Yippeee for a great weekend!

Not to sound like a whine pot, but I've been unwell for almost an entire week - I came down with a massive flu and bad throat last Saturday - I've been bed bound for 4 days after. And as suddenly as it came, so suddenly it left. And left me weak and exhausted and drained of all my energy.

I've spent this weekend recuperating as well and I must admit - I feel much better. Largely contributed by my friends and ever so loving family.

The good wishes have poured in from everywhere and I've felt happily spoilt.

Such a lovely Sunday I've had with relatives coming over and spending the entire day with us - it was warm and cozy and we had some great meals, shared many a laugh and swapped so many stories - I did doze off in the noon but I had a great Sunday nonetheless :-))

Hope you had a rocking weekend and find yourself in a "Not so Blue monday" - I know I wont

Sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff

Sounds like a doggy right? That's exactly what I did when my Dee came back from a recent Singapore trip with a bunch of perfumes for me. It was one of my greatest joys - at 1.30 AM opening up new perfume bottles and devouring the lovely fragrances. I'm a self-confessed perfume addict. Been one for years now. I'm always on the look out for nice smelling things - soaps, perfumes, lotions, name 'em! I've always wanted to do a review and what better place than to do it on my blog! 

I've off late gotten into the breezy, oceany kind of fragrances. I've always liked the sweet, strong scents - Read: D&G No. 3 - a gift from my best friend's brother and a brilliant perfume - perfect for a date ;-), there's also Escada - Desire Me - again, the name suggests it but I also find it a great wear for work. In Bombay climate conditions, you need something thats strong while you travel, and which eventually settles to a milder scent when indoors. You don't want the person sitting next to you to choke because you smell like a walking Bath and Body works store!

I save my D&G # 3 for a sunny day if you know what I mean :-) Another scent I like to save for a sunny day is my trusted, faithful Burberry Brit. I love it! Its strong, though subtle after an hour or so.

Back to my breezy scents - I've always been faithful to Davidoff Cool water for women. And then Davidoff launched the Summer Dive!! Oooo-la-laaaa! Its divine. Its like being on a beach. 3 of my latest acquisitions (Courtesy sister and Singapore) are the breezy, light, beachy ones - summer fragrances that will make you swoon. They're perfect for work as well - light and always with that wiff of awesomeness surrounding you. So there's Issey Miyake's summer scent and I also got D&G Light blue. Light Blue took its time to grow on me, but now I love it. 

Its a simple looking bottle, but its a dream. I think water lily when I wear it. Of the other possessions I have, Tommy girl is a little off the mark (strange coz I loved it at one point in time). Burberry beat is good if you're out in the sun a lot. Hugo Boss Intense Red is great for a night of dancing. So is the Marks and Spencers True Red. They belong to a very similar family. Ralph Lauren's Romance and Marks and Spencers Infusion make for good work out scents or they're great for a brunch. Rather feminine and sweet though! 

I'd also highly recommend the mists from Body shop - my all time favorites being Musk and Oceanus. Bath and Body works have good fragrances as well - I recommend them for a day of trekking. They're a little too stuffy for my liking in a closed environment. I smell like a garden. Though you could get some super cool deals on them in sales in the US.

So there you have it - my run down on perfumes/scents. If you're in India, I suggest buying your scents from shoppers stop. At least you're guaranteed of buying something original. Its very heavy on the pocket though sadly. If you have friends or family in Singapore, NOTHING LIKE IT!!! The scents there are almost 40-50% cheaper! I'm NOT kidding! If you want to take a chance at buying the duty free imported goods, Alfa is the place to head to or even the Jolly emporium in Ghatkopar!! I bought Cool water, Lacoste and Burberry Brit from them and they were awesome. Oh Lacoste's Touch of Pink! Its lovely too - a little girly as the name suggests, so its more of a brunch or afternoon shopping kind of scent. 

You've got to be careful with usage - some clothes cannot handle the perfume on it directly - you spray and it leaves a mark. I've done it before and it breaks your heart to ruin a top you really love. So be careful. A tip I read somewhere  recently is to spray scents directly on your pulse points. Your blood is warm and that part of your skin has the veins exposed directly. They tend to give off the wiff better. If you're spraying them on your underarms, do so over some talcum powder to prevent pigmenting your skin.

Perfumes are a matter of choice - what smells great on your best friend, may smell out right weird on you! So how do you choose? Simple - walk in to a store - spray yourself liberally with a tester and walk out!!! See how you like it after 4 hours - voila! You have your answer ;-) Some people are natural at choosing their scents, I took a while to get it right (per my standards i.e :-)) ). Perfumes are worth the investment. They're my happy kick :-))

Ze munsooooon iz ere

Whats with the title of this post? Ah, just like that :P Caught your attention didn't it :-))

What seemed like a pre-monsoon shower a few days back gave way to the full fledged arrival of the rain showers. And shower it has! Its poured and poured and poured. While indoors, its a visual treat, while outdoors and if traveling by public transport, its horrendous.

