Freewheeling Friday-1

I have decided to pay more attention to this blog.
Because my job now requires me to develop "Marketing Collaterals" with loads of "Information Development" thrown in.
This means I have to write and develop content as well as edit written content,in addition to working on complex excel sheets and figuring how to "concatenate" and use a pivot table.

I figured if I could do all this,I could most definitely string together a few sentences for my blog...at least every friday and hence "Freewheeling Friday" was born :)

The Good : I decided to write more on my blog.
The Bad   : I hate proofreading and editing(I do enough of that at work!) and so I just write and publish  without a second glance.

The Good : We went shopping this week for a friend's birthday and found her a gorgeous dress from Chemistry.
The Bad : I ended up buying a dress that I most certainly did not need.

The Good : The husband is back from his work trip.
The Bad   : He is now craving home cooked food and I have nowhere to run!

The Good : I'm having a slumber/PJ party with some friends today.
The Bad   : There is a looooot of wine on the menu and I can feel the hangover coming on already.

The Good : I found a Jeffrey Archer book that I had not read. "As the Crow Flies"
 The Bad  : I left the book in Cochin and now have to wait a while untill I get my hands on it.

So that was me "freewheeling" through my week :)

Did you do something good or bad over the week?

And to Cochin I went :D

You know you have had the best holiday when

• Your daughter hugs you,remembers you and wants to hang out with you ALL the time much to your mom's chargin! :) (But forgets you the minute you leave,smart kids these days!)Love you Cookie..can't wait to have you with me full time!But I'm so glad your formative years are with someone who pays so much attention to you.You wouldn't have learnt all the things that you have with me or anywhere else!
• You meet old friends who have come down from different parts of the world.One of whom is a new mommy now! Ann : Love you girl.Like you were telling my grand mom,our friendship is so special.We pick up where we left off no matter when,where or how we are! Nisha : Lil Nidya is a doll!And we had such a good time meeting you.Cookie had a ball.I just hope she doesn't pester me asking for a sister now! :DMithun : I met you after 6 long years but it felt like just yesterday we used to hang out at "Sonya" near college.It was fun reminiscing about the good old days and how we used to pile into my car and drive off to Wellington Island,discussing how the Navy Ball was the biggest social event of the year and wondering how we managed to pass out of college after the amount we bunked!Cookie loved you!I have 10 solo pics of you in my phone to prove that.And thanks for the pasteries :)I ate most of them tho!
• You eat AMAZING food that you didn't have to make!Egg roast,Chicken fry,Avial,Beans thoran,Ghee Parathas...slurrrp.Now I am just hungry and sad!
• You get to spend quality time with your mom,which is a luxury after you get married.You get to go shopping with her like the good old days.Help her choose stuff and get her opinion on the stuff you want to buy.Plus you will be surprised at the great fashion choices my mom makes!

These are just snippets because we did much more more some good like bagging a yummy gold necklace and earrings and some bad like watching "Agent Vinod".

But anyway fab holiday and I cannot wait for the next! :D

Ewwwww...

I am quite the "Absent Minded Professor" not as much now as I was earlier but still some.
I mean I was the type who would turn the house upside down looking for my scrunchy that would have been around my wrist since morning.
But then I went and got married to someone who is much more absent minded than me and had no choice but to change(slightly!)
Now in case you are wondering why this post has such a gripping title,hold on because I'm getting to it.

I just got back from a whirlwind holiday to Cochin(more on that later :),but I had a ball despite the heat!) and being the supposedly "more" responsible one I took my toothbrush along.

This is my toothbrush-Cover and all!

I got back from Cochin yesterday and my husband took off to Delhi a mere 4 hours after I landed, on work he says but sometimes I wonder if he does this purposely since I am at my grumpiest after a holiday(unless I know there is another one in the offing,which unfortunately this time there wasn't)!Anyway the husband and his antics deserves a whole other post!This wouldn't do him justice! :P

So imagine my surprise when I go to brush my teeth at night and realize he has taken off with my toothbrush!

Get it? "Ewwwww"

I don't know about others but I don't,I repeat ,I don't like sharing toothbrushes!
I called him up to tell him this and he says "You mean the blue one with a cover isnt mine?"

This is just wrong on so many levels

• Did he not get a good enough look at his purple toothbrush since he got it last month?
• Worse.. did he not brush his teeth at all when I was away?(you never know!)
• And most importantly has he been using my blue toothbrush all this while?? (I don't even want to think about that scenario!)

