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Recently + Good Reads

written by Parita Leave a Comment

My blogging mojo has been off for the past week or so.  I have lots I want to share but 0 energy when it comes time to sit down and type.  That’s life I suppose!

Kaiden’s been a little off the past few weeks, which threw me for a loop.  I know I shouldn’t let it, but it’s hard.  For example, he’s had a fever every week for the past three weeks.  It comes, sometimes stays for a few days, and then goes.  One of those fevers led us to discover his first ear infection.  Poor bubs!  The next one lasted a day.  Like I said, he’s been all over the place.  The doctor said it’s likely due to daycare.  More than anything, I’m thankful it’s nothing serious, but it just throws me off when he has to stay home from school, we go back to multiple wake ups throughout the night, etc.  Understandably, everything is either put on hold or straight up ignored until he feels better.  Such is life with a baby!

Apparently, he’s also in the middle of a LEAP week.  When I told Vishnu about this concept and what it means, he said the whole thing doesn’t make sense.  I feel like the signs/symptoms match up to a tee, so I’m on team LEAP!

In the midst of fever land, we spent some time with family this past week.  My aunt (mom’s youngest sister), uncle, and cousin visited from Arizona and stayed with us Wednesday through Saturday.  This was their first time in Chicago, and they LOVED it.  Because Vishnu and I had to work Wednesday and Thursday, they went out and explored on their own.  On Friday, we walked to Millennium Park, the Bean, and Grant Park.  We also made our way to Lincoln Park to see my sister and Adarsh.  We ended our night with a fun little quiet (sleeping baby!) game night at our place.  So much fun!  I wish all my favorite people lived in a 1/2 mile radius from me and not hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from me.  Wouldn’t that be nice?!

Other than that, we’re gearing up for our week long trip to Vail.  We leave next Monday!  Vishnu’s cousin’s getting married, and we’re so excited for the family reunion.  I’m hoping Kaiden’s sociable side makes an appearance versus his ‘I’m going to cling to my mom for dear life’ side.

And finally, is anyone else in denial about summer coming to an end in like a month?  Chicago starts to cool down in September, so we really only have a month or so left of warm/hot summer temps.  I’m hoping we get a bit of an extension this year (FINGERS CROSSED!).

Good reads

Whenever I read an interesting article/blog post, I think about sharing it on MIS but then forget.  With that, here are all of my forgotten but good reads from the past few weeks…

Goodbye Dr. Spock

Your Best Parenting Advice: From Meddling Parents To Poop Management

Motherhood in the Age of Fear

In Which I Lost My Wedding Ring (the comments are gold!)

The Joy of Missing Out

How to Trust The Division of Responsibility Model for Feeding Kids

And with that, I hope you have a wonderful start to your week!

Written on July 30, 2018 Related:Family, Life, motherhood

Slice of chocolate chip zucchini bread

Par’s Picks – 24

written by Parita 1 Comment

Happy Monday!

Vishnu’s brother and parents head home later this evening, so we’re trying to make the most out the time we have left with them.  I know I always say this, but this weekend went by waaaay too quickly.  I’ll share more in Wednesday’s post.  Until then, check out some of my recent favorite reads (hopefully while relaxing with a good cup of coffee)!

Par's Picks

HEALTH & FITNESS

What Should I Do On My Off Days?

Kerry Washington Has No Intention Of Getting Her Pre-Baby Body Back

This New Interval Training Trend Makes Working Out Faster—and a Lot More Fun (LOVE this method!)

I Went On A Radical “Eat Sugar” Diet. Here’s What Happened

Good Foods, Bad Foods, & The Dorito Effect (Favorite blog read of the week!)

5 Compelling Reasons To Put Down Your Cell Phone

SELF/HAPPINESS/POSITIVITY

Nasty Thought Buzzing Around? Trap It, Map It, and Zap It Now

11 Qualities That Women Should Crave Other Than Beauty

The Gift Every Woman Has But Rarely Uses (Such a powerful read!)

