Back after a short break!! :)

Hey guys, How have you all been?? I can hear some of you saying "Oh, so you are still alive!! ??". Yes, Yes!! I, very much, am. Been stuck with too much work last month. Pardon me for disappearing without any notice. Too much work pa!!! I was working on weekdays and weekends through. I was up and working even on some sundays till 11.30 PM. Seriously.. I cant believe I did that... But yeah, things are normal now and I am back too :) 

Gosh, I missed this space so much!!! I even sat down and tried to write a post, only to get distracted by the thoughts of the pending task and Action items at work. Glad that phase is over and last weekend was good. I dint have to work and it felt so good!!! Got to watch some movies, did some real cooking, called some friends back in India and spoke to them for hours together and skyped with my parents and in-laws and watched the missed episodes of Grey's Anatomy S7. So that really felt like a real weekend!!! Climate is becoming good too. Winter is almost over here and the sun has started to shine some more!! Kids started playing outdoors, Moms started taking their babies for a walk in the parks, long over coats and scarfs are seen no more, while skirts and caprice take control. Yay!! Spring is here (okay, almost)!!! 

These are some updates from me. So what is happening in the blogland?? What did u guys do last weekend?? Update me!! :)

And yeah, Happy Women's day folks :) 

Weekend round up !! :)

Hi folks,

Hope you all had a great time this Christmas. I surely did. We had been to North Carolina, visiting some friends and had a really great time. I thought there was something missing this Christmas. But no, I was wrong. It was there on time. You guessed it right. I'm talking about SNOW. Last year it was snowing heavily right before Christmas and this year there were no signs of snow until last week. But it was snowing exactly on Christmas eve. Its always lovely to wake up one fine morning and see that the whole place is turned white. Such a pretty and priceless sight it is. I generally don't like to hang out much when there is snow outside. But love to sit at home, warm and cozy, and watch the snowfall.

Snow, friends, movies and lotsa good food :) It was a perfect weekend. I really wanted this break badly, December was such a crazy month for me at work!!! Now I'm all geared up for the project launch  we are having tonight. Fingers crossed !!! Wish me luck guys :)

Hello There !!!

Folks,

Am back again... Yeah, I know that I do this often... Suddenly go missing and one fine day come back with an "I am back" post. But yeah I love coming back. Been busy with a lot of things again which kept me off from blogging. New job, new city, new room mates (Yeah, I had to leave my hubby and relocate for this job. But will move back soon :) ) I missed this space so much. And I missed following up on my fellow bloggers' posts. Im trying to read up all the missed ones. So yah. Back to me and my updates. Im now in the 'lightening capital of North America'. Yup. Tampa, Florida it is. The climate here reminds me so much of India. Perfect weather. Hot and humid most part of the year. I miss my husband so badly though. But that is also compensated by something else - Living on my own. Yeah. I wanted to do this for a long time. I wanted to live alone for sometime. Just to see how it feels to be independent.  Its good. Im liking it. I cook my food. Do all grocery shopping by myself. Take care of all my bills. Have girls' night out whenever we (My roomies+I) feel like. Life is fun. Life is good. Hope life moves smoothly like this forever. Touchwood !!!

So what are you guys upto these days? Hoz it going? 

Update me !!!

Back from my hibernation !!:)

Ahhh... it feels so good to be back... Been a while since I posted something in this space... Well all of a sudden I became too busy. We had some friends visiting us last few weekends and so all that made me jump to a vacation mood and hence became too lazy to think of something to blog :P. So this is what I did all these days.

The first weekend we went went to the historic Colonial Willamsburg and Virgina beach. Colonial Williamsburg has buildings dating from the 1700s. It is an interpretation of the Colonial American era and has exhibits of both authentic and renovated colonial houses, restaurants, workshops, postal office, grocery stores, tailoring shops and more. 

They were either renovated or recreated to give us the picture of the colonial lifestyle. There were people dressed up like they did those days. So for the major part of the day we roamed around these colonial buildings. Then we headed to Virginia beach later that evening. We took a nice walk in the boardwalk, played silly shooting games in the stalls on what seemed like a city carnival. After a while we rented a bicycle each and rode our souls out :) It had been ages since i took a ride in a bicycle. Took me back to my school days!!! We roamed till we were dead tired and headed straight to a restaurant and there ends our day!! :)

One of our friends extended his weekend visit and stayed back to explore DC a bit and I joined him. As DC is known for its museums and monuments, we had a great time "Awww"ing and "oohhh"ing at the exhibts in the museums. I seriously felt Museums are a great idea to know the past and history better. Even though there are lots of information and facts piled up on the internet, seeing things and knowing them has a definite impact. We become kids all over again and try to imagine how things were back then. And that way, information stays better and longer. Don't you guys agree? 

