A few days ago, a friend of mine asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I have amazing friends :D Yaayy gifts! However, I thought and thought, and came up blank.
Over the last few days, as I've been setting things aside to prepare for the season, I thought and thought some more. Still nothing.

In a way that's awesome. I think I have reached a point in life where I have everything!

[Unless you're taking into account not having a Porsche, A beautiful house of my own, That promotion I've been waiting for, That Gucci Watch, Six month long Euro Trip, Already published novel .... you get the drift]

Getting back on track, I guess I already have things that most people wish for. And I'm so very grateful for it :)

Then again, it is the season for giving (ergo, also receiving) so it's better to clear about what we want sometimes, rather than getting what we don't want. I went to the extent of checking for nice gift ideas, that I can ask for myslef :P Still came up with squat. Actually it did help me come up with a list of things I don't want .

[No Jewelry organizers / bags / headphones/ pillows/ clothes/ Green tea infusers / stationery (yes, I'm actually saying that! Have too much, and use too little)/ Books (same story, too many unread books in my shelf) / Baking Stuff/ Phone cases/ Plants/ Car stuff/ ,,,]

If push comes to shove, there are a few things I do want (Hey, I'm human!)

1. Lipstick (I haven't found the perfect shade yet, still hunting)
2. Brunch at Vascos, Hilton (That's my favourtitest still)
3. White Stilletos with bling  (If you've guessed it, yes, that's exactly why I want it)
4. A nice lamb pie recipe and the ingredients to make it :P
5. Off White Tulle with work - lots of it. 5 metres of it! (I'm mostly kidding on this one. I just keep wondering about it a lot these day, so) Got it from China :D
6. Swimming Classes

That's all I could think of :) 

I noticed (myself) that the list is becoming shorter, but pricier. Guess it's a sign that I've moved on to a different stage in life :)

What's your Christmas wish list?

Have you been good, so Santa can visit?

A very Merry Christmas Season!

When Santa Came a Visiting

Christmas 2014

I have a feeling that in my many many years to come, 2014 may by far be the best in terms of gifts received!

It was crazy and it was awesome :D

My amazingly lovely friends, and online shopping together made it a Christmas which would have made any Santa proud, and any little girl (apparently big girls too!) squeal with excitement.

I know it is materialistic of me... but I'm going to indulge this time.

So it all started with my very normal, and very regular "Christmas List"

The kind I put up before every birthday, and every Christmas. You know, that random wish list that everybody has :)

My blog is not the most famous or popular...but a few good friends still follow it sweetly! And I guess it all started there ... and with a few of my good friends from office wanting to get me Christmas gifts as well, seeing how crazily I seemed to be grinning and jumping around all the time due to the Christmas season! Or even before, when I got myself the OTG, which was the biggest one on the list, and started my baking frenzy ;)

There are about 4 to 5 little chapters to this Christmas story, after the OTG :) Maybe more!

1.

"Hey, I have to get a dress for a friend who is about the same height and build as you. Help me pick one from the options I'm going to send you"

How sweet is that! From a most obvious friend ;)

We spent almost 2 hours checking out oh-so-many dresses. When I said that I didn't prefer the red, only because I had 2 other red dresses, he agreed. Completely giving away the fact that it was for me. Yet almost innocently believing that it would come as a surprise to me.

But the website sends me a text as soon as the order is confirmed, and the poor dear was so upset that the cat was out of the bag so soon! But it was a gorgeous dress, and he is an absolute darling!

2.

"An office backpack"

So my good friend from office decided that his Christmas present would be the Office Back pack. I love my purple ones, but they've become slightly old, and hence it's time for a change you see.

We spent days looking for one, and went through countless stores - online and brick. But to no avail. 

Then one fine day, one more friend from office says lets all go shopping, and within the hour, I had a(nother) pretty black and gold dress (A traditional one this time) and black pumps (from the list! :D )

So the office backpack didn't get through, but who cares when better things were in store!

I think I'll bling up my old ones and revamp them ;)

3.

(I get a call) "Tell this guy where you're is! Quick"

This from the same friend who got me the dress. "But whyyy...you ...you already got me...". "babe, he's at you're street, and can't find your house. Call him now!"

I got a box, which claimed to have 7 items in it. But I promised my friend that I wouldn't open it till Christmas day. So it waited around till then, and on Christmas day I find that it's got seven bottles of beautiful nail paints. Yaay yaay !! 2 of them which have already found their way on to my nails :)

Happiness!

4.

"So, When I get back, I'm going to take you on that long drive on the ECR"

Aren't promises of good things to come the most gladdening things ever. It's like a nice thing to look forward to, and it's always a good feeling!

5.

