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Diwali 2017

Friday Thoughts + Favorite Links

written by Parita Leave a Comment

First and foremost, HAPPY DIWALI!

Diwali 2017

Diwali is one of my all time favorite holidays.  There’s something so special about celebrating the victory of good over evil and light over darkness.  Also, so many of my childhood memories are tied to this time of year – time with family, the phone ringing off the hook, delicious food, etc.

I can’t wait for Kaiden to experience (and remember) the fun that is Diwali!

To be honest, I always wish we were back in Atlanta with our parents during this time of year.  Obviously, that wasn’t possible this year, so my sister and her friend Ashley organized a Diwali dinner for us on Tuesday, and I volunteered to host it at our place.  It was so much fun hanging out with Aekta, Adarsh, and a few friends.  The food was delicious too!  Of course, Kaiden was the star of the show.  My mom sent an Indian outfit for him, so we dressed him up and took a few pics.  He looked beyond adorable!

Diwali Dinner 2017

Other than Diwali fun, this week included lunch with both current and former coworkers/friends, a coffee date with my friend Pankti, and a nighttime Target run (all sweaters were BOGO 50% off!).  My in laws get in tonight, and we’re so excited to spend time with them.  The weather looks promising and warm (at least on Saturday), so hopefully we’ll venture out.

With that, here are a few of my favorite links from the week…

An interesting and helpful way to frame a common parenting struggle.

LOVE this idea.  Would work even if you don’t have kids…an after work routine if you will!

I NEED to make these bars.  They have my name written all over them!

Our thoughts are very powerful.  Choose wisely.

Want to be healthier?  Get more sleep!

As a Biore nose strip user, this article was eye-opening!

I think these tips and tricks these could actually work!

These muffins look irresistible!

Could not agree more about the importance of ‘both/and’ thinking.  I need to be better about this myself!

Love all of these lessons, but this one literally gave me goosebumps…If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors.

Our mind may very well be our most powerful tool.

Happy Friday (and weekend)!  And from our family to yours, we wish you lots of love, light, and joy. 🙂

Written on October 20, 2017 Related:Favorites, Uncategorized

The Hampton Social

Friday Thoughts + Favorite Links

written by Parita 2 Comments

Hellllooo, Friday!  It’s so good to see you.

Overall, this was a good week.  The best part being Vishnu’s back on a more normal weekday schedule.  Also, as you can probably tell from the length of today’s post compared to last week’s, I have a lot more to talk about.

Let’s get on with it…

The most exciting thing I have to share is that my mom is coming to visit, and she gets in tonight!  I can’t wait to see her, and she can’t wait to see Kaiden.  Ha!  My aunt and cousin are also visiting, so it should be a family and fun filled weekend.

Speaking of Kaiden, our little guy is officially three months today!  I honestly can’t believe it.  <Cue the tears>  More about this special milestone coming Monday.

Speaking of special milestones, we have two very special birthdays coming up next week – my sister on Monday and Vishnu on Tuesday.  I may or may not have given Vishnu one of his presents (an official NFL jersey) a tad bit early because I was so excited and couldn’t hide it.  But don’t worry, I’m totally going to wait until his actual birthday to give him the second part of his present.  I think.

Speaking of presents, Mr. K is one lucky guy!  Our friend Rena came to visit last weekend and gifted him three Berenstain Bears books.   I was obsessed with the Bear family growing up and may or may not have read him one of the books later in the day.  And he may or may not have understood a single word.  Ha!

Berenstain Bears Books

The ‘speaking of’ transition doesn’t work for the rest of what I want to share, so I’ll just get on with it!

Earlier this week, I had dinner with two old colleagues at The Hampton Social, a really cute restaurant just around of the corner from us.  The salad I ordered was fantastic.  I think it was the crunch factor from the marcona almonds.  Perfection.  You know what else was perfection?  The flourless chocolate cake we had for dessert.  YUM!

The Hampton Social

The pizza we’re going to eat later today should be pretty yum too!  And by later today, I mean 5:30 pm…the early bird special or as I like to call it “the only time we can go out to eat because of our kid’s bedtime.”  🙂

Is anyone else SUPER DUPER excited about all the shows that premiered this week?  I love this time of year for this very reason.  There’s something about having a few great shows lined up.  This Is Us (so many tears this week!), Big Bang Theory, New Girl (although they haven’t released the premiere date yet…ugh!), How to Get Away with Murder…LET’S DO THIS!

In other exciting news, our apartment gym now includes a rowing machine, and I love it.  I use the interval setting and row my little heart in 20 second increments.  I’m finding it’s a great way to start and/or end my cardio sessions.

