It’s been a busy weekend. Took the boy shopping for new clothes (he found a new job! yay!) and spent some time with family. I’m trying to make more time for family, especially between drafts. Being the textbook definition of an introvert, I have a bad habit of forgetting to see people (ie. being so wrapped up in myself that I forget to be social); as a result, I’m making a real effort to be more involved. Made time for mom and gran (it also being gran’s birthday), and spent some time with the auntie and wee bairn. I need to remind myself that family time isn’t time wasted, it’s time spent making memories.
Today, there was cake(!)
books read and books to read
(and vlog about)
pad thai indulged in
and kitty cat played with.
Now, to lay off the cake (there really has been too much dessert this week) and get back to revision prep.
Ok, enough of that nonsense. I have a new phone. I’m still figuring it out. But it has a camera that is finally worthwhile, so I took it for a spin 🙂 Behold! What madness.
Update re: henna… much lighter than I expected. Almost caramel. Next time, I’ll go full red.
I’m on a roll! Came back to the office to get some writing done, so I brought my camera along for some fun. Now, every Miamian knows there’s no sense going anywhere near the Miami Beach/bay area over the holiday weekend, so this is about as close as I’m going to get.
The Fair is back! Though I no longer feel blissfully ignorant enough to ride any of the rides (when you’ve seen them being constructed, it kind of turns you off for life), it’s become a tradition between me and the boy (plus, there’s so much county drama surrounding where it will resettle in years to come, that I might as well enjoy it while it still looks like the place I remember).
There were lots of lovely fluffy creatures to pet and feed in the petting zoo. Nibbly baby alpacas are the sweetest, while little American bison have the most expressive eyes.
more food than I care to admit.
Some fine feathered friends strutting their stuff.
I’m too tired for a proper post, but last night’s Florence + the Machine show was amazing and totally reawakened my love for live music. It’s been too long since someone worth seeing was in town and this more than made up for it. The boy got me floor tickets for my birthday so it was a much anticipated birthday present.
Some pretty pictures to share until I upload the videos.
Took my mom and gran to Fruit and Spice Park‘s 22nd Annual Asian Culture Festival yesterday and got to try all kinds of delicious treats and saw sights aplenty. This is one of my favorite Asian festivals in SoFla, but I wasn’t able to go during the last two years. It seems the park underwent a lot of landscaping during this time because it was even prettier than before and the event was even grander than I remember. During the years that I was able to go to the event, they generally had a heavy Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese presence, but this year they had even more representatives and stalls from the rest of Asia, including India, Iran, Korea, and other nations. The variety of food was fantastic and I only regret that I wasn’t able to convince my mom and gran to sample more treats. I was also very camera-happy during our walk through the park…
One of the neatest things I saw on display... a smoke bubble maker. Too cool!The park's sunflowers were in fine form.Some of the new additions at the park included a very refreshing fountain. The wind kept blowing droplets on us as we walked past.Another pretty addition to the Festival.Then there was the food... I had a delicious sampler of Bangladeshi vegetarian cuisine. Alas, it was too much for me, but I was a good daughter and shared.As always, I am a sucker for bubble tea. This time, I had the Mango Boba.I also threw caution (and diet) to the wind and enjoyed Gaby's Jackfruit Ice Cream. I really wish Gaby's distributed her wares further north...I tried to spare my wallet, but couldn't resist getting another henna tattoo.This is what it looks like after the top layer dried and peeled off... don't mind the mess on my bed.One of the best freebies was a card with my name in Persian :). The writer even pronounced my name correctly (which is rare).
The drive was long and the day was hot, but I’m so glad I got to go this year and really look forward to going next year. Trips to Homestead are always exhausting but well worth the effort :).
Went to the South Florida IndoPak festival on Ft. Lauderdale beach yesterday and finally got myself a lovely lovely henna tattoo! I was amazed at the artist’s speed–took about 5 minutes!
marginalia and such 