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February Update

/ Srishty / 4 Comments

In the past few days, I created a goal for myself which was to post a Feb update before 28th. 😀 It has been a supremely busy month (spoiler alert: didn’t succeed in the most important task that showed itself this month). However, this month shall be remembered as a month of some good firsts.

I am taking cue from Lyssy’s post here to take stock of my month, she calls it “What’s Up Posts”, it was started by her blogger friend Shay 8 years ago it seems!! Let’s see if I manage to do it every month.

I am going to answer all the questions in the below card for the post then.

What We’re Eating?

This month presented a lot of opportunities of trying new take-outs in big groups. This also made me think about being a bit of a restaurant snob on food delivery apps. What I mean is I always look for food I want to eat when ordering in, but if I don’t have any fixed, well-loved restaurants to order from, it becomes a risky situation when a lot of people come over. It’s a hit and miss. While I used to make fun of people who had designated restaurants to order from on food delivery apps, I am now becoming one for at least big hangouts! I have discovered some gems already. If you are a person reading this from Gurgaon, you might want to order from ‘Punjabi Angithi’ for some good North Indian starters/finger food and ‘Being Chef’ for an all-encompassing good menu – they literally have everything from Thai Curry to Pizza and its all above average!

What I’m Reminiscing about?

I am in general someone who reminisces a lot, so its difficult to keep a track of this. 😀 But, exactly at this moment, nothing.

What I’m Loving?

I loved going to my first ever cricket match in a stadium. I am not into sports, so didn’t expect this. It was definitely fun and now going to watch one in Dharamshala where the stadium is surrounded by mountains is so on my list!

What we’ve been up to?

The best part of this month was the chance to reunite with some of our close friends who don’t live in the same city/country.

What I’m dreading?

Like I mentioned at the beginning, I didn’t succeed in an opportunity that presented itself. What I’m dreading is how it affecting my confidence, honestly dreading is a small word for how I am feeling about it right now.

What I’m working on?

I am going to repeat this from last month: I am trying to work on this. Trying being the keyword, haha!

What I’m Excited about?

Funnily, I am actually excited about March despite it being a loaded month at work, and I have work travel too. However, I am looking forward to the other things – my husband’s birthday (Sometimes we literally do nothing on these ‘special’ days, but I still look forward to these days), the chance of going on another small vacation. Oh, just realized I actually have one more tiny vacation coming up which I totally forgot about!

What I’m Watching/Reading?

For someone not big on watching a lot of new stuff, I did watch a couple this month!

First, I watched ‘The Romantics’ which is like a documentary on Yash Raj Films, one of the biggest movie producers in Bollywood. While it was not what I expected it to be (I thought it was about Bollywood in general and not Yash Raj specifically), it had a lot of nostalgia, which is why I suppose so many people loved it!

I am now watching ‘You’ on Netflix. Frankly, I am quite irritated with this show, because its quite a done and dusted concept of a sociopath trying to control life of his beloved (hint: as my husband says, Shahrukh from Darr :D). However, because of the cliffhangers we are going along for now.

As for reading, I think I am finally becoming that person who reads multiple books together (and takes time to complete even one of them). I am reading ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ which is my 2nd for this year. I talked about it in my January update as well. It is just about okay. More on that later. Then, I also started ‘Kashi ka Assi’ from my trip to Banaras, a book I stumbled upon in a bookstore there. It is stories from Banaras so I just bought it but its not what I expected at all! I am also reading ‘The Book Thief’ from the beginning of 2022! Its a hard copy at my parents place so I read it when I visit.

What I’m Listening to?

I have nothing here, the podcast thing I mentioned in my January Update also hasn’t caught up yet.

What I’m Wearing?

First of all, I am glad I wore some of my office clothes when I went to office once! Shouldn’t be too happy, as I do have a lot of work from office days happening in March what with my work travel.

Secondly, I am glad for the opportunity of getting to wear Indian wedding stuff at the wedding that I attended.

didn’t have a picture, so took a screenshot from a video

Thirdly, its about time for a spring clean-up and my wardrobe really needs a clean-up because for someone who doesn’t impulse buy, its a huge red flag to think ‘I can’t find anything good to wear’.

