I am not a happy camper these days [split]

Hangout GupShup Cafe
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this is also a nice song! It’s pakistani, it’s more fast paced!

shocking scandals
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LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW!!! I HAVEN"T BEEN TO A SINGLE MEHNDI W/O this song! SO FOR tradition's sake, you have to!!!!! I'll dance to it, if I have to to make you have this song of your mehndi !!!LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Timepass- December 2012
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Reha,

You know how houses in Pakistan have chhats or roof tops? Where kids go to play. And the household goes up for fresh air and to hang laundry. And sometimes people like to sleep there under the stars? Well, as a kid, I would take my FOBBY little body to the very highest roof top.....and in my squeaky little voice.....I would sing, "Ab hai judai ka mausam. Do pal ka mehman."

And I took the fobbiness to another level.....when I actually wrote the song in urdu and gave it to my cousin (a girl). LOOOOL!

Since the above song has be so much a part of my childhood, I'm thinking of using it in my wedding one day as well, lol.

You know what other childhood song I really LOVE? It's the song "Dheeray dheeray se meri zindagi main aana" from Aashiqui. Are you familiar with that one?

And remember, "Dil deewana bin sajna k maanay na. Yeh pagla hai. Samjhaanay se samjhay na!" It wasn't exactly one of my favorites, but it's a fun one to listen to!

And....ditto.....the cheating on his wife bit turned me off to Aamir Khan considerably as well.

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I wasn't kidding or over-exaggerating Gulab Jamun. And I'm not afraid to break traditions. I've broken them in other ways before. This song sincerely makes me cringe. I actually had to leave the room and get some air once after I heard it yet again!

And a bride's special day is more about the bride....so believe me I have NO QUALMS at all about EXCLUDING **this song from my playlist. I don't know if I will succeed. Years worth of tradition might defeat me........BUT** I will make a sincere effort in letting people know that I don't want it played.

Reha, who arranges for the mehendi? The girl's side or the guy's side? I ask because people mix things up sometimes. If it is the girl's side that does it....that gives me more control.....and will allow me to NOT have that frickig song play at my mehendi. I'll tip the DJ extra for defying more than a decade's worth of tradition in following my simple and special directions.

And the song, Laija Laija......is becoming cringe producing for me as well.

GJ...you may, however, dance to any other song at my future wedding if you please.

Reha, since you're the dance expert. I might have to get u to teach me how to dance. Mind you.....I'm no good at it. I've got two left feet!

Collide (Mina).......where are you girl???? Get back in here! I need somebody to tell me that they're getting sick of the song Mehendi Laga K Rakhna.......I'm counting on you for that, LOL!

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I was just kidding Redvelvet…breathe easy!

Anyways i think my all time favorite medhndi song is this:


I never get tired of this song!

I think it’s a fun song, for those who are still single at your mehndi.

THe new one out are pretty good…salaam ishq, desi girl…

I thought mehndi’s were arranged by the girl’s sisters always…never heard of the guy doing it…

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^ I've never heard of the girl's sister arranging it. But I've always thought the girl's family in general arranges for it. If that's the case, wooohooo, it increases my chances of defying the tradition of playing "mehendi laga k rakhna!"

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I'm Punjabi so I like a couple of sukhbir's songs. Such as nachle soniye, for example. Bhangra songs do liven up a mehendi!

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I think the girl’s family in general arranges, but the card says “sister and sister” request the prescence of your…

That;s how we did it for my bro’s wedding. we had our own dholkis too at our house. but the mehndi was in a hall.

for my sil’s mehndi all the dances were mostly super choreagraphed …they worked really hard…and they’re were many. And then there were this section where the little girls danced to (less then 10years old). They were like professionals! Cuz they practiced so much lol. it was cute. At the end it was free style…and everyone did whatever they wanted to on the dance floor.

we also wear green or yellow at our mehndi’s.

That night all the guys went paintballing. and one of my lil bros got one on the neck! he still has the mark, so we joke it’s a tattoo so he’ll remember his bro’s wedding. lol.

at the shadi, "no money, no honey’ was fun too!!! my sil’s side has tall guys, so there was some playful pushing lol. they have this one picture where all the guys are holding money like this:

except without the glasses. it sooooo hilarious!!! it was funnest time of my life! we didn’t sleep like for a week. lol.

