Being 16 again

* I go to the beauty parlour and get this awesome manicure, after which they let me choose the nail color. I realize they have a new selection of nail enamels from the last time. As usual, I reach out to ‘warm brown’, ‘subtle coffee’ and ‘office red’. Only, my hand knocks down another in the process- ‘whimsical fairy’. I check it and find that it is green. A very unconventional green, not suitable for office, or for an adult like me. But, isn’t whimsical fairy inviting? It is. And, so, here, in celebration of being 16 again! 🙂

* I do have lots of G.R.E.A.T news!! Awesome news!! I will share it this weekend!! And, um..it is all about not being 16 again :)!! It is actually all about being a whimsical fairy!

Love,

Leya!

Romancing the Apple.

I miss my best friend at work.
Because she flew to romance the apple.

Romancing the apple was the drink we contemplated having on that last day. I asked her how it is actually possible to romance an apple and then there was the obvious joke, and then the laugh. But, now when I look back, Baby, it is because you went to romance one, that we miss you here.

We miss your sarcasm, and your lightheartedness, and your love for the sane/sanity/insanity/(sanitizer?), and your jokes, and the laughs and hundred other things that we love you for.

We miss you everyday girl.

All because of the Bloody. stupid. crappy. Big Apple.

WORDLESS. STARRY-EYED. EMOTIONAL.

Exactly how e.v.e.r.y beating Indian heart must be feeling now.

Supporting England: The thrills

Today s match yet again was a cliffhanger! It so happens that after I cheered Netherlands to trump them in another good starting games, I have fallen in love with England, for no matter what people say of whether England deserve or not to get inside, they have entertained us all and how beautifully so 🙂

After batting pretty well in the first overs to the stupid middle order collapse to coming staggeringly close to handing the victory to WI by surrendering to yet another tail ender, England has been entertaining from the start to finish, so much so that I could actually not tolerate the ads that came after every wicket since the 6th! In the end, Strauss ‘s smile at the presentation was stick on and well deserved. He can take all the credit for the bowling changes at the crucial moments, to the test field like set up for the tail enders. His gutsy start helped too. Nice one captain!

Here is what it is like to watch England from the sofa with clenched fingers in another ‘arse-nipper’ like homeboy Swann mentioned!

Soon as Sindhu starts speaking on the pre match review, I change the channel. I can’t tolerate his made up enthusiasm and the terrible undercurrents that only he can see. Today, however, rooting for England, I was half relieved when he went-I see a 50-50 chance for both the teams, but I definitely think WI can hold forth-! This meant, going by his previous reviews, England have a nice chance of winning.

Just about all the news in the world took a dig at Trott for getting to know the pitch, the ground, the spectators and the state before a boundary comes through, so he went and proved everyone wrong. Good knock, but pretty carelessly got out in what could have been a nice and savoury innings for England. And then, in the final moments, the question for all of us was if that goddamn shirt of his caressed the boundary line or not. That shirt did, but he had his revenge when the same shoulders hoisted the ball up to pack the last wicket off seeing England win another heart stopping match.

Luke Wright justified his coming back with a nice knock, but what about him coming in a little more earlier next time? (I am crossing my fingers here). And good with the ball too.

In the field for bowling after England’s failure to bat the full 50 overs, it was Gayle giving us all that cameo, and then to look at some crazy batting line up from the Windies, which, Sammy justified at the presentation as something that resulted from a loo break of one of the players! Really??!!

Anyway, quick glamorous knocks from Sammy and that annoying tailender Russel meant more heart stopping moments. At one point, 6 wicket down, England was slowly being led to death by Russel, whose highest score till then was 3!

Great bowling from Bopara, Tredwell and Swann. Swann, incidentally, left his temper and his annoying pink towel in the dressing room, was supremely entertaining. Bopara is forgiven for his dropped catch of Pollard and a great man of the match performance from the soft spoken Tredwell made this match another beauty to watch.

Anyway, now the game is through, and all England can do is wait for the strange permutations from group A sink in, but, whether they go out or not, we must all love them for their inconsistencies and their consistent upsets of front running teams!

Thank you, and love you England!

And, before I sleep, because I am a girl and we don’t do such reviews and because tomorrow is Friday, and BECAUSE he is cute and I love his biceps sooo much, here is another photo of him, his biceps and his winning smile!

Love,

An English fan for now 🙂
Leya

PS: All images from Google images and espn cricinfo.

