Something happens ( Kuch Kuch Hota hai)

Something happens every time we watch a Bollywood movie. ( Right now, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai). There was a long gap before I had this nostalgia for hindi movies and this obsession with the romanticism and this fantasy world in them

Each night since Saturday we've been watching a hindi movie. Either Shahrukh Khan or Ajay Devgan ( Omkara) based on the play, Othello, from Shakespeare. Such a marvelously directed movie.  DDLJ ( reprise). Veer Zara with beautiful Preity Zinta, and the very patriotic movie Pardes, with Shahrukh Khan again. 

N and I agreed one night that we are both so fortunate that I happened to like Bollywood films so much. Can you imagine If I hadn't? what are the chances, huh ?. He enjoys showing them to me, I enjoy watching them as much.

And I think we have a club too. Our finish friends, Laura, Tuomas and Tiina like them already and my friend from the north, Sarita likes them too. She has even cried watching them!

Something definitely happens. Yesterday we were rejoicing, perhaps, at the very last gift of our wedding. That is, the wedding Album! It came too fast-courier from India :) But besides the wonderful wedding album, we had this smaller album gifted by our dear photographer Sowmya and her husband Abhijeet. 

It is so beautiful, I took it to work today to show it to my colleagues and then to my friend M downtown. They loved it! We loved it too. I can't stop looking at the pictures. We are forever and ever grateful for everything we've been blessed with.  It took us 6 months to plan a wedding ( mostly N ) and three months after the wedding we are still enjoying happy memories around it. 

I've been practicing with my guitar. N has been dutifully studying ( and watching movies with me ) We went for our first spring walk on the weekend. Enjoyed the sauna and the balcony. I lost my sports bag ( which contained my shirt, pants, shoes and lunch box with the lunch in it) I left it accidentally at the bus stop near our place ( somehow got distracted and jumped into the bus leaving it behind at the stop) and by the time N had come to pick it up it was already taken / stolen. I called Lost & Found last friday and no one had taken it there yet.  The very next day I lost my gloves ( happens every year) So i guess it's shopping time again for winter gloves. I've taken up 'gym' at home. Rowing machine every night. Feels so good. 

Other than that, my friends, we've been good, we are happy. Love happens.....

What's up with you lately?

Finding Nemo with vanilla ice cream and chocolate cookies

Hi people

Today I worked from home and it was a great day. Great because it was a nice day full of energy and discovery of new things.

Like, I watched videos of Miranda Kerr, the Australian super model. Well, I found out she is super nice and she is all organic. ! Yes. Just the life style I want to follow! She had a baby boy a year back or so and she is looking super fabulous! And she was breastfeeding the baby all this time! Amazing! She doesn't care about 'gravity' and maybe that's the reason God keeps her super fabulous.

She also has these super organic beauty line products that I really really want! They are expensive but N already promised me that we'd get that for me one day. :)

Then I took a sauna after N left for a group meeting with his Uni friends. It was so good! I used the coconut exfoliator that I love from The Body Shop and I also applied organic coconut oil in my hair! Fantastic combination! This therapy session gave me so much energy that after it I went straight to do some rowing on the rowing machine we have at home.

Soon after rowing I saw the telenovela ' Mi Gorda Bella' ( we have all seasons DVD set) that my brother lent to me to watch and after this I decided to go for a walk to the food store to get some stuff for cooking tonight. It was also a good opportunity for me to check whether someone had left a note on the message board of the store of a missing bag. Yes! A bag found on a bus stop yesterday around 7-8 am.  Yes, people, I left my sports bag on the bus stop yesterday. I got somehow distracted that when the bus came to the stop I jumped in and only noticed I had no bag when I got off the bus at the train stop. Such a tragedy. Specially since I had my lunch box in it, but of course my dancing clothes matter as well.

I had a tantrum and I called N to go pick it up but he did not see the message so it was too late by the time he came from work to check on it. It had been taken!

So tomorrow I have to call Lost & Found to see if it's there.

We are doing good. It was a delicious day today! A warm weather and in the night enjoyed some vanilla ice-cream with chocolate cookies N had brought while enjoying a fav movies of mine: Finding Nemo. Made me cry many  many times in the past.

What's your day been like?

Guitar lessons and food

So I started my guitar lessons on Sunday. My left hand is really hurting. I think it is because I have small hands! Yes, you will not believe it but I have really tiny diminutive hands, so I wondered whether a baby guitar would have been a better choice for me. It can't be. I mean, I picked up the smallest guitar in the whole store since I figure it would suit me more since I am pretty small myself.

