Life in Snapshots: August Week 4

49ers playing in their new home - Levi's Stadium

Celebrating my promotion with a few good friends! 

Best kale salad in the city

Celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with my family

My happiest place on earth - beaches of Santa Cruz

Life in Snapshots: August Week 3

A little guidance from Oprah to start the week. It's easy to forget the big dreams in light of the little ones.

A leisurely dinner at Chez Maman with this little scruff and his delightful owner

Diets are really hard, especially when fresh fig ice-cream and chocolate sauce are involved. Dessert at Hops & Hominy - worth the calories.

Is it just a coincidence or fate that Gap opened up in London the same year I was born? I am thinking destiny for sure!

Made a few new friends on an evening hike; one of the many reasons I love California

Life in Snapshots: August Week 2

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I knew this week would be 95% work and 5% play because I had a big presentation on Friday. As expected, I worked the usual 11 - 12 hr days in preparation for it. What I didn't expect were the curveballs that would be thrown along the way. Changes are on the horizon and opportunity is knocking and it definitely looks like a lot of work, so I guess I better figure out if I am up for the challenge.

Trading in the summer sandals for fall flats

Long to-do lists call for large coffees

I dressed purely for comfort this week - soft pants and big glasses

A beautiful bridal shower for a beautiful bride at Satori Tea Company

Great new book, tea, bed; don't disturb me - I'm reading

Saturday Morning Ramblings: The World

“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

 -Maya Angelou

Today's ramblings are not my own but they sure do reflect how I feel, so I decided to go with the words of a woman who put it better than I ever could. 

Life in Snapshots: August Week 1

Loving BR's new look for fall. This little burgundy number will be mine!

Shaking up the weeknights by hanging with Mr. and Mrs. Carter

Jane on Larkin's cappuccino - heaven in liquid form

Some nights I have Peanut M&Ms for dinner 

Shakespeare in the Park - not the Globe Theatre, but cozy entertainment on summer nights

Saturday Morning Ramblings: Failing

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Current Tea: Twining's Early Grey; Current Music: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac

Did you ever wonder when the moment was that the adults gave up? When was the moment when the college student who studied art history became the accountant? The girl who wanted to become VP decided she was fine with being just a manager? The moment where we looked at the risk and said, it's not worth the it and settled. We all do it in various areas of our life - friends, family, love, career. We look at our dream world and the reality of our life and decide it's better to stick to reality than go after the dreams. It's what keeps us grounded. Who wants to be the fifty year old with nothing but failed dreams? So, we take what we have and try to make the best of it. We think this is just for now; this isn't my future. See, I don't think it's in a moment that we give it all up at all.  It's actually everyday. It's waking up every morning and making the choice that will make us feel safe instead of going after the one that will push us off the cliff. 

To someone as risk averse as me, I am constantly looking for parachutes before I jump off anything. The thing is, with that kind of nature, we never jump. We just spend our lives collecting the parachutes for the inevitable fall, but we forget that it's never going to come because we won't jump. It becomes an addiction actually. Instead of getting rid of the extra parachutes and just jumping, we keep collecting. It also doesn't help when our friends are doing the same. Who wants to keep dreaming of Mr. Right when your friends are getting engaged left and right? So, you go for the guy who is nice and stable and say, this will be fine. Who wants to keep working long hours and put off having a family when everyone around you is pregnant? You say, I need to focus on my personal life and put the career on the back burner for a while. Why see the world now when you can see it when you retire and can afford to do it in a way you enjoy? That's how the adults gave up. That's how the happy middle is born. Everyday, we look at where we are and try to go just an inch further so we are caught up with the Joneses. We don't jump off the cliff. We just keep collecting parachutes and comparing the number we have with those around of us all the while never grasping that none of us will ever use it. 

Life in Snapshots: July Week 4

The last week of July was just OK. Work kicked up a notch, so my weekdays were filled with meetings and excel spreadsheets. The free time I had from the nine-to-five grind was spent working out or grabbing some food or drinks with a friend. It was what I call an even keel week. Everything was in equilibrium and I got a good amount of work and play.

