Week 48: Thanksgiving Dinner and Black Friday Shopping Frenzy

For those who have stumbled on my blog just today, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year wherein I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

As I mentioned last week, I am staying put on my festive mood and hence this week for the very first time we had a Thanksgiving Dinner. No, it wasn't a big affair but just me and Sujoy with some good cooked home food. We have been here in US for 2 years now, but this was our first time of celebrating Thanksgiving in the true spirit. At the dinner table, both of us detailed out all the small and big things we are really grateful in our life. Trust me, it wasn't such a serious affair as I realized the kind of things guys are thankful are sometimes may seem hilarious! Sorry, no judging! I as usual was the sentimental fool blurting out even the minutest thing which makes me feel grateful. After my speech, Sujoy almost said 'I am thankful that her speech finally got over!' :)

We had a hearty meal later laughing away at all the craziness!!

The next big mission was the Black Friday shopping. Actually no, it wasn't a big mission this year as we had decided not to fall prey to all the sale frenzy and buy just what is really needed. But guess what? We started with placing our orders online on Amazon and then headed out on Thursday night to Macy's. We bought 2 things which were not listed in our wish list at Macy's that day. That is not all. We went to City Place the next day where we were supposed to go to just one shop. And we ended up going to 3 instead and buying stuff at these 3 outlets. If you thought we stopped at this, then you really underestimate us! We went for lunch at Indus Herbal and then realized the big mall called Palm Beach Outlets is just opposite to this restaurant. By now, you know us! So yes, we went to this mall too and fortunately shopped at just one shop in the entire mall. After that we decided, it was too much of spending now and we need to return back to the safety of our home where no discount deals can lure us! 

Yes, people in US also stand in queue in front of shopping malls. It is Black Friday, no mercy while shopping!

Everything is crowded like crazy. I wonder how parents dare to get their kids here!

I don't have to tell you that my stuff outnumbered Sujoy's stuff by many folds. I don't shop much actually but it seems the Black Friday bug bit me hard this time!

That is all my stuff. I am not saying anymore now.

I have told Sujoy, I am done with my shopping quota and I won't be shopping for a year now! Let's see how true I stick to my words :P

I hope you also had a wonderful time this holiday season :)

Week 47: Spreading Gratitude and Friendsgiving!

For those who have stumbled on my blog just today, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year wherein I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

This week I had one new experience in my kitty plus one new tradition started. Thanksgiving is round the corner and I thought let me blend a little in the American culture too! To be frank, I just did not want the festive mood of Diwali to fade off and hence I thought let's continue with the festive mood with Thanksgiving now and then Christmas :)

I gave a speech on 'My Gratitude Tree' last week in one of the Advanced Toastmasters Club called Palm Beach Advanced Toastmasters. It was my first time that I was a guest speaker in some another club. The theme was Thanksgiving and there was a great spread of food available. I spoke about how a decision I made early this year has changed my entire perspective towards life! Inculcating gratitude in my life has been the greatest virtues in my life, undoubtedly the redifining moment of my life. 

I mentioned how this year gratitude has helped me at all fronts - I am happy always, my health is great, my relationships are blooming and my career is flourishing. What else do I need in my life? All of it only because I decided to be thankful each single day and not just during Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

The best part I liked about this club was that after my speech and the normal evaluation of my speech, the dias was opened for feedback from everyone in the audience. I got such thoughtful insights and some constructive feedback from the audience which has helped me to improve myself. What touched my heart was people saying they could connect with my story and were motivated enough now to include Gratitude in their life every single day from now on. I think I accomplished my goal of spreading gratitude that day!

The other tradition which we started this year was 'Friendsgiving'. So 3 of us - Gauri, Neha and me decided to have a Friendsgiving lunch together on Friday. The food spread consisted of hot fulkas, pointed gourd vegetable (potol in Bengali, parwal in Hindi), spicy Mutter Paneer (This was on Gauri's demand who eats too spicy food) and mix dal. All of this was prepared by Neha who was our host. The food was later followed by the dessert of gulab jabun! 

The photo is not that great because we just wanted to dive into the good food!

