Printemps Fashion!

....After winter comes spring! Thankfully!....there is so much sunshine, cheer and flowers everywhere....it obviously means the colours need to come out in the open, cheerful flowers....and bright summery colours!

We went on a lovely weekend driving to the French Ardennes....driving through Reims, Givet, Charleville-Mezieres...and out came the very few dresses and flowery skirts that I own! :) I bought this skirt for a good bargain at a street market in Paris! :) Its a breezy material and just right for the summer....

* Tip: I am slimmer below the knees... :). If you would like to look slimmer or longer, it helps to wear an A-line or Pencil skirt just right below the knee...it creates a nice silhouette and for travel, flowy skirts are more convenient and easy to move about!

As I have mentioned here ( click to read that post) before, I am a little hesitant to wear dresses too often...but since I have bought them....I better wear them somewhere and it does suit me, I guess! :) I bought this halter neck dress for the lovely colour ( for a holiday to Spain in 2010) and bright flowers...I used to wear a top underneath....now I have graduated to a shrug! :)

Coming to the shrug, I bought it in the recent sale in February in Paris! (Recently, I have made a resolution to become a practical shopper and not the impulsive buyer that I normally am! ) I love Crochet...but it is often expensive! So when I saw this, I literally pounced on it! ;) I am trying to add a flavour of femininity to my personality and I feel crochet is the way to go! :)

I am also a big fan of turquoise and my eyes are always attracted to the colour! I bought this turquoise pendant....which I have been dying to wear with the right clothes! Here it is! :)

I love this picture!

...you ask why?
1. Its an interesting perspective!
2. It has everything I love - the sea and S!
3. ...and "truth" prevails...literally!

"A man's home is his wife's castle!"

...and nothing can be further from the truth as far as our home is concerned! I strongly believe that a comfortable and beautiful home is a great source of happiness and contentment.

While its impossible, rather impractical to change homes every once in a while...its highly practical to change little things around your home...that gives you 'renewed energy' when you enter your haven...I always change the curtains or cushion covers when I feel like making a change at home and it works! The splash of colour and the soft cushions are comfortable, pleasing and inexpensive!

New cushion covers (Big) - IKEA! I am in heaven the minute I spot one! The smaller silk cushion covers are a super bargain - I got two covers for 1 euro in a Market in Spain! My heart skipped a beat and I pinched myself to check if I was hearing it right... :P










I got these long reed-like things last time from IKEA and over time, I have been slowly adding little flowers, collected pebbles and stones and slowly developed this corner in our home!













I have always wanted to grow plants indoors....but its really difficult when your home is carpeted and I have enough housework, so why add plants to it? I did'nt give up, this time I picked up this artificial fern from IKEA and Voila! my own tropical zone in our "castle"!

When Amma and Anna visited, we planned a day trip to Disneyland in Paris. It was our first visit too and I bought this cute cushion. I think it's a symbolic representation of S and I! Sappy, you say? Did'nt you know that already? It brings a huge smile on my face every time I see it and of course, this!

Chunky is Funky!

I have always thought that lace is very pretty and delicate and is most suitable on very petite and delicate-looking women, if you know what I mean...

An entire ensemble or top in lace would be too overwheming for me. Recently, I found this top with a hint of lace in the back and shoulders...and loved it! Who said you can't have the cake and eat it too? :)

So I realized that if you like something, go ahead and adapt it to suit your personality or style - not just wear it as it is and feel uncomfortable in your skin! My humble opinion!! I think I would look horrible in an top made of lace fully...I am anything but petite or delicate! :P

I am in love with turquoise jewellery and am always attracted to them wherever I see them! I have them in all types - bracelet, ear-rings, necklaces, pendants - you name it and I have it! While roaming around Odeon (an area in Paris)...I saw this unique piece - chunky and really interesting with a character of its own! I jumped on it but never really wore it thinking its really 'over the top'.

Finally, I braved myself to wear it with the same plain black ' a tinge of lace' top and it looked lovely and I got a few admiring glances and compliments at work!! :) Its quite huge and can look good only with plain tops...else it loses its 'character', you know? :P

My blog is a journal; my journal of good memories, milestones, happy thoughts (mostly) and offlate I have developed an interest in writing about fashion. So I am not a fashion blogger per se, but I do write occasionally about it coz I love it! :) Vibhuti is very kind to give me this award which I am thrilled about! She has become really regular with her fashion posts and takes a lot of time and effort to put up interesting pictures of herself in a fashionable avatar! Go check her out!

Not just that, she has given me ANOTHER award which I am really pleased about...I blog pretty frequently about being positive and my journey towards becoming a better person! So I really hope to spread sunshine and happiness in my own little way...

