That Friday feeling...

The week has been a hectic one, you have been swamped with work, with long hours at the grind, counting down to the one day that is my favourite (as it must be yours) -Friday ! :-)

There are some weeks when you want to go check out a new restaurant and you have made dinner reservations at the start of the week for Friday evening. Or perhaps for you, Fridays are about catching the new movie that is playing at the cinemas or a new play at the theatre. Those who believe in 'head-banging their stress away' would make a beeline for the nearest pub and party the night away. While there are others such as yours truly, who would look forward to a Friday evening at home, that has the promise of being cozy, where I am surrounded by people and things I love :-)

Nothing like letting the lamp light romance your favourite knick knacks on the table, telling you stories,some of silhouettes and some of revelations ! In the glow of your favourite table lamp, the roses adorn a deeper colour, the plants look a luminous green. The stage is set for Friday night !

It is the warmth of the cushion against your elbow, the relaxing feeling of your heels sinking into the rug beneath your feet, the twinkling lights of the city, creating patterns against the glass windows of your balcony and the best of Kishore playing on the iPod that makes the evening magical for me. A simple, cozy Friday night where I belong, in my home.

And it is now time to pull out one of those recipes that you have bookmarked and researched many days ago, to put together a simple, home cooked, yet special meal. Accompany that with a good bottle of wine, let some favourite songs play softly on the sound dock and you have an evening to look forward to ! :-)

So here's a toast to a wonderful weekend to all of you, I hope you spend it the way you love to, with your family and friends, and it turns out to be just as amazing as you hoped it to be ! Would love to hear about it :-) See you on the other side !

Singing a song that's Pink !

While the world debates over whether life is all black and white, or if it brings with it varying shades of grey, I am happy to be day dreaming about one that is splashed with pink hues this week. To be honest, it is not really just THIS week, I think pink is a colour that finds me favouring it on a regular basis ! :-)

Pink has so many associations to boast of, the memories of my mother's pink chiffon saree, the softest fabric I have ever touched, with sprays of white and pink flowers on it, bringing with it such a soothing effect in the scorching heat of May, linger on. 

The thought of baby pink that reminds you of Johnson's baby lotion and all things 'baby' along with it. The piggy bank you had as a child, your savings stashed away safely inside it. 

Pink that talks of the 'pink-orange' sky as the sun prepares to call it a day, the hues that change colour with every passing second. Pink that makes you dream of a field full of strawberries, of cherry blossoms and misty roses.

Pink that brings along with it memories of cotton candy that was sold outside the gates of your school, that would soften the withered and toughened face of the old man who would sell it.

Pink that makes you think of celebration, of subtle decor at a wedding, of pink pearls and pink champagne...:-)

The list is endless, and then there is of course the pink that adds its gentle beauty to the decor in your home...

The subtle pink carnations in that shy corner, puckering up to kiss the warm rays of the sun...

Or the pretty ones that add the feminine touch to the silver candle stand behind them...

Or the pink that breaks tradition, who says all elephants should be grey ? I think they were totally meant to be pink ! :-)

And the one battle for pink that is the toughest and almost impossible to win is this one below...specially when the colour palette for the better half is 'black-white-and blue', but...persist I shall ! :-)

Have a lovely week ahead ! Needless to say, hope it has a bit of pink in it too. I promise to be back here with more soon :-)

Love for the Eclectic !

Eclecticism, an ancient philosophy which drew on multiple sources for inspiration for a piece of art, rather than just relying on a single stream of thought. It is about deriving ideas and developing your own enviable sense of style from a 'mish-mash' of a broader and more diverse range of concepts. Thinking beyond aesthetic limitations is also a process of self discovery, don't you think ? What grows along with your sense of style is you ! :-)

Having said that, I am sure many of you will find your sense of decor reflecting this philosophy. I find myself doing more and more of it and deriving great satisfaction from the end results. It is a mixed bag of cultural influences, innovative usage of what would otherwise be mundane, and a 'spray of this-and a dash of that' which inspires my canvas towards the 'eclectic'.

Moving away from the stereotype is always exciting. Why not expand the drawing board, borrow concepts from other cultures, use art and craft that may be native to a different part of the world, transform what is 'discarded-and-old' into 'vintage-yet-useful' and see your home come alive with the 'not-so-mainstream' yet beautiful !

At the risk of sounding complex and perhaps even inelegant to some, I think there is great joy in being 'consistently inconsistent' in the world of decor and art. So while you enjoy your elevenses today at home, do look around you and share with me your very own 'eclectic find', your uniquely different style. I'd love to hear about it and feel inspired too. 

Nailing it !! :-)

There are many things we take for granted while we live in our motherland, carpenters and handymen definitely being one of them ! Well, easier said than done when you are not living on home turf !

If you are an art lover, then you will understand the 'urgency' behind wanting to see something from your collection up on the wall. And why would it not be a contender for the top bullet on your 'to-do' list ! You have after all, spent the past few weeks staring at different corners of the house, studying the wall space from different angles, agonising over the correct height, sleeping with the inch-tape clenched in the fist and so on and so forth ! And then at last, when you've zeroed in on 'the' spot, you face the real challenge of 'nailing it'!