This reminded me of a HIMYM episode where Ted,Robin,Marshall and Lily find out that they all used the same toothbrush  at some point in time.I laughed then.

Not so much now!

Now excuse me while I go find myself a sickly pink toothbrush and keep it under lock and key!
And to think I've been accused of being absent minded!Hummpphh!

P.S My excessive use of "!"'s is on purpose!!!

Kahaani....

No denying it...it was a good movie.Absolutely worth a watch.And better than most of the other movies that have come out in recent times,including "The Dirty Picture" which I didn't like very much.I thought it was way too dramatic/melodramatic.

Anyway coming back to "Kahaani" - I adored Vidya Balan's acting as well as the entire ensemble cast and crews acting.Top Notch!

Story : Now here's where I had some minor gripes.

• Starting with a pregnant Indian lady who has no Indian family whatsoever.
• Two years of marriage and only 1 photo of her and her husband (My husband loathes taking pics and I still have a million of them,not smiley ones but still! )
• How is it possible for someone to convince a police officer to pick locks with a bobby pin!at the drop of a hat was something I found a little hard to digest
• Also did no one think of checking her credentials at all?Passport copy?Did she actually manage to get by the entire movie without signing her name even once?
• How does a once pregnant domesticated lady learn how to do karate chops ala Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?

 The good thing about the movie though is that it makes you forget all of these issues since it grips you with its story telling format.Your first reaction by default is to say I LOVED the movie and it is only in retrospect that you realize "Huumm wonder how she managed that?!"

I still maintain that it is a great one time watch and much much much better than the stuff out there now!

And Vidya..take a bow!

When you are way too lazy to blog! :D

Level 1
(x) Smoked A Cigarette- and hated it!!ugghh do ppl actually do this for pleasure!
(x) Smoked A Cigar- Shared both the above with my husband and WE DID NOT LIKE IT!
() Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(x) Drank Alcohol - and puked and swore never to drink again (the husband secretly managed to get that swear out of me while I was nursing a hangover!)

Level 2
(x) Are / Been In Love – yeah,still am! *blush*
() Been Dumped
() Shoplifted
( ) Been Fired
(x) Been In A Fist Fight - Does roughing around with my cuzins count?

Level 3
(x) Had A Crush On An Older Person-Oh my! :D
(x) Skipped School – Hellllooo.....I'm normal! :D
( ) Slept With A Co-worker
(x) Seen Someone / Something Die - Something...NOT someone...SOMETHING!

Level 4
(x) Had / Have A Crush On One Of Your Facebook Friends -Normal!Remember! :)
( ) Been To Paris-But I waaaant to and hopefully soon!
( ) Been To Spain-Now you just making me want to take a loooong vacation!
(x) Been On A Plane - Yeah more times than I would like!(I'm not crazy about flying though I don't tell ppl that!)
(x) Thrown Up From Drinking - I'm not drunk now,I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before!

Level 5
(x) Eaten Sushi – Yes and uuggghh!
( ) Been Snowboarding - Nope unless you count a tin sheet,14500 ft,ice and the Himalayas.But fun Snowboarding-NO!
() Met Someone BECAUSE of Facebook – Like old friends??
(X) Been in a Mosh Pit-Bryan Adams...I <3 you!

Level 6
() Been In An Abusive Relationship - No chance!
(x) Taken Pain Killers – Taking one right now :( damn you cavities!
() Love/loved Someone Who You Cant Have
(x) Laid On Your Back And Watched Cloud Shapes Go By - and you dont even have to be high to enjoy this! :D
() Made A Snow Angel - Again ICE,SNOW,HIMALAYAS!You have to start paying attention!:P

Level 7
(x) Had A Tea Party - So many many!Both imaginary and real!
(x) Flown A Kite – yup,tried to make a kite too!
(x) Built A Sand Castle – Again many many times! :)
( ) Gone mudding (offroading)
(x) Played Dress Up – hehehe still do!

Level 8
(x) Jumped Into A Pile Of Leaves – messy but fun and you have to clear up after!
( ) Gone Sledging
(x) Cheated While Playing A Game – Kinda have to when the husband is around!He cheats at Pictionary!
() Been Lonely - not really!Always had a amazing support system!
(x) Fallen Asleep At Work / School – Nope I don't sleep except in my bed.I try avoiding naps on planes and trains also!

