Fly Through the Air and Be Caught? Don’t Mind If I Do

16 Apr

It looks better in photos--it's much worse in real life.

I bruise pretty easily but the bruise above (and I have them on both legs) are some of the worst bruises I’ve ever gotten. And they’re pretty painful as well–more painful than the ones I got from the recent ATV accident! (Which reminds me that I really haven’t blogged in a long time so I’ll have to remember to tell you that story soon.)

What a weekend–I crossed two things off the list! It just goes to show you that you never know when an opportunity will present itself and that your “somedays” really can (and do!) start today. (Or in my case, yesterday…and the day before.)

This one, number 104, was a long time coming. My friend Lilly and I found a cool Groupon for a Circus Taster class up in Seattle at a place called Emerald City Trapeze, so we went for it. The class was split between time on the flying trapeze and time working on silks and aerials. While the silks and aerials were cool (and much harder than they look!), the flying trapeze is what caught our eye! So we signed up for two more classes afterwards that would focus on the flying trapeze.

Every time we wanted to go to a class it was a bit of a process–after all we had to make a 3 hour drive, make sure we stopped at our favourite sushi restaurant, Umi Sake House, and find a weekend where both of us were free! This meant that we’d go months in between classes (August 2011, October 2011 and April 2012). Each class we’d get some time to learn the trick, practice and try to earn a “cowbell”. Getting a cowbell means that you knew the trick well enough to attempt to be caught! My goal was to get caught.

But I didn’t get a cowbell that first class.
Or the second class.

And this past weekend was that third and final class–and I was determined.

104. Complete a trick on the flying trapeze – checked off on April 15, 2012.

It took a lot of time, a lot of practice, a lot of bruises, but I did it! This was a goal that took about 8 months to get to, and it was painful and frustrating, but I did it! This was also a cool item to cross off because it was such a random one to come across and add. It was chance that brought me to the trapeze but determination that helped me reach my goal. There’s something about pushing your limits and almost wanting to give up that make reaching your goals that much more satisfying. Like I often say, “I’m not a quitter, I’m just slow.


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94. Fix a Flat Tire

16 Apr IMG_1218

Friday night, 11pm, and I’m already late for my friend’s birthday party. I go out to my car and discover my rear passenger tire is flat.

And not just low on air flat, but at 1 PSI, don’t-you-dare-even-think-about-driving-on-flat. Great. What’s a girl to do? My options were:

1) Have my friend who was staying with us fix it right there and then.

2) Call my roadside assistance.

3) Wallow in my bad luck and cancel my plans.

4) Forget about the flat tire until sunlight and find another way to my friend’s birthday.

I, of course, opted for number 4. After all, it was late Friday night with no light (and thankfully no rain!) and while my friend’s offer was kind, it wasn’t necessary to change it right there and then. So off I went to the birthday party…

The next day, my problem remained–but it became an opportunity. This was my opportunity to cross an item off my list: 94. Fix a flat tire. My friend, Doug, was in town and an excellent handyman and teacher (he’s been an accomplice/teacher/partner/coach for a few bucket list items now!), and off we went.

Note: this is written from memory so don’t take it as instructions but rather as my recollection. As a friend noted (thanks Erich!), loosen the lug nuts before jacking the car up. I have it as a separate step but we did actually loosen them first. 

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Prem&Manisha: Flash Mob Proposal

19 Mar

I love visitors. I love catching up with old friends and finding out what’s new and exciting in their lives. And I love being able to help my friends with something they’re working on.

A few months ago, my friends Prem and Amam came out to Portland for a short 24-hour stay before heading to San Francisco to visit another college friend. While I had to work, it was great just hanging out, catching up and giving them a glimpse of what my life in Portland was like and hearing about their respective lives in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Prem, Me and Amam checking out Ground Kontrol

In between visiting Portland attractions and catching up, Prem filled me in on something new that was brewing: he was planning on proposing to his girlfriend in an elaborate Bollywood-style Flash Mob with their friends and family at the Palazzo in Las Vegas on 11/11/11 at 11:11pm. While I thought his idea was great, I was a little skeptical. You see, Prem and I were on several dance teams together through college, and while he was a great dancer and often the male lead, he didn’t really choreograph. I, on the other hand, helped choreograph a few times and seeing as this was going to be one of the biggest dances of his life, I offered to help him with the flash mob proposal and choreographed a few moves for him by the end of the weekend. In the end, it all worked out (he even used a few of my moves ;-) ), the proposal turned out great, she said yes and they became YouTube celebrities in the process ;-) (200,000+ views)!