Rowing Machine

And finally (wow this is a long post!), I got my hair highlighted yesterday.  While not all my grays are covered, I’m loving the subtle color and blended effect.  Let’s just say this appointment was LONG overdue!  Also, I need to learn how to take normal selfies.

Hair Highlights

And with that, here are a few of my favorite links from the week…

If you’re on the fence about purchasing the Instant Pot, read this article!

A good reminder about taking social media posts with a grain of salt.

Some of these are going to be hard to practice and live, but I can see why they’re important.

A great list and something I can honestly say Vishnu and I continue to work on every day.

Actions really do speak louder than words!

Eckhart Tolle is a wise man.

Great advice for my new/soon-to-be mama readers.

LOLOLOL

Love this as it’s something that’s constantly on my mind as of late.

PREACH!  I get so annoyed when all people can talk about after having a baby is the ‘post baby body.’  YOU BROUGHT A HUMAN BEING INTO THE WORLD.  TALK ABOUT THAT!

Making these blondies soon…so easy!

Vishnu and I talk about this all the time.  Great article.  I plan to share my/our thoughts in a separate post.

I love the idea of taking a day or two every year to really think through these exercises in a thoughtful way.

Mom guilt IS a liar.  At the end of the day, we’re all doing our very best.

With that, have a very happy weekend!

Written on September 29, 2017 Related:Favorites, Uncategorized

Southwestern salad

Friday Things + Favorite Links

written by Parita 1 Comment

Oh yes, I’m changing the title of my Friday [Favorites] posts to ‘Friday Things + Favorite Links.’  Exciting times, I tell you!

As for those Friday things, let’s see…

Overall, this week turned out to be a good one.

Kaiden and I got to see some of my favorite former and current coworkers, celebrate Thea’s birthday, and eat some delicious food (Frontera Grill and India House).  YAY and YUM!

Kaiden turned 2 months on Tuesday and nine weeks yesterday.  My baby’s growing up! 🙂

I’m trying to get back into my weekly meal planning mode because it helps keep us and our bank account in check.  Also, we can’t/shouldn’t eat cereal for dinner every night.  Pre-Kaiden, the food I made ranged from super simple to a little more involved.  Now?  Meal prep needs to be minimal and super duper quick.  I made my vegetarian lentil chili the other night, and it totally fit the bill.  Next time I may double the recipe and freeze a portion for later.

Lentil chili

I also made (threw together?) quick Southwestern salads one night.  Salads are the best bet right now…as long as I know exactly how I want to craft them and have everything pretty much ready to go.

Southwestern salad

At some point this weekend, I plan to make Pad Thai from the Thug Kitchen cookbook my sister let me borrow.  This is neither quick or easy. Yeah…soooo…wish me luck!  Also, a review of this hilarious cookbook is coming soon!

Thug Kitchen cookbook

What else?  Vishnu worked a short call shift on Thursday (8a-8p), and that was the day Kaiden chose to freak out if wasn’t holding him at all times.  I somehow managed to fit in a Barre3 Online workout…with three breaks throughout of course.  And that’s about it.  This little guy of ours, I tell you!

As far as our weekend plans go, we have a few things lined up – the zoo, pizza night out, movie night in, and my fantasy football draft.  We’ll see what other shenanigans we get into. 🙂

And now for the highly anticipated links of the week!

Boredom, anger, and fear equal a ‘soul emergency’

“Most of us aren’t as self-aware as we think.”

Shame is something we all experience but not something we all know how to deal with.

Do you believe in guardian angels?

Empathy is key – will have to remember this when K gets older

I know we still have some time, but I can’t wait to introduce K to real food!

Something all parents should read

Along the same vein as the above

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately

With that, I wish you a happy Friday!

Written on September 1, 2017 Related:Favorites, Par's Picks, Uncategorized

Bath time

Friday Favorites

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Hola and happy Friday!  While I’m sure I could share a lot of favorite moments from the week, I honestly don’t have the brain power to type them all out.  I will say though that along with all the good, the week was exhausting.  But that’s expected since my mom left, and we don’t have an extra pair of hands to help out.  What does help is keeping things simple.  As much as I want to be at times, I’m not supermom/superwife, and honestly, I’m realizing there’s no need for me to be.  Simply doing the best I can is enough.

A few notable Friday favorite moments include…

Giving Kaiden a bath.  My mom was usually the one in charge of this task, but now that she’s gone, Vishnu and I tag teamed and did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.  As witnessed by Kaiden’s calm demeanor throughout. 🙂

Bath time

I made some delicious peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal balls.  No recipe.  No measurements.  They turned out pretty good.  Just oats, chia seeds, coconut flour, salt, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips.