But I keep on going. I keep on practicing every night despite thinking how on earth could my hands be that small and whether I'd ever play the guitar properly. Aren't pianos and guitars for people with long fingers?

Yesterday after a long long day, I came home and started to cook this delicious Coriander chicken. We usually don't eat much meat. N has always been vegetarian, me on the other hand not, but after meeting him I've been reducing meat recipes and have incorporated more of the veggie ones. But last night I prepared this chicken which is supposed to be organic and it tastes really nice, like in my country. So chicken dinner it was.

But today we had a winner! We had Egg tikka masala. N had picked up the recipe from the internet, from a blog he reads, and it was super super marvelous deliciously good!!!!!!!!!! it was so sweet and it didn't have any sugar.

I prepared the chapatis and we sat together to enjoy the meal while watching our favorite series, Friends, the one where Ross plays the bagpipes. A classic!

Other than that, N has been studying, me playing and visiting my friend. The weather is getting beautifully better every day. The sun is shining and you can actually hear the birds singing now, you can hear them clearly. The snow is melting. We are so looking forward to the summer!

What are you looking forward to?

Coriander chicken

Yummy!

Egg Tikka Masala

Perfect combination!

Nutritious food!

Not chez moi but even better

Soon to enjoy some Stockmann ( department store) gourmet chicken with home made rice and downstair store's ripe avocado, I am reporting today from my dear friend's M house.

Originally I had invited her and another friend to come over the weekend since N is having a Hackathon this whole time and I thought It'd be nice to have the girls over but since M # 2 could not make it, M #1 and I spent this whole afternoon in the center and now in her house. My sister A also joined us for a while in the city center.

Today I also purchased a guitar. My first very own guitar which I've been wanting to have long time back and now I can finally start learning and playing. So people, one year from now I'd probably be posting my own Youtube videos playing some songs for you .

Food is being prepared. I am in a comfy sofa. The babies are slept. Just the two grown-up girls enjoying an evening watching a movie.

Wishing you all a very nice Saturday!

Au revoir!

What the studies show

Yesterday I went to another dance class. This time I was determined that I'd go alone even if my sister didn't come with me.

But she did, (phew!) but she was late. I went alone into the dance class called 'Old Disco' that was about to start. 

I now know that what the studies show is really really true. N had told me, just one week before, of a study where they prove that when a person ( usually old) listens to old songs ( from his époque) or see things that bring back old memories, the brain switches to ' Young mode'. That is, you instantly become energetic. In other words, if you recreate things from your past, you automatically will feel younger. 

I didn't pay much attention then but the thing I last recall from that conversation was that on the TV a documentary showing results of this study conducted by the same writer of the Book N had read and from which he told me this, was being shown on a Saturday before I left to meet some friends. Somehow what he said remained in the back of my mind. 

Then to my surprise yesterday, the class was not about oldie songs from the seventies as I had expected. It was pure nineties, more specifically, Backstreet Boys, N' sync, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, 5ive, etc. 

If you know me, you'd instantly guess that I felt immediately really happy to be able to have an aerobic class with my teenage time favorite songs. Just in the last aerobic class I was dying of boredom, but yesterday my energy levels surpassed the 100%. My sister was even amused at the sight of me. I was full dancing mode from the first minutes to to the last moments of the class I felt I should have given the teacher a kiss on the cheeks, just to show him how happy he had made me feel.

So it is true! I became 17 years old again for one hour. I remembered even all the lyrics from the songs, i remembered the steps ( but we learned a new choreography yesterday) but the most important thing, I felt young and happy! Not that I am old but you know what I mean, right?

So, why don't you try? 

I also wonder why do we have to change our environment every time and stop listening to the songs from 10 years back? Is it me or also you? Is your house, room apartment much much different than what it was 10 years back? Are the clothes too very different? why don't we keep old things from the past but replace them with the new stuff? Something to think about.

So to top this fabulous thursday, when I arrived home at nine after having figured out, in the bus, what I'd cook for my most probably starving husband,  guess what is my surprise? N had prepared an ultra super exquisite delicious indian meal, Bhindi masala with ladies fingers and it was heavenly good! We reached heaven in the very moment we chewed our first mouthful. I took some pictures. We ate with this finnish karjalanpiirakka ( rice pies) because we both were starving and making chapatis would take me longer than heating the ready made rice pies.

