Third Year Engagement Anniversary!!!

For long time, this thought of not updating my blog kept lingering in my mind. I was giving lame excuses  to myself but wanted to write almost everyday but that never happened. So, today I am restarting the activity I started on Aarav’s birthday. And this time I will do regularly I guess.

There have been lots and lots of good things happening over here and I am super duper happy to write about it. Let me go about it one by one. Sep 12 was our third engagement anniversary. Yay!!! Three years. It feels so good to think about those good old days. I was little ashamed when Swathi called me and wished on third year anniversary and I didn’t know that until she wished. I immediately called Anand and wished him and the next question he asked was “appo treat enga?” lol. 

Swathi also mailed us our engagement album which made the nostalgia go wild. But we don’t have the habit of celebrating this day. But that celebratory mood had bug us so that night we went to Sam's Pizza which Anand wanted to go for long time. I was not much interested but the ambience and food was too good. We had some salads, olive & jalapenos pizza, mushroom pizza. The dessert was the highlight - browney with icecream. Wow it tasted heavenly!!

So thank you Swathi for helping to make our day memorable!!

Lately..

I wanted to write so many things on my blog but shame on me I have not written even a single incident which I thought of writing about.

Its not that I am busy or the laptop's busy. Infact I got Anand's Lenovo laptop for myself as its 'ill' and doesnt help him work.The problem is one which I have never heard of - the mousepad doesnt work when the laptop is charging. I dont understand this problem but it kind of seems funny to me. But I am still using it and happy with it. By the way Anand bought a new slim and sleek Dell.

Speaking about Anand, we recently celebrated his 33rd birthday. Asusual I made him the same old pressure cooker chocolate cake and wished him at 12 O Clock with a cake, dairymilk and a rose. The cake was a little undercooked but the cooked portion tasted good. Though we did nothing much during the day, as he was busy with work, we went to Pizza Corner for dinner. The food was much better than we expected it to be but the best part was Aarav playing in a room filled with plastic balls. For the whole one and a half hour we spent there, he was in the room. It was good to see him enjoying his time out. It was a memorable day.

Ok, now, having written about Anand's birthday, I just could not stop myself from sharing about my birthday too. I was so touched on seeing a video of my family wishing me happy birthday and I just could not stop smiling. It was so thoughtful of my sister to have made it for me. Then Wishes poured in from friends and relatives right from 12 O clock and I enjoyed saying thankyou. And the best part of my birthday - an OTG (oven) as a surprise gift from Anand. I was literally dancing when we brought it home. I was like the happiest girl in the world. And I am not embarassed to say that I cut my own cake on my birthday cos that was my maiden cake attempt in my oven. As Anand was busy on my birthday too, we just went out for dinner. This dinner turned out to be awesome and we were so glad to have dined at Little Italy. We enjoyed the best garlic bread and the best pizza and though the lasagna was too good we found it to be so heavy on our tummy. So, my birthday turned out to be a memorable day too.

Ok now, celebrations apart, some serious stuff. My life is going smooth but I seriously dont want it to be like that. Its time to put in some serious effort to steer it in my way. I have taken some serious decision/resolution to make my life more focussed and meaningful. Its not that I am not happy with what I am but I want to be much more happy with some kind of commitment or goal and by working towards it, be the happiest. So, all the best to myself!!

Long Time No Post

It feels good when people ask you like when are you going to update your blog. Well, for the past two months the laptop was so busy and for most of the time it worked overtime. Poor machine.

So what happened those two months?

We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. yay!!! 2 years!!!

I and Aarav stayed in Sivakasi for two months.

Anand was so busy with work but he tried his level best to spend time with us.

My appa retired.

My athai was so ill that I got really scared. Good that she's recovered.

So thats it.

What happens when a mom sleeps during travel?

I recently experienced the shock of my life. 