When I walked into the kitchen at 10 pm, Vishnu told me to chill out.  We were both confused for very different reasons.  He didn’t understand why I was pulling out ingredients to make something that late at night instead of relaxing, and I didn’t understand why he wanted me to be hungry!

Peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal balls

After Kaiden’s two month visit, we treated ourselves to donuts.  Because shots.  Our little guy was a true champ and cried for literally a few minutes before falling asleep.  While I didn’t bawl, I teared up and probably made the nurse feel really bad.  Thank goodness both Vishnu and my sister were there.  It truly takes a village!

Dorite donuts

Vishnu’s off this weekend! YAYAYAYAYAYA!  We don’t have any major plans except brunch on Saturday.  We definitely need to soak up the good weather before it starts getting cold.  Don’t even want to think about it!  Brrrr…

And as always, here are a few of my favorite links from the week…

Very fitting lessons and quotes for what our country (and the world) is currently going through

Only 8 weeks in, and I agree with almost all of these!

LOL!

Yes please

Great interview – “Habits of the mind far outweigh habits of the body. How you think is everything. Everything.”

Everything I would say to my own mom.  “I know that all mothers sacrifice themselves for their children, but immigrant mothers are unique in this way because their sacrifice has taken them across continents, away from their network of support, into unfamiliar lands and foreign values.”

As a food lover, I found this super interesting.

Brene Brown is one of my favorite people.  Everything she says/writes is pure gold.

Super interesting article about the power of our thoughts on how we metabolize what we eat.

Simple but true!

I’m determined to make these muffins this weekend

Things do get better in two week increments.  I can vouch for that!

And with that, have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

Written on August 25, 2017 Related:Favorites, Uncategorized

Friday Favorites

written by Parita 1 Comment

Hello friends and hello Friday!

This past week was a good one.  Nothing too exciting happened, yet the week felt productive and smoother than the past couple (except when Kaiden had major gas pains for a day…which equaled major fussiness).  However, the thing I now understand about parenthood is to expect the unexpected and take each day as it comes, so next week I may be singing a different tune.  But I’ll take a good few days when I get them!

Let’s see…what else.  We ate some really good food this week – homemade pav bhaji, loaded nachos, and RPM!  My mom’s been wanting to try the former for over a year now, and the only reservation time available was 9:30 pm.  A little late if you ask us, so we ordered in some RPM, and it was DELICIOUS!

Kaiden’s social security card arrived this week, and I also picked up his birth certificate from the country office.  Vishnu and I were probably a little too excited to receive these two documents, especially his birth certificate because it very officially states that we are his parents!

My aunt and cousin (my mom’s younger sister and her son) are in town for a wedding and were able to sneak away for a few hours to visit Kaiden.  It never gets old seeing the people I’m closest to meet K for the first time.

My mom’s time with us is coming to an end soon. 🙁  Of course, this brings with it a ton of emotions.  Tuesday night was particularly rough for some reason.  However, after seeing/talking to a few friends on Wednesday, I felt a bit better and more upbeat.  It’s amazing what a few really good people can do.

This weekend already feels like it will be fairly low key.  Vishnu works both tonight and Sunday (boo!), so that’s that.  Other than that, we have a fun birthday celebration to attend on Saturday for Thea!  We’re going to karaoke but you likely wont’ find me behind the mike.  Kaiden is the only one who enjoys my voice, and honestly, who knows how long that will last!

Check out my favorite links from the week…

My talented friend Aparna took this picture, and it’s beautiful!

Love everything about this article!

Kindness always wins…always

Love me some Eckhart Tolle

I’ll admit, I’m guilty of a few of these (but now I know better!)

Goosebumps!

So much yum. I need to make the Skinny Banana Chocolate Chip muffins soon (as in this weekend)

How delicious do these smoothies look?

I constantly think about this and how to maintain a good balance with Kaiden

Have a great weekend!

Written on August 18, 2017 Related:Favorites, Uncategorized

The Chicago Riverwalk

Friday Favorites

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Up until this point, I’ve been blogging fairly regularly.  That’s probably because Kaiden’s sleep patterns have been pretty predictable.  This week turned out to be the one where I ate all my words about my sleeping angel and his ever improving sleep habits.  He’s still my angel, but because of a likely 6 week growth spurt, he’s fussier than usual which equates to sleep times and feedings that are a bit all over the place. Needless to say, Vishnu and I are pretty exhausted.  Vishnu put it best a couple of days ago when he said he feels perpetually tired.  Yep, that pretty much explains it!

When I think about this phase of life, I think about something I said to Vishnu when we got married.  He always felt bad about the fact that he was still in med school, not contributing financially, etc.  I told him these “hard” days will be the ones we fondly think about in the future. And guess what…they are!  Same goes for these newborn days.  I have no doubt that years from now both Vishnu and I will look back on when Kaiden was a baby and wish we could hold him in our arms and sit with him in the stillness of our apartment at 2 am!

