Some days just start out weird. Case in point was today. I had my makeup on bright and early and I was going out my normal routine of brewing coffee for the show and reading through all my scripts. I got out my trusty water kettle and had just filled it to the brim and was walking to put it out on set when……BAM and down I went. Apparently someone had left a wet mess by one of our plasma monitors and I didn’t even see it coming. I slipped bad and next thing I knew my elbow had banged hard against the wall and a sticky mess of coffee was dripping down an entire section of hair. Now we are talking about 15 minutes before the show!

I ran to the bathroom and inspected my elbow which was red and scuffed but didn’t appear to be life threatening the hair however was another story. I spent the rest of the two hour show helplessly trying to make it look normal by running my fingers through it to separate the strands but they were just a clumpy mess that stayed that way all day.

The only silver lining was that I smelled like java all day. One day I would love to write a book about the life of a television anchor. I have some pretty entertaining tales to tell

Posted under January 2012

This weekend really didn’t feel like much of a weekend at all. I went out with some friends on Friday night and then drove to Minneapolis on Saturday and drove back the VERY SAME day. The good part was that I got some of the food for my upcoming party from my mom. She is so sweet. She spent hours cooking it for me and then told me I could tell my guests that I made it

I don’t plan to do that not only because it’s not true but also because the rest of it will taste so bland and bad in comparision that I think they will be on to me anyways. This week is going to be beyond busy as every single day I will be party planning and running around. I am excited but getting more nervous daily. It didn’t help that a friend came over and said “How will you fit so many people in your place?” which is my biggest fear! One good thing is that my neighbor Don came over and replaced all the burned out light bulbs in my place and helped me hang a mirror in my bathroom. That’s one big stress off my back. He is also going to come over the day of the party and help me put ice in the two big decorative drink holders they loaned me. I am so lucky to have them living close by ..such a great help!

Fingers crossed that everything goes well! I will keep you all updated and post pictures after it’s all said and done.

Posted under January 2012

My first response when someone asks me is usually to say Minnesota. I was born in Saint Paul and spent most of my childhood in Minnetonka where my parents still reside. However when I answer with this I usually get a quizzical look like I have not answered the whole question. I am going to clear it up once and for all

My last name is an unusual one and I get many questions about that as well. Chughtai’s can be traced back to Genghis Khan. He had four sons one of which was named Chaghadai. Thus that is where it all started and we are decendents from him.

You may also have heard of Abdur Rehman Chughtai. Most do not know him but he was a influential painter who was known for his “Chughtai” style of art. He was born around the turn of the century in 1899 and is my mother’s uncle. After the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, he came to be known as the national artist of Pakistan. My mom’s brother now paints much in his same style and my parents collect much of his original artwork.

That is probably much more than you ever wanted to know about me but there it is Have a wonderful day!

A Painting By Abdur Rehman Chughtai

Posted under January 2012

The party is inching closer and my sanity is inching closer to the breaking point. I have so much to do before the party which is next weekend and all sorts of details need to get worked out. Now I have another dilemma. My mom has kindly offered to cook a few dishes for me to serve my guests. I am very tempted to take her up on her delicious offer however that means I need to drive to Minnetonka this weekend leaving me even less time to prepare for the party. Or I could stay here and get party stuff done but be without my mom’s delicious food. Oh the dilemma

Even as I write this I chuckle a bit at the fact that I am weary of driving ALL the way to the Twin Cities. It wasn’t long ago that I had to hop a plane in my few weeks of vacation time whenever I wanted to see my family. As a matter of fact my best friend would lecture me about never taking any vacation time to do anything for myself because I would use it all to come home and see the fam. Now I can hop in my car and drive home in a few short hours. The difference just a few short months can make in your life is amazing.

I am not without help though. Several people at work have offered to help me cook and prepare and most of all my WONDERFUL neighbors are loaning me tables and chairs to furnish my still sparse duplex. I hope I don’t embarrass them but I must write a bit about them. Since the first week I moved in they have been my faithful friends in this transition. One day after unloading several heavy boxes from IKEA and feeling especially down about not having any friends here I heard a knock on my door. It was my neighbor Don with an easy smile and an offer to come over later and help me put my furniture together. I thought surely he must be kidding but sure enough a few days later him and his brother came by to fix up everything I needed. Later that day his wife Linda brought me some cupcakes to welcome me to the neighborhood.