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UGH I wrote this whole long post about VDay and Mehndi and Laga Ke Rakhna and Quit Playing Games With my Heart and disabling embedded videos by youtube - AND IT ALL WENT AWAY! Who did this? Who!?! It had to be a GS villain!

Well I read it all. And I have a few things to admit. I don't care for Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna. I mean, its a good song, she hits the high notes really well and I am all about guys who are down to saja the dholi as well, BUT it IS played out. SO played out. My parents married off my aunt in the US when I was five since her parents lived in Pakistan. So we had so many of the rasms at our house. And my dad bought all these CDs. And one was called "Wedding Love Songs for the Ages." And my favorite songs from that CD were "Mere Hatou Me Nau Nau Churriya He" and "Aaje Mere Yaar Ki Shaddi He." I used to sing those songs and do saath phere around the coffee table in my living room. I wish I still had that CD because I'd love to hear those songs at my wedding. I even remember the disc art..

Okay, but absolute filled-with-nostalgia-best-Indian-songs-of-all-time were from Aashiqui. Uff! Oh my God. That CD. Every song in that soundtrack is epic. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they are the roller coaster of life all wrapped up into a shiny round disc. I have to admit though, I don't follow Bollywood music/movies very closely. My friends give me a hard time for it. But it never really interested me. Somehow though, maybe through osmosis, I end up knowing all the popular songs, movies, actors, but it is not something I proactively seek to do. The last movie I saw was Jodha Akbar because a bunch of friends dragged me along on Buy One Get One night. And, BTW, I didn't care for her clothes OR jewelry.

Reha, I like your voice diary. I think its awesome that you're doing it. Aisha, do you sing?

Girls, less than a month 'til I leave my family's home forever. I've been crying sporadically all weekend. This is so hard :-(

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Hi again. I think I am going to make butter chicken tomorrow because I have heavy cream leftover from my roasted red pepper soup a'la Aisha. I don't really cook, so I won't do it from scratch. I'll go to the market and get Shan masala first :-) I found a recent thread where Sara posted up her recipe so I will follow that. Have you guys tried cooking butter chicken?

I should be getting my invitations in the mail within the next day or two. They are late, but we sent out save the dates and have updated the website often so our guests know whats up. And I think three-four weeks before the wedding is actually good timing. I can't wait to see them.

Reha, do you guys have a wesbite?

ETA: Invitations are coming from India :-)

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Have you guys seen this?

So cute :slight_smile:

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Do I sing? Hmmm, sure. I hum a tune and garble out a song once in a while in the shower. LOL. Showers are a fun place to sing arent' they? So are kitchens!

When I used to teach preschool, a couple of my students would ask to use the bathroom and we could hear them singing from the opposite end of the classroom. I've heard kids loudly sing "Zippedy Doo Daah, Zippedy Eh" while going about their business in the loo....and once I even heard a song about heart break. It was very amusing. Seriously, what does a 5-year-old know about romantic heartache?

I remember once I was interning in an elementary class and there was this adorable little girl who loved to sing. And sometimes, a few minutes before the final bell of the day rang, the teacher would allow her to come to the front of the classroom and sing for her peers. She had such a pretty voice, that the boys in the class would stare at her, transfixed and mesmerized. Such reactions from mere 8-year-olds is pretty funny.

Anyhow, being the intern, I was in charge of the class one day. And this same little girl asked me if she could come to the front of the class and sing for everyone. I told her she could do it since there were only 5 minutes or so of school left and her singing could kill some time. So, she goes up there and I'm thinking that she's probably gonna sing a pretty number about shimmery seashells that she often sings. BOY, WAS I WRONG! She got up up there, flashed everyone her adorable smile, and started to LOUDLY sing about a frickin ONE NIGHT STAND!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!!!! I just stood there frozen for a few seconds, my eyes bulging out, and my mind trying to grasp the mature content coming out of her mouth. I had to do some DAMAGE CONTROL ....FAST. Funnily enough, the main teacher of the class had** NO CLUE** that such a song was sung because she was busy working on the computer......which is surprising cuz the girl was LOUD! And it's weird to hear the words,** "one night stand"** coming from an 8-year-old. What can I say, sometimes kids sing the darndest things.

