My Inner Shakti

finding strength in everyday things

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Random Rambles

written by Parita 1 Comment

Ok, first thing’s first. How is it mid-November!? This year seriously flew by (as I say about time in general!).

This picture has nothing to do with this post! It’s just a fun one of my baby, so I’m sharing it.

Anyways, we’re leaving for the Bahamas tomorrows (for our friend’s wedding), so I thought I’d check in and say hi before disconnecting for a bit.

Oh the Bahamas. I’m so excited to be in warmer weather and reunited with some good friends, but we have no idea how Kaiden is going to adapt. I’m 110% sure he’s going to have a blast, as so many people are bringing their kids. But the thing that concerns me is sleep. We’re sharing a room with him, so I just hope he sleeps. The last wedding we attended back in April ended up being a disaster in terms of his sleep (and mine…and everyone else’s). FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED!

Speaking of sleep, if you follow me on Instagram, you know that we’re dealing with some stuff in that area with K. Tuesday night was really good (no crying…more sleeping), so I’m hoping we’re on a positive trajectory. Also hoping our upcoming travel doesn’t mess things up again! FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED!

I’ve been doing a lot of 2019 reflecting this week. There were some absolutely amazing and joy filled moments, and some down times as well. One of the things I want to work on is not taking on needless stress. I need to think about how to do this a little more, but I tend to internalize a lot of things that can be easily delegated or just let go. I want more joy and less stress in 2020. I already have my word of the year…so be on the lookout for that!

I’m also working on planning for 2020 because I have a few work trips already on the calendar, we have at least three weddings lined up, Vishnu and I want to take a couple of trips, etc. And this is just the travel component. We also signed K up for soccer. I’m sure lots of other things will get squeezed in as well.

Speaking of 2020, I can’t believe we’re here. I’ve been thinking about this year for a long time. I think it’s because of the show 20/20. I know it’s not the same thing (year vs. vision), but in my brain, the two are connected. I remember being 16 in year 2000 thinking about how in 2020 I’ll turn 36. “How old!” was the exact thought. Annnnd just like that, we’re almost there!

What else?

Vishnu and I are still trying to make healthy choices on a daily basis. So far so good! For us, it’s mainly about cutting out post-dinner snacks (Vishnu -savory stuff, me – sweet stuff). We’re also back to regular workouts, which help tremendously. Here’s to an even healthier 2020!

To switch gears completely, I have to share that I finally purchased a Live Tinted Hue Stick in the shade Found. My mom was actually the one who convinced me. She asked me what I knew about these sticks, and I told her that I wanted to get the newest shade. She said the same, so we ordered them together! Not sure when I would’ve gotten around to that if she hadn’t asked me. Thanks, ma!

Speaking of my mom, it’s HER BIRTHDAY TODAY!!! Happy happy birthday to my fun, funny, amazing, compassionate, powerful, and beautiful momma! Love you forever in circles and circles!

That’s all I have for today. Nothing too exciting…pretty damn tired…looking forward to the end of the year…hoping to blog at least 2x a week in 2020 (so expect more random rambles type updates!)…

Happy Thursday!

Written on November 14, 2019 Related:Life, random, Uncategorized

High 5 on a Friday!

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Another week in the books! And it was a good one. I got a big project out the door for work while kicking off another one. Kaiden just seemed to be extra happy this week. And we have Vishnu back. A simple yet good week!

With that, let’s dive into my 5 things!

I didn’t have any other pictures that went with this post! Even though you can’t see his face, isn’t he the cutest? Look at his little foot!

ONE – Ok, I have a water bottle rec for all my moms out there. Kaiden’s never been a big water drinker, but ever since we got this bottle, he’s drinking H2O like crazy! It’s not completely leak proof, but it does the trick. I’ve been looking for good straw bottle for a while and am so thankful I found this one!

TWO – My friend Shelly started a company to help pass on the Indian culture to her kids. It’s called Khyalo Toys. She sent me her first product, a Diwali book, and guys, it’s incredible! The storytelling, the illustrations, everything. And did I mention that Shelly is a lawyer, a mom of 2, and a wife (#marriedtomedicine). Remind of this when I start making excuses! I’m going to be sharing more about Shelly and Khaylo Toys in future posts and on my IG page, but wanted to share now so you can check out her book!

THREE – Our weekend plans consist of a Friday night movie (for me!) because Vishnu has to work an overnight shift; errands/library on Saturday morning and a play date in the afternoon with a good friend of mine and her son (we’re thinking of letting the dads take over and heading out for dinner and wine because we haven’t had a chance to catch up in a LONG time); and a Sunday morning play date with another friend who has kids around K’s age. Love it when this stuff aligns!

FOUR – I took a strength based gym class this week and decided to up my weights and really push myself. Holy moly! My arms and upper back were so sore the next day. So much so that the next day I walked all the way to the gym for another class but turned around as soon as I got there. Ha! My gut was telling me to rest even though I wanted to push through. But then I had Vishnu’s voice in my head telling me to take it easy and not hurt myself. So treadmill intervals at the apartment gym it was!