Driving those Blues Away

Yes, I am a Monday Morning blues girl(woman?).

But, here is a thought to drive them away this week.

I meet the owner of this car in a quaint little coffee place on a rainy Friday evening. And as soon as our eyes meet, we realize that we are long lost soul mates, meant to meet, chat and have endless conversations over coffee.

We would have so much fun together! And, years later, I would marry my oldest daughter to the owner’s youngest son.

The owner and I, would be BFF’s forever.

After my oldest daughter’s wedding, I will rent out my garage to my BFF. After all, good taste like that car requires a great admirer. Right?

(PS: Dear owner, please forgive your new BFF for publishing these blurry phone camera pics of your prized procession without permission when I spotted you both near Pattom yesterday. I suppose friends don’t require any permission isn’t it?. New friends included.)

Love,

Leya

A contemplative January

* January has always been my favorite month. Not this time though.
I turned 25 this January 29th and there was a sense of non accomplishment everywhere in my mind. But, on the other hand I had the best birthday ever because of this surprise:

So cute!!!!! And that too, when I was yearning cake like some pregnant lady.

Also, I must say, my great friend at work baked a delicious cake for me on Thursday, right before the actual birthday because 29th was a Saturday, and whipped it out after lunch when I was least expecting it! So wonderful! Love you guys!!!!

* So, yes, I have been lazy last month, but as usual, I had a million things on my plate and a vow to stay away from the system. (All for a reason!, which thankfully turned out to be great!)

* I am crossing my fingers right now. This year, hopefully should have lots to offer and should turn out to be most exciting.

How were all your 25’s like? eh?

Love,

Leya

Sunscreen

While I was young, I never cared even an ounce about my skin, or the bad effects of my actions on it. Poor skin! It endured silently when I abused it with cycle rides at 2.00 PM on summer afternoons, or not even pretending to know what an umbrella is even when the sum exploded with vicious Indian heat. I loved cycling, so much that I would refuse to part with my cycle even after outgrowing it. But whats the logic behind cycling at 2.00 PM? I would never know, but my skin does!

On Saturday afternoons, I would walk back and forth from Ulloor to Kesavadasapuram for tuitions with a dear friend. My skin would just tinge, but the body would revolt with thirst, so all we would do is buy 1 Rs sip ups and sip it along as we walked, gossiping and talking.
The conversations were undeniably great! And my dear friend is still dear irrespective of her having fabulous skin which would heal by morning while mine would sustain the sun injury till the coming 50 years.

Anyway, my skin has had enough. Now, even a pinch of sun as early as 8.00 AM in the morning gives me shivers. I would tan and go red by night! People who know me in person would always make fun of me when I open the umbrella every time I step out into the sun, even when it is shady, but, if I won’t that will be it. No amount of peeling or sitting in a curd bath all night will remove the tan that will result.

So if you are like me and is angry about your skin reacting this way, here is my mantra about saving your skin form the sun.

* Umbrella, always.
* Sunscreen. period.
* Stay away from the harsh sun as much as you can.

* People who know me continuously make fun of me for being an umbrella person, but thats totally ok. If you are concerned about the style quotient, you can always switch up colours or patterns on umbrellas! So fun!

* Sunscreen is an absolute must. Even now, most of us in India seldom use sunscreens. We must. These days i always swear by my sunscreen, because it is one thing which I cannot part with. You must choose a sunscreen that suits your skin and you are comfortable with wearing.

I used to wear Lotus light matte SPF 40 for the last two years.

It is matte and so wont stick to your skin. Also, I used this because at that time, there weren’t any SPF’s higher than 40. But, I am no lover of matte. My skin has a typical wheatish texture and matte would make it a shade darker. Also, somehow, whatever the fashion police advocates about matte, I dont think it is suitable for the Indian skin.
But let me also tell you that I love Lotus for their umpteen other sun protection products. I have a cupboard stacked with Lotus and I plan to review them here too.

I was always on the lookout for sun products, so as soon as Nutrogena came to India, I grabbed their sunscreen.

Verdict: perfect for me! My skin is pimple free and I love a little oily base, so this SPF 70 is absolutely amazing for my skin. It given my skin a warm moisture and my compact can easily put the unwanted sheen at bay. But, if you are prone to pimples, you might want to see if this works for you. It says sheer on the cover, but it is not. It is oily and heavy; but soo good for my skin! I just love that they have upwards to 50 SPF’s. Great for Indian summers.
So try it on and leave a comment if you like it!

