Good morning and happy Monday! This weekend felt longer than usual because we had  Thursday off for election day and, on Friday, there was a training for us at the county office so I didn’t go into school. Not that I’m complaining or anything. I love anything that makes my weekend feel longer.

I took advantage of the weekend and drove out to Knoxville with some friends so we could make a Target and Trader Joes run. And Starbucks. Obviously.

The 1.5 hour drive doesn’t feel as long when you’ve got company with you. And it’s worth it to get to spend a few hours in civilization.

We also went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. And, if you know anything about me, sushi is not generally something I gravitate towards. But, when our options have been 1) the pizza place across the street or 2) the BBQ place next door, you can bet I will gravitate toward ANYTHING ethnic.

Although, I have to admit that having few restaurant options in Harrogate has me spending a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen. Which I’m loving. In an earlier blog post, I had mentioned that I am currently subscribed to both Blue Apron and HelloFresh in an effort to get fresh, portioned-out ingredients that include step-by-step recipes.

We finished off the last Blue Apron meal on Saturday night and dug into our HelloFresh contents last night for dinner. They’ve all been vegetarian meals but I’m loving them both – especially because they require very little effort on my end.

Don’t get me wrong – I still enjoy throwing things in a bowl and calling it a salad. And having bi-weekly pizza nights with Ankur (which is why these bi-weekly trips to Knoxville are crucial. Gotta get the TJ pizza dough and the Chèvre honey goat cheese). But I also like discovering new recipes without feeling over-stimulated by the black hole that is Pinterest.

Now our fridge is fully stocked and I’m ready for the week ahead. Our first full week with the kids. I’m excited, but also a little nervous knowing that it will take me some time to adjust to a new school in a new county with new systems. So this week I’ll probably just get to know the kids – their likes, dislikes, preferences, and areas of difficulty – while also observing the gen-ed teachers to understand the ways in which they’ll be structuring their days.

Wish me luck!

Hope you all had a nice, restful weekend and are refreshed and ready to tackle another week. Have a good one!

Questions of the Day:

• Do you use a meal subscription service like Blue Apron? 
• What did you do this weekend?

 

Today is Fun Facts Friday.

But, more importantly, it’s our Veeru’s birthday.

His fifth birthday. 

Five years of love. Five years of happiness. And five years of complete JOY that he has brought to our family.

In honor of Veer’s birthday and in keeping with Friday tradition, here are five fun facts (er….some opinions?!) about the birthday boy.

1) He does Snapchat better than anyone I know. 

It used to be his favorite app on my phone – back when all you could do was take a picture and then draw all over it. Now he sends and saves the best snaps – including his Peanut Butter toast face.

2) He’s an incredible big brother to Aishu and Jiya. After years of the attention being on him and him alone, I was worried that he wouldn’t enjoy sharing all the love. But he’s completely embraced the role of big brother and loves them both with every piece of him. 

3) He loved the song, “Happy,” for nearly 2 years and would always ask to turn up the volume when it came on so he could dance around the house. And how fitting. Because he’s happy. 9 times out of 10, you walk into their house and he’s squealing, giggling, or running around with a big grin on his face.

4) Not much has changed in that he continues to want to be exactly like his Papa. He tries to shave like him. He tries to talk like him. He tries to act like him. He listens to terrible music like him. 

And, in all honesty, if he turned out to be just like his Papa, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

5) He has more power than he’s aware of. He’s got Masis and Buas and Chachus and Fufus and Nanis and Nanus and Dadis and Dadus that would do anything for him. He’s got us all wrapped around his 5-year-old finger and we would drop anything and everything for him. Powerful.

Veer-u, it’s been two years since I wrote you this letter. But everything in it has stayed true. You are the best gift we’ve ever received and I am so lucky to be your Bua.

Happy 5th Birthday to a one-of-a-kind kid. Love you more today than ever before.

Question of the Day:

• What’s one of your favorite Veer stories? 

I met my kids!

I met my kids. 

My tummy had all the butterflies yesterday morning as I got ready for work. I carefully packed my lunchbox and my hundreds of bags and I was out the door by 6:35.

