I don't like you, yet.

'2014'

I am talking about you!

2014 and I haven't started right. We haven't hit it off yet, so to say. 2014 has been poking me, surprising me, pulling the rug from under my feet, messing my hair on good hair days and generally being an ill-mannered brute.

I typically like New Years. And they like me. End of December, we get ourselves a hot cuppa each, and chirp and get happy about fresh beginnings, end of winters, advent of spring, possibilities, hopes, fun plans and more. 2014 and I did the same; or so I thought. I could have been speaking Greek and the nincompoop 2014, French! 

Frustrating it is, I tell you. And no less upsetting. Ask my boy cat. He understands, for from time to time, he licks his front paw, keeps it on my knee and looks up at me wistfully. For what it is worth, behind that wistful look, he must be abusing 2014 on my behalf. He is a good boy cat like that. I can't really say what I want to say to 2014 on this blog, as this blog is safe for work and safe for home. It has pretteh pictures and some moms and I am sure atleast a few dads, are showing these pretteh pictures to their kids. So no, I can't say bad words here, howsoever tempted I might be. I'll let my furball do that for me. Go Jui, go!

So you may ask, why am I sharing my tirade here and now?

Well, for one, who else do I share it with if not you? Aren't you my favorite folks? You ARE. Like it or not.

Secondly, given all this rug pulling business, I need to recoup. reassemble. regenerate. refocus. recycle. [well, not really recycle, but what the heck - let's put an eco-conscious message in there while we are at it]. 

 And while I hit the Refresh button this month, two things shall happen:

One, I'll continue to update my other pretteh blog - An Indian Summer Likes. So if you haven't checked it out yet [Oh my God, how could you have not!], please to do so on a daily basis. It has inspiration and prettiness and niceness and decor and fashion and mountains and witticism and cats and illustrations and sigh, all things that I like. You will like them too. All pics in this post are from there.

Second, a task for you, my dear spread-all-over-the-world friends. Kindly tell 2014 to behave itself for I am losing my patience, and am just about to put on my ninja gear and give one tight slap to the bully and ask it to go stand in a corner. Right after I beat the shi cra [this safe for home and work thing, man!] After I beat it up badly. Ok!

Remember An Indian Summer Likes is where the action will be, for sometime. Bookmark it.

And while we are talking about things that are making me mad, this Mark Zuckerberg chap - what, just what does he want! You lovely people show my little blog such love and like An Indian Summer's facebook page, and then Mark goes and changes things around! And then you can't see what I share on the page in your news feed. Highly disconcerting this.

So if you are connected to An Indian Summer on facebook [if not, Oh my God, why not!], please do the following:

1. Click here and go to the page
2. Like it if not liked yet! Erm ok, pretty please, do so if you may wish? [Before you think that I am getting influenced by the badly behaved 2014]
3. Just hover the mouse cursor over 'Liked' button and click on 'Get Notifications'. You can also check mark the 'Add to Interests Lists' if you wish. That's it. You'll not miss a single dose of goodness from this blog henceforth.

Lookie! Here's how:

 

 

Auf wiedersehn for now. See you on the other side, folks. Be good and be happy!

  Catch you on An Indian Summer Likes

Will be back here soonish

Drop me a hello here, here or there anytime!

 [Please find credits and/or source of images used in the post here]

   

Phew!

Hello there!

Nothing dramatic to phew about

But you know how it is sometimes?

You just need to exhale

Take a deep breath in, and exhale

P h e w!

That

Just felt like doing that

Also,  you know what?

I miss you guys

All this work on tech stuff is making me grumpy

(as if having a grumpuss boy cat wasn't enough for the household)

I need some Pretty

Just some plain simple *insert appropriate adjective* Pretty

You get it.  Right?

And when I talk about YOU

Sigh

You make me go weak in the knees sometimes

 You, with your comments, your emails, your messages on facebook

And

You sent me songs and playlists!

And

You said to me, 'There there, it be ok'

Sigh

Did I tell you how much I love you?

I really do.

