Category Archives: Life

Life

meet teddy, our new golden retriever puppy

April 3, 2013

This family just got a little bigger…and cuter…and fluffier. Yes, that’s right friends: After nearly 23 years of yearning for a golden retriever friend, I’m wildly, outrageously, butt-crazily ecstatic to share with you that we finally have a dog!

Meet Teddy, an 8-week-old golden with a serene personality (so far), adorably round head (a very important trait we wanted — no joke) and snuggle-worthy shaggy coat. He hails from Meadowbrook Farms in Perris, CA from a wonderful breeder family who takes good care of their goldens, corgis and horses on their quaint and quiet farm.* Major updates since Day One: He’s kind of, sort of starting to get the bathroom-outside thing, bitter apple spray does in fact keep him from biting furniture and he loves sleeping on our cold tile floor.

I have a lot to say about what it means for me to have a dog — I’ll regale you with the tale next week — but for now I’m taking time to enjoy these first few days of newness, craziness, sleep-deprived playtime and…bathroom clean-up.

*I know there are a lot of people out there who’ll be unhappy with our choice to go with a breeder versus a shelter. Just know that yes, we weighed that option and yes, we do understand the value of adopting, but this was what was right for us at this time. We were extremely picky about breeders; it was important to us that the family be just as in love and just as nurturing to the pups as we are going to be. We scoped them out like private investigators and asked a thousand questions — and then some. That said, I’ve made a promise to myself to adopt the next dog I own. You better believe there will be another down the line!

Life

video recap: march 2013

March 29, 2013

In this month’s installment, we tour a weekend festival in Balboa Park, paint furniture, chill out at our current favorite beach (Windansea), practice yoga headstands on the sand, get fancy at a Fashion San Diego party at the W Hotel, hike the Climbers Loop Trail in Mission Trails Regional Park, visit L.A. for a West Elm event, set up our haft-seen for Persian New Year, get very excited to shop for a necessity — leggings to replace some ripped ones — since I’m on a bit of a self-imposed shopping hiatus and dancing the night away at the Persian celebration known as Chaharshanbe Suri.

And just to let you know, I don’t think it’s that weird to chop onions with swimming goggles on. (I’m really sensitive to the vapors!) But I guess it might be weird to do so while you’re in your PJs and you have a towel wrapped around your wet hair. See, it ain’t all glamorous.

Click ahead to watch.

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Life

celebrating chaharshanbe suri in san diego

March 13, 2013

Shahs of Sunset is about as accurate as Asa’s idea for diamond water is brilliant. That is to say, it is not. But what we can glean from the Bravo series is that there are a heck of a lot of Iranians in California — the second largest population in the U.S. actually. And while Los Angeles — or Tehrangeles, if you will — is the epicenter, San Diego boasts a decent-size community, which now includes Eaman (and me by default). As we approach Persian New Year next week, there are a bunch of events to usher in the upcoming holiday, and last night we kicked things off with Chaharshanbe Suri at NTC Park in Liberty Station.

The holiday, which translates to Wednesday Feast, is celebrated on the last Wednesday of the Persian calendar — a.k.a. the last Wednesday before the start of spring — and represents a cleansing before the new year. The goal is to wash away any negative energy and purify yourself by jumping over a bonfire multiple times, while singing in Farsi, “My sickly yellow paleness is yours, your fiery red color is mine.” It’s a more poetic way of asking for warmth, wellness and a fresh start.

So what did that mean for us on a misty San Diego night?

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Life

video recap: february 2013

February 27, 2013

Here we are again — mighty quickly I might add — the end of another month. And since I don’t post on Thursdays (tomorrow is the real last day of February), you know what that means? A video recap! This month starts with a hike in Cuyamaca and apple pie in Julian and goes on to…show you how much I eat. Seriously though, if I were a stranger watching this video, I would think all Archana does is hike and eat, which I guess is actually a good combination.

But there’s more: the beautiful architecture in Balboa Park, seeing friends in L.A., showing my friend Katy around Coronado, La Jolla Shores (sea lions!), and the microbreweries, and hiking up Cowles Mountain, which clocks in as the highest point in San Diego.

Take a look:

Music: “A Night Like This” by Caro Emerald

Check out the January 2013 video recap.

