My Inner Shakti

finding strength in everyday things

June 2022 – Happenings and Goals

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How are we almost half way through 2022? And how we been Georgia residents (again) for almost a year? Craziness!

The year is speeding by for many reasons, mostly because we have two kids I think. It’s like what they say. When you’re in the day to day grind, time slows down a little. Then when you step back and take a more macro view, you can’t believe how fast it’s all going!

June happenings

It’s also probably going quickly because we have so many big things happening (and a few that have already happened). For one, my BIL’s wedding was this past weekend! Ya’ll, this wedding was two years in the making (they pushed it forward because of Covid), so it felt extra special. Great fun was had by all! However, by the end of it, Vishnu and I were both ready to get the kids back to a routine! Exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt.

And next up, specifically this month, we have my sister’s baby shower, which will be so fun! I’m extra excited because my two aunts (mom’s younger sisters) will be in town for it, and it’s been over two years since we’ve seen them (maybe even longer!). I’m in charge of games for the shower, and I have a few good ones ready to go. I’ll share more after this weekend as to not ruin the surprise for my sister and BIL!

After that, Vishnu and I will be headed to Hilton Head for his med school friend’s wedding/receptions. You guys have no idea how excited I am to have 48 hours to relax and know that my kids will be well taken care of (each set of grandparents is taking a kid). On the flip side, I’m also a little nervous because this will be the first time I’ll be away from Mila for more than a night. The first time was when I landed back in the hospital a week after giving birth. I keep telling myself it’ll all be ok. Vishnu and I need this time!

And THEN…we have the main event for June…my little boy’s 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY! I can’t believe he’s almost 5! This is the first big party we’re having that he’ll actually remember, so I’m super excited. We’re going with a Paw Patrol theme…I’ll share more afterwards. It’s going to be emotional for sure!

Other than that, I’m still wrapping my head around how hot it is already! It’s 90+ degrees in Atlanta most days of the week now! I’ll take this over a Chicago winter any day though. I always say, it’s so much easier to peel layers off versus pile them on!

June goals

  1. Really delve into mine and Chitra’s next book club book – Influence. I actually read this back in 2009 in business school and have been wanting to reread for a while now. Funny side story – I only realized this was the same book after I finished the first chapter. But it’s all good because this book is a great read from a business perspective.
  2. Read a fiction book. Hoping to dig into something when we go to Hilton Head. Saturday during the day is pretty free, so you bet this mama is going to park her butt on a pool chair (hopefully with a beverage in hand) to read!
  3. Find some summery clothes! I have a VERY minimal summer wardrobe since I was pretty pregnant last summer! Need to find some staple pieces stat!
  4. That being said, this month I want to clean out and declutter every closet in our home. The plan is to donate everything that no longer fits/that we no longer need or want. Wish me luck!
  5. I don’t know if this one will get done this month, but I need new professional photos! I found a local photographer so now I just need to schedule the time. This also means I need to get some new clothes for said pictures. So maybe I need to figure out #3 first! I’m ok with pushing this one back to July/August too. We’ll see…
  6. And of course, I’m still going to continue with my forever goals of moving every day (intentional 4-5 times a week), drinking half my body weight or more in water, cutting back my time on social media, meditating daily, and going to bed by 10 pm.

Phew! That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope your June is equal parts fun and chill. Here’s to being almost halfway through 2022!

Family Dynamics + Social Media

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I got an interesting email the other day from someone who’s a long time blog reader. Essentially her question was if my family is as close as we seem on social media.

The short answer is yes. But the longer answer is a bit more complicated than that.

So yes, we’re close. My sister and I were raised to be close…lol. My mom never let us forget that we are sisters and that we always have to be there for each other. And we’re super close to our parents too. In fact, we have a group chat with just the four of us that we use daily.

I’m also very close to my in laws. Since before we got married, they’ve truly treated me like a daughter.

I’m close to Vishnu’s brother and his wife, and he’s close to my sister and her husband. My sister and her husband have a great relationship with Vishnu’s brother and his wife. In fact, they hang out without us all the time!

