When I Went For A Movie Alone

I would never want to watch a movie alone. I mean, what fun? Movies are for dressing up, break coffees and discussion throughout the movie. As I mentioned here too, I enjoy going to movies not just for the movie, but for the whole experience you go through when you go to a movie theatre with company you enjoy.

But I challenged myself to do it – to watch a movie alone.

So when I was in India a few months back, working on my designs, I gave myself that chance. I was living with friends who would be away at work everyday. I had to pass time somehow during the day and my friend suggested that I go for a movie. I dared myself to.

Was my experience good? No. Not at all!

To start with, the crowd was low in the beginning given the fact that it was a weekday afternoon. There were just some guys around and they kept staring at me. I was so conscious. And embarrassed. I know. For no reason. Later on, crowd added up and the hall was pretty full but I remained stressed. It felt like I was in the wrong; that I was committing a crime!

Needless to say, I am never going alone for a movie.

I just don’t enjoy it. There is no point forcing myself to change my philosophies. Movie watching is not a task for me; it is a fun activity that I want to do with people I like.

Talking about movies, I watched Haider the other day. I loved the acting and cinematography and music but on the downside, the movie was really slow, predictable to some extent and very, very depressing! Did they really need all those gross scenes and detailed violent proceedings? I am sure they could be done with.

Anyway, I think Summer ended yesterday. It was cloudy, cold and windy today and is going to remain so for the whole week. I am so sad!

I wore this yesterday to literally celebrate the last day of warmth. And in the spirit of the festive season, of course. I find harem pants the most comfortable thing on earth. and of course, I love adding an Indian touch to everything.

Dotty

I stepped into my fourth semester at school 2 weeks ago and things have been crazy since then. As always, I am taking time to fall into a new schedule. I have been lost, to some extent, such that once I got days confused and ended up going to the gym on the wrong day for a class.

If classes and job search weren’t enough, I have taken up internships at a couple of places. Ok, 3 places. That’s a lot, no? I took up these opportunities because I was excited about the profiles and learning they had to offer; I couldn’t say no to any of them.

In the process, I have pretty much ignored my shop and my blog. Thank God for scheduling, my social media has been pretty active.

Talking about internships, I was pretty nervous about them. Initially, I had doubts about even getting through, forget surviving. To overcome this fear, I decided to face it. I just went for it. I applied at 3-4 places, gave interviews and to my surprise, got through all of them! Imagine my delight!

I have begun work on all of them and it is super-fun. I enjoy all the profiles. Sometimes, it is craft work (something I haven’t done since graduation days), sometimes styling and sometimes handling social media – all of which I enjoy. It is so much fun going back to what I really enjoy.

More about them later.

This post was long due. I really liked how the pictures came out and was reserving them for a ‘better time’. Well, there is no better time than now. So here they are.

Skirt: The Basic Closet

Top: Custom made

Shoes: Payless

Earrings: Fabindia (gifted)

Bangles: Street find, India

Janmashtami Dressing

On Janmashtami, my cousin was holding a small puja. Just she, her mother and her room-mate. Not a big affair. Before that, they planned to sing Krishna songs – both film songs and non-film songs. Now those who know me know that I am hardly the religious kind. I don’t remember when I last went to a temple to pray. Or the last time I tried to connect with God. Performing pujas or fasting is out of question.

It is not that I do not believe in God. It is just that, we were never a religious family. As I grew up and began living on my own, the more I understood myself walking along the path of life, I focussed on clarity of conscience and spirituality more than deity worship.

Anyway, I decided to be a part of my cousin’s little celebration. Not that I am turning religious. Just that, being away from India makes me miss things particular to India – the festival, ceremonies, traditions and little beliefs. Singing Krishna songs was a way of connecting with my country. A way of remembering the life there. A way of saying I still respect all that my country is. And a proof that my heart is still there.

Here is what I wore. Nothing grand yet not very ordinary.

(Do you ever decide to wear a piece of clothing or an accessory or a pair of shoes first and then choose the rest of the outfit to go with it? Here, I decided to wear this scarf-cum-necklace and then chose the rest of the pieces.)

The scarf is an interesting piece. The necklace is joined with the scarf. It was gifted.

 

Err, did I forget to mention that this event was also an opportunity for me to dress up and go out? Secondary reason. Believe me.

Fringe Benefits

The first time I ever saw a fringed product was a black bag at Rocia. And I fell in love with it instantly. Some 3 years ago, it was a good enough steal at Rs. 1700. I didn’t buy it out of some pretentious, forced greatness and regretted later on. I never saw it again!

So when I saw this bag in Singapore a few months later, I grabbed it. Whatever the cost may be, I wanted it.

I love this bag so much that I keep it safely in my handbags box (yes, it is a big box) and don’t bring it out into the evil world.

When Fashionlivre put up a feature on fringe on Facebook a few days back, I instantly thought of this bag and dug it out.

