Every morning 'What Should I wear?' dilemma !

My mornings are spent at my cupboard door thinking and sighing on how I don't have anything to wear nor the space to keep my clothes. My cupboard is full of stuff that's just not right for the occasion of the day. Sometimes it's a critical meeting or a volunteer engagement or running an errand.  In last few month's it's been long backpacking trips. Everything is either too dressy, too dull or simply uncomfortable.

Each occasion calls for a different kind of clothing ranging from formals, smart casuals, traditional and sometimes just plain comfortable. Not to mention the mind-boggling co-ordination of shoes, accessories, makeup and right undergarments.  It is so frustrating! I truly and deeply admire the women who have the patience and the desire to meticulously co-ordinate all the elements and look as if they have come out of a glossy magazine.

A few years back when I was literally a shopaholic  I made a pact with myself that I will buy only if I really need and I have stuck with it (Well mostly! I have slipped on few occasion) Also every few months I clear out my cupboard and organize it. Yet my morning are depressing. So I have decided to do a 100 day no shopping resolution starting today and made a rough plan.

So here is my strategy for  not buying in the first 100 days of 2017

• Don't buy even a single piece of clothing. 
• Don't buy for occasions. This is my most impulsive purchases
• Wear all the clothes in the cupboard even if it's too dressy, looks a bit worn-out, a bit uncomfortable
• Alter clothes that don't fit
• Repair if it's mildly torn or throw it away
• Let go if it doesn't fit anymore. (Not going to loose that 1 kg from waist to wear that long skirt)
• Accessorise with existing accessories if the clothes are dull
• Borrow from friends and family. Yup! this is a new one.
• Rationing the clothes. Keep some for later use in a separate space cause I have same tops in different colours. I know I am smart shopper

Exceptions that I will make

• Will buy undergarments
• Will buy to pair with existing clothes e.g skirt that's floating without a top, white pants with no shirt to go with etc
• Stitch using existing materials(I have tons
• Except clothing as a gift. 

If you need some inspiration to do your wardrobe management. Here are some good reads which inspired me to take an active step to manage my 'what should I wear' dilemma, rather than fighting with my husband for more wardrobe space.

7 eye opening lessons I learned from buying nothing new for 200 days

Cooking theme birthday party for 9yr old (Part II)

In my last blog I wrote about food, return gifts and the dress.In this blog I am trying to cover the rest of the aspect of the birthday party. Lets start with the games.

My little girl wanted to add paper dance in her party so that became our first game by default. The second game that we planned was 'taste and tell'. As the name suggest its a game to taste and tell about the item. Simple as it may sound but playing it with 13 girls is quite a challenging task. We had prepared 2 bowls of  different food items for 2 groups including jaggery, boiled potato, tomatoes, gems, kiwi , apple, biscuits etc  We divided the girls in to two groups and one group closed their eyes while the birthday girl went and fed one participant at a time. It was received very enthusiastically by the whole group.

The last game that was the star of the show was the donut eating race.  We strung 4 donuts in a ribbon and kids were suppose to eat them, you guessed it, without touching it. Its a messy game so we had the whole floor covered with a a huge chart paper board we had created for our sons's chess party.(That post is also coming soon) Unfortunately we dont have a single photo of the games part as all the photos in the camera were blackened due to wrong camera setting. But  the first picture on this page gives a pretty good idea about the game.



The birthday party decor. In my attempt to make birthday party more engaging, more environment friendly we also made the decorations at home. It was a simple decoration using ribbon, textured paper and store bought alphabets. Kids thoroughly enjoyed cutting the circles and pasting them on the ribbons.  I colour co-ordinated the balloons and put up a bunch of 3 balloons (red,white and blue) in all the corners of the room. The room was looking very lively and ofcourse added the charm to the celebratory atmosphere.

The birthday party added to our very many fond memories of family life. Both kids look forward to their birthday celebrations at home and start counting months and days.

Cooking theme Birthday Party for 9 year old

I love birthday parties. Actually I love all the occasions that get people together for having fun. There is some really amazing of hosting a kids birthday party. The enthusiasm, happiness that kids bring to the table can never be felt in other parties.  So when my little one's have their birthday's  I start planning quite a few days before.

For my little girls birthday I organised a cooking theme party which was quite a hit among her friends. I  started out with a a quick checklist of things on the notes application on my phone  that need to be get done.

1. Invitation Card
2. Dress 
3. Return Gifts 
4. Food 
5. Decorations 
6. Games. 
7. Cake

I wanted to ensure that all the things required at the party were homemade  which means I was unreasonably enthusiastic.  Birthday parties for kids are good reason to engage them in art and craft activities. Right from making the invitation cards, decoration  and return gifts all of it had the kid's touch on it.   Most of the ideas were inspiration taken from Pinterest and other blogs, so I dont claim to be the owner of the creatives or the ideas.

For the invitation card we made this pretty apron out of card paper and polka dotted washi tape.  The outline was cut by the kids and the ribbons too were pasted by them. I did the finer details.

