Kids' Room

I usually refrain myself from reading books that my daughter does. The Hunger Games Series is probably an exception. We watched the Hunger Games and I could not resist my self from reading "Catching Fire" to know that happens next. Waiting a year for book #2 to be made into a movie did not appeal me as I suffer from exhibiting really low thresholds of patience. Gripping is an understatement to describe Hunger Games. I was pleasantly surprised to find the book written using simplistic language avoiding fancy schamcy words and sentences. No wonder it's such a popular book amongst school going kids and adults alike.

As a rule, I leave a lot of wall space in the kids room to engage their interests and encourage them adorn the wall with things of their choice. Proudly stands on her wall is our 5K race numbers for a charity event for breast cancer awareness, her choir show performance posters, a 6th grade Social Studies assignment on Abigale Adams, a poster of Taylor Swift along with the colorful bubbles we painted a while ago.

If you are interested in knowing what's in my son's room, it's simply - animals. Postures, cut-outs everything related to animals. Watch out you may very well step on insect habitats he builds out of plastic containers with holes poked on lids and the boxes filled with dirt and pieces of fruits. If you are lucky, you may find a box with an insect intact that he found on the school playground; carefully transported home in his back pack.

He's promised me he will not bring home all the "cute" geckos he finds outside our house, no matter how tempting it gets; simply because he knows I am scared of it. Now, how sweet is that !!!

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Play Dress Up And Garba

A lanky girl in tees and skinny jeans or shorts in the Summer biking around the neighborhood or throwing in a few hoops in the back yard, playing the piano particularly the Christmas songs at this time of the year so she can be ready for the holiday season or reading a book too fast ignoring my words of wisdom to read slowly absorbing every word and appreciating sentences best describes my daughter. If she is not doing any of the above she is probably definitely listening to Taylor Swift songs. She needs a lot of convincing to dress up girly-girl. Not that she is a tom boy, but simply does not take the time to dress up fancy.

A couple of weekends ago, I took the time to dress her up in traditional South Indian skirt and blouse with some of her jewellery from the time she took Bhartnatyam lessons. The bangles are a tad size too big for her as those belong to me.

The temple and other Gujrathi organizations around the DFW are organizing daily/weekend Garbas and Dandiyas. My daughter, her friend N, N's mom (a good friend of mine) and moi went to Garba in the temple Sunday night. It's my daughter's first Garba ever and I am glad she loved it.

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Fall Festival At Work And Middle School

Elementary school is a good time to try out various activities for the kids to get an idea of the their interests and to identify inherent talents. By Middle or High school the kid could still surprise you with a hidden talent or an interest they never showed when they were in elementary. Riya is still into spelling, singing, piano and her latest fascination is with sports and politics. Governor Romney did a wrong move by pulling in Big Bird into the political debate. My kids are so against him they remind me everyday that he could very well pull the plug out of NPR, one of my favorite radio stations. Riya made it into the school's Tennis team but sustaining the team needs a lot of practice. She is also looking at basket ball for the upcoming season. It's a little overwhelming for us but she seems to be enjoying the whole thing and efficiently managing her time.

Thanks to Facebook, I know I am not alone with the sudden influx in the activities for Middle school.Well, like everything else, this is a phase of life to be enjoyed and savored for time flies so fast. Last Friday was Fall Festival at my workplace. Riya had choir practice that day and I made her skip it to take her to the Fall Festival at work. She was hesitant at first but was glad she came to the festival.

Live band, bounce houses, crafts for the kids, kettle popcorn, cotton candy, charred corn on the cob, caramel apples with Halloween toppings as well as the classic peanuts, cake walk, plenty of games for the kids and fire truck with firemen providing tours of the the truck were all part of the Fall Festival last weekend.

No points for guessing that my current work place scored as the best company I ever worked for with my kids. I am beginning to realize the same, not just because of the free-festival but mainly because I am able to balance my work and life way better here than with any of my previous employers. Will post in detail another time on that aspect.

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Golu 2012

With every generation the celebrations gets tweaked; at times due to geographic locations and at times simply to keep the tradition practical with the current times. Evites in lieu of personal invites and weekend celebrations instead of daily offerings. The living room is now home to the golu steps. The steps made out of tables with varying heights and shelving from our closet/store room.

It takes a lot of practice to get the symmetry right for the kolams (aka designs). I get mine from doodling kolams, especially the ones where the design is more free flowing. The above maa-kolam is made with a semi-watery paste made out of rice flour mixed with a little all purpose flour.

Mango leaves from the local Indian stores adorn the Kalash, (as seen above) the key component in a golu display. The kalash apparently supersedes over the Gods and is placed on the top most shelf of the golu.

