Nailed it! ;) (Day 4 - Project 366)

 French manicure by yours truly! It's always difficult with the right hand...

I like the thumb the best. It looked most natural

Nostalgia & Samosas! (Day 3 - Project 366)

Today, this song took me back to the good old days, the happy times :





The 90s were when albums ruled.. and I still listen to every one of the album songs of the 90s. Takes you back to the secret crushes you had, the dance steps you tried, the fun times when nothing mattered :)

And now for the pic of the day (though this video made me more happier)- I had decided this morning that I'd refrain from having tea/coffee as much as possible and would consume more fibre than fat. Trying to lose weight you see! Even took the stairs to go up five floors instead of using the lift. I had just 1.5 cups of tea all day and managed to stick to my word where the beverages were concerned. But when I came home, tired and hungry, all I wanted was:

 

I personally think the samosa is incomplete without the meethi (imli/tamarind) chutney. What's your take? Also, just noticed that the newspaper looks to be more interesting :D

 I hadn't asked for this, but dad got it anyway. How could I say no? :P

Will walk a little extra tomorrow, and burn those extra calories. Now it's time for dinner! :D Cya!

Day 2 - Project 366

Street purchase

 

Picked these lovelies off the street for as little as ten rupees. Is that a steal or what? :D The seller was just as surprised as I was when I kept saying, "Seriously?" after hearing the price!

Day 1 - Project 366

 

The complimentary "Sookha Puri" :D

"Cutting" Conversations :)

Had a really nice New Years day today.. met one of my soul sisters Haseena, had panipuri, chai and dinner at her place. Long conversations make me happy <3

Day ended well with coffee at Cafe Coffee Day with best friend Mona, another soul sister Alisha followed by meeting with childhood bestie Chinky :D

Looks like it's going to be a 'happy' new year indeed ;)

P.S: I know I said one photo a day, but I think I am going to change the rule to a minimum of 1 ;) my blog, my rules :D

To know what Project 366 is all about, you should read this.

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year all of you !!! :)

I am always happy when a new year begins but frankly 2012 is giving me the creeps. Usually, I live as if there are a lot of years ahead of me but knowing that it's year 2012 and that it might be the end of the world has me kind-of stuck. I am not able to imagine a 2013, get me?

Anyway, I have decided to start everything anew. I want to put a lot of things behind me and start focusing more on myself. My blog has a new look (how do y'all like it?) and I am planning to do a lot of new & interesting things here! For one, I like the idea of posting a photo everyday for a whole year- most people have already done that before. I'm planning to do something similar but it won't be a photo clicked by a professional camera or anything. I am just going to click a picture of something that makes me happy in the day and post it here. It can be clicked by my digital camera or from my phone or from any other camera that I have at that time. I might write something about it or I might not. Then again, I also might write a blog post that isn't related to the photo at all. The idea is, at the end of 2012, I want to see my life in pictures..and capture all the happy moments!! Not sure what to call it yet. #photo365 has already been taken.. and so has #project365. I guess I'll still call it #project365. It is more appropriate.

Edited at 1:02 a.m.: calling it #project366. One of my readers reminded me it's a leap year!! :)

I am just experimenting at the moment. I don't want it to be like a task but at the same time, I want to be able to get something worth capturing everyday and have the time to post it. Let's see how it works out. It sure is exciting!

I want to start dancing again- for the fun that dancing is, and for getting back in shape! :)

I want to travel more this year, and that too out of the country. It is a little difficult but I'm going to give it my best shot..

I want to read more books, watch more plays.

I want to have fun!! :)

What are your plans for this year?

Age - just a number?

Recently, someone at my workplace asked me how old I was and I told him my real age. He was shocked and after confirming it with me, went on to say I don't look anything more than 20 years of age. That got me thinking.. I never really felt my "age". I never gave it a thought. I mean.. I look 20 (except that I am gaining weight day by day :( ). I *feel* 20. I live my life as if I were 20; meaning as if I have a lot of years ahead of me to settle down in terms of a relationship, a career, in life..

