2 days to explore San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

This past summer, Aly was to attend a three week camp at the University of Santa Cruz through the John Hopkins' Center for Talented Youth Summer program. So we decided to make it  a quick family trip. We flew out of Miami, Florida and landed in San Francisco, California. After renting a car, we decided to wait to check into our hotel and instead made our way down to Fisherman's Wharf.

We did the typical tourist thing with all the other tourists there. We took selfies and ate yummy seafood at one of their many restaurants.

There are a line of restaurants and street side food eateries with such tempting seafood etc. Fried shrimp, curly fries, calamari

I couldn't resist taking pictures of all the amazing food that I wished I could eat but my stomach and my wallet were not in agreement.

Lobsters, crabs, oysters, mussels, shrimp etc etc.....YUMMY!!!!!

We get to pick it and they steam it...unfortunately we were
told that they were not fresh so we didn't try it.

We ordered a sampler with fried shrimp, fish, calamari, scallops and fries. It was delicious!!!

Then we started walking toward Ghiradelli Square. They have so many of these little street side shops with awesome jewelry!!! Now considering I make pieces very similar to these, I was super excited. What I wanted to do was to buy them all. But what I did instead was to buy a sweet pair of earrings and a matching bracelet and took a few pictures.

I loved San Francisco and the cable carts but I hated, I mean absolutely was terrified of driving on the steep hill like streets of the city.

We started driving toward China Town. Zayn wanted to go skate at this famous skating place which in actually is this famous park for the local Chinese families.

So Zayn and Aly went to the park where Zayn skated while I went in and out of the many little shops in China Town. We ate at this little Chinese restaurants with probably the worst Chinese food I've ever eaten. 

After walking around in China Town and buying souvenirs and being veryyyy tired, we made it to our hotel and had a good night sleep. We woke up the next morning and started driving to the University of Santa Cruz. We stopped at one of the local beaches!!! I live in Florida but I LOVE the West Coast and the beaches surrounded by the hills. Its so cool to see the crabs and sand dollar remains scattered on the beach. Again, so different from our Florida beaches. We enjoy the Atlantic ocean in Florida but my heart remains with the gorgeous Pacific coast line.



I did take a few pictures of us at the beach but I didn't save them here. But I LOVE THE WEST COAST!!!!
Can't wait to go back there again. We dropped Aly off at USC and

Love, Light and Blessings,
Anita

A Sufi's Journey...: The 7 - Day Unplugged Challenge!

A Sufi's Journey...: The 7 - Day Unplugged Challenge!

Why buy handmade vs store bought?

Since I started making and selling jewelry for the past six months or so I keep getting this question from a few of my family and friends who are new to the world of Etsy and handmade items. "Why should we buy handmade versus store-bought?"  

The simple answer is that when an artist makes something or rather creates something with their hands, their energy is infused into their work. And when I wear that jewelry or scarf or whatever the piece is, its like I carry a piece of them with me. Therefore, if I like their vibe or what they stand for, I'll buy one of their pieces. Also, I value the role of art and creativity in our world and believe that our children have been shortchanged with the budget cuts in our school systems. Thus, I believe in supporting and encouraging fellow artists who are brave enough to follow their souls. Some of my favorites are

http://www.lizlamoreux.etsy.com

Lisa Leonard Designs 

and I love Jasmine Ismail's art. This girl is sooooo talented. 

Link to my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnitaLadhaniDesigns

Love, Light and blessings

Anita

Food, Family, Neighbors & Love!

My mom is an incredible cook. Her bbq is  the best. She loves cooking outdoors. So dad bought her this professional grade outdoor gas stove. The boys have been making fresh burgers. 

These kababs taste sooooooo good and smell amazing! It reminds me of being in Mumbai's bori molla. 

I ate them with garlic nan and imli chutney. 

This recipee is originally my dear friend Amina Dhanji's. Mom just omitted the green chillies. Recipee is further down. 

Zayn's cheeseburger with spinach, organic ketchup and mayo. 

Zayn skating in the backyard. 

Mom and dad sit down to enjoy a few kababs as Annie sits around hoping for scraps. But alas she doesn't get any. 

Recipee

3 lbs of ground beef

2 tsp full of Shan's seekh kabab masala

2 tsp full of Shan's bihari kanab masala

1 tbsp homemade adrak lasan paste (garlic and ginger)

  1/2 bunch cilantro chopped 

Mix everything together

Soak 2 slices of bread, squeeze the water out and mix in to the beef. 

Shape the meat into desired shapes and either bake in oven or outdoor grill. 

One of our neighbors stops by to get a plant clipping and drop off home made pickle he made from this fruit tree called june plum. Its a Jamaican fruit that grows in our backyard.  We don't eat them but our Jamaican neighbors really enjoy them. 

Mom and dad taste the pickle and give it two thumbs up. 

Another neighbor stops by to say hello. 

We are sooooo blessed! Living in South Florida we are blessed to enjoy beautiful weather year round. Its a bit chilly this evening which means its about 70 degrees. 😊 I know! I know! Its all relative. I need a light sweater in this weather. 😜

Aly comes home from school. Its around 7:30 pm which is normal for Aly considering he stays after for weightlifting practice after school and takes the late bus home. 

Annie rushes to greet him by licking his face. 

But first, lemme take a selfie ;)

And another with Annie

Sending you all love, light and blessings. 

Anita

Love this!

Nana puts his elbow on Aly's shoulder as he talks to him. Aly is making an omelette with spinach and cheese. What a beautiful moment!

Shukranlillah! Wal hamdullilah!

Love and Light!

Anita

Annie - The BEST dog in the world!!!

Our gorgeous Annie is a 4 yr old King Charles cavalier! She is the sweetest, most affectionate dog ever!! We are indeed so blessed to have her in our lives. 

Here she lets Zayn use her as a pillow as he crashes on the couch after a long Saturday. 

And she is actually Zayn's baby. Her official name is Annie Zayn Lakhani. 

Zayn used to be scared of dogs before we got Annie.

Aly just had to take her from her comfortable position with Zayn!!! 

Here is Aly posing with her as he makes one of his goofy faces.

She trusts us unconditionally!!!

Love and Light

Anita

Mahi Time!

3/20/2014

She has us all wrapped around her fingers!

Dada's chokri!

Precious bundle!!!