Day 16/Daily Outfit

 Due to overwhelming response for daily outfits, this is my plan. When I have something interesting to blog about, I will write a post. Otherwise I will just post my daily outfit picture. Since I get dressed and get dressed well pretty much almost every day(do you guys love how modest I am) I will have a pic for sure.  See I am hesitant to do this because a)  I still think its narcissist of me to post pictures of myself every.single.day. and b) really who is interested in seeing what I wear. But nope people are very curious, I guess.

The babysitter came today and I went off to my class. Its was the last class. Next Tues, we’ll  be heading to the local train station and doing a night shoot. And then Nov 19, I will have my 1 hour private one on one printing lesson at the instructor’s house. I told her thats the only day I am available and all 4 kids are in school. And she found time for me to come on Thurs..woohoo.

 Tomorrow is a school holiday. Both girls have Brownie troop events and will be gone till afternoon. The boys and I will head to the gym and Costco.

Friday, I am having the babysitter come again and I am going out drinking with my friends. I am also getting someone to pick me up so that I can actually drink. I have become such a light weight, that daaken suun kar char jati hai(Indian saying, smell the bottle cap and you get high). I have a fabulous new dress($4.99) that I bought on Sunday when I went to Ross with oldest child. The younger 3 were across the road at a party.

 Here’s what I wore to class. A fellow classmate took this picture.

At Photography class

 Black Dress worn here

White Tank top

Brown Patterned Tights From Ross.

Shawl_Wrap_Cardigan: Thrifted $2.99. Check out the brand below. I should wait till Monday to post this.  but oh well.

Dragon Fan Necklace and Brooch  from the Haul.

BCBG MAx Arzria

 I was trying to find this particular wrap on their site but couldnt. But holy hell, their wraps start at $60-$70-$180..

I dont know what to make of this outfit yet

 What do you guys think of this outfit? I dont know whether it works or is  too  crazy to be even considered fashionable. Lets see, black dress,brown tights,brown boots, and light pink crazy wrap-cardi-shrug thing with gold jewellery. Hello Crazy Indian lady. And I dont know how to wear that cardi but I love how warm and cozy it is. So Yay or Nay?

 Oh MY GOD, After claiming I dont have anything to blog, I go and write 2 posts in one day. I need to enroll myself in a 12 Step Programme.

Because I am Fabulous-New Poll-

PS: I removed the comments moderation. The trolls seemed to have dissappeared (for now) and I hate holding comments till I get time to come approve them. Let’s all be mature now, eh?

 

Day 15/Daily Outfit

Weird pose

Green Cardigan worn here. Marshalls

Jeans:Friend gave them to me

Tank Top: Old Navy

Gold Ballet Flats:Thrifted

Brooch/Arm bracelet cuff: From yesterday’s haul. Isnt this a totally stylish way of wearing the cardigan. With a brooch.

Close-up with no make up at all

 In other news, NK would be returning on Dec 2nd. He left Oct 26th. 6 freaking weeks!  He would miss the kid’s conferences, my birthday and Thanksgiving. And to add salt to the wound, he is going to attend my sister’s wedding. MY SISTER! The one who he doesnt even get along well with. I am trying to be the bigger person and be happy about it but dammit, I am pissed and upset. And whats worse is that he started reading my blog and now I cannot even bitch about him!This is the last scheduled post I had, I dont want to blog everyday for 6 fucking weeks so am stopping it! I will be back next week after my head clears.

Day 14/Monday MoneySavers

June sent me an ad for an estate sale. I looked at it briefly and thought if I had time Friday morning, I would  go.Friday morning, I finished whatever I had to finish and had about 45 mins before I needed to pick Neil up. I decided to go to the sale. I reached  the house at 10.45,giving me only 30 mins to browse. The place was insane. Cars were parked on both sides of the street. The house  teeming with people.

I held tightly onto Samar’s hand, threw a packet of Gummy bears at him and dove into the first thing I saw. The jewellery stuff. It was labelled $2 a piece. I bought these for $2 each.

Then I saw this big entangled mess of jewellery. I was trying to get the individual pieces out but it was too tight a knot. I asked the lady selling, how much do you want for the entire bunch. She looked at it and said $20. And $20 was what I had left. The other ladies beside me looked at me enviously wishing that they had their hands on it.

From this jumbled up mess, this is what I got..all for $20

4 brooches. I didnt have a single one prior to today

necklaces

More

Pay special attention to the necklace 2nd from the right

It opens up into a tiny delicate fan. Dragon designs on one side and willows on the other

These were the plasticy ones

 I gave them to Ashwina to do her beading. Avasha has claimed the colorful jellybean ones for herself.

