August 2007

Hmm..Come August onwards...its Indian festival time..yippee..
The benefit that I have is I get to celebrate most of the festivals..as R is from kerala and that way we self proclaim ourselves as half-keralites;)

In the month of August, was the festival of Onam. Festival of good food..ha ha..and colorful clothes and lots of good music...this year we celebrated it quietly at home...it was a monday..sounds like all good days this year falls on a monday!!!

In office, I spent a lot of time thinking what to prepare for the evening..one of my office friends told me that one prepares the Onam sadhya...meaning a five course elaborate meal..!!!

Well, I decided to make 5 curries...so I did a whole lot of shopping on way back home...and started the elaborate prep!

Actually it wasnt difficult, I quickly sifted through the recipes online..and started dolling out the dishes!!
Kadala(Channa) Curry, Morr(Curd)Curry, Avial, Rice, Cabbage Curry, Papad and Rice payasam!!!

At the end of it, we had a very good meal...Happy Onam:)

July 2007

Blissful month...why ??? Well, its my birthday month :) We had a quiet birthday this year..perhaps R had enough of cakes for me to cut last year so maybe he thought a quiet one would be sufficient this year round!

It was a monday, week day, I met a close friend for lunch, nothing exciting so far, then on way back to office took a haldiram's sonpapdi box for co-workers..and shared my small happiness with them:)

Early on in the morning, R had already presented me a watch and I was wearing it for the day.

Evening, I thought maybe there's a surprise party lying around the corner..but no...both of us had a long day at work, so it was just the two of us and we got ready to go for dinner.

R had booked in a new orleans modelled restaurant on castro...and it was a great ambience..so we enjoyed the meal.
On the way back, we got home a cake and cut it. Thus ended the beautiful day!!!

Yosemite Trip

Wow...I can hardly believe that we made it to yosemite...R was away on a business trip to Wichita...so I was busy doing something like this.


R comes home late friday and I have an upcoming release for which i had been working for the past one month...so I work till late ensuring everything goes smoothly and it does! So next morning on saturday we decide to go to Yosemite impromptu..just like that...wow...vrooom ..we went...at 11.30..
Stopped over for a quick bite and reached the park at 3.30 pm.
First we went to Bridal Veil falls ..just at 5 mts walk..but the view was great...a fresh waterfall in that summer heat was so welcome..and I felt so much happier just by being near it..:)

Dont know much about this fall but it was beautiful..small but good.

Next we went to Vernal falls..it was a good 3 mile hike one way..and my oh my was I tired...hehe..dont ask such a dumb question..well of course yes..I was and R was pushing me inch by inch at some point of time thinking I might trip over the edge..hehe..but no..I was fine..only thing was while climbing I wanted to stop often so as to catch my breath and not get too tired..

But the hike was worth what I saw at the top of it...Vernal falls..!!
Amazing breathtaking scenary...just mindblowing...its supposed to be the widest falls in yosemite..and yosemite the highest in US..can u believe that..?


When we were climbing up..and nearing the waterfall..and people coming down in the opposite direction as us...one of the men was wearing a plastic raincoat..and he asked me if I wanted then I can have it..and there you go me in a yellow..rainshield..hehe...well.. shield or no shield I would have either ways enjoyed it..and i did...as you can see from the picture..it was such a beautiful time of the year and so beautiful..A thing of beauty is a joy forever...!!!

The climb down was that of 5 mts...!!! can u imagine we had spent around 3 hrs to climb up and to come down only in 10 mts or so..we simply ran down...and happily jumping down like small kids..hehe..

Had a full buffet meal after all that exercise..and returned home satisfied and peaceful...by the way this day 9th June marked a year of mine having come to US for R...!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

My first time of memorial day weekend here in US...and we had planned to go with our friends all in all 12 to Bass Lake..a favorite American vacation place.
We had rented a house overlooking the lake and it was just perfect.

We left late on Friday evening and reached the place at around 1. Obviously we got up late next day on Saturday and we had warm bread and butter awaiting us in the kitchen..who else but our early bird friends had got it for us.