BUT, that being said, things are not always harmonious. We are humans with human emotions and opinions and ideas. These things don’t always align with what everyone else is thinking and feeling. So, while we don’t have outright conflict and drama, things are not always happy-go-lucky.

My sister and I snap at each other. I get upset with my parents and/or get snappy. My parents don’t always react the way we want them to. Same goes for Vishnu’s family.

Again, we’re only human. Ha! The difference with us is that we don’t stay upset. Hence why you see my family so much on here and IG.

Important reminder – what you see on social media, on my blog/IG page, or anyone else’s is just a small glimpse into a much greater dynamic. You will NEVER entirely know what’s going on for someone or their family just by following them or checking in on their updates. No one does or can share it all.

So if your family doesn’t get along 100% of the time, congrats and welcome to the club! There are millions of families just like yours across the world.

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Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

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If you’re still finalizing your Thanksgiving menu, feel free to steal some ideas from what we’re making.

Something to know about me is that I LOVE Thanksgiving food. Like LOVE! We didn’t celebrate it in the traditional way growing up, but since getting married, Vishnu and I started our own tradition. One that includes Thanksgiving food every year!

With that being said, we’re keeping things super low key this year in terms of having people. We’re not keeping the menu low key though! My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Like I said, if you’re still planning, feel free to make some of these dishes. Most of them are tried and true (ain’t no one messing around on Thanksgiving!).

I hope y’all have a delicious day!

Apps
– Pilsbury crescent rolls stuffed with Brie cheese with a side of strawberry jalapeno jam
– Strawberry, feta cheese, and pecan spinach salad

Sides
– Cranberry sauce (I’ve been making this for YEARS. It’s soo good.)
– Roasted broccoli (preheat oven to 425 degrees, chop the broccoli up into smallish pieces, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and garlic powder, and roast for 23 minutes).
– Mashed potatoes

Main
– Instant Pot Mac n’ Cheese (SO easy, SO creamy!)
– Air Fryer Tandoori wings

Dessert
– Dark chocolate silk pie (vegan!)
– Broiler smores!

ENJOY!

Edwards Apple Orchard

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It’s been a minute since I’ve checked in on here. Honestly, this space is taking the back seat right now, but I’m staying true to my word and checking in when I can.

I wanted to share about our day trip to Edwards Apple Orchard because it exceeded all of our expectations. And most importantly, Mr. Kaiden had an amazing time!

Vishnu and I decided that we wanted to visit an orchard, but we were a little (lot!) late to the game. A lot of the nearby orchards are closed for the season. Vishnu did a bit more research and came across Edwards Apple Orchard. The website looked great and there were three varieties of apples still available for picking.

The only con was that Edwards is 86 miles from where we live in the city. But we decided to go for it. We brought our own lunch since the restaurants are closed, and headed out fairly early.

We got there around 10:45 and headed straight to the area where the tractors meet you to go picking. The first thing I noticed was how everyone was wearing a mask. Phew! One worry off the list. The second thing I noticed was just how beautiful this orchard was, and how well organized the place seemed. The process to get our tickets, get on a tractor, and go to the orchard was super quick and easy. Everyone was social distancing, and it just seemed so seamless.

The orchards themselves still had plenty of delicious apples to pick from, and we definitely went to all three. We got a basket for $48 (up to 6 people) and filled it 3/4 of the way. Kaiden had the best time being on Vishnu’s shoulders to pick the highest apples!

After were were done picking apples, we headed back to the main area where the big store/barn is. Again, there was a line to get in with markers on the ground, and everyone was still wearing their masks. The barn itself was spacious and smelled like heaven (fresh donuts!). We got a few goodies – spicy strawberry jam, salad dressings, popcorn, etc. And of course, we couldn’t leave without getting a few donuts, which in my opinion were the highlight of the trip. So warm with a crispy sugar +cinnamon exterior and a soft pillowy interior. YUMMMMMMM!

We debated going to the huge pumpkin patch on site but decided to eat lunch and head home. We were hoping Kaiden would nap a bit on our way back, but he didn’t! Of course!