I think it goes really well with shades-of-grey striped maxi. I also like the contrast of multicoloured feathered statement neckpiece and multicoloured pom-poms golden kada against the grey.

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Sunburst Pleats

Sometimes, I just want to do nothing. And not feel guilty about it. All of us are running. Running everyday after things, after goals, after more challenging, difficult dreams. There is no end to it. There are social networks, blogs, blogging networks, work, household chores, social obligations – when do we just sit and do nothing?

I, for example, don’t know where my day goes. I have my morning coffee also between writing mails and looking for jobs. I don’t feel like I deserve to sit back and watch a movie. If I do so, I feel, I am wasting time! I must forever be doing something – productive. Its either college assignments or house cleaning or networking with bloggers or noting down ideas or working on them. And then, of course, there is the constant deliberation of what I am doing and what I want to do in life and how?

When did I last sit in my balcony garden with a cup of coffee? When did I last sit in a coffee shop with a novel? When did I last chat aimlessly with friends? When did I last go shopping for no reason? When did I last lie lazily on my bed and watch 3 movies in a row?

Can’t remember.

There is always something I want to do. I want to finish this and go on to the next task. Like today is the last day and I need to do everything today.

I wake up an hour before my alarm goes off (an hour, can you imagine!!) because I can’t wait to check mails and notifications and get on with my to-do list for the day. Well, it is good in a way that I have so many things to do and look forward to and that I am planning my days well but you know how all work and no play makes jack a dull boy!

So, as August begins, I resolve to give myself some real free time. Get away from all electronic devices and social networks for an allocated time during the day and enjoy with nature or music or a novel. Connect with an old friend and ask them about their lives. Take a stroll in the park and sit down under a tree with a novel. Sit in the balcony in the evening and watch mothers take their kids for a stroll. Watch a classic movie at the end of the day.

Just the thought of it makes me want to really do it.

Join the challenge with me?

The outfit.. Very casual, very easy with some of my favorite pieces. Elephant necklace from Linking Road Bandra, Croquet vest from Lifestyle, Pleated skirt from Bugis Street, Singapore, Tote Bag & Flats from Westside.

Things To Be Happy About

Even though the outfit for the day is grey, I am hardly feeling grey (despite all the struggles I am going through right now that my friends and family know about). There are so many exciting things happening with me right now. Nada, don’t expect big events. Small, daily things have the power to fill me with joy. A new piece of outfit, a bar of delicious dark chocolate or even a new pen! Yeah, these really little things make me happy; make me look forward to the next day.

So right now these are the things that are keeping my mood high.

I have been gardening a lot lately. I trimmed off the overgrown succulents, propagated some into new pots. I have added a few grown plants to my balcony garden. I propagated two from seeds and cuttings yesterday. I am anxiously waiting from them to grow now. It will take atleast a month for roots to emerge but that doesn’t stop me from going to the balcony and gazing at them 5 times a day.

I had reeeaaally long hair till June. I chopped them off in short, messy layers before I left India in June end. My hair has never been good with short layers because it is wavy. I have never been able to control layers and fringes. But this time, they are behaving really well and winning compliments for me. Moreover, they are so so easy to manage during exercising.

I am blogging a lot. Like, day and night. And I love it! God knows why I shirk away from blogging every now and then. i am loving connecting with other bloggers, going through interesting websites and sharing stuff. I started blogging in 2011 on travel and fashion. While my travel blog thrived, I stopped focusing on my fashion blog. Alas! But well, I am doing it now and am lovin’ it.

It is summer! No other reason is big enough to make me happy. I love this season for the ease of living it offers. Ease of moving around, freedom to wear whatever you want and the activities it has to offer. I am enjoying this season to the fullest while it lasts.

I wore this recently for a casual outing with a family friend to a nearby fabric store. I felt this was perfect for the heat, the surroundings and had reasonable amount of style.

Technology and Me

I was reading Shweta’s blog post earlier today about how technology can seize you and burn you down eventually. She recommends that one cuts off from social networking on all devices for some time everyday and do more meaningful things in life.

While I have always considered technology a blessing to mankind, I agree that technology (excessive, unnecessary social networking, rather) is just a waste of time and is tiring. We can now access all mails, chat options, social networking sites – everything – from our cell phones. And so, we are hooked on.

I am, for sure. I access mail, Watsapp, Hangout, WordPress, Facebook, etc, on my cell phone. My hand automatically picks up my phone every few minutes to check for notifications. Even though I know nothing would have come in, I still tend to check. I just end up with a headache by the time half the day is over.

When I switch on my laptop, I actually have nothing specific to check. Because I have seen and accessed everything already.

Sometimes, I feel like uninstalling apps like FB and WordPress from my cell phone. It makes no sense checking them 20 times a day. Moreover, there is no surprise element left when I start my laptop at the end of the day! I’d rather have the joy of checking lot of notifications and mails at the end of the day rather than browsing through apps aimlessly and getting frustrated.