Neha is an awesome cook and this food spread was just delightful. It reminded us of our home and mom. The taste of the food still lingers on my tongue :)

After lunch we did a fun thing. We mentioned 2 things about each other which we adore the most. Here is the gist:

For Neha, it was unanimously called upon that she is very caring just like a mother. She will scold you like a mother, instruct you like a mother and even love you like a mother! The second thing mentioned was her talkative nature which livens up any social gathering. Another virtue which came up was that she is a smart woman, finding solutions to many problems. You give her any topic, she will contribute in an intelligent manner and not just superfluous participation.

When it came to Gauri, both of us said that she is a very diligent girl and she does everything with full dedication. Remember the faral spread she prepared this Diwali? The other thing is she is very energetic, oozing with vitality all throughout the day. And lastly, her friendly nature. She is almost everyone's friend in our Community. Her amiable nature makes her a good friend!

For me, they said what impresses them the most is my positive nature! They said speaking with me they get motivated and feel that life indeed is beautiful :) The second thing was that I am disciplined. I am not sure how it came up in the good things list though ;) I am not exactly disciplined but finicky about certain things to be a certain way! I can see my husband laughing loudly at this statement!! Ok, ok ... I am a little rigid and disciplined. 

An eventful week! 5 more weeks to go, I still don't believe that I have come so far on this journey of 52 weeks of adventure!

Week 46: A Homely Diwali

For those who have stumbled on my blog just today, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year wherein I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

As I mentioned in my last week's adventure that this year I decided to celebrate Diwali on a grand scale and make a home away from home! So the Diwali week was super fun for us and many of our friends really made it special for us.

I decked up for 3 continuous days and it was so rejuvenating. I usually prefer western wear and wearing a saree just makes me cringe a little. But this was the firsts of many kinds, so yes I adorned a saree too! I even went in a traditional outfit for my Toastmasters this week!

You will rarely find me in dangler earrings and make up!

  

That is our patio with lights and the lantern and the brightness oozing out of me in a saree ;)

That was my Toastmasters outfit!

Our friends flew down from Colorado to make 0ur Diwali extra special. Festivals are all about being with the family and bonding. So it was a great feeling, cooking food for these friends and then talking at leisure about anything and everything!

It was fun catching up with Aditi and her husband Chinmay

We were called by one of our friends for faral. Now faral is snacks prepared during Diwali and back home all our neighbours used to invite us to have those yummy delicacies prepared by them. To be called for faral in the US is HUGE! Ask any Maharashtrian in the US and you will know how ecstatic one feels when you get such invitation in the US! We were overwhelmed with all the variety of snacks our friend prepared us to feast on. Hats off to Gauri!

Just look at all the items she prepared at home single handedly!

We also had a potluck on the main Diwali day with friends with some good food, great company and of course the customary Diwali Taash or playing cards. Everyone was decked up for the occasion and we had a nice spread of food. An evening spent in giggling, laughing, pulling each other's legs and the warmth of near ones. All of us are away from home but we vowed to not let that bother us at least on that day!

A week which was extraordinary. It was painful to remove the lights over the weekend. The festival is over but I prayed to the Almighty to let the festive fervor be with us forever!

Diwali is called festival of lights as it epitomizes the victory of light over the dark, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair. As we were celebrating the festival, I promised myself to stand for all the values this festival signifies! Until next Diwali, may the light shine upon everyone! :)

Week 45: Preparing for Diwali!

For those who have stumbled on my blog just today, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year wherein I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

Another year when we are away from home during Diwali, one of the biggest festivals in India. But this year I decided to make it BIG during Diwali and not let homesickness take over us. It is my first time that I have done all that my mom used to do back home during Diwali, just that I have done things on a smaller scale. So here is a week which was super busy in preparing for Diwali.

Last year I had made just small lanterns for the main door. But this year, I wanted to do more. A big lantern, some door decorations and small paper lanterns too. Thus started my quest for art and craft supplies and I almost bought a shop back home ;)

My art and craft shop at home ;)

Next was making the big lantern and decorations from all the material. The big lantern was a labor intensive job and almost got me a back ache. The smaller decorations were easier and less time consuming. 