I am so carefree at times and feel like a kid in a lot of ways inside, so to believe or even say how old I really am is kind-of difficult, scary and just plain weird. It feels like I am a few years behind time. I don't know if anyone has felt this way before. It's as if the number doesn't suit who I am inside. :-/

Since that day on, whenever I am completely lost in the moment, playing TT at work or cracking jokes with my colleagues, I suddenly get reminded of my age and start analysing my behaviour !!! :S It has made me a little conscious and has made being myself difficult :S

It made me think whether age is really just a number like most people say it is. And whether there really is an age to do everything.. like they say you should start behaving in a certain way when you're 21+.. or in the way our parents behave when we cross 30, because parents are all grown-up and grown-ups should behave like grown-ups.. I am really afraid I'll continue to behave and feel the way I do inside till I breathe my last.

On my mind..

Merry Christmas. For those who don't know, I recently joined a workplace and it has been keeping me busy and away from posting here. The reason for not putting news up about my workplace anywhere would be I have no clue as to why I am working. As insane as it may sound, I question myself time and again as to why I am working here, what purpose am I serving, is it adding to my happiness, is it making me "feel" good.. and I never get answers.  Right now, I am just planning to stick this out and give it my best till I find answers. The place is good, the people are good, but it's been over a month and I still don't feel the connection. Know what I mean?

Sometimes I just get frustrated with myself for being like this but I have decided to try not to be hard on myself anymore. I mean, it's okay to be confused, it's okay to change your mind, it's okay to not know who you are, right?.. Even if it's not okay, I don't think I care anymore. These couple of years, I have just been trying to fix things or change them. It's just that I believe that being confused is wrong/bad, being emotionally weak is wrong, not stepping out of your comfort zone is wrong. I guess I need to rework on these beliefs somehow or I am never going to be happy with who I am :(

People judge me for not having an ambition or a definite goal. I may not have an ambition to get rich or move up the professional ladder but I do have other smaller goals like buying myself a really nice bottle of perfume with my own money, or saving up to travel. And seriously, what's wrong with that?

All through our childhood, we are asked what we would like to become when we grow up.. All through our lives, we are asked what our ambitions are.. All job interviews come with the "Where do you see yourself five years down the line?" question. Everyone tried teaching us to plan ahead, to think big, to behave well. No one taught us to live. If only more focus was placed on "being" than "becoming".

Hair affair..

I've been in a rather rocky relationship with my hair ever since I was about 20.. I didn't really care all that much about my hair when I was in school even though I have had really bad experiences with haircuts and had my hair compared to a mop, dish scrubber and everything else you can think of along those lines, by my peers!! My hair looked different at various stages.. I was born with very curly hair. It got real thick & bushy when I was a school kid, it was wavy during my early college days (ages 16-20). It was pretty nice till I was about 20 and a half with lots of waves and volume... until I got introduced to straightening irons!! The temporary straightening made my hair look so awesome that I did it too often. I never realised those temporary straightening sessions would end up making my hair rough and frizzy later. My hair also started getting more curly post that..which is not a very bad thing, but it was also dry.. something I had to take care of.

The curls I was born with!

My lovely locks on my 20th birthday.. isn't my hair looking nice? Sadly, I ruined it by ironing it time & again that year...

Temporary straightening (ironing) that settled my waves.. making my hair look WOW! But ruined my hair later!

I started taking care of it when a lot of damage (owing to prior negligence) had been done already.. and I'm going to share some of those tips with you!!

When you have curly hair, DO NOT comb it unless it's really necessary. I know that not combing your hair is the most clumsiest thing to do but trust me, those curls will survive as long as your comb does not touch them. You may want to just run your fingers through it instead. Also, most people with curly hair have a dry scalp. Don't ask me the logic but that's one thing I've noticed. So it's important that you oil your hair regularly. Heat some coconut/olive oil and massage it deep inside the scalp and the next morning, before washing it off, soak a towel in hot water and tie the towel around your hair. Keep it that way for 20 minutes and then shampoo the hair. This makes the hair soft and prevents dandruff. I generally mix coconut, almond and olive oil together. A conditioner is a MUST for curly hair. Use a leave-in conditioner if you can. On days that you don't wash your hair, use a serum or your hair will start losing its shine.

