Sunday 30 December 2012

Bling it on, baby!

Of late, my obsession with jewelry/accessories has been reaching new heights. I have been ordering stuff online and buying stuff from the local markets left, right and center (now you know why I'm bankrupt just as soon as i receive my pay. :P).

So, here I am doing my bit for the society, by enlightening all you girls out there with places/websites that I buy stuff from. :D

My most favorite website for picking up jewelry from is Juvalia. Their collection is colorful, pretty and perfect for everyday use and so is the pricing. Totally worth every buck you spend. Oh, and their packaging is SO neat. 


L to R: Turquoise Feather Necklace, Ice Berg Necklace & Tribal Earrings


Flamenco Necklace, Festive Collection


My second favorite site to buy jewelry/accessories from is FabAlley. They have a fabulous collection of jewelry, bags & shoes, belts, scarves, stoles, stockings and even have a clothing line now. The stuff on this site is quirky and stylish and bang on trend. 





The next is Pipa Bella. Their collection is exquisite. Such beautiful pieces. The rates are slightly on the higher end, but the jewelry is just so pretty that you would not mind a lighter wallet at the end of the day.

Apart from these favorites, i love looking for stuff from Urban Touch, Paperlillie and Craftsvilla (a recent discovery) among many others. 

Other places where i love picking up jewelry from includes the platform shops in Pondy Bazaar, Chennai (tip: check the shop outside Adyar Anandha Bhavan. Some real pretty stuff), all those pretty little silver stores in Spencer Plaza, Chennai, Sarojini Nagar Market & markets around CP in Delhi. These places are jewelry/accessory havens. Do check them out if you are nearby. 





From Shankar Market, Sarojini Market, Delhi  and Pondy Bazaar, Chennai


From Pondy Bazaar, Chennai
From Pondy Bazaar, Chennai

Apart from these, my favoritest place to pick stuff from is mum's collection through the years. :D

Happy shopping, ladies. And go, surprise your girlfriends/wives, boys! 
You are more than welcome to thank me by sending Rainbow Cakes/Red Velvet Cuppies. ;)



Until next time,
Much love,
M

PS: All of these sites are India based and offer COD. A good thing for finicky people like me who aren't comfortable using cards online. 
PPS: I was featured in a post on online sites for shopping on Strut120 recently (here). Do have a look to know the favorite sites of other bloggers. Also, Strut120 is awesome and is the place to be for the latest in Fashion and Lifestyle. 
PPPS: This is not a sponsored post (duh. no one even reads this blog, I'm sure. :P)    

Saturday 22 December 2012

Paati cool!

Yougaiz, say hello to my insanely cool paati. :D

She is one of the strongest women I have ever met and the most fun person too. 
*every* visit  to her house begins with her asking what I wanna eat, no matter what time I go and ends with a 'take this home for amma/appa/bro' or something of that sort.

At almost 80, she still manages the house including taking care of a now bed-ridden thatha, sending over food when amma isn't well, sending coffee for bro when he gets back from college and what not! And in between all these chores, she takes out the time to make fun of us cousins when we pout for pictures, learns English from us, tries and reads advertisements in English papers, makes litres of  coffee for us, makes the best dosai and sambar for us, makes extremely funny jokes, watches cookery shows AND Fashion TV with us. :D
This woman is so full of life all the time and if I'm even 20% as active as her when I'm that old, I would call myself perfect. :)

Here are some extremely cute pictures of her from a photoshoot we forced her into recently.




This is one of my favorite pictures of her. <3


:D





And this is the my most favorite. Check out the pout, baby! Hahaha. :D

How can one not love so much cuteness? Sigh. <3
Hope you are all having a good weekend. :)

Much love,


Sunday 16 December 2012

Marie Jaanu.

I made time for blogging today. Yay! And today's post is going to be about FOOD! So, more YAY! :D

I'm probably one of the laziest persons you could ever meet. As much as I love cooking, I don't really do it all the time. So, today I will share with you an idea for a  really easy snack that you can whip up with minimal (read leftover) ingredients. Also, this requires no cooking or baking or frying. How cool is that? B)

As a kid, i used to live on Marie biscuits. I'm sure all of you have, too. It was a healthier alternative compared to all those cream biscuits. And since I was a fat kid (still am!), eating Marie biscuits instead of having Bourbon made me feel less guilty.
Even today, having Marie biscuit with my coffee on Sunday mornings instead of the ever-so-tempting Oreo or Bourbon, makes me feel like I have resisted the greatest temptation of all times. 

Judge me all you want, but i have had Marie biscuits with everything - jam, ketchup, coconut chutney, cheese spread, and god knows what else. This snack, the recipe for which I'm going to share, is the perfect ABCTB* snack. And, I have named it - Marie-Jaanu! :P (sounds lame, I know!)

Anyway.. Here's the recipe.