But, I will not uninstall the apps completely because sometimes you really need to update or share something with your readers or friends and family at a moment and you need to do so right then. Delaying would dissolve the essence. This is one of the reasons why I love technology. Well, why I love technology calls for another blog post.

What do you think? Technology is really a blessing?

This is what I wore for errands running. What do you think of errands, by the way? Another debate, huh?

Tank top: Clothes Rack

Skirt: Bangkok

Flats: Target

Bangles: Fabindia

Necklace: Gifted

Tote: Need I say??

New It!

Human beings tend to resist change. Why? Is it because they don’t think there is anything better beyond their current state? Or, is it because they are afraid to come out of their comfort zone? For me, it is a bit of both. And a few recent experiences have proved to me that one must try out new things and widen their outlook.

I have never been into sports. But I couldn’t have avoided Sunday’s FIFA finals. All the excitement happening around me didn’t catch up on me until I landed up at a sports bar with friends at half time. The dark restaurant was filled with people and beer towers. A friend was helpful enough and explained the concepts to me continuously. Pretty soon, I was involved with the game. And what a game it was! Thank god I was open minded enough to agree to go to that place and sit through patiently. Very frankly, the game wasn’t what I was interested in initially. It was the experience, the crowd, the energy. I wanted to feel and experience those vibes.

I am happy I did. And they had a good effect on me.

Another thing I have undone myself to is wine. Alcohol was a strict no-no for me and still is, except wine. Now, I love wine. These pictures are from my recent trip to Napa Valley. I went for two wine tastings (one of which was an amazing wine and food pairing thing) and loved the experience. Not only did I drink ALL the wine, I listened intently to all that we were told about the wines and asked questions. Indeed Napa is a beautiful place. But it is incomplete without wine. And just having wine isn’t as fun as tasting different kinds of wine and understanding their origins.

So next time you are asked to try something new or are expected to exit your comfort zone, just go for it. You may just surprise yourself with your own response.

Linen dress: Globus

Neon gladiator sandals: Unionbay (via Kohl’s)

Wooden Bangles: Mysore

Sunnies: Polo Club

Something’s Cooking

I have pondered over this idea over a long time now. Lot of contemplations went behind whether it would work or not; whether I was doing the right thing or not. But finally it is here. Because this has been my dream for such a long time. This is what I wanted to do even though my chosen path seemed to be leading me elsewhere.

In fact, this dream, idea had been in my subconscious mind throughout my growing years.

I chose a ‘good girl’s’ path for my career. I did my graduation in Commerce, went ahead to get a MBA and then worked in the world of Corporate for a pretty long time. Corporate made me slog. But it also gave me comforts I had only imagined. Clothes and shoes every week, eating out almost every day, a gadget every now and then, a foreign vacation every year. Ah! What luxury!

But somewhere, there was this huge empty space. I had the money and luxury. Still, all the hard work never really paid off. Even if it did, it did not satisfy me. There were other things that I was passionate about; things that tried to grab my energy and attention. And were often successful. Fashion, for example. I have always loved dressing up. After I got the power of money in my hands, I turned into a shopaholic. If I look back at my growing years, it explains a lot. I have always been fond of dressing up – shoes, bangles, earrings and sarees, to be more exact.

And when I did not have money, I recycled. I re-used and recycled clothes (like patialas and dupattas) belonging to my Mother and Aunts.

My creative side was bursting to surface. Corporate didn’t give much scope for that. I wanted to play with colors. I wanted to take splendid photographs. I wanted to travel. I wanted to look good.

That’s when the idea of designing clothes first took birth. I thought, someday, I will turn designer and have my own line of clothes. And even that time I knew I wanted to work on Indian prints, colors and textures.

Since the last 1.5 years, I have been studying Fashion. It is another world altogether, believe me. It has been so interesting and so challenging.

So.. that someday has arrived. It’s here, finally. My own label.

MY. OWN. LABEL.

Oh My God!

I am dying to share it with you guys but for start, here is the sneak peek.

Doing The Denim Trend

I love denims, especially jeans. My favourites are stone washed jeans – jeans that have a worn out look. Of course, ripped jeans are not to be left behind.

I am so glad denim is the texture of the season. Denim and chambray shirts have made a comeback, to be paired with other denims, dresses, skirts and all kinds of patterns and textures. Denim vests too are going to be very visible this season.

Pair well-worn jeans with a loose, sexy plain white shirt. Or wear straight leg denims with a cartoon tee and colored sneakers. Put on a denim vest on a floral dress. Or wear a chambray shift dress. Look laidback with denim & sneakers or sexy with skinny jeans and stilettos. Nothing is as handy denim.

I immediately rushed to find my denim vest-cum-shirt which is extremely cute and versatile. I have worn it in several ways and this is one of them.

Buy this neckpiece here!

The neckpiece is on sale on my shop! Place orders there or in the comments section below.

Share how you wear your denims!

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