50 Random Things About Me

So I guess I've decided to do a post on 50 random things about me... I wasn't planning on doing one of these but I wanted to challenge myself. I kind of think I won't actually be able to come up with 50 things to tell you. I'll try to make them things most people don't know about me.

1. I was born in Mobile, Alabama, which is as South as you can get. I lived there until I was 8.

2. My favorite color has been green for as long as I can remember.

3. My dream is to travel the world but I've only been out of country twice: once to Pakistan when I was a baby (I don't remember a thing) and the other time to Canada when I was in 3rd grade.

4. I have attended 7 different schools so far in my life.

5. I have lived in 4 different states.

6. I love art now, but as a child I always thought I was terrible at it and never really enjoyed it. 

7. I cannot deal with having long nails... It drives me bonkers. Lately I've been trying to grow my nails a little longer so that they have a better shape, but they are already driving me insane.

8. I sit on the floor in my closet for 10-20 minutes every morning trying to figure out what to wear.

9. I really hate Dr. Pepper- it tastes like Coke and bubble gum mixed together.

10. My favorite season is winter. 

11. My birthday is in January (coming up soon!)

12. I love cooking all types of foods. I try not to bake too many desserts... We all know what happens if there's cake in the house!

13. My cat got my parents to come to my room in the middle of the night when I was in too much pain to call for help.

14. Writing has always been my 'thing'

15. I've been in the newspaper, an official brochure for tourists who come to Mobile, and an ad for my preschool on TV.

16. My dream is to play a role in a TV show even though acting is something I doubt I'll pursue.  

17. I love the cities Boston, Chicago, 

LA, and San Francisco.

18. I love the snow.

19. I really can't think of a certain thing that I don't like to eat. A lot of people have something they don't like, such as a fruit or vegetable, but I don't.

20. I have two little sisters; one is 10 and the other is 2. (Almost 11 and 3)

21. My sisters and I have really close birthdays. Mine is January 19th, Alina's (10 year old) is January 17th, and Zoya's (baby sister) is on February 2nd.

22. I wrapped my umbilical cord around my neck before I was born and could have suffered from brain damage or even died. 

23. I still can't believe that next year I'll be in high school... In my head, I'm still 8.

24. My favorite number is 3. It has been 3 for as long as I can remember. I have some sort of happy feeling when I remember my days of being three years old, and I think that's why I chose it.

25. I do not like playing competive sports because I kind of suck at sports.

26. I'm not very quiet, but a lot of people think that I am.

27. I've always wants a blog.

28. I used to watch Toddlers and Tiaras- how shameful!

29. I tend to get along with people who are older than me.

30. I can spend hours stalking people in Instagram.

31. I enjoy decorating my own room and used to want to be an interior designer.

32. I've never worn Uggs... I think they are Ugg-ly.

33. I've technically had 3 different cats but only one of them worked out for my family. 

34. My cat is laying next to me as a type this. Here are some pics:

36. When I was really little, someone saw a drawing I made of a sunflower, really liked it, and asked to put it on display at a children's section of a museum.

37. I've never been to a concert (I know... LLLAAAMMMEEE!) 

38. I love hanging out in bookstores 

39. My favorite TV show is called Once Upon a Time

40. I don't watch PLL... I guess I'm the only one left on this earth who doesn't watch it.

41. In my life I've wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, politician, writer, and more. I have absolutely no idea what I want to do when I get older.

42. I have always dreamed of volunteering at an animal shelter.

43. I don't like New York City! It's just too much for me. It's ok for visiting, but I would NEVER want to live there.

44.  I love music, but when I was younger I never listened to any kind of music. 

45. My hair is super long but you can't see how long it is because it's curly.

46. I like to sleep in chilly, dark, rooms.

47. I'm really picky when or comes to water. People say that water doesn't taste like anything, but I can taste the difference in different types of water and I can hardly drink some of them. 

48. I like to keep my alarm on for 6 AM on weekends just to feel the satisfaction of turning it off and going back to sleep.

49. I love taking pictures but I don't officially follow the rules of photography.

50. I really want to go to sleep... As usual.

I hope you guys liked reading the random things about me! Now you know what a loser I am! What's something no one really knows about you? Leave your answer in the comments below! 

Restaurant Review: Essence Bakery

I've been putting this off for a while. I went to Essence Bakery quite long time ago to try their macaroons. It's a small place that's not too fancy. It's usually very full.  

The bakery had not only macaroons, but cookies and pastries that looked absolutely delicious! We bought only macaroons because that's what Essence is famous for. We bought raspberry/rose, chocolate, caramel, lemon, and hazelnut. We wanted to eat them after lunch, but it was too hard to resist! 

Chocolate, caramel, raspberry/rose

The raspberry/rose was an acquired taste, but I liked it. It definitely had a rose flavor. The chocolate was rich and fudgy. The caramel was my favorite out of the three.

We bought the hazelnut and lemon for my dad. When I did try them, I really liked them. The hazelnut was one of my favorites. 

I ordered the spanakopita for lunch. My sister ordered the tomato grilled cheese, and my mom got the burger. 