$20 for all that. Go on,die of jealousy. Most of them look really nice. I dont know whether its 14k gold. It’s very shiny and new despite the way it was thrown out. Need to go to a jeweler to asses value. Each week, I think I cannot top my previous weeks’ bargains and yet I do. Good garage sale karma? Good instincts. Good bargaining skills? I dont think the other women thought to ask what the person would sell the bunch for. I have a thick, thick skin and dont hesitate to ask for discounts.(only at garage sales/estate sales/craft fairs) I mean whats the worse that can happen, the person would say NO and you decide whether its worth the initial price to you and you either buy it or put it down and move on. But you have to make smart decisions. If the lady had said $50, I wouldnt have bought it(because I didnt have that much cash in the first place) . If she said $20 and I had bargained with her to $15, she would have refused to sell it to me, since $20 is already a good price. Do you see how instincts come into play here.And just to drive the stake further into Bini’s heart,

All for $20

Day 13/Co-op Preschools

Sonia has a post up about how she is being questioned by strangers as to why her 2.5 yr old is NOT going to any preschool. I thought I will throw in my 3 cents about the topic as well. I have been wanting to write about co-op preschools.  A co-op preschool is very different from the regular preschool. You dont just walk your child to the door, hand her over and come back in 3 hours. Not in a co-op preschool, you are the janitor, you clean bathrooms. You are the teacher, you lead science experiments. you are the chef, you have snack projects. You have to be comfortable around kids and their parents. You learn how to make 3 yr old share. Co-op is not for everyone.

I started co-op with Avasha. That co-op was a lite one compared to the current one. My current one, parents work one day in the class, There are jobs that every parent has.   Not to mention the 12 volunteer hours the parent HAS to fulfill.

There is something very interesting I noticed with all th years of co-oping under my belt. I am almost always the sole Indian parent. One of the biggest reasons I think is because most co-ops follow a play based philosophy. There is very little or no writing or reading. There are stations set up, play dough, an easel and paints, outside area with bean bags, dress up area with costumes, kitchen with pots and pan and I can go on and on. The kids are allowed to go from one station to the other.

This is why Indian(Asian) parents tend to shy away. Most(I am not saying all but most) want the kids to do reading and writing. They want the kids to have homework. They dont want the play based programme. I understand wanting to give your child the best educational edge there is but to put pressure on a 3-4-5 yr old is something I am not willing to do. They learn in so many ways that one is required to sit down and do actual reading and writing. For example, my dentist has a basket of dino toys to give out as treats and she was so impressed that Samar knows the difference between a tyrannosaurus and a broncosaurus.

Tell me what you think about play based preschools versus the more traditional preschools.

Day 12/Daily Outfit

Shirt:Monterey Bay 

Cardigan: Marshalls

Jeans:TJMaxx?

Boots: Ross

Necklace:Estate Sale(You would die of jealousy,come Monday)

The girls refused to take a picture of me, so I had to lug out the tripod and use the remote to take it myself. It was a chilly day today,hence the layers. And the hair, I didnt straighten it and left it curly.

Day 11/ Interruping Normal Post

pati

Hello Dear, I did read your blog … just the 9 days !!!
I wish I could fly like Hanuman and be with you and kids. I convey my heart felt thanks to your fans who are moral and emotional support to you in such difficult times. Sraikh fans Your prayers and well wishes did work. Its really a miracle my father is recovering and responding well!!
Dear please correct my grammer . I beg you to publish this
LOVE CHELKS NK Your Akela Iklota Pati

SMM said this comment is for the readers of the blog and NOT ME> And I should credit them and not steal their thunder. So yes wonderful readers of the blog. Thank you.

I have been writing my posts at night and setting it to publish in the morning. But today I interrupt my normal scheduled post to bring you this news. NK who in the past 4(almost 5) years that I have been blogging  has never left a comment and has left a comment on my previous post.  Go on and read it!

That comment made my morning. I dropped the kids and had come back and was making chai and was reading comments when I saw yours. And it made me smile. Hopefully the smile would last through the day. Just dont say something on the phone later and piss me off.

Love ya!

Your “lonely” patni.

PS: Grey’s was no fun alone last night. I kept missing your interruptions about your plot.One of the new interns made a move on Dr Yang.She wasnt interested though. Next week’s episode looks interesting. Izzy is back.

PPS: Samar wants rice pancakes and I made it for him and he said Daddy’s is better. I dont like it.

ETA: Added the comment and SMM’s comments when I was chatting with her.

Day 10/Bitchy Sraikh

Imagine this convo with a desi mom at Kinder dismissal time.