We three were headed to Sivakasi from Chennai by Podigai Express on 5 feb 2013. That night, around 12 o' clock,out of the darkness, somebody woke me up saying he wanted me to check whether a baby crying out in the distance was mine. To my shock and dismay, I found that Aarav was not beside me and my mind went blank.  In the distance, I could see (note:without glasses) some light and some people standing at a distance. I was seated in berth No. 15 and I rushed till berth No.52 to find a little guy standing in the center of a crowd and crying for his mother. My heart missed a beat. I took that guy in my arms and hugged him tight for time unknown. Thank god I was his mother.

Our mischevous little Aarav has somehow got down from our berth, walked into the darkness and at one point, he lost his way and started crying out for me to reach him. Thanks to the people who woke up, switched on the lights and kept him safe till I held him. Thanks to the guy who woke me up. Anand and I were too tired that day else we would never let him step out of our berth.

I will never forget that night. What if somebody had taken him away? Oh no,It feels scary and I am not even ready to think about it. I understood how it feels to let go of your child( or when  the child goes by itself). I committed to myself that I will be more protective and alert on my son, whatever the case may be.

Dedicated to Appa:-)

My appa's birthday was on 27th Jan and this year he happened to be in my house. Thanks to the mosquitoes he was awake at 12.00 AM and I wished him. Yay. We gifted him a shirt and we spent the day in my athai's new little house. 

I seriously want to write about my appa but I am getting too emotional. When I feel like writing about somebody, I think so much about them that finally I end up being emotional. I hope I overcome this feeling and write about him someday. I just love you so much appa and here is a picture which you would love for sure.

Cakey Post

I love cakes. I love watching Fabulous Cakes.

I wanted to write about the cakes I made since I started writing this blog. Initially, I was under the impression that cakes were made and sold by bakeries. Only after I came across some yummy food blogs, I came to know that wonderful cakes and cookies can be made at home using a Oven. Since I dont have an oven I actually dismissed the idea of me baking cakes.

I was in my Mom's place post delivery.My mom had a cocoa tin which was fast nearing its expiry date. Since I wanted to make something out of it, I was browsing for some chocolate recipes and ended up googling for a pressure cooker chocolate cake recipe. I finally settled down to test this simple-to-make recipe the very next day. So I baked(..ahem..steamed) my first chocolate cake. Bits and Pieces of the cake stuck to the pan but even then I was able to make out a round cake.I make the chocolate icing too. The whole family gathered to taste the cake and I swear it tasted AWESOME. So I had officially made my first cake. Hurray :-)

Second time, I made the same cake when Anand visited. He liked the cake too. This time, it was an improvised icing. Yay:-)

The same cake was made third time for a two-in-one purpose. One, my son turned into a 100 day old little guy and two, we(me and my sis) wanted to have a chocolate cake very badly. This time the icicng part was the cake's highlight. The cake had a mini photo session that day. Anand  put up a picture of the cake in FB and so my cake was famous and got good comments too.

Isn't it lovely??   (*Showing off*)

Next time my sister tried that cake with me being her help but this time the icing part was real time flop though the cake tasted awesome asusual. It was made as a take away for my athai. Since, icing was not proper and she was in a hurry, I didnt take any picture that time.

After I came to Chennai, I made this same old cake for my son's birthday and this one too, turned out to be AWESOME.

Day before yesterday, I tried this no butter, no cocoa dates cake but I didnt like it much but Anand agreed to finish off the cake.

So this is all about the cakes I have made so far. Thankfully, I took pictures of those cakes so that I am able to share it now. May be the idea of blogging was remaining hidden in some corner of my brain and thanks to that too. I am no good photographer. The pictures may not be great and the cake might not look impressive but that is ok.

I wanted to get an oven so badly so that I could bake cakes at home. Anand promised to get me one, but once he got to know about my passion for making and eating cakes he was worried a bit and finally when he got to know about the amount of butter, cocoa, sugar, etc that goes into the making, he took his promise back :(

So, I want to say it again. I love cakes.

P.S- I wanted to share this picture too. This was what my son was upto when I was busy making the dates cake.