Spanakopita: Puff pastry with spinach and feta cheese

Tomato with mozzarella cheese

Dry, mediocre burger

The burger was kind of dry and flavorless. I really liked the spanakopita, but it was a little cold. The grilled cheese wasn't bad, either. I didn't really think anything was SO good that I'd crave it and have to come back for more.

The macaroons were good, but not the most amazing thing I've ever put in my mouth. I'd recommend the caramel, hazelnut, and lemon. I'm not sure when I will return to Essence bakery. It's kind of far away and not too much to write home about. Maybe I'm not the macaroon type of person... I'm not really sure. It was a good, but not earth-shattering experience. 

San Francisco

San Francisco is one of my absolute favorite cities (next to Boston and Chicago of course.) Over Thanksgiving break, my family and I drove to San Ramon, California, where my cousins live. It was a 12 hour drive of torture. Well, it wasn't actually that bad, but no one wants to be cooped up in the back seat for 12 hours! Plus, my two little sisters were also crammed in there. We left at about 6 PM and arrived near to 6:30 AM in California, so by our time, it took us over 13 hours to arrive. The worst part of the drive was when we were less than two hours away (so close!) we got stuck in a huge traffic jam. We literally drove a mile in more than an hour. Painful memories....

Finally, after one of the longest drives I've taken, we arrived at my cousins' house. It was like a dream. The sun hadn't risen yet, and fog clung to the round hills. We were greeted at the door by my aunt and uncle, grandparents (who were also visiting for a short time) and my two cousins. We had a delicious breakfast and went straight upstairs. We basically hung out and relaxed for the whole day. The weather was surprisingly warmer than it is here, so we took long walks and got Starbucks. I realized that it was the perfect day to go watch Catching Fire, which I really really really wanted to watch. I somehow convinced my Dad to take us after dinner.

We ate a delicious dinner, and headed right to the theater. My Dad was really tired from driving all night long the previous night, and vowed that he would be sleeping through the whole movie. We were a little late, but the ads were still playing. However, the theater was stuffed to the brim! We had to work really hard to find 2 seats together. We ended up asking someone to move over one seat so that my cousin Manaal and I could sit together. My dad somehow found a seat directly in front of me. I got comfortable and prepared to hear loud snoring.

The movie was amazing, and I was completely enchanted by it. A while later, I didn't hear any snoring. At the end of the movie,  I asked my Dad how his nap was. Apparently, he never went to sleep and he really liked the movie. I kind of knew he would. It was hard to fall asleep during an action packed movie like that!

The next day, it was Thanksgiving! We had a delicious Thanksgiving feast with Irani style chicken, lamb leg, and other sides. Manaal and I set the table for kids and adults. After we ate dinner, we ate apple pie, of course! Then, we headed out to go Black Friday shopping.

FFFFFOOOODDDDD

Yes, that is splenda... its an inside joke :)

We had a blast at the mall and went to sleep after 1 AM. My uncle made us wake up early the next morning, which was terrible, but very worth it. We all went and got ready to go to San Francisco. It was a warm, sunny day, which was perfect for a day out and about in San Francisco. When we arrived, we drove to one of the most crooked roads in the US. It was so steep that I was scared that the car was going to roll backwards down the road. The view from the top was really spectacular, though. We also took a short stop to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

View from top of curvy road

Golden Gate Bridge

After that, we headed to the Fisherman's Wharf, or Pier 39 for lunch. We walked around until we came to a huge bakery called Boudin, which is famous for its sourdough bread. We ate outside on the patio. Of course, I had the clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl. After over-stuffing, we headed to Union Square to do some shopping. We went into the Macy's and accidentally ran into a pastry shop. That's not even the best news! The owner of the shop was Yigit Pura who won a chef show called Top Chef Just Desserts, which I watched. At this point, I had to get something! I got a pecan tart and a macaroon, and they were pretty good.

Fisherman's Wharf

Gorgeous trees

Boudin! YUM

Preparing food

My yummy clam chowder

Pics at Union Square:

I remember him from the TV show

Tout Sweet 

Rainbow macaroons! 

Chocolate Ganache  

Special flavored Marshmallows 

We wanted to go to other stores, but apparently there was a whole thing for lighting up the gigantic Christmas tree in Union Square and caused a crazy huge crowd, so we skipped the shopping and went to dinner. My aunt and uncle took us to their favorite South Indian restaurant. We never ever eat Indian food, and it was very good! Here are some pics of the meal:

Stuffed with potatoes (soo good!)

Gotta love this

Unfortunately, the next day was the day we went back to Arizona. We had lunch at a bakery in Danville called La Boulange. I had some French Onion Soup, a goat cheese sandwich, and a steak sandwich. No, I didn't order all of these things; I shared with my sister, of course.

YUM

Great ambiance 

French Onion Soup

Get a bowl of hot chocolate at La Boulange 

My steak sandwich 

After lunch, we went into a pet store and drooled over the kittens and then said goodbye to the family. We were back on the road. Another 12 hours... Thank god that's over.

I had so much fun with my family this Thanksgiving! What did you guys do over the break?