inspirational quote Archives

Par’s Picks – 2

Another week, another round of my favorite internet picks. Lots of delicious recipes and thought-proving posts to share, so let’s get to it!

RECIPES:

Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – These were the perfect weekend treat. I made a batch after work last Friday, and let’s just say it wasn’t around very long. Make these, even if you’re not a pumpkin fan. They’re scrumptious!

Peanut Butter Vegetarian Chili – Another recipe via Brittany (this girl can cook)! We had Robin and Andy over for dinner on Thursday night, and all four of us agreed that this veggie friendly chili could stand its own against a meat-filled one any day.

Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese – MAKE THIS ASAP! If you love spinach artichoke dip, you will go crazy over this sandwich. It’s so simple yet so full of flavor. Vishnu and I both oohed, ahhed, and mmmed over this one!

Healthy Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Bars – I am hoping to make these bars sometime this weekend. Correction – I will definitely be making these this weekend. YUM.

Healthy White Sauce – I love how creative Dixya got with this recipe, and I can’t wait to try it out for myself. This sauce would be perfect over some penne, maybe with a little fresh basil mixed in. Can’t wait to make this!

HEALTH:

7 Unconventional Reasons Why You Absolutely Should Be Reading Books – More reasons to pick up a book and start reading!

The Corset Diet – NO, NO, NO! No. Why people want to torture themselves for up to 12 hours a day is beyond me. In my opinion, good old fashioned exercise and clean eating is the only way to go (sometimes easier said than done, I know). Everything else is garbage…and scary.

LIFE:

Learning to Love and Live When Life Gets Hard – Absolutely beautiful!

The 9 Happiness Mistakes You’re Probably Making – Not sure if this was the intent of the article, but what I took away was that in order to be happy you have to let yourself live. And by live, I mean give yourself permission to think, love, reflect, appreciate, feel, move…and do each of these deeply.

The Face Tattoo – I LOVED this post (and all the comments). Even though Vishnu and I want to have kids in the future, I can relate to some of Rachel’s thoughts on the topic. Bringing another human being into the world is a huge deal and shouldn’t be taken lightly. And I know society and even biology may not agree with us waiting to procreate, but at the end of the day, it’s our decision to make.

FUN:

50 Things You Will Never Be Able To Forget – Talk about taking a walk down memory lane! If you grew up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, this one is for you.

INSPIRATION:

Courtesy of the Purpose Fairy Facebook page:

Yes to all of these, especially #2, 3, 6, 10, 12, 13, and 15!

Have a great weekend! And don’t forget to enter my Cook Smarts giveway. I’ll be selecting a winner tomorrow night.

Little Bits of Inspiration

written by Parita 7 Comments

As readers of my blog, you all know that I love to inspire and to be inspired.

Who am I kidding…I’m really just one big cheese ball!

Either way, this week has been filled with little bits of inspiration that have transpired from a few different places. The first is a quote I found in one of my special Gmail folders. My cousin sent it to me a few years ago, and when I reread the quote, it made me feel like anything is possible as long as you keep moving forward. The next is a message from theUniverse about not letting any one thing define you. Powerful stuff! And finally, the last one is a story my mom forwarded to me yesterday. She’s not one of those annoying people who forward everything that comes their way. She picks and chooses who receives what, so I knew this would be good. And it was. The story is about the power of letting your mind do its own thing instead of muddying the waters (so to speak).

I hope at least one of these inspires you in some way!

A quote from my cousin

It’s in the difficult times that we’re growing and you can’t just rebuke everything hard. We’ve got to endure it and fight the good fight of faith and pass the test.

Joel Osten

A message from the Universe

Nobody, Parita, is who they are based upon one decision, one day, one path, one chance, one relationship, or one anything else.

Every day is brand new and opportunity never stops knocking.

Who’s there?
The Universe

A story from my mom

Buddha was traveling with a few of his followers. While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do please get me some water from the lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake. The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy.

He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha. Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, the mud settled down on its own, and now you have clear water.

Your mind is like that too! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

Source unknown

Have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend!

A Little Glimpse

written by Parita 21 Comments

As y’all know, I don’t blog about every single detail of every single minute of every single day. And really, that’s for no reason other than the fact that my life is not that interesting. I’d rather pick one particular thing that’s on my mind and elaborate on it.

I do, however, share more of my every day life on Instagram, a photo sharing social media program. If you’re not already signed up, do it now – so fun. And if you’re already an Instagrammer, follow me!! I also regularly share random pictures and videos with my family. Some of these never make it to the blog. Shocking!

With all that being said, I thought it would be fun to show a glimpse of what happens around these parts on a regular basis. Note: Instagram helps make ordinary things look interesting!

This picture is an old one. It’s from when Vishnu was doing his fantasy football stuff. One of his leagues (I think that’s what you call it) video conferenced him in, and when I walked in to say hi to the guys, I was told to leave! How rude!

Our new chair! As I was going through my pictures, I realized I never shared this one on the blog. But yeah, I love this big, comfortable chair…worth every penny!

I called dibs on the chair, so that left Vishnu with the ottoman. Kind of like poor Michael Scott on The Office. Ha! Jusssst kidding!

If you’re on Instagram, you’ve probably seen a bajillion pictures like this one. Something I learned very quickly is that people love sunsets and clouds. I took this one during my flight from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale. And yes, I am one of those people.

This quote, along with a bunch of others, is posted in my cube. Inspiration at it’s finest!

This one y’all will love! That shoe rack is actually a bookshelf that we bought at Ikea. Between the two of us, we have A LOT of shoes, so this is a cool way to keep them organized.

Speaking of shoes, my boss gave me two pairs of almost brand new Christian Louboutin shoes. Just because she can’t wear them anymore. No words.

My cousin sent me this picture the the other day. Some things never change – like my face!

Narrow parking spaces annoy the crap out of me. On this particular day, I had to climb in through the passenger side, and I think I banged my knee in the process. This was something I couldn’t just laugh off. Probably because it happens at least twice a week. Grrr!

My new favorite workout DVD! I’ve only done Levels 1 and 2 (out of 4) and let me tell you – they are killer! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an effective, quick, at home workout that can be done in your living room.

My reminder to drink more water! And for those of you who are wondering if a simple note works, I am here to tell you that it does. I drink a minimum of 50 ounces of water between 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.

I’ve been meaning to post this soup recipe on the blog but just haven’t gotten around to it. I made it on a day where the temperature was a little lower than we were used to (i.e., Florida has turned us into a couple of wusses).

Kale chips! This was my first time attempting to make these, and I couldn’t believe how great they tasted. Vishnu and I ate them all (two bunches worth) in one sitting. Vitamin overload!

I got a pedicure this past weekend. It was MUCH needed. The minute I sat down to soak my feet, I looked at the lady and apologized for the grossness. She laughed and assured me it was fine, but I know what she was thinking!

For the first time in years, I gave myself a manicure. The whole experience made me realize what I was missing out on – a relaxing activity that helps save money! Win win! When I sent my mom a picture of the finished product, she laughed and said the color looked like S***! Hahahahahaha. She’s a fan of reds and maroons, while I prefer neutral colors on my hands. I don’t care what you think, momma, I’m giving you a manicure and painting your nails THIS color!!