I was driving in this storm on Saturday and I actually though I may need to pull over - I could hardly see a thing! It was beautiful though, I must admit however. I went through this phase while driving where I almost felt like I was not driving. I had very low visibility and I could not see beyond the car in front of me. It was all so surreal and dreamy that I almost felt like there was someone else driving for me. Its the weirdest, scariest and most incredible feeling I've had while driving! I missed my turn to get home the right way, I couldn't see where I was going.

Along the way, the thunder storm cleared. It left behind flooded roads; I saw a street that was flooded with knee high water! I've had to maneuver through roads dug up for construction (the life long story in Mumbai city!), roads with massive pot holes (correction - there was no road almost - the road was in the craters) and I'm talking about a busy road here! I took the twice the time to come home - it was worth every minute of it! I came back with a treat for the family - piping hot croissants and a dark chocolate pastry. And to top it all, pakodas and a masala tea! Oh yeah and an enviable view from my room ;-))

So I can crib and complain about the mess my city can be in with the monsoon having just started, the potential of a leaky room (The water proofing sucks!), earthworms in my bathroom (I see atleast 2 everyday) and spoiling my precious gorgeous new sandals (yeah, yeah, I was foolish enough to wear em). BUT I still think the rains are magical and heavenly and lovely...Ze munsssooooooooooon izz 'ere and zis girl izzz lurving it!

Lovely view from my home

Mad about the movies Part II

After a long, hard, struggling week at work, I had a fantastico weekend. I did not let the rain deter my plans of having fun on my weekend. So I decided to disconnect from work and live it up! Much deserved.

So Sunday took me to doing what I love doing - losing myself in a movie (or two). I'd already watched Kungfu Panda 2 with a dear friend last week. However, I'd loved it so much I had to watch it again and that too in IMAX 3D.

SO I excitedly drove through the pouring rain and got to the theater just in time! My friend had already got our tickets and I excitedly got into the movie hall. Now watching a movie in the IMAX dome theater is a different experience all together. The last film I watched there was Charlie and the Chocolate factory (Yummylicious Johnny Depp :D ). The seating arrangements are such that if you're one who has vertigo, it could actually be scary. We were given these huge 3D glasses (I have to digress here and say that I'm very averse to using these glasses that are worn by thousands before me - they're usually smudged and give me a headache!). Well these were good, thank goodness! 

The theater was quite packed for rainy Sunday noon, but we were lucky to get good seats. Big Cinemas has a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. See here. I cry every time I watch it, its so beautiful. 

The movie in itself is a wonder to watch! A brilliantly made film, with mind blowing animation, a great story line and an adorable sqishy squashy cuddly Panda with a happy-tappy ending! What more can one ask for! The visuals are breathtaking and that massive IMAX screen makes the experience unique. I loved every minute of it. My friend was so amused when I told her to pay attention to how each time the Panda - Po did something that involved movement of his tummy, there was this funny "Boiiiiiinggggg" sound. We came out of the movie enthralled by the animation and wondered why we didn't do something fancy like that for a living! We're both I.T professionals and we do the same boring hum-drum things everyday! I think I may just dream of working with Diney-Pixar someday!! Hee-haa!

The highlight of the day was watching movies back to back - another dear friend joined us for the next movie and we had time to kill before it started. We got tickets for X-men - First Class and plonked ourselves in these cute moon chairs while we caught up over cups of tea and fried food ;-)) Ah, nothing beats girly chats and gup-shup!!

X-men was another fantastic movie! Me and my friend Nefi are true X-men fans and it was thrilling to watch the story unfold. We initiated Urmi into becoming an X-men fan as well.

I headed home; my head spinning with 2 fantastic movies, wondering why Bollywood isn't even 0.1% there yet. What a perfect Sunday - catching up with my friends, driving through the rain, watching 2 brilliant films. I sure have every reason to say I had a very happy weekend!

Wishing you happy Discoveries

Its June and the wish calendar wishes you happy Discoveries! Its the onset of the monsoon season. New season, new tidings - do something that you've not done before - push yourself into trying something new - believe in yourself and soar! Shop, sing, get drenched in the rain, take a holiday, relax and take it easy...And most of all - be happy in all you do!

May you find happiness in the most unlikely places

May you find satisfaction in whatever you do

May you find friends where others can find none

And may every moment be filled with something new.

Splishy Splashy Sploshy

June 2, day before yesterday - It was a beautiful evening. I've had the rare good luck to be at out of office the last few weeks and hence enjoy many a sunset. I've always been a sunset kind of person and I was at my window (lucky to have a fabulous view too!) checking out the clouds gather. Dad happened to come by and we were chatting by the window and contemplating if it'll drizzle.

I casually told him that we could expect the pre-monsoon thunder and lightning which I love. 10 mins later, it started drizzling. We were so excited that we ran up to the terrace and in a matter of minutes the skies opened!!! Big pellets of water hit us - there was a wonderful cool breeze and there was lightning and thunder all around us - it was like being in a storm! We spent half an hour up on the terrace - Dad and I, laughing like kids and getting soaked in the first rain of the season. It was so much fun!!! My happy splishy splashy moment with Pa :))