National “ Clean out your refrigerator day” !! (Week four post two)

Well, I did not know such day existed until now. Early this month, in our monthly community newsletter, 15^th Nov was marked as “Clean your fridge day”. Reading it I thought, it’s really sweet of them reminding us to clean our Fridge –yes the task most of us either dread of or procrastinate!

Though the origin of this day is quite unclear , some say it was a campaign for whirlpool , others say it comes just in time before the thanksgiving – wherein you would definitely need all the extra room, I personally found the idea quite innovative and decided to go ahead and participate !!

It definitely took me some time, but whatever – I really love cleaning my Fridge!!

PS: Yea, if you have not noticed until now, I have posted two posts every week for these past four weeks. And personally, I had fun doing them

Halloween After effects (week four post one)

When I brought the jar full of candies to work, the week before last, I promised to myself that those were for the kids who come for trick or treat. Well , not many kids turned up ,  so after trying my best to give away as many candies as I could to my co-workers , I am still left with almost half a jar full !!

 I guess I don’t even have to write the rest of the story. Inspite of my very strong resolve, it’s not very difficult to succumb to the sweet cravings all wrapped up beautifully.

And his is how t goes now –

I have an error – and I cannot figure out the reason – I need a candy (for the stress you see)

I have no errors – all clean – I need a candy (I need to treat myself).

The lunch was not good – I need a candy (to make up for it)

The lunch was good – I need a candy (nothing like a good meal followed by a sweet J )

And now, I need to gear up my workouts like never before!!!

Blissful Dilemma (week three post two)

Can’t wait to see my baby that won’t be delivered until end of this week... Meanwhile, ogling at this picture should do I guess #dreamy-eyes !!

Michael Kors Fulton Large Patent Shoulder Bag - Black Python

While I am waiting for this to arrive, I came across this:

Michael Kors Jet Set Medium Saffiano Travel Tote Luggage

Why, oh why, did I hurriedly order the previous one? I know I needed a black bag and no, I did not like the black in the second one!! What a misery: p! Unless I can just go ahead and order this one too – that is, if only my conscience, wallet, hubby and 2 sisters allow me too. Maybe next month during Thanksgiving? #dreamy-eyes again !!

I badly need to close this website and focus on something more important. Shoes maybe?

PS : Can I consider this as a post two of week three ? Well , I am J

San Francisco (Week three post one)

In high school morning assembly, we usually had a small quiz once a week. Out of many other questions, one question that was once asked was “Which is the city of Golden Gate? “ A bunch of guys rushed towards the stage to answer it. SFO, I murmured to myself.

Twelve years later, in the spring of 2008, I was standing on the Golden Gate Bridge flabbergasted by its beauty. Well, to be honest, the first glimpse of the Golden Gate was not that impressive I thought to myself. I felt it was overrated. Overhyped. But I was wrong after all.

After driving through the golden gate bridge and watching it over and over again, one cannot help but notice its beauty. The reddish brown - brick colored bridge not only had a significant contribution to the history of SFO development back in 1937 , but it stands strong even today as a part of the scenic US 101 connecting the SFO city to the Marin County.

After seeing the Golden gate in different seasons ,in different times of the day and night and through different vista points , I just fell in love with it and the city of San Francisco. A city that’s situated on the pacific coastal line which witnessed a rapid growth during the California Golden Rush in 1849 later to be destroyed by the big earthquake and fire in 1906. But the city’s spirit was unscathed and it managed to rapidly rebuild itself.

There are a lot of tourist attractions depending on the time you have at hand, you can plan your trip here. It is well known for obviously Golden gate bridge , the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz ,the fisherman’s wharf at the famous pier 39 which is also quite famous for its amazing seafood, Muir Woods , Sausalito (is a drive away) ,the crooked street, central square , Palace of fine arts, treasure Island. While you are in the city you should definitely take a ride in the cable cars which are one of its kinds. And if you have a sweet tooth, you should most certainly take a stop at the famous Ghirardelli square. What more , you will be welcomed with open arms in the city that’s known for its cool summers , foggy days and steep uphill streets , a city that has an assorted mix of people and cultures !!