The Not-So-Fun Visitor:

The kids started trickling in a little past 7AM so I hustled and bustled around the room to try to clean it up a bit.

In the midst of my cleaning, I saw a roach. So I covered it with the trashcan. Because I’m a wuss. But I also didn’t want it to roam freely like it owned the place and I had to rush out the door so I couldn’t keep my eyes on it until someone more qualified came in to get rid of it.

But, as I was leaving, I started to worry that someone would be confused, pick up the trashcan, and then get attacked by the roach. So I left a note on top.

I’m a nice wuss.

The teacher’s aide came in later and laughed at me. But she also told me that there was no roach when she lifted up the trashcan. That sucker ran away. So, a few hours later, when I sat down at my desk to eat lunch, I was a paranoid mess and kept my feet off the ground – just in case.

The Lunch:

Aside from my paranoia, it was nice to have a lunch. An uninterrupted lunch. A lunch where I could sit and focus on my sandwich and not on cleaning up my inbox or running down to the blacktop to prevent a child from lashing out.

There are a million and five things I miss about Rocketship. But this 30-minute window of time that will remain untouched – every single day – is pretty exciting.

After lunch, we had a short meeting and then we were free to go since it was a minimum day for the kiddos.

I came home to find this surprise waiting for me.

I am SO EXCITED TO TEAR THROUGH THIS THING. (Not literally). Thank you so much, Juna. Love you, love you!

I haven’t started reading yet, but I don’t have work today (Election Day!) so I’m pretty sure I might start the first bit after I publish this post.

The Empanadas:

For dinner, I finally got my act together and made the meal I was supposed to make on Monday night. Sans cilantro. Gross.

I thought I messed it up a couple times because I moved too fast and didn’t read the recipe carefully enough.

But it ended up tasting pretty delicious. (Aside from the fact that my empanadas looked like flying bats).

2 out of 3 Blue Apron meals done for the week.

Both delicious. Both meals that I would make again.

Today I’ll make the Bhindi for lunch.

But first…Harry Potter.

Have a good one!

Questions of the Day:

• Are you a bug-smusher or a bug-saver?
  
• Do you own a lunchbox or do you use any ol’ bag lying around? 
• Have you read Harry Potter yet? 

Good morning! Today is Orientation Day. For Ankur. And for me.

They have an orientation for the spouses. Which I’m all about because 1) I need friends and 2) I need fun things to keep me occupied right now.

We got back into town on Sunday evening after making a pit-stop in Knoxville to get some groceries from Trader Joes. Yes, the Trader Joes is in Knoxville – 70 miles away. So we stocked up and made sure to get extras of all things to freeze and save for later.

I loved waking up to our Keurig machine plugged in and ready to go. (For the first few weeks in this apartment, there wasn’t enough counter space for our toaster or our Keurig. So they sat in boxes while I cried every morning due to caffeine withdrawal).

Sissy and Bhav picked out this kitchen island on wheels for us. It triples as a wine rack, extra storage, and extra counter space. So everything has a spot in the kitchen. Including our Keurig. Phew.

After indulging in two cups of coffee, I got started on breakfast. I chopped up a bunch of veggies – for our eggs, but also for lunch and for dinner. My mind is always prepared for what I’m going to eat next – even before I’ve eaten what’s in front of me.

Lunch was another kitchen sink salad.

And dinner was pizza. With a side of Sriracha. And Friends.

In between all the eating, we got some other stuff done yesterday. I am now the proud owner of a Tennessee driver’s license. And also the proud LOSER of 0.4 pounds. (I found a Weight Watchers group a mile from my house. It’s not at a WW center. They hold it at a church. Surprise surprise. But everyone seems super nice and I’m excited to keep up with the meetings).

Now, I’m off to go make some friends.

Wish me luck!

(It feels like my very first day in 1st grade all over again). 

Questions of the Day:

• What delicious food did you eat yesterday?
  
• Do you prefer a side of Ranch or hot sauce for your pizza?

