New Toes and Other Loves

November 24, 2014 by Lavanya

We have some new toes in our home!! Our daughter Sitara arrived a few weeks ago. It has been a crazy month and, with two babies under two, I anticipate crazier days ahead but I am trying to slow down and savor all the delicious babyness around me (which is easier said than done). I thought I’d crawl my way back into blogging with a list of a few things that I have been enjoying lately (other than tiny fingers and […]

Categories: Food/Drink, Memories, Picture Memories, Scent, writing • Tags: Aftelier, argan oil, baby, body oil, Farmer's Market, mandy aftel, natural perfume, persimmon

Snapshots of Bombay : Marine Drive

December 25, 2013 by Lavanya

As we were driving around Bombay, my father quoted economist Joan Robinson who said, ” whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true”. Having grown up in India, I am still struck and alarmed by how true this is: where contrasts lie in close proximity with each other, heartbreaking poverty shares roads with opulence. And I am not yet immune to this juxtaposition of contrasts as they bounce off one another every single day. And the thing […]

Categories: Memories, Picture Memories, Travel • Tags: bombay, marine drive, mumbai, picture postcard

Holidays and Christmas and used bookstores

December 28, 2011 by Lavanya

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah! I’ve lived fairly close to Disneyland for the last five years without ever visiting it. So last Friday S and I decided to make a trip of it.  I donned my kiddie hat  determined to enjoy my first trip to Disneyland. As children, my sister and I dreamed of visiting Disneyland- the fairy princesses, the dressed up characters; we even made up ‘Santa Claus’ stories mostly describing to each other […]

Categories: Picture Memories • Tags: Christmas, used bookstores

San Francisco Diary: Favorite Moments

December 11, 2011 by Lavanya

We went for a short trip to San Francisco over Thanksgiving weekend and had a wonderful time: walking through the city, eating our way through the different neighborhoods, smelling, and drinking in all the loveliness that this city has to offer. I have so much to say about what we did and ate and saw, but I will start with my favorite moments, encapsulating them in this post while the memories are still fresh. My favorite moments, some long, some […]

Categories: Picture Memories, Scent, Travel • Tags: Green Apple Bookstore, mandy aftel, San Francisco, Travel

Belated

August 30, 2010 by Lavanya

I realized a few days ago that August 29th was the 1 year anniversary of my blog. I thought I would pull my blog from semi-hiatus status with a post to mark the day. However, as it sometimes happens, I completely forgot till … right now. I am almost ‘jekyll and hyde-ish’ when it comes to milestones and ‘days’ – on one hand I feel like celebrating days and special occasions, so time won’t fly away without me having run […]

Categories: Food/Drink, Picture Memories

Paper Dances

January 19, 2010 by Lavanya

Small ways in which I let work, soak and play. Covering my plannerpad in purple Making a 2010 booklist on the beige-y pages in my plannerpad Buying colorful striped folders to organize my papers Resolving to use this big fat  and almost empty diary as my 2010 journal Decorating   notebooks with collages of pretty  paper, for brainstorming at work and at play Writing on the beach

Categories: Picture Memories, writing

My Florence Pages: Across the Arno River

December 20, 2009 by Lavanya

I loved the Florence that lives across the Arno River. Quainter and quieter than the historic center, it is the Florence I’d imagined. My favorite spot was a spot opposite this statue. He’s telling you where to look. Look A View of the Ponte Vecchio And behind him This A Bridge on the River Arno

Categories: Picture Memories, Travel • Tags: Arno, Florence, My Florence pages

My Florence Pages: Food and food like things

December 15, 2009 by Lavanya

Day 1: We reach Florence around 9:30 on the morning of November 27th. We are famished. After dropping off our luggage at Hotel Maxim, near the Duomo, we head out in search of food. The sandwich shop that I had planned on eating at, a hole-in the wall called I Fratellini, is closed for repairs. We need to find alternatives. We decide to drop into Procacci – a gourmet sandwich shop, to taste their famous finger sandwiches. We try the […]

Categories: Food/Drink, Picture Memories, Travel • Tags: Florence, Food, restaurant reviews

My Florence Pages: A Thought in Marble and Film

December 12, 2009 by Lavanya

I am not sure if I have learned this from my husband or because of him, but I have learned this: Art transcends medium. I’ve always thought that books and music were the mediums whose appreciation comes most naturally to me. That I will always be more moved by great literature or great music, than anything great that other mediums have to offer. I have realized that I am  wrong. Art moves through many mediums and I now realize that […]

Categories: Art, Film, Picture Memories, Travel, writing • Tags: Bunuel, Donatello, Film, Florence, Michelangelo