Reasons to smile

#1 Your 2-year old niece talks to you on the phone and even says "love you" back!

#2 You take your eyes off the Zumba instructor for about 30 seconds and still manage to stay in sync.

#3 After feeling tired for countless days, suddenly you don't want to collapse into bed as soon as you see one!

#4 A boring book suddenly takes an interesting turn!

#5 Going to a mustache party and have your hubby comment - "You look like Bhagat Singh".

#6 Going to a mustache party!

#7 The house is relatively clean, but even when and if it's not (like right now), not letting it bother you, cos you can always do it tomorrow!

#8 Going shopping for clothes and finding something you like on the first trial.

#9 Friends. And M. And most of the family ;)

#10 Being able to subscribe to 3 magazines for just $4 (and 600 miles)! Not being able to contain yourself till you start getting them!

Taking stock

I made a list of things to accomplish in my 10 day holiday, (which is now very very sadly coming to an end) and I want to thank the blogosphere, cos if it weren't for the fear of losing face in front of the blog world, I wouldn't have done even one of these. But I am proud to say that I was able to cross off a lot in this list. Let's see shall we?

1. Sew the button on M's jacket, fix the zipper on it too
It took me only 8 months and 15 minutes to finally do this!

2. Find and install a "devghar"
I was hoping to go to Target and get a small shelf to hang under the kitchen cupboards, but that never happened!

3. Buy a new mattress
Went to ikea and bought one, and also a new comforter (and a bunch of other stuff ;))

4. Finally donate the stack of books set aside to be donated a few months ago
Hopefully soon!

5. Finish painting letter 'S' and hang it somewhere
This too!

6. Figure out a way to DIY frames for inspirational cards I've been collecting, and find a place to hang them
Bought frames from ikea, cos they are so darn cheap there, and hung them too. The cards say - "Be Colorful", "It's a world of possibilities" and "Be Bright". All of these are marketing cards from AT&T, Vera Bradley, that I have been saving to frame and hang some inspiration around the home! I finally decided to hang them in the bedroom over the drawers.

This last one was a greeting card of some sort. It has Ganesha face on it, that I hung in kitchen! :)

7. Vaccum the entire house (yes, it's been a couple of weeks since I did that :( )
Done!

8. Craiglist some extra furniture lying around the house
Now just waiting for buyers to pour in!

9. Sleep a lot
I kind of went above and beyond on this one ;)


10. Go to the library and borrow some books and finish reading them
I cheated on this a lil bit, I borrowed from the digital libary, so didn't technically "go" anywhere and still reading the books -

11. Hang a clock in every room
I tried to do this one, and could not find the spare clocks I thought I had :(


12. Watch episodes of "The Dewarists"
I was too busy doing number 9 most of the time, never got to this one..haha


I did some other stuff too, that was not on my list - 
- Threw a New Year's Eve party at my place complete with the decorations and party hats!
- Made a photo wall for "the year that was" as a tribute to the first year of my marriage that ended yesterday (the first year, not the marriage). Yes, my anniversary is on January 1st. There are photos for each month signifying what we did that month. Everyone was really amused with it in the party!

- Celebrated my anniversary, by going to a nice Moroccan restaurant where we enjoyed - delicious food, some awkward moments cos a belly dancer came and danced at each table (mostly on my part, M & the dancer seemed very comfortable) and some mind-blowing music! We also went to a fondue place to enjoy some molten chocolate dipped goodies! During the day we enjoyed a 3-hour Siesta after partying till late the previous night! 
Sidenote - When I told one of my friends, she seemed disappointed with how we spent our day. I asked her, what did you think we would do, bunjee-jumping, and she said yea, something more exciting than dinner. Ahhh, the naivety of being single ;)
This is us, ready to go out and have fun - 

And here's the amazing belly dancer teaching me some moves - 

That's all from me to account for the holidays and the new year. All in all, I think they were very well spent! How was the new year's eve and the new year for you?

Happy New Year!

I did not want to make any resolutions this year. They don't last for me. I make lists and forget about them. Remember I made the list of things to do in the 10 days holiday. I haven't done even half of them! But I did do some other things, so why bother making more lists to not stick to. Instead I only have a few wishes!

Here's to a healthy and happy year! Have fun guys, see you next year!

Weird alert

Before I get into that - Merry Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend :)

And now for the actual post. So, I saw a random tag going around the Blogosphere and decided to pick it up! The tag is to list weirdest things about your other half (I like to think I'm the better of the two halves, hence the use of "other". I tried to think of ways to put this in less boastful sounding statement, but then again why hide the real me from you. Our (you-blog world and me) relationship is based on trust and the truth is - sometimes I show-off).