12 Little Known Laws of Mindfulness (That Will Change Your Life)

LIFE

19 Children’s Book Quotes That Are Still Incredibly Relevant To Adults

30 Quick Stories that Will Make You Think Differently

15 Life Changing Lessons to Learn From Wayne Dyer

Favorite reads of the week?  Link them in the comments below!

Written on September 7, 2015 Related:Par's Picks

Par’s Picks – 24

written by Parita 1 Comment

Vishnu and I are headed to Atlanta today!  Woot woot!  I can’t wait to spend a week with family and friends, and this time there are no weddings, no special events, etc. to attend.  Just quality time at home.  My mom already has a delicious menu planned for the week…I. Can’t. Wait! 

More on our Atlanta adventures to come!

In the meantime, enjoy some of my favorite reads from the week.  Lots of good stuff to share!

Starting with…

Life quote
Source

LIFE/SELF:

The One Question That Can Change Your Life – Nothing will change if you don’t.

Say Hello To Goodbye: 6 Times Letting Go Is Exactly What You Need – Sometimes letting go and giving yourself permission to be is exactly what is needed.

See More, Do More: It’s Your Responsibility To Live Your Life More Actively – Life is too short to not do the things that, as I like to say, make your soul sing.

How To Intentionally Design A Happier Life – Very much in line with my post about making time.

There are no extra lives. Make this one count. – This…

What I AM saying is that every day is an opportunity for adventure, happiness, and improvement…or another day of being unhappy and unfulfilled. We spend so much time on shit that Just. Doesn’t. Matter, when we should make sure we spend that time on the important stuff.

Savor Discipline: Merge the Interests of Your Future & Present Selves – An interesting way to think about our present and future selves and build discipline.

20 Signs You’re Doing Better Than You Think You Are – It’s not always about the big accomplishments.  Give yourself credit where credits due!

HEALTH:

13 Signs You’re a Health Nut – A little extreme but still pretty funny!

Is a Calorie REALLY Just a Calorie? – LOVE this article.  So much great information that’s explained simply and in a way that just makes sense.

8 Must-Read Books To Inspire Your Wellness Journey – Lots of great reads to add to my growing list.

FOOD:

12 Must-Try Dumplings Across the Country – I’m hoping to try Gu’s Bistro this week.

Sriracha Ketchup Is Real And All Your Food Just Got Infinitely Better – Vishnu’s dream come true!

9 Popular Foods That Are Total Frauds – #2…I had no idea!

RELATIONSHIPS:

20 Habits Happy Couples Have (But Never Talk About) – Love this list and agree with each and every point.

Diane Sawyer Shares The ‘Genius’ Marriage Advice She’ll Never Forget (VIDEO) – Applicable to all relationships…just watch this!

If You’ve got a Smart Older Sibling, You’re Sorted – You’re welcome, Aekta!!!

Happy weekend!

Written on February 14, 2015 Related:Par's Picks

Par’s Picks – 23

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Happy weekend!  After being busier than usual last weekend, I’m looking forward to a little more downtime today and tomorrow.  We have a Farmer’s Market lunch planned with a few friends today, as well as dinner with my coworkers.  And then tomorrow we’ll be watching the Super Bowl and stuffing our faces! 

Another good reason for this weekend being a little more low key?  Our annul team meeting.  That means lots of meetings and fun dinners out.  It also means my days and nights will be packed.  Not sure how often I’ll blog next week, but I hope to pop in a couple of times at the very least.  We’ll see!

Now that I’ve adequately filled you in, here are a few of my favorite reads from the week.  Enjoy!

HEALTH:

8 Things You Should Never Say To Yourself About Food – Love this list but so much easier said than done.

LIFE/SELF:

7 Habits to Start in 7 Days to Guarantee a Year of Happiness – #6 – it’s all about connection.

12 Inspirational Quotes From Women To Kick-Start Your Day – Girl power!

“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
—Maya Angelou

The 7 Worst Mistakes People Make In Their 30s – I probably thought about a lot of these things in my 20s, but I definitely think about them a lot more now that I’m in my 30s.