What I’m doing this weekend?

I am looking forward to it, will share later. However, I did go to the World Book Fair happening in Delhi until 5th March, and it was so good to be back at it again!

What I’m looking forward to next month?

I already covered that above.

What else is new?

  1. I bought some new makeup, so I look forward to sharing about them soon!
  2. There’s this Pizza chain where I live called Fat Lulus. We went to their Khan Market outlet after the cricket match and I loved everything we tried, albeit it was expensive than what I expected.
  3. Despite Google offices having family days where people can bring in their their near & dear ones, I had been to my husband’s office only once until February and it was a very stressful visit because I really cannot be okay going anywhere on my workday. However, this month I went one day when I was on leave and it was so good to try all the amazing food in peace. I really want to go again!
  4. Grateful for the Google layoffs being over in India, I hope there’s no second wave of this, really.

Monthly Favorites | January

/ Srishty / 1 Comment

I talked about my impulse to share about some things I am loving here & got some really good suggestions on how I can make it interesting.

One of the suggestions by Moksha was to do monthly favorites like the YouTuber Sherry Shroff. A little interesting fact – I have loved Sherry’s monthly favorites videos since a long time. In fact, they are some of my favorite videos on her YouTube but I find doing monthly favorites myself scary. My reasons are no doubt petty, but they matter to me. 😀 First of all, I am not someone who goes through a lot of products to make a good enough monthly favorite products list. However, I am now seeing this as a boon – it means my monthly favorites will be a good mix of experiences & how the month went, instead of only ‘products‘. Secondly, I also fear getting too much into the groove of tracking your favorite stuff throughout the month which may take away the joy of just being, but I hope that doesn’t happen, and, therefore, I am just taking the plunge here.

I now present to you my monthly favorites for January ’22. 😀

RiteBite protein bar: Ritebite is my new favorite snacking brand. You will know when you read my favorite #2. I keep trying a lot of snacking brands and I think food will always be a feature in monthly favorites one way or the other. The biggest reason I like RiteBite is because of favorite #2. Chips is a food category where its difficult to make a healthier alternative for regular chips that just tastes as good. I love their chips & if I go by their claims, one packet of their chips has ~10g protein. As for their protein bar, I like it for a very straight forward reason. It tastes good & is not as expensive as other protein bars available in the online space. Just to be clear, I don’t consume these products as any supplement or meal, its just that I snack a lot and I understand no packaged food is as good as home made, but I just look for healthier alternatives to the regular snacks I am addicted to.

RiteBite chips: I have already explained this.

Crax: Do you remember this brand we grew up eating? This particular variant is very tasty and a good snack for chilled out things like watching a movie. You know, like popcorn.

Cheesecake from ‘Salt & Sugar’: Its a cloud kitchen in Gurgaon that you can easily find on Swiggy/Zomato. We recently got their blueberry cheesecake for our friends’ wedding anniversary & it was a hit. I have had better cheesecakes, but it was a good mix of everything – product, price, promo & packaging. 😀 The taste was such that four of us demolished a full cake in half an hour.

Himalayan Ciders: We recently went on a trip to Shimla & again had the famous Himachal Ciders. Its a lovely drink to try out if you like trying out new things in alcohol. The apple one which is the most common is not that great for me, but I love the ginger ale variant.

Kurkez: There is a famous bakery on Shimla Mall Road called Krishna Bakery. I am not sure what their claim to fame is although most of the stuff I tried, I loved. They have this specialty item called ‘Kurkez’. I really can’t explain what it is. It is such a desi colonial hangover dish. It is a completely Indianized cutlet but looks like a seekh kabab. Just have it with the ‘white sauce’ they give the next time you are there. I don’t know whether you will love it or not, but I for sure miss it!

My new Kaftan: My massi (maternal aunt) gifted me this Kaftan which is a traditional Kashmiri dress & I love it to bits. She is selling Kashmiri clothes until 28th of Feb after which she would move to another handloom product that is seasonal for the North India. In case you want to buy what I am wearing in the picture, please reach out to her – +919216745142

Kindle Cover: This has nothing to do with January and I got it a long time ago last year but its one of the best purchases ever! I was very torn for the perfect Kindle cover and I was being too critical of all the options I had. Finally, went for this one and its so sturdy but also feels good to the touch. I love it!