Thankfully, M won't be doing this tag, cos I bet he will have more weird things on me, than I have on him (Like - she is strangely delusional about how awesome she is).

I think the original tag was just listing facts, and somewhere along the way "weirdest" got added to it. I am fine with it either way! ;)

Anyway, enough chit-chat. Here we go -
1. M can break into the most random songs that he is the lyricist as well as the composer of. Like yesterday, I was mad at him and after some back and forth on the peace treaty, he went into the kitchen to heat up frozen Rotis for us and promptly broke into a - "She really hates me right noooooow....but she really loves meeeee...so what should I dooooo". I sat outside listening to it, trying not to laugh. This is not the first time, in the span of 3 years I have heard counless such compositions, that make no sense and range from cute to super annoying.To me that's really weird...Who does that?

2. M doesn't know how to tie his shoelaces. Or to be more specific, how to tie his shoe laces for one of the shoes. I swear, every time we are walking to some place just one of his shoe's laces will come undone every 5 minutes.

3. M is super scared of canines. Even little puppies.

4. He looks different in every photograph. Not kidding. If I go back to see his pictures for the 3.5 years we have been together, I cannot find one picture that looks the same as the other. My friends and parents had a hard time picturing what he looks like before they met him cos his pictures are so drastically different.

5. Crazy fan of SRK. Like worse than even teenage girls are for Twilight. He was excited for Don 2 for more than a year I think. I am afraid to watch the movie with him, in case he squeals in excitement when SRK first appears.

And now I will go and hide somewhere until M can forget that I "exposed" him so openly to the blog world. In my defense, I was feeling lazy and couldn't think of anything else to write about! I am sure everyone has already done this tag, but if you have not, feel free to pick it up! I would love to read it...

PS: Yesterday, we took a trip to ikea and I snapped pictures of some cool ideas! Will share them with you very soon!

I want to remember every moment

Dear Husband,

I want to remember every moment of my life with you. I probably won't. I will probably only remember the special few, but I don't want to forget yesterday evening's everydayness, that I keep wanting to go back to.

You did not want me to drive to work, cos I was not feeling well. You thought I wouldn't be able to drive back. I wasn't so sure myself. I went anyway, and when I reached work I knew I wasn't feeling up to driving back in the evening. I asked you to take a train, 20 miles outside the city to come meet me and drive us both home. You said yes, without a moment's hesitation. And we had the best time. We went to your favorite Indian Restaurant. I like the food there, but the service always manages to drive me nuts. As it did yesterday, when the waiter told us we were ordering too much food for two people - Mirchi Bhajji, Uttapam, Daal Tadka, Goat Biryani, and Lassi. Okay, I agree, it was too much food, it always is. But I don't like to be told that. But you did not even care, and we got into our usual discussion about who is right - me or you! The restaurant was playing old hindi songs on the TV and we watched them together, sitting on the same side of the table. Me singing along the songs and you saying things that I did not know how to respond to, so I just sat there amused.

We had useless discussions about work, what kind of people are good dancers, gossiped about our family, and friends. It was hilarious. I had the best time. The drive that seems to go on forever everyday, got over too soon with you. And I am afraid, our life will pass me by too quickly in your company, and I won't even notice. Well, I guess that's the whole point. But at least I know I will have a good time. Life will keep throwing curveballs, and we will keep going through ups and downs. And, I am glad I will have you by my side, through everything. And I know you will always be there to drive me home.

Love,
Just same ol' me

Mushy-feely

Have you seen the movie "Up"? Who hasn't, right?

Two clips of the movie that make me feel all mushy, and "awwww" -

Movie's DVD on my wish list for Christmas, New Year's and/or Anniversary (It's Jan 1st). I am working on posts for the wedding, and the trip to Hawaii (the 'moon)...All of it is coming soon ;) (see how I rhymed that?)

Till then, see these videos to know what M & I look like in my head (M does have the exact same nose, and obviously I am hundred times better looking than the real life me). Sometimes it's fun to think in cartoons! Try it!

Breathe and re-boot

Sometimes life tends to be at a standstill. At such times, I try to keep it moving. And sometimes, it moves so fast, there's only enough time to breathe and run with it. What was I up to for so long? Just trying to breathe and run as fast as I could. And then I realized, I may never stop running long enough to write a post, or two. So here I am, running and writing and breathing and attempting to re-boot my blog.

Now that I have the philo-crapo-sophy out of my system, let's talk about what I have been up to? Lets see? Bullet points?

