And of course I cooked some…

Greek style mini-lamb burgers

The original recipe asked for pita pockets but I couldnt get hold of them in time hence the improvisation.

I am now trying my hand at breads. Tried some cinnamon rolls,  uuughh…lets just say they were noooooo good.

Cinnanom Rolls - ready to be popped into the oven

Oh well. You win some, you lose some BAD

Oh and she awarded me too! *wooo hoooo* At the risk of being repetitive, never thought of myself as a versatile blogger…but hey, everyday you learn something new about yourself huh!

So lets see if I can meet the other criteria of this tag….

1. I recently took a cake decoration workshop. It was fun and sooooo tiring! Who knew the fancy stuff could be so exhausting. I laboured over the cake for 2 days and decided to put it to good use. Gifted it to The Boy for our 2nd wedding anniversary.

Outcome of the workshop!

2. Yeah…you got that right. Two years!!!!! The number seems over-whelming. Most of the time it still feels new…you know that warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach during the initial phase when you are together! Clearly, I am still besotted with The Boy

For those who are rolling their eyes now ‘coz you have passed the 10 or 20 years mark dont be looking down my mere 2 years! Be nice and let me gush over my experience (and achievement??? )

3. I have never done a tag before. Really….you can check my blog. As far as I recall in all these years, I would always beg off tags. So certain people should consider themselves verrrrrrry lucky right about now

4. I love organising parties. There was a time when K and me joked about becoming party planners. Both of us love excel-sheets and lists and being all super-creative yet efficient and organised. So keeping with that spirit, I threw my in-laws a small dinner party for their wedding anniversary. I attempted yet another cake which didnt turn out so well …..practice! practice! practice!

It tasted divine though...if I may say so myself!

5. I have promised myself to write more often on the blog and this time, I will stick to it. Does that qualify as a random thing about myself?

6. Recently, I became an aunt (for the umpteenth time) to twin girls! Hats off to my sister-in-law and brother ….how they manage the twins and a 2 year old daughter is beyond me. All I do for my part is skype with them every week so the kiddies remember my name and face.

7. I am a professional social worker….well, atleast by my qualification. What I do now would probably not qualify as social work but I believe there is a social and moral angle to it. Someday, I will tell you all more

So lets award people….I may not blog regularly but I do follow some strictly.

Anjuli

The Twenty-somethings

Lauren, my fav food-blog!

K (dont lead anything back to me!)

Here is what you guys have to do…

1 Put up the versatile blogger pic.  2 Tag people and inform them.  3 Share seven random things about yourself.  4. Dont forget to thank the person who tagged you

Here is a glimpse of the lands I travelled to…

Went home, partied hard with friends & family!

..Then to Delhi for a wedding and of course to enjoy the food and the sights!

Quick train ride took us to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. (oh and the food!)

A LONG flight to throw a coin at the Trevi fountain in Rome (oh the gelatos!)

There were also the pretty sights in Venice ....

The real treasures are hidden in the smaller villages of Italy; like this one... A church with no roof!

Needless to say, being back to reality……NO LIKE!

House guests. Enough said. I am sure you know how busy that can get.

Work. Its been a hectic but fantastic time for us. We are a small start-up but we have added members to the team recently; we are getting a lot more business and opportunities seem to be multiplying. *touches wood* Its all good but it means more to do one everyone’s plate.

Health. Its been one thing after another for the past year. I think I have lost a bit of usual strength, stamina and energy through it all. Blah!

Visitors. Cant complain about this one too much Friends from home are always welcome. Though this city and its distance is so not conducive to frequent meetings!

Parties. From the father-in-law’s birthday to a friend’s bachelorette, I have been in the planning mode. Its been fun …and if it all goes well, I might have a cool pic or two to share

The tiredness has creeped into my bones now. I have been in the ‘drive’ gear nonstop for the past couple of months, no stopping for refueling or recharging myself. 28 days more before I can take (hopefully!!) a no-finger-lifted-lazy-as-can-be-weekend break!

In the meantime, nothing like chocolate to get a bit of kick! They disappeared a bit too quick for me to take an ‘after’ shot

Cupcakes!

