Love Playing Dressup

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.

I got a message from a reader last night – it went something like “I have an 18 month old. Neha! How do you handle meal time? It’s a struggle here. How do you guys do meal time and can you give any ideas for recipes to try” // This is a LONG POST – I tried to be as comprehensive as possible.

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.