As I’ve been told many times, babies don’t keep so enjoy this time as much as possible!

Anyways, back to my irregular blogging.  Despite having lots of ideas, I had zero energy to execute them.  I prioritized sleep/rest whenever possible (whenever possible being the key phrase here!).

With that being said, I still wanted to write my usual Friday Favorites post because I truly enjoy sharing personal tidbits and my favorite links from the week.

While this week was challenging in some ways, we did manage to have some fun!  My mom, Kaiden, and I packed up the stroller and made our way over to the Chicago Riverwalk, a beautiful new “social” path along the Chicago river.  It was so nice to be out enjoying the warm weather.  I think Kaiden appreciated us making the effort to get out too!

The Chicago Riverwalk

My sister discovered a Hindu temple walking distance from our apartment, so once again, we packed up the stroller and made our way over.  You guys!  I’m so excited because this temple is truly a sanctuary in the city.  I felt so at peace upon walking in and loved the simplicity of the space.  Once Kaiden’s a little older, I hope to make temple visits a regular thing.

I treated my mom to a massage this week.  Despite having a bad back, she’s been doing so much around the house and with Kaiden.  She’s not one to go out and treat herself, so I thought I’d take action to make sure it happened.  She truly deserves it!  And because she loved her experinece so much (big thanks to my friend Erin for the recommendation!), Vishnu and I may just be back sooner than later.  If you live in the Chicago area, check out Lillie Ann’s.

Lillie Ann's Massage Chicago

Finally, we are expecting some special visitors this weekend…my in-laws!  They haven’t seen Kaiden since he was born.  Even though they’ll be here for less than 48 hours, we hope to make the most of our time together.  Will share more about the weekend on Monday!

With that, please find some of my favorite links from the week below…

Habits of happiness that have nothing to do with positive thinking.  Something everyone can get behind!

Books for mamas who need a little inspiration

I always knew my ‘thankful thoughts’ journal was powerful tool, as it is possible to turn negative thinking around

And the restaurant city of the year is….drum roll please…CHICAGO!!!

Quality relationships are the key to happiness per a Harvard study

A very honest take on the dark days of motherhood

Lessons from Buddhist monks

One more like the above!

HAPPY FRIDAY AND WEEKEND!  Make it a great one 🙂

Written on August 11, 2017 Related:Favorites, Uncategorized

Friday Favorites - nails

Friday Favorites

written by Parita 1 Comment

HELLLLLLLOOOOOO FRIDAY!

First and foremost, thank you for the positive response to my post about mom guilt.  Totally wasn’t expecting that!  Your emails, messages, etc. are what making blogging that much more of a powerful thing for me.  I’m not sure how it will work when my mom leaves and especially when I go back to work, but for now, it’s a platform for me to share my journey and hopefully help/encourage people in whatever small ways I can.  At the end of the day, that’s enough to keep me going!

Earlier in the week, I shared on Instagram that my mom was teaching me how to crochet.  Well, you can’t say she didn’t try, but you can say crocheting is not my thing (I do plan to try at least one more time before my mom leaves).  Hey, at least we got a really good laugh out of my ineptness!

Friday Favorites - crochet

Speaking of my mom still being around, I’ve been able to make quick solo trips here and there for various errands.  This week that entailed a trip to the grocery store, Costco, and Michaels.  Bliss…it’s truly the small things!  I know eventually I’ll have to figure out how to do all of this with a baby in tow, but for now, I’m taking full advantage of being able to go at it alone.  So much faster!

If you didn’t know it already, my mom’s pretty awesome.  After not following through on my grand mani/pedi plans for the past few weeks, I finally made it to the nail salon because of her.  She literally pushed me out the door knowing that was the only way I’d go.  Ha!

Friday Favorites - nails

And last but not least, I’m excited for the weekend because we have Friday night dinner plans with new friends and a couple of Saturday visitors who will be making their way over to hang out with Mr. K.  Yahoo!

And as always, here are a few of my favorite links from the week…

OMG…this is the sweetest thing ever (and one of the most tear inducing).

These four salads look like great prep and go options (I’d obviously replace the chicken with a vegetarian protein source)

ADORABLE!

#10 – hahahaha!

The science behind feedback – super interesting

YES! – “Don’t let the motherhood soul suckers of the world take away one second of your joy of mothering. Not one single second.”  A;so, this!

Exactly what I needed to see

As a boy mom, this gave me all the feels!

Annnnnnd…that’s all I have for you today!  I hope you have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend. 🙂

Written on August 4, 2017 Related:Favorites, Uncategorized

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