Design + Interiors - Life

12 tips for shopping at flea markets

February 25, 2013

We’ve lived in San Diego for a little over 6 weeks and have been to flea markets five of those weekends (4 Kobey’s Swamp Meet in San Diego, 1 Long Beach Antiques Market). It’s my new obsession and probably stems from our travels, where I was constantly picking up unique pieces from local artisans and markets. Now in San Diego, we finally care enough about our home to furnish it with pieces we love — pieces with history and in some cases, pieces that can be refurbished the way we want. It’s a fun, creative and cheap way to get one-of-a-kind decor.

After all our flea excursions, we’ve picked up a trick or two about how to work the system without losing our heads. So get your tape measure ready, ’cause here are my 12 tips for shopping at flea markets:

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Life

why moving to another state can be harder than traveling the world

February 11, 2013

Friday marked our one-month San Diego anniversary (San Diego-versary?) and my, so much has happened in just 4 weeks. We: moved into our new apartment, scored a ton of awesome furniture at flea markets and thrift shops, met new people, tried out Ashtanga yoga, networked like CRAZY, secured freelance gigs and made about 1,000 trips to Target.

But now all that movement has for the most part settled and I finally have time to reflect on this big change we’re going through, and you know what? In some ways it was much harder than I thought. In fact, moving to California has at times been harder than traveling to third world nations with just a backpack and some common sense. I mulled over our RTW trip so long that I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. It was also a bit of a fantasy life, where I could city-hop, eat great food and live responsibility-free. But San Diego? I  just threw my arms up and said, “OK!” and I’m now absorbing just how drastic of a change it’s been to go from a booming metropolis like New York to backpacking to a completely new city, where I have no family, just a couple friends and no clear vision of what’s next. And not knowing what’s next for someone like me can be a struggle.

Each chapter of my life was about looking forward. In high school, I looked to college. In college, I looked to New York. In New York, I looked to traveling. In traveling, I looked to San Diego. And now that I’m in San Diego, where do I look? I’ve always had trouble sitting still, constantly dwelling on the future rather than soaking in the present, and in the past month I felt it like a hot fever.

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Life

video recap: january 2013

January 30, 2013

Pictures say a thousand words but videos set to music are so much more fun. That’s why at the end of each month, I’ll share with you a video recap of what we did, where we went and what we ate that month. It’s a fun and different way to share our stories, not to mention a cool new skill for me to learn. Today we start with January, in which we spent the holidays in Oklahoma (where Eaman is from), drove to San Diego, moved in and started this California life. To be honest, I didn’t capture quite everything about January. (Notable exclusions were trips to Black’s Beach and the Little Italy’s Farmer’s Market.) But I’m slowly getting used to the idea of turning on the “video” switch when I’m out. Be careful: You might just be in a mini-movie the next time you’re with me!

Three reference points:

– It’s a custom in my culture and family to drive over lemons when you get a new car. It’s meant to bring luck.
– Eaman and I found ourselves in our own Hitchcock Birds spin-off when we naively ventured to a duck pond in Oklahoma. We weren’t even at the pond’s edge before the ducks and geese rushed out to chase after us and our bread. It was scary.
– We’re waving a lot in this video.

Enjoy!

Music: “Home” by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

around san diego - Life

i got a job! and other bits from the weekend

January 28, 2013

– I got some great news Friday: I secured two steady freelance gigs — one in writing, the other in social media/marketing, both workable from home! Goodbye, funemployment; hello, real world. We celebrated at d bar with an indulgent chocolate cake that was paired with a vanilla milkshake. The presentation was just as awesome as the chocolate deliciousness. And they don’t mess around with their chocolate. Hello, cavities!

– They say rain is so infrequent in Southern California that, if it drizzles, people look up and wonder what the liquid is coming out of the sky. Yet somehow, it rained this weekend. Considering it was also in the 30’s when we first moved here, it’s safe to say we ushered in all the atypical weather.

– In an effort to combat cabin fever, we joined a friend for dinner at Amarin Thai Saturday night. I was really impressed with the flavors, and even more impressed that they nailed the larb, one of our favorite foods from SE Asia. It’s a dish of minced chicken, beef, pork or tofu tossed with cilantro, lime, mint and red onion.

– Breads, like these, are my favorite thing to bake. They’re easy, always tasty and feed a lot of people. It was pure joy to bake without the problems I had in NYC (an oven that turns off intermittently or burns whatever’s inside).

What exciting (and unexciting) things did you get up to this weekend?