Last, try not to expose your skin to the harsh afternoon sun. If your eyes cringe and your skin is uncomfortable, that sun is definitely not doing any good to you.

Stay sun safe, stay fabulous!

Lost and Found

Yesterday morning I had a panic attack. I couldn’t find my iPod.
It totally sucks to go to the gym in the morning and not have an iPod because in the morning the gym will be empty. Why? Here in Trivandrum, majority of the young people who come to the gym are overweight and come only to drop the relevant kilos to look presentable, in most cases for their own weddings that may be say one month away. This majority never comes in by 6.00 AM. The next chunk of people are aunties older than 40 who have their doctors say-“go to the gym or never eat rice and chicken ever in your life”. So, they wander to the gym with bored eyes by around 11.00 AM, share gossip and watch some serial with the similarly bored instructor, limber up the treadmill for 2.8 minutes and leave.
In effect, when I go to the gym between 6.00 AM and 7.15 AM, there hardly is a soul around, not even the instructor. If there is no one around and you don’t even have some music to keep company, you tend to go slack and burn less than you would like to. So what’s the point going to the gym?
But then, just this reason shouldn’t warrant a panic attack.
My iPod is one of my most cherished gifts, ever. I could never replace it and I would never too. For once it is personalized and the sentimental value attached to it is immense! I remember the day, the time down to exact minute when it arrived by post.! I am quirky like that, yes, but I love love love my iPod. It reminds me of someone’s special smile at my glee on receiving it. It reminds me of early morning thoughts about someone. It reminds me of the wonderfulness of surprise gifts. I am such a sucker for surprise gifts and Jo only rarely does plan them, but when he does there is no surprise like that!
Yesterday morning my palms were sweaty just thinking how could lose it. I wanted to make the clock run faster just to be 8.00 so I could call my friend at office to check if it was there. I wanted to rummage through everything to find it back. Crap. I wanted it. badly.
I wanted to believe it was here somewhere, and since the room was being painted and I couldn’t just look since everything were in boxes, I let it lie and hoped like mad it would be somewhere safe.

Today afternoon, I randomly opened a box to pull out my scarf, when, lying snugly in it was the lost baby! Oh man, I couldn’t explain the relief. And the happiness that washed over me! Somehow, even with all the hope, I was almost sure someone had nicked it from me, cos I never let the thing out of my bag.

Ever contemplated how love ties umpteen memories together and brings so many different things into perspectives otherwise unperceived?

Happily,

Leya.

A New Year and Some Thoughts

A lot of blogs have done their favourite memories from the year gone by. I was pondering over it too last week, but come to think of it, except a smattering of things here and there, I have very few changes to report from 2010. I am still at the same job, still at the same place and still doing almost the same things.
Some of the months were good, some were utterly boring. In the end I have decided that the post about 2010 will not happen. 2010 was stagnant so to speak. I was expecting a few things to happen, but they were pushed back and now I except the same to happen this year.

So, this year, the year 2011, is special. I have dreams connected with it, memories I would like to associate with it and fond changes that I would like to remember 2011 by.

I have goals about this year and some really serious resolutions; one of them is of course to write more here. Looking back, my resolutions have always in some way or another intertwined with some other people hopes and aspirations. This way, I end up not getting what I wish I should. This year too I have some such changes I wish would happen, but most are connected to me, so I hope they materialise.

Most importantly, I hope and wish that, same time next year, I will jump at the chance to do a year in review 2011 post. A post filled with pleasant changes, inspiring things, and dreams an inch closer.

So till next year,

HAVE A GREAT, HAPPY, DREAMY AND FABULOUS NEW YEAR!

Dream!

So yesterday I go to bed thinking of bad thoughts about Monday. Ka Boom! God decides he can no longer think my musings are any interesting on Mondays, so, my dear ones, in my dreams he lets me see this guy.

Now in my dreams, I am getting all the kinks of watching Bond and drooling over his antics, when;

after a dream moment, I get to see this guy.

How great is that now?! How charming is his leathery face, and his accent! I die.

And after a dream moment and lingering for a dream minute longer, my favoriteeeee guy in the whole universe!!

Tadaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

Now, that, my friends, is a great dream! So when I get up, I have a nice smile on my face, sun shining off my eyes and a feeling that Mondays can’t get any better that this!

Love,

Leya! Laughing on a Monday!