It started innocently enough – we were shopping in Sam’s Club, when an AT&T salesman walked up to us. Black Friday sales – amazing offers, the latest Apple and Samsung phones at huge discounts! Did we need new phones – come on, does anyone ever need a new phone??!! But Manasi’s phone did have a…
All that glitters…. must be Silver!
This is one of the most wonderful times of the year – the onset of Fall, start of a new school year, and yes, all our festivals, starting with Ganpati all the way to Diwali! And you know what festivals mean – good food, special menus, great times with family and friends – and a…
Happiest place on Earth!
Now what can possibly be happier than being on a cruise ship to the Bahamas! If you ask Manasi – cruise or not – she would probably say the Hogwarts castle at Universal Studies, Orlando! So she was pretty excited when we decided to add a couple of days buffer before and after the cruise…
All aboard the MSC Divina!
We didn’t get off to the best of starts – because you know, you’re thinking in your head, we’ll have breakfast, drive to the port, drop off our bags, return the rental car, check into the cruise and head straight to the lunch buffet, or maybe hang out by the pool. Except that there are…
Cruising the Caribbean
We had a couple of significant milestones in our family recently – Ajey’s parents celebrated their 50th anniversary last November, and his dad just had his 80th birthday in June!! In Pune, there was a grand party for their Golden anniversary – and since they are here visiting us in Peoria this summer – why…
One Perfect Moment
So I totally meant for this post to build up to the big announcement – but you know what? I can’t wait to shout this from the rooftops!! Manasi is going to be the Queen for Dunlap High School 2022 Madrigals Knight!!! Starting as a totally green Freshman to Queen – what an absolutely perfect…
Saag-paneer and other ‘vegan’ delicacies
Recently, Manasi came home laughing that a friend of hers had told her that she really enjoyed ‘Saag-paneer’ because it was vegan. Manasi, of course, had to gently explain that paneer, although vegetarian, was nowhere close to being vegan. To be honest, I really don’t get vegan, or even the so-called ‘plant-based’ diets for that…
Opening night at ‘Moulin Rouge’!
Oh Chicago! Living in Peoria, Chicago often feels like a gateway to all kinds of magical lands! Sometimes quite literally, as the O’Hare airport has been the starting point of so many of our adventures! And in so many other ways – whether it’s a stroll down the Magnificent Mile, an afternoon spent at Navy…
Cardboard Regatta at DHS
A couple of weeks ago, as we were heading out to Costco – Manasi asked us to pick up a couple of boxes. She had to build a boat, she said, for a Physics project. And not just a little paper boat, you know, the kind we’ve all floated in rainwater puddles – but a…
A ‘Shabdanjali’ for Lata Mangeshkar
6th February, 2022, the ‘Nightingale of India’ was silenced forever, plunging an entire nation into mourning. Saying that Lata Mangeshkar was an incarnation of Devi Saraswati herself would be no exaggeration! For the last 8 decades, her soulful voice has held us all in a mesmerized spell – and her towering legacy will no doubt…
For the love of libraries…
A little shelf in a back closet serves as a temporary bookshelf – for books borrowed from the library. And it so happened that one particular week last summer, between Manasi and me, we had – wait for it – a whopping total of 19 books checked out and waiting to be read!! I have…
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The original intention to come to the Smokies was to hike – like the hiking bootcamp we did in Colorado! And although we did get distracted by the charming Gatlinburg, we did manage to get in some good hiking! Crossing through Gatlinburg, and into the Great Smoky Mountains Natural Park – the contrast couldn’t be…
A place called home... 