Lesson learned: Always ask kids what they will sing before allowing them to sing.

So, that's my singing story. Mina, I am sooooooooo glad to have found another Aashiqui lover like myself. I like several of the songs, they are classic, they are epic. I like nazar ke saamne.....and tu meri zindagi hai..........BUT I JUST LOVE "dheeray dheeray se".....it's my favorite.

Butter chicken eh? We must be on the same brain wave frequency. I've been contemplating making buttah chicken myself!

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Collide.........the kid from the dentist video is HILARIOUS! My favorite part is when he says, "Why is this happening to me?"

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LOL, nice story Aisha!!

One of my friends has been teaching fourth grade forever and she teaches in a marginalized school district. I go to her class all the time just 'cause the kids are so entertaining. She always has great stories.

Let me share one of my favorites. So it's Open House night at school, and the parents are in her classroom asking questions and driving her crazy. She has one student named Corvette Miles. He has been in her class for the past two years. He's a good kid but can't get past the fourth grade. Anyway, Corvette's Mom knows Ms. Lobe quiet well seeing as she has been to several Open Houses in the past. She came this year with her new baby infant and she says, "Ms. Lobe, Ms. Lobe have you seen Corvette's baby sister? Do you want to know her name?"

Ms. Lobe is quite busy but seeing as the mother has a penchant for names, she takes the bait. And the lady says Uh-Bis-Suh-Dee. So my friend is like, uh okay, that's not so creative this time. And she goes on to talking about weekly vocab quizzes and basic arithmetic. Well Corvette's mother stays all the way until the end. And she asks Ms. Lobe again, "Don't you want to know Corvette's baby sister's name?"

This time there's no one left in the room so my friend gives the mom her entire attention. The mom goes to the nearest chalkboard and says, "The baby's name is [Uh-Bis-Suh-Dee]" and then she writes A B C D E. Abcde. That's the baby's name. Abcde. Abcde Miles. Wow.

Other times, when I go to her class Ms. Lobe turns on the Chacha slide and asks me to watch her students dance. They are really cute. Once in a while she whispers to me, "Deekh deekh, ye kese naach te he. I can always tell which ones are going to grow up to be strippers."

Aisha, what were your students like? Were any of them like David after the dentist?

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Nope, I dont have a website yet Mina but I think Ill get one. I came up with my guest list today and its too much. Ive got to trim it down ASAP. There is no way Im paying for 400+ people. Ive got some serious expenses coming up in 2009 and I cant have this wedding eat me alive. Im buying a car, a house, furniture and more. We're starting from scratch, literally.

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Yup! I had a few Davids! Davids in the form of pre-school kids and Davids in the form of middle school kids. Davids can be entertaining.

As far as bizarre names are concerned, I used to work in the admissions department at uni and came across a student who was admitted to the school. Would ya like to know what his name was? Brace yourself Mina.......his first name was.........drum roll.............DELICIOUS! I kid you not! It was delicious. At least nobody will forget him.

And my sis used to volunteer at the hospital and came across this kid. Wanna know his name? It was Darkwing. Like Darkwing Duck! Although Darkwing is kinda cool in a mysterious sort of way. You know I'm beginning to that Twitty is not so bad after all.

Since you have some left over heavy cream, I have a simple chicken recipe that I've made many times before. It's well-liked in my home. And I wanted to share it with you. It's called Balti Sweet and Sour Chicken. There is no chopping involved at all, so it's time efficient. You'll need:

1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken
1 Can tomato paste
4 huge tablespoons Greek style yogurt (regular yogurt will work well too)
1 tablepoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2-3 tablespoons mango chutney (buy jar from local grocery store)
2 tablspoons cream

Procedure:

1) Remove the fat from boneless chicken and set aside

2) In a mixing bowl, add can of tomato paste. Now if you don't have this, simple puree 3-4 tomatoes in blender **without **water. To the tomato paste, you will add yogurt, garlic paste, salt, sugar, chilli powder, and 2-3 tablespoons of mango chutney. Mix these ingredients in the bowl (a pinkish color) and set aside.