Sometimes, its about being by yourself.
At times, its about getting away from others.
Sometimes, it just about being home-sick.

It started on a certain afternoon on my way back from work. I didnt feel like going back home just yet. The move to the new city had robbed me of familiar places and people. As I got nearer and nearer to home, I thought hard about what I could do, where I could go, who I could call. Somewhere in my memory was this place I had fleetingly visited. Do you have places like this you run to?

AND STOP RIGHT THERE! I know what you may be thinking….and I can absolutely assure it’s not THAT. **rolls eyes** Does everyone have a one-track mind when it comes to a girl saying she is craving food????

So I have been on a baking spree to satiate my cravings….there was a German Apple Cake recipe I found in the blogworld. Unfortunately I cannot remember where and it kinda got over tooooo fast for me to share a pic. However, I did take a pic of what I like to call the Mocha Banana Bread, a recipe adapted from here.

Beautiful sight isnt it?

The Boy and I couldn’t resist the temptation and dug into it as soon as it came out of the oven. Oh the joy of baking!

Slice of Heaven

Women are funny creatures, aren’t we? Someone says something to us we do tend to take it personally and literally and make appropriate vows to ourselves (no matter how hard or strange or unreasonable these vows may be!)

So I vowed recently that I am just not going to say anything to anyone. I think the spoon should be on the right but you have put it on the left…..then the left it shall remain. Shhhh! I feel helpless and restless and homesick but talking about that isn’t really going to change anything so…. Shhhhh! I am adopting the whole dont-think-it-dont-talk-about-it approach hoping it will lead to no-problem-at-all. Unfortunately, it’s not quite working that way. *sigh*

It’s hard to not care. It’s hard to not share. All the unspoken”ness”is a difficult burden to bear. (oooh look I can rhyme!)

Id love to throw an old-school classic full-blown indulge-me tantrum right about now…. I just fear for The Boy’s sanity.

The movie, Why did I get married, introduced this 80/20 rule. I recently came across it through a read on marriages. It brought forth a few thoughts to me, though I am sure each one has their own interpretation of it. The most obvious topic ‘cheating’ I will leave for another post altogether.

Lets widen the scope of it for today and apply it to more matters than one – the physical, mental, sexual and emotional.

Dont we tend to look at the 20 we are not getting from our partners rather than the 80 they are selflessly giving us? It’s hard to keep our eye on the 80 our relationship offers us and so much easier to come up with the 20 where it lacks. I admit I have been guilty of this on a number of occasions. Is it an inflated sense of self-worth or what you feel you deserve that makes us react this way? Are we just being human by wanting more? Food for thought……

Over time, though, I have realised that the real art is being able to swallow your tongue! Shut up! Bite it! Hold back! And so on…

I think we may be overemphasizing this whole communication thing. Is it really necessary in any aspect of our life to convey each and every thought to each other? When we do, how many times does that conversation really go the way we want it to?

In not-so-easy situations, we psyche ourselves to communicate what we think/feel. It has been weighing on our minds forever. It bugged us and hence we must ensure that the person responsible knows about it. So we spend our energy and time and - in figuring out how to communicate this effectively. When this does happen, you feel a little deflated….. it just didnt go as you thought it would. Maybe the other person had some logical answers for you or maybe they just didnt get the point! Maybe then….it would have been better for everyone if you had just not said anything.

We still dont learn our lesson, do we? We are out there….wanting to say whats on our mind all over again.

While I was away I did not win a Booker Prize nor did I find a cure for cancer nor did I climb any high mountains…..

However, I …..

• Celebrated my first wedding anniversary
• Completed a year at my new job that I absolutely love
• Was ecstatic at the arrival of a few nieces & nephews to the family
• Discovered some interesting things about the new city
• Picked up a few words in a new language (local language)
• Saw overwhelming and breath-taking sights  - the temples of Cambodia
• Partied hard in Bali and Bangkok
• Got closer to turning 30! oh dear!
• Battled (/battling) a few health issues
• Went back to violin lessons
• Discovered a little more about faith and trust and love
• Created some more moments with family and friends to treasure forever

Oh and discovered that writing is so much fun!