Rockstar

New house, new flat mate, new city, new people, new maid, new neighbours, new watchmen, new colleagues. Never knew I would take so much time to settle. Never knew I would keep feeling alien and strange for a such a long time.

How many ever plans I had for the new city, I can’t help but feel lost right now. Still not used to this house. Still not come into a comfortable daily routine. Each day is still very new and strange and keeps throwing surprises every moment.

I just hope I settle down fast so that I can move on to better things than finding the laundry guy and buying utilities for the maid.

Pics taken after dinner at Taj with my lovely roomie, E, before leaving Surat.

Aditi

My little cousin has grown up now. We, inseparables, do crazy stuff whenever we are together. We forget the whole world when we are in each other’s company. She is no longer my little girl; she’s grown! She’s much, much taller than me! When she was little, she was the cutest girl around. Today, she’s grown into a pretty young lady and one of the best friends I have.

We went crazy with this little, random photo shoot we did when I went to her place during Diwali. Adi has beautiful features – a bright smile, a cute nose and eyes that dance every time she talks disclosing the liveliness that resides within her.

Adi’s Mom, my Aunt, herself is very artistic and creative and I know from where Adi gets her genes. Take a note of the beaded neck piece, wooden bangles and chappals. Mami has scoured up all of these from streets like Colaba Causeway and Bandra. My grandfather’s 25 year old Fiat acted as a perfect background!

Fusion dressing will never bore me. How much ever I love denim and stilettoes, wooden jewellery, indian block print and bandhini will always attract me. Indian kitsch (if that’s what indian fusion has turned into), old walls, vintage doors, abandoned old houses, creepers on old walls, chappals – will remain a part of my deep obsessions.

Keep Glowing

My skin is glowing these days. Of course I love it. I love the compliments even more. Every time I wash my face, I tilt and turn my head so that light falls on different portions my face, showing the glow and smoothness.

I have just been following a simple regime, use good effective products (natural and cosmetic) and am disciplined about it. So here is what I do –

Morning wash: Body Shop Tea Tree oil face wash

Morning moisturizing: Neutrogena oil free moisturizer

Afternoon: Wash with water a couple of times and once with Himalaya face wash followed by Body Shop Vitamin C daily day moisturizer

Evening: Himalaya Cleaning Milk, Nivea or VLCC Toner & Biotique Morning Nectar moisturizer / Johnsons baby cream. Sometimes I just use Vitamin C face wash by Body Shop followed by face cream.

Additional:

Wednesday: Ayur Neem face mask / homemade besan + honey + milk mask

Friday Night after cleansing: Aloe Vera Hyderating Mask by Body Shop

Sunday: Body Shop Papaya scrub

To sum it up, use a good face wash in the morning and follow it with a non sticky oil free day cream. Cleanse-tone-moisturize your skin in the evening. Scrubbing and applying a face mask once a week is a must.

A few tips here and there:

- A good night cream is a MUST. Going off to sleep without applying a layer of nice smelling, soft cream on your face is a crime!

- Scrub only once a week. Use one of the fruity flavours The Body Shop has.

- Minimize use of face wash as much as possible. Though not as hard as soap is, face wash is still made up of chemicals. Use cleansers and toners instead. They clean the skin equally well and don’t snatch away all the moisture.

- Scour the kitchen to make natural masks / mixes. Some ingredients like tomato, papaya or honey act like mask in themselves.

- Cover your face with a stole / dupatta while travelling on road.

I may be a little obsessed with skin care but I love it. I love the aroma of papaya scrub and the feel of my skin after I wash off the besan + honey mask. How could I let laziness come in between this beautiful feeling!

Is there anything special you do that makes your skin feel heavenly? Is there an aroma that your skin loves? Tell me!

Sugarbabe

It’s fun doing girlie stuff sometimes – you know dressing up and stuff. I can’t believe I am doing this at the age of 28. But why not? I call myself a bored HR professional and I really need something exciting and fun going on to spice up my life. So, I have this really sweet friend named Krishna (and her Mom is a darling too) and we keep meeting up for photo shoots.

Sad that she is getting married and going away soon. Don’t get me wrong; I am realllly happy for her and all but I am going to miss her! I am going to miss her innocent questions and crazy tactics and loving nature.

Is the white and denim combination every going to go out of fashion? I am sure it won’t and I hope it doesn’t. I am CRAZY about denims and whites; been hoarding them ever since I can remember. Anyway, my favourite white outfit out of the many whites I have is this Valleygirl shirt I got from Australia last year. The fit is amazing – sexy and elegant and the texture feels like a baby’s skin!

Shorts are the most comfortable thing ever! I wonder why we aren’t allowed to wear them at work.

:-/

;)

Village Belle

Now that I am back from my trip into the boring office routine, I am forever looking for opportunities to dress up and go out. And EAT, of course!! It is quite surprizing that eating out for 10 days in Europe / airplane / airport / various cafes hasn’t tired me out and I am still hungry for more.

Anyway, this time we choose to go to this place called The Village, which is quite near my place. The main reason I wanted to go there was because I missed attending Garba this year (yes, this year too) and Village has Garba! So I, along with my Gujju colleagues go there and have a blast of a time.

And, ok, there was another reason. I wanted to wear these brand new dhoti pants.

A Girl In Europe

I came back from a fantabulous trip to Europe 15 days back. Each day of the trip is engraved on my mind deeply. I had soooo much fun and made such great friends that it was difficult to come back to the normal routine.

The weather in Europe at this time is pleasant but gets cold at nights and early morning. So this is what I chose for the trip:

Berlin, Germany

The cobblestone paths that won my heart

Dresden, Germany

Prague, Czech

Cobblestone paths of Prague take my breath away

Prague Castle

Bratislava, Slovakia

Chain Bridge, Budapest

Matthias Church, Budapest

Fishermen’s Bastion, Budapest

Mondsee, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

The sexy creepers

Vienna, Austria

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Jugni

She has innocence and imagination.

She evolves each day and has strength to bear the most painful challenges.

She laughs and cries and yet hides all the pain within her.

She takes each step thoughtfully and surprises you with acts you wouldn’t dare to do.

She is at peace with herself and can her the voice of her heart very well yet lets fondness grow for loved ones in her heart.

She lets little things make her happy and doesn’t show the biggest of sorrows at times.

She cares, thinks, hates, loves, believes & hopes.

She forgives and goes on loving like never before.

She is a woman.

Paint My World

I love cloth bags – I don’t know since when. But I remember shopping for them, buying everything I liked off the rack, lest I wouldn’t get it again, since the last couple of months. My favourite ones are simple, plain cloth bags with minimum paint / motifs / print. My recent visit to Europe had me buying cloth bags from each city as a souvenir, which also make a great fashion ensemble!

Which one you'd like the most, dearies??!!