• Started a new job more than a year ago, roughly around the time I took a break from writing. Blinked and realized, more than a year has gone by.
• Got married. 
• Almost closing in the first year of my marriage. (Side note - It's not as easy as people make it seem)
• Took a trip to Hawaii (Highlight of my year, definitely. It really is heaven on earth. Post on that, soon)
• Took my parents to NYC, Washington DC, Niagara Falls. (Me = Proud)
• Took my parents-in-law to San Fran. (Love that city)
• I grew up. No really. I did. How you ask? (Ok nobody really did, but I will tell you anyway) - I manage a household by myself now (with help from M). And no, it's not always smooth sailing. I "decorate" and do "nesting" stuff, like clean, re-arrange furniture, hang wall art etc. I have started to learn to try to manage my money. 

Of course, there are so many details that I am leaving out, so as to not bore any of my fans out there. I know you guys have been holding thy breath everyday! You can relax now, this blog will probably survive. I hope. (Who am I kidding? IS ANYONE STILL HERE?? *holds her breath, and waits for a comment*)

And here's a picture from Hawaii. To make this post interesting.

Profound thought for the day!

And you bettah hear me cuz it don't hit me everyday sistah!

Ok so now that that's out of my system. Phew. Anyway, it hit me in the shower, just like all great ideas do...based on my day today - You cannot keep waiting for the right moment to take the plunge. Like you cannot keep saying I am going to do it(whatever it is that you want to do) when I have a new house, enough money, more friends etc.You just have to go ahead and do it. Take the plunge. Dive into it. Immerse yourself. You know, get the picture? And no I'm not talking about swimming here. (Gotcha!)

And yes, I know what you're thinking (I can read minds). This? I already know this? What's new in that? Well I'll tell you what's new. Nothing really. I just wanted to remind everyone who reads this today/tonight.
Go. For. It. No matter how big or small .

(Although I would suggest start with small. Also this blog and it's author are in  no way responsible for the ill consequences of this advice, even though we are open to receiving gratitude. In cash.)

Seriously. Do it. Also, here are some steps on how to "go for it" -
Step 1: Figure out what it is that you want to go for.
Step 2: Think of consequences that might affect this blog or it's author.
Step 3: If there's anything that you thought of in step 2, goto Step 1.Else goto Step 4.
Step 4: Go for it.

If you want more redundant algorithms on how to go for it, please contact the author. (It will cost you.)

Later!

PS: Seriously, Go for it! :)

Getting older, dreams, wedding...Life!

I had a funny lil dream last night. I was at my engineering college reunion. There were boys there too somehow, even though my college is all-girls. But that's not the point. The point is, all girls were crying cos one of my friends (who is now married for 2 years) wrote a speech about how difficult life is after marriage. And of course I missed the speech, since I reached there late (I reach late most of the places, it's a disease, I'm a victim!), but got this gist when I reached. In my dream.

I woke up laughing. But obviously I had to dissect it under a microscope. Why did I get this dream? Why? Is it because I am scared of getting married? Maybe. See I am not even sure where I am going with this information here. But I guess I just wanted to put it out there. In case someone knows a cure. And while you're at it, I would also like to know how to get it up for my own wedding stuff like - mehendi, make-up, jewellery, saris.

On an aside, these days I keep thinking about how old I am getting(25!). And how it's changing me. Just the other day I was looking into the mirror and getting the famous "I'm so ugly" syndrome. But soon enough I checked myself. I reminded myself that i am 25 and not 16 anymore. I need to be more confident and comfortable with myself. Obviously this pep-talk didn't help for long. But something else did. I saw news, and saw how terrible a situation it is in Haiti. And then I couldn't help but feel lucky and surprisingly got over my syndrome in a minute. If I was 16, this wouldn't have happened. So yea, maybe being 25 gives you flabby mid-rif (or is it - sitting and doing nothing), but it also gives you wisdom. For which I am so thankful! Life's good!

Long overdue story

A few thousand years back, I had promised to come up with the story of "Meet the parents", and why it's such a bad idea for me to go through with it. Now, after several thousand years, here it is -

Yes. I met his parents (obviously, since we are getting married now!!See the more I say it, the more I accept it). And before I go into anymore details of how it went, we will travel through time a bit (No, not just because. There's a reason I promise.).

So let's rewind to some months back in time. In my defense I did not even have any business being there. I was only tagging along. There I am sitting in the living room of a friend's brother, who's just had a baby. Let's call him "Bhaiya". (duuu-uh). And his wife(newborn baby's mother) - "Bhabhi". (super duuu-uh). Anyway. I could not find out for sure, but she definitely looked not more than 26. Alright? so now use your imagination. There I am visiting them for the first time. And there we all are - my friend, couple of other friends, me, Bhabhi, baby; all laughing, cooing at the sweet kid. And suddenly, out of nowhere, God alone knows why in the world, Bhabhi goes - "Aap log kuch lenge, kuch chai yea cold drink?". I mean why? Why would she do that to me?

