Rockport, MA

If you're ever in Rockport here are some tips.

Call ahead. If nothing else, you'll get a taste of what this town is all about -- everyone's so helpful, and will give you tips on what to do, even if its just a day trip from Boston.

Places to stay:
Eagle House Motel - as for Gary :)
Captains Bounty

Places to eat:

The Greenery - fantastic breakfast.
Fish Shack (if you want to sit and eat lobster - this is not a bad choice)
Roy Moore's Lobster Co. --- this place is SO cool (some may disagree) - boiled lobsters by the bushel, fried stuffed clams, fish cakes, mm mm - ok didn't actually eat here, but it looked good. warning - its a hole in the wall, if you want to sit down and eat - you're table is your lap, and your chair is a lobster crate.

Places to check out/things to do:

If you're into adventure! - GO SEA KAYAKING - North Shore Kayaks
Or biking (north shore rents bikes too) - if you're on a bike, head towards marmion way ... great views.
Hallibut State Park
Headlands
The Atlantic Path - subha'anAllah! :)


Talk to people, they'll recommend great stuff to do! Your visit will be shaped by the people you talk to! :)

Forever young ...

Forever young --- trying to hang on to the moments before they slip away. Collecting memories.

What a fantastic weekend. Alhamdullilah, it really was awesome. We had it all ... rocky beaches, amazing sunsets and sunrises, entertaining ocean spray, biking accidents (oops!), ice cream, issues with peripheral vision (Nada's!) in ABP, crazy lobsters, incredibles, AMAZING crepes ... every moment was carefully documented with trusty digital cameras. Watch this space for pics.

I was rummaging through stuff in my room - no, don't ask how its progressing, its just as bad as it was last week, inshaAllah i'll get up early to work on it!! --- anyhoo, was rummaging, and came across an email from an old friend, Aliya, and it was a forward about friendship ... I shall paste it here ... [I have tried to edit it for lack of space, but my apologies, it is still long!]

It all started so innocently. We met as strangers, thrown together by fate.
Some of you grew up with me, others I have known only a short while.
Some of you I have hugged constantly over the years, and others I met at a time when hugging was "un-cool", and it has stayed that way, even though the times have changed around us.
Some of you I have not yet met in person.
Every one of you has enriched my life. You have helped to teach me, to guide me on this often turning and forking road of life. You have been with me through the good times and the bad. You have comforted me when I cried, held me when I was afraid, and laughed with me when I was happy.
And now we are in college. And though the distance between us is not great, it is great enough.
I am no longer afraid to reach out and hug you, in fact I long to do it.
You had walked with me for so long that I was afraid to venture on alone.
Yet, even as I feared the dark of night, along came others to help me on my journey, in hopes that I would walk with them so the need not journey on alone. They picked up where you left off and now they are no longer strangers.
Who are you? You might be my brother, my sister, my cousin, an old acquaintance or a new one. But first and foremost, I call you friend.
And I miss you if you are away, and if you here then I thank you for standing by my side.
And so I send you this, so that you might know that someone, somewhere, is thinking of you, praying for you, and loving you. And that person is me. May God grant you peace and happiness in your times of trial, and watch over you, so that one day we will meet again.

Whether we met IRL [In Real Life], over the World, over Resort, or SE, or anywhere, I call you friend.

A word so small, yet so large in feeling, a world filled with emotion.
It is true, great things come in small packages.

A part of me is put into my friends, some of it is my humor, some of it my listening ear, some of it my real life experiences, some of it is my romanticism, but with it all, it is friendship.
Friendships forged are a construct stronger than steel built as a foundation, necessary for life, and necessary for love.
Friends, you and me, you brought another friend and then we were three. We started our group, our circle of friends, and like that circle, there is no beginning or end.

It is by chance we met, by choice we became friends...


I got this about 7 years ago in an email and printed it out, stuck it on my wall back home. And it travelled with me here, and somehow got buried under all the junk. Funny I should find it after a weekend with friends that personified the essence of it ...

