07 November 2013

Red-faced!

I started 2013 with a Big-Bang resolution. And like all typical new year resolutions, mine was a big, humongous, capital-letter-kind of FLOP!! I admit I am humbled.

Of course, N, the know-it-all has been proved right (he had warned me about not making the resolutions public). Again. For the nth time!!! Arrrgh!!!
Image courtesy: http://www.demotivation.us

Atleast he is not as insufferable as Sheldon :)
Image courtesy: http://inspirably.com


Nonetheless, I guess it's never too late to start all over again. The key is to try and try till you succeed.

I am by nature, an eternal optimist. It has worked for me for everything else in life. I am sure it will help in getting back to the blogging momentum as well.

Be back soon,
V

23 February 2013

A Day of Vs

This year Valentine's Day was unique. I received two very unique gifts from the two men in my life.

N and I have never been one of those I-buy-my-spouse-big-gift kind of people. Me more so than N. To give N credit, he at least made a sincere effort to buy me a few thoughtful gifts during those first years when we first started courting and then again after we got married. I am guilty of not even attempting that (my defense is that 'I already give him the gift of my love everyday; how could he want anything more?'..sneaky I know! N does not quite agree but has no choice but to accept the fact). Somehow though over the last few years, because we almost always never liked the gifts we got as surprises for each other, we gave up. N and I have very different personalities and very different tastes so things that seem like a pleasant surprise to one end up as a mini shock to the other. Twelve years of knowing each other and seven years of marriage later, we decided to give up. Instead, we just wish each other on the big days (birthdays and anniversaries) and mostly eat good food together.

This year though, N gave me quite an unique gift. He let me sleep!! That might not seem very special to anyone else but for me it was the best gift ever. Anyone who knows me knows that sleep is super dear to me. To be able to sleep in on a weekday for an extra whole hour means more to me than any gift possible. And no, I am not one of those wives who try to pass on their husbands forgetfulness or thriftiness with the 'I-have-everything-what-more-do-I-need' kind of lame gestures! (N did offer to buy me jewellery in the evening, but I declined. Jewellery does not excite me) . Coming back to this year, after I woke up refreshed from an extra hour of sleep, N & little V wished me a happy Valentine's Day with bear hugs. Seriously, what more would I need?

And then, the day got better with Little V's gift for both of us. He made this super-cute art project with his nanny.His nanny tells me the boy loves his arts and crafts. On my part, I loved the typical-boy car stickers. And the of course the three hearts glued together. For life. Just like N, me and the little monster.



In the evening, I baked an eggless vanilla cake for my two boys. The cake is a super simple and super easy recipe from the Edible Garden blog. Check out the recipe here.




To make the recipe a little more special, I prepared a strawberry compote to go with it. The recipe I followed is here. To finish off, I added a light dusting of icing sugar. Yummy!!!! I loved the how the tartness from the compote balanced the sweetness of the cake. N and little V were not too keen on the compote though and loved the cake as-is.

All in all, the day was fabulous. Somewhere through the day, I realized how true it is that life's biggest pleasures are in seemingly simple things. And for that, I will always be thankful- to be able to enjoy a simple life and be surrounded by the people I love and who truly love me.

I hope you all had a beautiful Valentine's day with your loved ones as well,
V

01 January 2013

2013 resolutions

As 2013 begins, I thought it would be a good idea to pen down some of my resolutions for the year. I have been making these in the past but somehow they all vanish from my memory before even the first month finishes. Given that, I decided to post my 2013 resolutions on my blog. Not only will they be a constant reminder once they are put down in writing, my hope is also that the putting them out in the public domain will make me want to stick to them more.

So here we go! (I have 5 for this year)
- Spend less time procrastinating and more time in doing things. It has been my biggest weakness so far and I hope to overcome it this year.
- Learn driving. Not knowing how to drive didnt matter so much in Vancouver where the public transport was awesome but it has limited my mobility severely here in the US.
- Shed 10 pounds by mid-year. Now that I am no longer pregnant or nursing, I have no excuse to justify my extra weight :) It HAS to go!
- Post more regularly on the blog- ideally once a week.
- Jar notes- Inspired by a post I saw on Facebook here, I plan to start my new year with an empty jar and fill it with notes as and when good things happen.. The idea is to empty the jar on 31st Dec 2013 and see all the awesome stuff that happened over the yeaar.

Keeping fingers crossed that I'll stick to these as the year goes by.

Happy 2013 everyone- hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year. My big wish for the new year is that each one of us be nicer, better versions of ourselves as the year begins.

 Image courtesy: dryicons.com

Cheers,
V