The 4G
First off, I believe a moment of silence is in order to honor the addition of the 4G in to the Din Household.
3 Generations of iPhones - I swear that this photo was not staged...Ali really did arrange everything this way.
Yes that’s right everyone, Ali brought his new phone home Wednesday afternoon and I believe he is officially in love. If I have to hear once more about the dual camera I may just lose my mind.
Despite Ali’s numerous requests (and at one point demands), I’ve stuck to my guns and refused to fork over my right arm and kidney to upgrade my ancient, first generation iPhone. I think Ali is rather embarrassed that his wife is walking around with a relic, but we made amends when I agreed to take over his old 3G. My selflessness never ceases to amaze me.
Anyway, as Ali and his new phone became acquainted with one another yesterday, my friend Maliha and I threw a baby shower for our good friend Nadia.
Me, Nadia, and Maliha
Since this is Nadia’s 3rd baby she really didn’t need much other than diapers, hence our theme “Tea and Diapers.”
In Nadia’s honor, I actually broke out my wedding china for the first time ever since we received it a decade ago. Why? Well because it has to be hand washed. Enough said.
We had lots of tea…
A percolator is a lazy girl's best friend.
And lots of food: date muffins, scones, olive bread + honey + gorgonzola, tea sandwiches, and mixed berries.
When will I learn how to take a picture without weird shadows/bad lighting? That is a rhetorical question of course.
We also had a fabulous chocolate cake from Bristol Farms…
As an icing expert, this cake is definitely right up there with the best of them.
And we played some games…
Game question: What food does Nadia not like? Answer: There is no such thing.
Maya came home from school just as the party was winding down, and as she fought to once again be the center of attention, Ali disappeared to spend some more quality time with his technology. I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit left out.
Ali and his iPhone sitting in a tree…
The Pot Calling the Kettle…
“Do you have your keys, wallet, glasses, and iPhone?”
This is the standard question I pose to Ali anytime we are leaving our house, my parent’s house, a restaurant, a movie theater, a plane, or anywhere Ali could have possibly emptied the contents of his pockets. I try to be understanding…I mean I’d rather Ali lose things than carry around a murse, but I do believe he’s taken things to a new level with his forgetfulness.
I'm sorry but unless you are from and live in Europe please don't carry a murse. Photo courtesy of JoeinDC/Flickr.
Example 1: Ali lost his first cell phone 5 days after I met him. He hasn’t stopped losing them since.
Example 2: After a long flight back from Turks and Caicos last year Ali realized he’d left our car key at airport security. We were at the airport parking lot freezing our tails off when he made that lovely discovery and a year later Maya still won’t forgive him for it.
I didn’t think it could get worse but if you can believe it, Ali actually lost his car for about 12 hours, which brings us to…
Example 3: Ali left his car parked a few miles away at my brother’s apartment and then proceeded to forget about it until the next morning when he had to get to work and realized his car was not downstairs. So there we were at 6am, Ali needing his car to get to work, me needing to make Maya’s breakfast and lunch, wake her up, get her ready for school, and be at work at 8am. So I did what any other doting wife would do…I told Ali to take the bus to collect his lost car.
I can be a mean b@#$% too often sometimes. So it probably serves me right that I recently lost my car key for the first time. I thought I’d left it at my friend Nadia’s house (which was where I left my car), but when we got back to her place I couldn’t find it anywhere! Luckily it turned up later but Ali had to drop me at my car the next day.
You’d think he’d take the opportunity to rub it in, right? No, not Ali. And not only did he not say a word about me inconveniencing him, but I can guarantee you he hasn’t stored any of the aforementioned events in his mind to use against me on a future occasion.
You’d think I’d take this opportunity to learn a little something about patience and understanding from him, right? But as much as I’d like to, I can pretty much guarantee that won’t happen either.
Out With the Old…
In addition to attending 2 birthday parties, a dinner party, and a Father’s Day BBQ this weekend, the Din family also found time to say goodbye to some of the old things in our life….
1. Ali’s germ-infested, dirty, stained, 3-year-old pink lunch bag finally found its way into the trash:
Because Maya and I bought him a new one for Father’s Day:
We are hoping that Ali’s co-workers won’t laugh at him as much now that he’ll be pulling the carrot sticks, apple slices, yogurt, and diagonally sliced turkey sandwiches I pack him out of his new manly black bag.
But don’t worry co-workers, you still have the opportunity to laugh at his lattes and “ancient” 3G iPhone instead.
2. I got over my fear of domesticity for a few minutes this weekend to enter Z Gallerie to continue the search for a replacement for this pretty but rather blah picture:
And was thrilled when Ali and I both agreed we like this one:
Are there any interior designers out there who can tell me if the blue in this picture will look okay against chocolate-brown walls? I don’t excel in home decor to make the decision myself.
3. This next goodbye is one that will hopefully benefit us all…I’ve never excelled at grammar and figured it was high time to improve my comma placement. So imagine my surprise when I randomly ran into the book Grammar Sucks at Borders this weekend:
Despite the tacky and somewhat offensive title, I do believe it will help me finally learn if a period goes inside or outside of a parenthesis, and if it + is = it’s.
No, I still have no idea when to use an apostrophe but I have high hopes that I will be writing gooder soon.
4. The Princess bike our nanny so generously bought Maya 3 years ago found a new home with one of Mrs. Maria’s friend’s daughters:
And thanks to my father-in-law’s admirable persistence, Maya can now ride a two-wheeler:
Now I’m not sure if I’m just one of those moms who thinks her kid is amazingly advanced but I do believe that riding without training wheels at 5-years-old is pretty impressive. But please do correct me if I’m wrong.
I dare you.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 