Getting ready to party

Not really...but that's the theme of the pictures I clicked today. Here goes...

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A gift to myself

Christmas holds a special place in my heart. At home, we would decorate a small tree, my dad would get a cake for us and I would get a gift from Santa. At school, it was the most festive time of the year - we would sing carols, give food and clothes to charity, and we would deck the halls with boughs of holly (Fa la la la la la la la la) and mistletoe. I remember this one time when my sister signed the gift from Santa in her own writing and I got all suspicious. But she covered it up by saying that Santa was in a hurry and asked her to sign it. I actually bought that and continued to believe in Santa for another year or so.(Yes I know I was naive)

Anyway, this year, I indulged myself with a little Christmas gift. I figured I liked clicking pictures, so why not graduate from point and shoot to DSLR. So I got myself a Canon Rebel XS. If you are interested in technical specs, then please read the review here.

As expected, I am going to flood this space with some amateur photography while I learn to use it. Also as expected, you will be my critic and help me improve. Deal? Okay? Okay. Here are some of my clicks from the blizzard that wreaked havoc in New York over the Christmas weekend. I had read about blizzards in the fifth grade. We had this cute geography book which taught us about a place and natural phenomenon for every letter of the alphabet. So B for Brazil and B for Blizzard. I had never imagined I would actually get to experience one, but I did. Anyways, here are the pictures. Looking forward to your vishesh tippani! :)

Snow covered street

My Footsteps

Bush in hiding

Snow in a trash can

Mounds and mounds of snow

A long walk home

Snow at your doorstep

Diversity - While one tree has so many leaves, others don't have even a single leaf.

P.S I still believe in Santa. It may not be a man in red clothes with a snow-white beard, riding a sleigh pulled by reindeer, but I am sure there is someone out there who watches over us and gives us exactly what we need, when we need it :) 

P.P.S 2 down, 50 to go ;)

Happy New Year to all!

This is the first post of 2011 and I just wanted to use this space to wish all of you a very happy new year! I have often wondered what the big deal about a new year is.  After all, a new year is just another date. But over time, I have realized it means much more to people. For those who’ve had a rough year, it brings new hope of sunshine and happiness. For those who’ve had a great year, it brings back good memories and a good feeling that the next year will bring more of such memories to cherish for years to come. Most importantly, I think it promises a fresh start. So raise your glasses, dear readers, and let’s toast to a year of joy, hope and love - Cheers!

I welcomed 2011 with a few friends in Cambridge. We had a quiet dinner at a Thai restaurant, relished some lip smacking dessert at another and ended the evening with a few games of good ol’ carom. Like good children, we also went to the temple on the 1^st to seek God’s blessing for this coming year.

And a New Year would be incomplete without a New Year resolution. So even though The Boy insisted that I was perfect (**awww moment**), I still came up with a list of things I want to accomplish this year. Here goes:      

1.       Attain the perfect weight and a perfectly toned body. (Okay, don’t laugh)

2.       Catch up on my reading. (You would think that the books theme on this blog would be inspiration¹ enough, but a Kindle might be necessary. This resolution was actually inspired by someone I know who read 52 books in less than 52 weeks. )

3.       Spend lots of quality time with family and friends.

4.       Learn to cook at least 52 different recipes. (Obviously, I am inspired¹ by Julie & Julia)

5.       Learn to drive. (Very important)

6.       Blog at least 52 times this year. And hey 1 down, so 51 blog posts to go ;)

¹We are sophisticated and hence we don’t copy. We are inspired. **Cough cough**

The above list is in no particular order. So please don’t complain by saying I put books and weight-loss above family and friends ‘cos you know I wouldn’t do that!  I also have a few other personal resolutions which I am not going to list here. But you get the drift ;)

So what’s your New Year resolution this year?