Hmmm, so what else did I do??. Yeah, I saw this amazing book "Martha Stewart's Cookies" while I was browsing the library book shelves. The cookie picture in the cover page made be grab it immediately and I started drooling as I turned the pages. She had listed recipes for almost 175 cookies of different types. Light and delicate, soft and chewy, crumbly and sandy, chunky and nutty, cakey and tender, crisp and tender, rich and dense. Trust me, her pictures inspired me to bake them and I tried Oatmeal Raisin cookies. And it turned out awesome. It was nice and crisp, just like the ones that we get from the confectioners. And Im telling you, baking is not that difficult actually. You just need the right ingredients in the right measures and voila, you are ready to bake. I strongly recommend this book for any one to start baking cookies or to become an expert in the same. 

And the same day we made pizzas. Yeah, home made Pizzas. Doesn't that sound good :) It was my friend Terry's idea. And she had looked up so many recipes and finally found that the one listed in vahrehvah.com was the most easiest of all. We had loads of fun that day shopping the ingredients for the pizza and cookies, and preparing it together. And the joy you get out of cooking is immeasurable. I always love it when I cook with someone else. Its so much fun cooking, gossiping and giggling :) So at end of the day we played pool having pizza and cookies. That was a perfect weekend eve :) So these were the major (not so major, I know) updates that I wanted to tell you guys.

So what are you guys upto?? Whats happening out there in the blogosphere??

The House hunt !!!

Ufff... The whole week was quiet hectic for me. Ask me why. We received a mail from our apartment management reminding us that our apartment lease is ending in a couple of months and we had to decide on either extending the lease or vacating the apartment. And that if we choose to vacate we'll have to give them a 60 day notice so that they'll start advertising for the apartment and other stuff. And it looked like our rents are increased if we choose to extend. And we had only four days left before we finally decide on this. So we thought we'll look for options outside. And the house hunting job fell on me. So the first thing I do, after packing B (my hubby) to work, is to log into all the apartment rental sites and start my search. I had to keep in mind the rent, the reviews about the community, the amenities that are available, easy access to all transits, this, that, foo, faa.... And finally listed down some apartments that we thought will be comfortable for us. And I started taking apartment tours on each of them. Some days I had to check out more that three apartments, come back home note down the things like rent, available facilities, hidden charges etc., in an excel sheet and discuss it with B at the end of the day. After all this, we somehow weren't satisfied with the apartments that I checked. And the D-Day came. Today we had to tell the management about our decision. It was definitely tough to move out of an apartment that we enjoyed staying so long. We had everything we needed. It was a wonderful community. We had nothing to complain about so far. Right from library to grocery to shopping malls, everything is at walkable distance. Moreover I had developed an intimate bond with my desi neighbor. And so we finally decided to extend the lease in our same apartment, even though we had to compromise on the hiked rent. So I went down to the leasing office to tell our decision. Before that we wanted to ask if there are any other apartments that is currently vacant for us to move in. And it so happened that, there was one vacant on the same building but a few floor high above. And the best part is, it comes with more space and less rent. Hoz that :) I was like yaayyyyy !!! And yes, we obviously opted to move into that apartment. After all this house hunting we ended up moving into an apartment in the very same building. But I totally have nothing to regret. This whole house search was a new experience for me and definitely worth it. I got to know what exactly property mangers do every other day and understood the whole rent manipulation that is being done when an apartment is vacant. Baaahhhh. Whatever, we finally found a house and we definitely like it :)

Here I come...Zoooommmmmm!!!

