Love Playing Dressup

  They asked her “How did you persuade your child to read ?” She said ” Children dont listen to us, they imitate us” Zoe’s dress : Pippa & Julie Mulan dress  My dress  The nursery decor details are in this post  A few other book related posts : Books we loved at 18months and books to read during Pregnancy 

I did a run-through of all the books I read last year and guess what … the number is 27! I read 27 books last year. This makes me just so excited. I love coming across new ( for me ) authors or a new book by an author that I have loved reading in the post and am always looking for recommendations for my next read. Even though I barely read 15 minutes a day, I truly cherish that little window in my day.

These last few months, I feel Zoe is growing up so fast. Every day she surprises me with something new – a new way of expressing herself, a new song she heard somewhere, new words – big words!! Just last week, she started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, just casually, while we were changing clothes. Wait! When did that happen? Those are some big words kid.

 

  Zoe’ Outfit : Pippa and Julie Alice in Wonderland dress , Pediped mary-janes Last week Zoe resumed her school, four months after the lockdown started. Getting to the decision of having her go back to school was a tough one. I’ve had many sleepless nights going over so many questions, reading numerous articles, talking to a lot of parents, even our doctor. Never in our wildest ideas had we thought that we would be in such a situation, where the entire world would be riddled with such a situation. Lockdown, quarantine, social distancing – these were words we had never encountered. And here we are, as parents taking decisions about whether your child should go to school or remain for another session at home. What about meeting so many people. Will kids wear masks? And how would office and house work be managed. Do online session even work for kids at this age ( less than 3 year olds ). And how do you keep a toddler away from their friends. How do you meet friends b...

Letter to my daughter – Motherhood Diary

One of the things I wanted to do last year was to get back to reading. Reading besides books saying goodnight to the moon or going over what the caterpillar likes to eat. ⁣⁣ I was hoping to read 1 book a month or may be even 1 book in 2 months would also be okay. Because with the speed of 1-2 pages at night and falling asleep somewhere in the middle of the 2nd page because the exhaustion is real! ⁣⁣I was just recapping all the books I read for a blog post – and wait – turns out I read 17!  17 books last year. And whilst a small feat for some – it makes me so happy. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Here are a few things that helped me keep up with being able to read – ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ▪️ no phone on the bed. Replacing that mindless scrolling with the book. ▪️ always having the book ( or iPad if I was reading the e-version of it ) in my car. So instead of spending time on the phone while waiting for a friend in the parking lot or if early for a meeting – read⁣⁣ ▪️ while traveling on planes ...

I wont lie, today has been kind of low day. Taking down the Christmas decor, stripping the windows and outdoors of the lights and replacing the fireplace mantle with the usual clock is the not so exciting part about the holiday season. When Zoe realized all the decor was getting packed away – she rushed to the Santa mailbox ( decor thing) and started pulling out random things that she had stuffed in the mailbox which we had no idea about – crayons, socks, a PJ shirt along with the letters we had written to Santa. Hah! That innocence!

  I have so many pictures from this month, I just havent gotten around to posting them. Let me start with these matching PJ ones ( and don’t hold me to posting the rest soon, things are pretty crazy around here. but I miss you blog ! ) One Saturday morning, I got my people to jump on the bed with me, set the camera on a tripod and off with the clicker we went. I also had my phone set next to the camera so I could capture all the fun ( and fuss ) we have while taking family pictures. So glad I did that – all those precious reactions from Zoe, are now on video! (I posted the video here)  – I have so much fun creating the videos and I watch them 100 times a day!

I am finally sitting down to recap our trip to Quebec  – and let me start by saying that it was amazing. Everyone kept asking why we chose to go to Quebec this time of the year ( late November, close to Thanksgiving ) because it is so cold – but based on the pictures and what I had read online, Quebec is supposed to be a winter wonderland. And wonderland it was ! It was like a set from a holiday movie ( I am a huge fan! ) – imagine every store being decorated, snow dusted cobble-stone streets, skating rinks in the town square, Christmas markets, fireplace roaring in cafes, hot chocolate signs everywhere … I mean – at the cost of sounding cliché – it doesn’t get more magical than that.  