Level 9
(x) Watched The Sun Set – Yesssss and it brings back awesome memories!
(x) Felt An Earthquake – a teeny tiny tremor,yes!
(x) Killed A Snake-I didnt but the workers in the estate did,I saw and didnt do anything:( Still regret that!

Level 10
(x) Been Tickled – who hasn't??? :)
(x) Been Robbed / Vandalized – sadly, yes... at college...!!! damn you 'whoever you are'!!
( ) Been cheated on - Not that I know of
(x) Been Misunderstood - Yeah but always been cleared up :)

Level 11
(x) Won A Contest – Quite a few :)
() Been Suspended From School - Nope
() Had Detention - Nope :)
() Been In A Car / Motorcycle Accident - Nope Touch wood!

Level 12
(x) Had / Have Braces - Yes and hated it!
() Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night – Do I look it?!
(x) Danced in the moonlight - awwwww :)


Level 13
(x) Hated The Way You Look - Oh yeah!
() Witnessed A Crime -
(x ) Pole Danced - Heheheh lets just say not in public!
(x) Questioned Your Heart - Yeah!
(x) Been obsessed with post-it-notes – Still am!Dont have as much access to them now tho!

Level 14
(x) Squished Barefoot Through The Mud- Didn't want to,HAD to!Uggghh!
(x) Been Lost - looooong story...
() Been To The Opposite Side Of The World
(x) Swam In The Ocean - Yup I love the water!
(x) Felt Like You Were Dying - Nope!

Level 15
() Cried Yourself To Sleep – Nope
(x) Played Cops And Robbers –  Yeah yeah and host of other games too!
(x) Recently Colored With Crayons / Colored Pencils / Markers - I have a 2 year old,I have crayon drawings on my wall!
(x) Sang Karaoke - a wedding!Decent voice I tell ya!
(x) Paid For A Meal With Only Coins – Yeah in like the school cafeteria or something.

Level 16
(x) Done Something You Told Yourself You Wouldn't – Nothing as of now.
(x) Made a Prank Phone Call – Heheh yeah a couple.
(x) Laughed Until Some Kind Of Beverage Came Out Of Your Nose – Please Like I am going to admit it here!
(x) Kissed In The Rain - Hummmnnn :)

Level 17
(x) Written A Letter To Santa Claus-So many,I always got what I asked for also :)
(x) Watched The Sun Set/ sun rise With Someone You Care/Cared About - Yes!
(x) Blown Bubbles - 2 year old alert :)
(x) Made A Bonfire On The Beach or anywhere – Yup!

Level 18
() Crashed A Party – I'm always invited!
() Have Traveled More Than 5 Days With A Car Full Of People
(x) Gone Rollerskating / Blading - Yup
(x) Had A Wish Come True – Yup
() Been Humped By A Monkey - Monkey-NO!

Level 19
(x) Worn Pearls –
() Jumped Off A Bridge - Why would I?
( ) Swore at the teacher, in front of them - NO!How rude!
( x) Swam With Dolphins..Atlantis Dubai

Level 20
() Got Your Tongue Stuck To A Pole/Freezer/ice Cube -
() Kissed A Fish -
(x) Worn The Opposite Sex's Clothes – 'duh... yeah...
(x) Sat On A Roof Top – many a time!

Level 21
(x) Screamed At The Top Of Your Lungs – Too many times!
(x) Done / Attempted A One-Handed Cartwheel – Yup
(x) Talked On The Phone For More Than 6 Hours – yeah... telephone companies survive coz of people like me!
(x) Recently stayed Up for a while talking to someone you care about

Level 22
() Picked And Ate An Apple Right Off The Tree
(x) Climbed A Tree
(x) Had/Been In A Tree House-Loved it!
(x) Been scared To Watch Scary Movies Alone – Naaahh,I love em!

Level 23
() Believed In Ghosts
(x) Have had More Then 30 Pairs Of Shoes  and counting!
() Gone Streaking
() Visited Jail

Level 24
(x) Played Chicken
(x) Been Pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
(x) Been Told You're Hot By A Complete Stranger - LOL,the things guys say to get your number!
() Broken A Bone - Not yet!
(x) Been Easily Amused -Yeaahhh I'm easy that way :)

Level 25
( ) Caught A Fish Then Ate It Later
( ) Made A Porn Video/got asked to make one
() Caught A Butterfly – They are too pretty
(x) Laughed So Hard You Cried – Yeah
(x) Cried So Hard You Laughed – Nope!