This above

Is where I would like to be

Prop myself on that cute tiger cub pillow

Curl up

And read that book

Or maybe one of the books from the haul I got yesterday

A disadvantage of doing tech stuff

You get mad at freakin css bored,

And then you shop

But my dear folks

Things are moving along

Taking longerrr than anticipated

But moving along

I don't have a live date yet for the new site

But 

We shall continue living

And live *insert appropriate adjective* pretty at that, my lovelies!

So tell me

Isn't this post pretty?

Well worth your time?

Maybe you need to exhale too?

Here,

*e x h a l e*

Exhale right here :)

Phew!

See ya tomorrow

Yes, the new site can go fish

(No, don't go fish. Really Site, you don't have a sense of humour, At All!)

There's a fun giveaway out there

And on Friday,

There's another lovely giveaway coming up

So, I'll see you tomorrow, ie Thursday

And then again on Friday

Ok?

Do come back!

I better publish this post

Before I ramble any more

Who knows what else I may say?

And then we'll have three grumpus entities at hand

My cat, my site and me

Alright bye

Seriously

See you tomorrow! :)

[Such pretteh images from here]

On Another Note

I have important things to tell you
Read between the lines pretteh pictures, my good folks
Do read!

So

I have been working furiously 

(ok, sometimes not as furiously)

(for most of the times sometimes, I just pack my bags and travel)

Behind the scenes

On a spanking new website for An Indian Summer

Yaay and such! :)

Over the next couple of weeks

I'll be migrating content, making changes, trying out fancy pancy css,

Tearing my hair out and sulking in a corner along with my boy cat

(All part of a day's work, I tell you)

What I need from you:

Send me encouraging notes

Say 'There, there, it be ok'

 Or

Just send me some songs

To listen to

As I work on getting that spanking new site ready for YOU

YOU, my favorite peeps of all!

Oh, and

Ignore any random changes that you see on this blog

Or anything that you aren't familiar with

It will all be a part of this spanking new site gig happening

Behind the scenes

(hopefully!)

And, and

Pardon any delay in responding to your lovely emails

(Say 'There, there, it be ok)

Pardon a probable lack of posting

For I will be working furiously 

(Yes, all furiously this time. No travel for next two weeks)

To get that spanking new site ready for you

Don't worry

All the goodness you see here

Will remain!

It will just move to a new site

Ok. 
Now you can scroll back and look at the pretteh pictures again
All from one of my favorite online mag: Anthology


Psst: Don't forget to send those songs. And encouraging notes. If not for me, for my boy cat at least. He is overseeing the work on the spanking new site by sitting on my laptop's keyboard, as and when his busy schedule permits. I have also enlisted the help of a tech oriented friend (ahem, politically correct term for a geek), who has so far been subject to many a hair tearing and sulking sessions. So yes, those songs, and the notes - much needed! 
:) 

A Little Prayer

  

For the people battling the flood in Uttarakhand, India

For the flora and fauna that has been lost

 For the beautiful region that is now devastated

I feel a very strong connect to the Himalayas, and it pains me no end to see the delicate ecosystem of the region being ravaged by natural disasters, caused due to human excesses in the name of development. I wish that atleast NOW, the people responsible for governance and the people who have been nominated as the custodians for environment and development, will look beyond their private gains and do what is right for the region and it's people.

You can contribute to the relief efforts right here.

Signing off for the week

Be safe, everyone

Where ever you are

 [Image: Clicked by me on a recent trip to Kinnaur region]

 

One fine day in March

At An Indian Summer's home

  

On a beautiful spring day last week, there was a photoshoot at my home, for an iconic women magazine. It was a fun day and I had a great time styling the home and discussing angles and frames with the excellent photographer. When the team left, I took advantage of the late afternoon sunlight filtering in and took some pictures, just for you :)

Southern light in the entry foyer

The mellow bedroom

A corner in the living room, with marble urlis and madhubani painting

By the bedside

My boy cat finally finds the time to sit and relax after a hectic day of knocking off flower heads, pawing little knick knacks off the shelves, streaking across rooms to creatively (dis)place rugs and other such sundry activities. He ensured that I do, and redo, and then again do up a room, till the time he got bored of the room and sauntered away!


Will let you know when the magazine hits the stand next month folks! Do pick it up for more pictures from our home and a story feature on how I went about doing it up.


[All images taken by me. Kindly credit and link back to this post if you use them anywhere]