'Challenge number one'- Koreans love their silk, and wallpaper here is more precious to them than anything else. So the thought of putting up a frame on the wall was nothing short of blasphemy ! Then once we dealt with the demons in our head and 'convinced' ourselves that the painting deserves pride of place, came 'Challenge number two': finding a guy to give it that honoured seat !

'Is it really such a pressing need?', asks the better half. The answer is obviously and unquestionably, the affirmative ! And so a much distressed husband sets off to identify the (not-so-handy)man for the job. After many frustrating conversations in 'Eng-Kor', he does get hold of one such chap. And our friend lands up at the 'scene of the crime' with a hammer in his hand, no measuring tape (what's that??!!) a few nails and a 'you've-gone-nuts-for-doing-this' look on his face ! So it was with a prayer in the heart and a love for 'approximate measures' that the piece of art was given its much deserved place on the wall.

And whenever I see it up on the wall, the thought of fighting 'tooth-hammer-drillmachine-and nail' comes back to my mind and I beam for having emerged victorious in this battle! And for all my readers in India, do offer the 'society-wallah carpenter' a royal seat in your living room the next time, for he totally deserves being the VIP that he is ! Wink.

Encounters with the Sun !

Hello there ! Hope you had a great weekend and Monday blues are on the subside by now !

Just wanted to quickly stop by, and share with you, my moment of inspiration today. It was my 'tete-a-tete' with the sunshine this morning !

There is something magical about being an audience to the first few rays of the sun hitting your home. I have always experienced that these rays bring with them such a positive vibe. You feel your home is soaking up their fresh energy, getting cleansed and purified with every drop of sunshine that drenches it. It almost feels like it is nature's 'detox-ritual', leaving your surroundings feeling squeaky clean, scrubbed of any negativity, filled with renewed vigour ; the Sun God's way of saying, 'today is a new day, look ahead' !

In this part of the world we have had an unusually warm winter this year, and we have been blessed with sunshine for most part of the month that just went by. Sharing with you one such 'sun-kissed' moment from earlier this morning. Left me feeling refreshed and inspired, about the day ahead and the week too.

Hope it makes you feel positive and good about your day as well. Have a great week ! :-)

On Women's Day ! :-)

While I am not a big believer of the 'One-Day-a-Year' concept dedicated to all sorts of things -'Rose Day', 'White Day', 'Valentines Day', 'Take-your-dog-out-for-a-walk-day' and what-not, I do agree that every woman deserves to treat herself to something that makes her truly happy at least 'occasionally' if not more frequently than just 'occasionally' :-)! Now if you choose to do it today, then it would be your treat to yourself for what they refer to as 'Women's Day' ! Which is not a bad idea at all ! :-)

It could be as simple as a steaming cup of coffee in the sun, a couple of undisturbed hours when you can finally finish that book at one stretch, or finally getting that floral dress that you have been 'window-shopping' for the past whole month, a nice long walk by the river with your iPod playing your favourite playlist or maybe a few hours at the nursery eyeing your favourite plants !

Or it could be, as is in my case, a simple bunch of flowers that add colour to your living room. Mine is fragrant right now with the heady scent of these 'stalks'. Reminds me of my parents garden where they are planted every year for them to bloom around January and February. You get them in vibrant shades of purple and crimson, and of course the subtle lemon and white !

Aren't they beautiful? Totally in love with the sweet fragrance that is drifting in right now, gently asserting the presence of these gorgeous flowers in my home this weekend, lest I neglect them as I get busy with Saturday chores :-) Happy Women's Day, and if you do choose to treat yourself today, to celebrate the beautiful woman that is YOU, do tell me how you did it  :-) Look forward to seeing your comments !

Turning a house into a home !

Hello All ! 

After much vacillation on whether to start a blog of my own or not,(I already think I spend way too much time on social networking sites :-)) I finally decided to create a page to share my thoughts with everyone. So here I am !

I wasn't very sure what the subject for my first post here ought to be, so I decided to share a note on what is top of the mind for me these days. It's all about gathering twigs to make that perfect nest ! :-) 

I recently moved to South Korea with my husband and the past couple of months have been all about setting up our home here. 

Doing up a home, as all you seasoned 'nesters' would agree is lots of fun, but is also at times easier said than done. Getting the colour themes right, deciding the look-and-feel of different corners, what art needs to adorn which wall etc. etc. can all be lots of fun but sometimes frustrating too. 

But the husband wanted that 'his wife should have the pleasure of choosing the furniture' ( and everything else that goes along with it ).Well, guess WHO'S NOT complaining ! :-).

So I landed up at (for the most part of it ) an empty apartment- two plates, two forks, two spoons and the biggest television screen I'd ever seen in my life and was oh-so-grateful for the blank canvas ! :-)

And then it was time to unleash the paints, so here I am, living my dream of building a home of the house we live in. The journey here has just begun and am absolutely loving it. The feeling of 'Our first this, and first that..' is unparalleled joy :-)

I love all things pretty, just like all of you, and I hope to post some snippets here that shall appeal to your sense of decor too, what I fondly refer to as 'A Treat for the Senses' :-)  

Posting one such picture here from my home that I love. Catching a glimpse of this makes me smile every morning. Hope you like it too :-)

Welcome to my blog once again, and do keep visiting and writing in ! :-)

Karishma