What Nobody Tells You About Finding Your Purpose

So many of us pursue some end result — whether it’s a career, a possession, an achievement or a relationship — because we think that this external circumstance will purchase the internal state we really want most in our lives. In fact, we probably believe that achieving the external circumstance is the only way we can have the inward states of love, joy and peace. But this is never true. In fact, it’s one of the greatest lies on the planet.

How Do You Create A Sense Of Purpose In A Giant Company? – We’re talking about this a lot at my company right now.  It’s becoming more and more important, especially for the Millennial Generation.

FUN:

The 9 Most Annoying People at Whole Foods – Or any grocery store really!

50 Things You Will Never Be Able To Forget – LOVE this list…LOVE!

FOOD:

8 Dietitian-Approved Snacks For Your Super Bowl Party – Will definitely have hummus, guac, and my favorite lentil chips around on Sunday.

That’s Bananas! 31 Creative Ways to Cook With Bananas – We ALWAYS have a bunch of bananas on hand.  Can’t wait to try some of these recipes!

20 vegetarian super bowl snacks – DROOOOOOOOL!

Vegan chocolate chip banana bread oatmeal cookies – Vishnu and I made these the other day.  They taste like banana bread but in a cookie form – YUM.

FITNESS:

Torch Calories With This 40-Minute Full-Body Workout – Love this no equipment workout you can do in your living room.

The Workout You Need For 2015: Full-Body Burner – All you need is 30 minutes to get a full-body workout.  Everyone has 30 minutes!

CHECK THIS OUT (even if you click on nothing else!):

Let’s Send Kids to Harvard: Vidal Scholarship Fund – Have you donated yet?!

Written on January 31, 2015 Related:Par's Picks

Par’s Picks – 22

written by Parita 1 Comment

Hello hello!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend. 

Aside from running the Miami half marathon on Sunday, we are attending a good friend’s wedding the rest of the weekend.  The Sangeet was last night, and the wedding is this afternoon.  I love love!

Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy my favorite reads from the week.  I think you’ll agree that I found some good ones!

HEALTH:

7 Ways to Lose Belly Fat – Guess what…this list doesn’t include doing a million crunches!

4 Reasons Your Diet Isn’t Working + What To Do About It – This pretty much summarizes my relationship with food…good stuff!

4 Reasons to Ditch Your New Year’s Resolution Diet – Agree with all of these points.  Ditch the diet mentality!

7 of the Most Persistent Nutrition Myths – #1 and #7

SELF/LIFE:

Let Go of These 10 Items to Jumpstart Decluttering – I love decluttering and donate/throw away things all the time (much to Vishnu’s dismay!).

Please don’t punish yourself. – Love everything by Danielle!

THE POWER OF MENTORSHIP – Such a powerful post.  A must read!

7 Reasons Writing Will Improve Your Life – Personally, I think everyone should start their own blog.  But even if you don’t want to do that, keep a journal.  It’s so important!

When You Start Doing These 15 Things, Your Quality Of Life Will Improve – Living a better life means focusing on YOURSELF!

The Invaluable Importance of Movement – “When something you make doesn’t work, it didn’t work, not you. You, you work. You keep trying.”

Solve Your Problems with Energy Communication –

Light is fast; it only takes a moment to let it out. If you accept you are energy itself, and don’t block it with over thinking, doubts, and fears, you will always communicate pure energy and hope. That’s the beginning of a solution to any problem. As the Beatles sang, “All you need is love,” and love is what you already are.

FITNESS:

A Circuit Workout To Get Your Whole Body Toned & Trim – a great circuit to get your heart rate up.

FOOD:

15 Vegan Protein Sources – Vegans/vegetarians CAN get more than enough protein!

GF Black Bean Avocado Brownies – A twist on the traditional black bean brownie recipe.