So voilá. This is N's successful plate

A bitten rice pie by a hungry photographer 

The one with the Harley Davidson and summer

So I had this dream.

I dreamed we owned this Harley Davidson motorcycle and it had been kept in the garage. I thought ' How can we have such a treasure inside a garage?' ' What does that say about me? That I don't live my life the fullest? that we don't live our lives the fullest? ' So I said to N ' Lets take the Harley Davidson, baby and let's cruise around the town! Let's drive all the way to the city. Let's have some fun. We don't have to pay parking tickets for a car. A Motorcycle is much more convenient' . In the next clip of my dream, I was sitting in the backseat of the cycle and my hair was blowing. It was a hot beautiful summer day. We were having the time of our lives.

Not that I've never looked forward to summer before, but this time it just feels different. Is it because of the new house? The balcony? To know that in the summer you can go ' out ' into that special corner of your house and enjoy private sun bathing? Keep doors and windows open? See the birds watching me from the tree opposite our balcony? I suppose they expect me to feed them too. 

What is it that makes the beginning of the spring and the waiting for the summer feel it different this time? Have I become old enough to appreciate seasons better or is there something really in the air? 

Despite being cold right now, having the sun touch your pale face every morning now feels wonderful. 

What have you felt differently lately?

Waiting for the summer frozen orange juice?

More beautiful things

A present given by your friend. My mom always tells me that when I give a present to someone, it should be something that friend will remember you for. Like, if you give a perfume, it vanishes and you throw the bottle at some point. But if you give something for the house, every time your friend sees it, uses it, moves it, it will bring that special memory of you.

This is exactly what happens to me after happily owning things that have been given with love to us. A tray from our friend, Jaana. It's just lovely and we use it now in the living room to place fruits in it so after dinner we can enjoy a fruit as desert.

A beautiful cooking oil pourer. It was given by our friend Mariana. The design is so lovely and so fragile I just love it. How cute can that be? How many people will for sure ask, 'where did you get that ?' Or my Pentik collection, I remember every person who bought a plate, or a cup to my collection and they come in handy everyday. Or the beautiful China from Singapore. Used to keep our chapatis warm every night. The pink thermal bottle that I frequently use in my kitchen. The beautiful designed grater or the fengshui properties activating mini fountain. 

Every corner of the house has a special memory, an artifact, that has that sentimental value. That thing you don't want to let go of. These things make me happy.

The yellow flowers that N buys every time we have guests at home. He knows that in Fengshui, yellow flowers make guests feel welcome. ( I've told him). And he remembers. Or the flowers and tulips that your guests bring you.

The plants that you could have never thought of buying because of the fear that you will spoil them, but when given by someone, you take good care of them ( You even talk to them, because they say it's good)

The fact that it's a beautiful day outside and you know spring is making his way over this country. The good day with a good conversation. A day with a realisation of something. 

Today. I came home and smelled this coconut fragrance that I just love. I used this coconut exfoliation cream last saturday and since then the house smells like this, which is weird because since we cook everyday the house smells like food but today and just today it had this lovely coconut fragrance so in I stepped in to our home. Removed my coat, gloves, hat, scarf, shoes. Took the grocery bag to the kitchen, removed the fruits, placed them in our new tray in the living room. Took a look at the roses and tulips. Walked into our bedroom to notice there is a tea cup on top of the night table. I thought ' oh, N has forgot'. When I approached it, and since it was a little bit dark, I noticed the figure of a man lying on the bed. It was N ! He was having a nap.! Husband had come home earlier than me today and had decided to take a nap. I should have taken a pic just then, because it looked really cute!

So, tell me, what are your beautiful things?

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Why wives do and men don't?

The other night when I was starting to cook at around eight, I felt a little bit bored. Had no energy whatsoever but we needed to eat. In that moment N enters the kitchen and once our eyes met, I asked ' Why is it that women have to cook for the men?' He burst into a laugh.

He obviously didn't know the answer right then and there and I think he managed to mumble the words * I don't know*. Slow paced. He then proceeded to ask ' Do you want me to cook?' to which I answered, 'No, it's ok'. Next I switched on my internal dialogue and asked myself the next question, ' If men and women are both working, why is it that when both get home, the women start to cook? '

Reason would tell me that unless you are very rich, you have to cook and eat at home. I do, of course, want to eat top chef restaurant foods served on my plate. I do want that kind of home delivery, but then again, is it worth paying all those restaurant bills? Besides, I can make myself what I consider top chef food. It comes with love and it tastes delicious. So I do admit cooking at home gets 1 point for now. 