I just got back from dinner with the DC girls, they surprised me with a send off dinner at Cafe Divan [Georgetown? off Wisconsin] that everyone's been raving about - the food was awesome, the company even better. Alhamdullilah! They're so awesome --- waiting for pics. WATCH THIS SPACE! OH - and for the record books - Lina FINISHED EVERY LAST BIT OF HER ENTREE!! [we have pics!] MABROOK lina :)

My apologies for the incoherent thoughts and lack of enthusiasim ... exhaustion, stress (huh? oh yeah moving stress - the place is a MESS), and the jumble of emotions --- I'm really excited to be going home in two weeks, but I am SO TOTALLY bummed that I'm not here this summer!! [especially coz I'm missing Lina's BBQ, which is technically the day after the wedding, but STILL!]

Anyhoo - random incoherent thoughts taking over --- I'll sign off with this --
to all of you that made this memorial day weekend (that includes dinner) probably THE most memorable weekend EVER -- (you know who you are) - you are the bomb. you rock. top of the A list ;) Jazakhallah khayr!

Felt like a big biscuit ...

I was just reading Dr. Shirin's live journal (which she hasn't updated since April -- pppffft! I mean, really now, I know you WERE in med school but COME on! ;)) and she uses the subject phrase -- when one feels like a big biscuit, it basically implies that they feel dumb, or so Shirin says! [btw, shout out to them med school GRADS --- Drs. Ali and Coray!]

ANYHOO! Why did I feel so? I've spent the last two days trying to organize, clean, pack - and have not made any real progress. Realized that I should have thought of all of this nonsense months ago, and started to weed out the crap from the useful stuff. Why am I such a pack rat? Why does a ticket stub from "Chicken Run" back in the summer of 2000 mean so much to me that I can't just throw it out!!! Why do I have napkins from random Bangalore establishments that honestly meant nothing to me!! Becuase I'm a pack rat - and rats know no better. BUT no more I say - NO more ... gone is the chicken run ticket stub (cool movie btw!)-GONE is the random napkin. And I still have the memories -- Alhamdullilah!

So, the progress is slow but steady ... I'm gaining momentum here. I would post pics of the progress, but they are kinda horrifying so since I don't want to scar anyone here - I shall refrain.

Besides that, the last couple of days have been kinda blah. Just packing, etc. Got to hang out w/some of ma'peeps which was awesome - just got back from dinner w/Nori and Ina -- they're so awesome! We ate at a little Cajun place in Adams Morgan called New Orleans Cafe - it was pretty cool. Crispy fried Okra - mmm- gotta love the okra YO! haven't had that in a while ... will be stuffin' my face with it when I'm home though. mm mm good.

Is this a pointless blog or what?!

Hope fully in a couple of days I'll have more to say. Until then ... BLUG.

Random funny story from C'ville

As we were clearing out Lisa's trunk, preparing to stuff it with lots and lots of boxes, we noticed that a little friend had made a home there. Lisa points out an absolutely monstrous red ant that was walking in circles in the trunk - after commenting on strange that seemed, we figured it had just been traumatized by the vigorous cleaning. We thought that evicting it would be a good idea, so he was tossed out. A couple of minutes later we wondered whether our little ant friend was still walking in circles, and after scanning the ground for a while, we found him! still circling!!!! it was hilarious, especially when we figured out that he had only one antenna!!!!!
Sad but true - three grown women investigating the habits of a one-antennaed ant. wish i had a picture :)

Can I just say, I love UVA!?

Everytime I go back, I realize how much I miss C'ville. Yesterday was graduation, and I headed down to the 'ville to be with some of my buddies on their special day [I'm running on very little sleep, so some of my writing isn't going to be very coherent], and omg what a task it was to get down there!
I was up at the butt crack of dawn to get to the lawn ceremony, however I think that its not in my destiny to EVER SEE A LAWN CEREMONY! I missed Sana's in '02 coz I didn't realize that one goes to see their friends graduate, I missed my own because it was pouring and I melt in the rain, and I definately missed '05's lawn ceremony! After much searching, and driving, we (Sabra, Amir, Morgan and myself) arrived at U-Hall about 12.10, walked to central grounds (in stellar time btw, the walk always seemed longer when I was at UVA) and I skidded to a stop at the amphitheatre at 12.29 - just in time for the Ed-School ceremony. I basically watched Saima and Mike walk the amphitheatre and settle down, and just about ran across grounds to the Med School to catch Lisa and Shirin's grad, skidding in just as they were handed their degrees --- and they were hooded, etc. Caught Lisa and her sisters for a quick pic, ran back to the amphitheatre to catch the malik family. WHEW. that it? well yeah, but it was SO hot that my experience seemed crazier at the time ;)