Newly discovered haunts: RN74 (good happy hour and the space is enormous with lots of light)

Old stomping grounds revisited: Hobee's (this is my spot; if you have known me long enough, you have had breakfast at Hobee's with me. I have been going here since I was fifteen. It's the Central Perk of my life), Oren's Hummus, Joya (the lounge in the back isn't crowded and a great spot to sit and have a conversation), Cafe Pro Bono (my favorite Italian joint in South Bay; the owners are so fun and wonderful), Shoreline Park - the Baylands trails is my favorite spot to run in the bay area, especially during sunset time.

Needless to say, I blew my restaurant budget out of the water for the month of July. So, I guess I will balance that out in August by trying out some of those Pinterest recipes I keep pinning.

Leisurely brunch at Hobee's laughing it up with a good friend on a Sunday morning. Now you know why I have been going there for ten years. Look at that plate! The cinnamon tea is also wonderful.

The sweetest souvenir I ever received and one of the most useful too! It definitely adds some island flavor to my afternoon tea 

Two peas in a pod: catching up with one of my good friends from college

Spending Saturday indulging in my favorite activity - vacation planning!

Running away from my troubles and worries

Saturday Morning Ramblings: London

Current tea: PG Tips; Current music: London Calling by The Clash

You know how Katy Perry feels about Friday nights? Well I have the same kind of infatuation with Saturday mornings. Instead of dancing on tables and drinking too much vodka, I dance around my room in cotton pajamas while drinking too much chai. It's the time of the week when my Only Child Syndrome is the strongest. I don't want to talk to anyone; I just want to be left alone with my thoughts, some hot tea, and some good music. Today, my mind is preoccupied with the idea of London. It's the good kind of preoccupation where you just mull through your thoughts at a slow and steady pace. So, I figured I would torture you with the twisted workings of my mind because well…that's why we have the internet. 

San Francisco is my home. London is my love-affair. I fell in love with England at the ripe old age of eight when my mom introduced me to the wonders of Enid Blyton. I devoured The Secret Seven and The Famous Five series. Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted for my birthday, the reply would be swift - a Blyton book please. When I moved from India, I packed one suitcase of clothes and one suitcase of books. My dad was wonderful in indulging my bookworm tendencies and never questioned my need to bring all my books with me across the world. My Enid Blyton books were my security blanket. So, even if I was moving so far away to a country where I knew no one and had no idea about how I would fit in, I would be OK as long as I had Julian, Anne, Dick, and George with me. To this day, when I have had a particularly horrendous week, I open up my favorite Famous Five book. Fast forward a few years and I discovered the wonders of Harry Potter. The boy wizard helped me make my first set of friends in America because even though I was the new kid in Sunnyvale Middle School with an accent and two long braids, I could still relate to those around me through my love of Harry Potter. My anglophile tendencies are completely intertwined with my identity as a bookworm, so it's no surprise that the place I wanted to visit the most when I grew up was England.

I got the chance to visit London when I was 24. It was an impromptu trip triggered by one of my best friends saying she was going. I was nervous about the trip. What if it isn't as wonderful as it was in my head? What if I have the worst experience getting around that I leave completely frustrated? There's nothing so disheartening as having a dream get shattered and London was my dream world. So, I went with by bag of doubts and excitement. I loved it. I loved the vibe of the city, the atmosphere, the people, the bustle. I remember standing in the middle of Trafalgar Square on St. Patrick's Day and thinking - "I made it. I actually made it." I wished with all my heart I could spend months in that place. Ever since I got back from that trip, I kept trying to find ways to go back. Maybe I can to graduate school there. Maybe I can go work for the London office. It still remains my dream city, my prince charming when I get disillusioned with my current life, the one place in the world I desperately want to live even for a brief moment in time. Maybe that's what it should remain. A beautiful dream of a city that I can escape to once in a while. After all, we all need a place in the world that is pure fantasy and thrill and London is that for me. The city of my dreams that I feel incredibly lucky to visit and share whenever I get the chance.