DesiMom: Array tum to aaj bahut achi lag rahe ho. Kaha gaaye thi.(You look very nice, where did you go)

Sraikh: Kahi nahi, Samar’s preschool and then back

DM: toh boots kyu pahane? (why you wearing boots)

Sraikh: Aise hi felt like it

DM:Abhi toh tumare pati bhi nahi hai na, toh kiske liye deekah raheyi ho(Well, your dh isnt even here, then who do you want to show it to)

Sraikh: Hmm. tumare toh pati hai nah toh tumne itna ghatiye khapray kyu pahane hai.(Your dh is here, then why are you wearing such horrible clothes)

After I said that, I thought to myself why did I do that. Sometimes, it okay to be quiet. But it was a crazy day at Samar’s preschool dealing with some stuff and I was in no mood for shit from anyone.. Oh well, tomorrow I will be nice to her. She just laughed and said I dont have time to dress like you do every day. She comments on my outfits every single time, this necklace is weird or that scarf is not appropriate for my age. I normally just smile but not today.

This was taken at 5 in the afternoon.

Jacket:Marshalls

Tanktop:Target

Vest:Thrifted

Skirt: Church Rummage Sale

Boots:Thrifted

Necklace/Bangles:Thrifted

 Manon took this picture for me. I kept looking at the kids or her mom and made her retake at least 4 times

Day 9/Food Tag

Shilpa had the food tag up and I read it at a few other blogs. And since I am on a mission to blog everyday, I need all the help I can get. The tag rules are Five memorable meals ever eaten: It could be anything that makes the meal memorable – the food, the place, the place you were in your life when you ate, the company, the weather, the ambiance – heck, the guy who served the food.

My childhood in Singapore was very interesting. We lived with extended family, comprising of bachelor chachas, dada/dadi and eldest chacha and his kids. On the weekends, my dada would go to the hawker center and buy breakfast for everyone. This was something everyone looked forward to. My most favourite breakfast is Chai_tow_kway or asian carrot cake. It would come with 2 toothpicks. Each cousin had to share one packet. So we meticulously divide the packet up, making sure neither got even one extra piece. Then to use that toothpick and pierce the grease laden pieces and plop into our mouth. Sigh pure heaven.

My dada used to cook sometimes. And he used to make a potato-boiled egg thing. He would mash the potato, boiled egg, raw onions, raw tomatoes, green chillis, cilantro..everything would be mashed to a fine pulp. Salt and mustard oil would be the finishing touches to the concoction. We would then eat it with roti.

In every foodcourt or hawker centre, there is one Chinese stall which is known as economy rice. This stall sells a mind-blowing array of dishes to go with your white rice. A combination plate of 2 veggies +1 meat is $3.99 and  2 veggies +2 meat is $5.99. From sticky fried okra to deep fried fish, from sweet and sour pork to brocoli stir fry. One has a hard time choosing which sides to chose. I remember going out with my friends and each of us would order a different combination of rice + side dishes. And then we would share. Conversation would flow freely, chats about who is currently seeing who. Or what is going on TV. All the while mixing the rice and the side dishes. Double sigh

Now we jump to NK and memories with him

I had gone to Mumbai to meet him before our wedding. May/June 1997. One rainy morning, we took the auto to the Juhu beach. And he bought  the pav bhaji for me. I still remember, the steaming bhaaji and the melting butter on the top. The lightly toasted bun. The rain and the waves. NK scooping up the peas with the pav and feeding me. We were sitting on some sidewalk(or maybe not, who knows it was too many years ago)Young love..I dont think I had ever had pav bhaji prior to that. I thought it was one of the best dishes I had ever. I have since that time, gone back to try the pav bhaaji at the same place at the beach but that feeling of the first time never came back

My marriage day.. my parents were going to leave the next day. I a young bride, who didnt even speak Hindi well, suddenly I was somebody’s bhabhi and some else’s mami. So many feelings. The wedding day, I hardly ate anything and was starving when I woke up the next morning. NK’s sister brought a plate of poha. Again this is the first time, I had poha in my life. His mum had made it. It was the best poha ever, there was the chivda and the peanuts. She had put cilantro, potatoes and peas. A dash of nimbu achar and it was the perfect thing to wake up to. I finished the plate and then demanded a second.Demure bride gaye baar mei.

These were the 5 that comes to mind. I am sure there is many more. The first time NK used chopsticks, last year, the girls relishing chicken rice. Food, glorious food.

 

Day 8/Daily Outfit

I went to over June’s house for dinner Sunday evening. She was kind enough to have the whole gang over and allow my monsters on her Wii. The way Neil was playing with the nunchuck, one would think he was training for the Wii Olympics.

This is the outfit I wore. Actually I had worn this to the boys’ birthday party but that time instead of layering a cardigan underneath, I wore a cardi over it.

 

The shrug I layered is the one I wore here.

JCpenney Top Thrifted

Tights Forever 21

Belt Thrifted

Shoes: Coach flats.

Sliver hoops and a sliver bangle ..also not visible