Phulkari Dupatta And Friendship

The word "phulkari " means "flower work ". I was on a hunt for phulkari dupatta for past 2 years. At times I found a dupatta  but the colors were not my taste. Sometimes the colors were right but the material was not . Aware of my longing for one my dear friend " U'' gifted me this beautiful phulkari dupatta recently . She spotted it online and when the shipment arrived I was sweetly surprised and happy . It is a hand embroidered traditional phulkari dupatta . I wore it with a basic punjabi suit in solid colors that complement the dupatta. The punjabi suit is in skin friendly crepe silk fabric. I did not want to draw attention away from the elegant embroidery on the dupatta . So kept the punjabi suit pretty simple .  All I added was zube (marathi word for jhumkas) and kolhapuri mojadis to complete the outfit.

I enjoyed wearing the outfit . The dupatta is simply beautiful . I know it will be worn many times in the years to come . The Phulkari dupatta with the intricate design and colored threads reminds me of the special bond of friendship that me and "U" share . The phulkari dupatta is just like our woven fabric of friendship .The numerous threads intertwined together in different colors creating a strong foundation . A striking resemblance to our friendship that has flourished and strengthened over the years . After all weaving is a work of mind . And relationships too . Isn't it ?

Wishing you all happy gudi padwa. May you all have a healthy, wealthy and prosperous new year.

Style Check - Bobby Pins

Bobby pins make a comeback . Yes you heard it right . You think I am crazy to say this. But do check Kim Kardashian's recent picture with a headband of bobby pins.  These days  I come across people wearing a handful of bobby pins  . I have seen them at grocery store , mall , work , parties ... everywhere .

I myself have always used bobby pins . They have been an inseparable part of my hair styling ( aka hair taming ) routine . I use them in a more utilitarian way though . I always have a stash of bobby pins handy . I carry them everywhere . In my car, in my purse and on my dresser . They are omnipresent ( literally ) . But these days wearing bobby pins is sort of a style statement . I see people sporting a stack of bobby pins in many innovative ways . Crisscrossing bobby pins for a trendy look is such a do. There are so many fun kind of bobby pins available now. Sparkly, glossy, girly , flirty. They look pretty for any occasion . I guess gone are the days of wearing boring black bobby pins . Welcome to the bobby pins with polka dots, crystals , pearls, and even words . The possibilities are endless .

What is your trick when it comes to using bobby pins ?

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

  “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

Happy birthday Dr Seuss. Dr Seuss is 113 years old now.  I know it is kind of late for this post . Well belated birthday wishes I must say . But hey y’all at least the birthday month has not passed by . What better way to celebrate Dr Seuss’s birthday than to read his books ? As you all know there is a budding reader in my house . A voracious reader I must say . We may skip some of our favorite activities at times but we never ever skip reading books . From dawn to dusk (and I mean that literally ) we read books . Baby K loves to read and likes to be read to . And why not ? I started reading to her since she was about 6 weeks old . ( check out that post here )  I can see her developing a passion for reading books as she is growing older . We got her few Dr Seuss books for christmas last year . By now she has read all of them a million times . Every single one of them is her favorite .  As you can see in the picture below she got her friends into these books as well . She is eagerly waiting for her new shipment of books that will arrive soon . You guessed it right . All of them are from Dr Seuss bright and early board books collection . A must have for every toddler .

What books does your little one like to read ?

Event management -- Planning a Baby Shower

Birth of a baby is the biggest event in the lives of expecting parents. Leading upto this is the shower for mommy to be. I planned a budget friendly baby shower that my gueststhorughly enjoyed and liked . I think you can go really elaborate and spend a big amount . Or you can stay within a tight budget, be creative and crafty.either way you can end up with a spectacular baby shower. (Of note I chose the later route ) Here are some party planning basics that were on my checklist . I think these helped to make the celebration a success. 

1.Invitations

I kept it simple since it was a casual baby shower .I used evite.com . I picked up a design that spoke to both the would be parents ( and of course the one that was free ).



2.Theme

Since I had to arrange a gender neutral baby shower I chose yellow and green. These two colors came to mind immediately since the baby is due in spring. The colors were an interpretation of sunshine in the lives of the parents to be .

3.Decor

Since we had a fireplace as the focal point at the venue of the baby shower I decided to adorn the mantle. I had two similar vases with fresh yellow flowers on either end of the mantle. With my love for crafts I made these pompoms. I had planned to make a large garland with onesie cutouts to hang from the mantle. But we could not use tape or push pins as per  the rental hall agreement. So I used the readymade garland from party city. And then added the small onesie garland that my friend made. I also personalized the mantle decor with gifts that the mom had already received.

Table decor looked so co-ordianted with the theme. Center piece for the tables was my favorite project. Not original but definitely worth DIY inspired by pinterest. And again my theme color yellow co-ordinating perfectly here. 

I had some cut outs of baby related things like stroller, pacifier etc all over the hall to add to my decor. 



4.Games

We played very traditional baby shower games. We incorporated the theme colors in every way we could while creating supplies for the games. We had some personalized papers and notes to write advice for parents. We had fun playing the following games ...
Baby Bingo
Price is Right
What's in your purse
Spotters
Guess the Gender
.
"Guess the gender" was a huge hit. My crafty friend made these girl and boy cutouts. We had all guests take a picture using the cut outs, predicting the gender of the baby to come. It was in a way the "photobooth."

5. Food

Food is a huge part of any Indian gatherings. We had catered delicious homemade Indian food. Keeping in mind the theme colors I also had  grapes, pineapples and orange juice.The kids enjoyed the fruits as well. (Not to mention having Costco membership certainly helps when your guest list is long ).

I had nailed down the details of the baby shower two weeks before the event. I already had all the decor, return gifts and food orders taken care of. Planning every single detail helped hugely. In the end the baby shower was spectacular and everyone was engaged and well entertained. I enjoyed the event myself as well. So what is your take when it comes to arranging a baby shower ? How do you plan a party ?

Dare to be Bare - Face it !

Yesterday I was visiting my hair dresser. All of a sudden out of nowhere she asked me why I did not use makeup. Without a thought I replied stating that I loved my face the way it is. Not that I am lazy but I just never wear makeup on daily basis. This conversation made me immediately think about the #Iwokeuplikethis selfie posted by Beyonce a few years ago. And till date this wave has not died down. 
Everyone likes transparency and I so root for authenticity. I personally feel that there is nothing more beautiful than a completely bare face. No make up. Just raw real beauty. It makes you feel confident and beautiful than you ever could. There is nothing wrong with a smoky eye or bold lip or any make up for that matter. But being just as comfortable without it is the key. After all what matters is to be the "refreshingly real you ". What do you girls think ?