2 years up!

Dear Karthik,
It feels like yesterday that I wrote this for you. Cannot believe we are now 2 years old as a couple :) When we woke up this morning, it felt like "just another day". We just smiled at each other. Lol! Maybe we were wondering how on earth did we actually put up with each other's nonsense for 2 whole years. Jus' kidding!
I think that is what makes an anniversary special - That despite fighting the rest of the year, we wake up on the date of wedding and feel like "the journey has been sooo worth it"! :-) I maybe exaggerating a little when I say that. Truth is we've had some wonderful moments this past year which I will speak about but as I look back to this year, I can proudly say that we have gone through some anxious moments with regards to pretty much everything - work, health, struggles with parents, money and the usual blah that life is, and we have fought our way through all those, together. Touch wood! Not much has changed in terms of our personalities - I wrote about that last year and I say it again but that really has been our problem area. Who knows? Probably 4 years down the lane, I will still say it.
That being said, you really are a wonderfully caring man. The way you stood by me and my family when I lost Thatha was incredible. You ensured you visited every single day, you ensured that my needs and my family's needs were completely taken care of, you were so supportive. I heard a lot of people speaking highly of you. Something that Krish told me made me so proud.. He said "Thatha always said that Karthik is a well behaved boy and a very good son to his father". Not that I needed reassurance of that fact but still felt so nice to hear someone speak so highly of you! Bravo!
I was so touched when we went all out to help my parents settle in their new house. You bought a new swing, you took keen interest in ensuring my mom didn't struggle much - you went to order a cot, you researched TV rates, you coordianted with your carpenter to get curtain rods fixed, you lifted stuff, you took the gypsy on a hot sunny day just to lug things from Annanagar to ECR..heck you were so thoughtful you even went and bought cleaning supplies for her when she had just moved in. Truth is even I didn't think of all that. Thank you is all I can say.
As always you put my interests and likes above yours.(Ok for the most part at least ;-) That trip to France was amazing. I had always told you that Paris was a dream destination for me. And the fact that you did every single thing to ensure I have a good time was great. So were the trips to Delhi, Goa and Pune! You really are a wonderful husband! I tell myself that every single day.
This is definitely not a post highlighting your greatness.. it is anything but that. Its just my way of expressing my love for you. I know I suck at that. I am not in the least bit romantic and I know we've had a number of arguments over that. I'm sorry. I hope this makes you well up. Haha. Just kidding idiot!
I really do love you a whole lot and I will treasure you for life. Hoping you like that vase and the cheesecake!
Happy 2nd anniversary, Karthik!
Love,
Aishu
PS Can you believe I wrote this post in just 14 minutes?!? :)

A rum bottle now made into a money plant vase :) 

Mango Cheesecake(Thank god for food blogs out there!) 

Girls just wanna have fun!

The summer heat is merciless. Chennai has no respite whatsoever from the heat. What better way to beat the heat than a getaway with best friends to a farmhouse filled with greenery, a swimming pool, 2 great kids and some bitchy times? That's right. This past weekend I had a fun day out with my besties, Shan and Mosh at Shan's farmhouse on the outskirts of Chennai. The 3 of us had been going back and forth on a date that would be convenient for the 3 of us. Believe me, it was tough. We had to pick a day when our respective hubbies wouldn't fuss(as if?!) or a day when Shan's kid didn't have a class which he couldn't miss or a day when we hadn't promised the in laws we would come see them or a day when we didn't have to worry about maids, carpenters or electricians coming to fix something at home. Sigh. Fortunately, that day did arrive. Wohoo! We decided to leave home as early as possible so that we can spend maximum time together. We reached her farmhouse around 10:30. Here is a picture of the house gleaming in the sunlight.

The pretty house 

Can you spot Rayyan amidst all the greenery?

With 2 young kids around(Rayyan is almost 4 and Rafa is 2) you cannot expect too much silence. Heck, you can't even expect a minute of peace and quiet! They were so excited to be there and wanted to go around and play with the farm animals. Lets see..I saw ducks and fishes in the pond, hens, cocks, chicks, turkeys and  some emus! Yes. No wonder then that the kids wanted to go out and play with the caretaker's kids and the animals. Next on the agenda was "pool time"! I know I know. I cannot swim to save my life but I liked the idea of relaxing in the cool water. That was fun. Rayyan thoroughly enjoyed himself in the kids pool. Look at him

 Rafa is also a complete water baby like her mom! She loved being in the pool. I carried her for the most part while Shan and Mosh had a swimming race! Was good fun cheering them on. We were playing in the pool for more than 2 hours. 