What about the other chores? Like cleaning and doing laundry? Why do men assume that's a chore that automatically has to be done by the wife? Is it because their moms did the same? That's a pretty good reason. Not arguing about that. Then again, if you tell them, the guys, to clean and do laundry, they'll do it without a problem. They are programmed to understand and complete a task, but next time you come home together, it's us, women, again switching to cleaning mode. Men, to resting mode. Not that I am again complaining. You all know how I love cleaning and cooking, but what happens when I get tired or bored? Who is in charge then? 

I guess on a day like this, long time back, a woman like me just felt she had enough. She had enough of doing things she understood men were capable of doing as well. That's how feminism took place? I'll never know.

My mom once told me that men can learn anything if you just teach them. I did that. I taught N the basics and he does a good job with home maintenance. He cooks when he sees I am tired and most of all, he takes good care of me. It seems like the deposit account in our relationship is full from both sides. 

Despite all this, I still wonder, ' Has it also become our daily chore to complicate and over analyze things we, women, opted to live for?' Because I am pretty sure N does not ever analyze his input or mine for that matter. He just seems to be happy the way things are. One big point for men now.

Why so serious? á la Joker

Today we woke up to the sound of the alarm clock but stood up only one hour later. This was going to be a great day. And you can say a bad day too.  Isn't life sometimes fifty fifty, anyways?

Today and yesterday I had this feeling of being sucked up from inside. That feeling in your chest, the sensation that air is somehow deep inside and it wants to get out but it can only succeed if you scream or jump many times on a row. It's frustrating when that happens. But it only happens to people,  I guess, who are kind at heart. Like me. 

When discussing with my dear friend, L, and my sister today, accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate, we agreed that sometimes shutting up is the easiest way to get out of a frustrating situation when a person sucks up the juice you had at the beginning of the day. I gave her an example ( that being personal, cannot mention it here) and in my situation I have had to swallow pride and just go on with life. But on other circumstances, why do we have to stand these unreasonable behaviors? in other words, evil people, Why so serious?

After finishing our nice conversation with L and wishing each other well, my sister and I headed to the book store to see whether we could find something interesting in the sales.  ( -80% even ), we roamed around and finally found 4 books that we liked. When queuing in the line to pay, I went quickly to pick up this Bollywood  book that I wanted to add to our shopping basket. 

When I came back, there was this guy standing next to my sister. Soon after the person before us moved away from the counter, my sister would try to walk to it, then the guy next to my sister stood in front of me and stopped me. He let my sister go. I said ' I am with her'. ' - ' No, you were not'. ' You went to pick a book' ' It's my turn now'. I was thinking whether   this guy was joking, but no, oh no, he was serious. After quarreling for a half minute, I finally told him ' Look, I don't care, you can go' - ' Oh yes, I will' he replied. How a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g is that?

Why is it that some people take situations so seriously? why do they live a life of will to hurt others with word and actions? My sister even tried to defend me by answering something back at him. The good or bad thing was that he also was rude to the cashier girl.  The absurd thing was that there was no one else queuing except for him and us. Was he satisfied?

My sister and I kept swearing inside but could not verbalize it except using the words ' how idiot can that guy be ' ? That's the best we could do.

After relating you this part of the day, let's move on with the good part.

When I came home, the lights were on, music was being played in the bathroom, you certainly knew that N was around, but after removing coat, shoes, gloves, hat, sweater and purse, I went looking for him and saw nothing. After all, he always welcomes me with a kiss. Where was he now? I thought he was playing a trick on me. I do that a lot. I thought I was screwed. I am going to be spooked anytime soon. 

The funny part though was that N was at home, yeah, but in the sauna, people!. He was having a nice finnish style  steam time with himself. It was cute. 

And the last good part, apart from seeing my friend L and my sister, receiving a very nice postcard from Bali from our friends in Singapore, and enjoying a nice dinner with N while watching Scream 3 ( how appetizing! ), here is the pics of the books I purchased today. Dinner chez us, sometimes, people?

PS. Á la joker refers to the character, Joker, in the movie The Darknight. There is this epic scene you'll never forget when Joker is asking ' Why so serious? '.