Category: Life

Life

In the Land of Finals

nainadg

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I can no longer deny my looming finals. I leave for Kolkata on the 15 of Dec and I have a major presentation on the 14th. So even though going to India right after finals should motivate me, its actually serving as a distraction.

Really, thinking about wedding sarees and menus and shopping for presents is so much more fun than thinking about power point and papers.

Because J and I wanted to be really productive and thrifty for the following weeks we decide to start it off with a fridge full of food to avoid eating out during the week. I made shepherds pie, which turned out really well.

Ofcourse that only worked for two days and we were back to our old ways of eating out! It is so hard to be good.

Life, Stuff

Giving Thanks

nainadg

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1. Envy, 2. bathroom brights, 3. D’oh!, 4. ICE-Train station, 5. 10k Green Gold Ring, 6. 58/365: LOVE MY FLICKR PEEPS!, 7. Pesto, 8. Eye of a needle, 9. Diet Coke

***These photos are not by me, I used Flickr favorites and then used MosaicMaker to make the graphic***

Now that Thanksgiving is just a few days away, I was thinking about the things I am thankful for. I did a fairly critical evaluation of my life in ” A little bit about Goldgirl” so I thought I’d give thanks today on the little things in my life.  

This year I am thankful for :

Diet Coke-  Nothing else can get me through the day quite like a Diet Coke

Seamstresses- I would have not had a wedding dress that fit, if it wasn’t for the alteration place in Southpoint mall

My Blog- I can obsess about everything I want on my terms and combine many different obsessions into one post. ex-list making with food. See “Here comes the Holidays”

Cuisineart Food processors- I just got a new one as a wedding present and my life was truly incomplete without it

My Grandma’s ring- It made me feel that a part of her was involved on my wedding day

Dresses- My closet would be empty w/out them. Okay, thats not true, my closet would never be empty. I have bought several this year and they have become my favorite new apparel

High heels- Platforms are back, Stillettos are in style, now if only those damned ballet flats would go out of style…hmmm. Diamonds may last forever, but heels are a short girls best friend

Soft New Towels- Especially in fun colors like Mango and Bahama ( orange and blue)

Trains, Planes and Automobiles- This year’s festivities were made possible because of all the travelling that took place.

The Simpsons- I could not have survived Sunday Night Blues without them. Also- Spider Pig….

My Hair- Its my one vanity. I love that I can grow it out easily and cut it off without regrets and it always makes me feel beautiful

And of course all the big things- Family, Friends, J , Layla and happiness for all, because without that everything else is immaterial.

Life, Stuff

Whats New? ….All caught up with blogging

nainadg

October was a weird month for me where I have been so busy that I have sort of neglected this blog. This gets rectified, starting now with some photos and highlights

 

1)J and I bought a brand new 42 inch HD LCD TV with our wedding money. We also bought a new entertainment center to show it off. This has resulted in us having a really nice living room which we love.

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2) We had a 15 hour party. We met up with Y&DS, J and F  and some other people and went to brunch one Saturday morning to the Watts Grocery Store. We then went on a tour of Triangle Brewing company, the newest brewery in Durham. They gave us free beer before and after the tour and it was a really fun party in this loft space. After the tour we headed back to DS and Y’s house and hung around making cocktails with the wedding present DS and Y got us. It was a set of bar tools, home made bitters, a cocktail recipe book that DS wrote just for us and many little hard to find accessories for our bar. Afterwards we shifted the party to our house so  we could watch the World series game. Needless to say that lasted well into the night and I think we finally halted the festivities around 2 in the morning.

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Prizes lined up at a booth

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A storm coming in

3) J and I went to the State fair with my work people. We saw the pig races during which the ducks and goats also raced. We ate tons of fair food like giant mozzarella sticks, fresh cut fries, frozen cheesecake etc.

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Fair Food * pic by J

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J and his frozen cheesecake                           My funnel cake with Chocolate sauce

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Signs at the fair

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One of my fave photos that I have taken in a while.

 

 

Halloween

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J and I had a very mellow Halloween this year, this being the first year we didn’t go to Franklin street with friends. I think the main reason was that I had a night class on Wednesday and didn’t even make it home till 9 pm. So instead we dressed up in some half assed costumes and went off bar hopping in downtown durham. I dressed up as Agneatha from the 70’s group Abba and J was a Safari Guide. We first hit the Joyce, which was completely dead and then we went to a bar on 9th street called the Dain Bar. That place was pretty rocking and we ran into some friends who had had the same idea as us. Overall, it was a nice, mellow Halloween.