FIVE – You guys, bath time in our house has recently gone from fun and easy to chaotic and crazy. It’s hard to convince K to get in the tub, and it’s also hard to convince him to get out. We can’t win!

That’s all I’ve got, guys! I hope you have a fun weekend.

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Written on September 20, 2019 Related:High 5 Friday, Uncategorized

random mommy musings

Random Mommy Musings

written by Parita 4 Comments

As I mentioned in Friday’s post, Vishnu worked a 24 hour shift from Saturday AM to Sunday AM.  Up until a few weeks ago, I would’ve stressed about being home alone with Kaiden.  I’m happy to report that I now have adequate confidence in my mommying abilities and am able to manage my child solo. 🙂

With Kaiden on a predictableish (not a word, I know, but go with it!) schedule, I sometimes actually find myself with some time to sit and think.  This usually happens when I’m too physically exhausted to actually do stuff around the apartment.  I just plop myself down on the couch, close my eyes and think.  If there’s a notebook nearby, I jot down my thoughts.  It’s a nice way to release all the mumbo jumbo in my head.  And trust me, there’s a lot of it!

random mommy musings

Unsurprisingly, my recent thoughts tend to be more maternal in nature.  Some personal, some general, and some stemming from stories/incidents fellow mamas share with me.

So with that, here are some of my recent random mommy musings.

Kissing children on the lips
I’ve recently come across more than a couple of articles about whether or not parents should kiss their children, including babies, on the lips.  Why the hell is this even up for discussion?  Of course you can kiss your child on the lips.  I mean, I get it.  If your child is uncomfortable with it, then obviously don’t.  Also,  I have a 3.5 month old, so what do I know.  I’m just going to keep kissing Kaiden until he says no or pushes me away (the saddest day of my life!).

Unsolicited advice
Why do people feel the need to give new moms unsolicited and oftentimes very critical advice?  If you have something possibly helpful to share, figure out the best way to do it and then speak.  Don’t just blurt stuff out in the middle of a chaotic moment and expect the mom to be ok with it.  Thankfully, I haven’t experienced this yet, but a couple of my friends have and it’s freaking ridiculous.

Celebrity moms
New pet peeve alert!  When everyday women look to new celebrity moms as goals.  Ummm news alert.  Most celebrities have $$$ to spend on help and lots of it – nannies, cooks, cleaners, trainers, gyms, you name it.  Those of us in the real world mostly rely on ourselves, and if we’re lucky our spouses, to get stuff done.  Like, of course Beyonce ‘bounced back’ after having twins.  She can afford to!

Winter is coming
I’m really trying my hardest not to stress too much when it comes to Kaiden.  Especially over the little things.  But something I can’t seem to chill out about is how to dress him for the Chicago winter.  I mean, I know he needs a jacket, hat, mittens, etc.  But like how many layers and WHAT EXACTLY should I buy.  I had lunch with my friend Erin a few weeks and asked her what she did for her son, and she shared some good tips.  I’m going to start there and probably buy more than we need.  Oy vey!  I’ll be sure to share my purchases in a future post.

Kirkland (Costco) diapers
You guys know I LOVE Costco.  After Target, it’s my favorite ‘go to’ store.  Everything about it is wonderful – the products, the prices, the samples (ha!).  So you can imagine how disappointed I was when we bought and tried the Kirkland diapers and had not one, not two, but MULTIPLE accidents.  The online forums are filled with moms who love these diapers, but we hated them with a vengeance.  In my opinion, a good diaper should lock in and hold pee/poop so that accidents are far and few between.  The Kirkland diapers do the exact opposite because there’s no absorbency factor.  I know it’s a little TMI, but in our experience, everything just stays at the surface of the diaper, and it’s not pretty.  NEVER AGAIN!  The Kirkland wipes, on the other hand, we LOVE!

Google at your fingertips
As a new parent I’m mostly glad I have the internet to either calm or feed my crazy.  I find myself asking Google so many random questions throughout the day.  For example, I wanted to know the average age of a 50 pound child.  Why?  Because I wanted to know how long we can use our stroller’s toddler seat.  You guys, Kaiden weighs 14 pounds ish and just started using the seat this week.   I need to calm down!

Help a mama out
Kaiden’s stroller is kind of big, so naturally, when I take him out on my own, I sometimes have to navigate sidewalks with no ramps, open doors and push the stroller through at the same time, etc.  It seriously warms my heart when random strangers offer to help, and I usually come across someone like this every outing.  Love it.  What I don’t love is when people see you struggling and do nothing.  I don’t expect anyone to go out of their way to help me.  After all, it’s my baby and my choice to venture out solo.  But it’s also rude to not offer, especially when the mom is struggling.  So remember, always help a mama out.  She’ll appreciate it more than you know!

Self-care
It’s easy to view self-care as a selfish thing, especially as a brand new mom.  I used to (albeit for a very short period of time!).  But trust me, it’s not an indulgence, it’s a necessity.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – happy mama = happy baby.  Take a break every now and again and do you for you!