Good morning! I typed up most of this post last night in order to use these few hours of the morning to scramble around and finish up packing. It’s been a little over a week in Harrogate but I’m already heading back to California. (No, I didn’t tire of “Dry County” yet. Surprisingly. I’m going back to California for Jen’s wedding!)

In a few hours, I’ll be driving 200 miles to Georgia so I can catch a flight from the airport in Atlanta. Knoxville doesn’t do direct flights and I’m not about to get on a teeny plane for the first leg of my trip. No. Thank. You.

But it’s a little exciting to get to be back and see everyone again. The last two weeks of June were so rushed that I didn’t really get to do proper goodbyes or enough hugs and squeezes. So, I’ll be getting my fill of those while I’m out there.

In any case, I hope all of you had a great weekend and are entering into the workweek feeling rested and rejuvenated. Our weekend was a good one despite the thunderstorm bit on Friday evening. We were equal parts productive, festive, and relaxed.

Friday:

The day was pretty fantastic. Even though it was a bit too humid for this California girl, it was sunny and green and I had a bottle of Sweet Tea Vodka that needed to be cracked open. Because, you know, I live in the south now. And that’s what they do. Right?

It was enjoyed, over ice and 15-calorie lemonade, while chatting with both Gina and Mama Albert. It’s really nice to not be working right now because I feel like I’m able to do a much better job of keeping in touch with people. Especially Gina! Gina’s work hours and my (old) work hours never worked well together. I went from 7:30AM – 5PM. And Gina went from 2PM – 10PM. (At which point, this grandma was already asleep).

I’ve also been spending a lot more time in the kitchen. Right now, I’m doing simpler things as we are still organizing and shuffling around all the stuff in our itty-bitty kitchen.

But we are definitely making progress and ALL boxes and suitcases are gone! Thank goodness. Once the final boxes were disposed of in the dump, I felt a huge sense of relief. Everything is out and visible. All that’s left is assembling a few things and hanging some stuff on the walls.

Speaking of which, I hung this thing up in the study room all. by. myself. This may seem a bit anti-climactic. However, I’ve never done this before. I’ve always had someone around to help me out. And this time, I’m the one that did the screwing. (“That’s what she said?”)

Saturday:

We started the day with breakfast, per usual.

And then Ankur started working while I tried to unpack some more. Not without the help of my diffuser, of course. This “energizing blend” is my jam right now. Makes the room smell so fresh and gives me that jolt I need to increase my productivity.

During unpacking, I got a fun delivery from Club W. There are so many things I love about this company.

1) They deliver to a dry county.

2) They have a description of each wine and it’s flavor. Along with when would be an appropriate time to drink it. (e.g. drink this wine when you’re day drinking!)

3) They include a recipe that would pair well with the specific bottle.

4) And, you know, they sell wine.

In addition to this package, we have the one Sister shipped to us right when we got here. Plus the bottles we brought from our apartment. So I’d say we are pretty well-stocked right now.

 

In the evening, we went to the gym and the grocery store and had a bit of a late dinner.

We picked up a pre-made Boboli crust which made the prep work a lot faster than when we make pizza using the Trader Joes dough. It was good. But not as tasty as when we use our favorite Trader Joes ingredients. (The garlic herb pizza dough AND the honey goat cheese!)

Although, it doesn’t really matter how things taste, to be honest. I drown everything in Sriracha.

Everything tastes better with Sriracha.

Sunday:

We decided to start the day off with a hike. This area may not have a lot of restaurants. Or bars. Or night life. Or shopping malls.

But the trails are unbeatable.

We decided to head to the Tri-State Peak.

It was a lot of uphill. And I can feel it in my booty today.

But it was SO COOL to be at the top and in all three states at one time.

Here Ankur is standing in Kentucky AND Tennessee AND Virginia. Crazy!

Being from California, I’m not used to the states being as close as they are over here on the east coast. I ran in circles a few times saying, “I’m in Kentucky. Oh wait, I’m in Tennessee! BUT WAIT! I’m in Virginia.”

Thank goodness we were alone up there.