And when you absolutely HAVE to comb it, use a round brush with soft bristles, somewhat like this one:

The image has been Googled for

It isn't too hard on your hair and settles all the loose strands down. I used this brush even when my hair was wavy. My hair has a lot of volume. For people with less volume, you might want to comb your hair backwards to achieve it:

She's getting her hair blow dried backwards for volume.. This is how you should comb your hair too. It adds a lot of volume to the hair.

And yes, these images were Googled for as well!

I've also recently discovered something called a hair masque which works like a conditioner but provides deep conditioning and nourishment. It has to be applied after you shampoo your hair and has to be left for fifteen to twenty minutes before you can rinse it. Do not use a conditioner when you are using a masque and since applying a masque takes longer, you can keep it to once a week or two. I used the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Hair Masque last week. It made my hair feel a lot softer but a bit oily (probably because I had gone for an oil massage the previous day and the oil had not still left my hair completely even though I shampooed it). I was happy with the product though.

My hair at 21 & a half.. more curlier & frizzier because of the ironing sessions, but still looking good after the oiling, shampooing and conditioning...

So to continue my story, soon, I got tired of my curls and too lazy to follow the regime. I straightened my hair permanently for the first time when I was 21 & a half (just about a month after taking the picture above).. One of the reasons for doing it was also that I secretly hoped the new hair that would grow wouldn't be AS curly. I thought it would be wavy and more easier to manage.  I promised myself to take care of my hair once it started growing again so that I wouldn't have to straighten it again, and was in love with my straightened hair..

Permanent straightening

My hair grows real fast and I had not meant to do it again when the new hair started to show..

Curly hair + Straight hair..

But I made another mistake then: I coloured it red!!

It was looking real good the day I coloured it.. after they blow dried my hair (almost ironing it) and everything. I was pretty happy with the new look..

The day I coloured my hair red

But as soon as I washed it, all the blow dry and straight effect was gone.. And within a month or two, my hair got so rough that it looked like hay (considering it started changing colour as well...)

Half curly, half straight, coloured hair after losing its colour...

So I had to break my vow and straighten it again. That was the only solution to making my hair look a bit presentable. Ofcourse, I've been experiencing excessive hairfall but my hair looks okay atleast. I didn't experience hairfall the first time I straightened my hair. I think the hairfall now is due to colouring AND straightening. Not bothered about the hairfall too much as my hair keeps growing real fast & I have a lot of volume anyway.

After straightening it for the second time..

My new hair has started growing already.. My hair grows so fast that it's actually stupid on my part spending so much money on getting it straightened every time. I'd have to do it three times in a year if I want it to look straight all the time! Anyway, so, thanks to the new hair, the coloured (& straight) hair has gone down now and doesn't show itself that much.

The new hair + coloured & straight hair below.. The look that I sport now.

The new hair seems nice.. except that my scalp is getting dry again and I am following the same steps that I listed above (for curly hair). My new hair is sort-of wavy and wavy hair can be given the same treatment, the only difference being- wavy hair or any hair except curly hair must be combed!! The steps above can be followed for straight hair too (not the "not combing" of course), but in case you have an extremely oily scalp instead of a dry one, you might want to follow a completely different regime (one without the oiling and the conditioning). The conditioning should be restricted to only the tips of the hair in case of an oily scalp.

So, you see, I have learnt a lesson from my hair escapades- love your hair the way it is.. and it will love you back! That is exactly what the Dove contest has to say too.. and also the reason why I wrote this piece! :) In one of my earlier posts, I had talked of the new Nourishing Oil Care Range Dove has come up with. With the launch of that range of products, the Dove team, along with Indiblogger, have organised a contest where we have to share small and special things we do to make our hair feel special !! You can take part too but you have to hurry up as it's only till the 10th of November. Check this link for details: http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=45&sort=latest

Natural hair is the best kind of hair.. Love it and take care of it! This is what Dove always aims to tell us by way of its campaigns and advertisements- You are beautiful! <3

And even if you want to ever get straight hair, do it the natural way-

Mix one cup of milk, one spoon of honey and a few strawberries and make a paste. Apply it to your hair and rinse it off in 3 hours with a good shampoo. Follow this for atleast about a month to settle your curls down, and give your hair a smooth look. Alternatively, you can also mix a glass of coconut milk with lemon juice and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours. Apply it to your hair, tie a hot towel (towel soaked in hot water) around your hair for 20 minutes, and then rinse it off with a good shampoo!

