2011 - The Highs, Lows & Mediums.

It has been a good year.

- A year of HARD WORK. I joined a new firm last year at this time and had my 1 year anniversary last week. A new team, new role, new clients - it takes a while to prove oneself, to assimilate. The only thing that's not new anymore, is me.


- A year of GRADUATION. The husband's.


- A year of HOSTING. Friends and family. My in laws spent the summer with us this year. Memorable indeed. Some things should come with a manual.


- A year of PILLS. I tried weight loss pills for the first time this year. Healthe Trim. Yes, Healthe with an E at the end. That should have been warning enough.


- A year of TELEVISION. I have become hooked onto the Kardashian's show. Watched about 8 republican debates in the last 4 months. Woke up at 4:00am for the royal wedding and developed a secret crush on Kate. Now have a grudging admiration for Bill O'Reilly.


- A year of turning THIRTY. And getting tattooed.


- A year of PASSING. My darling Grandmother passed away. My accomplishments will never match hers. She was co-founder of the Indian School, Bahrain - back in the 50s. Only later did we find this wikipedia link.

The school was started, in 1950, with a workforce of three staff and a Headmistress. One of the three staff members was an Indian with name of Mrs. Vasanthi Rao whose husband Mr. Athavar Krishna Rao was working for British Petroleum in Bahrain.


- The year we put up our own CHRISTMAS TREE. Because it's not about religion. It's about festivity and joy. And after his trademark token resistence, guess who's the first to turn on the lights on the tree every night?


- The year I met Indra Nooyi. Exclamation point.


- The year we have been asked many many times - ANY GOOD NEWS? My answer is always the same - we're not there yet.


- A year of FRUITION. And fulfillment. For some things at least.


For the next 10 days of 2011, I have revelry, wine and food written in my stars. Dear Blog, I'll see you on the other side.

Gayatri.

Best Infomercial Yet

And you thought you saw it all with the P 90 X workout videos - bulging muscles that would put Popeye to shame. But then came THIS. This special brand of infomercial reserved for that one of a kind person watching television on a weekend evening.

The Genie Bra - 1 whole hour of no wires, no hooks, no straps.

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No wires, no hooks, no straps - you wonder then what this contraption must look like. I originally uploaded an image for your vulgar viewing but then my delicate sensibilities got the better of me. You can check out the Genie bra here.

And if you'd rather not - lemme tell you, you aint missin' nothin'. It has the combined sexiness of a ruck sack and a dish cloth.

It must be noted that genie bra is the first word that comes up on the Google search tab when you enter the word 'genie'. Obviously no one respects the magic lamp anymore.

WTF is Genie Intellicode?

5 Ways to do Good This Christmas

Maybe the CNN Heroes show I just saw inspired this post. Or the play we saw last weekend – A Christmas Carol – where the miserly, grouchy and unkind Mr. Scrooge turns a new leaf after a visit from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. But mostly, I think I’m inspired by my colleagues, so many of whom give so much of themselves and their time to do so much good, all through the year.

For those, who are like me and cannot find it in themselves to do extraordinary good deeds, here are some small, easy to achieve ideas instead.

5 Ways to do Good This Christmas

1. Donate Money

A little goes a long way. You can try JustGive.org, a database that aggregates charities and allows you to make small donations online to the organization of your choice.

2. Donate Stuff

It’s Christmas and everywhere you look there’s someone raising funds for a noble cause. Drop a dollar into the Salvation Army box outside the Kroger at your next visit. For the guy in the Santa suit and tinkling bell – make it worth his while! Or contribute to whatever local program your company is supporting – like the Toys for Tots drive at our office. I was surprised to see 4 bicycles donated in a few short days.

3. Volunteer

Give of your time.

4. Buy from Small Businesses

Buy your greeting cards, goody baskets and gifts from the shop around the corner this year. Macys, Godiva & Hallmark have a shitload of money. They don’t need yours.

5. Sustainable Christmas

Have a Green Christmas. Reuse the wrapping paper and gift boxes. Decorate with energy efficient lights. Buy a pesticide-free tree or better still buy one you can reuse. Recycle the waste.

I know I know. It’s time to practice what I’ve just preached. I promise to check off at least 3 of the 5 items on this list.

On Pintrest

....... for you husband....

so much bigger

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And to my wonderful parents, Happy Anniversary.

Things to Do before 12/12/12

Seeing that the world will end next year, (Yes, we believe in our Mayan brothers), I figured it's time to chalk up a list of sorts. It's a rolling list, and the closer we come to doomsday, the longer this list will grow.

This is a humble list. Not fancy shmancy. I don't want to bungee jump off the Empire State Building or zipline atop a tree in Bora Bora. Of course, it's another matter that I'm rather too large to zipline. That careening noise will be me hurtling downwards. Doomsday will come much sooner than I expected.

So here it is:

- Attend a Barack Obama rally. This one especially has a "limited time" tag on it - with both the world and the President's tenure seemingly on their last lap.

- Learn to make a good Chicken 65. I don't know exactly how this ever popular Hyderabadi preparation got its name. Some say that the most authentic version demands 65 ingredients. Others say that the soon-to-be-slayed chicken must be exactly 65 days old. The most outrageous account I've heard is that the chicken must be cut into 65 pieces. (At that point you're really looking at Chicken Mince or a Turkey 65). Whatever the real story is, I'd love to learn to cook it.

- Lose weight. Y'all, it's no fun being a muffin top. No fun at all.

- Read the whole "Dragon Tattoo" trilogy.

- Speaking of tattoos, get a second tattoo, because one is not enough. This one on my ankle. I was warned that it's addictive. What can I say, I'm a hapless victim of ink art.

- Buy a piece of property in Mumbai. To put real estate in perspective, my parents' flat in Mumbai costs a little more than our house in Atlanta. This one has been on my list for a while, I can't seem to find the cash!

- Play poker in Vegas again. Sit at the BIG BOYS table, "Call" the burly, sun glass sporting man next to me, "Raise" the Asian guy - the one with the biggest stack of chips. SO MUCH FUN.

My poker tip for the day - don't fold a Jack pair, ever. They will bring you luck!

More to come.

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This was a CLEANING UP sorta weekend. The biggest job was the yard. It took us about 3 hours to collect 4 bags full of fallen leaves.