It was in general a crazy day, but I loved every moment of it - the racing across grounds, my getting lost trying to find JPA [for the record, I don't think I EVER knew how to get to JPA], doin' MSA grad dinner --- which was super coz I Bilal was there and he was the key note speaker ... Bilal, if you're reading this - ma'shaAllah you were great! :) I have to say though, the highlight of the evening was the video that the msa-kids put together. I was blown away by their creativity and planning! WOW - essentially, they planned from the start of the year to put together a video year book for graduation. And they did it in super style, it was such a cool vide -O that even I was in tears at the end of of the year -- and I wasn't even the one graduating! Alhamdullilah though - MAD props to Sanin, Shahid and Umair. Very cool bro's!

I ended the day by heading to Shirin and Lisa's so I could hang out with them before they disappeared into Doctor-dom in Boston and Cali, whihc I did by following Shirin from the room to room as she sorted through her stuff -- and I'm tellin' ya, it was persistent whittling that got her stuff organized. I have half a mind to hire her to pack up my stuf!! ;) hehe,I aslo got to spend time with Lisa at 5.45am driving her friend to the airport (yes there is one in C'ville).

So what is it about C'ville/UVA? One is the memories, I can walk around grounds and at every corner I have images in my head about all the fun times; but its also so peaceful that you reflect on what you're doing. So many times I've sat on the steps of the rotunda and just said, I cna do this ... this living in C'ville thing. Its so darn gorgeous - SUBHA'ANALLA!!! Also C'ville has an odd talent for attracting really REALLY cool people, apart from the students of course!

Anyhoo, that was my piece - in all sleepyness - OH BEFORE I FORGET -- Shout out to ms. Raabia Shafi who won an award for best Thesis in U.S. History! WOO WOO!

Oh, and break down of hte pics. L-R, first to third row.

1. As I was bolting from gradn to gradn, I passed by the range and saw the random bike sitting on the rack, and voila -- picture! :)
2. Shahid Z - bein' all proud
3. MIKE SIDDIQ in the house :)
4. Br. Bilal Aslam and soon-to-be UVA MSA first year, Jawad Aslam -- wOO WOO !
5. The gurrrls --- Yusra, Fatima, Z, RAabia
6. Ali Yusra and Junaid -- yo wassup
7. Random Med student sitting on a pile of water. Thought it was cool!
8. Shirin and Lisa - relaxin for a second as they prepare to take off on their roadtrip to CA; actually they were "cleaning"; standing next to the "invincamobile - can do anything in under 5 seoncds :)"
9. Saima and ms. B (Blair) - right fter gradn.

aight ya'llz -- will spell check tomorrow inshaAllah!

peace out, and remember --- C'ville is the new world.

2005 Wahoo's - best of :)

Not quite C'ville, but it'll do :)

I was supposed to be in Charlottesville, VA this evening so that I would get a head start on the graduation festivities at UVA tomorrow morning. But unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

To make a long story short, essentially, I missed two buses. One that existed, and another that did not. How could I miss a bus that didn't exist? I haven't quite worked that out yet, but it happened in my head!

I was supposed to catch the 6.10 bus from the Springfield metro, however I ran into the worst Metro issues - I missed two straight trains and was stuck waiting upto 14 minutes for a train - which is horrible considering that I didn't have much time to begin with. Halfway there, I convince myself that I'm going to miss the bus from Springfield, even though it has been a rare occasion that Grayhound has been on time. Decide mid-way to go to Union Station to catch a bus that I think is leaving at 6.40. Well, the 6.40 thing was a train not a bus, and it was full. Yes my friends -- an entire train was full of people going to Charlottesville. Anyhoo, needless to say I missed both opportunities, and spent the rest of the evening outside Union Station taking pictures of the random people hanging about.

