life lately, according to my iPhone pictures

A lot has happened in 2 weeks...

I graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with my MBA!

Some of my extended family came into town for the occasion

and my mom cooked an amazing meal.

A lovely co-worker treated me to lunch

at a precious teahouse called the Chocolate Angel.

These guys have been helping me plan my India trip for

Ashish's wedding - and I leave in less than a month!

Doesn't this look like a Norman Rockwell painting?

What a great Christmas.

And we had my aunt, uncle and cousins over to my parents'

house for Christmas dinner. I love my cousins - haha.

Oh, and I got a new car! Although I don't have a picture of it yet...

Being Italian

Coffee shops are my weakness.

I don't drink coffee, but I absolutely love going to hang out with people. It's what I like to call "being Italian." When my family went to Italy in 2003, we were so impressed at how the Italians would simply sit outside in the piazzas and people watch for hours. They would talk and laugh, drink coffee, eat a delicious dinner with family and friends, go get ice cream and take a quiet walk - it was amazing to watch. Their pace of life is so much different.

It's like that with coffee shops - everything seems to slow down and become less hectic when you sit and talk over a nice chai tea latte or cup of hot chocolate.

I had one of those evenings at my favorite restaurant (Fadi's) this weekend. My 'sister' Bashorat came into town and took me to the ballet to see Cinderella! We had a few hours between church and the ballet, so we were able to catch up over some wonderful Mediterranean cuisine. The ballet was amazing, by the way! I never knew the story of Cinderella had fairies or dragonflies. lol - and the evil stepsisters were played by men! They made it more like slapstick comedy.

What a good night. : )

The Essentials in Life: Toilet Paper

Let me begin by saying that I am glad we have soft and relatively cheap toilet paper in the U.S. It's the little things you never think about...

When Bashorat and I went to Uzbekistan two years ago, we packed lots of food and TP. We packed food because she wasn't sure how our stomachs would react to the high fat/meat-heavy Uzbek diet. We packed TP because Uzbek TP is apparently coarser and thinner. (I can't only imagine what the customs officials thought when they went through our bags.)

Because we had a limited supply, we were both conservative in our TP use. However, we were there for nearly 2 months and even the Charmin Ultra double rolls don't last forever. Near the end of our supplies, I paired down to using only two squares unless absolutely necessary.

The day finally came when we had to suck it up and go by some Uzbek reinforcements. We went to a store that was basically a cross between a Super Wal-Mart and a department store. It was so crowded - not that there were that many people, there were just so many products jam packed into every little corner. We finally found the TP. It was right next to the stack of Uzbek flags for sale.

Not sure what that says about their national pride...