduated with all the lovely graduates of 2007. Leave a room for me in the pictures, I know how to use photochop reall good. hah.

Being a Canadian Citizen

The National had a special report on the first ever Canadian Citizens. Rumor has it that the first set of citizens to be granted Canadian Citizenship was 60 years ago tomorrow.

I remember when we became Canadian Citizens. I was just young enough so I didn’t have to write the test, but I was old enough to remember the ceremony. It was a much anticipated event and probably one of the biggest milestones in the Canadian portion of our lives.

One of these days I need to sit down and write down our Canadian story, it’s a lot more intricate and interesting story than you would ever imagine. But for all the hurdles they made my parents jump, it was all worth it.

Happy Canadian Citizenship day everyone! :)

One term done, three more to go

As of 10 minutes ago, I am proud to say, that I survived one term of UT’s Master’s of Science in Planning program. I haven’t received my marks yet, but grad marks are all skewed anyways and aside from one class, I’m not too worried about not ‘passing’.

Portfolio Designing time, here I come.

point me to the right god

I need to go and personally thank him!

So turns out I didn‘t bomb Mike Stone‘s class, assuming that he put in the right grade, I‘m not so sure he did. I have one complaint though: 313… we worked so hard… soooo hard… and yet that obviously doesn‘t even show in the end. err. fine. whatever. I can move on, cuz Richard Gere is the greatest prof in the world who‘s saved my ass one too many times.

I‘m quite relieved so if anyone wants to celebrate my :P final year gpa that is sufficient enough for UTs standards for apply to grad school, be my guest. name the place and time and I‘ll bus there! :P