Winnnnnnnnnndy!!

Yes, we know Chicago is called the Windy city....
Yesterday my walk to V's school was very "interesting"... it was super windy. Windy to the point that I had to hold the railing of the building fence just to make sure. I know I was not going to fly away, but falling down in the middle of the street was not my idea of "adventure".
So for over 10 minutes, I help on to the fence with other people around me doing the same. Some hiding their faces to avoid flying debris of pebbles, leaves, dust, scarves etc. The little kids were the cutest. They would hold on to their parents hands dearly and have the biggest grins, while the parents had the scared expressions.
I could hear the wind howl, the people in the cars looking worried for us and above all people around me... all strangers, just trying to take a step at a time to get to there. destinations. Again, luckily it was just windy (The weather alarm said topping 45 miles per hour in some areas and topping 60-70 miles in some). Like I said "interesting" walk.
I realized, here I am, not helpless. Some part of me actually enjoying this freakish wind. I knew it was only for the next thirty minutes after which I would be in the comfort of my own warm house, looking on the streets below with my daughter safely in my arms sipping hot soup and hubby in his car driving home safely.
But at the other end, for some, it’s a way of life. One freakish day after another and they can’t count on a cozy house, a warm meal or even the kindness of strangers. And my heart melted.
We really make a huge deal of "our" own problems to not realize how miniscule they are in front of some others. More recently like the Indonesian Earthquake, Tsunami and the volcano all at once!

Yes, Vanity is my sin!

FYI- This is a girly girl post! So if talking about purses, brands, shoes, fashion puts you to sleep, stop now~
Also, I rather begin with a disclaimer. Seriously. By no means, am I qualified to talk fashion. I'd rather have Prutha write this post... for her vast knowledge! Trust me.
But, this is one topic that I often discuss. I am no fashionista, quite the opposite. I just like to dress "well" which implies, something which is comfortable, cute and camouflages the hmmmm the curves. Yes I love shoes, purses, accessories. A typical XX chromosome. ;-)

Not so long ago, a friend and I got into a friendly banter about the "investment" in branded purse or branded anything. His view point, besides the fact he hated the brand (OMG!!! he is guy, he doesn’t know is what I told him!), a purse is something where you put your keys and wallet, it a branded purse really worth it? Yes, he has a point. (Rolling eyes) But my counter was I’d rather have one good one than 40 others which needs replacements often. Of course, I had to glare at Sumit to hide his grin.
But I stick to my gut; a branded purse is definitely worth it. Of course, it lasts longer, it looks really nice and above all, you love yourself for carrying it for yourself. No one else.
Don’t know about you, but I am fine with getting a "good deal" on a nice brand. I am fine being the Outlet Mall shopper. Retail for me is overpriced and over rated. I know I know a few are OMG'ishing now... but... what to say! ;-)
I have been a window shopper at “BlueFly” for a bit. A dear friend introduced me to “Rue la la”. I am hooked. Recently I was invited to "Gilt Blogger Breakfast". Of course I know about Gilt, I am a typical XX. I reviewed the invite; it was for the Gilt-Chicago initiative. Perfect way to spend the morning meeting area bloggers, the Gilt founders and of course enjoy breakfast at The Peninsula. I moved a few things around; adjusted my work week and accepted the Blogger Breakfast invite.
What a ride! I met wonderful people, business starters, fashion bloggers, beauty bloggers, Savvy mom bloggers, mom bloggers, frugal fashion bloggers,food bloggers and really nice people. One of them was chatting with me and in less than five minutes was like... OMG, isn’t your sweater Armani'09 fall season- I love it. I was sheepish and astounded. I said, “yes it is,” and confessed, “Girl.. all I know is your Loub's.. I can spot them from a distance. Rest. Ahem” We both giggled like school girls!
I enjoyed the breakfast, came to know more about Gilt group as a whole. The founder- Alexandra was definitely a charmer, well versed business woman. But she was so relatable. She had a 7 month old baby at home and we both spoke genuinely about the related motherhood concerns.
I thoroughly enjoyed the morning.
I am hooked to Gilt. That's another "daily must go site" I am window shopping in. Hubby is rightfully worried... the window shopping will not just remain window shopping for long!
I am "Gilt'y" as charged!

Note: The views expressed above are totally my own. I was invited to the Gilt Blogger Breakfast as a Chicago Blogger and no compensation was involved. Gilt group gave the attendee bloggers a fifty dollar gift card to put to “good use” and get hooked for life.

Don’t mess with the perfect...

...Pizza that is.
I learnt it the hard way.
Right after our marriage, hubby introduced me (in my own words) a whacky combination pizza topping- Jalapeno's and Pineapple.
The first time he mentioned it to me.. I was like… let’s do half, you take that whacky combination and I will take my vegetables with tonnes of Jalapeños. Pineapple. Thank you very much.
Hubby warned me, I am not sharing my side. By now, I was laughing in my head.. hehe... don’t worry, I don’t WANT your side of pizza... Pineapple on a pizza, thank you very much.
The pizza arrived, on his insistence, I tried one slice of the Pineapple-Jalapeno whacky combination.....and I was hooked. Dude, it tastes awesome. Seriously. But of course, I could not confess. Hence I did the next best thing possible- the "puppy-face" and let me tell you.. It worked...
The one more slice turned into one more bite and by the end of the dinner, the vegetables side of the pizza was left untouched. I was a happy girl. Of course, SD was not, since I overlooked his warning about "not sharing his whacky combination"
The rest is history they say.
Now.. anytime we order pizzas, make pizza's, go for pizza's. I make the customary warning: Get your own!
Yes, I will try other toppings once in a while, but I return to my whacky combination soon enough. A friend aptly put a while ago- Pizza toppings- Jalapeno Pineapple of course, is there any other kind?