I can only imagine how magical this place is during non-Covid times, but because we had such a great experience, I wanted to share in case any of you are local readers and are looking for a new orchard to visit!

Thanks for a great experience, Edwards Apple Orchard!

4th of July Weekend 2020

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If I recall correctly, we haven’t been ‘in town’ (wherever that is at the time) for the 4th of July holiday in a long time. This year, we stayed put and had visitors…my BIL and his fiance, Niel and Neelam. And it was one of the best long weekends to date.

Thursday

Niel and Neelam got here on Thursday afternoon, and I had most of the day off so it worked out perfectly. I got in a workout before they arrived, and then once they got to our place, we left immediately to grab some lunch from a Taco Truck near our place. Delicious!

And then we hung out at home until it was time to pick Kaiden up from school. You guys should’ve seen his face when he saw Niel and Neelam. So so excited but definitely trying to be low-key about it. Ha!

The rest of the evening was spent playing and running and singing. Oh and I made The Chutney Life’s Jalapeno Almond Pesto Spaghetti. So good! After dinner + bath time + books, K eventually went to sleep, while the rest of the stayed up and played with the Oculus and talked.

Friday

Everyone was home Friday, including Vishnu, so that was nice. We had Kaiden’s 3 year appointment in the morning, Niel and Neelam had lunch plans with her coworkers, and then we had a haircut appointment for K in the afternoon (he wore a mask the entire time!). In between all of this, there was Magnatiles, Frozen, a short nap, etc.

In the evening, we ordered in for dinner, which was nice because I didn’t have to cook and there was virtually no clean up.

We stayed up fairly late again talking about everything from sports, to politics (lots of politics) to Covid-19 to random family stuff.

Saturday

Saturday was fun, but for some reason I was super tired. Guys, I took like a 3 hour nap while Kaiden napped which extended to after he woke up. It was like that deep sleep you can’t shake, and man, did some rest feel good!

Saturday also included park time, a delicious burrito + corn on the cob lunch, Taco Bell for dinner, fireworks on our balcony with the whole fam (my sister and BIL came over). SO FUN!

I can’t remember what else we did on Saturday but it was a good time!

Sunday

Sunday was Niel and Neelam’s last day with us so we spent some of it at the park, and the rest hanging out at home, more specifically playing Monopoly Deal (a fan favorite game in our family right now).

When it came time for them to leave for the airport, you could tell K was sad. He asked when they would be coming back (and has been for the past couple of days).

Love that we made some awesome memories though and can’t wait until we move back home!

Home for the 2019 Holidays

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It’s not too late to talk about our time in Atlanta, right? I hope not because I’m doing it!

So, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, we spent the days leading up to Christmas and a few days after in Atlanta. And if I’m being honest, this was one of my favorite trips home since Kaiden was born. HE was just the best – fun, playful, and just so damn cute! Even my mom agreed that this trip was fun because he was in a good mood 99% of the time.

So K and I flew down to Atlanta the Friday before Christmas. The flight was ok, as in Kaiden didn’t nap but he was fine (just a little seat kicking, but I’ll take that over a meltdown/tantrum). My parents picked us up from the airport. It took us almost 2 hours to get home! Atlanta traffic is no joke!

Our days at my parents’ house were filled with no real schedule but lots of good food, lots of playtime, and lots of fun! I was also able to squeeze in a couple of friend dates – dinner with some of my close college girlfriends and coffee with one of my besties!

We also squeezed in a visit with Santa at the mall. Get this, it was the same Santa as last year! Also, when asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, Kaiden said ‘yogurt.’ HAHA! Where do they come up with this stuff?!

We left my parents’ house on Christmas Eve and made our way over to Vishnu’s parents’ house. He actually arrived late in the evening that day, so Kaiden and I got a few hours with his parents until then.

We celebrated Christmas at Vishnu’s brother’s and fiance’s place, Niel and Neelam, with my parents, my in laws, and the majority of Neelam’s family. We ate some delicious home cooked food and sang karaoke. It was a blast!

The rest of our days were spent hanging out around the house and eating more yummy food!