May be he might become a messy chef. LOL

My little guy:)

This little guy of mine is growing fast. Really fast. It is evident by comparing these two pics. JAN 2012 & JAN 2013. He has grown into a handsome guy. Hasn't he?

He is our sweetheart.

An update on his routine-

1.00 pm - Wake up:-(

2.00 pm - Lunch followed by playtime

4.00 pm - Bath

4.30 pm - Sleep time / playtime

5.00 pm - Eat kanji and sleep/ evening walk with amma

6.00 pm - playtime

7.00 pm - snacks time (biscuits, vegetables, etc)

8.00 pm - dinner

9.00 pm - powernap

10.00 pm - wake up and start playing in full swing

1.00 pm - Good night ATLAST

He sleeps everynight only by one 'o clock which means we have to sleep after one.  He plays with full energy and excitement especially during night time :-( His routine changes once in a month but the difficult part is that we have to change our routine according to his schedule. Really difficult I say.

He is very much into singing these days. He has a list of favorite tamil songs too - Bad boy, soi soi, sollitaale etc. Whenever I listen to music in my mobile, he literally grabs it from me so that he could pay close attention.When he gets to hear this songs in TV, he immediately rushes towards TV and watches with interest. Most of the times he sings along (in his own language though) and sometimes we spot him dancing too. I tell you, its the most funniest and interesting dance movement I have ever seen. I have to make him listen to some classical songs too.  So people, a little SPB or Unnikrishnan is in the making. Mind it.

Though he loves singing, his heart lies within THE KITCHEN. He is always surrounded by utensils. One can spot him anytime with a ladle or tawa. Thanks to him all the rooms always contain any type of vessel, either in visible mode or hidden mode. His favorite is a black non stick ladle which serves for his multipurpose usage - Stirring the empty vessel, banging the floor or wall, hitting amma at the most unexpected moment and watch her cry in pain. As I already said, he LOVES watching me cook. So a little SPB or Unnikrishnan with a great hand in cooking is in the making.  

He tries to imitate us in each and every way possible. He keeps on observing us all the time. He wants to take part in our day to day activities. He likes to wear his sandals and go for 'tata' all the time. He loves hitting the idiot box with a rolling pin. He waves hi to everyone who passes by during his evening walk. He holds my phone to his ears and says hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. He showers us with wet kisses and tighty hugs. He runs a lot. He talks a lot. He smiles a lot. He brightens our day with happiness. We love you darling.

Whats up

So what was I doing in the first two weeks of 2013? I am following my walking routine. yay. Hardcore Dieting can be read as hardcore eating. BAD. A lot of unnecessary worrying. A dinner @ Saravana Bhavan with Ravi Uncle. A trip to the beach. A visit to the exhibition. In the food front, I tried out few recipes and I would proudly say they were successful. Hope the previous line makes an appearance in my blog every single week. So thats it.

Its a new year!!

So back to blogging after few days gap. Either the laptop was busy or I was busy. So its already 2013. A new year.

My folks would associate 2013 and me with a term named VISION 2013. It means I should shed all the weight I gained during pregnancy and get back into shape by the end of 2013. So listen folks, Iam seriously into it and Vision 2013 is gonna happen. cool.

So, after roaming around and having some icecream we barged into the house at 11.56 PM on the new year's eve and wished 'happy newyear' to each other exactly@12. I love wishing people at 12. Its a nice feeling. Then we spent the day at my Paati's house in Nanganallur. Day at Paati's house just means fun. I love being there with that sweet cousins of mine. Before heading home, we visited my athai's house too. Aarav had great day and was dead tired by the time we reached home. Overall, it was a day well spent.

These are the photos taken at the icecream parlour. My sons looks damn cute and the third pic is my favorite:-)

Doesnt he look girly?May be I feel so.

Any resolutions for 2013? Oh yes but better not to be mentioned. But I am happy to say I already started following those. :-)

Let me see what the new year has in store for us. Hope for the best :-)