And hence... don’t mess with the perfect winning combination of the weird pizza toppings!

Now tell me, which toppings gets your attention? Which is the set that make you want to make the puppy-face to get one more slice!

Quotation.....

He SMILEs because he sees your future
And Oh, how HAPPY shall that future be - Edward Monkton

I like this quotation. A Lot. I stumbled on my Igoogle page with the random quote of the day. I scribbled it on post-it and it stares back at me on my office desk.
I like this quotation. A Lot.
I really don’t know why though. Yeah, I can go on and on about optimism, positive thoughts, glass half full and so on. But it does not add up. So many times, I wish I had a magic ball to go and see how it will all turn out in ten, twenty, thirty years from now. I generally don’t want to go back and fix stuff. The past is what has made me who I am today. I want to go ahead, to see how changes, decisions, chosen paths will affect my future, our future.
SD and I always smile when we talk about such stuff.
There are times, when I wish, Life was a movie, I could fast forward, pause and sometimes just mute out stuff. I wish I could see tomorrow, the next thrill, the next pain, the next joke, the end.
I guess there is a reason I love admiring kids/ toddlers/ infants. My daughter, all two and a half years of her says this to the sun each night: "Bye Bye sun, Bye Bye, Moon is coming, I will see you tomorrow." The next morning, she will go the patio and exclaim: "Sun is back, yay!" and hop around the house.
I notice this, I smile, and I think I get it. Each day is a new day. Happiness, Tears, fears, giggles, ended yesterday. But. Each day is a new day. "He" whoever he is, already knows that. He SMILES.
The sun undeniably returns each morning and reminds us- SMILE.
My daughter irrefutably returns each evening to bid adieu to the day gone and SMILE's for what tomorrow holds.
We, the adults, on the contrary... want to fast forward.
"What If's" come but making our today fruitful is what I always forget.

He SMILEs because he sees your future
And Oh, how HAPPY shall that future be - Edward Monkton

I like this quotation. A Lot. But I think you already got that

From Left to Write Book Club: The Kids Are All Right

The title itself is appealing: The kids are all right. As I was reading this book, different emotions stirred up inside me. Some scary, some relieving and some very very close to real life. If something were to happen suddenly to me.. then what. It re-instates the discussion that SD and I have been having for awhile. Let’s make sure our papers, our wills, our accounts etc are in order. Both of should know where is what in terms of the bigger things in life. Scary thoughts, but very realistic. We both call it symbiotic.
The book talks about an uncle who just turns and becomes greedy the minute the father is gone and wants to lay his hands on anything and everything possible. Hah.. it comes down to money. And I don’t want our life's earning to go to a random stranger while our kids struggle to make ends meet. We are sweating our blood over work to ensure better future of our near and dear ones.
The beauty of the book was in the part: The truth is always twisted. Every person of the Welch family remembers the incidents based on their memories. It’s there truth and its twisted for the other person. So true.
SD and I talk about this very often. I always say: There are two sides of every story. This book talks about that: how four kids cope up with sudden demise of the father and then the mother. They turn out to be all right. They turn out to be closer and though life was not what they had imagined it to be.. things have a way of working them out.
Recently, I was reading Lakshmi's post about her health and the fall which was not so pleasant. One thing which struck out to me was... She only talked about the silver lining. It is very true, in every situation, there is a silver lining. We just miss it.
In the long run, everything happens for a reason and its always for the better. A lot of times, it just takes a while for us to realize it truly was for the better.
This book re-instated that.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the From Left to Write Book Club. We write posts inspired by the books, not reviews. When you read this book make sure to keep the tissue book handy. Trust me.

Words....

and words are all I have to take your heart away...........
Remember this song? Long time right.... but it’s a gorgeous song. It really is.

There was something that my Naani had told me when we were kids. Words are like daggers (talwar) once its out, the damage is already done! :-) I am telling you... then, I yawned and now I aww! Since then, I really don’t know what it meant... and now, I am figuring it out!

Suddenly why so philosophical you ask... well I have not had my morning coffee.. and thus. :-)

Anyhoo... I know my posts have become scantier and more spaced out. Just been the busy time of the year. Thanks for the emails/ notes. I promise to be more active again. :-)

Now... weather is changing. The fall is setting in and here is my daughter's observation on our walk home:
Kiddo: Mummy uh-ho. The leaves are falling from tress.
Mummy: Yes sweety, its fall season, the leaves fall down and dry up.
Kiddo: ooooh.
Kiddo: Oh leaves fall, that’s why Fall season. Got it.
Mummy goes on to laugh heartily...........Kiddo is confused but smiles and continues to look at the trees!