You’re not the only one
As a mom, I can see how easy it is to fall into the trap of thinking you’re the only one.  The only one with a baby who doesn’t do/does X, the only one with a spouse who doesn’t do/does X, the only one who doesn’t do/does X.  To that I say, relax!  You’re not the only one.  We’re all more similar than you think.  This musing is worth a deeper dive, so be on the lookout for a funny story that illustrates this point perfectly.

So there you have it, a few of my random mommy musings.  Feels good to get it all out.  Thanks for listening (reading)!

Written on October 16, 2017 Related:Baby, motherhood, Uncategorized

Three Things Thursday (29)

written by Parita 14 Comments

Am I the only one who feels like 2015 literally flew by?  I know I say that every year, but I really mean it this time!  I’m looking forward to the rest of November and December, so I’d appreciate time slowing down a little. 

I’ll in Atlanta with my family for Thanksgiving, I’m going back to London for a week in December, my sister’s coming to visit the week of Christmas, and we’ll back in Atlanta the week of New Year’s.  Can’t wait!

Anyways, more on all of that later.  Let’s get to this week’s three things.

3 Things Thursday Badge

(1) Spectre

Vishnu’s a HUGE James Bond fan.  I think we watched the trailer for Spectre the minute it came out!  When my manager mentioned that she saw the movie this past weekend and loved it, I went ahead and purchased tickets for me and Vishnu to go on Saturday.  And not just any tickets…IMAX tickets!  Wife of the year over here (ha)!

Spectre poster

[Source]

(2) Nude nail polish

Don’t get me wrong, I love a dark purple polish as much as the next girl.  And I know that the fall/winter seasons call for deep rich colors.  HOWEVER, I’ve been doing my own nails since June (ahem…toe nail fiasco…ahem), and nude colors just work out better for me for a couple of reasons.  They’re more forgiving, and when the color starts to wear off, it’s not as obvious. 

My favorite nude polish is the Essie polish in Au Natural.  It’s the perfect sheer, beige nude shade.  LOVE!

Essie - Au Natural

(3) Daylight savings time

So I totally didn’t think it would take a toll on me, but this whole dark at 5:30 pm is driving me crazy.  I hate it!  The one silver lining is that it’s light out by 6:30 am which means I can run outside without having a heat stroke. 

I hear it’s dark by 3:30 in Chicago.  HELLLLLLLLP MEEEEEEEEE!!!

Daylight savings someecard

[Source]

Well, that’s all I have this week!  Hope your Friday eve is a good one Smile

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Written on November 5, 2015 Related:random, Three Things Thursday

Random Friday Musings

written by Parita 9 Comments

In no particular order…

1. I got to work super-duper early on Monday (jet lag) and realized that I had no clue what my network password was because I changed it the day before we left for India. Nevertheless, I tried until the system locked me out. Then I called IT, only to learn that they don’t get in until 7:30 CST.

Once the whole password thing was all straightened out, I realized that my Outlook wasn’t updating because it was offline. I got back on the phone with IT, only to have my inbox deleted. I was back in business…THREE hours later. Happy Monday to me!

2. Speaking of jet lag, it’s a B****. It’s gotten progressively better as the week’s gone on, but my bedtime has been 8:30 pm every night. My goal is to make it to 10:00 pm tonight. Wish me luck!

3. I cannot shake this cold, and to top it off, my nose is now peeling at the tip. Vishnu tells me it’s because I blow my nose too often and too hard. He may be right.

4. I came home for lunch the other day to a very quiet apartment with Vishnu nowhere to be found. I walked into our bedroom and saw him intently playing a video game. The reason he couldn’t hear me was because he was wearing his headphones. I took the opportunity to sneak up behind him and wait until he turned his head and saw me standing there. I scared the living daylights out of him! I laughed and laughed while he just shook his head. And then I did it again…well 3 more times to be exact. That’s when he got mad and told me it wasn’t funny. Oops. I guess I took it too far!

5. Vishnu and I will be heading back to the airport tomorrow morning. We’re attending a friend’s wedding in NC. It’s an Indian wedding which means I get to wear my new outfits!

You see, the problem with Indian clothes is that after a while you have no choice but to repeat certain outfits, especially when it comes to weddings. At least I do. Until, of course, you or someone in the family goes to India. Now I have lots of new things to wear!

6. I’ll be in Chicago for a team meeting all next week. It’ll be nice to see all of my coworkers…and eat at fun new restaurants four nights in a row. Self-control…self-control…self-control. Yeahhh…we’ll see about that.

7. I’m participating in the next round of Best Body Bootcamp. Woo! I honestly can’t wait to strength train on a regular basis again. And this time, I’m going to be consistent, unlike the last round where I really only did weeks 1-4.

8. I can’t wait for all my favorite shows to come back….in a month. Grrrr.

9. College football starts this weekend. GO DAWGS!!!

10. I know I am stating the obvious, but Sunday is September 1st. SEPTEMBER. When did that happen?

And with that, I’ll stop with this week’s random musings. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Written on August 30, 2013 Related:Life, random

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