You want to know why it is so terrible? Ok, I'll tell you why. Because I replied this - "Nahi nahi Aunty, don't worry, kuch takleef mat kijiye!!!" Duuuuude, I called that girl barely an year older than me AUNTY!!!! Imagine my embarrassment! OMG. And reading many mommy blogs did not help, as I knew, right around this time - she would have been also dealing with post partum depression, relatively low self-esteem, and such like! Now I was feeling super embarrassed AND super-duper guilty. Eventually I did go and apologize and to her utter amusement, explained my stunted social skills and awkward behavioral syndrome as the reasons for the "unfortunate accident". Thank God I did not drop her baby after all this.

This was exhibit 1.

Now lets forward to two weeks ahead (we had traveled back, remember? we are still in the past of now, for all who think we are looking into the future). I am invited by this friend over dinner, since his parents were visiting and are leaving in a couple of days. I am meeting them for the first time. He(my friend) has of course invited like 15 more people, and there I am sitting in living room - full of people who I am seeing for the first time! Just for fun imagine you are a deer and it's night time. You are going along happily on your way without a care in life, and suddenly out of nowhere you are blinded! There's more light than even in daylight, and of course you freeze. Did you imagine the deer's face? Good. Now put that face on mine, when his dad asks me a loud question across the room - "Where do you live beta?".

Disclaimer: Not only am I very awkward in social situations, I go mute when people talk to me across the room because then everybody can hear what I say. Ok back to the question. Simple enough right? Wrong. (Background: He's visiting US for the first time has no clue about any area in Boston) And so I stuttered my way to utter embarrassment - "I live at 42 Symphony Rd, Apt 5". And the moment I said that I realized how dumb must I sound, so instead of clarifying I just shut up! Fortunately - M came to my rescue and saved me by saying that's near our school. (Maybe that's why you need someone by your side. See another good reason to get married).

And there are many many other similar stories, but all this time travel has made me time-travel-sick so I'll summarize by saying these were reason enough for me to freak out of my wits. Cos I was not just meeting his parents, I was meeting his uncles, aunts, their children, and then their children. You get the picture. Long story short - it went well. I might or might not have had a Cosmo before meeting them. Although I was quiet for the most part, I mostly did not talk crap when I was asked questions. Maybe God was finally cutting me some slack (at the right time too!) after all the crap He released into the universe through me. Or maybe, just maybe I am not socio-phobic (is that a word? I'm too lazy to google) anymore. Yea right?!

Later folks!

It's official

All the time that you & I have known each other - if there is one thing that you should know about me by now, it's this - I am a bundle of controversial joys (to put it nicely). Like how I hate fuss and creating scene, but myself am a drama queen? So when you read the previous post - yes you thought right. It was about M and me. It was about us fighting. (Gasp! How can she admit it so openly?!) (And it was also a little about drama).

Tangent - I am trying to let my other voice speak too. See I have these two voices in my head like everyone. (If I'm wrong about this don't bother to tell me otherwise). One is the serious me who takes everything that life throws at me in its appropriate seriousness and deals with it like normal people. The other voice though is a little whimsical. It laughs at everything that is serious. And deals with everything else that is normal with sarcasm or something like that. The brackets are this voice.

Anyhoo. (You can ignore me all you want, but I'm not going anywhere). Yes we got into fights. Plural. Ugly ones. Fights that lasted days and nights. Like war. But unlike any other war story this has a happy ending. Somewhat. We both decided not to fight. (Yeah, that worked! Sure!)

Reason. Motive. Why? (Wait for it.........) We are getting married! (Pin-drop silence followed by laughter?) And since I have to be stubborn and difficult every time something changes, I sure as hell did not leave out this opportunity. And you know how I tell you all the stories of how understanding and how co-operative M is? Well he chose this opportunity to be not so. So basically it took long days and nights of discussion, fighting, yelling, to reach a common focus about the wedding. Yes, the reason for the fight was difference of opinion, prejudices and lack of common vision. About the WEDDING! (How much more lame can this get. A wedding? People have bigger problems. Grow up.) And then I remembered what Saif Ali Khan seems to be saying in all the movies that he does - We were perfectly happy till we decided to get married. Makes you think. Made me think for sure.