Merci beaucoup, Madame, vous êtes très gentile! ( Thank you very much madame, you are very kind!).

We were here!

My folks visited me in Paris for 2 weeks and we also planned a trip to Geneva for 5 days! We had an awesome time and this was a click from our day trip to Chamonix-Mont Blanc. They have gone back to India...and I am still finding it difficult to get back to reality!

My photographer friend!

I am a self-proclaimed photo maniac and love looking at pictures! I am dumbfounded when I see his photos and albums. Sri Iyer, a friend and an amazing photographer takes pictures that are pieces of art! People often say you should do something you love, for a living - coz you are best at what you do! He is a fantastic photographer...and guess what? He has taken it up professionally and has his own studio in Chicago! His forte - People, Little People (babies) and People who are just born (newborns!)

Sri is a Maternity Photographer in Chicago and Baby Photographer in Chicago specializing in beautiful pregnancy pictures, modern newborn photography and children's photography. His wife and my cousin, Jana, helps with newborn posing.

Check out his website - www.photosbysri.com and you'll know what I am talking about...here's a preview!

I told you?! What do you think? Love?

The Girl in the Green Scarf!

...Yes, I am the girl in the green scarf and this is the one, I mentioned here that my dear friend C, spent more than a MONTH knitting this gorgeous pattern for ME! :-) Isn't it gorgeous?

It came as an absolutely pleasant surprise to me and I was thrilled that she put so much effort into this and gifted it to me! I am going to treasure it forever...and even if I am a beginner at knitting, I know that its a difficult pattern and it has a combination of two different shades of green and OF COURSE takes loads of patience to knit such a huge scarf!

Why Green? She said, " She saw a picture of yours truly with S, in Loire Valley and there was all this greenery around us...and she wanted us to remember Europe like that"

Thank you sooooo much C, for the wonderful gesture.... I am deeply touched! I'll feel all warm and fuzzy both inside AND outside during the winters!:-)

Its spring finally!

I clicked these lovely flowers in a park somewhere near Bastille! Its so pleasant to see flowers and greenery all around...are'nt they simply gorgeous?

Not the ones to be left behind, my plants at home have started flowering too! I love to sip my coffee early in the morning and being able to see this along with the Eiffel Tower of course! ;-)



















Its funny that when I took care of them everyday and religiously watered these plants...they refused to flower! When I gave up and simply ignored them, they are flowering!!! Its as if they said don't frown, we are up! :-)

How do we spend our weekends?

...doing this!

We made a few additions to our home, like the shoe rack and the T.V. without thinking about whether it will fit into our rack! So we had to rearrange the entire living room, which took a lot of effort! But the result was....worth it!














After some time, the rearranging was so much fun and it created a lot of space as opposed to the big stand right in the middle of the living room, which is now in the corner! ( My landlady was right from the beginning, it does take a lot of space, the way we had kept it!)

Next, we tackled the lobby....and with our new shoe rack ( which had to be fully assembled manually by S!), it looks more put-together and I like the fact that its a closed one! We also included a seat so that you can sit down and put on your shoes/boots. ( I will let you in on a secret, I needed more space in the living room to move around when I exercise!)...so I convinced S that the one-seater has more utility in the lobby area! ;-)

As I wondered where to put the extra mirror which we used to shield all the wires, S came up with this brilliant idea! I love it and over time I have also realized that adding mirrors in strategic places creates an illusion of space. Do remember this, when you rearrange or do up your place! :-)

The old T.V. used to be here....so I used up this space to place the Buddha and Ananya here. I have not named Buddha coz he has already got one! Well, I have this wierd habit of naming all my knick-knacks! So Ananya also changes her jewellery often to match the decor! ;-)

Public display of affection!

In the Facebook and e-mail age of birthday wishes, it is very rare to get 'physical' cards....so I am enjoying the attention while I can! There is no greater joy than reading a 'physical mail' or a card or even a lil note on a post-it! Don't you agree?

I have all the birthday or anniversary cards stashed away and once in a while, take it all out and have a look. It makes me very happy. So I thought, why not cheer myself up every once in a while, I glance at this white cupboard that seems kind of bare? I am liking it coz I smile at every glance! :)

Some new props at home!

A Dreamcatcher, reminiscent of our trip to Greece; the beautiful beaches and the ships that sail away!

S and I, have a huge collection of fridge magnets from all the places we travel to! The fridge is not big enough for them and its one of our most prized possessions. ( The pic has only a part of the fridge!) I am planning to get a black metal plank framed and put all the lil cuties on it. Future project. It is such a lovely reminder of all the places we went, and often, we discuss one of them as we chat and cook in the kitchen. Very good topic for conversation, you know?
