 

I had also made some Halloween crafts earlier this month, so here’s a picture of them.

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Life

A little bit about Goldgirl

nainadg

Yes, yes , I know, I still haven’t posted photos and details about the wedding yet…but its coming, no really, I will do it as soon as J leaves on Saturday.But, I got tagged by my good friend HotHotJJ to do this post and it seemed really fun, so here goes

I Am…
a strong woman, still a child, serious student, a party girl, a hermit, the luckiest.

I Want…
 to be a better writer and a better artist. I also want to be a mom somday.

I Have…
the most wonderful group of people- friends and family who always make me feel loved.

I Wish…
to be fearless and live a life without regrets

I Hate…
doing laundry, cleaning the house, looking at my bank statment, being yelled at.

I Fear…
waking up one morning alone in the world , or waking up one morning and realizing that I have missed something important in life.

I Hear...
voices, I love chatting, talking, socializing.

I Search…
old bookstores for vintage mysteries, 2-3 letter scrabble words, so that I can always beat my husband at scrabble

I Wonder…
about the past and what it would have been to be alive in a time period other than this one. Also why my husband says I’m beautiful, even on the days I know I look like crap.

I Regret…
leaving people behind. I also regret not white water rafting the Zambezi, when I had a chance.

I Love…
J, the laylster, my books and my new dishes.

I Ache…
for beauty, for love, for freedom and for those moment when you feel like your body can’t hold in your emotions

I Always…
try to remember the grace in my life, write my name on take home containers and cry while reading a good book.

I Usually…
sleep in late, stay up late, wish I could travel more. 

I Am Not…
good at quitting. Anything.

I Dance…
all the time, alone, with friends, with my family and I love being a dorky dancer.

I Sing…
in the car all the time, ocassionally karaoke (only if I am really drunk)

I Never…
say never. My motto is I will always try anything once.

I Rarely…
say no to good food, good friends and good conversations

I Cry…
a lot, I am a cry baby, I cry during books, movies, commercials, simpsons…and it goes on.

I Am Not …
always organized. I can be super messy at times.

I Lose…
my car keys, my cell phones and my sanity around midterms

I’m Confused…
why I lost 5lbs even though I have been eating a ton lately.

I Need…
love, happiness, me time, friends, family, books, movies, music, diet coke and my morning coffee. Not always in that order.

I Should…
exercise more.

Life

The Night Adventure

nainadg

A few days ago I blogged about my Vegas trip  but I didn’t finish the story of how Vegas ended. After our night of partying at the PollyEsthers at Stratosphere, KD and I decided to go check up on the car before leaving to drive back to SLC the next morning. We took the car for a spin on the strip and before we had gone even two miles the car had overheated.

 It was now 3:00 in the morning and we were panicking b/c i had to be back in SLC that afternoon for a wedding/family function. We decided that I would fly back to SLC on a buddy pass from KD’s sister and KD would try to get the car fixed and drive back to SLC later in the day. I got tickets/buddy pass for the flight 3 hours before departure and then had to sneak in an hours worth of sleep , rush to the airport for a 7:00AM flight. I had about a 3 hour layover in Long Beach CA and then I finally made it to SLC.

Needless to say, Tuesday was a super gruelling day for me! I was tired and cranky and feeling the stresses of family and the upcoming wedding.

Family, Life, Love

The Country Western Wedding

nainadg

Saturday was the day of the actual wedding for my nonod and her fiance. The day started out really cold and chilly and by mid morning we had freezing rain coming down. After breakfast, I headed out to the Ranch where Nonod and Nondoi(younger sister in law’s husband) were getting married and helped decorated the arch that was going to be their backdrop. Their original plan had been to marry in a pasture, have dinner in the little Ranch cafe and they also had a tent set up for their band and the dance floor. However b/c of the weather they decided to scratch the pasture idea and just get married in the tent.

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The bride walks in with an orange umbrella! So cute!

