It’s getting towards the end of the first year at UCLA school of Anderson where I’m part of the Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA) program. Being in a FEMBA program is like having a second job takes up every available moment I have outside of my day job. Studying is like the water that seeps into and fills every available crack when poured on the ground.

But currently I’m one week into what is a five week vacation at UCLA. It’s like having only one job just like everybody else, at it feels really good. Simple things going for a jog or playing with NanuCoder don’t make me feel guilty about not studying. For the next few days I can come home and spend time with my parents rather hitting the books. I now pronounce this the summer of joy!

(Editor’s note: This post was written by S, who as you shall see, put in a lot of thought, time and energy into making the birthday party not only different but also memorable.)

“We should eat organic, because why should we have fun and not the earth?” I read this on the organic spinach box at a local grocery store. And it was then that I decided to do an eco-friendly party for Nanucoder’s first birthday.

My friends commented “Why now? Why do it on your kid’s first birthday? You can do it later when he grows up.”  Admittedly I was daunted with the idea of a party with kids and 30+ adults without the many conviniences that single use plastic products provide. But it was a personal challenge for me. I was not going to celebrate my kid’s birthday by leaving him a giant swirling garbage patch.

I started by reading up a few blogs of Mommies who did eco-friendly parties for their kids. Through their blogs I found this great site Stubby Pencil Studio where I could find a lot of cool and green, yet not so expensive party supplies. Kate, the owner of this site, also sent some free goodies with my order, to accommodate my venture. Also, I had a lot of help from M (M is family friend) in doing the decorations.

Invitations:
This was a no-brainer. We simply used evites, emails and the traditional phone calls.

Decorations:
We decided to make most of the decorations ourselves. The intention was if we put in enough effort to make the decorations, it will incentivize me to save it and reuse it. So M and I made this Happy Birthday banner from scratch! (Never thought I would say that about something that’s not food). We cut them, stuck them, painted them and strung them.

Then I used Nanucoder’s baby socks, which he had grown out of, and strung them up in a Christmassy fashion.

I bought a festive flag, made of cloth from Stubby Pencil. It added a lot of color and ran all across the room. I admit this was an expensive item. (And the fact that it came from Holland, not so green. But again a great reason to reuse.)

I also got some great decoration ideas from this website. So M made the boats using the paper from some old magazines and I wrapped them with crepe paper. She also made some colorful fishes (For some kids at my party, this was the most attractive thing, because they got to pick the fish they wanted to take back home.)

Cake:
I dint want to go to a very high-end bakery and get an expensive cake and at the same time, the local bakeries that I went to decorated the cakes with plastic toys. I went to 3 different Cake shops and they all turned me down. I had to either select from the custom designs (= plastic toys) or choose a plain cake. But I wanted a pretty cake! Finally, a really sweet manager at the Ralph’s bakery agreed to do an Under-the-Sea theme with plants, fishes and octopus. And all this with just icing, no plastic toys, and voila!

Party favors:
For the goodies, I bought some wooden toys, crayons and stainless steel water bottles from Stubby Pencil. For the goody bags, we wrapped the gifts with brown and colored paper that I had saved from some previous gifts.

Tableware:
We borrowed some plates, bowls, steel forks and spoons from friends. But I couldn’t avoid using paper cups and napkins. Since we had a lot of kids at the party, I dint want people leaving their glasses around and breaking them. (If anyone has better ideas about that, please leave a comment)

Food:
This was a major setback. I ordered falafels, hummus, pita chips and pita bread from a local Mediterranean restaurant. The food was really good, but the restaurant owner dint really share my vision. My husband took some containers the day before the party, from home, in which he could deliver the hummus. But the restaurant owner was more like the presentation guy, and he instead sent 15 orders of hummus, each in a different plastic container. Yikes! (Note to self for next time; make sure you deal with a restaurateur who appreciates the effort you are taking.)

So all in all, it went well. And I am happy that I at least tried. This was indeed a very fulfilling event of my life. A special thanks to M! It wouldn’t have been so wonderful without your help.

(More pics)

(Editors’ note: This post was to go live three weeks ago,  on the night before my first day of FEMBA classes at UCLA Anderson. In my excitement I forgot to hit the publish button, a fact that I did not realize until today.)

Imagine a diver walking to the edge of the springboard and getting ready to jump. With each step his mind races to a thousand different places. He thinks about how much this chance means to him, the scarifies people made to get him there, about his practice routines. Each step increases the intensity of the pounding in his chest. Soon months of preparation will make way for performance.