Guide to the pics [scroll down] , left to right, top to bottom
1. So there's this bell in front of Union Station and I saw these four kids playing by it ... decided that their antics from under the bell were worth recording :)
2. It amazes me how many homeless people there are in DC - its something not alot of peopel think about. This guy was just sitting by one of the fountains, and was chillin - he didn't seem too pleased about me taking his picture though
3. Yes, it is a cop on a Segway. He attracted much attention
4. Outside Union Station; GWU has some graduation event in the main hall, and I couldn't get in there :(
5. This is actually a reflection in the glass of the "America" cafe it was so cool; I'm sure the patrons were real pleased to see me standing outside their window with my camera pointing straight at them!
6. Really random!
7. A man sleeping right opposite the guy in 2
8. Another homeless person, sitting right outside the GW graduation event ...
9. A memorial to Christopher Columbus



Unrelated random thing that happened yesterday ... I was introduced to a summer associate at work (at which I dont' work anymore) that grew up in India because her parents were in the Foreign Service, and incidentally she is best friends with my college roommate Becca. WOW! What a small world ...

Other unrelated random fact - since all my sheets are in the wash, I was forced to pull out the dreaded green and white plaid sheets. yerhg.

Details from UVA to come. Keep your hats on, I know how exciting it must be to read my blog!

My evening outside Union Station, Washington, DC

The last day ...

Ok, disclaimer first -- I'm still trying to figure out how to post pics with text, so excuse the shoddy blogging!

The pic that I just posted "The Law school survival basket" was one of my send-off gifts from K&S. Wow, alhamdullilah I am REALLY blessed to know such awesome people - that really took alot of time and effort into this!

The send off was from the team, and Steve (practice group leader) starts it off by handing me a copy of Black's Law Dictionary telling me that it might come in handy :) He hands off the ceremony to Doug and Liz (two of the coolest associates ever!) and they hand me the "Law School Survival Basket" ... I'm in complete shock! This thing is awesome --- its got four types of chocolate, tylenol, tums (I think), vitamins, popcorn, coffee (in way of the starbucks gift card), movie tickets, "The Paper Chase" (awesome movie btw), soothing bath oils and candles, "Amicus Humoriae", "No Doze" caffine pills and a couple of their own concoctions. All this is sitting on a bed of shredded paper ... I was later told that the shredded paper used to be a part of Liz's Trade Law text - hehe!

Overall - wow! It's the little things that make the difference!

So, how did the day go - I mean, I was nervous and all at the beginning. Alhamdullilah - it was good, I'm a little bummed about leaving just coz the people are really cool - but I'm so psyched that I'm done!

Whats next? Argh, quite alot. But thats enough excitement for tonight ;)

The law school survival basket 

A new beginning?

Well, today is my last day at work - and I figure it's a good way to start off my blog.

Was walking into work, listening to the Lifehouse CD (it's really awesome btw) - and "Everything" was playing. When I'm nervous, I tend to put the music up and block things out - and when that happens, I feel like I'm walking in a movie - everything kinda slows down, and I'm the only one there. Alot of thoughts rushing through my head, what am I doing, where am I going, etc. Today's my last day at work, and while it's exhilerating to some extent - I mean the shackles are being untied - its also a little scary. For a while there, things had slowed down alot, but suddenly over the last two weeks - life has been full speed ahead Alhamdullilah, and I know that its going to speed up over the next month with Mo's wedding date approaching. I almost feel, even though I'm not really doing much with it, that its a date that I'm shooting for, and that everything has revolved around. Once its over, I'm not sure what I'll be shooting for.

InshaAllah all will be good - everything comes in due time, and I'm really looking forward to India. Looking forward to lazy breakfasts (and lunches and dinners ;), catching up with the fam and friends, getting to know the new babies, driving (or crawling) through mad Bangalore traffic, heading out with my camera maybe. Alhamdullilah, alot to look forward to.

But this morning, I needed to slow down, and "Everything" was my remedy.

"You are the strength,
that keeps me walking.
You are the hope,
that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?"