The mess called art! :)

Ya, ya! I love the bright colored lantern :)

These will go on the main door

The next task was getting rid of the clutter at home. Diwali is a festival when all the clutter goes out of the home and hence cleaning is major aspect of Diwali. I am a lousy person when it comes to cleaning. Sujoy is usually the one with 'We should have a clean home' syndrome :P. I am really laid back in that aspect. Sujoy is the one who takes care of vacuuming and dusting at our place. 

So it was a herculean task for me to get the house cleaned sans Sujoy's syndrome ;). I started with getting rid of all the clutter which was there in the store rooms, then wardrobe cleaning which made me realize that I need to give away a lot of clothes which I haven't worn for a year now and lastly the kitchen. Phew! I did all the cleaning in phases and hence was sane at the end of it :P Of course, Sujoy was there to help!

Wardrobe Cleaning Alert!

Lastly was the Diwali faral or Diwali snacks. Back home, there is an array of food items prepared. But I stuck to just 4 items. 2 sweet and 2 savory. I made besan ladoos, kaju katli (cashew nut sweet) , puffed rice chiwda and a new avatar chiwda i.e. cornflakes chiwda. 

Besan ladoo made in shudha desi ghee i.e. clarified butter

The Kaju Katlis!

Puffed Rice Savory Chiwda

Trust me, this is the tastiest version of corn flakes :)

I am excited for Diwali week and have some great plans lined up. I hope Diwali brings happiness and prosperity to everyone! :)

Week 44: 1677 Miles Roadtrip to Fall Colors Fiesta!

For those who have stumbled on my blog just today, I am on a 52 weeks adventure this year wherein I decide my own adventures! For more details, check out here!

After the thrilling Zipline story last week, this week is the time for the enchanting fall colors we immersed ourselves at Smoky Mountains! We took a road trip from Florida to Tennessee, covering 1677 miles and making our way through 5 states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina. It was a fun road trip with some very talkative friends ;)

We started seeing the fall colors in Atlanta itself and it was just mesmerizing! If you stay in a place where there is summer all round the year (also known as Florida), you will understand how magical we felt after looking at the outstanding fall colors. The pinks, reds, oranges, yellows and few greens painted the perfect canvas! We started clicking pictures from Atlanta itself!

Look at the hints of colors in the background!

It was starting to get cold too and hence we could use all our warm clothing which usually is stacked in the store room in Florida. It was the right time to flaunt the beanie and scarf crocheted by me :)

The scarf took a while to complete. But I am so happy with the end products :)

The moment we reached the Smoky Mountains National Park, the landscapes started getting prettier with water bodies in between and curvy roads towards the top. We went to the highest point on the Smoky Mountains called the Clingmans Dome. It was chilling up there, but the view was breathtaking. Clouds were floating around and the view below gave me goosebumps. Nature never fails to surprise me! :)

Mystical clouds all around!

We did some really weird stuff too! We took pictures in between roads where cars were commuting on full throttle. We kept watchers on both sides of the road to warn the photographer and the muse to let them know when the car was coming. It was funny sometimes, when all was set and suddenly everyone was running berserk on the advent of an incoming car! Nevertheless we managed to click some lovely photos on the roads!

My favorite picture, I am getting it framed :)

Another one from the road diaries.

One of the nights we went to Gatlinburg Downtown and had some fun strolling on the busy streets and eating some yumm food. The Downtown as expected was bustling with tourists and had some real fun stuff to keep anyone engaged.

The colorful and bright Downtown

The cabin in which we were put up was pretty cool with a fireplace in the hall, a pool table and an awesome view outside. It was also on the mountains and the serene silence up there was eerie at nights. We had fun in the cabin with incessant talks and of course game of Uno and Judgement. So many stories to take back home :)

The Judgement Game Stories

The guys couldn't keep their hands off the pool table

Random Clicks

As the day of our departure arrived, all of us were heavy hearted and we didn't want to let go off this nature's heaven. I kept on going back to all the colors and dwelled on the harmony I experienced at the Smoky Mountains! It was the best trip ever for me so far from all the places we have seen in the US in the past 2 years. The second best being Niagara Falls!

Here are some breathtaking pictures to gladden the mind and soul - 

An entire mountain filled with these colors!

The colors just mellow me down!

Look at the fiery reds

On the roads less traversed!

Can't wait to for our next road trip now! Need to plan soon :)