Winter and woolly frogs

…or maybe something a little more.

Diligent Candy once memorably said – I judge you by the socks you wear. In the good old days when we were little college going chits she wore socks with little clocks and snails. I love her pictures, her writing, her son, her husband’s beautiful singing voice… and I go to her awesome blog for quick pick-me-ups. Brevity is her forte (clearly not mine).

This morning school reopened after a long winter break. As I dressed my babies and hugged their unusually substantial, padded figures I felt a little sad. Another year come to an end, another winter going by. What will I do once they go away? What do others do when their children leave home? How does a job or a hobby substitute this little squirmy thing you took out of your stomach and deposited in your heart? (Fortunately, I have laid claim to the family’s share of cheese and corn so no one else will subject you to such lines.)

The children are happy little red cheeked faces that wave bye from the school gate as I deposit them there, my hands lingering on their shoulders longer than they should. The Brat is running down the driveway to his class so I turn to walk away. Just then a little boy yells out to his father – Bye Papa! And I turn around and run back to the gate because I know.. I just do. And yes, the Brat remembers and has stopped and run back to the gate to shout out – Bye Mamma! His eyes search for me and I say a little thank you to the instinct that sent me back. He grins and this time runs away without a backward glance, his friends, his school, the new year calling out to him.

I turn away, satisfied. And then I look down at my feet in horror. My son let me drop him to school wearing these.

And he didn’t say a word. God bless you son – I’ll aim to embarrass you as much as I can, just to see how far I can push the envelop.

Go ahead then. Judge me. Candy, I know you still love me.

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Holly and Sally’s giveaway

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but here’s a nice desi fashion blog that I adore. Sally and Holly. Nothing outrageously expensive and a very fun sense of style. Well, they have a giveaway happening on their blog and I am hoping to win it. Mostly because I seriously *heart* that bow.

Anyway – since we’re on fashion, here are some recent acquisitions.

The hand bag is an early birthday gift from my mum and its a lovely green snakeskin finish thing. Very light, very roomy and very smart for work. The orange leather wallet is a Nine West and a gift too. I have some generous friends.

Wooden beads in shades of brown and copper. Goes with a lot of stuff. I think its from Debenhams. As is the one below. Blue and white beads and little butterflies and flowers in gold. Very delicate and looks nice with a plain fitted white shirt.

The one above is a lovely combination of purple and silver junk on a brown leather thong cord. Again, a little bit of bling on a day that your outfit feels blah.  I think it’s from Promod. I could be wrong. Maybe it was Accessorize.

Deej sent me the one above. Shades of green, blue and silver and nice and chunky. I wear it with a deep neck and it covers up the bare skin wonderfully!

What I love about this one is the combination of colours. The cheery red and the satin ribbon. I picked it up from Bizarre. Delhi shopaholics – do you love Bizarre or what? The shirt hanging below is also from Bizarre. The only thing that survived the childbirth is my waist – the tummy went to the dogs. So the nice thing about this shirt is that it covers up the arms and tummy and nips the waist in. I can’t believe I only own one.

A very saree business

So I decided to share some of my recent purchases with you.

A wooden ring from Anokhi, carved to look like a flower.

A statement piece 😀

I am allergic to costume jewellery (can only wear gold – no other metals) and so I’ve spent a lifetime envying others. But in the recent past I’ve been finding plastic, wood, thread and bone jewellery and it has changed my life. I wear the one above, red beads, speckled with blue and gold beads and those lovely fat blue mosaic beads, with a crisp white chikan kurta/kurti. What I love is that there is no metal clasp at the back, just woven thread that doesn’t irritate my skin.

This hand carved wooden one is from Anokhi. The thread loop at the back lets it hang low and cool or climb up and turn into a choker. I love this one. Recently I met someone who on being complimented on something she was wearing, and being asked where she got it from, said very clearly “I never tell.” I laughed. A long time ago, I was complaining about people who don’t share recipes. I find it very umm.. strange. Mostly because nothing and no one can be the person you are. So people can cook what you cook, but never get it to taste the same. They can throw the most expensive parties which still might not be as much fun as yours are. Wear the same clothes you do, but never with the same flair. I put up my Warli art on the walls photos here and I know for sure that atleast 3 people have copied it. I don’t mind it at all because each home looks different. And spreading the joy won’t take away from yours. Anyhow. I also thought of the zillions of fashion blogs that generously share their information with us and this is my shout out to them – thank you girls!!!

This is something I picked up for my anniversary. Its a chanderi, from a brand called Raw Mango. Being revived and brought back in brilliant new colours and designs. The photograph does it no justice. Its actually a colour called Kathai in hindi – something between coffee and maroon – with a hot pink border. Those sheaves of corn are on the pallu and the rest of the saree is stark and plain. I *heart* it and have been hoarding it. No occasion seems good enough!

This one is a Ganga-Jamuna. Can be worn with either a yellow border or turned upside down and with the maroon border, both sides have pallus to match.  Its a brighter leaf green, but I took the pic on a grey day so it looks dull.

This was a plain green chiffon belonging to Ma. She also gave me that border on it, the orange and black brocade peacocks – belonging to my Grandma. I got it attached to this saree with a purple border and it looks like sex on toast. I plan to wear it with a parrot green raw silk blouse. Check out a saree called Radha here for the exact shade of green that I am looking for.  Like it? I love it. It is sexy, funky, traditional and contemporary all wrapped into one. Now for the blouse piece and a reason to wear it.

This saree barely cost me Rs 900 and I was complimented 100 times while wearing it. The border has every colour on earth, in it and the green portion has a sheen to it. It has simple threadwork lines on the pallu and a plain body, yet it catches your eye. I love it beyond words.

This one is again an odd pinky maroon that I love, with a mustard-ish border. Simple blouse.

Edited to add: Okay, on popular demand am putting up a recent picture of the headless ghost of Christmas past 😀 This is one of my daily wear, busy print chiffons. They don’t crush at work, they don’t show stains and they are hardy and inexpensive. Sasta, sundar, tikau.

When your daughter wears a Led Zep tee

… and skull and crossbones on her socks, and your son wears the Buddhist tee… it is rather… apt!

The preggo jeans trick

We’ve all got that one friend who ensures that we stay fashionable. Teaches us how to apply eyeshadow just so, tells us which shoes we’ll get more value out of, which handbag has a slimming effect (yes!) and much more. Mine is Kuns. We bumped into each other in a corridor one fine morning and within 15 minutes we were having a conversation that would make the censorboard scissor happy.

Well, here’s a tip she recently sent to me and I figured a lot of the mommies-to-be would love it.  Here’s how to make your regular jeans last you a while longer. You know that period when you’re not big enough for maternity jeans, but can’t get the button of your regular jeans to cooperate? Yep. That one.  So all you need to do is get a bit of elastic, get a tailor to stitch two buttonholes on either end, loop it through the button hole and back. Zimble!

Here’s a picture she kindly sent in. You guys can leave your appreciation for her in the comments section.