Dress : Buying birthday dresses are very tricky. You want your child to standout, yet you dont want to spend a lot of money as they grow out of the size so quickly. I decided to get a nice dress tailor made from Onebyten . Initially the idea was to create a princess dress but we ended but with a nice floral balloony skirt and top. She will grow out of the the top but the skirt will be reused for atleast 2 years as the waist is elastic and the length of the skirt is appropriate for long use.

Return Gifts :  I decided to make an apron and a recipe book and gave them  away with handmade newspaper bag. The bag were made with kids. We also added a paper flower made from the material of crowns of my boy's birthday. It was chess theme but that's for another day.  All the girls loved the aprons and the recipe book.

Recipe book cover designed by Hubby

Post party apron photoshoot

Food is the most cumbersome aspect of hosting a kids birthday party. No single child would have the same food preference. Nonetheless we played it safe by having pizza and fries for extremely fussy kids and made the children make their food own their own.

Here is the menu that the kids put together themselves . First one  was mini burgers. The patties were made in advance and kids assembled their burgers with buns, mayo,  cheese, tomatoes and sauce. Was quite a boost  to their confidence for cooking.
The second  treat they made were monaco biscuit bites.  Toppings of tomatoes, beans, onions etc were provided. Each one got 4 biscuits and they had to add mayo or tomato sauce and the choice of topping
The third and the last thing on the menu was  chocolate truffle. By this time I was exhausted of all my energies reserve  from giving demo's to answering questions to making material available. I tried to dissuade them saying its getting too late but everyone wanted to make their truffle so we went ahead. Marie biscuits, condensed milk and chocolate powder make the most easiest truffle in the world. It didnt come out very well but kids didnt mind it. They enjoyed getting their hands dirty.

We also decided to ditch plastic for the party to overcome the guilt of plastic waste but used plastic glasses left from the previous years birthday party. May be we will get some durable glasses for next year.

To know about the exciting games that we played at the cooking theme party come back for the next installment on my blog

Thoughtful gifts for Children

Thoughtful gifting is difficult, thoughtful gifts to children is way difficult specially when it comes to low or no experience.

Just  the other day while wrapping a gift for neighbour's  daughter I realized that  I spent almost  an hour fretting over how difficult it is to find something decent that children would really use. With short notice of birthday parties and last minutes purchases I always fear duplication. It worsens when all parents from the same vicinity buy from the same stores  and the children end of getting multiple copies of the same gifts .

So here is my list of thoughtful gifts.

1. Piggy Bank: A good way to inculcate a habit of savings in children or atleast a good attempt. Buy a pretty one that a child can keep in his room and give him few coins in an envelope as starter. You find tons of these online and even in toy stores
2. Jewelry/Storage organizers : The mothers of young daughters would thank you for this gift as there are so many trinkets lying around the house and mostly we run out of storage spaces. Get something that can be hung in a cupboard or can be rolled up. If you are a DIY enthusiast you can make  one easily. There are so many tutorials floating on internet
3. Sports stuff: Apparently there is a wave of lawn tennis around me and rackets strings keep coming off. You can  buy rackets, skipping ropes, football, softball, darts, archery set etc
4. Soft toys : Do I have to write anything about it? I love them, you love them and obviously kids love them. 
5. Barbie accessories: Girls tend to have multiple barbie dolls but the accessories worn out or get lost in a few days. You can replenish them by giving barbie accessory sets. 
6. Planting Kit: I couldnt keep this off the list. Put together a lovely ceramic pot,  soil packet, a sapling or seeds, a tiny watering can and a note on how to go about it. Would take some time  to write the note but would be worth it. 
7. Time :  If you are a parent of the child and working long hours like everybody around, this would be the best birthday gift! You can print a simple voucher with some time allocation(like 4 hours)  and undivided attention. This may sound weird but given a choice to a child on materialistic things versus affectionate behaviour they choose latter e,g Candy versus 5 minutes on lap for good behaviour. 

Another bonus tip for working parents who have to send their children for a birthday party every fortnight.(Yes! they have better social life than us). Buy multiple gifts in  one go along with some wrapping papers.  Will save those last minutes rush to your nearby toy store. You can  also buy gifts when you are on a holiday purchasing unique items or just buy online where you might find better options to choose from. 

Zero Cost Balcony Gardening! (Well, almost nearly!!)

Off-late I have started spending a lot of time at home. I watched my quota of television, read random articles online,read my books, tried my hand on some DIY crafts but nothing seemed to captivate my interest for long. So I looked out of  the balcony towards the few inconsequential plants and wondered if I can take my balcony as my next project. I didn't wanted to spend any money cause I dont know how long this spell will last.

Teeny meeny pumpkin plant.

Its been a joyful ride since then, I have jumped with joy (literally) looking at my tiny pumpkin seedling popping out of the soil, regrowing the celery that I ate in my salad and sacrificing one of my sweet potatoes which has now turned in to a sapling! So if you plan to get your own balcony garden for free below is what it takes. 

