The Red, The Black, The White

 An outing around town.. and this is what I wore...

Top and Jacket: Forever 21, Watch: Fossil, Purse: Gift from friend, Shoes: Liz Clairborne ( a T.J. Maxx find), Necklace: a very old one.

It was one of the finest days you'll encounter in L.A.

Hope you had a wonderful time too...

Book Review : Sense and Sensibility

This is my first book review for the BBC 2012...

Jane Austen's Sense and sensibility..

Being Austen's first published books.. It portrays her brilliant talent in displaying the lives of two daughters Elinor and Marriane Dashwood.. who after the death of their father are left with liitle money and no home.. The property of Norland is being inherited by his eldest son who has no say of his mind in front of his wife. Fanny( his wife) is not very fond of the fact that John wanted to fulfill his dying father's wish of helping his sister's and convinces him to think about himself and his requirements first!!

The house is soon taken over by John and Fanny and the three daughters( Elinor, Marriane and Margaret) and their mother are forced to look for a house elsewhere. In the mean time Fanny's brother (Edward) comes to stay with them on his way from Plymouth. Elinor, the eldest of the daughters, a down to earth and sensible girl becomes really fond of Edward..But being practical enough to know that she had no chance with him, moves on with her life to live in a cottage in Devonshire which was given to them by one of the relatives of  Mrs. Dashwood and suited their little amount of money.. The Dashwood's were welcomed cheerfully and both Elinor and her sister Marriane wins over the hearts of people in Barton Park (Devonshire).Marriane soon attracts two handsome gentlemen, Colonel Brandon and Willoughby. During their lavish parties Marriane falls in love with Willoughby and does not restrain herself from expressing her love for him in front of other people unlike her sister Elinor.

The story then dictates the events of their lives which takes a turn when right on the peak of love between Willoughby and Marriane, Willoughby leaves her and goes to London, and she does not hear anything of him. On the other side Elinor comes to know about Edward's engagement with a women for the past 5 years and is heartbroken.. The reaction of both the sister's to the situations presented in front of them are vastly different. Marriane is devastated when she comes to know that Willoughby s marrying another women but Elinor keeps her composure and tries to deal with the situation.

All in all, the novel is about two sisters, who struggle to find love, however different be their nature and their approach to it.. It portrays the love that the sisters share among them and how they handle all the situations that arise during this course with the help of each other.. It is their road to finding long lasting love..


This is my first ever review of a book and might not be really good.. But I hope to get better in time.. I did watch the movie starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant among others..



Image taken from Google images

Rainy Day Saturday...

Its always bright and sunny here in L.A. but when you wanna go out and have some fun time with hubby.. clouds hog the skies and it starts raining!! But does it dampen our spirits.. No Sir!! It Doesn't..

 We had planned a nice outing for ourselves but the rain prevented us from going outside.. so we went to the mall.. to check out some new sales that were up!!

I wore my comfy shoes and a light jacket to keep me away from the chill in the air.. Paired it up with a neon orange top to keep the mood of spring...

I enjoyed every moment at the mall.. not only shopping but looking around and seeing people in their newest outfits and spring colors... :) It made me feel happy and sunny inside!! :)

My comfy Skechers.. Love the satin laces on it!! :)

I did add a dash of green with by cross-body fossil bag to celebrate St. Patty's Day.. It kept me from getting pinched!! Hah!! :)

Late evening we had a fun party at one of our friends house.. With every one enjoying a hearty conversation about India.. discussing their day and of course Food!!! All in all  it was a completely fun day!! 

I just realised I am wearing the colors of our Indian Flag!! :)

Spring Cleaning.. At 6.30 A.M.????

I've been meaning to clean out my closet for spring, but  I had no idea it would happen this way... We got up this morning to find a pool of water right outside my closet.. Puzzled .. we tried to look for the source of the leak and luckily it wasn't in our apartment..
But where was the water coming from... and why was there flooding in our apartment???

 Hubby went out to inquire.. In the mean time I started taking out all the clothes from my closet.. only to realize that it's time.... time for spring cleaning!!! giving my closet some fresh air to breathe... :) :)

Well for the leak part :

Right next to our apartment is the mechanical room for our complex and there was a leak in the boiler... He could hear the water running inside the room. We called for maintenance and well they were here in less than 15 mins. I know, they are fast....

Well they ripped the carpet off, my closet door is history and there's an annoying fan running in my apartment.

But a couple of good things did happen....

1. I got to have breakfast with my hubby on a weekday.. coz he leaves at 6 everyday... *sigh*
2. I found some hidden treasures in my closet ( some forgotten dresses)
3. I'll finally get to arrange all my new shopping that I did recently. yay!!



So this was a really happening morning for me... What about you?? How did you start your day??


P.S. : Today's post was supposed to be an outfit post.. but something more interesting came up : P
 So lookout for another outfit post tomorrow...

Minty Green..

Spring is finally here and one of my favorite colors for this season is mint green.. It feels so fresh...

Perfect for a bright and sunny day around the town with hubby... :)

Blouse : F21,  Handbag: Da Milano, Jeans: DKNY, Belt: F21, Watch: Fossil (gift), open toe pumps: Lifestride (DSW), Necklace: F21 

When it comes to footwear, I am really particular, I just cannot wear uncomfortable sandals or for that matter anykind of shoes.. So when I bought these and wore them a whole day while running here and there I must say they are one of the most comfortable piece of footwear I own and that too with little but yes heels!!