The rest of the day consisted of a lot of cooking. And then cleaning. And then cooking. And then cleaning again. (The disadvantage of having a smaller kitchen is that you have to clean up your things right away. Otherwise they’ll all pile up and there will be no room to chop your veggies. I learned this the hard way. While attempting to chop veggies on the stove where the burner was still hot. Yikes.)

But the boxes are gone.

And the kitchen is cleaned up.

All that’s left is a little laundry and my packing!

With that, I’m off!

Have a fantastic Monday!

Questions of the Day:

• What’s your favorite low-prep recipe to make?
  
• What did you do this weekend?

Good morning and happy Monday!

Today’s the day. Today’s the day we pile into a car and trek across country to the land of deep fried food, country music, and whiskey. Granted we won’t reach Tennessee until Friday, but our journey begins today. I’m really looking forward to this adventure. But I woke up feeling incredibly homesick. Already. And I haven’t even walked out of the front door yet!

Feel free to follow our road trip journey on Snapchat (@eatteachblog). I’m trying to be on top of my Snapchat game right now. Because this is one of the few ways I’m going to have ‘human interaction’ considering we’re moving to the middle of nowhere. Follow us! (And by us, I mean me. Because Ankur doesn’t understand what Snapchat is).

Let’s do a quick recap of my birthday weekend before we hit the road!

Friday:

We started the birthday festivities in Northern California with Mama and Papa Mathur. I opened up my gifts and laughed at how appropriate they were for me. Like the “Keep Calm and Blog On” tumbler. Or the essential oil car diffuser (which we will DEFINITELY be using on our road trip!)

And another coffee mug to add to the collection. Customized coffee mugs might be one of my favorite things ever. You can never have enough!

After our morning celebration, we made our way down to Southern California so we could celebrate with the Budhraja clan as well.

But first, we stopped in Pasadena to see the babiest Mathur (but also the brightest) at CalTech where he is interning for the summer.

Showing off Nikhil’s accomplishments just never gets old!

His ability to study gravitational waves coupled with his artistic ability (including his doodles on this gift card!) make me a proud big sister.

We got a tour of his campus and his lab and then drove over to Old Town Pasadena for some birthday celebrations! Some garlic fries were involved. Which makes for the best kind of birthday celebration in my book.

Once we got to Orange County, we were greeted with even more celebrations.

Princess balloons. Oreo cookie cake. Sour candy. And the cutest faces ever.

We passed out shortly after cutting the cake. Driving is quite exhausting. (I say this as we are about to embark on a 5-day road trip).

Saturday:

We slept in a bit and I was still on a birthday high. Either that or the caffeine kicked in quicker than usual.

We spent all day running errands that needed to get done before our trip. And then had a relaxing evening sitting outside next to the fire pit since the weather was so perfect.

I am a happy camper when I’m outside. And when there’s food involved.

And my favorite humans. Obviously.

After dinner, we cozied up in the living room and karaoke-d our faces off. Ankur and I hit the hay before the parents. We are so cool.

Sunday:

We went to Rutabegorz for lunch! The last time I was here was two years ago when I visited Greggy and Natalie as they were studying for the BAR exam. I love this place the most.

I mainly just love the big salads. And the fact that they have $5 mimosas.

On our way into the restaurant, a little monkey popped up behind a tree with her arms wide open.

The little monkey was Gina.

It was SUCH a fun surprise and I’m so impressed that they were able to keep it a secret. We only got to hang out for a few minutes but she gave us this beautiful wedding/birthday gift and I can’t wait to hang it up in our new apartment!

After we got home from lunch, we decided to go for a walk with the dads.

We ended up walking to my old elementary school!

Sister and I visited Andersen two years ago during Christmas. But it’s always fun to visit the old stomping grounds. Or, rather, four-square and handball grounds.

Papa and Ankur and Aurps had a great time playing around on the giant map. They walked our entire route for the week, pausing at each rest stop. And then they hopped around all over the map – naming each state they jumped on.

And then we all posed for a picture on our new home.

Tennessee.

We’re coming for you.

Questions of the Day:

• What’s a yummy place to eat in Albuquerque, one of our many stops on the way?
  
• What are your favorite road trip games? Books on tape? Podcasts to listen to?