Crazy good date-night

This is what I wore on a date night, dinner and a movie! It was one of those rare days when everything goes as planned – house work, cleaning, relaxed afternoon, picture-perfect photo shoot and then a dinner n movie. check, check and check!

Date night started with a cozy dinner at - Karaikudi (in chantilly, VA) - a restaurant that serves authentic Chettinad cuisine. We started off with Rasam (perfect for a chilly night)and then moved to idli-wada sambar (my absolute favorite!) and finally finished off Chicken Chettinad with Chapatis/Rotis & Rice. 
The food itself was finger-licking good but super spicy & HOT! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spicy food; but this was beyond my expectations (and in a real bad way!). The Rasam itself was tasty but again too way peppery for me (I left it half way while husband finished it off). The idli-wada were delish; sambar was served in meager quantities :( I mean charge me more but at least serve a cupful of that delish sambar! The Chicken Chettinad was as authentic as it could get - had a very home-madey taste to it! Awesome! Rotis were a let down (should have just stuck to parathas).
Though most of the patrons are from India, I am pretty sure that not everyone is aware of the fiery Chettinad cuisine. I wish the servers would have mentioned to me the level of spiciness and heat in the food. Well, having said all that, I think I won't mind going back there for the 'original' south-indian taste every dish had and probably will stick to idli-wada sambar/dosa. 

Well, though the dinner experience was a little setback for me (husband loves super-spicy food, so he had no complaints :)), the movie turned out to be SUPERB! We watched Argo that night. If you haven’t watched Argo yet, then go WATCH IT NOW!! Ben Affleck – the director and lead actor – is freaking 'brilliante'! 
I was spellbound after the movie; Argo is definitely one of the best movies in recent times. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, but I loved watching the 1970's setting and was pretty excited when they showed Washington-Dulles airport in one of the shots. (I live quite close to the airport, you see ;))

It was quite chilly that day (which is how the weather is usually here now) so I picked my quirky skirt and paired it with a black turtle neck. Turtle necks I am not a big fan of! They make me a little bit uncomfortable around the neck area. But the fact that they are so warm and cozy, I do wear them on chilly days. Boots and leggings and a Crazy good necklace completed the look. So you see, I 'winterized' my 'summer' look here. 
I got this necklace from Tanvi’s very own boutique– Crazy & Co. Thanks to my stars, I won a giveaway for a gift card to Crazy & Co. on Vidhya's blog here. I was in love with this tribal-inspired design since I had seen the House of Harlow necklace. The best part is that it's black, which makes it totally versatile.

So on date-nights, do you try new restaurants or prefer the tried-and-tested ones? Do tell. 

What I am wearing: Skirt - Anthropologie (seen here); Turtle-neck sweater - Ann Taylor Factory Outlet; Boots - Born @ The Tannery, Boston; Statement necklace - Crazy & Co.; Earrings - Local boutique in Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA; Ring - Aldo; Belt - NY & Company; Purse - Linking Road, Mumbai, India; Glasses - Burberry; Jacket - H&M

The delicious Chettinad cuisine!

Idli-wada sambar on left and Chicken Chettinad on right.

I wore the statement necklace again on Monday with formal wear and 
it paired great, don't you think? :)

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Filmy Friday - Filmy Fashion -1

Heylo peeps, how you been? It’s very hot here today, literally H.O.T. ..like a burning oven/ tandoor. So I am not even going to try to step out during the day hours. And yeah, also that I have to pack for our 5-day trip to CALIFORNIA!!!..oohhh yeah baby, do I love that place or what!

