Happy Thanks Giving

On Gratitude - Byron Katie

Notice the abundance of what you do have, right here right now, and let it in, really let it in. You may lose it all later, but for now, while you still have it, can you relax and be still, be comforted in what you do have in this moment. It would be nice to think, later, ‘I really appreciated it when I had it, I didn’t waste being grateful for a moment.’ We could wait gratefully for years to lose it all and notice to the end of our lives that losing it all never happened. To open to what is reality right now is to see options that are unimaginable to the frightened, living-in-the-future, I-know mind. ~ Byron Katie

Happy Thanksgiving all of you. Every tradition has some festival to give thanks. In south Indian farming communities, Pongal or Shankaranthi is an event for saying thanks for the great harvest that year and so on.

Being grateful for what we have is the only way to happiness. I began my post with Byron Katie's quote on gratitude. I bumped in to a book called " A thousand Names for Joy" by Byron Katie a few years ago. I met her in person in NY once. She is the founder of a revolutionary technique called "The work" . I am first of all grateful I ever found her and attended one of her workshops. Her book and her teachings have COMPLETELY changed my life. I am sure there are books and gurus out there with " Life changing" books and teachings. But this is not one of them. When I say changed my life it LITERALLY did. I look at life very differently now I am a lot happier in all circumstances than I used to be.I encourage all my blog readers to check out this book and her work at thework.com .  She is amazing.. I say thanks to many things this year.
1. Thank you my blog subscribers. I cannot tell you in words how much your subscription means to me.
2. Once I was told I can never be a mother. Those were the harshest words that I ever heard. Now I am a mother of a beautiful angel. I am thankful for that. I will always be.
3. In addition to being thankful for all those who love me who have been therefor me, I am thankful this year for life itself. Life is so kind that even in its darkest time it leaves us with something to notice or learn. I am thanking everything , everyone in  this universe.

Please leave a comment on what you are thankful for its such a joyful place to visit. Gratitude always brings us back to center :-)

Xoxo
Srividya

11.11.11 A lucky day?

Is today lucky? Mmmm Let us see. I got up in the morning. Alive and kicking. Lucky!Did not have a wink of sleep because LO had cold last night. But I managed to get up this morning holding her, nursing her, comforting her. Lucky! I have a beautiful baby girl. Had a fresh brewed cup of coffee. Lucky! Friends had left some pizza and bread sticks over for me so I don't have to cook today. Lucky! Had that for lunch. I managed to put Daksha to sleep even though she struggles to breathe with blocked nose. Some friends are coming over this weekend. A cousin coming over tomorrow. Yes lucky once again I have family and friends.  Hubby called from out of town. Lucky! I have a loving husband!This is yet another day but realized how lucky I was. It is just not a lucky day. It is a wonderful day like every day. Life has been so kind to me. I have been a lucky person through out. Having best parents, a wonderful loving sister, an amazing brother in law, nieces, cousins, friends. I have been lucky through out. It is a wonderful reminder and I am grateful. This is not bragging it is just a reminder to myself on what I have taken for granted. Sometimes I do grumble saying things are not going my way and I am waiting for my lucky day. But everyday is lucky. It is just how I decide to look at it. This was a sudden train of thought I had when i was revisiting 11.11.11 I thought I would share this with you. Please let me know what you are grateful for. What makes you feel you are lucky?

Xoxo

Srividya

A memory that makes me LOL

I have told this story multiple times to my friends and family. Every time I get reminded of this incident I laugh out loud. Especially when I talk about this with my friend who was with me when this happened .

When I was in my XII grade, my friend and I had trouble with accounting course. So we wanted extra coaching classes outside school for accounting. We looked and looked never found anyone offering accounting classes in that area. I remember how we walked streets of annanagar ( chennai - India) looking for a good teacher for accounting. On a very sunny day we were so thirsty and found this board with an arrow mark saying CLASSES. This arrow led us to an apartment in a cool and shady area with lot of trees. We knocked the door of the apartment. A very courteous woman opened the door. She invited us in and offered us a very cold glass of water. It was such a relief especially after walking around in the sun for so long. We took turns in explaining how much we have trouble with understanding concepts of accounting. We also said we would like to score 100% marks in the subject and that we wanted to master it so we could pursue our bachelors degree in commerce and accounting.

She listened intently and smiled at appropriate places.We almost were happy that we got a good teacher who can help us. When we asked her when we can start the classes, she said " I dont know girls you seem to speak very good English I am not sure if you need classes"

IT WAS A PLACE FOR ENGLISH SPOKEN COURSE. That was funniest half hour wasted in my life.

Xoxo
Srividya

Few of my favorite things

I recently purchased a red scarf at Target.Those who know  me know I am obssessed with scarves. I thought I will post a mini haul and favorites section. My current favorites are :

red scarf -frm target. This practically beautifies any basic Tee and top. This scarf has wonderful detailing and goes with all colors. I just love the fact that I can just get into something basic and throw this scarf around and look as if I put so much effort into my outfit.

Sleeveless Floral button down shirt - thrifted : its ann taylor it fits so perfectly. It only costs $3.00

coral colored skinny pants - forever 21 : I could practically live in them.They are so comfortable. Colored pants are so in now. It is such a nice change from blues blacks and greys.

Sally hansen distressed denim nail polish : This is from the crackle series of sally hansen but I use this alone. This says overcoat on the bottle though. People who are used to covering up their nails with color will find this weird.Single or  double coat of this exactly creates a distressed denim effect on our nails. You will still be able to see your nail color. It is different and cool. I love it.

Please enjoy the pics. I will do fav shoes section soon...

xoxo

All about a pair of jeans

My hunt for perfect pair of jeans is a story that could fill 1000 pages. Since I was 22 ( yes i started wearing jeans that late. During my times in south India jeans were considered too modern and modest girls wouldnt wear it.. Whew! That is one story that could fill pages LOL) my searching for a good pair of jeans started. My sister had bought me a pair from the United states. Those were loose. Later after almost 7 years those became the most figure flattering jeans I owned. Apart from that pair I never remember any jeans I ever purchased to be up to my full satisfaction.I would walk home with a pair and will find it either loose or too tight. In India returns were not accepted in most of the cases. I would end up giving away my jeans at some point. During this time straight cut, boot cuts and flare jeans were in. I have never seen skinnies in India.

 After I came to US, when I was 29 with one pair of good fitting jeans I tried every well known brand to Wal Mart jeans. NONE of them were good. My body shape is unique I am very short with heavy thighs but skinny knees. Any pair that fitted well on my upper part were baggie on my knees and down. If knees were fine it would be too tight on the hips. If everything was fine it was loose on the waist where I had to wear a belt only to have bulges in between. It was a mess. Now that I have given birth the problem has multiplied with my being short, I have heavy thighs, skinny knees AND a stubborn bulging pregnancy pooch that need to be taken care of.

Today I went to the mall to return some stuff. I had purchased 2 tops in one of the shops called deb. I returned the tops only to find they only do store credits. I saw 14.99 jeans section. I tried the one that said short. I was almost certain it was going to be one of those ill fitting jeans where only the height would be perfect the rest would be disaster. But in the dressing room to my surprise... TADA I had the perfect skinny jeans EVER. It felt great and comfortable to be in a pair that partially hid my pooch slimmed my thighs, hugged my knees and I was jumping for joy.

Just as a single comment or frown from someone can spoil your day, a good fitting pair of jeans can brighten one. Good luck my dear fellow jeans hunters.....

Xoxo
Srividya