After getting ready we went on a rental boat. Now this was a unique experience for me. There was a floater attached to the back/ rear end of the boat. One by one each couple dived in on the floater and enjoyed the sail. We both went too and fell the first time we went in within a couple of minutes of sail!!!

Next r went alone as he thought he could balance well, and I went with Shivani.
I enjoyed it thoroughly and would have never known what the experience was had I not got into it!!!

Thus the day well spent we came back home and barbequed paneer capsicum, chicken and veggies...they were just mouth watering.
Then we made some biryani and cauliflower manchurian.

At night we played couple of group games namely casino royale and tabooo...just the perfect end to a perfect day!

On sunday we went to the lake again and splashed around in water. We were fully drenched and had a wonderful time, returned to the house and had pasta...!!!

Put on some music and had pure fun..such was the end to a beautiful trip along the awesome Bass Lake..

Long time ago

Everyday the thought crosses my mind I should pen down my thoughts but either time or lethargy keeps me from doing it.
Finally am doing it. Its a saturday morning and am staring blankly into space!!!
R was out on official tour but came home yest nite. I had prepared a bit of a meal for him...it turned to be i guess..with saaar upkari, bhajji, and fish fry..all put together unintentionally ;)
MOrning we somehow woke up early and I prepared sweet appam..was not bad ..I know I can improve though.
Next what was the question running into my mind..R went out to gym..I wanted to go along not to gym but to the library by the time he's back but he refused so am sitting here browsing aimlessly and ending up writing my blog.

Utterly bored, I want to take a different dimension to my writing..so this is my first attempt at writing a short story..fictional..watch out.
She was looking aimlessly out through the window...it was springtime and everything was turning from colorless to lush green...flowers blooming everywhere..
Linda..our lady in question is a 23 year old..graduated with a Master degree and on the verge of joining her first job as a professional. She has dreams in her eyes to make it big. At the same day, she knows that she will soon lose all her free time and carefree lifestyle..and life was going to open something new and larger which she wasnt yet aware of..
This is the last day of her vacation that she came to spend with her Mom..who owned a posh villa in Long Beach, LA. Dont even ask what her mom does..a hell of a talented lady, a successful house broker.

Linda is packing her things soon to go away to her dingy apartment in SFO. She stays alone. Next day rise and shine she gets ready quickly, brushes her hair and puts on an air of confidence. She is a finance consultant and this being her first day at work she needs all that luck could offer her.

She reaches office on time and becomes nervous like everyone is watching her! She has no time to feel nervous as she gets her first client. A business tycoon has a problem and the regular person from her finance company, her senior is out on a sabbatical and she has to attend to her client's urgent need.

She picks up the phone to setup an appointment with the tycoon..Mark, but in return his secretary gives her a hard time to set it up..as obvious he's too busy.

Still...a time is set and they meet, she's at his office waiting, thinking through the various if's and buts that he can come up with for the solutions that she was about to offer him...and the door opens to beckon her inside his room..and there he was..Mark..her secret hearththrob from college!!!

Oh no..how was she going to handle this...she hadn't anticipated this..stay tuned.

Spring's here!

There goes a tag line these days spring is here and love is in the air.

Now-a-days since our weekdays have been so packed with work, we have been squeezing a lot into our weekends so that we make the most out of them:) Weather too is very inviting so all the more good for us.

Let me recall what all we did over the past one month. I distinctly remember when we went to Big Sur and visited the Pfieffer beach. The beach was just awesome. There were beautiful creeks through which water used to splash around and we got soaked..actually only our feet got soaked ;)



Then one of the weekends we went to our friends place and had some great chaat to eat.


This weekend we had been to SFO and walked around the city and visited Macy's Flower arrangement. There was also an Indian artifacts celebration of sort..mannequins dressed up in Indian attire aka sarees...beautiful jodhuri decorations and lotsa sale..the whole city was throbbing with shops with lots to shop..I too bought a nice bag :)



Its only the start of the week and am already desperately looking for this weekend...where our special plan would unfold..i only pray and hope we spend it the way we've planned!

Adios..

Beautiful Day

Its indeed a beautiful day..today..guess every day is like that. Naturewise today it is just the right temperature not too cold neither too warm..
I got up quite lazily today but did my usual routine of working out, eating well:) Now am upto reading my novel..and suddenly the fire alarm goes off..or on..whatever..
So I jump from my seat and open all the doors..wondering what is burning in my house when I cant smell anything weird..!