Gluten-Free Coconut Banana Bread – How delicious does this look and sound?  This will definitely be made at some point during the weekend.

FUN:

29 True Crime Books Fans Of “Serial” Should Read – Serial lovers, this one’s for you!

What It’s Like To Turn 30 In 3 Hilarious Charts – HILARIOUS and so true!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Written on January 24, 2015 Related:Par's Picks

Par’s Picks – 21

written by Parita 6 Comments

Happy Monday!  I thought I’d change things up a bit and share some of my favorite recent reads.  I try to save ‘Par’s Picks’ for Saturdays but didn’t get around to putting this post together in time.

Anyway, pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

LIFE:

7 Things Only People Who Suffered From Acne Understand – YES to all of these!  Those of you with clear skin have no idea.

Do These 5 Things Before Bed & Wake Up Happier – Love all of these rituals, especially #5.

The 5 Best Jobs You’ve Never Heard Of – Such cool opportunities!

This could be good. This could be bad. Fact is: You are free to choose. – My favorite piece from the week!  Beautiful words!

12 Ways to Turn Your Wounds into Wisdom and Strength – Easier said than done but great points to keep in mind.

Life Lessons From Tina Fey – Love her!

2 Unexpected Lessons I’ve Learned Since Changing Careers – Lesson #1 is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.  Love how her explanation.

10 talks you won’t be able to stop thinking about – Can’t wait to sit down and watch all of these!

15 Life Lessons Learned From Primatologist Jane Goodall – All things we know but oftentimes push to the back burner.

LOVE:

10 Quotes From Vladimir Nabokov’s Love Letters That Will Make You Pine For An Old Fashioned Romance – AWWW!

BLOGGING:

Blogger Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Photos You Don’t Own on Your Blog – A must read for all of my fellow bloggers.

HEALTH & FITNESS:

A Total-Body Strength-Building 5×5 Workout – I will definitely be adding this to my strength routine.

The Workout You Need For 2015: Full-Body Burner – A great 30 minute total body strength video.

Written on January 19, 2015 Related:Par's Picks

Par’s Picks – 20

written by Parita 1 Comment

I hope y’all are enjoying the weekend.  It’s a bit rainy here in Miami, but I’m not complaining, especially after seeing pictures of Buffalo and other cities that have been hit hard with a lot of snow.  Sending warm thoughts to all of you who need them right now!

I’ll be back with a full weekend recap on Monday, but for now, enjoy my picks of the week!

LIFE/SELF:

The Morning Routines of 12 Women Leaders

Instead of Complaining, Remember These 10 Things

9 Good Reminders that Will Change the Way You Think

26 Things Every Person Should Do For Themselves At Least Once A Year

5 Ways to Bounce Back From a Horrible Day

100 Motivational Quotes That Will Inspire You to Be Successful

HEALTH/WORKOUTS:

The Best Free Workout Videos on YouTube – So many great workouts…all for FREE!

Healthy Swaps for Thanksgiving – Love this mindset and philosophy!

This Is What Looking Down at Your Cell Phone Does to Your Spine

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Why People Cry When They’re Happy – I’ve always wondered!

10 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once In Their Lifetime – I want to make my way through this list.

Realistic Barbie Now Has Acne, Cellulite & Other “Imperfect” Stickers – Thoughts?  I’m saving mine for a future blog post.

26 Pictures Will Make You Re-Evaluate Your Entire Existence – READ THIS!  IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!!!

BLOGGING:

How to Write Well About Controversial Topics

How to Write a Funny Post

FOOD:

5 Vegetarian Meals for Thanksgiving (Beyond Side Dishes) – YUM!

Simple Kitchen Hacks for Everyday Cooks – Love this list!

RELATIONSHIPS:

5 Things Newlyweds Need To Adjust To Quickly – Yes to all of these!  With time everything works out, but it takes just that…time!

INSPIRATION:

buddha quote

Happy weekend!

Written on November 22, 2014 Related:Par's Picks, random

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