Level 26
( ) Mooned/Flashed Someone
(x) Had Someone Moon/Flash You -
(x) Cheated On A Test - *Sheepish* yeah!
(x) Forgotten Someone's Name – So bad with names!
(x) French Braided Someones Hair – I am good at it :)
(x) Gone Skinny Dipping-Yes
() Been Kicked Out Of Your House
() Tried to hurt yourself

Level 27
(x) Rode A Roller Coaster – Yesss...Singaporeee!
(x) Went Scuba-Diving/Snorkeling Maldives
(x) Had A Cavity  too many!
(x) Black-Mailed Someone – }:)
(x) Been Black Mailed – :)

Level 28
() Been Used –
(x) Fell Going Up The Stairs – slipped is more like it..
() Licked A Cat
(x) Bitten Someone – and been bitten too :)
(x) Licked Someone – LOL!

Level 29
( ) Been shot at/or at gunpoint
(x ) Had sex in the rain
() Flattened someones tires -
(x) Rode your car/truck until the gas light came on
(x) Got five dollars or less worth of gas

Sex and the City!My Take!

I remember catching episodes of Sex and the City when I was in the 8th grade or so and being terribly impressed by Carrie and gang!I mean she had it all...

• Lives in New York in her own apartment
• Has the most delish shoe collection
• Seemed to know everyone in Manhattan who mattered
• Was invited to all the happening parties
• Settled down with a multimillionaire!

Then recently since broadband made downloading series easier I decided to download season 1 to 6 of SATC!And my god has my impression about the gang changed!

Carrie: Irrational,whiney and needs to GROW UP!
I cannot get over what she did to Aiden,they actually had an episode dedicated to the fact that she was uneasy in their relationship because it was perfect!I mean come on!The guy wants her to meet his parents and she freaks!Big refuses to let her meet his mother and she stalks them till church and creates a ruckus Carrie style by dropping one of her hideous clutches down the balcony!(Thankfully not on the old lady's head!)
Make up your mind lady!
But the icing on the cake was her cheating on Aiden WITH BIG! :( and he forgives her and takes her back,asks her to marry him and she says yes but does everything in her power to make him feel otherwise!Who refuses to wear an engagement ring around the finger and puts it on a chain instead!oh..ohh.. and adds a lame ass excuse that its closer to her heart this way in the most unconvincing manner possible!
Her love for shoes I understand but spending her entire paycheck on shoes and expecting Charlotte to bail her out when she wants to buy her house is just cheap!She actually walked into Charlottes apartment and yelled at her for not offering to help her financially!
Siiigghhh....with all those crows feet and wrinkles I would have thought she'd be old enough to get her finances in order at least!


Samantha : Promiscuous,provocative and too old to be both the afore mentioned things!

She is the highly successful PR executive who thinks nothing of changing guys like she (hopefully) changes underwear! She lies to get what she wants (The Birkin bag in the Lucy Liu episode),sleeps with random men (waiters,UPS delivery boys anything!) and hates children (even if its the kid of one of her best friends!).
She uses and discards men at lightning speed but is shocked when she figures out that the rich playboy she has been dating is cheating on her!Hummm...what goes around comes around dahlin!
And before I forget she has a decent thing happening with a waiter/model/actor so she disses him(as seems to be the trend,they cannot handle a decent guy!) to go sleep with "Ex-Rich Playboy Boyfriend" at a party that she had gone to as waiter/model/actor 's date!
As usual waiter/model/actor  forgives her,waits for her to be done(I know!) and then drops her home safely!(Where do they find these guys!).
What I liked about Samantha's character though was how she handled  her breast cancer stage.She was as nonsense as she was earlier and was strong throughout!Behaved like a go getter (even if it meant "pimping" her now boyfriend (waiter/model/actor) )to the receptionist at a hard to get in but amazing Oncologist.

Miranda : High power attorney,no nonsense gal and slightly stuck up.

She comes across as the responsible one throughout the series,that is until she has sympathy sex with Steve and gets pregnant!As seems to be the norm she doesn't love him,doesn't need him UNTILL he moves on and meets someone else!Then he inexplicably becomes the guy for her.But those things aside she does have some kind of sensibilities around her,manages to prioritize her life and works towards achieving it,even if it means leaving baby Brady at home with a nanny.And for all the hard ass that she proclaims herself to be she has shades of softness since she allows Brady to be baptized since Steve's mother wants it done.
And I hope nothing ever happens to her and Steve because Carrie is godmother!Shudder!I can just imagine Brady in Manolo Blahniks!