"Umm... dessert bowls?"

"You're baking now... "

"Äaaaahhh...."

 ;)

6.

"How many boxes of things keep coming to you ?!?!"

Well, between the stuff I was buying for others, and the gifts, there sure were many. So it's kind of understandable that my grandmother was getting a little suspicious of it all. 

I keep this box till Christmas day as well. And this too is from the same friend. I guess I might as well just rename him THE BEST SANTA EVER. This time, they were headphones. 

And, not just random Phillips or even fancy Sony headphones I wanted (because my old headphones had gotten slightly worn out) but these were over the top JBL head phones ... about which he asks if I am okay with the J55 ...that he considered the J88, but they seemed too big. Blink blink. White headphones that perfect match my laptop and have ridiculously amazingly brilliant sound quality - WHOAVE only :P

7.

I also got a silent gift - silent because that person and I had a major fall out. Yet we still silently traded gifts.

I know it's the thought that counts ... but how much thought have these amazing people put into not just the gift, but also how and why they picked those. 

Be it my favourite Santa ever, who not only spent hours picking a dress for me, but also went to many stores and checked sizes of headphones, and so sweetly announced that he has never shopped for nail paints before, and he hoped to God that I liked those! Or my friend who picked out dessert bowls cause I'm baking or those sweet souls who would have scourged no less than a dozen shops with me, as I happily hunted for what I wanted. And of course my dad, who not only bought me an amazingly fancy dress, but also kidnapped my sister and brought her home for a crash visit this Christmas - because next Christmas I may (like he desperately hopes) or may not have another family that would have my divided attention as well.

This Christmas, I really did feel wonderfully blessed and loved :)

And more so, because I realize there are so many people who actually want me to have a wonderfully blessed and merry Christmas!

Thank you so very muchly and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! .*. 

P.S : I'm still wondering what on earth I should get my peter pan Santa friend ... he wouldn't tell me what he wants o.o

Any suggestions?

Deck the halls with boughs of Holly

It's yet again the season to be jolly :)
Season to love and more importantly hope!
I've recently noticed that I've become a believer or wisher of the utopian-world. Which isn't keeping me very happy, as I see myself unhappy about every little thing (and there are a gazillion :( ) that is not as it should be. Even small abberations. However, hoping that that will just run its course and fizzle out, this is not the season for perfectionism, it is time for happy happiness :)

This Christmas season I am thankful for every little thing and the big things I've gotten this year (more detailed year end review to follow a little later this year) and hope and pray that God gives me patience and good sense in the days , and years to come :)

As hopes go, I'm putting up my annual Christmas wishlist. Well hope is after all the theme of this time ;)

Here goes:

1. Black 2 inch pumps
2. Office backpack
3. Chocolate and Mango cookies
4. OTG
5. Nail polish!!!
6. Silver paint... to paint my wall! And white paint ~ 1 lt each :D
7. Purple dress
8. Memory foamed mattress
9. Loong drive in the ECR :P
10. Headphones
11. Fridge list magnet
12. Hair brush with natural bristles :)

December Girl

Come December, there is a familiar feeling of celebration.
It has always been, and will always be.
Only now, it’s a bit bitter sweet.It’s been seven years since we’ve had a Christmas with her. Seven years since her last birthday celebrated alive. Seven years since Shopping in December was for both her birthday and His birthday. Seven years since we last celebrated this season, as it is supposed to be celebrated,  with the December girl.
Six years, since December has become something about what could have been and pretending that it is.
Six years since I’ve tried to be that December girl, in her place.
Wanna be December girls …(like another friend of mine who recently wrote a similar post – which inspired this post), are a brave bunch. They have brave exteriors, because that is what they have to be so their dad doesn’t feel unsure. So their family stops looking at them with pity filled eyes. So their friends don’t treat them different. So their mum up there would be proud of them.
They are brave on the outside. Very strong daddy’s girls… but all of them are just a bit broken in the inside.Not in the sad or bad way, but in the beautiful; cracked glass kind of way. Because despite everything in their world once cracking and threatening to fall apart, they learnt to keep it all together.
There have been moments when I did fall apart, and moments when I wished someone would help hold me together.
We are strong outside, but inside we are little lost girls ~ just sometimes. We come across as really confident, but it’s more because we know that we can handle anything – we’ve already handled the worst after all.
I had a special friend a while ago, and he never understood my extreme reactions to this situation. He thought it’s been so long ago… why am I being this way now. Back then, I even thought I was using this as a reason to seek more attention. But now I know that’s not true.
A very very important friend, who lost a father himself, told me once long ago, “The pain will never go away, but you will learn to live with it. She will always be with you, andyou will never forget – so don’t worry about it. You will move on from the hurt, but somethings won’t ever be the same.”
I realize now how true it is. Some things haven’t been the same, and they will always feel incomplete.
Will only those who’ve been there understand? Yes. Unfortunately.
Between us girls and boys… saying things like “I miss her food” is common. But if someone with a mom says it, it feels a tad cruel – we feel a tad evil for not being able to empathize. But how could we, like they never really can.
They can’t understand how – even if life feels absolutely fine for 95% of the time, there are moments.
Moments triggered by a smell, a dress, a colour, any random thing, - a small little thing which could suddenly shake our core. For that 5% of the time, the world feels insignificant, and we’re left alone in the dark with shards of what could never be.
This December though, I’m going to finally have kept many of my promises.
And I learnt to accept all of what I am…even understand a little bit ;)
So it is celebration of what is – despite what wasn’t.
This December, I became worthy to be called a December girl. Maybe not all the way – but it was a good start.
This December – after a year filled with crazy amounts of blessings, it’s time for me to pay back. And I’m going to give my all and try to do so.

