Thursday, October 27, 2011

Diwali that it was and it always will be!

So we celebrated Diwali in much fan fare this year. Having In Laws here only added to the fun, magic and masti of Diwali. New dresses were bought for V. And she was gushing in pride. She helped out in every possible way, by taking an extra long nap in the afternoon, by helping with the Diya carrying back and forth and of course reminding me, mummy this diya is almost over, light new one. Being enthusiastic over celebrations, asking why way too many times, helping with LaxmiJi's paav, making flower rangoli, helping clean up, watching TV and above all being nice to visiting friends and entertaining us so much.
Wow, that one big line. Anyhow, you get the gist!
The fun of celebrating Diwali with a growing kid gets better and better. And it took facebook message and me looking in the mirror to realise a lot of V's eccentricities are very similar to what I did to 'entertain' (read trouble) my parents. Asking endless questions, helping out, being nosy and above all. miss chatter box! And I gush.
But Diwali was really nice. House was cleaned. iPad was used to decide which was the 'north direction' for Pooja, furniture was moved around (read sore arms), food was prepared, poori's made, mithai served, new cutlery used and above all celebrations with friends and family. We had dear friends over who made the whole evening much more fun. Endless chatter, lighting fuljhari's and phooski anar's added to the fun and merriment.
Here, I have to add, Sumit made the much needed trips to the stores to get last minute forgotten things, be it Oil for poori's (Yup, we are that awesome) or scrounging around for Firecrackers (Yup, he was that enthu)!
Which by the way was the highlight of the evening! After 15 years, I lit phuljhari's. It was V's first time. In London, you can light fire crackers in safe controlled manner wherever! Wow. So in US, land of the free, where you can carry fire arms but nor burn fire crackers!
Anyways, back to the point.
Our first Diwali in London was really memorable!
It created a 'Home away from home'


Note: Diwali Pics to follow in a post dedicated to pics! Promise!

Monday, October 24, 2011

The season of lights.....

:-) With family over, Diwali will be a bigger event than it generally is. Add in half term break for V, Sumit's time off and fresh Indian Mithai... we are set to rock it, or light it or bottom line enjoy it!
New dress for V- Check
New dress for me- Check
Gift for Sumit- Check
Buying silver on Dhanteras- Check
MIL engaging in celebratory food preparation- Check
FIL building the list for Pooja -Check
Teaching V to say 'Happy Diwali' -Check
Festive moods- Check
Yay, for celebrating our first Diwali in London!
I will definitely follow up with pictures of our evenings and celebrations... but for now, wishing you and your families, A very Happy Diwali!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Perfect Salad

After a long time, I ate a perfect salad!
To me a perfect salad- is not boring, crunchy, tasty, flavourful and above all delicious.
Yes, I am still talking about a salad. I was famously known as the 'cow' at my work. The best thing in my cafeteria- was a fix it yourself salad with loads of options, dressings, toppings. I ate it at least thrice a week. Of course, being pregnant that time only increased my craving for good salads.
For some reason, I don’t enjoy making salads at home. They just don’t turn out that good. I do make the standard (read boring) ones. But in all honesty, I make them because I should and not because I want to.
Back to my salad yesterday. It is called the 'Kelp Noodle Salad' from Pods Hmm, First thing, I did was wiki kelp!
After that, pigged in. And let me re-iterate. It was delicious, the sprouts, the cabbage, the edamame, the pickled ginger, the kelp noodles, the oh so tasty light sesame soy dressing with delicious chilli's on top. I still can’t get over the fact that I picked it up at Pods in the ready to eat section. Wow. That’s some crazy fresh salad.
At payment counter, I requested the frequent eater card, well knowing me, I will keep going back for more and more.

Monday, October 10, 2011

A wish that will not get full filled

Ever. I know it won’t!
For the past ten- twelve years, I have been trying unsuccessfully to go to a Jagjit Singh concert. There were times when I had the tickets and could not go. There were times that i chased tickets and could not go, there were times when I just could not go.
Bottom-line, no Jagjit Singh, Live in <City> concert for me!  Sob,

There are numerous Eulogies, all over the web and I can definitely not do justice to it.  All I know now, is that soothing, melodious voice is on repeat on the iPad.

iUnSmart


Or Gadget friendly! Whatever you call it. :-)
I am officially moved over to the 'unsmart' with over four smart devices for two adults in our house.
Right when I moved to London, one of the big issues, was not having internet. It was hard to plan, to get directions, to be in touch. Implying a book of street maps gifted by our relocation company became my best friend! My husband joked that instead of our kids water in my purse, the book existed. Yes, It was my best friend during those unpleasant weeks of apartment hunting, figuring out lay of the land and of course the fun filled- to tourist trips in the city. But I learned the city really well. My directions, my understanding of street layout all improved slowly but surely.
But after three long months of wait (thanks to 'efficient' systems to get a cell phone here) I got me my smart phone. And then with time, i got the smarter phone, rather the iPhone and now I am hooked! Need to go to someplace new, no more using the mind, oh let me just open up my maps, GPS. Need a new restaurant to go to, no more exploring in the area, lets just look at the app and figure it out. Oh don’t know the time now in Chicago or India, no more using basic math to subtract or add hours, let me just check the clock out. No more remembering to do's, no more post it's let me just make a note on one of my four smart devices and then sync them.
Of course I refuse to move from paper back to e-readers! That’s where I draw the line.
I am now over connected, over hooked and still okay. 
Basically, instead of using my mind for simple stuff or even complicated stuff, I just 'app' it.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

I am back!

Aaah!

All right, I am back. Sorry for the longish break.
Two main reasons:
1. Its been crazy busy this side of Atlantic.
--- Hence been a wishy washy on this time
2. I have had a few trolls on both of my blogs.
--- Which was quiet irritating and affected me more than I wanted!

Oh well... am done with the trolls now! :-D
I am here, back here: judge me, condone me, appreciate me. Whatever, my blog, my writing, my space.
Don’t drop by if you don’t care for it.

Now that's out of my system..

How have you been?

On my front, life's been great, of course being blessed with weather in late 70's in September has been amazing. With IL's visiting, the happier weather resulted in sightseeing, picnics, walks and strolls. Lots of them! Though winter is on the horizon, I loved the extended summer or more rightly 'Indian Summer'. I am excited to use my new winter boots though!
Other aspects, its been crazy busy, with work, with home, with V's new school, with new social scene and of course adjusting in. But slowly and surely I seem to be coping well.
Guess what, I am waking early.... before the clock strikes seven! That's and achievement for me. Of course this implies, I have been sleeping earlier than normal. Booo. I am yawning at 9, and to be up beyond 10 on a weekday is an achievement. Booo.
No, its nothing to do with me being 29+1 now. I think its just new schedules and my need for more sleep and less coffee. Yes you read that right, less coffee.

All right, so much to catch up on, I will do that slowly and surely. But I am back now,so do stick around!
Meanwhile enjoy a glimpse of our Indian Summer Fun!