We celebrated Diwali this past weekend and on the morning of Diwali – after lighting diyas all over the house, we all dressed up ( I made everyone would be rather accurate ) and take pictures. I want to pass on all the excitement, the culture, the rituals that I grew up with, to Zoe and the festivals are such a good time to involve her in every little detail. I asked her to hold my hand while I lighted the diyas and hand us the decorations as Amit hung them around the house. Screaming Happy Diwali on facetime calls, with Zoe echoing Happy Diwani, doing puja, visiting close friends on Diwali day with sweets and gifts – it was a beautiful Diwali day. I dont agree when people away from India ( who grew up in India celebrating Diwali) say that it was a whatever kind of day or nothing like back home – it all depends on how we choose to celebrate the festival. Some elements will definitely be different, but that’s true even for the celebrations in India. It is up to u...

Please tell me I am not the only one who at some point during the day or week or month complains that there just isn’t enough time! Actually, based on the number of emails and messages I get asking for what my schedule looks like or asking to share any time management tips – I am going to safely assume that atleast I am not the only one in that boat.

Sometimes, as I reflect back on the days of my 20s, I remember planning intensely for the three months of summer. Trying to pack in a ton of trips, back-to-back weekends of picnics and barbecues. Having a Friday with no plans to hit the city would make me anxious. But things are so different now. Having back-to-back weekends of plans will have me finding reasons to come out of some. The picnics, beaches and parties are all very much still in the agenda involving a ton of kids activities – but I am finding happiness in the simple, small things that summer stands for.

I am so excited about today’s post, you know what they say – change your hair, change your life. It’s true! Even if it isn’t a drastic change – a fresh trim or chopping off inches, a simple blow dry or a styling treatment – it doesn’t matter. You always walk out feeling like a celebrity.

So excited as I type this post… keep reading, you’ll know why.

  Last month, we took a trip to New York. The city holds such a special place in my heart – mainly because it reminds me so much of Bombay, the city where I grew up. The energy, the people, the fast pace of life  – all of it is so invigorating. Amit and I have been to New York so many times over the years, yet each time the idea of going to the city gets me excited. I had been dying to take Zoe to New York and experience the city with her,  to do things that Amit and I love about New York and share those with her.

Can you believe that this is a section of an awkwardly positioned room in our basement? Nope, right? I couldn’t have either =))

Shop the Post Turn on your JavaScript to view content What a last few days it has been. My blog was hacked last Friday and it was an extremely stressful 12 hours that we had. 12 hours probably dont sound like much but the thought that I would lose everything that I had ever written was extremely nerve-racking.

Outfit Details : Mango dress , nude pumps , Quay sunnies I’ve been thinking a lot about being dressed-up and the judgement that goes with it. I remember after I had given birth and had some girlfriends come over to meet the baby, one of them commented that I did not look like a new mom at all. And that my husband must be doing all the baby’s work. All that because I had worn a clean dress, brushed up my hair and had applied lipstick because I was excited at the prospect of “socializing” and having  people over. Being a mom doesn’t mean that you have to go parading in front of people in dirty hair or milk stained clothes. It was as if  a badge I had to wear to display how busy I was or was a scale on which my parenting responsibilities would be measured.

It took me a long time to finish this gallery wall ( well for now – is any decor in the house ever the final version? ) The reason I was slacking on the gallery wall is because I was actually afraid of taking up a gallery wall project. If you do a search on Pinterest for gallery walls – it is inundated with the most beautiful, editorial walls that seem almost impossible to recreate. There is no template, no rules to the order in which the frames should be organized! Anyway, I really wanted to decorate  the wall with frames and took upon the project to figure out the code behind gallery walls – and if I couldn’t crack the code, create one! Hah! Here’s the result and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. The frames are from Minted and here’s the code – by which I mean, the process I went about it.