Time to make: barely 5 mins
You will need: 

  • Marie Biscuits
  • Pudina chutney/thogayal
  • Vadaam (fryums)
  • Some tomatoes (cubed)
  • Olives (optional)
  • Oregano (as much as you like)
Method: 

  1. Spread some pudina chutney/thogayal on the marie biscuit. 
  2. Place the tomatoes, olives and vadaam on top.
  3. Sprinkle some oregano.
  4. Enjoy the unbelievable deliciousness! :D
I was so hungry and so engrossed in making this that I din take a lot of pictures but for this one. Enjoy maadi. :D


Try let me know how you like it.

More soon.
Love,
M

*ABCTB - American Born Confused TamBrahm *kill me, now!*

Saturday 15 December 2012

Floppy-shloppy!

'allooo yougaiz. :D

And apologies, again. I've just been so busy I've hardly had the time to sit and write a post. Maybe I should quit work and take a well-deserved break. Yes, I certainly am considering that. Let's see how it goes.

Anyhooo, I'm back and with yet another easy-peasy DIY. I did this a few weeks back when i was extremely bored and was blankly staring at this big bag of useless stuff that I have not had the heart to throw out for almost a decade now. :P

So, without further ado, presenting to you, M's special Floppy Coasters! :D

You will need:

  • Floppy disks. I know you have a million of them stashed somewhere in your room. Find them, NOW!
  • Thread. Woolen or the ones used for embroidery. I used various shares that i already had. (Anchor)
  • Fabric glue or even Fevicol or Fevibond would do.  

What to do:

1. Apply a little fabric glue on one end of the floppy and start rolling the thread around the floppy.  

Use as many colors as you want or you can just one color, totally depends on how you want it to be.


2. Once you have covered the floppy entirely, stick the thread to the other corner using some more fabric glue and you are done!



Now, wasn't that easy?!



I'm now thinking of doing a paper weave pattern on top of the remaining floppies I have. Will do a post if that turns out the way I'm imagining it in my head.

What are you doing with all those floppies you have? Do let me know if you have any ideas in mind.:)

Until next time,
M
xx

Sunday 11 November 2012

Better Late Than Never!

Sorry, yougaiz (if there is anyone at all who's reading my blog, that is. :P).  I had a *real* busy week and hence the delay.

And, I was thinking, why not start off with a DIY post. Good idea, no? Yes. So, here I am, with a very easy  DIY for all you crafty and also the not-so-crafty ladies out there. Considering the festive season and the amount of dry-fruit dabbas all of you must be getting, this is going to be a cakewalk.


Things you need:


1. Pistachio shells

2. Some gold/bronze necklace chain (according to your preferred necklace length) along with the clasps.
3. Glue (I used Fevibond)
4. Cardboard (Not too thick)
5. Fabric Paint (I used pearl metallics)

And here's the how to:


~ Firstly, clean the shells and start painting them using the colors of your choice. I did two coats of each color and it was perfect. Let dry.






~ In the meantime, cut the cardboard in whichever you want the necklace to be. I chose a triangle since it's the easiest to do. Yes, I'm lazy like that. :P

Before sticking the pistachio shells to the cardboard, punch a little hole on the sides and attach the chain to both the sides.

~ Now, apply glue to the edges of the pistachio shells and on the cardboard wherever you are going to stick the shells. Let dry for a few minutes (5-7 mins) and then glue the shells to the cardboard placing them however you want.


~ Once dry, paint the area where the cardboard shows with either a contrasting color or a color of your choice and let dry again.


TADA, Your pretty Pistachio necklace is ready! That was easy to do, wasn't it? :) I made a cuff too.





Do let me know if you make it or your other ideas for using pistachio shells.

A very happy Diwali to all you guys!

Till the next post,

Much love
M

Saturday 3 November 2012

Hello there!

I'm Madhumitha, a foodie and a self-proclaimed fashionista. 
Am a Project Manager by profession and a weirdo by choice. 

After much contemplation, I have finally decided to do my bit & contribute to the list of a gazillion other blogs already out there.

Food & fashion. These are the two things my blog would focus on.

The variety, the textures, the colors, the tastes, the aromas and the infinite possible recipes you can come up with - food is something that i have grown to love. More and more as I have grown older and so much so that I don't even feel awkward about eating alone (this is an achievement considering I used to skip meals even when i was extremely hungry, 'cause i hated eating alone. It made me feel like a loner. :| :P)

And, so is fashion. Putting together an outfit, working out color combos and bringing them to life, a pair of new shoes that fit perfectly, a bag big enough to store all the 'essential' junk, oh the joy! 

But my posts wouldn't be only about these. 'cause that would be boring, right? Right. So, time and again I will post about bits and pieces of my life and other things that interest me.

Until I come back to you with a *real* post,

Much love.

M

PS - I'm an eggitarian.
PPS - I'm no food critic or fashion diva. They are just two things that I *really* love.