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Healthy Eating, take @#$ !

19 Mar

Are you one of those people who swears you’ll make healthier choices tomorrow…but tomorrow never seems to come? Or there’s always one reason or another for tomorrow to be pushed out by another day. That’s me. While I know I’m completely capable of doing it, for some reason, I don’t think I am and self-sabotage. But tomorrow is today. I’m going to try to eat healthier starting today… nay, I WILL eat healthier starting today. Healthy living, take (who knows what attempt number I’m on!)–here we go!

The best way to turn a ‘try’ into a ‘will’? You need to plan. So plan I did. I spent my weekend planning out my meals, getting the groceries for it, and getting myself mentally psyched up.

Thanks to the good folks at Dr. Patel’s Diet, I’m ready. (Full disclosure: Sachin is a family friend and one of my brother’s best friends–we practically grew up together and he’s like an elder brother to me. Speak of the devil, as I was writing this post, he called me to make sure I got the kits he sent me a few weeks ago that will test me for any food I may be intolerant to.)

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One Woman’s Trash is Another Woman’s Treasure

18 Mar

It snowed in Portland 3 weeks ago. And then it was sunny the following week. And then last week, it turned into monsoon season. But I was going to ignore the moody weather and focus on the fact that it’s March, which means spring is almost here! And what better way to motivate some spring cleaning than a Spring Swap?

A swap is pretty simple: you go through your stuff (primarily your closet) and take out the stuff that you don’t wear anymore, but you’re not ready to throw away. Your “trash” may become someone else’s treasure! Bring your clothes, your accessories, and stuff that’s just been hanging around the house that you need to get rid of and we’ll see if we can find it a new home. As long as it’s in usable condition or needs minor tweaks (aka missing button that you can’t be bothered with), bring it with! It’s important to invite a bunch of different people with similar and different styles (and sizes!) so there’s something for everything.

The hostess usually supplies light snacks for the group and volunteers to take any left over items to donate afterwards. I’ve been trying to eat healthy so for snacks I (along with my awesome sous chef, Megan!) made Artichoke and Green Olive Tapenade, Almond Avocado Dip, Hummus and Baba Ghanoush with crackers, Almond Thins, cucumbers, celery and carrots. (And it only took about an hour to make it all!) Thanks to Dr. Sachin Patel for the recipes!

Homemade dips!

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Chaos in the Kitchen: Roasted Garlic and Beet Soup

5 Mar

After a fun weekend, Monday snuck up on me like it always does. But I was determined to make it a Funday Monday. Why does Sunday get all the fun? I’ve also been thinking a lot more about my health lately and have been making excuse after excuse for not making a change today.

Well, today was the day that I was going to make that change. While I’ve been better about making it to Crossfit 2-3x a week, my eating habits were embarrassing. Either I was traveling or had visitors or was just too tired—but enough is enough. Today that was all going to change.

  1. I melted into a puddle after Crossfit, and man, did it feel good! (In case you were wondering, the workout was walking lunges with a 15lb plate, burpees and situps. 3 sets of 21, 15 and 9. And then a 2000m row afterwards. And yes, I was already feeling worked out after the warm up. Smh.)
  2. I made juice. Lots of juice. I turned on White Collar (my latest Netflix obsession) and made four mason jars of celery-kiwi-kale-pineapple-spinach-apple-ginger juice.
  3. I tried a roasted garlic and beet soup recipe that I found on a friend’s wall. (Thanks Lindsay!) I’m one of those people that even when “relaxing” I need to be productive. A lot of the time that means spending time in the kitchen, experimenting. (Thank you YouTube for all the videos on how to clean and cut vegetables I’ve never cooked with before! I don’t know how it tastes yet because I won’t be eating it until tomorrow, but it was pretty easy to make.

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Dancing to the Beat of Her Own Drum

28 Feb

Have you ever wondered what your purpose is? I have. In fact, it’s one of the most common questions I end up asking myself, right up there with, “What am I going to eat?” and “Where are my <keys/wallet/phone>?” Ever since my trip to the Big Apple, I’ve been thinking about this even more. I even wrote a blog post on it for the Student Branding Blog, where I’m a regular contributor. Will I ever find the answer? One day, I think I will–at least I hope I will!–but until then, let me tell you about someone who did find her purpose and passion: my sister, Heena.