Post pool time, all of us showered, fed the kids, ate and felt really refreshed. We then plonked on her bed and just kept talking and talking while the kids played with each other. Rafa, of course kept us fully entertained. Mosh and I did the "Jumping Jhapak" song with her which I've taped. Here's a glimpse of the madness that ensued 

Before we knew it was around 4 and then we started talking serious stuff. We talked of life in general - school memories, college fun, work, marriage, in laws, husbands(mostly about what a pain they could be!) and the future.. It felt so good to just sit there and share our innermost fears and wildest dreams. Funniest part is it didn't feel like its been forever since we had done this. It was almost as if we were always together and just began where we left off. Makes sense? We laughed to our hearts content, we made fun of each other, we took crazy pics and of course missed a few other girls who couldn't be there that day.. Basically, we just let go of ourselves completely. Highly recommended girls!! Especially if you're married :D 

Ash, Mosh, Shan

Leaving you with a few words and a picture that describes the 3 of us so beautifully!

BFFs!


In Mosh's lovely words : There's nothing more joyful than knowing that your besties still live just around the corner and that you can meet them whenever... And even the life's worst of situations cant change the madness, laughter and happinesss we bring in eachother's lives. From random chit chat sessions with dominos pizza or jack and jill fried rice at ash's place.. doing whackiest of stuff and gyaan sessions at shahin's place and soulful rambling at my place.. 10 years hence... nothing has changed... freeze.

Neighbor Woes

This is more of a rant. K had been bugging the hell out of me to make my own dosa and idli batter ever since we got married. I didn't bother since Amma and my MIL would supply me every weekend. And then one day we happened to have a huge argument around it and I decided that enough was enough. I'd try to make my own batter. It wasn't rocket science according to all the zillion food blogs on the Internet. Except they all had measurements for making batter in a grinder whereas I was going to try mine on the mixie. That's when I decided I would ask my neighbor Maami who is very friendly. I met her one evening when she sat with 2 other ladies from the building. I greeted her and ranted about how K was being a pain and bugging me to make batter and how stressed out I was. One of the ladies had just moved into our building and "volunteered" to come home the next day and help me grind. I quickly said "No thank you so much for offering but I think I will manage". But she was pushy and Maami also insisted I take her help so I finally said ok. Next day she came home and very patiently made the batter and gave me tips on how to do it next time. I thanked her and gave her some juice. I thought she would leave then but no she went and perched herself on our couch. Sigh. This was going to be a long evening. She started talking about how hot it was in Chennai, how hot it especially was in the 4th floor, how she missed being in Coimbatore, Hyderabad etc. She just went on talking. Thankfully for me, K got back from work just then and she said she'd leave. Phew. Well the idlis and dosas came out very well. That weekend I decided I'd go inform her and take a little something. So I went with a dabba of cake. Spoke to her daughter for 5 min and got back home. 1 week later, around 8pm this lady rang the bell. I opened the door and she gave me the dabba. I took it and I was hoping she would leave because I was busy making dinner. She pushed her way inside(I swear she did!) and sat on the couch and start talking away. Then she got up walked into the kitchen, the service area and went on about how her house owner hadn't planned their house properly. Then she walked into the guest room, the balcony and again went on saying "Oh the woodwork in your house is so good". Then she had the bloody nerve to open the door to our bedroom, happily switched on the light, looked at each cupboard and the balcony and again kept cribbing about how their house had none of it. She asked me how rent we paid, what woodwork we had made, how much we paid for our TV. Oh god. She just went on and on and on. I wished she would shut up! Such an irritating lady. I wanted to ask her if she was so freaking unhappy with her house why on earth did she choose to live in it? K rescued me once again by coming home just then but this time she wasn't ready to leave. After about 20 minutes, she decided to leave saying "Ok I will leave, I don't want to disturb you". Oh really. I haven't had to see her after that. Thank God for small mercies. 

Life in April & May.. in bullets!

One of those days when I have too much to say and too little time to write so please bear with me and my bulleted post!