This December will be a very merry Christmas, and mummy… a Very Happy Birthday for you up there  :)

The Happier Soul

I can normally hold a straight face. Even when someone in the restaurant topples soup all over themselves, I can keep a straight face and politely look away. Not any more apparently! Maybe it's the Christmas season, and I have been shamelessly embarrassing people, strangers no less!

To spread the joy, I going to tell you about a couple of incidents :P (You may choose to treat this as a warning, so as to not provoke me this December, keke ^.^)

The other day I called dominoes to order Pizza. (This was when in started) I had given the guy on the line my address and given directions as well.
The guy on the line was probably a student who was practising his accent or something.
"Having it here, or take away ma'am?" He asked smoothly
For one moment, the answer was both obvious and confusing to me
"Having it here.. at home" I replied, blinking through the phone. His blunder struck me, but I tried to be polite to him. (Like I said, this is when the funny bone started itching this season.)
I was half way through placing my order when I couldn't hold it any more. I burst out laughing, and my apologies come through in between the chuckles. The poor guy obviously knew why I was laughing, and tried to cover it up by adopting a stronger American accent. This just made is so much worse, and did not help his cause one bit!
I did eventually tame my laughter, and requested my usual extra seasoning along with the order. The extent of his embarrassment was evident when I received enough seasoning sachets to fill a pizza box by itself. ;)

Recently, a new bank has opened up in my locality. One of the employees who was sent along to canvas for the bank came-a-knocking on our door today. He had a whole bunch of pamphlets stashed away in a diary. After handing over one pamphlet, he opened the diary to take down the our name and contact number.
There was a big "i" symbol water marked in the middle of each page in the diary.
Even though the back he was representing starts with the letter "i", I knew right away that the diary he was holding was one from a competitor's bank. Probably his previous employer.
I know this because I once worked with that other bank as well!
As soon as I noticed it, "Isn't that from ___bank?" I asked. The words spilt by themselves! Really!
Normal bank canvassing lasts for at least five minutes. They explain the perks of banking with them, give us their contact details and generally try to close the sales right there at the door step. Today though, my sudden question and the laughter that followed saved me five whole minutes. Time I'm using here instead!

Merry Christmas Season  .*.

That Nice Feeling :)

Have you heard the song 'Colour Blind'?

Advent
A surprisingly sweet couple goofing off near a river
Simple uncomplicated reassurances
My book shaping up nicely
Hot soup
Cold Soda
Conversations
An old celebrity crush remembered
A good blog post (!)
An upcoming vacation
One more closure silently achieved
Small realizations
Pink bells
December
Love
Day dreams
Midnights

All of these...
Some of these?
Or maybe none of these
Have left me feeling good right now
Quiet contentment
Just the way I like it :)

Tis the season to be Fluey...Tralalallalala laa laa laa !

Yush, I have the flu and from me, so does my sister.
The first day, I spent miserable and silent. Breathing was restricted, and I hardly slept that night. I thought up of possible clever things people could invent to help poor souls in such state. Taking a quick minute to describe that. (Please feel free to invent it, I shall ask for no royalty or copy right, I promise!)

1.5 inch long flexible tube with a slight funnel at one end so it fits smugly along the throat. Made of minty soothing digestible material that get ingested over a period of 6 to 8 hours.

Purpose: Completely stops throat itching and nasal blockage
Aim:     Uninterrupted sleep for more than 3 minutes.

The second day, the cold had gotten much worse and I spent most of it trying to soothe my chest - or googling ways to get the rib cage away from the lungs.
And today, the third day, it still feels the same, but I've gotten used to it. Restricted verbal communication, hot spicy liquids, and a morbid sense of humour have helped me get through today. And here I am, sharing :)

Having the flu has made me notice a few things, I normally wouldn't.