These are some natural methods to calm those curls down a bit and make your hair more straighter.. It wouldn't be poky straight though. Natural poky straight hair is possible only if you're Chinese or Japanese :P I know it's wrong of me to generalise but I've seen most Chinese/Japanese women having poky straight hair. Either they are born with it, or they all get their hair straightened (which seems rather ridiculous).

Anyway, so the point is, you really need to love those tresses and it isn't too long before you'll have glamorous hair! ;)

Hello!

Diwali got over really soon this year and somehow it didn't feel like it was Diwali at all. I miss the times when festivals were celebrated in all pomp and glory. Family re-unions, crackers, sweets and so much love! We have lost it all somewhere.. There are still family gatherings but not so much of warmth. There are still sweets & crackers but less enthusiasm. Not sure if it's only me who's feeling so.

I sometimes wish I was part of a huge (joint) family like they show on television. I also used to miss having a grand parent or a senior person in the family who didn't think practically at all, didn't know what kind of work I do or what I study, was ignorant of this world, would love unconditionally and would tell me stories of what happened "in their time". Has anyone ever felt so?

I've not been able to update this blog often. There has been a lot of activity going on, on my art blog though. And now, there is a small give-away contest too! :) My very first one. Do visit http://www.artsy-me.blogspot.com if interested in participating. :)

Later then..

The Dove & IndiBlogger Womens' Blogger Meet

My hair smells awesome. All thanks to the Dove Nourishing Oil Care range of products that I bagged on Sunday at the Dove Spa & Indiblogger Womens' Blogger Meet at Four Seasons!

It was my first all-womens' blogger meet. Besides the free massage & hair spa sessions mentioned in the email that lured me into going, it was also the fact that IndiBlogger had organised it that made me look forward to the event. I remember having a really good time at the last Indi meet I attended.

The event began at 11:00 a.m. and I walked in at 11:50. Luckily for me, the introductions hadn't started yet. People were seated; some were already getting their hair done and I registered myself for the treatments too! We were told that we'd be called in for the treatments one by one, in order of registration. Soon, I caught up with Idea Smith who was sitting in the first row with Shruti. There was a big screen in front of us that showed live tweets of the event. After exchanging hellos, I helped myself with a glass of lime juice and Sowmya, the brand manager of Dove approached us to have a little chat. She gave a few quick tips on which product to use when, and went on to explain how essential a role a hair mask can play in hair care. Apparently, a hair mask should be used after you shampoo your hair. A conditioner and a mask should never be used together. Shampoo your hair, apply a mask, leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes and rinse. While it is advisable to condition your hair each time you shampoo, you should avoid it when you're applying a mask which you typically should do once a week or two.

The introductions began in a short while with the IndiBlogger guy with the Banglorean accent hosting it(I still don't know his name). You should listen to him speaking. His accent really has you floored :D Gift hampers were given to those with long hair, then to those with short hair .. and then eventually everyone got the hamper for something! :D The hamper included all the products of the Dove Nourishing Oil Care range i.e. a shampoo, a conditioner, a serum and a mask.

My gift hamper!

I have never used a hair mask before. I had heard of it only recently. Waiting to try it out now.. Anyway, so the introductions were in the order of who registered first and the big white screen in front of us showed who would take the mike next. There were a lot of interesting introductions. Everyone told a story of why they started blogging and what it meant to them. There was Laxmi Todiwan, a professor, who started writing hospitality journals before she took to blogging. Then there was Sulekha Rawat who choked while she told her story. Her father always wanted her to write and she started her blog after he passed away. The sweetest intro of them all was undoubtedly that of Anu Goel, who simply said, "Mera arts & crafts ka blog hai. Accha hain, aap dekho."