This will be my second visit to the Sunshine land, and this time J and I are visiting the heart of Hollywood – LA and the land of beaches n Mexican food – San Diego. Hell, I am excited as a kid who is visiting Disneyland for the first time ;)))

Anyhow, back to the theme for Fridays – Filmi Fridays..i gotta be honest with you here..I was not able to catch up on any movies this week; mainly ‘cause I was not keeping so well and secondly J was busy with work. But hey, don’t ya worry – if I say Filmy Fridays then, Filmy it will be ;)

I have been watching out for Indian actresses lately and there designer wear looks. Some of them are really working hard to look presentable and I should say smashing in the western brands/outfits. And one of these damsels I have been stalking (online of course!!!) is PC aka Piggy Chops or Priyanka Chopra if you will.

She has got the perfect bod for any type of clothing – Indian Lehengas, Sarees (how can we forget her ‘Desi Girl’ bikini blouse n sari), skirts, dresses, minis, smashing evening gowns; the list goes on and on. There are really minimal of her outfits that have ever put me off, ‘because most of the times she really looks elegant in all of them with make-up and hair-dos spot on.

Now that I am a fashion blogger, where dressing up and posing for pictures is part of the deal, I gotta hand it to PC for looking elegant every ‘freaking’ time – its effort, a lot n lot of effort to look that good (good is an understatement here) every time – be it tired from work or jetlagged or even not feeling ‘it’. No such excuses on her face..Damn!!! (I want her makeup artist and stylist ;)

It’s a lot of hard work to have the perfect frame day in day out – when travelling, between work schedules and film promotions (hell, it’s difficult for me here in my normal routine to stay fit, I would say she’s doing a herculean task there). Let’s just say – some people are god-gifted ;)

So I take a break from my ramblings now and let you enjoy a collection of some of PC’s best looks.

Love the high-low hemline of this Lanvin dress and the belt is just fabulous!

Perfect summery look in ZARA, PC knows how to look cool ;)

Looking suave in Versace, I am digging those bangs and ponytail!! I want those bangs like right now!!

I am with PeeCee – shes rocking the D&G evening gown

It’s such a cute look, I love those coral pumps, they are just the right amount of color to the neutral outfit. Completely loving the braided look on PC.

Desi/Indian looks - she is looking elegant in Manish Malhotra!

Airport looks – she looks effortlessly chic, how does she do it after hours n hours of air travel, cabin pressure, dehydration?

Love PC in VB, fits her like a glove!

Hmm, probably one look of hers I am not a fan of, she needs to cut short the minis from her closet!!

 (* All pictures from www.pinkvilla.com*)

so, who’s your idol/favorite (movie star pls) when it comes to Fashion? What is the one best quality you like about that person?

have a great weekend!

Ashwini

P.S.: I couldn’t help but slip is some bolly-masala into my post…so here’s the new trailer for Salman-Katrina starrer ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ Their pair looks ravishing (‘cause I think Salman looks younger somehow) looking forward to this one ‘cause hopefully it makes some sense (unlike Dabanng and others) …so you see peoples – you can take out the filmy from my post but you cannot take out the filmy in me ;)

Filmy Friday - 2

I took a brk last week from ‘Filmy Friday’ (busy packing for our weekend trip to West Viriginia) and now I am back with a bang!

This Friday is gonna be busy for me (again!!), friends coming over and I have planned a chaaat spread of crunchy but not-so-filling sev-batata-puri and then hot feisty paav-bhaaaji..with dollops of butter and crisp buttery paav, and of course some accompaniments with salad, cukes and fresh slices of lemons..n then finish off the meal with yummy goodness of fried dough soaked in rosy sugary syrup…yes friends, GULAB JAMUNS  indeed!! The best part is that GJs are already done and soaking in their hot bath of syrup..so I shud say the difficult part is over!!

I just need to prep for main course n apps so I gotta hurry up and finish this post and get back to my cooking and mixing masalas n cutting veggies ..haha

Well, I caught up with ‘Snow white and the Huntsman’ with my girlfriends last week – 

My review - it’s a interesting spin on the classic story we all know from our childhood but for me it was a so-so movie..Charlize Theron really really lights up the screen with her strong presence..i gotta admit I was actually smitten by the witch queen than snow white herself..I am not a fan of Kristen Stewart and I don’t think there were any major dhaasu (kick-ass) dialogues to her credit..she was lets say ..blehh!!

