Cranberries & Baking

I finally got my baking mojo back!!!!

It had gone into hiding for wayyyyy too long. In my last post I wrote about my 30 things to do this year, getting back to baking was one of them. I've spent most of the month of May being ill, and by the weekend I had just about had my fill of sitting in bed.

Truly, NOTHING felt better than getting into the kitchen and pulling out the ingredients, baking pans and my new ipad to look up recipes.

Saturday was a grey day with bits of rain, and in the evening just as we were about to make our cup of chai, the thought of warm vanilla cake overtook me. Nothing feels more comforting than a slice of simple, freshly baked vanilla sponge cake - Vanilla Cake it was.  I found this amazing & easy recipe which I highly recommend, especially given the outcome - Check it out here. 

With all this baking suddenly happening, on Sunday, I got a tad bit ambitious. I wanted to bake macaroons. So I got my almonds, soaked them and was all set to make almond meal at home. Just as I started, I realised my mixer was not going to give me almond meal and I had something that looked more like almond bits (and lots of it!) So quick search on the trusty net for cookies with almonds and tada, some delicious recipes popped up. I settled on a Oatmeal Almond Choco Chip Cookie recipe. Mouth watering yet?  Yes, of course I'll share the recipe - here you go.

So why Cranberries you ask? Well I had them so I added them .... besides who doesn't love cranberries!

PS: You can follow this board or repin the recipes from here
Follow Helen's board Baking is Good for the soul on Pinterest.

30 things to do at 30!

Yup it's the year I turn the BIG 3 - 0 and honestly I couldn't  be happier.

This year got me thinking about all the things I want to accomplish and work towards. Some are ones I've been pushing out over the years, others just dreams and wishes, and some others just goals I want to meet. I've been building this list in my head and thought it time to write it down.

Maybe at the end of this 30th year of my life  I get to reflect on it and maybe make this goal setting a yearly thing ;)

1. Travel LOTS
2.  Get a bicycle & Bike (Check)
3.  Learn to Dive
4. Get Fitter & Be strong (would love some real muscles and an enviable core)
5.  Buy a Home
6.  Send a yearly newsletter to friends
7.  Have more sit down dinners with friends
8. Cook &Bake more .. esp macaroons!
9. Do more DIY Projects
10.  Blog frequently
11. Take the doggie on beach vacations and walks in the park
12.  Having a garden & plants AND keeping them alive & maybe even have a herb garden
13.  To make more 'US' time with the Husband
14. Go back to theater in some form (Check, but want to do more)
15. Find a way to work with Kids.
16. Spend more time with Family
17. Focus on the kind of business I want to build and to build it !
18. Make sure a Goa trip happens a minimum of twice a year
19. Keep in touch with friends on a more one to one basis
20. De-clutter - live with the things we really need.
21. Hike - long hikes, short hikes, any hikes
22. Spend time with my camera and take more pictures (not the phone kind)
23. Run workshops around social media & build out the social media community
24. To challenge myself and not be complacent with life
25. To be able to say NO
26. Taste many many wines from across the world
27. Spend time with the girlfriends and have more girls nights.
28. Spend more time in the outdoors  - biking, hiking, picnics , simple walks
29. Make time for the things I WANT to do and not to use the word 'busy' as an excuse
30. To live my 30's with more passion & youth than I did my 20's

So that's it - there's my list ... I think it's going to be a fun year ! 

5 steps for a sustainable social strategy

I’ve been keenly following Kellogg’s Special K in India and more so their Facebook page. Why? Because I thought their social strategy was really amazing. They had hit the spot in terms of understanding the pain point for most Indian women - weight management, AND had devised a strategy to be that friend to the Indian woman with custom meal plans, tips and just really being that online friend. They clearly spent lots in the offline world too - billboards, print ads the whole shabang (let’s not forget spending on Facebook as well) 

Their Facebook page specifically had thought through messaging, images and what was even more amazing was the engagement they were creating around it.

