Random Blurbs

The Beginning of Bar Prep

2008-05-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I turned in my final paper this past Friday and started Bar Prep on Saturday (No I didnt take any time off - dont ask why..). Well, so it begins.. For those of you who are not familiar with this exam..I need to pass this 3 day test in order to practice Lawyer and be able to call myself an Esquire.. Niyati Shah/Srivastava, Esq....

The 3 day exam tests in 3 ways: Essays, Performance Test (Writing a memo using the materials provided which includes the case information and research) and MBE (multiple choice)
Well, my first Bar Prep Course is called PMBR.. its a 6 day course that goes over 6 MBE subjects. Fortunately / Unfortunately, I won another MBE prep course for free. It's a brand new course called Emanuel's. So as soon as I am done with PMBR, I will start Emanuel's. So for all those who are curious about the difference between the two.. stay tuned I will be posting about my thoughts on both within a couple of weeks.

Also, I will also be posting more about my choice of Bar Prep courses..etc. For now its time to go to bed.. Day 4 of PMBR awaits me in the morning..

Done!! But Not Really!!!

2008-05-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, I have had quite a few things going on and I have been busy wrapping up. The semester was quite hectic between school, externship, job and bar prep.. Sigh!! Yes Bar Prep. Well I am done with the semester and ready to graduate. I am really excited..except I have literally had 1 day of freedom in between finals and bar prep starting. Even that day was a quasi day off..hmmm... When does this ever end??? Well.. I do see light at the end of the Tunnel. July 31, 2008 will hopefully be the end of this long journey. Over the next couple of months, I will be blogging about BAR prep..Stay Tuned for those of you who really want to know .. How my summer will be spent studying for this dreaded exam.

FOOD!!

2008-01-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

HAPPYYY NEWW YEARRR!!! Well I guess its time I officially announced "I am Engaged" ... So in an effort to follow Yvette's footsteps, who in an effort to become a better cook after marriage started a blog. Periodically, I plan to post up new recipes - partially because I loved her idea of posting new recipes, partially because I love cooking and partially because my fiance is a great cook... but thankfully not very picky.. although very brutal when it comes to making fun of me :) ..

So here goes my first recipe:

Paneer Tikka Masala

Ingredients:
Oil
Cumin Seeds
Asoefotida (hing) powder - pinch
1 Pack Paneer
3/4 Onion - cut into strips
1 Bell Pepper - cut into strips
2 Tomatoes - blend (ready made tomato puree does not give the same taste)
Chilli Powder to taste
Salt to taste
2 tsp. Turmeric

Heat oil in a pan and add a pinch of hing with cumin seeds. Throw in the onion strips and turmeric on top. Stir until onions are half cooked. Add the Bell Peppers and let them cook. add the tomato puree, salt and chilli and stir. Throw in all the paneer and let is cook until the tomato puree disappears adn the paneer starts to stick. Browned paneer tastes better in this recipe. Serve hot.

Leftovers make for good wraps. Take a tortilla, warm it up until a little browned and stuff it with the paneer.

Traveling

2007-11-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

Most people cringe at the thought of growing up.. but for me traveling is one positive that outweighs many of the negatives of growing up.. (although I think being a grownup is more fun :) ) When I graduated college, I had decided to travel every year to atleast one new place... and I am glad that I have been able to live upto that promise. I inaugurated my plan by visiting Greece and since then have been to Mexico and different parts of India.
Speaking of traveling, one of my cousins travels a lot (Saumil).. I dont know anyone else that matches up to his level of traveling.. I hope that one day I am able to do 50% of the traveling he does.. but besides being an avid traveler.. he also knows how to capture the moments into beautiful pictures.. the above picture was taken by him at a Jain Temple in Ranakpur, Rajasthan, India. Well, until I get to his level of traveling.. I guess I will be able to see these places through the pictures he has taken.

Why do you have to give your girlfriend / fiance such an expensive ring? Part II

2007-11-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

My friend just posted the best blog ever... short, sweet and to the point... Here is how it goes:

Why do you have to give your girlfriend/fiance such an expensive ring?

Because you have to thank them (continuously) for choosing you.

Posted by Nicole at 9:04 PM 1 comments

I couldn't have said it better myself. Speaking of engagement rings, I have heard about the rule of thumb - a guy has to buy a ring that is approximately worth 2 months of his salary. Really? Call me weird, but even as a girl, it seems too much to spend on a piece of jewelery. If my fiance to be makes $10K a month I could potentially be wearing a Honda / Toyota on my hand. What if my fiance to be made $15K a month - If I lived anywhere but California, I could be wearing the downpayment to my first house on my hand.. Hmmm!!! I guess - Priorities!! But what if he was a student or made $2500 per month...How much is too much and how much is too little??

Rangoli -Drawing with colored sand

2007-11-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Diwali (Festival of Lights) and Happy New Year (based on the lunar calendar - Hindu) to all. For as long as I have been in the US, Hindu festivals have come and gone and I haven't paid much heed to them. This is the first Diwali where I seem to be intrigued and feel the need (or rather want) to celebrate.

The best card/ecard I have received this season is from one of my cousins(by age)/nephew(by relation).. its a big family... The picture you all see has been drawn by my cousin's wife using colored powder. I havent done a Rangoli in over 10 years but I think next year will be my first year of doing Rangoli. I am inspired and I hope to stay inspired until next year. I would like to start a tradition - a tradition of celebrating Diwali every year.

Motivation aka shopping

2007-11-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

My classes this semester start after 330. So on Wednesday night as I was walking out of Yoga with Nicole and while discussing the next days plan, we came up with an excellent idea. "If we are good tomorrow and get a decent amount of studying done, we can reward ourselves with going to Nordstrom's half yearly sale.."

Well as planned, we embarked on our journey to the mall at 1 pm sharp. As horrible as the trip was for my wallet, I must say it was just as gratifying to find good deals. I bought two pairs of the Enzo shoes to the right.... we decided it was a good idea to go look at some jeans.. and 30 mins later we exited Nordstroms with 2 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of jeans in my shopping bag.. :)

Finding motivation to study with a promise for shopping seems like an excellent idea.. but I think I may have to limit that as it maybe a little much on my wallet... But the shoes are beautiful, arent they?

Stirring up old memories through music and an excellent mimic

2007-11-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

Betting to Blogging

2007-11-08T22:55:00.000-08:00

After taking a leave of 1 year from blogging, I have returned and hope to continue this for a good amount of time.. JhQuest got me to re-start blogging this time around.. It started off with a simple conversation that went from hello to "i dont buy that you dont have time to blog until the BAR Exam"..sigh.. I guess people dont buy the excuse of being busy in 3rd year of law school.. I have held true to my portion of the deal ..which doesn't go into effect until after December 18th because I cant seem to wait to get back to blogging. I have even convinced one friend and waiting to get more onto the bandwagon.. but am still waiting for JhQuest to complete his end of the deal by blogging once every week at least for a month.. lets see if he is a man of his words. =P