Then it calms down all of a sudden and after some time there it goes again this time louder almost like its my house alarm!So I step out into the balcony and see some workers going around the area...One of them says hi to me and mentions that they are just testing the fire alarm system! That explains it all..

The time I was out, I noticed the water in the pond outside our home flowing by itself happily..hehe I almost sound like a poet..! It looked perfect almost like the day when I landed here in june last year..time flies but it leaves such good memories and today I feel happy remembering those and living it again..

So I take out my camera and click away pictures capturing the moments and freezing it in time..

Holi

On the onset of Holi..I thought of making puran polis..just an excuse to eat good stuff..eh ? :))
It wasnt so difficult as I had thought it to be!
Cooked up a quick recipe and lo behold it was done...You can check out some of the snaps..out there.
For those who are interested in how I did it,
Take equal measures of Chana dal/ Bengal Gram, Gud/Jaggery and Maida/all purpose flour.
Knead the Maida with water and oil and a pinch of salt and set it aside for around an hour so that it becomes softer. Cover it with a wet cloth.
Meanwhile cook the dal in cooker and approx 3-whistles just so that you know its cooked.
Remove the excess water from it, you can use a strainer.
Then mix the jaggery(grated) with it and also can add Elaichi/Cardamom(powdered) to enhance the flavor. Mix them over heat so that you have the right consistency as much as required to fill in the dough.
Now make small round dough pieces like you would make for chapathi, roll it over a little and stuff the chana mix into it and again roll it over.
I didnt have any problems with it breaking but just watch out..in case the filling does come out while rolling the flour, put another small piece of the kneaded dough to cover it up ;)

Then fry the 'polis'just like you would fry chapathis!

And voila your lovely puran polis are ready to be savoured...

Get-together at Friendz...

It was a saturday, weekend..and what do we have on the cards yet another potluck..this time round at shashi aparna's place..initially I had thot of taking methi puris becoz now I seem to have expertised it..hehe..but then we went in for stuffed capsicums...
We had lotsa good food on the table that day..
Starters were Khandvi a gujrati dish and awesome sandwiches made by Neha and Payal..
In no time they got over and before we started the main course..we decided to play some games..
It was casino royale..a la carte..
To be specific we played roulette..and it was great fun..first the guys played for 10 rounds and then we ladies...and then as couples..I guess we went into negative..:( But it was great great fun.
Then it was time to Taboo..like always we cannot go without it...it seems to be my pet game tooo..
Last round both guys and girls had tied up but then we were got greedy and wanted one more round..and then we lost to the guys..boo hoo.



Then dinner was served and everyone had a good time and forgot all about the game. Shashi had his new year resolution that he is not going to fool around in talks and seemed to have silenced down quite a bit..but in the process of making him talk we all ended talking stuff..if you know what I mean..!

The finale was the cheesecake...thumbs up aparna..and thus came the end of an awesome weekend nite spent aptly..

Two Weeks

Title sounds exciting aint it ? :) Well, to begin with this time really I was away from my blog for a long long time. I was in my hometown rather home country for couple of months and now have rejoined my dear lost husbaand :))

Its been exactly 2 weeks today since I came into this foreign land again pursuing my goals in life. My project hasnt started yet or rather am not yet being called to the office due to official constraints so I got a chance relaxing at home or rather sweating it out in the daily chagrins of life.

Its quite interesting now that I look at life from the other side..i.e. a homemaker's role. I've tried to make the most of it so far lets see how it goes..Let me be more elaborate here.

First weekend after I came, it was a usual shift change for my R to shift his focus from friends to his wifey..hehe..which is so difficult for him! As usual I guess the first friends we met were darling esha and her folks..its always so much fun to meet up with her. I guess we went out shopping for her 1st birthday which was coming up round the next weekend.

Then weekday came and basically I got engrossed in cleaning our home. It wasnt as if it wasnt clean all these 6 months but just so that things werent in the right place and couldnt be found at the right time! So it so happened that when I started cleaning the bookshelf..thot lot of stuff could be moved to the storage in the kitchen and then there noticed that lot of stuff could be moved to the washer storage room and then from there and so on..so ended up cleaning around 5 cupboards..hehe..
whoa..it was a good day's work..end of the week I felt I had done a good job.