Container : They are everywhere in our house. Old plastic bournvita jars, plastic buckets that are broken, old  2 ltr coca cola bottles. Just look around for any container that can fit a small plant it's your pot for gardening. I used an old bucket, some terracotta pots that were lying around and an empty bournvita jar. 

Soil : This is a little tricky part. If you have the patience till your next trip near the hills or the country side then all you need to do is  get a sturdy plastic bag and something to shove the soil and fill the bag. Step outside Mumbai and there are so many mountains waiting for you with their rich soil. Plan a 10 mins stop on your return and come back with your bag of  chemical free soil! Not planning a trip no problem, become friends with your building gardener and get a small supply for free! OK not your style go to nearby nursery buy a small packet of soil. 

Seeds/Sapling: This is my favorite part. Nothing beats the joy of looking at your first seed sprouting and the options are endless sitting right in your kitchen. Coriander seeds - take a handful drop them in your pot (with some soil), cover them and water them and Ta Da you will see those tiny little plants coming out in a week. You can grow sweet potato, celery, methi, garlic, onion, ginger etc. No need for fancy hybrid seeds!

Compost/Fertilizer/Food for plant : Here is where the cost comes in, you will need to shell out some money to buy fertilizers of some sorts.  However it will not create a hole in your pocket if you buy a non fancy brand from your local nursery. I have spent a total on Rs 50  for 5 packets that were good enough for 3  ornamental plants .  I have been trying to find some DIY way for this too but composting would be cumbersome at this stage. 

Sweet potato in an old bucket

Advice : Once you start your project of growing things in containers, lot of people will give you free advice on why it wont work!   That's something you don't need in balcony gardening and  but will come free of cost!!!

 "Sweet potato in a bucket, it wont grow there!!

 " Never mind!!! I loved the way it grew its tiny shoots then the true leaves and see now it has a stem too" 

Lovely joy of creating a life! 

P.S: This blog is an outcome of enthusiasm of exactly two weeks of gardening. There is too much, too complicated information available online on seeds, time for sowing, soil types, pests, bugs  etc. I dont understand them and plants are not aware of it  so there hasnt been any problem yet!  

Extending the Journey on the road of red mud

My Journeys have been lately extending beyond the usual route along with my learning of each new path I take. These journeys have taken me outside my city where the air is fresh and the roads clean.Towns look less fancy and pace of life is comparatively a little slow. Language varies a bit  and so also attitude of the locals.

My first journey has been to Dandeli - Magnificent place blessed with pristine beauty of greenery and tranquility which can make you fall in love with it instantly. A small town tucked in the corners of Karnataka it possess everything a traveler would demand for- an endless expanse of serene forest, varied species of colorful birds that can be spotted easily on the branches, sumptuous and simple food, caves and water falls and  white water rafting for the adventurous souls (though I didn't had the opportunity to experience everything).

My second journey was Jaipur, kind of dream come true for a cause that  it had elements  of first time experiences. Jaipur is similar and  diverse  from Mumbai in many ways. Its a city rich in heritage and wealth which looks pictorial and scenic at every corner. It gives you a peek-a-boo to the royal and elegant life of the rulers who once lived in the Mahals that our now either ruins, heritage sights or converted to luxury hotels. Its the colour of the city which is most fascinating and mesmerizing though its considered as pink I found it to be peach or pinkish brown.

My experience of both towns or cities when dealing with the people has been similar. Both the cities welcomed me as a lone women traveler and I  always felt safe. People went out of their way to help me with directions, to  find me rickshaws, gave me better seats on the bus and sometimes even accompanied me to show the right way when I failed to understand direction.  Every single person who  helped me was genuine and warm. With my experience of both the cities I think its the best time for Indian women to explore their capability to travel alone and take the road of red mud.

The male shoe

Unlike the title, this is no story of the shoe, its about stepping in the male shoe and walking a little to understand what it feels to be a man in a metropolis city where the status of equality demanded by women is in synergy with the special seat reservations for women in buses.

Every day I take a bus from my home to work, needless to say its packed with people and every day I thank the government  policy for having  reserved some seats for women to save them from the desperate hands of lecherous men. I think its a little  hypocrite but its better then being victimized

So I do not have any intentions to step in the shoes of the always-so-desperate men but the few of the lot who are are scared like a mice to even get a tiny brush of a women  for  fear of  being a victim of ridicule and  disgusted stares from fellow passengers.

I encountered such a fragile and conscious mind on my way to office, who sat on seat allocated to the  'ladies'. He was accompanied by a women who comfortably sat on one of the allocated seats and advised him to sit on the adjacent one till some "lady"  claims for it.

His face had pitiful expressions  with unfocused conversations with his companion and every time the bus halted, his eyes  would search for women passengers walking  towards  him so that he would get up before being asked to do so.

In another incident while talking to an activist on domestic violence I was told about the  facts and figures on  violence against men which were clearly shocking

Made me think : In a world where women rights are lobbied,screamed about   and fought for how soon men are going to raise their voices for their rights or would this damage their male egos and they would have to silently suffer for decades before it comes out openly.