I attended a cookie exchange party at my best friend Roshni’s house one night. So much fun! I made The Table of Spice’s eggless chocolate chip cookies. This is what dreams are made out of, people!

The next morning, we headed back out with K in tow to visit with Alina, Roshni’s baby girl! She was born back in September, but I hadn’t had the chance to hang with her yet! She’s just THE cutest!

And that pretty much wraps up our trip home at a high level! I’m so glad I had another week before work started back up because I definitely needed a vacation from our vacation!

And now we’re days into 2020! How did that happen? Let’s make it a great one!

How did you spend your holidays?

Thanksgiving Weekend 2019

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Better late than never right?!  I wrote this on my way to London, the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I’m actually posting it a week after that. But I wrote it so I’m sharing it! Ha!

I’ve always loved this time of year – between November and December.  It just feels magical and cozy.  But now that we have K and he’s getting older; I think I’m going to love it more and more. 

Let’s talk about Thanksgiving weekend 2019, because while it had its ups and downs, I wouldn’t change a single thing (well, maybe one, but I’ll get to that in a minute).

Wednesday was technically the first day of our weekend because K was home from school, and I took the day off.  The first thing we did was go to the grocery store to pick up some Thanksgiving meal essentials.  It may have taken us 20 minutes to get out the door between my toddler wanting to put his shoes on all by himself on the wrong feet and then protesting his jacket, but we did it!  After that it was smooth sailing until we got home, and I had work to do.  I put on some PBS for K to watch so that I could get 30 uninterrupted minutes of work time, but of course, he wanted me to sit next to him.  I did that, but he couldn’t stay away from my laptop, so I moved back to the kitchen island.  That was a no go for K, so I finished up what I could with a whimpering toddler on my hip and one free hand. 

The rest of the day was honestly a bit of a blur.  All I vividly remember is K waking up from his nap feeling a little warm.  He didn’t have a fever, but something was up.  I asked Vishnu to pick up dinner from a place down the street.  When he got home, he took one look at Kaiden, and said that we needed to give him some Tylenol before bed. He was warm and very congested.

Thursday started off much like the way Wednesday ended.  K woke up warm but with no fever.  Just to be on the safe side, we continued with the Tylenol and Motrin, which in some ways was kind of nice because that helped Kaiden stay in a better mood. 

I ended up prepping our Thanksgiving dinner throughout the day when I could find time, and this turned out to be a good plan because by dinnertime everything was fresh and ready!  Of course, Kaiden ate lots of bread, some mac n’ cheese, some chicken and ice cream.  Ha!

The day also included Facetime with family and lots of running around.

After Kaiden went down for the night, our friends came over for dessert and game night.  This turned out to be ice cream, Codenames Pictures, and some deep discussion about gun control in this country.  #adulting

Friday was a good day, and to be honest, I don’t remember much, except that Kaiden woke up with a slight fever.  Poor bubs!  But you wouldn’t really have been able to tell given how much energy he had.  We were supposed to go to my friend’s place for dinner, but I nixed that because I didn’t want her entire household catching whatever Kaiden had.  I also went to Target and Trader Joe’s…per usual.  At Target, I found a couple of good deals on clothing for all three of us.  And that was pretty much the end of my Black Friday shopping. We also watched Frozen at some point on Friday, which Kaiden liked and Vishnu and I loved.  Funny how that works!

Saturday was a better day because Kaiden didn’t wake up warm and his snottyness was more manageable.  We met Vishnu’s cousin and his family for breakfast at a place off Michigan Avenue.  Even though it was kind of cold outside, we decided to walk, and I think Kaiden really appreciated the fresh air.  After breakfast, we walked home and relaxed for a bit.

The rest of the day included packing, cleaning meal prep, and Coco.  Oh and lots of cuddling (well, as much as he would let me) with my baby!

I was creeping on K from the airport, and I happened to see my other love on the floor next to his crib. Can you spot him!? LOL!

And now it’s Sunday.  I’m on my flight to London, where I’ll be for the next four nights.  We have a full team meeting this week which includes planning for next year.  Should be a good one!

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday filled with the people and foods that you love!

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