Though the movie was a let down I enjoyed being out with my girlfriends for a movie night, n popcorns..and wat better that it was a weekday (need some breath of fun in the humdrum) and, and ..it was a 6$ movie night at the theatre..I would say score!!!!

Over on the Bollywood side, I watched ‘Aarakshan’ at home (ofcourse!!). 

Movie review – it was too long, but I didn’t mind it ‘cause I was surfing net for inspirations, working on my blog and also online window shopping..when you have so many things going on, I didn’t mind Aarakshan going on in the background ..haha! It was actually perfect :)

Deepika acted very well in certain parts only! AB was good as ever, Saif was okish..n worst was Prateik Babbar ..i was disappointed there, he has done really well in Dhobhi Ghat and this movie was a total shocker and a blotch on his career..story wise it did start off with its tag line – reservation system based on castes but lost the steam I think almost half way down the road..at the end I didn’t even think it was a fight about reservation or caste system, just a fight between a good vs evil (as usual)

Which new movies did you watch? Im looking fwd to ‘Ferrari ki sawari’ and ‘Madagascar 3’..Hope I can catch up with them, will keep u posted, until then have a fun-tastic weekend!

Filmy Friday! -1

Yep, Fridays I am gonna ramble on about the fav of my fav topics – Films, movies, cinema..the place where dreams are made larger than life!!

Ok so first to the movies that I caught up on at home – watched this year’s Oscar nominations! Ya ya, it’s like 4 months late now, but what the heck! I at least have the time to watch them this year (thanks to my break from 9-6 workdays) 

I was on a movie marathon – watched the George Clooney starrer ‘the Descendants’, Martin Scorsese‘s - ‘Hugo’ and Steven Spielberg’s -The Adventures of Tintin’.

I must admit with such high names riding on the movies, they were definitely a great watch and that to at home, rolled up on the couch on a sleepy summer afternoon...aaaah!

‘The Descendants’ was a tad emotional and Clooney in a never-seen-before role; there was drama, tears and some fun moments too. It reminded me of the time I spent with my dad as a kid, so beautiful, innocent and made my heart all fuzzy n nostalgic..*wiping of a tear* - so if ur looking for a fun tp movie, this will not be ur pick ..this is a movie when you are by urself and ready for some brooding

Hugo – was magical ..wat beautiful cinematography , each frame of the movie is top class and what mind-blowing acting by the young actors. It’s a story based in Paris (one of my fav places) about an orphan and his will and dream to continue the work of his father on the automaton (it looked like a diff name for robot)..i would highly recommend watching this movie.

And lastly, the Adventures of Tintin…I didn’t know what or who tintin was ..never ever read his comics ever – of which J was very surprised ( he is an avid reader of tintin since childhood). The movie was tooo coool..words are short for the animation ..what camera angles!! Superb! I don’t want to say anything more but that it’s a definitely a must watch guys!! And one dialogue has stuck with me…

TinTin: how’s your thirst for adventure, Captain?

Captain: Unquenchable TinTin!!

So this is what I watched last week..well, what I am looking forward to is bolly flick – Shanghai. It has good star cast and is a Dibakar Banerjee (khosla ka ghosla, love sex aur dhokha and oye luck luck oye fame) direction. So very high hopes from this one.

On the amrikan side, I watched dictator and the battleship in the theatres ..i enjoyed both of 

these. Dictator was fun, humor filled but crass in some parts. Sacha baren cohen is too good!! Battleship (it’s a Rihanna starrer) was engaging – not top class, but entertaining.

'Ufff,Bahut filmy ho gaya' (too much of ‘Film talk’)..what movies are you waiting to catch up with? Any good movies you watched recently? And are you filmy like me ;))

Have a great weekend,

Ashwini