They have helped me in so many ways including moving furniture, pointing me in the right direction to anything I might need and Don even comes over and cleans off my driveway when the snow hits. They regularly check in with me to make sure I am doing okay and I cannot tell you how much more welcome it’s made me feel in the Cedar Valley!

I am so blessed to have them nearby whenever I need something. I just feel safer having them here and they are the true meaning of what a good neighbor should be like. In fact Don wrote me an email just this morning saying “Don’t worry a bit about the party..we are going to make sure you have everything you need”

Blessed? Indeed!

Don and Linda Blau-- Wonderful Neighbors and Friends

Posted under January 2012

My mom is back from Pakistan after being there over a month and I finally got the chance to talk to her today. She told me about her awful flight back and how she sat in the plane for 15 hours straight! Some sort of mix up caused her to not be checked into her connecting flight which caused even more headaches. Imagine having to lug four suitcases around an airport trying to figure out why you were not on the connecting flight list when you are already tired and exhausted. Poor mom.

The good news is that we all get our mom back! Yesterday I was mass texting with my dad and sister and discussing how much we missed her. It’s amazing how our house cannot function without her. When the whole family was gone (dad and sister came back a few weeks before her) I was responsible for my younger brother Robby. Trying to play parents three hours away was beyond stressful. Even though he is 17 he is still the baby of the family and this was the first time he was going to be home all alone for weeks at a time. He had strict instructions to text me daily before he went to basketball practice and before he went to bed so I knew he was safe. For the most part he was very good about it and I didn’t have to worry too much. When I went home to visit one weekend he had turned the house upside down! Dishes were piled up and he hadn’t even touched all the food my mom left him. As I started in on the dishes he got a stern lecture about being responsible Before I left I took him to the grocery store where we stocked up on all the things he needed much of which included vanilla coke and chips. Boys will be boys!

Poor Robby has to deal with four parents instead of two. My sister and I pretty much raised him since we have such a vast age difference and he gets his fair share of each of us having a say in what we expect out of him. I think my mom was more worried about Robby when she was in Pakistan over anything. When I talked to her she was already making some of his favorite dishes and talking about getting the house back in order. I am so glad she is back. Our family is not the same without her!

The Chughtai Family!

Posted under January 2012

The irony of life is that if you give it enough time it will all make sense. The sad part is that you spend a lot of your time trying to make sense of the troubles, heartaches and frustrations but if you give it time you will usually find an answer. Whenever I find myself stuck in a situation or difficult life event, I try to see the big picture. I try and tell myself that eventually this will all figure itself out. This of course is a lot easier said than done.

Case in point for me would be moving to Iowa. When I was going through the stress of moving and the sadness of leaving friends behind I couldn’t see beyond my immediate feelings. I only felt the confusion and constantly questioned my decision. Now three months later I can see things in a completely different light. Now I see that coming here was a wonderful thing for me. I can see how healthy this move was for me personally and professionally. I had a lot of difficult nights. Lots of tears and lots of self reflection. One question plagued me constantly. Am I doing the right thing?

When I boarded the plane to come to Minneapolis from Eugene I felt sick to my stomach. I even had several viewers come to the airport to see me off. What was I doing leaving the comfort of a place where everything felt so right? As I sat in the plane my heart started racing and the enormity of the situation hit me. I had two options–to stay and continue to live in comfort with little growth in a place where I was quite happy OR take a risk and see what would happen. The risk won.

Now everyday I see more of the big picture. I am meeting people who are becoming closer daily. I am able to see my family whenever I want and I have a job that challenges me and is making me a stronger anchor daily. Do I see the whole picture of why I am here yet? No..but I have nothing but faith that I will in time and I cannot wait to see what happens.

Posted under January 2012

Am I the only one who has a near panic attack when it comes to planning a party?

I am excited to be throwing a get together for some of the new friends I have met in my short time here in Iowa and I cannot wait to play hostess. It’s so fun to be able to plan details and make sure your guests have a fantastic experience! BUT then comes the over-thinking. Is my place too small? Will people be bored? Will I have enough food? I try to think of this as a good thing that I am thinking so much because it shows that I care but it’s also driving those close to me crazy. Case in point–my sister who has had to hear about the details multiple times a day for what seems like forever. Finally in a fit of exasperation she said to me “It’s going to be FINE! I promise!”