Golden Gate Bridge from a vista point on a sunny day

Lombard Street / Crookedest Street

Bay Bridge on a cloudy day

Palace of fine Arts

Alcatraz Prison

Keepsake - Week two post two

I have always felt that a place is as beautiful as the time you have spent there...

Along with just the beauty of the place what makes some places more special are the wonderful memories we create while being there.

But this post is not about any place in particular. It’s about how you treasure the memories associated with different places?  Before, I always thought that the photographs are the best memoirs of a place and I never cared to collect any memorabilia of any place I visited. Of course I took hundreds of snaps.

But seeing M collect a souvenir of almost every place he is been to (coffee mugs with a picture of the city on it), I started collecting magnets. And in no time I kind of got hooked to it.

Yes, photographs are still the best way to relive a nice time. But then for that , I really need to open a particular folder on my HD which I don’t unless I am copying some new data etc in there ..You know what I mean right?

Whereas these magnets, they are there on my refrigerator...all the time. So I can just look at a magnet and smile to myself... right there.

Over the time, unknowingly it has now become more like a hobby – collecting the souvenirs I mean. How about you?  

But yes saying that, I do want to add that nothing can take away from the experience that eventually enriches you in a small or big way. Like the parasailing we did in Catalina Islands , or the chopper ride in the Grand Canyon , or the Insanity ride on the 102^nd floor of stratosphere in Vegas , or be it experiencing the night life in Vegas while walking on the strip street with a Margarita, or catching that first glimpse of Mount Rainier after a series of cloudy days in Seattle ,or walking besides the frozen Charles river on a snow laden Boston morning ,or welcoming your birthday on the golden gate or cutting the birthday cake on a sunset at the lake Michigan or catching the rainbow in Niagara …or walking by the river Isar in the suburbs of Munich or taking that gondola ride in the Alps or walking aimlessly in the fog with a bunch of friends and a cup of tea in Matheran  !! I bet no picture or memento can ever capture that  !!

 No doubt, these experiences are by far the best keepsakes …!!

How difficult is it to take things easy? (Week two - post one)

Friday has always been a mystery to me. Every week, I decide to do most of my weekend chores on the Friday evening itself before going to bed. Like doing the laundry, the dishes, grocery shopping for the week, cleaning etc. You think it’s impossible? But we hardly party Friday evenings so in my world that’s very much possible. But no matter how hard my resolve is, it just blows out of the window – like every Friday. Because, with it, Friday brings the mysterious energy to enjoy and relax at the same time. And before I know it, Saturday morning welcomes me with a sink full of dishes.   

But this Saturday, I chose to ignore it – just procrastinate it. With a book at hand, some “That’s 70s show “episodes running on the TV, I tried my best to relax in my recliner.

But I just couldn’t. I had to get up and clean all the mess before I could focus back on my book. The immaculate kitchen makes me feel better.

And this is, trust me, a very relaxed me. Yes, the summer break I talked about in my previous posts – was also about “taking things easy”!!

But I wasn’t always like this. If you saw me in most of my 20s, I was probably the laziest person you could have met – in a way. I could sit in a pile of clothes and study for my exam the next day, or not take shower for 2-3 days in a row – so that I get those extra 10 minutes of studies. In fact even during my Masters, it was no different. And the Chicago winters and a student life in the US did not help either. I mean you really don’t want to know how we survived. With always some or the other assignments to submit or midterms to study for, we hardly cooked, or did our dishes...or our laundry for that matter. You can just forget about how clean our comforters and the sleeping bags were.

I wonder where I got this “now” irritating habit of keeping things clean all the time – irritating because, I just CANNOT do anything else before cleaning the mess. I mean this is a transition from being Rachel to yes being Monica L !

