Good times in India - Part 1

So...I am back from this good, real good trip at home and all I can do now is sit down and look at the pictures and think about the jolly good times with the friends and the family! So thought, hey why not share these pics with you (that's what I do on the blog) After all, you are waiting to know where I was hiding all this time and what was I upto, right? :)

 Got to see the GOD play (yes, Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest cricketer of all times) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Shame he retired hurt after hurling that ball out to the stands! And of course there was Kieron Pollard, who just turned the tables with his mindblowing batting.

A sip of the freshest wines right at the Sula Vineyards, Nashik..the place is so beautiful and people if you are there, don't miss the calming and scenic sunset.  

Train journeys..what summer vacations were made of

Mum and I were literally glowing after the TLC session at the Four Fountains Spa, Bandra

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Dev Darshan on a tuesday at Shrimant Dagdu Sheth Halwai Ganapati, Pune

Card session in progress ('Badam Saat') with mum, dad and granny

A 'hilarious' sign in the rickshaw (3-wheeled taxi in Mumbai)..nevertheless, I kissed my mum ;) 



More colors in my home

Continuing from the home décor series here, I am back with some more decor things I added to our place. 

Lately, we (J and I) have been watching a couple of home decoration series on HGTV (man, is it addictive or what!) and now we are completely smitten and haunted by the idea of decorating our place such that – “it suits our character”! 
Add to the fact that, I have more time on my hand and we are starting from scratch at this new place, we have become very (read extremely) picky about the décor pieces we want to add to our home.

So after careful deliberation and long long talks about how each piece will represent us in every small way, I present to you another series of summer add-ons!
(Note: HGTV is a TV channel in the US dedicated to all aspects of home - from buying to selling to decorating and everything in between!)

First up, an embroidered and artistic wall cloth hanging that we picked on our trip to Jaipur, Rajasthan (located in North India) this year. I love the fact that it is so colorful and so intricately done; it adorns the wall over the fire place. 

Note - I always wanted something that defines from where we are - India. This wall decor does complete justice to that fact!

Cheery yellow again; the flowers and the brass metal pot are from our old apt décor, and they just aptly fit in here (nooo, I swear, we are not on a freaking-yellow spree ;) )

So I am 'not' completely in love with the ‘fireplace’ in the living room – only only ‘cause it’s in a really weird place in the living room. I always feel that place could have been used for something much better. But anyhow, moving on, this is how sparked up the gloomy fireplace with more flowers. I have put my own twist on it. Do you think it’s a single flower pot there?

Go Green – yes that’s the theme! I have never,I mean never, had a green bed sheet, green pillow, or anything green for the bedroom. So when I – actually both me and J :P – spotted this greeny green bed sheet set in IKEA, we were totally bonkers! And then we found these striped duvet cover and pillow covers – so perfect, just like match made in heaven. Nothing like a cool crisp new bed sheet and pillow covers, sight to behol’ and relax on to ;)

No words to describe this – it was the perfect contemporary art piece for the living room! Vibrant color palette, flowery and clear lines - it was like love at first sight for J and me. Dang!! It right went with us home and hung itself above the sofa! 
Note - J and I love contemporary art and this art piece suits the bill!

Last piece ladies and gentlemen, is very elegant – never owned anything like this one. Stunning tri-colored work of glass art. We picked this from trip to West Virginia (WV). I love the fact that its a piece from local art in WV. 
I actually liked it for the mantle above the fireplace, but I think it looks better against the pristine white background of the side table. In the night when the side table lamp glows, it looks stunning with the red, orange, yellow, clear glass color tones and the glass ripples. 
Note - we love individual and original pieces and local art - this glass vase is a perfect marriage of these two qualities.

How do you decorate your home? Do you look for any particular theme/color? 


P.S: linking up the post, here

To the Danish countryside..

First of all, welcome to my new readers and thanks to all of you who left comments on my previous post. It was fun reading through them and thank you for encouraging words. I have found new friends in the blogging community and couldn’t be happier about it!!