Movie Time..

Saturday was another fun filled day.. me and hubby went for the screening of Disney's John Carter.. that means waking up early and being in the line for a free movie..

 To be honest we weren't very excited about the movie, all because of the reviews of the critics and the bad press.. being an adaptation of a 1917 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel.. with a mix of old century sci-fi action and alien creatures.. 

The story is set in 19th century Arizona territories in the post civil war America, which then mysteriously takes a turn and lands John Carter the "hero" of the movie onto a strange planet  "Barsoom", here the adventures become more exciting and the movie becomes more gripping... All the characters of the movie were clear in their roles.. 

The stunning princess (Lynn Collins), the large blue tongued dog, the tharks (four armed aliens with horns on their chins) and none the less John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) were very convincing...

The special effects in the movie are right on..  It makes you escape into a different world.. and if you can, do watch the 3D version... 

I am not revealing the story or telling you any further about it.. Find it out for yourself.. 

 Our first reviews of the movie were.. "It was so awesome, I wanna watch it again.. Will they make a second part".. (well there was even a discussion about whether they will or will not make a second part)

 I guess that explains it all.. doesn't it..

GO WATCH IT

 

You will come to know why there is a M in the JCM....

P.S. A new outfit post coming up next.. :)

BBC 2012

I have always been a fan of books... but lately the only books I read are the magazines that I subscribe to... To tell you the truth, even they've been piling up...

So here I was browsing the internet and I bumped into this amazing website: The Overflowing Library  

They are hosting an interesting challenge called "The British Book Challenge - 2012"

The challenge is simple, read books written by British Authors and review them on your blog. You must read at least 12 books by end of the year. 

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED...

I thought this was my chance to revive my long lost reading habits and of course enjoy reading some new titles.

Have already decided on 2 titles that I wanna read:

1. "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen.

2. "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells.

I am looking forward to read some really interesting titles and will be reviewing them on my blog.

I may be a little late, but I know I can catch up.... :)

If you are interested as well, you can signup here. 

International Women's Day

Did you know that International Women's Day was earlier known as the International Working Women's Day??
I did not. Actually speaking I had no idea why it is celebrated world wide.. so I thought of googling it and there is a lot of information out there.. If you wanna find out more about it , you can get all the info you want here.

Well serious thoughts aside.. My Women's Day was totally fun.. and this fun is defined as shopping.. A whole day of retail therapy.. not very good for the pocket but the feeling is great... especially when you find a deal that you were really looking forward to...

So I dressed up ready for shopping..
This is also going to be my first outfit post..

Top : Madame (India), Jacket : Fashion Q, Jeans: DKNY, Watch : Fossil(gift from), Earrings: Ruby and gold(gift from mom on bday), Clutch: Nine West, Pink bangles from India

Belt : Gift from Aunt (India)

The weather was perfect and I wanted to dress up as comfortably as possible cause you gotta be on your feet all day carrying shopping bags!! yay!!

What did you do on this Women's Day??

Rang Barse... Arrival of Spring..

We have all been waiting for spring to arrive.. looking at all the new fashion trends for spring.. shopping for it.. but what really marks the arrival of spring??

According to the Hindus, Holi,  celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March), (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March (source) marks the start of SPRING!! :) No more hiding behind blankets and layering yourself with loads of clothes.. its time to embrace the sun take out all the beautiful colored clothes , or buy them new...

Technically or rather I should say according to the calender  Holi falls on the 8th of March this year but we celebrated Holi a little earlier here in L.A. but it was so much fun.. It reminded me of the times we used to play Holi with our friends and family back in India.. It's a festival of colors.. We put colored powder on each other, throw water balloons filled with colored water, eat all the sugar goodies and dance around all day.. It's one of the most fun festival of India... If you ever get a chance to be a part of it.. don't miss it.... Well we did not.. Last time we went there.. we ended up being in the LA Times newspaper...

And this time was loads of fun too... there were twice as many people as last time.. twice as much loud music.. twice as many water buckets on my head and  TWICE AS MUCH FUN..

yea.. thats my hand print on one of my friends shirt... hehe

dont forget to check out my other blog "Art and Life"

Snack time!!!

My all time favorite snack is oven baked Yams/Sweet potatoes...

I make it the Indian style.. Its a typical north Indian street food.. available during the winters...

Its the easiest snack to make... especially because you don't have to do anything.. the work is done by the oven... you can sit back and relax... and the only ingredients you need are

1. yams/sweet potatoes
2. salt
3. chaat masala (its yummy.. available at all indian stores.. or you can even replace it with black pepper)
4. lemon


Preheat the oven at 350 degrees for 10 mins.. put your yams/sweet potatoes in the oven and put the timer on 20 mins.. (check and adjust if you need to..)

after about 20 mins. Check by inserting a toothpick if its done or not...

take it out of the oven, peel and cut it into pieces of the size of your choice and just add salt, chaat masala/black pepper and lemon.. and enjoy your snack...

I'm enjoying my snack time...
What's your favorite snack???