I was watching a drama in which the lead sells cake out in the freezing cold to make money for a present. He ends up catching a cold [so the heroine can feel undue amount of pity for him of course! No one in my family really seem to be worried that I caught a cold...humph. Getting back on track...] The hero gets done with the part time job in the fag end of Christmas eve, rushes to the store, buys the said present, then goes back home exhausted. He drops the bag on the floor, coughs wheezes a couple of times and flops on his bed. His head does not reach a pillow, he's just curved up with his head tilted downward.
Normally, when I see something like this I would be pondering over aspects such as 'When he tried so hard to get it before midnight Christmas eve, why isn't he giving it to her before flopping over?', or 'why couldn't he just call her' or something like that. Today, all I could think of was: With the head in that angle, his nose is bound to get blocked in less than 30 seconds, how come he's not coughing his head away even after being motionless in that position for almost 2 whole minutes! See what I mean? Directorial flaw.

This got me thinking back to another cute kissing scene in a different drama.
The heroine and hero have been playing hide and seek with each other, and since they're really good at it, they last about six years before finally bumping into each other again. So chemistry builds, and when its finally about to hit crescendo she already has a cold. (Not just a sneeze here or there, but a running nose for which she carries medicines).
So, they're sitting in the stairway of the hospital and they're finally confronting the elephant in the...stairway. It was probably a tight squeeze, but lets just work around that. She gives him the final ultimatum, "Tell me if you love me, or I'm going to sprinkle kisses all over your face" (If all ultimatums worked that way, right?) The guy who has finally had enough of running away (Alleluia!) goes in for the grand gesture and plants a big one on her.
When I saw this, I found it adorable. The direction was brilliant, the camera, background score...even the script! Wherein, once he's done, she has this smug smile on her face as she hands over her meds to him and tells him to take it thirty minutes after meals.
Sweet right?
No.
If she really had a cold - and it was her second or third day as per the drama, then that kiss would have totally suffocated her. It would have been a murder attempt! All of us know that our mouth does most of the breathing when we're stuck with a runny nose! And he shuts that! Sigh... how reckless of him right? I shudder to imagine it.

I wrapping up now with a small request to all the film makers out there:
Please take the cold seriously!!!!

P.S: It's ADVENT!!!!
TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY :D
ITS HERE ITS HERE ITS HERE :D
Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season y'all!

Merry Christmas !!!

A very Christmas to all of you :)

A beautiful Christmas, in so many ways ...
The climate's perfect!
I'm surrounded by people who love me, in spite of the fact that I'm so far away from home.
I don't have major regrets for things I did, or things I shouldn't have done, kept those to a minimum or I've already worked out solutions :)
Spoke to my Dad, sis ...cousins... friends ...almost everyone who matters.
Went and wished God a very Happy Birthday.
(There were 10 kings in the Church crib !!!! many of them hiding or sneaking off in the opposite direction :P the main ones were there though, thats what matters na :P )
Quite a few people said I looked pretty today (Vain I know ;) )
My room is decorated ...
I did my share for the community, however small it is :)
There was cake too, vanilla cake :)
I even got a few Christmas gifts, one surprise gift at 12, like I found it under the tree :)
My future looks reasonably solid and bright from where I stand (distant future I mean, Got exams in a couple of days, for that I'm not saying much o.o.)

Christmas does not hold the same meaning it once it. It's different. It's a ... beautiful season, excitement ...sometimes forced. I still love it, but is it only because of habit, I cannot tell.
Today morning, I had a realization. I think it's sort of God's gift to me.
And like God's gifts, it's very hard to decipher, but I know I might just learn to like it ...
The realization was, the bubble I like in... all my walls of defenses ..I've been living for about 3 years thinking this is how it will be from now on, and cold hearted as it may ..as I may seem, I've learnt to live with it. All the walls around me. Decisions as objective as possible, avoiding getting attached as much as possible, walking off before a blink when I get even the slightest inkling that it doesn't matter. You get the drift .... well it felt like someone was telling me that it will all eventually fade ... the walls, the defenses, the whole thing (I think). And it won't be sudden or drastic... but eventually in 3 years or so.. :)
Thats nice I think. I can loosen up a bit :)

I don't know what you got for Christmas, but I would like to give you,

A smile

And wish for you,

Hope, for that's one of the best things we can have, even when all else fails
Love, loads and loads of it !!! Beautiful thing, that keeps the world spinning :)
A hug from and for someone you love
and Peace when you close your eyes, so that it brings that smile on your face .

Merry Christmas !!!