Charlotte : Shallow,desperate but not obvious!

Am I the only one who thinks Charlotte is shallow?I mean her aim in life is to find a rich,husband,get married and have kids.And she determinedly peruses it!That's when she meets Trey and almost cons him into marry her!She really didn't leave the guy any other option.She then marries him,knowing that he has issues and cannot consummate the marriage.Makes a big scene of it and kicks him out of HIS park avenue penthouse!He fixes his *ahem* problem and she allows him to move in but now wants babies.Puts him through a million tests only to find out that her ovaries are the problem and then becomes irritable and jumpy.
Finally she asks him for a divorce and fights to keep the penthouse which he happily gives her.But what does she manage to do in the meantime?Yes,fall in love with her lawyer!Who isn't good looking as per her standard and so she insults him and insists it on being a one night stand-on a regular basis!
Until......finally accepting that she loves him and converting to Judaism for him!
Extremes I would say!

All in all this show is a good watch I wont deny that and it is written pretty smartly(I really must pick up the book by Candace Brunshell) but if you actually think about it tis is a show about a bunch of semi neurotic women,...but wait...aren't we all??!
Hummm.....no wonder sorrows are drowned in Prada,D&G and Jimmy Shoes!

Happy Birthday Ammumee!

It was my grandmoms birthday on the 20th of Feb 2012 and I was scheduled to be in Goa during that time and couldn't spend it with her,so I settled on the next best thing which was to send her bunch of flowers.(She just loves doing up her drawing room,and its been recently jazzed up!)

I didn't want to leave anything to chance and so I started my research on what to buy ,where to buy etc early in the week.

I checked a number of sites and the first thing I did was to call up the customer care helpline to see the kind of response I would get.Chennai Flowers and Flowers for You had a customer care number that was perpetually busy and so I decided not to go with them (even though they had midnight delivery :( )

I settled on Indiaplaza.com because I have used them before.Not for gifting purposes persay buy I did buy a book from them and I remember an aunt of mine gifted me something from their site on my birthday(Which they home delivered).So I figured they must be good and most importantly they had a customer care line that always answered and seemed professional enough!

So I placed my order for a dozen yellow roses on the 16th of February and asked them to make sure they deliver it on the 20th with a little card that said "Happy Birthday Ammumee,Hope these roses add to your snazzy drawing room".Cute rite?I thought so too!

Anyway I left for Goa that day and got back in the wee hours of the morning on the 20th and spent half the day catching up on work mails and unpacking and it suddenly struck me that I hadnt got a call from home which means that the flowers had not reached!

I called up the customer care helpline (to whose credit I must say were very polite) and  asked for the status of the flowers and was told it would get delivered before 7 p.m.Which was 2 hours away.So I waited patiently and called again around 8 p.m.I was again told that the flowers would get delivered before 8:30 p.m.And guess what?Their customer helpline shuts at 8:30 p.m too.So I asked them what I was supposed to do if the flowers didnt get delivered by 8:30 p.m?And the man on the pther end assured me that it WOULD in fact get delivered for sure!

And surprise!It wasn't delivered!

I angsted over the incident all night  and with no 24/7 customer line to call and vent my frustration needless to say I bit my husbands head off quite a bit!
I realized that I wouldnt be able to sleep well at night (these kind of things irritate me!) unless I did something right then!
I searched linked in and google and found the CEO's email ID .
I then sent him a polite but firm mail stating my issue and order number and what I wanted done to make up for the fact that the flowers had not reached on time.
I also mentioned that I might not be a huge customer for them but it would hold them in good stead if they took care of all their customers.
I didn't really expect a reply but surprisingly there was one the very next day.From the CEO himself,apologizing for the delay.Directing the head of his cusomer care to contact me to sort out the issue and offering to add a complimentary chocolate cake to the flowers to make up for the delay.

That was a pleasant surprise indeed.
True to their word the flowers reached(on the 21st of Feb,i.e a day after the birthday),the cake reached and they called and apologized to my grandmother for the delay.

Now I completely appreciate the gesture and the promptness of the delivery once I made a fuss,but does it make up for the fact that they didnt deliver the flowers on my grandmothers bday?
Is it just me who puts sentiments over the freebies that they provided?
I'm still not sure whether to pen this incident down as a positive or a negative one!

Anyhow if (and that's a major IF since this blog is mostly private!) anyone reads this post they will be able to decide whether or not to go with www.indiaplaza.com,so I hope I have helped there :)