In hindsight, I have stayed with so many roomies.. (I know, I have already mentioned it before in my posts  ...) and I have picked something or the other – good and bad - from all of them. I know though this must be a “good” habit in your dictionary, it’s really coming in my way of “taking things easy... “!

As a digression, I came across an article about the law of averages which said that we are actually the average of five people we most spend our time with. Do you think it’s possible? Are you? I think I am – to a great extent.

But then I believe we all spend different phases of our lives with different sets of people – so that means , at a given phase in life , we are an average of the five people we are most hanging out with then – at that particular time ! So at a different age, we could be an average of a whole lot of varied people. So when we say we are growing up or changing, is it actually because of the people around us – who are a different set now?

But then shouldn’t we also be the average of our own personality over the years? Ahh .. Maybe some fodder to chew on...

Just Another Day (Week one Post Two)

Just sometimes, on those rare mornings,I get up with a “not so good” feeling – for no rhyme or reason. And today’s wasone such morning… a very gloomy one at that. And I knew it wasn’t going to be avery good day either.

I had overslept through all the alarms and the snoozes.  Spilled almost half of the tea when I was away just for a split second - talk about that! Other small things like these piled on which added more to the irritation - for the lack of a better word.

Preoccupied with the thoughts associated to that unsettling feeling, while driving, I almost skipped a pedestrian signal – only to realize that an elderly woman gave me a scornful look while crossing the road on her electric wheelchair giving me a sting of guilt.

Reminding myself to focus, I reached office with a disheartened spirit.

If “not feeling good or happy”was a good enough reason to call a day off, today would have been mine.

Alas, that’s not possible in thereal world!!

Early morning hours are sometimes unusually quiet at my workplace. Usually that haunts me, but today it felt calming.As I settled myself at my desk, in no time work took charge of me. Lots of emails suggesting a lot more work at hand. And as I started working, focusing on each transistor that I was placing, I could not help but listen to the rhythmic clicking of mouse and the tapping of my own keyboard. And to my surprise, the more I focused on the work at hand, the more peaceful and cathartic I felt.

It worked like pranayam on me.Strange but true!!

And now when I look back, it dawns upon me that in all the trying times and the insanity around, it was this work in some or the other form that kept me sane.

 I wish we all could always get to do the work that we really enjoy doing!!!

  

Week one - post one !!

Ever since I got Iphone over 2 years back now, the one thing that I religiously checked every 10 minutes was – tada – Facebook, no prize for guessing that!I checked the news feed from friends, commented on their photos and status messages or posted some pics myself and commented on the comments that I got – so basically I was on FB – all.the.time!! So this summer, when I took my blog break, I also tried to stay away from facebook as much as I could. To my surprise, it was such a big relief. I started getting so much time to do other things than checking my FB page every 10 minutes. Obviously - it’s simple Math right?? But staying away from FB was not that simple.These are some of the things that I did instead :  
1. Learnt how to swim: Yes, at the ripe age of 30. Nope. I did not know how to swim until now. It’s such a shame to not know it for where I live. As a kid, I failed to learn every time I tried to.

In summer of 2010, M’s cousin’s wife gave me some introductory lessons on how to float. And I guess that was a huge learning step.

Let me give you a small example during our trip to Catalina Islands last year . Along with its lovely beaches, it’s also quite famous for the water sports activities. It was then, when I and M voluntarily decided to go snorkeling with a guided tour. We paid the fee, changed into the snorkeling gear after which I posed happily for the pictures and then – swoosh – everybody was in the waters exploring the marine life except me. I sun burnt myself waiting on the shores for M who came back but only with a rich experience. Not only did I repent wasting my bucks to see nothing but later it took almost 2 months for all that uneven tan to recede.