So why? Why do people get married? I obviously did not want to get married before knowing why I am getting into it. So I thought - why not? I obviously love him enough to want to be around him. I know I enjoy his company. And obviously it gets a little lonely after a while, so why not have someone who is obligated to accompany you! (Ha! You are so evil!). And so kind ladies and gentlemen, we decided to plunge into it with all we have! I will be obviously including you in stories of what happens after. Till then stories about how I am trying to enjoy the fuss that weddings are and how all the fuss is.Driving. Me. Crazy. (Did I tell you I HATE wedding fuss, but that story some other time since we ARE talking about peaceful beginnings called marriages! Ha!).

We are now accepting your best wishes (in CASH ONLY). I will come back with a concrete plan of wedding as soon as it's good enough to be dissected by public eye.

Over and out. (Later b*****s!)

I have news!

Our family has the newest addition - my lovely niece was born yesterday!!! I love her. I loved her from the moment I knew of her existence inside my sis-in-law's tummy, and she couldn't have come out fast enough! I don't even know what she looks like but to me she's the most beautiful thing on the planet. She doesn't even have a formal name yet (kachori & chinti don't quite work as formal) but like my bro said yesterday - this nameless wonder has four fully-grown adults totally captivated and right under her thumb! God bless you sweetheart...I will always love you so so so sooooo much! And I am sorry (and you cannot begin to imagine how sad) that I am not there to welcome you, but I do hope that someday you love me a lot.

When I got the news, I called up Sai (Hi Sai!) who did not wait to inform me that I will soon be obsessed and call home at least a hundred times each day. I laughed it off. I even thought to myself, she's nuts - just because she did it when her nephew was born doesn't mean I'll do it too - I'm not her. And it's true. I did not obsess a lot. Just a little bit. Like when I woke up at 2am last night to drink water, I decided to call home so that I can hear her crying (that's all she does, when she's not crying she sleeps!), but she was sleeping(big surprise huh?). So then I just told my mom to describe in detail every little thing that she had done during the day. After a good half hour, I hung up and went to sleep really regretting the day I decided to come to US. And then when I woke up in the morning, I called up home again to try my luck again and ended up talking to my bro this time asking him to tell me every little thing that she does.

I feel so sad to be all the way over here. I just wish, so wish that I could go home for some time before my job starts to spend some time with this little wonder. Dear Santa - I did not ask anything for Christmas, can I get this wish, pretty please? And no I am crying right now, just a little choked up.

And now I think I'll call up home again. For the fiftieth time! (Just kidding, it's only third in this day).

Later!

Trivia

What do you call a guy who is extremely loving and cute(&hot!) and makes me laugh and really patient with me the whole day, and then some more?
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My boyfriend!

Did you miss me yet?

No?
Fine. I was gonna say I missed you, but now I don't think I will.

And anyway, I barely have time to write this post, let alone deal with emotions! I just came online to tell you all that, since I am now back to school, this blog as history has seen for 4 semesters now, is gonna go into a sort-of hibernation. More so, with all the job search going on.

But, the good news is (which is assuming that you actually thought of the previous news as the bad one!), since bloggers' itch isn't easy to control, I do mini-blog quite regularly on twitter. So yeah, follow me right there.

And yes, I did meet M's parents and it went well! But the detailed story will have to wait till I can find time enough to get my life, room and closet in order..not necessarily in that order!

Ciao people. See you (hopefully) pretty soon!
Take care...

What's your story?

Everything has a story. Budding love has a story. Broken up love has a story. Long lost love has a story. Meeting your best friend has a story. Getting your permanent job has a story. I have most of these stories except for the last one. And right now I am trying to walk through one. Hopefully it will have a happy ending. But like every story it has disappointments, rejections and depressions! That part of the story sucks. Doesn't it? I know. I am hoping it ends soon for me. There's also discussion, anticipation and palpitation part left in it. After which I am hoping (with fingers of both hands & toes of both feet & both legs crossed) for the celebration, exhilaration and relaxation(as in breathing a sigh of relief) . Annnyway. I will keep you guys updated about my status with this. Yes I will. So what if you find it boring. It's not a rosy picture all the time is it. That's right it's not. Okay stop arguing already!

In other bit of news I am at home in India for a fortnight!!!!!!!
yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I am so enjoying every moment of this (apart from the walking through the afore mentioned story bit) :)

And I have finally decided to come clean and declare that I too am a shopaholic after I read the confessions of a fellow shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood from here. It's good to know you are not alone.

So guys...what's your "story"? Are any of you shopaholics? Please share. Me needy some spirit-lifting!

Ciao.

Woohooo!!

The Time Traveler's Wife movie is here!!

I so hope its good!!!

I am excited!