Tonight I am the diver. Tomorrow is the first day of classes at UCLA FEMBA. Going back to school is a huge financial and personal commitment. But how often is life do you know that the next day is going to be the start of something new, something so powerful that it will change your life in countless ways.

A deep breath, push of the legs and …..

I am excited to announce that I have been accepted for the Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA) program at the Anderson School of Business at UCLA. I will start attending classes this fall.

Although now just a blur, the last few weeks have been the most hectic of my life. The strong academic reputation and ranking of the program attracts a lot of applications and hence  it commands a high GMAT (around 700) along with a strong application. When I got the go ahead for the MBA from work shortly before I returned from India in April I had 5 weeks to the application deadline. Ideally 6 months are required to write four essays, prepare for and score well on the GMAT, get two recommendations and complete the entire application.

I knew I had my work cut out but nothing could have prepared me for what was about to come. Writing introspective essays is tough as it is without the additional pressure of meeting a very short deadline. GMAT requires huge amount of unwavering concentration which I found was impossible because of the jet lag. Add to it a 8 month old baby and a full time job and the situation seemed to be a lost cause.

With just three weeks remaining I confessed to S that I did not believe that I would make the deadline. But although I was ready to give up, she was not. She promptly volunteered to run the entire household by herself. I found hot food on the table at dinner time, freshly laundered clothes in the closet, Nanu Coder was taken care of and the house was kept immaculately clean. She abstracted away all non essential work so that I could concentrate solely on application. She worked harder than me and at times it seemed that the MBA meant more to her than me.

On 26th of May after spending most of my waking hours on the application I finally clicked the submit button. Then began the hourly exercise of checking the application website and my email inbox for admission decision. Fortunately the suspense did not last long and on the 3rd of June Dylan Stafford (the admissions director) called with the good news.

I know that the hurdle I’ve crossed is only the first one and it’s only going to lead to bigger and more difficult ones, but I feel relieved and cannot wait to get started.

Day 4 (03/01/2010): The Fight Club, originally uploaded by Lukkha Coder.

I have yet to watch this DVD I got as a gift from my brother over 2 years ago. It does not help that I do not have a DVD player. I am the only one I know who doesn’t have one.

This is day 4 of the 7 day Project 7 challenege

Day 03 (02/28/2010): The Summer of Pottery, originally uploaded by Lukkha Coder.

These were made by S two summers back when she took a pottery class. I love how talented she is. I’ve wanted to photograph them for a while now but I didn’t have a lens that could do justice to them.

Today, Syracuse beat Villanova in front of a record crowd of 34,616. I wish I could have been there. When the crowd gets involved the Carrier Dome can be a once in a lifetime experience.
Although it’s been 6 years since I graduated from SU, I still remember the thrill of watching Carmelo in the Carrier dome, as Syracuse won it all in 2003.

Day 1 (02/26/2010): Morning without a son, originally uploaded by Lukkha Coder.

I miss S and NanuCoder very much, since they’ve gone to India for a vacation. The house seems cold and deserted without them. Every small thing around the house reminds me of them.
This is the Wilshire skyline as seen from my bedroom. Even the sun decided to skip us this morning.
This photo is part of the Project 7 challenge.

Project 365 is in a challenge where a photographer is in a challenge with himself to click, process, upload and write about one photo everyday for a year. It’s a daunting task because,

1. It takes discipline to carry your camera around everywhere.
2. It takes discipline to commit your time and stick to this challenge.
3. It forces you to learn the tools required for post processing. (I use Adobe Lightroom).
4. It forces you to develop the post processing workflow that works for you.
5. It forces you to leave your comfort zone and learn new techniques.
6. It forces you to be creative, or your photos look repetitive, bland and boring.

I’m planning on taking a “slightly” shorter version and do it for 7 days (Project 7). I hope to use my Canon T1i and my new Canon EF Lens – 50 mm – F/1.8 lens. If successful I’ll try to keep going as  long as I can. Stay tuned.

Last month I turned 30 celebrated my 30th birthday. Unlike the last few years, the presence of Nanu Coder and my mom made it special. S thought it would be fitting (and fun) to usher in what is supposed to be the best decade of my life, by celebrating the arrival kiddie style. She organized a party where the menu read: pav bhaji, wafers, ice cream cake and Pepsi. Decorations included “Happy Birthday” captioned balloons, and the entertainment included yours truly receiving birthday bumps. It really cannot get any more retro than this for an Indian who was a kid in the 80’s.