The part of the golu the kids eagerly wait for are the real-life-scenes they get to make. The trees and shrubs along with the sprinkled yellow dust are from Micheal's arts and crafts stores. The lego table top cover used as a base for the scenary. Added a layer of green landscape paper, some rocks, dirt, miniature animal toys and voila!!!

Happy Navrathri

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Latest Obsession

 I am obsessed with Instagram. Most pictures I take on my phone are saved via instagram. The 70's or the early 80's look is so nostalgic. May be they remind me of life when time went by slow and being busy and always on the run was not the motto for most. Pictured above is my daughter's locker. Magnetic flowers, mirrors, pencil holders and wall paper for the locker completed hers. The outside could have been fancier, but we struck to our last year's design. Polka dot wall paper cut to a strip, weaved through the cabinet door and struck in place by the magnetic flower. Many I noticed decorate the outside with ribbons ... may be next year.

Another of my latest fascination is the keurig. As I am the only coffee drinker in the house, my weekend coffee time includes a trip to the local Starbucks, leisurely savoring the coffee accompanied by people watching. With the entry of the Keurig, I love the coffee it brews, not too sure whether the deal is economical. But I sure miss the people watching, the many conversations that occurred during the long walks en route to Starbucks and with due thanks to Starbucks k-cups, do not much miss the coffee itself.

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Nashville TN

Nashville TN is a haven for music lovers, especially those who prefer country or southern rock and roll. CDs of upcoming artists are played in eateries and live music performed any time any day of the year. I am not a big country music fan, so was not too keen on visiting any of the bars. We kept our promise to the kids and took them to the Country Music Hall of Fame. If I have not said this before, Nashville happened to be on our way to the Smoky Mountains and we have an ardent Country music fan in our family.

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NY Deli & Central Station Market

Wondering if some of the desi ways are rubbing off on NY shops. I was surprised to hear a couple of bagel shops do not accept credit cards on purchases less than 5 dollars. That's usually the norm followed by Indian stores. Other than that, nothing much came between me and my NYC bagel.

A trip to NYC is not complete in Summer with out indulging in the the local fruits. If you are looking for great produce at rock bottom prices, Chinese markets or vendors is your answer. Due to lack of time, I stuck to the market in the Central Station. The market is also a great place to pick some spices and freshly baked goods. 

Cherries and some finger grapes. 

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AZUSA, Midtown NY

What you do for a living no longer seems a person question in the US of A. You would be amazed by how many perfect strangers have asked me that question and how many are more than willing to proclaim their own. It's almost like what you do for a living is a critical part of your identity. But apart from that, I seem to totally enjoy random conversations irrespective of whether I am included in one or if I am simply overhearing by virtue of sitting right next to them in the bar area. On business trips, I prefer to sit in the bar area rather than opt for a table, unless it's outdoors and the  weather is great. 

I was looking for a place to dine in and choose a Sushi place in Midtown. The bar was not too crowded, a Japanese family including a dad, son and uncle and a desi girl. My very first seeing another desi girl dining all by herself. The Japanese family kept us entertained, most of the talking done by the son and uncle while the wise dad kept to a few chuckles. Another banker joined in the conversation who happened to work in that area. We had such a good time, one suggested we meet the following Thursday. But I was flying out, the Japanese uncle and dad were flying back to Japan. Not sure if the desi girl, the banker gentleman and the young Japanese chap met in the weeks to come. AZUSA is sure on my list to visit on my next trip.

In case you found this post via a search result for AZUSA, their sushi is great, service even better. Not pricey at all. The seating on the 2nd floor appears more family oriented while the bar area ambiance is more zen like.

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Screme, NY

I am a little picky about the mango flavor as in ice cream, sorbet or juice. Very few seem to get it right. Screme is one of them. They are located at stone throw away distance from Central Station, NYC. I loved their pine apple and mango sorbets.

But their best happens to be chocolate. They have chocolate in all shapes and forms ... ice cream, chocolate croissants,hot chocolates and you name it, they have it. Their secret is Valrhona Chocolates.

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Soup Nazi

I wonder if this soup place was the inspiration for Seinfeld for one of his episodes on "Soup Nazi" or may be not. Especially the words in red letters does remind me of "No Soup", the famous words of the soup vendor to Elaine, a character from Seinfeld. Al's Famous Soup place is close to my workplace in NY and is usually packed for lunch. Good soup!!!

Talking about TV shows, if you have not watched the The Mindy Project, I highly recommend you watch it. You won't stop laughing the entire time. Well, when was the last time the main protagonist in a show was both female and hilarious. Tina Fey does come to mind, but she had Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock.

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