A belated Diwali Post

Last week, we celebrated Diwali!! Yes , I know this post is coming little very late given that Diwali is more than over – in every time zone now J but hey , I was busy celebrating it last week .

This was my fifth Diwali in a row away from home i.e. India… and third with M.  For just three years, it actually feels wonderful that we have almost a set tradition of ours.  We try our best to emulate the Diwali feel from back home. This year we were even lucky to get a pre-ordered homemade faral just before Diwali which included Chakli and Shev.

The home was all decked up the weekend before Diwali. While M put up the lights , I made the puja arrangements. Wearing our best outfits , we offered our prayers to goddess laxmi and celebrated paadwa the next day.

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Diwali J

And wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving ….  !!!

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...