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Exchanging vows

The wedding was at 4 in the afternoon, it was freezing by now and we were all bundled up in our warmest winter gear instead of dressy wedding clothes. J was in the wedding, so I was in charge of taking pictures for two people in the wedding. The bride walked in to everyone in the audience playing “here comes the bride” with their little kazoos. The ceremony was beautiful and silly and just amazing. Afterwards, the bride and groom also walked out to kazoo accompaniement.

After the wedding, the family took pictures and i used to this opportunity to snap some shots of the nearby animals and farms until it was time for dinner. For dinner we had BBQ chicken , baked beans and baked potatoes , it was delicious. We also did the toasts and cake right after the dinner was over and then it was off to hear the band.

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J and I in front of the Ranch stables

The band was a local bluegrass band and they were a fun bunch of guys. Other than bluegrass they also played some classic rock and country and pop. J was super sweet and even slow danced with me a couple of times. After the band was done, we hung out by the fire pit for a little while and gave a ride to some people and finally ended the night. They had a lovely wedding and we were so glad to be a part of their day.

Family, Friends, Life

Back in Town

nainadg

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HotHotJJ and I at Thai Spice for Lunch. The bloggers catch up in real life.

On friday morning , the day after the rehersal, J and I snuck away to do some errands for our own upcoming wedding. We drove down to Slc from layton and met up with our friends Hothotjj and E ( if you don’t know who they are check out her blog) for lunch. We went to a Thai restaurant close to JJ’s work and the food was fantastic and cheap! It was really good to catch up and hang out after all these years.

After lunch, J and I made our phone calls and ran errands and finally started on our drive to Huntsville UT for Nonod’s wedding. I had never been up Ogden/Weber canyon before despite living in UT for years and the drive up was beautiful! It felt so amazing to be in the mountains and to breathe the clear cool air and see all the fall colors.

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Beautiful Fall colors on the way to Eden UT

We reached Red Moose Lodge in Eden in the late evening and after checking in , we went straight for the BBQ being hosted by the bride and groom. The menu for that night was wild alaskan salmon(some actually caught by the bride and groom) and thick hearty steaks. It was the perfect meal for a chilly fall night. The venue we were at had a silly policy on drinking alcohol which was they were okay with it as long as it was not obvious, so we had to sneak in to the groom’s uncle’s RV and make little drinks in opaque plastic cups. It was still a lot of fun, brought back my days of underage drinking.

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With my newest nephew and the salmon in the background

We finally went to bed late at night, after deciding to offer our extra bed to the flower girl.

Family, Life

SIL Rehersal

nainadg

I am using indian words for family members to protect privacy and to type less….ha

We got into UT  on Thursday the 27th and we were picked up by my ja(older sister in law) who took us to J’s parents house. The place was in chaos for my nanad( younger sister in law) impending wedding. J and I took a quick nap and then we had to get ready for my nonods rehersal dinner. While at J’s house I also met the rest of J’s extended family, his aunts and uncles and had a chance to chat with them and get acquainted.

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J singing Karaoke with his sis and her friend

 The rehersal dinner was a Karaoke night at a local mexican place where my nonod used to be a waitress. The food was delicious and after a few drinks everyone was up on the stage singing like crazy. My FIL and MIL both seemed to have a great time and they both sang some songs. J also sang; He picked “Lovin’s what I got” by Sublime.  My new BIL also really got into the mood of Karaoke and sang Big Balls by AC/DC which went over much better than the DJ and his wife who did a “dirty” version of Summer Lovin from Grease. It was really awkward for all of us during that song, where we didn’t know if we should look at the table and giggle or keep a straight face.

J and I look super tired but we were having a great time watching people sing.

When the party was over and I got back to J’s parents house ( I had to go in the second car) I found that my in laws were in bed and J had shut the door to our bedroom and locked it. I had to bang  on it for hours and finally wake up my MIL who kindly yelled so loud that J finally woke out of his slumber and managed to open the door.

 Our first night in Ut was a huge success.

Life

Utah Tales

nainadg

I spent the last ten days in Utah to attend my sister in law’s wedding and also to get married my self.  In between,  I took a side trip to Las Vegas with my friend KD and also attended an awesome shower that was hosted by my friend hothotjj and KD as well. It was the most wonderful few days of my life with all my friends and family and J and I both agree, that we couldnt’ have asked for anything more. Keep reading for specific incidents, and photos etc.