Happy Halloweeen

Happy Halloween to all. Halloween is an alien concept to me. However I like this holiday and have always wanted to wear costume and celebrate it. I also have secretly yearned to go trick or treating even though I am too old for that.

Similar to trick r treating is navarathri sundal hunt in India. Trick or treating takes me back to my childhood when I stayed with my aunt and uncle. According to Hindu mythology Navarathri is celebration of  9 nights honoring goddess Durga who killed evil and protected the good. During that time we had a huge display of various dolls called kolu at home. We as children knocked every house every night and asked for Navarathri kolu sundal. Sundal is a protein rich snack made during those 9 nights.Members of each home will hand the children with the snack. We used to hold it in a cloth bag or even skirts ( ewww i know but all the play with germs never harmed us!) and bring them all back to a place called thinnai in a south Indian house. Thinnai is the porch of the house usually supported by pillars. It was a lovely corner for children to play. We used to mix all of them and eat the most healthy snack sundal. We even had a song when we knocked the houses. It is similar to christmas carols and halloween trick or treating combined.

Today I have planned to dress up as a witch ( not much of a transition u see LOL) and Daksha is going to be.... well its a surprise. Pictures coming soon. Happy Halloween to all
xoxo

Let it snow

 Its not even halloween yet it is snowing already. I love snow. Having come from South India where it is always hot, I love the cold for a change. As one of my ex coworkers said, when it is cold you can layer up when it is too hot how much of your clothing can you remove? LOL. I do empathize with those who commute in the cold. I can see why people hate the snow. However for someone like me who stays at home ,watching the snow with a cup of coffee on one hand can be a tranquil experience.

I am double excited today because I can show Daksha how cool snow is.I even want to take pictures in her purple snow suit i have bought for her.   I cant wait for her to grow up so I can grow down. ( If that makes sense) As a child I never got to play in the snow. Now I can ! I have the snow and a play date with the cutest baby girl in this whole wide world :)

Happy Diwali to all

Today is Diwali a colorful festival for Indians. My husband and I were talking about all our childhood Diwali memories. My husband sure had a lot of memories about how he helped his mother with the elaborate cooking and how much he enjoyed the day bursting crackers. All fond memories of Diwali for me were the ones that I celebrated with my sister. When she got married and moved out Diwalis were just another day for me. I have never enjoyed the sound of crackers. So I do not miss crackers at all. With age my tolerance to loud meaningless blasts have only decreased. To think of having Daksha getting scared of those sounds makes it less appealing. What I actually miss is the excitement of wearing a new dress, new pair of shoes that my mom would buy. The sweets that mom made were to die for. The company of my sister made Diwali a wonderful experience. Now that Daksha is with me Diwali has become a day when I dress her up, make sweets ( even though she still cannot eat those I look forward to days of making her fav sweets in future) and make home a wonderful and joyous place for my family. Happy Diwali to all

Thomaston train ride

This weekend we took our baby girl to connecticut's scenic train ride. These trains are 1920s train refurbished and fixed for the ride. Loved it. It took me back to all train rides we made as children to our cousin's place.My sister and I used to stay awake all night during train rides. We used to spot a lonely house with a light bulb every now and then. We were so excited that we were never able to close our eyes! I loved train rides. Even now I do. The hustle bustle of train stations in India with all the announcements, the coffee and magazine vendors OMG I miss them all. Most of all I miss being a child, being excited to stay awake during nightly train rides, asking mom whether our destination had come with every stop that the train made. The excitement of packing stuff to travel, excitement of wearing new clothes on Diwali I miss it all. Thanks to God I have my little one with whom I can be a child once more get excited for nothing and everything once again. I look forward to many train rides with my darling....

SV

Fall is here so is dry skin

I learnt this thing about coconut oil and sugar scrub in a youtube video. I made this last winter and my skin has never felt so good. I even used this scrub during summer because i have dry skin throughout seasons. Its simple just mix some sugar with some coconut oil. Make sure the sugar is 2 times the coconut oil in proportion. For example if you use one cup of coconut oil make sure you add 2 cups of sugar. The sugar should be visible enough. I basically eyeballed it. Using this scrub I never have to moisturize separately which is a plus for a lazy person like me. I always have this in my bathroom now. The sugar exfoliates the skin and the oil takes care of the dryness that follows exfoliation. If you feel it is too grainy and is scratching your skin you can reduce the amount of sugar. This is something that has worked for me so I thought I should share this with everyone.

SV

One of those lazy days

I am enjoying these days with my little one. Its so nice to get up with her soft skin pressing against me. Her warm hands touching my face... When i open my eyes i see her smiling I think this is called life. I do miss working but I do enjoy each moment with my daughter even more. I wouldn't trade this for anything in this world. I call her little miracle for a reason. She came in to our lives after a long struggle to get pregnant. After an ectopic pregnancy, a surgery, a failed IVF she came as a result of a frozen embryo transfer. Almost everything in my life has been this way. I have to struggle a lot to get anywhere but when i do get what i want it is the perfect thing at perfect timing. I got married late had my first kid late. But that is the right time. Universe is kind. She is a mother. She exactly knows what to give and when. For now I am enjoying mother universe's best gift motherhood. Yes there are frustrations, sleepless nights and tear filled days I am loving this anyway....

My first post

My friend Stephanie said I should blog/ share my ideas about things that make me happy. Well there are a lot of things that make me happy. Top on the list is my beautiful 4 month old daughter's smile.. We all know materialistic things give us less lasting happiness.. but yet my first post is about a materialistic thing! Yes it does give me long lasting happiness. Who does not love the word SAVING? Our CVS pharmacy extra care card gives back something called extra care bucks on some items we spend on. So last weekend I had close to $15 worth of extra care bucks that I could spend on. So when I picked up stuff and my receipt said $0.00, I couldn't stop smiling. There is something about sale, buying things at good rates and other such materialistic things. They do give us happiness! So this is something I would recommend If there is a CVS pharmacy in your area please do sign up for their card. It is free ( signing up for their card) Their items are mostly on sale and extra care bucks actually helps you buy things for household for free. This sounds like an advertisement. Its not! I wasn't paid by CVS to say this. I am a real customer.

New to blogging

Hi All

I am new to blogging. I am not a writer. I quit my job to take care of my little one. I have some time on my hand so i am giving this a try.Not even sure who will follow my blog. But just thought will share some thoughts that cross my mind every now and then. I thought I would put in some ideas, recipes, reviews on books, products and other boring stuff. Our little miracle is our daughter Daksha. She will also be a part of the blog's content.

I am taking a deep breath now.... BLOG START

SV