Memorial Day weekend in LA

We traveled to sunny LA during Memorial Day weekend to hang out with Sandeep, Chaita, Soph, and the Mehtas and to attend Shawn and Lily's wedding.

After we got into town late Friday night, Soph woke us up bright and early Saturday morning.  ("There's no Pooni in here.")  We spent much of Saturday at Griffith park, having fun riding the train with Soph, picnicking with chutney sandwiches, ginger lemonade and La Verne strawberries (all courtesy of Mehta mom), and checking out the views of LA from the observatory.  Saturday night we went to The Luggage Room, a cute pizza spot in Pasadena, for Sandeep's birthday dinner with friends Tony, Meena, Donnie, Kara, and Seizo.

All aboard!

At the observatory:

Soph was exhausted.  But still managed to stay stylish while she slept:

Sunday Komal got back to town and we hung out in the neighborhood park:   

"He's dirty." -- Soph

Soph was dirty too.  So she took her final bath in Mehta Mom's kitchen sink:

  
Sunday night we were off to the wedding of Shawn (one of my Wash U freshman floormates from Ruby 3) and Lily.  They had a beautiful outdoor ceremony at a hotel followed by a reception at a banquet hall attached to a Chinese restaurant.  Dinner was a multi-course traditional Chinese meal, complete with a giant lazy susan on each table, and the evening's program was full of jokes and organized games.  As a surprise for their guests, Shawn and Lily performed a dance routine to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal."

When the microphone wouldn't work, Shawn did a great job of PROJECTING HIS VOICE during the vows:

Off to the Chinese restaurant ...

We somehow managed to be the first guests to arrive!

Our table:  more Wash U freshman floormates.

Jessica and her beautiful family -- Soren did an amazing job sitting through a 3 hour dinner!

Whitney & Corey:

Chin Soo and his adorable family:

Yours truly:

"Annie are you ok ... are you ok, Annie?"

BIG Saturday night

Pranav and I had a big night this past Saturday.   I'm talking HUGE.  We stayed in and ... made bread! Actually, Pranav made the bread.  Two beautiful loaves of whole wheat goodness.  Our pal Nihal made us three tasty loaves of bread when he visited Chicago in March (we wanted an excuse to try our stand-up mixer, and Nihal was nice enough to indulge us), and since then we decided we would start making all our sandwich bread at home.

Bread sure takes a long time without a bread maker.  Pranav started around 7pm and didn't finish the process until about 2am!  Like I said, big Saturday night.

What a champ of a husband:

    

The times they are a-changing ....

So, it's a pretty incredible time to live in Chicago.  Between Barack's '08 election, the '09 Olympic bid, Blago's '10 trial, last years Stanley Cup victory, and the city's general overall awesomeness, I know it seems like I'm always saying it's an incredible time to live in Chicago, but .... seriously this time!  These are exciting days in our city:  today Mayor Daley left office after an unprecedented 20+ years, and Rahm Emanuel was sworn in.  Tomorrow Oprah is taking over the United Center to tape two of her final Oprah Winfrey Show episodes after 25 seasons on the air.  (Pranav and I entered the lottery to get tickets, but no dice.)  Mayor Daley and Oprah have been the de facto king and queen of Chicago for decades.  They will be missed!

Last but not least, speaking of cool happenings at the United Center ... the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls have energized this town with their remarkable season, sportsmanship, and humility.  I think a lot of folks (myself at least) thought basketball would never be exciting again in Chicago after Michael Jordan retired for the 2nd time, but enter the uber humble and talented Derrick Rose.  What a great kid!

The new mayors of Chicago:

  

  

Mother's Day 2011

We had fun visitors on Mother's Day this year:  Kothari Mom and Dad!  Mom and Dad were in the suburbs for a wedding since Friday, but we were able to spend a sunny Mother's Day Sunday with them in Chicago.  We made a trip to the Botanical Gardens (still too early for most of the plants, but the tulips were in spectacular full bloom) followed by the requisite stop on Devon, where we all got our groceries.  Twenty-five cents for cilantro?  Sign me up!   We capped the day with yummy grilled tofu tacos at home.  Thanks for visiting, guys!  See you soon in Pittsburgh.

  

10th and 15th Wash U Reunions

Less than five days after we got home from Hawaii, we hopped in the car and drove down to St. Louis for our reunions.  The great thing about being five school years apart is that our college reunions will always coincide.  We had a terrific weekend catching up with our classmates, walking around the ever-changing campus in wonderment, and hanging out at some of our favorite St. Louis spots. We even got to catch up with Jeff Smith and his wife.  And yes, we consumed at least one meal at St. Louis Bread Company and one at Thai Country Cafe.

Surprise surprise ... Pranav and I both lived in the same freshman dorm!  Iqbal was also in Rubelmann -- on the third floor, just like me.  SMALL world.

The VARP plaque, presented ceremoniously to Thai Country Cafe on July 18, 2001, is still prominently displayed in the restaurant where VARP celebrated its college triumphs and contemplated its defeats:

We enjoyed lots of laughs catching up with Jeff Smith (why the serious face, Jeff?) and his wife Teresa at Blueberry Hill.  Jeff is interviewing for professorships, working on a book, and just found out he and Teresa are expecting a baby boy!

 Rubbing noses with Wash U dignitaries like Dean McCleod (aka "The Man") at the Reunion Committee reception:

Kim and Michelle:  2 of my 3 senior year roomies.  Michelle had just found out she is expecting twins!  The third roomie, Solana, was of course breaking it down on the dance floor when this photo was taken.     

Bhangra on a stage:  just a typical Wash U class of 2001 party ...

Class of  '96 and class of  '01 alums reuniting in the hotel lobby after attending our separate class parties:

Familiar faces:

Campus sure has changed since we started Wash U as freshmen ...

... But from certain angles, it looks and feels exactly the same:

Honeymoon in Kauai and Maui: 3/31/11-4/10/11

We went on our delayed honeymoon to Hawaii the first week of April and had an AMAZING time.  We were happy to learn that most of the things we had heard about the Hawaiian islands really are true:  perpetually fabulous weather (even the rainfall is pleasant!), crystal clear water, incredibly lush green panoramas, relaxed surfer culture, beautiful sunsets and sunrises, and the list goes on.  We enjoyed playing in the sand and water, cruising around the islands in convertibles, surviving our snorkeling adventure (much to Harpreet's surprise/relief), and eating lots of fresh seafood and veggies.  Most of our pictures are available on Picasa, but here are a few highlights:

New kitchen TV. Unnecessary? Too big? Just right :)

Pranav put up our kitchen TV this weekend: