How I Choose My Partner

Back when I was 16, many of the aunties and uncles use to tell children like me "you should start praying for your predestined partner from your very young age itself". And we use to hear the same thing during camps and youth gatherings. If you girls do that or had done it, hats off to you. But as for me, I'm guilty of not praying as such constantly. I wont say I've never prayed for this matter, but most of the time, it started right after i have heard a good message and ended till only a week or so. To be honest, i started praying sincerely for this matter only after when my parents started looking out for proposals. But God has been merciful to me, and he provided me with the right partner.

I bet every girl has some perspective about her future husband. Loving, caring, tall, handsome, good job, good family,.... the list goes on. I too had all these concepts and I also wanted 'him' to be from the same religion. Don't get me wrong here, these are just my experiences. When a number of proposals came in, it was initially confusing to determine what God had planned for me. So we waited and prayed. And all the confusions started to clear out one after the other and it became clear to me that this particular guy is to be my husband. Later when we discussed, he said he too had similar concepts and then we became more confident and the wedding bells rang.

I believe that marriage happens in heaven, and Psalm 139:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be".That said, I am very happy to be married to my better half. :)

I Do

"Do you,......., take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, to have and to hold; and do you promise, forsaking all others, to cleave to her and her alone, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I Do"
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"I, .......,  take thee .......,  to me by lawfully wedded wife,  to have and to hold  from this day forward,  for better or for worse,  for richer or for poorer,  in sickness and in health,  to love and to cherish,  till death do us part.  By God's holy ordinance  I pledge to you my faith."
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"Do you, ......., take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, to have and to hold; and do you promise, forsaking all others, to cleave to him and to him alone, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I Do"
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" I,.......take thee ......., to me by lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part. By God's holy ordinance I pledge to thee my faith." 
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"Because ....... and ....... have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and these witnesses, and have thereto given and pledged their faith, each one to the other, By the power vested upon me, I pronounce that they are Husband and Wife."

And then it all began....<3<3<3

Hey all, I'm starting this new series called 'I Do', which will be about marriage, and about life before and after. This is in perspective of an Indian girl. I'm no scholar or doesn't have enough experience to talk about marriage, as its been only 1 year since I've started this journey. I love being married and I'm very much blessed to have my husband and my in-laws. I believe marriage is one of the greatest gifts God has provided me with. This series is just to share my personal experiences, and what i have learned. I hope this would be helpful to atleast few of the single girls out there who are ready to get married. And may be this could also reach out to those young married girls who would agree with me and nod their head ;) :)
First post will be up soon. Happy Reading!!!

Clothes To Seasons

In the fashion industry, there are basically two seasons viz. Spring and Fall. They can also be combined with summer and winter as Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. Spring is considered to be from January to June and Fall is from July to December. Fashion designers launch new collection of clothing every year during these two seasons.

Though the season collections are combined, we hear terms like summer fashion, winter fashion etc. The idea is to chose the right color according to the seasons and the right fabric. Its like warm weather vs cold weather.

Spring/Summer Clothing: Summer or spring is about being colorful. Colors may range from soft pastel to bright toned colors including yellow, orange, blue, white etc. Spring is also about patterns. Bright floral designs, stripes, soft checks, animal prints etc are some of the trending patterns. Fabric should be light like cotton, linen, silk, or summer blended fabric, which is a combination of cotton and other materials. The fabric should absorb away moisture, and allow air to pass through to keep the skin cool.

Fall/Winter Clothing: Fall is a season of warmth. The colors are usually earthly neutrals to bold darker toned colors. The patterns are also bold and less crowded. Monochrome toned, plaid patterns etc are some of the fall patterns. Fabrics include velvet, hand knitted fabric, woolen, fur, polyster etc. The fabric should keep the cold wind away from entering the clothes and keep the skin warm. Fall fabrics are usually warm and thick. Wraps, jackets, cape coats etc are part of fall fashion, to keep the body warm.

I'm not a person who wears clothes according to seasons. The above written, is just to give the basic idea about fashion w.r.t the seasons. That being said, i think its absolutely impossible to run behind fashion and trends. Designs, trends, and predominant colors change constantly. It is impractical and worthless to follow those. But there are some basic common sense that one should know or have while dressing up.

As said above, summer clothes should be light. You don't want to sweat under heavy clothing and that would look really absurd. White is the all time 'in' color for summer as white is said to reflect back the heat instead of absorbing it inside. Summer clothes should absorb away the sweat and make you feel comfortable and not sticky. Winter clothes should be thick or heavy. It would keep you warm and prevents from being cold. Lighter clothes can also be worn in winter by pairing it with a wrap or a jacket. Black is the all time 'in' color for winter as it absorbs heat inside. One fabric that never goes out of style irrespective of the season is the jean. You just have to be aware of the cut and chose what suits your body. Another tip is to not wear white clothes during night, unless it is some white color themed party or something. You don't want to look like a ghost.

Most of all, it is important to be comfortable in whatever you wear, never letting go of your customs and culture. In every country the styles in all seasons are different. Be sure that whatever you wear will make you feel good, irrespective of the color, trend or season. Know that you are unique and dress according to your body and personality. Don't try to imitate others. Be yourself in whatever you chose. And be you!!

Psst...shop in July and January to get a good deal, since these months will have the greatest sale ;) :p

Your Best Foot Forward!!

It is important to take care of your feet, just like your face and body. Why waste your money at the parlour, when you can get salon-perfect pedi done at home itself. You can save lots of money.
Pedicure is no rocket science and can be done in 3 simple steps.

You will need a Pumic Stone, Nail cutter, Nail filer, Shampoo, Warm water, Moisturizing Cream or Vaseline and 30 min(max.).

Step 1: Mix few drops of shampoo in warm water and dip your feet in for 10 to 20 mins.
You may also add optional products like glycerin, salt based foot soak, lime juice, dettol etc to the warm water. Just shampoo and water also works fine. Your feet will soften, which helps to remove the dead skin and cuticles easily.

Step 2: Remove all the dead skin by rubbing with Pumic stone. You will have to rub on the heels, the inner heel, and under the toes. You can also use any scrub to gently exfoliate the skin. The cuticles grown over the nails would be softened by this time, and can be removed easily using the pointy end of the nail filer.

Step 3: Rinse with warm water and dry using a clean towel. Then apply and massage a moisturizing cream or lotion. Applying nail polish is totally optional. Even without nail polish, your feet would look adorable once the pedicure is done.

I don't believe that pedicure is for ladies alone. Even men love their feet to be clean. Men can also do this once in a while, when you feel patient enough :P
You may do this once a month or once a week. There are many pedicure, manicure products available today. But let me assure you, all that is totally optional, and doesn't make much difference to the final look. So be wise and choose what is best for you. Don't waste money unnecessarily. My motto: Lesser products, Better results!!! ;)

Maintain Diet?? My Story!!!

Why following a diet could be a question. The general trend of South Indians to be hefty has changed drastically over the last few years. People now are more health conscious and are trying to incorporate either exercise or diet or both in to their daily lives. Be it a half hour brisk walking or a 10 minute elliptical work out, or becoming a vegetarian for a period, we see that the generation today is involved in atleast one of these activities. And this sense of health consciousness has donned upon almost everyone, including me :p

I'm not a person who works out every single day. I'm laaaazy. And post wedding, i gained almost 8 kgs, due to the change in lifestyle. Me and my husband, we are major foodies. Only later we realized the weight we have gained over time and we couldn't workout regularly due to travels. So we started dieting. First i'll tell our modus operandi for the diet.

1. Heavy Breakfast
 Being South Indian, we like to have any of the south-indian food like idili, dosa, puttu, uppuma,  appam, or puri. Recently, we started using raggi puttu. But the overall idea is to have a heavy  breakfast.

2. Munch In Salads
 I have salad for lunch. But my husband likes to have it at different time intervals. He likes to munch  in some snacks all the time. So we replaced the snacks with sliced carrots, cucumber, tomatoes,  sprouted lentils. He have them at 11 am, 12, 1 and 2 pm. Since he is eating something at every  interval, he doesn't feel hungry.

3.Oats or Fruits For Dinner
 We have dinner by 7 30. We try our best to not have anything after 8 pm.

4. Drink Lots Of Water
 We try to drink atleast 8 glasses of water a day. We drink water whenever we feel hungry in between. This is the most important part.

5. Have A Cheat Day
 Once a week, we have whatever we like, we satisfy our cravings. Be it eating biriyani, or KFC, we have non-veg or rice or both once a week.

Its not easy to maintain a diet. During the first few days we were craving to have a piece of pastry or a scoop of icecream. But after 2 weeks, we started to feel different. Although it hasn't started showing out in our appearance, we feel lighter now. Last time i checked, i had already lost 2 kgs.  And my husbands cholesterol has gone down. So we are hopeful.

I've heard someone say "Have breakfast like a KING, have lunch like a QUEEN, and have dinner like a BEGGAR". This is apparently true. The reason being, our metabolism is on the highest side when we wake up, and it decreases as the day goes by. So its least during night. That is why it is best to have a light and early dinner, because all the food we eat during night does not give you energy, rather it is going to get sedimented as fat onto our body.

There are some things we avoided for the sake of the diet. We avoided having sweets and sugary items, tea only on alternate days, avoided maida products, fired and oily stuff, avoided banana, and vegetables that grow underground. But we have carrots almost every day. We drink 1 cup of green tea every day on empty stomach and we eat lots of vegetables and watery fruits. Once or twice a week we have egg. And we drink water whenever we feel hungry in between. We sometimes eat nuts like almond, walnut, pista etc for snacks.

People say that we should avoid eating out if we are on to reducing weight. And i know its true. But during most weekends we go out to have something. Currently, we are trying to reduce our eating out habits. Some days we become so bored of having vegetables, and would be tempted to have our cheat day early that week. But then we remind and motivate each other about the reward that we would get at the end of the week(dining out!!!). We don't have any rules on our cheat day, just that we would watch on how much we eat, and not on what we eat. So this is how we try to maintain our diet, and its been over 3 weeks now. We are trying to incorporate some kind of work-out too. I don't know if this is the healthiest diet, but this is what we follow and hoping we would be able to lose some weight :) .

Kurti Length?? What to pair it with?? What Suits Me?

Today, i would like to blog about some of the basics like what kind of kurtis would suit people and how to pair them w.r.t the height and body structure. Kurtis come in different lengths, varying from waist length to toe length long. Choosing the right kind will help one to complement their body structure. It is important to accept your body structure. But it is also important to dress according to what suits you.

Let me get this through, if you have the perfect body, all toned up, lean, and perfect shape, almost everything will suit you. And there is no question or confusion in that case.

No offence, but I don't want to talk about the perfect 'bodied' ones today.

Lets start off with the "shorties". Long toe-length kurtis are a big no-no for people who are short in length.  You would look shorter in these. But still you can opt to wear these, by pairing it with good pair of heels and leggings with lesser churi. Lesser the number of churi, taller you would look. No one would want to stay away from those elegant anarkali-kind toe length kurtis. Only thing, make sure your feet is visible, and wear heels. Dont wear toe length kurtis with jeans.

Short kurtis would look good on shorter people as this makes them look taller. The visibility of your legs causes this effect.

But if you are short and have thick thighs, please do opt for a kurti that is knee-length long. As that will hide your thighs and you will still look taller. If you want to wear kurtis shorter than knee length, pair it with jeans, since jeans does not hug like leggings. Don't wear leggings with short kurtis, if you have a heavy bottom. Its just really indecent!

For "longies", its best to opt for mid length or longer kurtis, you dont want to look like a giraffe. And again the same rules applies for people with heavy thighs. Shorter kurtis with jeans, longer kurtis with leggings (no heels :p), and knee length kurtis for heavy thighs.

The basic way to hide heftiness, is to direct the focus away from the hefty parts. So if it is your upper body that is heavy, wearing mid-thigh length or knee-length kurtis would be apt.

Another way to pair kurtis is with patiala pants. Patiala pants usually seem to suit longer people. But this isn't true, any one can wear them, if paired with the right kind of kurti.

If you are long, then go for knee length kurti paired with patiala and a pair of flats. Kurtis below knee length will hide the frills of the patiala, so knee length is apt. Shorter length is also fine, but that is totally up to you.

If you are short, then go for mid-thigh length kurti with patiala and a pair of flats( or heels, depending upon the situation). Knee length kurti is also fine.

So thats it! Just something I had in my mind. Hope atleast few would find this useful.
Have a nice day :)

Hummus And Tahini

Hummus is a great dip or spread made from chickpea flour blended with tahini paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic cloves. Tahini is nothing but sesame seeds Roasted and grounded with olive oil.

Tahini Ingredients:

Sesame
Olive oil

Method:

1. Stir fry sesame till golden brown. Be careful not to burn, as sesame gets burned easily, and tastes awful.
2. Grind the toasted sesame in  food processor with olive oil. Keep adding olive oil until you get a thick pour-able consistency.

Hummus requires only 1/4 cup tahini, So store the tahini paste in refrigerator in an air tight jar. This can be stored for several months. Tahini can also be used as dip for meat kebabs, can be added to noodle recipes, can be used as sauce for vegetable salad. Hummus is great with kebabs, breads burgers etc. Its an alternative for mayonnise. Hummus with little lemon juice and water makes a good salad dressing.

Hummus Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
2-3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp cumin seeds grounded(optional)
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
2 tsp olive oil
3/4 cup chickpea flour

Method:

1. Add and grind all the ingredients one by one in a food processor to make paste.
2. Add water as required until you get the desired consistency. Add more salt to taste.
3. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle some papirika or corriander or mint leaves over it.

Store home made hummus in refrigerator in an air tight container and can be stored up to one week.