Driving in the US was so easy when compared to India. No auto-rickshaws, no bicyclists and there are lanes everywhere and people stick to the rules and speed limits. So literally there is no need to panic while driving. Only thing was the 'Keep-right' rule that we had to follow here unlike India, where we keep left. But that wasn't so bad too. I took a couple of drives with my hubby and that was it. I was comfortable driving here. Today I had to take my road test to get my driving license. We planned to start early from home so that we can be in line soon and take the test soon. And we started as planned. And we went to the DMV office on time. I was so confident about the test.  They called me to verify my documents. I had everything pucca except my car's registration document. We had to carry the originals but we just had a photocopy. They said they will not accept the photocopy. We had another friend taking his road test with me. But he too dint have proper documents. Thats it. The whole thing got messed up. Then we called up another friend and he brought his car and documents and then we were ready. We took the road test and woah. It was so easy. I mean it just went really well. Yay!!! I passed the test :) Now I can take our car and go for a drive whenever I feel like. Wow. It feels so good.  Feels as if I have achieved something great!!! :P

I really don't know why I am blogging about it.. Nothing really great. But just wanted to let you guys know that I passed the test :)

Here I come America!!! Zoommmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!  :) :)

Scrabble - Rules Changed !!!

The rules of the world famous word game, SCRABBLE, has been changed for the first time in 62 years, since it was invented and trademarked in 1948. Originally the use of proper nouns was banned in the game. But now, Mattel, the company which owns the distribution rights of SCRABBLE has announced plans to make a few changes to the rules of the game.

The players will now be allowed to use names of celebrities, places and companies. The company believes that the existing players will enjoy this new twist in the game and enable young fans and families to get involved. However, the company will continue to sell the boards with original rules, for players who wish to continue with the old game.

This rule change is definitely going to be fun. I may know a place called "Eachempatti", a remote town in India, which may sound totally bizarre to my opponent. Or my opponent might try some popular Japanese celebrity's name which I would never have even heard in my life.

Whatever it is. Change is good. Always!!!

A Desi Neighbor Atlast !!

The day was dull and moody, with the sun almost deeply buried under the fast moving clouds. I was just lazying around for almost the whole day. As I was wandering in the house, pile of clothes lying in the laundry bag caught my attention. I was happy that I finally found something to do. I took the bag and went to the laundry room. As I was unloading the clothes into the washer, someone entered the room. I turned to look who it was and there was standing a lady with her cute little son. She wore a bright smile on her face and introduced herself and her son. We exchanged our history and geography. She's from Kerala, one of my favorite places, and seems quiet easy to move with. I was so happy that I finally found someone to talk to. She seemed more than happy to have met me, coz she has been here for more than a year without any friends. All she knew here was her husband and her two kids with some occasional visits from her husband's office colleagues, may be. Thats Sad. Pretty Sad. But never late. Here we are for each other. Its not even one whole day since we met. We already had lunch together, went to the gym together, went to drop her kid in school, went to the library together and had a long chat over a cup of coffee. Now doesn't that seem like a wonderful bond ?? It is, at least to me. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I finally started to come out of my cocoon and mingle with people. Good going. 

Here's to me and my lovely neighbor.
Cheers !!! :)

Yet another New look !!!

Georgia guy sent me an article regarding the launch of the Blogger Template Designer on Blogger in Draft. I quickly read it up and it seemed interesting. Looks like Google doesn't want us to go in search of nice backgrounds for our blogs anymore. With this new template designer, we can customize our own templates. And I was just waiting for something like this. I've always wanted columns on either side of my page, to put my gadgets, wanted to change just the background image without changing the other layout settings. And this new template designer allowed me to do exactly that. I'm happy.. I'm happy :) 

So after exploring all the available images and layout themes I finally came up with this. 

How is my new look ??!! :)

Kim Yu-Na bags Gold !!!

I very badly wanted to see the finals of the Ladies Figure skating event in the winter Olympics 2010. There was so much hype and support for Kim Yu-Na, the 19 year old from South Korea. There were blogs, support mails, fan clubs in facebook-twitter-orkut, opinion polling and what not. So i thought i should see her performance definitely. I looked up for the channels and event schedule and had even set a reminder for the program so that i wont miss it. And then finally the event started. Kim Yu-Na was to perform third in the finals. And man...She was just awesome. So confident, so flexible, so graceful, so full of spirit and she just breezed through the arena magically. She delighted all her fans and new-fans-to-be (like me :)) with her sexy James bond medley. Finally it was all worth it, after her whole year-long practice and hard work that she had put in. She got what she wanted from Vancouver. She was the most beautiful dancer on ice I've ever seen. And this new fan of hers bows down for her fantastic performance which won her the Gold :)

Japan's Mao Asada, a long term rival of Kim Yu-na, finished second and the grieving Joannie Rochette from Canada, who performed after two days of the sudden demise of her mother, won the bronze.

For those who missed it, watch Kim Yu-Na's Golden performance from here.