After the round of introductions, Piyush from the Dove team took stage to tell us about the new range of products. A lot of women refrain from applying oil to their hair for several reasons. They don't like the greasy feel and they also think that it makes them look like a nerd. The Dove Nourishing Oil Care range is supposed to nourish the hair with just the right amount of oil without making it greasy or appear 'nerdy'.

Soon it was time for lunch ..my friends Reeti and Sheetal had arrived in the middle of the introductions and we went for lunch together. The desserts looked so yummy we were tempted to start on them first! The main course was just as delicious. And we later found out that my friend Alisha, who works at Four Seasons, had prepared two of the dishes from the main course! :)

One of the dessert items :D

Right after lunch, it was turn for our foot massage. Although we enjoyed getting massages together, I wasn't very satisfied with the experience. Maybe I was expecting a lot more. It IS fun getting yourself pampered though :D

Foot massage sessions at the Dove Spa meet

Just like in the last Indiblogger meet, after the foot massage session, we were given white cards to hang around our necks so that people could write something on them. Julie called it an opportunity to say something behind people's backs! :D Later, those with something creative written on their cards were awarded gift vouchers worth Rs. 500 by Shoppers Stop. I got one too, thanks to Idea Smith, who did this:

Circled the part which won me a voucher! Thanks Idea!

For those who don't know it yet, teatattler is my Twitter handle, and @ideasmithy is hers.

People who wore white to the event also bagged vouchers and Reeti was one of them :D I think almost everyone won something or the other..

Idea Smith later moderated a small bloggers' session where we discussed several things ranging from how we could optimize our blogs for Google page rankings to what some of our most embarrassing moments on the blog were!! After the bloggers' session, Indiblogger had organised a fun treasure hunt where we were asked to make groups of ten, name our group and have these things ready as soon as we could:

The treasure hunt...

We called our group "The Hunters" and our slogan was "No one hunts better than the hunters" :D Our stolen item was a knife that I had stolen (borrowed) from Four Seasons for our Bollywood fighting scene! :D It served two purposes.. We couldn't find a red rose so someone actually painted a white rose with red lipstick! We got a score for the knife and the red rose. In the end, all groups were winners and each group got a gift voucher worth Rs.1000 from Shoppers Stop.

Sowmya, the brand manager of Dove took the mike later and talked about hair problems, their cause and remedies. She took a lot of questions from the audience as well. She said I had gorgeous hair, and I had simply damaged them by chemically treating them :D I wish I thought I had gorgeous hair myself.. would have never exposed them to chemicals then! Anyway, she recommended using a hair mask which would protect the chemically treated hair as well as ensure that the new hair that was growing was nourished enough. The session went pretty well and she was really patient with all of our hair care questions.

Sowmya on how to take care of our tresses..

We sneaked up behind for a cup of tea/coffee during the session.. and I was amazed to see such a variety in flavours of tea neatly arranged. This deserved to be clicked!

The many flavours of Chai

Sowmya's session got over and we weren't called in for our hair spa yet. The hair styling was taking too long and there were still about 10 more people who were to go in before us. There was no way we could get our hair done then so we were asked to write down our email addresses on a sheet of paper. A hair spa voucher would be mailed to us soon by Dove.. I hope I get it before Diwali !!

After a quick photo session (I don't have the official photos yet :( ), and receiving tshirts from the IndiBlogger team, we made our exit from the Pavilion (where the event was held) and went to San Qi, a restaurant in Four Seasons to meet my friend- the chef, Alisha! San Qi was beautiful, and the music there was completely mesmerising. Alisha was at work in her chef uniform and that's the first time I saw her in one. She looked just so cute!!!

Chef Alisha! :D

After goofing around some more, we finally left Four Seasons to go to goof around someplace else :D

San Qi

It was a lovely Sunday.. thanks to Indiblogger & Dove! Waiting to get my hair treated, and to try the new products out. Psst.. have already tried the shampoo & conditioner. I love the smell (which is very important for me- more than the quality of the product sometimes :D). Anyway, it makes my hair feel soft but appear dry instead of shiny. Maybe the serum will help!! Will post my experience :)