Party planning runs in my family. My parents have always had wonderful get together’s while we were growing up. My mom would cook for days getting ready and make more food than was ever needed. She would obsess about cleaning and making sure we had enough dishes and desserts to tempt every palate. My sister has taken her love of planning and started her own event planning business in Minneapolis. She plans elaborate weddings and corporate events for companies and she loves every minute of it. What’s not so fun is the boxes and bags of chair covers and linens that fill my parents home to the brim until she can find a storage unit I guess you can say entertaining runs in the family. I am nowhere near as good of a cook as my mom but I am going to try my hand at some Pakistani dishes. As long as I don’t burn the place or make things too spicy I think it will be fine. But what if it’s awful? What if people get food poisoning? What if…what if….. (ok I will stop)  :)

Well I am off to do more obsessing and party planning. As my sister said today–worst case scenario you can always order pizza. !

Here is a shot from the Chughtai Family Annual Halloween Bash we throw each year

Posted under January 2012

A first for me today! I got asked to be a bridesmaid! I am super excited especially since both the bride and groom are very good friends of mine and I cannot wait to make the day as special as possible. I have had lots of good friends get married but in Pakistani culture our weddings don’t have bridesmaids and so this will be very different for me. Pakistani weddings start celebrating months in advance. The actual wedding itself goes on for about a week with many different festivities during the course of the event.  In a Pakistani wedding the bride usually wears red instead of white and lots of elaborate jewels. Sometimes the wedding dress can cost upwards of 40-thousand dollars and that’s not in addition to the diamonds and gold the brides wear. The actual saying of the vows is called a “Nikkah” ceremony and after that you are officially married. Bridal customs have always been very interesting to me and I love learning about the different ways to tie the knot. In fact my parents just returned from Pakistan where they attended the wedding of my cousin. Here is a picture of her on her special day. Isn’t she gorgeous?

My cousin on her wedding in Lahore, Pakistan

Let the bridesmaid festivities begin. One can only hope I don’t trip, fall or spill something on myself but knowing me–that’s probably inevitable. I will keep you all updated!

Posted under January 2012

Throughout my life I have always made friends quite easily. It wasn’t so much the case when I was a little girl. In fact I was very shy growing up and had only a few close friends in high school. Throughout the years as my confidence in myself has grown so has my ability to talk to people and form close, deep friendships. The sad part about this business that I love is forming those friendships and then always knowing that one day I would have to leave. This was hardest when I left Eugene. I had reached a point where I knew that on my hardest days I could always pick up the phone and have somebody who would listen. I had a ritual when I got to work in Eugene where I would put my stuff away and first walk down to the weather center and fill in my best friend and co-anchor Seth about my day. I always knew no matter what he had my back. (the picture is me with Seth and Kelly)

Another close friend of mine Kelly Koopmans also worked with me. We spent many of my last weeks in Eugene spending every waking moment together. These were good times and times that I will cherish forever. Now that I am in a new state I am also making many new friends along with way. I have to keep reminding myself that it takes time to form deep relationships with people and that it doesn’t and cannot happen overnight. True friendships are formed through many memories and experiences together.  I read an article when I came here that was telling. It stated that when you move to a new place “showing up is 80% of the battle”..I tend to agree. Now whenever I am invited to do something even if I don’t really want to go I tell myself that it’s a chance to learn something or meet someone new. I have already met so many amazing people and it’s also exciting to meet a whole new batch of friends. What was that saying in Girl Scouts that I learned so long ago? Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.

Cheesy? Sure. But it’s true.

Call your friends and keep in touch!

Posted under January 2012

Sometimes in the most busy and regular of days, something happens that changes your perspective on everything. Such was the day today when a member of our dear KWWL family had a parent pass away. I don’t think it matters how old you are or how sick they were, losing a parent is something that means things are never quite the same.  I consider myself fortunate that I have never had to deal with a major death in my family but seeing someone else go through it can be almost as painful. It makes me realize how much we must cherish every moment we have with our loved ones. Sometimes days go by where I forget to call my best friends or life gets too busy to take a moment to reach out and then it hits you–life is too short. When I got home I called up my parents, my friends and so many people who I love to just touch base. Why don’t you take this moment to do the same. I have had so many people touch my life is remarkable ways. I sometimes wonder if they know just how much they mean to me. I am going to make it a point to take the time and let people know that they matter. Why wait?

Posted under January 2012