I tried my luck again this summer. But this time I was determined. Under M and Dad’s supervision, I took that first plunge, and only after few sessions was able to progress from floating to a few strokes holding my breath with my head inside the waters. And now I can swim the entire breadth (width) of the pool.  I know I have a long way to go , and I am not at my gracious best , but who cares , I can “officially” swim now *wink !!

2.      Beaches and more beaches: I hated going to beaches until this summer. I mean I liked to go and see the sunsets or take a stroll in the sand but that was about it. I never liked jumping with excitement with every wave in the sea and getting drenched. Last year, when we visited Laguna Beach, M was having a ball of time in the deep waters, while I stayed far away (again), on the other side of waters, clicking his pictures trying to read a book.

And by the way why wasn’t I in the waters? I hated getting wet, changing, and all the sand that sticks to your feet and wouldn’t go away.

So basically, I was left with no choice but watch the people around me having fun.

But this summer changed things. With my parents and sister here, we hit the beaches like crazy. And this time all prepared. The beach umbrella for the shade, the tarpaulin, the folding chairs the non-comodegenic sunscreen, big hats and itsy-bitsy clothing! With the swimming lessons on full swing, I have also started enjoying getting swamped by the waves. Malibu, Laguna, Newport, Aliso Veijo were just some of the beaches / waters we tested!!!!

We are officially the beach people now!! On a sunny day in California what more do you really need?

3.      Food :

For the past entire year and a half now, I have been watching out what I eat. With the help of running, zhumba and yoga and with strict portion control, I had finally lost all the weight that I wanted to. But after following this regimen quite religiously, this summer I finally gave in –for what you ask?

For the pure bliss that’s called “ma ke haath ka khana” (home made Mom cooked food). And for once, I did not think twice before gobbling down that extra puranpoli with a spoonful of homemade ghee.

Well, as much as I enjoyed hogging all the food, I have begun to regret it. Yes, all the food is showing up on me and I begin my workout routine again from today J

With coming back to blogging, I will be back to FB too and I will try my best not to check it every 10 min … ;)

Snapshot of our vacation , literally !!

Still not out of my Vacation mode , I am dedicating this post to the sporadic pictures of the trip. After all , a picture is worth a thousand words !

The view near Hoover Dam - our first stop. 

The picture says it all :) 

 The bridge joining the two states - Arizona and Nevada.

The Hoover Dam : 

 A closer look :

 The clear skies on our way to The Grand Canyon. You can see the Mohave Desert / Forest on either side :

 In the Canyon - very close to the Colorado River. They say touching the River brings in the good luck :)

The mighty muddy River says it all. The story of the Grand Canyon.

 The Sky Walk :)

 The Eagle Point :

 Guano Point - My favorite View.

 The Sun and Shadow play hide and seek creating the wonderful colors.

 Las Vegas - First Look !

 The city view from the Stratosphere Observatory.

 

You can see the "Strip" Street. Well , it doesn't look that glamorous in the day , I know !!

We had a wonderful trip. Hope you like the pics :)

Stratosphere

Yes, I am a certified insane now !! Last time, when we visited Stratosphere, Vegas, I took the Big Shot and the X-scream ride. (Well, I still believe that X-scream is one of the scariest rides I have ever been on so far). Since M loves all the roller coaster and adventure rides and I don’t want him to be alone on them...I invariably get on them.  To begin with, I used to be very very scared. Sometimes the nausea and sometimes the fear – of course what if something goes wrong.

The reason for not taking insanity then was only because it was closed which made me think, doubt all the more about that ride.

But this around, the ride was open, working and I saw many kids taking that too. So I was all geared up.

Me along with M, AB and AG all dared and got into it.  We did it successfully while K3 was recording us and K1 with her hands on her ears, trying to watch us. So they get the bravery award for seeing us take it and of course we become the “certified insane “lot.