Aroma Therapy sunscreen: Sunscreen is one thing I am always experimenting with. Reason? I am yet to find a perfect one, but this one’s close. First of all, it smells amazing to me, a fresh herby smell but nothing overpowering. (I have a very sensitive nose). Secondly, it glides on my skin so smoothly and while it may be light for parched skin, but I also have normal to dry skin and this is decently moisturizing for me. To me, the texture seems like it would work for most skin types.

B&BW Vanilla Lavender Candle: This is my first ever Bath & Body Works candle and its a bit controversial that this product is on my favorites list. Let me explain. I have used some of their cosmetics in the past & they are known for having amazing fragrances. This also means that most of their products are heavily fragranced, I have ended up loving some of those fragrances, but the fact that they are heavily fragranced made me feel uncomfortable about using them a lot. Same goes for the candles. They smell amazing and the fragrances are very long lasting. However, no doubt they are overpowering and in this age of soy candles which are more environment & inhaling friendly, they continue to be made of paraffin. I don’t think I’ll be repurchasing these any time soon but there are 2 reasons why its on my favorites list – 1) I love this fragrance & since its long lasting, I use it very, very often to create an ambience. this itself is a good enough reason, but 2) I have tried a couple of Indian newer brands for candles and my experience hasn’t been even decent, forget being good. So, if you are completely satisfied with any soy candles that smell amazing & are available in India, please share your suggestions in the comments.

Trip to Shimla: We recently did a cousins trip to Shimla which was a lot of fun. This trip came with its own challenges due to the friction of finalizing plans, this and that. However, Shimla is one place I always love to be, no matter how crowded and commercialized its getting. The weather was chilly but with that sweet sunshine and we also got to witness snow at Narkanda (although not snowfall). However, the biggest highlight of this trip was the place we stayed at which brings me to my next favorite.

Marley Villa: This was your typical villa with a swing, tiny garden to play cricket in, wind chimes, creaky floors and a colonial interior. So heritage feels, such beautiful bar glasses. They have a functioning kitchen from where two caretakers & a cook serve all meals. The view from the garden is top-notch. The best part – its located slightly away from the mall road so you don’t witness the typical crowd but its close enough for an appetite building walk up the mall road. My favorite part was the garden. If I had to find cons with this place, one is that its not completely private. It is basically a set of two villas that are connected to each other, which didn’t bother our group in any way by the way but parking gets tricky up the hill. The other con is that we stayed in a 5-room villa as we were 9 people and there are two rooms in that villa which don’t have a door separating them, only a curtain. Depending on who you are travelling with, this may matter with regards to privacy.

So, these were my monthly favorites and I would love to know some (or all) of yours now. Please comment your favorites or leave a link to your blog if you do similar posts.

If you liked this, check out more of my latest posts:

When to find time to read?

/ Srishty / Leave a comment

Read in metro queues

Read in passport renewal lines

Read on your way to work (if you aren’t driving or else listen to an audio book 😀)

Read while on solo dates in cozy cafes

Read while waiting for someone

Read when you are out on a lunch date with self

Read in book fairs in stalls that have chairs

Read before napping in afternoons

Read right after napping

Read before sleeping

Read in parks sitting on cute benches

Read on weekends

Read when soaking sun on the weekends

Read when you can, as that is what matters. Not how much or what you read.

Need a petty suggestion! | Monday Mumbles

/ Srishty / 6 Comments

This is probably my most impulsive post ever. I was reading some new posts in my feed when a thought caught me and I wanted a suggestion from readers of my space. Incidentally its also Monday. So, its a Monday Mumbles post in its truest sense. 😀

If you don’t know what this Monday Mumbles series of mine is, you can read old posts here and this post on what it is.