In between somewhere came 14th Feb Valentine's..and went..hehe..it just passed by like any other day ..I wanted it to be so much special..as it was our first..but I still have fond remembrances of the last one..when R sent me a sweet song..and I guess I would always remember that as our first valentine with sweet memories and we have so many more to make them more sweeter so no sweat!

Then came friday 16th feb esha cutie's birthday..I had been looking forward to this day so much..that I feel I could come just in time to US.
We had so much fun....and I had a good time with her making her smile on her special day..!
Later that day we went to their house and watched India-SriLanka finals..it got over at 4am..but was worth it as we had a fantastic innnings..and of course we won the match...voila..

That Saturday we went to HP Pavilion to watch the ATP semi-finals. Andy Murray and Andy Roddick played and the former won! It was ok..I was so excited to watch it live but I guess I would enjoy it more sitting with the crowd down there rather than in the special cube..atleast there we could sit and sulk with the crowd looking the special cube people having good food..hehe.
On Sunday, we had invited our relatives over...I met our latest addition to the family Abhishek after a really long time...he has become such a cutie...I only wish he would grow faster and I can play with him..hehe.

This week it has been more so relaxation and waiting in anticipation that I might have to join office soon...Got some chance to prepare some good food this week.
Its such a relaxing feeling to be able to prepare and try out new recipes. One day I would write about the recipes that I've tried so far..it would be fun I guess...

It has been a pleasant week so far and weekend's almost here..so happy weekend :)

Our Wedding

Well the title might sound confusing but yes its true, this time round am narrating our wedding which took place a month back in Dec 2006. Just for clarification, this is the Indian wedding and the one which united us before was the civil wedding:)

Well, I left for India on 9th Dec, feeling very overwhelmed at the thought of going to my hometown alone and not knowing when I would come back. I was very disturbed and emotional. But then, I cheered up and travelled. I made a good friend anu on the trip back home. Landed safely on 11th and then began my journey of preparation for the wedding.

We went to Nalli's in Mahalakshmi and Matunga and finally picked out the wedding sarees from the latter..and then couple others from Lakshmi saree shop. Whew it was a good week's efforts.


Then we went to Mangalore and by that time R had landed there too. He didnt come to receive me at the airport :( Then we got real busy, one day parlour, one day vayana decorations and one day mehendi!It was a beautiful experience. Also in between all this, shopping for R..this was even more fun.

Then on 23rd we had Phool Mudi function where the groom's side is welcomed by the bride's side! Groom's feet are washed and cleaned by my parents. Then he's given some gift like chain and ring. This is where the name "mudi" comes into picture which means ring. Similarly the girl gets her share of gifts like bangles and chain by her mother in law. All in all its a small fun function where near and dear ones meet each other.

Once blessed by all, we departed to meet again the next day for our traditional wedding!

Early morning next day there was total chaos as I had to go for Udada muhurth but my hair dresser hadnt turned up.
Then we had the lentils("dal") grinding episode where every lady in my family comes up to me and grinds the dal with me in the milling stone just so that I learn the household activities..! Same time, R was also taught the same stuff by his side of ladies..! Something new and interesting :)

Later I was sent to get dressed for the main wedding. This was still more fun. The saree that I wear is not the normal way of wearing it. I am supposed to wear the "kaas" i.e. ladies dress in this style during important puja's etc.

The other factor is am supposed to be wearing a white shawl indicating that I still dont know how to wear a saree and after marriage my mother in law would teach me how to wear one! Interesting huh :) Well, all set like this, I venture out to get married to R..my one and only sweetheart! We stand facing each other and through holy chants going on, we accept each other and exchange garlands. Then R takes me with him to walk the seven holy steps..indicating our future life together. We also tie the holy thread on each other's wrists. After that, he ties the sacred kashithali around my neck and we are married following all the rituals!

Then I again change and my mother in law welcomes me into their house..and I become a part of the shenoy family! The day ends by celebrating with all near and dear ones!