3) In a pot, you will heat about 4 tablspoons of oil. To this oil, you will add the pink mixture from the bowl. And heat it in the oil for about 2 mintues, stirring occasionally. Then you add the boneless chicken. And keep stirring. You can tell when the chicken is cooked because it will look white and become tender. Keep stirring.

4) Here's a tip to tell when your desi salun has completed cooking: When you see the oil rise to the surface of the salun......you're done cooking. So after some stirring, you will gradually see that the oil has risen to the surface. You are done. Turn off the heat.
Add two tablepsoons of cream. Optional: squeeze some lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

5) BEFORE turning off the heat.....if you feel that the gravy is too thick. Thin it out by adding a 1/2 cup of water to the salun. It will become instantly become much thinner.....so continue heating/stirring until the gravy reaches your desired thickness. Then check for the oil being on top of the surface. If so, turn off the heat, you're done!

Heating makes sauces and gravies thicker....and even after thinning them out by adding water.......you have to continue heating and stirring so that the wateriness goes away and the gravy/sauce/soup reaches your desired consistency. And yogurt makes curries thicker. Greek yogurt especially is rich, lovely, and tangier.

If you're looking for a rich creamy chicken recipe that doesn't involve the headache of chopping and frying....then this should work for you. The gravy turns out reddish/orange. You can even add more mango chutney in the end if you want it tangier. Try it out sometime in the future after you've made the butter chicken:)

With desi cooking, u have to stir regularly, otherwise the salun sticks to the bottom of the pan and you'll have a burnt flavor.

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Aisha! That sounds delishhh!! We are actually serving something similar during one of the wedding events, except its called Afghani chicken. Thanks, I will try that. Your parent's tag team kitchen efforts inspire me!

Reha, I am going to PM you my site. Aisha, you too :-)

Reha, trim, trim, trim, trim, trim. Anytime someone wanted to add another person on the guest list I would ask, do you like this person enough to feed and entertain them for x amount of dollars from your pocket? We are down to 275 from 350. Yipeee.

We really aren't happy campers tonight are we? Its darn late!

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Mina.......since you're really Azmina.

Reha........since you're really Fariha

I felt left out.........and thought that I should clarify that Aisha is really just short for Aishwarya. But u know....u guys can call me Aisha. Or RV. Or Red.......hmm..........come to think of it.......Red sounds hot. "Hey Red"......."Yo Red"......."What up Red?"

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Yeah we (well, my bro and his wife) had that same problem. Here are some points to ask yourself when crossing out ppl:

How often do you see/hear from them in a year? if not, unless they changed your life in a meaningful way to make you what you are today cross them out!

Would you be hurt if they didn't invite to their wedding? (feelings are mutual most of the time)

-Avoid the "if I invite this friend or cousin, I must invite that friend or cousin"
-Only invite coworkers if you hang out with them on off time
-Dont feel obligated to invite pppl that invited you to their wedding ...Relationsips/friendships change as time passes.
-Keep in mind that about 15% of you guests won't make it. If its a summer wedding or winter wedding ppl go out a lot, so some won't make it.

Also my brother and SIL gave me some invitations to invite my friends! that meant so much to me! Also if you know a friend and just her, don't feel obligated to invite their WHOLE family. When my bro invited his friends, we just invited the friend and only the friend, if they weren't family friends. There were exceptions, of course but for the most part it was like that.

But, you know, it's really hard! We really tried to cut back but we still had 500 ppl at my bro's wedding. Also maybe it's just my community, but some people do come uninvited- a few MINORITY- but if they do come, just accomadate. no need to make a scene.

And as the wedding day comes closer some people will call you and ASK you for an invitations. My mom would just give the invite if they asked for it, but that's because she's an angel. lol.

Question in regards to rishta pics and hijab
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HAHAHAHA Aisha, I knew your were a celebrity moonlighting as a children's author. Just knew it. You have the that certain, as we French call it, je nais sais quoi.

GJ good advice on invitations :-) But it does seem like you guys were really accommodating. How did you manage to get an accurate guest count? I hate not having a solid number to give my vedors, etc.

I need to get my butt out of the house, I have tons of errands to run. I'll make my To-Do list and get started.

Hope you're having a great day!

Would you like some chai?
Would you like some chai?