Yesterday nite I was going through the old snaps on my hard drive and it kinda got me into a nostalgia mode…aah good ol’ days! Well, I hit on this album from my trip to Denmark – a Scandinavian treasure. I was in Denmark in 2005 summer on the client-side. I love love n absolutely love to travel…there is no other thing in this world that makes me happier than to plan my next travel …waataa a feeling it is to book tickets and then spend the rest of the time day-dreaming and making travel plans :) So ya back to the nostalgia mode :)…I lived in the suburbs of Copenhagen (capital of Denmark) and took weekend trips in and around Denmark and to Berlin, Amsterdam and Malmo in Sweden.

That was one memorable time..I was by myself (I had never travelled alone before or for that matter even lived on my own).. so you can imagine this was a life altering experience for me living in the Danish countryside. I learnt a lot about people, living alone, met different (read weird!) type of people..and of course dearly missed my family and friends.

I had curious experiences living there..got to see how people live in Europe, had my first trip to a Gurdwara, participated in my first ever walkathon (it went all around the cty of Copenhagen), pluck-n-eat juicy cherries directly from the trees, have dinner (at 9) while the sun shining high, exchanged letters with my parents (tat was soo sweet and emotional, I still have those letters and read them once in a while), walk in the freaking-freezing fall mornings, foggy n snowy winters..well you c there were too many firsts on that trip.

And of course nothing can beat this - living in a country where they don’t speak the language you do :P ..well I can’t complain much, cause the Danes are very well versed in English n spoke it very fluently (without any reservations)..the Danish are very helpful, caring and warm bunch of people..never once made me feel like an outsider. Well, I also made really good friends (we were five gals) who I cherish even now. We had some memorable dinners, shopping trips, touristy things n ya chit chatted for hours n did all things girly…fun times!!   oh ya and I was introduced to two fashionable brands - H&M and Debenhams. H&M carried superb skirts, I remember getting a couple of them - brown corduroy n black velvet. We used to hop over to this huge shopping complex called - Fields - something that was huge, huge and even more huge!! i dont think I have ever seen something like that here in the states. Fields had every shop, every European brand and super huge food court.

well, sharing with you some pics of my time spent in Denmark…the pics brought back a lot of memories and I was transported back to the summer of 2005 …I had real good time engulfed in nostalgia n reminiscing the small unseen things in the pics..!!

I plan do separate posts on my visit to Amsterdam and Berlin!..well till then, as they say in Danish “Fortsat god dag” (Have a good day!)

Copenhagen Town center

temps were always below 20C

Danish Parliament

Walking street in Copenhagen

Opera House

Copenhagen harbor 

beautiful countryside in Roskilde, a town near Copenhagen

Vikings Museum

World Famous 'Tivoli Gardens'

Danish author Hans Chistian Andersen - creator of 'The Little Mermaid' 

Tivoli Gardens

Dinner parties :)

One serene morning in Fall

Fall in Danish countryside

Summer addons

Setting up and shopping for a new place is crazy business and an on-going activity. While I am at it, I wanted to share some stylish things I picked for myself and new apt to welcome summer.

A cheerful coffee-table tray! its a vibrant lacquer tray and perfect accent to the white cube coffee tables. Yellow is fast catching up with me – I have a yellow accent sofa-pillow and Rajasthani print wall hanging.

(Tray - West elm small rectangle lacquer tray) 

Troika of knives - couldn’t resist adding some vibrant colors to my kitchenette

(knives - Ikea SLIPAD)

Closet organization - arranged my summery tops and blouses and organized them in a color-pattern to help me for a quick pick when I am in hurry.

Summer mornings - my fav coffee and some newspapers – a perfect start to the day! The mug reminds me of my beloved city – Boston and is a parting gift from a dear friend when we moved here.

Color me summer! – some pastels and bright nail colors to add that zing to my fashionable summer outfits.

did you add any summer accents to your home, wardrobe or vanity case? are you obsessed with any color for this summer :) ?

cya n tc

Ashwini