So, here’s the thing – I love reading all these low-buy skincare posts and, in general, product empties kind of posts. I realized I would love to do these myself, but the thing is I am not a product hoarder, so I don’t have a lot to show when it comes to empties or low-buy. I am anyway on low-buy. 😀 I am definitely considering doing an annual empties post but that also means keeping bottles etc with me till the end of the year. That thought isn’t too exciting. I wanted your suggestions on how I can incorporate these fun product opinions kind of posts in my blog and, actually, what you as a reader, would also enjoy? To seed your thoughts –

  1. Would you like reading single product reviews of something I am using? If that seems interesting, I can even considering food products, something I actually use a lot of. 😀
  2. Maybe a monthly favorites? This seems really interesting, but, of course, requires effort and keeping an eye out for what you are enjoying.
  3. Time to time just reviewing my stash of things – lipsticks, books, coffee – the likes?

Do leave in your comments, even if it means you saying I don’t care or enjoy any of these kind of posts. 🙂

If you want to share or ask something in the next Monday Mumbles, please drop me an email at srish.myblog@gmail.com.

If you liked this, check out more of my latest posts:

Is it too late to write about 2021?

/ Srishty / 9 Comments

2021 sucked for me (and a lot of others). I didn’t know how to frame it, but i have been meaning to write about it since long.

It sucked in more ways than one. Of course, the obvious one. The second wave of Covid hit India and how. Left us scarred for life. Lost family member and many known ones. I honestly have nothing but gratitude for all of us who recovered. It was the worst, most difficult time for a lot of people. The medical infrastructure in India crashed badly, people were struggling for hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and this is India’s that population who can afford to. The biggest blessing at that time was not to see a hospital. And, therefore, blessed i was. My parents, Rahul and I, all of us got Covid. My brother had antibodies from the first wave I guess which is why he didn’t get it.

Apart from Covid, what really hurts me this year beyond limits is that I had two goals for this year (that i won’t be sharing at this point) none of which I could fulfill. Here’s the deal – it hurts not because they didn’t get fulfilled but because the onus for these two was completely on me. So, you can say that I was in a huge self-loathing or self-hatred phase this year.

Actually one of the goals is super personal and ideally it shouldn’t even be a goal, it should just happen as a regular thing. But it didn’t. The fact that I couldn’t take a move on this made me care so less about the other goal (which actually is a goal, something i have to do as a life goal that will make me extremely happy for myself).

Now I feel like I should also do a things i was thankful for in 2021, but yeah, i am sorry for starting this year’s posts like this.

I hope it only gets better and happier from now for you and me! Wishing you all a wonderful start to the new year ❤️

4 Things I’ll Never Buy | Blogmas 11

/ Srishty / Leave a comment

Remember this post? I talked about things I love collecting. An antithesis of this post is here now, primarily due to the motivation to consume less and not collect stuff. I don’t know which of the two posts i thought of first but here it is for you to enjoy:

Well, never say never but you get the gist, right? I am vary of buying these things:

1. Vases: i do buy other things that serve as vases. Like ceramic pots that can also serve as water jugs? You know what i mean? However, I desperately steer clear of buying actual vases from a shop. In my head, that’s just too basic a decor item. Why not use unexpected things as vases that set your house part? I love the idea of using alcohol bottles as is for home decor too.

2. Balloons: i have loved balloons for as long as I can remember. My mom tells me I used to be scared of them as a toddler, that’s why I said for as long as I remember. 🙂 But, but, they are non biodegradable and create a lot of unnecessary waste. Just beware if you were to put me in charge of planning a party, i can assure you though that I’ll get a mean party setup without them!

3. Dusting clothes: i dont understand why people feel the need to buy these. Maybe i am missing something here? How come people don’t have clothes that are discarded and can be used as dusting clothes? Or its not good to use them?

4. Storage boxes: unless they are furniture. I don’t like the idea of ‘buying’ boxes that you would use for storage. In all likeliness, I’ll figure something out from existing boxes like delivery packages. But this may lead to piling up a lot of stuff, again something i truly despise. But it’s just lesser of the two evils. I cannot even begin to tell you just how hard I cringe when movers & packers come over and insist on using their own fresh new boxes, instead of the boxes you already have handy.