Apartment Therapy had requested all its users a few weeks ago to beta test houzz.com and since it was all about interior designing I had to go check it out. And to my surprise, AT decided to mention my ideabook in their reviews post - boy was I happy or what?
To my even greater surprise, Julian from houzz.com asked if I could do a weekly ideabook that could be featured on their site, so here I am - doing as many ideabooks as I can.
I must add here that I really love the site, it helps me organize design ideas into different sections and categories. I am hoping to design our new apartment this way. Will post pics when I am done...especially with that gorgeous wind chime I got from Sarchi in Costa Rica.

'Tis x'mas time again

Jingle bells, jingle bells...we put up our X'mas tree!! We had a huge debate this time whether to get a live one or an artificial one, live ofcourse because it is fresh and better for the environment, but with all my moving and space constraints, we had to give in and get an artificial one. We had a whole box of ornaments and decoration left over from last time and had a lot of fun selecting which ones to put up. Nothing like a well lit tree to put you in the x'mas spirit.
Or a yummy cake!! So after having it on my wish list for more than a year, I finally got myself a bundt pan and baked my first bundt cake in it...banana nut chocolate chip cake with a caramel rum glaze...ooh yumm! The whole places smelled wonderful when I removed it from the oven. Can't wait to make my next one :)

A friend of mine just buzzed me on IM and said that I should make a yearbook with all the quotes that I use as my status messages, which got me thinking. Most of the quotes are from general googling (if that's a word) or jumping through pages on the Internet. Some of them are also from a calendar that my girl friend gifted me last X'mas. I like most of the quotes and positively love some of them. So I decided to take up my friend's advice and try to list down some of the quotes that I really loved and used through the year. It might take me some time to hunt down all of them as I do not keep a list but I will try to list as many as I can...
Today's top list:
"I have to be physically attracted to someone, but I can't be with someone just because it's great sex. Orgasms don't last long enough." - Courtney Cox Arquette
"Beware of the man who praises women's liberation; he is about to quit his job" - Erica Jong
"I hate to spread rumours - but what else can one do with them?" - Amanda Lear
"Everyone says I'm like the girl next door. Y'all must have really weird neighbors" - Kelly Clarkson
"If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married" - Katharine Hepburn
"In the Bible, it says they asked Jesus how many times you should forgive, and he said 70 times seven. I want you all to know that I'm keeping a chart" - Hillary Clinton
"Dr. Ruth says women should tell their lovers how to make love to them. My boyfriend goes nuts if I tell him how to drive!" - Pam Stone
"Even if you don't believe a word of the Holy Scriptures, you've got to respect the person who typed it all" - Lotus Weinstock
The rest for later when I find 'em...

It's been a long, long time since I blogged last. Knowing how much I like to write and describe stuff, it's weird that I am such a poor blogger. Life has been pretty decent in the last few months with ups and downs and the usual adventures. I have been doing some cooking but nothing major, although A and I did cook our thanksgiving dinner in a remarkably short time. His pecan pie was superb. I made the usual - roasted chicken, stuffing, soup, sides etc. The highlight of this month is two fold - it is Christmas time again...yipee! I doubt if it will be a huge celeb this time due to all the moving and packing, but we are trying to put together atleast a few fun days. The other big thing is our trip to Costa Rica. This trip will hopefully allow me to check off two items in my "Must do before I die" list - visit a volcano and trek through a rain forest!! We have a tentative itinerary which will be refined over the next few days as we start locking in acommodation and tours. Oh I am so excited to be making this trip, visiting a new country and trying out all those amazing tropical fruits :) Will keep you posted...