• Well first of all, in case you noticed I didn't blog about my birthday. That doesn't mean it wasn't a fun day this year. It was a lot of fun but just different from my usual birthdays. For starters, I didn't even cut a cake. I am really growing old! Ouch. Sne & D had come to Chennai and with the IPL in full swing, we just HAD to go watch the CSK vs RR match at Chepauk. So that is pretty much what I did, except I dragged my super disinterested hubs along. K, me, Sanju, Mosh, Sne & D and a few other friends.. All of us went. What a brilliant match it was! Went down to the wire and we won. Superb! All thanks to Bravo :) The in laws were traveling and my folks were busy shifting so the usual lunch/dinner get together was also missing this year. We are going out for dinner tonight though to celebrate. K was his usual lavish self - he got me a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings(I really am very lucky), a very very pretty white & red dressy salwar kameez and a colorful summer kurti. Loved them all! 
• I'm very proud to say I'm more or else keeping up with my NY resolution of staying active.. nothing fancy this time though.. Just a good brisk 45 min morning walk.I can say I'm pretty consistent. In fact I haven't been this consistent in a while now and I'm enjoying it. Not the waking up early part for sure. But once I'm up, I enjoy my music, my walk and my peace. I see some very interesting sights - a flower stealing Maami - Yes I am not kidding. She comes every morning in the same route with a small plastic bag and goes around to all the houses plucking flowers! Not to mention with an iPod in her ears! :P  What I also love to see are the dogs - I've made friends with a real cutie named "Simba". He's  a Cream Labrador, not to mention a FAT lab! I'm not kidding. He is a real gundus. He absolutely hates to walk. The uncle who brings him has to literally pull him to walk. What a chweetu u know he is. I couldn't resist petting him this week - So I stopped and just touched his head..he was so happy and excited. Next day again, I just called "Simba" from the distance.. He got so excited he started wagging his tail furiously! Haha. I don't think he knows me but I think he just enjoys the attention and is happy to sit back instead of walking. I long for a dog and I think I'm getting somewhere close to having one in the family. Yes Bhuns finally said ok to Sanju and they are getting a golden retriever next week. Yayy! Can't wait to cuddle with him =) 
• Some other good news - My folks shifted into their brand new home this month. Yay. Amma closer to me means frequent meals there and lesser cooking for me :P They have bought a beautiful apartment off the East Coast Road, less than 10 minutes from where we live. But I was miserable when we left AJ 97. It was the house where I pretty much grew up. My school, college years were all there in that neighborhood. Was so sad to see a deserted house when I went last week to help Amma clean up. We have the best memories there. Amma cried, Nirmala cried and I think even Arumugam(Appa's right hand) shed a few tears. Will miss all of them. Annanagar is an area very very close to my heart and I cannot believe that I won't visit there often like I used to. But the new house is nice. K bought a lovely swing for them. It is nice to sit and rock myself there. We also have a room to ourselves, which we hope to set up in a bit. 
• Bhuns(my aunt) turned 50 yesterday, so we celebrated with her and the kids. Notice I didn't say "partied". Coz the evening started with "Vishnu Sahasranama" chanting! :P No offense, but that's not how a partayyy starts hahaha. Sne was like "Dude, wtf is wrong with you guys"! I'm like "Dude, I know. Our folks are getting old"! Nevertheless, we made up with some yummy chocolate cake, her hubs gave her 50 red roses and we had a Karaoke session. Good fun! Wishing you many more lovely years ahead Bhuns =) 
• More on IPL - You know I'm a diehard Chennai Super Kings fan. And I have many many friends on FB who are also keen CSK addicts. But I also have some extremely annoying friends who write rubbish about my favorite team. See I don't mind if you want to support another team. But don't just pick on mine. Get it? For instance I have a friend "Y" who likes to support the Sunrisers Hyderabad(yes for starters, change the damn name, its so freakin' stupid!). Fair enough. But everytime CSK plays, she focuses all her energy on how we suck(yeah right!) rather than how SRH played well. Sooo my friends, I was only too too happy when we absolutely murdered that stupid SRH team. Yes. That's right. We made a whopping 224. Sexy man we are. And I don't have to prove what a diehard CSK fan I am - but still. My friends and I cycled(that's right) 42 kms one fine morning for a very important cause - to sign a board, wishing CSK all the very best for IPL 2013! Yay. Pat on my back. My folks were in disbelief. Don't blame them. I couldn't believe it myself.  #Whistlepodu!
• And finally.. My letter to the editor of Femina has been chosen as one of the winning letters.. It was published in the May 1st issue. Here's what I sent, with some modifications from their end. I'm getting a Caprese bag. Should come in sometime. Thank you thank you.

   

        

Alright, that's pretty much all the time I have for now. Will stop by later and review "Copper Point", coz that is where we are headed to for dinner tonight.