Easy To Read, Hard To Do

Saturdays are library days. On some Saturdays, it's a family affair when all of us head to the library and on some, I pick books for the kids and myself. Of late I have been picking "The Biggest Loser (TV show)", "How To Think Like A Naturally Skinny Person " type of books on top of those on home improvements. It's high time I realize no dosages of these tips can help until I stop my frequent visits to "The Cheesecake Factory" and the likes.

The irony is that I do not even like cheesecakes.

This weekend is the Dragon Boat Festival and the Addison Food Festival. I am hoping to get to both. The latter a girls night out and the former a family trip. A darned good opportunity to see how much of what I read, I really put to use.

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And Then There Was Light

Like I told you earlier, I am smitten by the home improvement bug. The light fixtures provided by the original builder are of good quality but not something I would call aesthetically pleasing. What a shame, to replace a perfectly working fixture just because it is not in sync with what's in style. May be I would do it, if it was easier to donate the one that's working fine.

The fan in our living room stopped working. We made the best use of the electrician's visit and added recessed lights in the family room, pendant lights (as shown in picture) on top of the kitchen island and the chandelier in the two storied foyer ( as shown below).

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Public Speaking and Life In General

There's anything fancy I do on my business trips, especially the ones to Richmond. I might put on a dress, heals and go on a date with my book to a nearby restaurant in the Short Pump area. The place literally has a beautiful fountains with short pumps. The pumps do bring back a ton of memory from my childhood in Chennai. Our primary source of drinking water. I cannot count the number of creative excuses my brothers and I made up to escape the daunting task of pumping water. There was always a test in school right when we were needed to pump water. Studying history sounded more fun than pumping those days.

I was in Richmond last week for a presentation and did an fabulous job at it. Even before I could cherish my itsy-bitsy  success at public speaking, something else happened actually something stupid I did, that took my entire energy and focus away. Pretty much the story of my life these days, before I take a moment to cherish small accomplishments, there's always something else waiting for me round the corner.

Looking for a tip or two on public speaking -

• Keep breathing, it makes you sound like you are not nervous. 

• Please please listen when others are speaking instead of going over your lines in your head.

• Add a joke or two as you get more comfortable with speaking in front of an audience. You tube or google can help you out, if you need an opening line.

I am also bitten by the "Guilt Bug" a little these days, especially when I travel and had to miss my daughter's solo singing performance. One of the parents in my neighborhood mentioned how beautiful my daughter sang, danced and entertained the audience, just like an American Idol contestant.

Missing moments like these sting and they sting hard.

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Mother's Day

The entire Sunday was spent going over Knowsys words with my daughter, close to 250 words. She has a test this Tuesday. It's one of those where a last minute effort has a short term effect. The review session we had was more to convince myself that she is ready than prepping her up.

Least of all, she kept it entertaining with her creative sentences. Recant, was one of the words and her sentence was - "Joe wished he could recant the moment when he said 'I do', to his wife.".

While we were busy reviewing words, the boys took over the kitchen. Breakfast was burritos. The cilantro - jalapeno tortilla from Sprouts was worth the try. If you have a Sprouts near by, do give it a shot, I highly recommend it.

The whole day went without me talking to my mom. Will catch up with our mother-daughter gossip when she returns from her trip.

I guess it's never too late to wish all the moms a 

Happy Mother's Day

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Bless Your Heart

I am reading Paula Deen's new book, "Savannah Style" and falling in love with everything Southern. The porches, the breezy afternoons, the dull hum of the ceiling fans and a nap on an old wooden or wicker  rocker. There's something genuine about Paula that draws me to her cooking and books, even though I hardly ever (another way to say never) make her recipes.

This is the season of lemonades and freshly grown cucumbers. With too many failed tomato plants, we decided to bring home the patio tomato plants in pots. I am probably the only one in the Northern hemisphere who complains about difficulties in growing tomato plants. I know many who distribute tomatoes to friends and neighbors because they had over-production.

 
The salad I am making all the time these days is none other than our very own kosumalli, a popular South Indian salad. The recipe is pretty simple. Here is my version and you should be able to get plenty of variations on this recipe.

Method

1. Mix diced Carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, finely chopped green chillies and salt.
2. Heat a tsp of oil. When hot, add mustard seeds and wait until it pops.
3. Add asefoetida powder, and a pinch of red chilli powder to the oil. Add it to the salad.
4. Add juice of half a lime and mix well and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

*** In case you did not get the title, it's simply a Southern expression, that can be used to mean a lot of things.

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Panels

I doubt if I have ever shared pictures of my family room. There are several reasons for not doing so. One, I never got to dress up that room in all these 5 years we lived in and two, it's really tough to find that room clutter free and sun lit at the same time. Today morning, the sun was playing peek-a-boo, providing that perfect lighting for a shot. In between getting my son ready for school and trying to snap a picture of the part-light-part-shadow, I did manage to get some decent photographs to share with you all.

We re-arranged the couch in an angular way to provide better access to the master bedroom. I also added a set of four panels to the windows. The curtains reminded me of the ones we had at home when I was a kid, especially the colors and the pattern. It did not take me too long to choose this one and luckily they made these in 105". These panels are from JC Penny and are totally worth the money. It pleats well and you save a few bucks on the rings as it has attached rings. I ordered these online after checking it out in a store; bought some curtain rods and voila.

 My book shelf is filled with home decor books from the library, almost like I am on a home decor over drive. The wall behind Buddha can use some art and some colorful cushions. I also saw pouf made from Indian sarees in Pier One, that I absolutely loved. That will be a great addition to this room. I was just not sure if it can withstand regular usage. I hate to buy things for special uses. If it can't handle rough usage, it's probably not a good fit. For now, I guess I will sit down, relax and enjoy my new panels for a while, before I change a thing.

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What's Going On?

I was in Richmond on a business trip last week and spent my evenings reading blogs sans commenting. I was hoping to see cherry blossoms and did not get to. May be next year. On the home front, my husband and I debated between moving closer to my work and staying in our current house. After a series of back and forth discussions, we decided to stay and work from home more often. After all that new home research, we both are badly in need of a vacation and we are leaning more towards a beach resort, all inclusive types.

Spring is usually a teaser in Dallas. I am glad it extended more than a week this year. The vegetable garden is sprouting. The first few harvests of cilantro always tastes the best. The heat kind of takes away the flavor from cilantro.

I love roses, actually any flower for that matter. I could do posts after posts on roses. My next is to get a set of Knock Out roses. What's gardening in Texas with out some knock out roses.

Recently framed art work, looking for a wall space, which is not a difficult task.

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