We'd fight over who got to wear the awesome Archie outfit. I clearly one in this instance.

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Until We Meet Again NYC…

21 Feb Sunshine? Check. Welcome sign? Check. Indian cabbie? Check. Hello NYC, we meet again. What do you have in store for me for round 6?

Just a little over a month ago, I was checking my email and I saw my weekly email from Travelzoo highlighting all of the “Hot Deals”. I usually skim and delete the email because nothing applies to Portland, where I live—but in this instance, I was wrong. Long story short, I found a round-trip ticket from Portland, Oregon to New York, New York, that not only fit my schedule so I wouldn’t have to take time off from work (and I had a three-day weekend!), but it was ridiculously cheap. I’m talking less than a New Year’s Eve party cheap. Less than a big trip to the mall cheap. Less than the taxes I would pay on some plane tickets cheap. Less than buying the same number of airmiles cheap.  I was so blown away by the deal I could get, that with no clue on where I would stay or what would I do, I booked it.

Fortunately for me, I have a cousin who lives in New York. Though I haven’t seen her in a few years, I thought this was the universe’s way of getting us together for some bonding.  And then using the handy dandy “Current City” filter on Facebook, I realized I knew more people than I thought I did in NYC and plans started to come together. And that was about all the planning I did—after all, between the day I booked the ticket and my trip, I had 3 sets of visitors on 3 different weekends and a trip to Puerto Rico to experience beforehand. Needless to say, my approach to NYC was to have a low-key, local-led, long weekend.  And that’s exactly how it went.

This was my first time to NYC where I had time to spare, no set plans (except for seeing a show) and locals to hang out with, and boy was I excited. And what a fun weekend it was! Highlights include:

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7 Patels and a Mistry in Puerto Rico

15 Feb Hola Puerto Rico! Mucho gusto!

I love it when my passion for traveling and my love for my family and friends collide, and that’s exactly what happened a few weeks ago when me and 7 girlfriends headed off to Puerto Rico for Shama and Reena’s bachelorette party! So what do you do when you have 7 Patels and a Mistry in a new city? Adventure, laughs and new memories, that’s what!

What happens on a bachelorette, stays on a bachelorette but there are a few tidbits I can share with you:

  • Bio Bay Kayaking: At first the idea of kayaking at night scared me. And then I realized how cool this really was! Basically we drove out an hour from Condado (where we were staying) to a place called Fajardo to go on our first excursion. FYI: In case you were wondering, driving in PR is definitely more aggressive than driving in the US, but it wasn’t too bad (after we got the flat tire on the rental fixed…but that’s a whole different story.) Once we got there, we went through a quick lesson on kayaking and safety and into the water we went! I was paired up with the bride, who was a little nervous, but excited! Off we went, kayaking through a mongrove channel before emerging into a big beautiful lagoon. (Note: We weren’t in the best shape or the fastest kayak, but the guides were great–and easy on the eyes ;-) –and towed us along.) Once we got into the lagoon, one of the guides gave us a short little talk about the ecosystem and educated us on the natural beauty of our surroundings. And then the cool part: we put our hands in the water and moved them around and the water GLOWED! Overall the excursion took a few hours but was well worth it! Very cool experience! (Oh and if you’re afraid of the water, the mongrove channel was 3 ft deep and you’re wearing life jackets: it’s safe.)

Bachelorette Kayaking Adventure!

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Peep my Chick!

12 Feb Chicks in the coop

Literally. Check out my little chicken!

My friend Doug moved back to Arizona over the summer and recently bought a house with his brother: one that needs a little bit of love, but this duo (and the rest of the roommates), are up for the challenge! Their backyard is amazing with two fire pits, a bbq entertainment area (with a bar!) and lots of room for new fun. I would have gone with a hot tub (though I’ve been told there’s still room for that), but they did something very “Portland” in my opinion–they built a chicken coop!

Yes, a chicken coop with actual chickens. Naturally, I “wanted” one–and Sejal sometimes gets what Sejal wants.

Chicks in the coop

The chicks in the coop!

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