I got this cute lil magnet in Milos which has a small 'Post-it' stuck on it. It struck me that I can use it to do this! S can just look at the fridge and not bug me about what's for lunch ;-).

I picked up these pebbles when we went to NICE and as I wondered what to do with them, I broke one of my glass flowers we got from Venice ( I know, clumsy me!)....but, the flower remained intact. So I threw a pinecone, some beads and voila! I have an interesting, earthy platter of everything in the entrance lobby!!! :-) Like it?

Pleasing Pinecones? Anybody?

Sunkissed, relaxed, together...

Soaking our feet in the beautiful beach - Milos, Greece!

Edited to add: S describes the natural beauty in his prolific words in 'Nowhere road'. Go read it!

The Travel Extravaganza!

As I just got back from a trip to NICE and Monte Carlo (Monaco) in South of France, I can't explain how lucky and blessed I feel....for the opportunity to see such lovely places in the world. S and I were pleasantly surprised to note that we have visited at least 7 countries in 2009 alone!












Coming back to the trip, NICE is a small town but absolutely beautiful with the gorgeous pebble beach right in the center of the town. Obviously, it feels like the entire population lives in and around the coast perennially coz there is so much activity and people around.

I was surprised to note that a lot of people speak English there and so it was so much easier to communicate and shop!
You get some lovely homemade soaps in all fragrances like lavendar, apricot, orange, vanilla and the fragrances are mesmerizing. I picked up a few to gift my friends and family.

They also have cute diffusers that can be hanged in bathrooms in the shape of sun, moon....the 'home decor maniac' in me refused to budge without picking a few! :-)






After 2 days of slowly exploring NICE,we decided to go to Monte Carlo in Monaco which is a 20-minute train ride from there. I must add that it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen in my life. Apparently, it is a city flooded with celebrities and millionaires ( well, its a tax-free state!), you cannot see a single beggar on the road or anyone loitering around doing nothing. People are all rich, classy and sophisticated. Everywhere you see royalty, glamour and class, be it the casino or the shopping areas filled with designer labels. I was asking S where would the common people shop for anything? He was like there are no common people here, I guess!!! ;-)

(This is a picture of the Casino Entrance)

We lost some money in the casino; after we won the first I became greedy and ended up losing the entire money!!! :-) Anyway, it was a one-time experience and I think we should stick to hard work rather than luck
( sour grapes!!)
















The street lamps are decorated with chandeliers on every road! What more can I say?

Bastille Day Fireworks - View from our living room!

We sat in the balcony, having dinner and thoroughly enjoying this spectacle! It felt like all of France gathered in the Eiffel Tower, to celebrate Diwali ! Sharing the joy of light with you here...

Part I (Click on the colored text)

Part II (Click on the colored text)

Part III (Click on the colored text)

Part IV (Click on the colored text)

You can hear us talking in the background...sorry, we just didn't remember the conversation and the clink of cutlery could get recorded as well!!! :D

Gorgeous Giverny!

We planned to go to Giverny, an idyllic village in the French countryside, Normandy....with yet another bank holiday in France, we got a long weekend and we decided to make a small weekend trip there! A few glimpses...

Some Trivia: Giverny attracts half a million visitors from all over the world; especially painters who are charmed by the unique light of the Siene Valley. Claude Monet, a very well-renonwed painter lived in Giverny for more than 43 years. His house, his gardens and his impressions of Giverny in his paintings are world famous! You have to see it to appreciate its true beauty, the colors and all the greenery is simply fabulous!

Orange Gladiolus in my tiny lil' garden!!

There are always flowers for those who want to see them...

The Earth laughs in these lovely blooms, don't they?...

I don't throw away used bottles, I do this!

Edited to add: You can use any bottle after the juice/pickle or whatever gets over...wash it thoroughly. Use glass paint and liner to outline the designs and fill it with color. You can use it to put flowers, chocolates or just like a showpiece...even in the bathroom as a stand for toothpaste/toothbrush...I didn't use any patterns specificially, just used my creativity..but you can even source patterns from the net and try!

Enjoying the 'completeness'...

I HAD to put up all the cushion covers I have....( knowing my cushion cover mania!!)...

I enjoy reading a book here....sipping a cup of tea!!!...Bliss!!

My valuable memories and photos....( Yes, they are blurred, I know...it is intentional)

We sit here and enjoy this lovely view...At night, the display of lights is beautiful and I am lucky enough to see it every night!!! I will put up the video soon....