To My Friends Who Stood By Me As I Struggled With Anxiety

For the longest time, I was hesitant to share my struggles with anxiety and skeptical of opening up to even my closest friends. I was terrified that disclosing this would affect the nature of our relationship and change the dynamics of our friendship. At that time I felt my whole life was revolving around managing my anxiety and I did not want to be defined by it.
But once I shared my struggles I was surprisingly relieved and felt a weight had lifted off my shoulders. These friends stood by me and supported me through the most difficult time of my life.
My life is better because of you. I am so grateful to each and every one of you.
This one is for you!

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Reminiscing the ‘good times’ with friends

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Reconnecting with your friends from ‘back in the day’ is oddly fulfilling. A completely different time in your life. A time of laughter, craziness, heartache and tears!  A time when these friends were your heart and soul.  Nothing in your life could possibly get done without that quick ‘call and consult’  with your friend. A time when the biggest responsibility was perhaps just getting out of bed in the morning! A time of fierce loyalties among friends and conflicts the same (blame it on the teenage hormones!). A time of self-doubt, wanting to fit in desperately, and trying to understand the Pythagoras Theorem in all it’s glory.

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Let’s Talk Turkey!

blogheaderIt seems ironic that my second post revolves around food after I wrote at length about my fitness obsession just last week. Oh well! I love the holiday season – the food, shopping, family, friends, the festive atmosphere – and did I already mention the glorious food!!

Thanksgiving dinners in the past have always been with my friend making the showstopper turkey and the rest of us bringing sides. This year things shaped up differently somehow. Apart from the excitement that Gilmore Girls is coming back this weekend (can’t wait for it, but that has to be another post), there was more excitement for Thanksgiving than I had anticipated.

whatsapp_logo1-svgThe WhatsApp Conversation 

My friend Najla graciously offered to host Thanksgiving this year. Yay! She would make the bird and we would all bring sides. I offered to make yams and a green bean casserole. It was my tried and tested recipe – I had nothing to worry about. Somehow during the hundreds of WhatsApp messages exchanged for the Thanksgiving dinner (because what is the purpose of WhatsApp if you don’t have a gazillion messages on a group), it became apparent that we would need two good-sized turkeys. I suggested she do her traditional turkey and make another one with some Pakistani spices. She loved that idea. I told her a friend of mine – Saniya, had done it in the past and it was always a huge success. Fast forward 45 WhatsApp messages later and this is what transpired…..

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