Wiki information about Insanity Ride and other Rides on Stratosphere (which mind you, we have already taken except the Sky Jump):  

• Big Shot at 1,081 ft (329 m) is the highest thrill ride in the world.
• Insanity, opened in 2005, at 900 ft (270 m) is the second highest thrill ride in the world; it dangles riders over the edge of the tower and then spins in a circular pattern at approximately forty miles per hour
• Sky Jump Las Vegas, a controlled descent, Bungee jumping-like ride that will allow riders to plummet 855 ft (261 m) attached to a high speed, descent wire.^[6] Sky Jump opened on April 20, 2010.
• X-Scream at 866 ft (264 m) is the third highest thrill ride in the world

 Watch out for the video here:  

The Video is taken by K3 (Queenie as we all know her :) )

When your neck / back / ankle pains

When do you know that you have become the perfect example of staying alone independently ?

-        When you can very tactfully swoosh the big flying cockroach away from a wall in your apartment .. Trust me ..it wasn’t that easy.  

Sorry I digressed.  

Well .. I am back after a short break from the blogoshere :)

Reason for the break ? Well –Did you ever suffer from a neck sprain ? What about back pain ? How about a pain in the ankle and toe ? Now add that all together – that’s what had happened L unfortunately to me. I was pretty sure that I might have broken something up – inside of me – bones / discs I mean !

A couple of sittings with a  chiropractor and a Docs appointment resolved my queries though. Its due to excessive computer usage – well in obviously a not so good posture.

The lessons learnt for the entire experience :

1.      Take breaks often if you are on your computer / laptop all the time.

2.      Stretch regularly.

And most importantly -

3.      Don’t draw conclusions after searching for symptoms on the internet.

I know they all sound quite obvious but we do tend to ignore them.

Also, here are few easy tips to know how you have / don’t have the following  ( as per my doc)

1.      Cervical spondylosis : Rotate your neck from left to right  (and the other way round) and if you feel as if some current is passing down your arm – you should definitely see a doc as it might be one of the very strong symptoms.

2.      Lumbar spondylosis / Herniated disc :  Lie down flat on your back. Swing one leg up in the air slowly. If this motion causes an excruciating pain in the back –know that there is something you need to worry about.

3.      plantar fasciitis: When you get up in the morning and feel immense pain in the heel when you put down your feet on the floor. The pain is too bad and you cannot really walk but subsides as you keep on walking as the day progresses then buckle up for the ankle exercises.

4.      Sciatica :  If you have unbearable pain / pinching point in your buttocks and can feel the current / tickling sensation passing down your feet , you should go and get it checked.

Some minor lifestyle alterations should go a long way.

These are just the quick points for reference. You should anyway always see a doctor and not delay if you are in any sort of pain or discomfort which is unusual or unbearable.

As they say, prevention is always better than cure.

Stay healthy, Stay happy.

Blame it on my Masters !!!

What does studying in the US (especially MS) does to you –

I stopped drinking tea after coming to the US after first 15 days or so. Reason – Who would get up , make the tea and then wash the utensil ? And then the cup? Isnt drinking coffee or milk much less painful ? So goes tea out of the routine and in comes coffee (very bad for health I know, and now I have stopped drinking it ) and Bournvita. Pour the milk in the cup, Keep the cup in the Microwave . Done ! Afterwork –Just wash the cup. Or which you need not until next day morning. *wink*

Well , now after being married for about year and a half .. (yes though me and M meet only on the weekends)and one more heads up -  M really needs his tea. Our usual Saturday morning conversation would be :

Me : Do you need tea really ? ..(still in the bed )

M : yes ..!!

Me : Cant you make it this time ? (As if I make it everytime)

M : I have to make it daily when I am staying alone on the weekdays (emotional blackmail) ..

Me : (I really don’t buy that ) Ok fine. But you have to make it next time and tomorrow !!

After about 10 minutes :

M: Are you still sleeping ?

Me : Do you really need tea ?? …

Height of Laziness … ??? I know :)