Bits & Pieces

I am really, really loving this column these days! :) I absolutely look forward to putting this one out on Fridays
And yay! it’s Friday already…
…which means that another super-packed weekend is just around the corner! Uggghhh!
But anyway, this is the home stretch…just a few more things to put together and then we’ll be celebrating in no time…just two weeks to be precise!
While things are definitely moving ahead in the passport renewal department, I am really, really praying to the Passport Gods to get my passport delivered in time to get a visa issued…
…and in the meanwhile, we are exploring some options where visas can be issued on arrival
Hate the uncertainty surrounding the honeymoon! :(
It was my boss’s farewell this week…he was one of the old-timers at the firm…almost 13 years! That’s a long time, by today’s standards!
And the falafel’s they served at the party were just outstanding. I think I had one too many of those!!!
Spent a couple of afternoons this week reading on our not-so-evident dependence on sugar and how drastically reducing sugar from our daily lives can have such a positive impact on our health
I also bought Sarah Wilson’s “I Quit Sugar” ebook. Post all the wedding madness, I would love to give this a try
I purchased some digital goodies from Designer Digitals and I cannot wait to experiment with them
I’ve confessed this on Twitter and on Facebook, but I will say it one more time: I am in love with the A Beautiful Mess app. Those two sisters are phenomenal, to say the very least!
David Beckham retired from football this week. And yes, I have no shame in admitting that he was the reason why I started watching football in the first place
Angelina Jolie’s decision was so incredibly brave…
This one was such a fabulous post on thinking of original ideas
Loved Ali Edward’s journaling here
Oh my God, I want a living room of this kind!
And finally, the quote of the week!

What do you all have going on this weekend? Whatever you do, have a good one! See you all on Monday!

Favourite Childhood Reading Memories

For as long as I can remember, I have loved reading. No matter what, my parents never stopped me from buying a book that I wanted. When I was really young, my Mom used to teach in the same school where I studied and the librarian used to allow me to sit for hours in the library to read the books that I wanted or take out extra books.

Once my Dad and I had visited College Street in Calcutta during one of my summer vacations. I had picked up this book which became my faithful companion for many years after that – it was a hard-bound book with a blue cover and was probably titled “365 Bedtime Stories” or something like that. There are countless other books which I do not remember the names of but they started this never-ending love affair with the printed word and reading.

From fairy tales and bedtime stories, I graduated to reading my fair share of Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Archies comics and various Indian publications (Amar Chitra Katha, Champak, Chandamama, Tinkle, Pran’s comics etc.).

Reading Books

As crazy as it may sound, if I chance upon these books, I can still spend many happy hours reading through them. Again. :)

What are your favourite childhood reading memories?

Monday Inspiration: Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Do what you love

“Do What You Love; Love What You Do” – I am sure you must have come across multiple variations of this extremely powerful motto on Pinterest.

I was just going over some texts while playing Project Life catch-up and I came across this particular conversation with my Dad, or Baba, as I call him. He’s recently changed jobs and there was hardly a day’s gap between leaving his old firm (where he’d worked for over 17 years) and joining the new one. I was telling him that he should have taken a few days off and this is what he said: “I don’t want to. I love working. I don’t want to stop.”

This is from a man who’s already worked for over 3 decades now. And I know that you can’t really say it unless you truly love what you do. Sure, Baba’s had his bad days at work. He’s lived a stressful life, is under daily medication for high blood pressure, has stayed away from family for over 25 days in a month – many times over, and yet, he doesn’t want to stop.

If that’s not inspiration, I don’t know what is.

Baba

And not like it’s relevant, but I just love this really old picture of Baba! It’s from like forever long ago!

As for me, I am somewhere in between the two extremes. I know that I want my “work” to involve something more creative (this blog was in many ways a manifestation of that) and I also know that I do not have the requisite skills to truly apply myself as a “creative”, yet. Currently, my work is about doing what I know best to do and I know that as long as I am doing it, I will apply myself a 100% to it. In the meanwhile, that elusive search for finding what I would truly love to do continues.

I would love to hear from you, are you doing what you love? If not, have you identified what would you love to do and are you working towards it?

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Bits & Pieces

Never could have imagined that my weekends would be busier than the weekdays!
Wedding prep is exhausting, I tell you!
Elopement has crossed my mind more than once in the course of these last few weeks!
In the meanwhile, I am looking over some DIY gift ideas for my sisters and friends who are coming down for the wedding (loving this and this)
My new workout is kicking my ass…good thing is, I am making some progress on the weight loss…
…and I hope to be able to lose some inches before the wedding!
Amy’s story with food and nutrition was inspiring, to say the very least…
…and her review of “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver has certainly inspired me to put together a small balcony garden in the new house!
The song “Balam Pichkari” has been stuck in my head for the last couple of days and I cannot wait for the movie to release!
Wow, I use way too many exclamation marks!!!
Even in the middle of all the wedding prep, I love spending some time on the blog! It is my “me time” and this planner is keeping me (somewhat) sane and organised :)
One of my major blog-related To Dos is to set up the blog’s Facebook page. Hopefully, in the next week
I finally made some progress with my Project Life pages. It is kinda shameful how behind I am at the moment!
I am seriously contemplating asking my brother to gift me some Project Life supplies for my wedding, especially the mini-albums!

So what does your weekend look like? Hope it’s not as busy as mine! Have a good one, y’all! :)

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Not Quite The Season for Resolutions

It is early May. In my part of the world, it is hot and humid. Painfully so.

It’s not the first day of the year. Nor is my birthday anywhere around the corner. The lack of any such landmark days would make this not quite the season for resolutions now, wouldn’t it?

Well, says who? Any day, any season is fair game for resolutions. And one week into this new innings with my blog, I think some resolutions are in order to get some accountability into the picture.
Blogging Resolutions

So well, here it goes:

Blog regularly: I don’t intend to make this into a daily blog but I will certainly attempt to get 3 posts out every week, at the very least!
Original content: I think coming up with original content is essential to take the blog in a positive direction. Requires more commitment and more thought, for sure, but something I would love to invest in.
Engage more: I just have to get to this. The blogging community is just something else and I will make more sincere efforts to be a part of the community.
Learn Photoshop: This is for the blog and beyond. For starters, it is always fun to keep learning new things and learning Photoshop will help me with my photography, blogging and Project Life as well!
Experiment: Taking off from #2. I really want to experience new things and document those better. Maybe even mix up the kind of posts that I do. Try my hand at something new. Maybe an occasional style post. A food styling post. Or something else. Ideas welcome here!

Also, here’s a free printable for you to organise your blog plan. Click here or on the image below to download the file.

How are you all doing on your blogging resolutions? If you haven’t made any, why don’t you start now and share you resolutions in the comments below?

The Everyday and Beyond

Snippets of life, from everyday and beyond

Bits & Pieces

Favourite Childhood Reading Memories

Monday Inspiration: Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Bits & Pieces

Not Quite The Season for Resolutions

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