Today their ad popped up in my news feed and I clicked to see what they were up to. Surprise surprise - their last post was the 4th of august!! After all that hard work of creating an engaged community there was no plan or strategy to take this forward. They are still replying to posts on their page but are not producing any new content. They have directed traffic to their website but that’s no reason to stop your social conversations. All this left me with one thought.This was a campaign - the campaign had a goal, budget and a timeline and social media was thrown in with the campaign Or did they simply run out of content? (There is always the chance I could be wrong of course..)  And here in lies the importance of a content plan and planning out your social strategy.

So as a brand tiny, small, medium, big - whenever you choose to venture into social media and create a page or account for your brand here are 5 steps to help ensure the longevity of your brand on social media and ensures you don’t come to a grinding halt because of lack of content or a longer social strategy. 

1. Define your target audience

Put down on paper who the people you want to target are. Create an ideal profile for them - age, gender, country or city, competitive brands they might be interested in or larger interests that are connected to your product. 

2. List what you aim to achieve via the platform 

While social media is largely used for engagement a lot of brands have driven sales through these platforms. Some use it solely to manage customer support. Whatever it is, define what you want to achieve. 

3. Define your tone of voice

Define the tone of voice you want to take - are you going to be funny, or serious, irreverent or a bit of everything. It’s important to think about it and define it as this gives you clarity in the kind of content you share. 

4. Create Content Categories

Think of all the content you want to share on your page and put them into broad buckets - product, offline activities, broader interests related to your brand. When you are going into the details in your content plan this will help give you consistency. Eg- Home Decor brand would also look at - ideas of home decor from around the world, or DIY projects for the home, seasons latest trends etc. 

5. Create a Content Plan

This is one of the most important parts of your social media strategy. I use a simple excel sheet and put down a day & date calendar. Google has a ready to use social media calendar . Start by broadly defining what you will talk about each week. Once you have that plan set, work on each post. This helps you plan images you might need for a post, or ensuring supporting content you are creating is ready in time - like a blog. This also gives you a view of what you’re doing on each platform and helps maintain consistency in language, tone of voice and messaging. 

Deploying these 5 simple tips will help you ensure you have a long term social media strategy. It will also ensure you don’t run out of content and will help you prepare in advance to create content you will need. 

3 Tips To Create Effective Status Updates

When it comes to Facebook Status updates a question I’ve always been asked by brands is ‘How can I get more likes & comments on my status update’ . While there is no set formula on what makes a status update engaging there are a few thumb rules that help in making them more  appealing to the general Facebook audience. 

1. Use a picture

  

The old saying ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ has never held truer than today. With audiences having lesser attention spans a picture grabs your fans attention almost instantly. Once you’ve piqued their interest with the picture they then proceed to actually read what you have said. It’s is this point that then leads them to interacting with the brand via a like or even better a comment. If you have video content - it ranks even higher. 

2. ”Quote” the article

When sharing interesting articles & blog posts try and pick out the most interesting line in the article or post and quote it in your status update. This again grabs your fans attention and makes them want to read the article you have posted. The quote gives them that little extra push to click the link & interact with you. Don’t be shy to have an opinion on the articles you post 

3. Short & Sweet = Effective

Remember this is a status update and not your blogpost. Keep your communication to your fans short & precise. Don’t use overly complicated language. Adding a call to action (click here, read this, tell us your thoughts) opens up ways for them to react and interact with your content.

With the decreasing attention span fans have and the increasing amount of content being generated and shared it’s important to find ways for the content you share to stand out & grab their attention.

30 Minute Meals: Indian Salmon with Dill & Lime / With a side of Grilled Asparagus

Yes I am completely inspired by Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals. But to be honest those are a bit more like 1.5 hour meals and require ingredients I most often don't have on demand in my kitchen. So I came up with my own :) 

When I needed to turn all health conscious a year and a half ago - apart from the gym, our food was something that was directly impacted. The hunt for quick, delicious, healthy meals started. Every diet I had been on before demanded me to make huge sacrifices when it came to tasty food. This is when I realised if I needed this time to be different and sustainable, I needed to create a food plan that was  a fundamental life change. More importantly one that both me and the husband could enjoy & didn't spell SACRIFICE. 

This is the part where Norway comes into the picture. They are fundamentally a health conscious lot and with the help of friends I slowly started seeing and learning how simple meals could be healthy and tasty all at the same time. 

Moving back to India meant re-adjusting to all the available ingredients around you. It's taken us a while to go back to our healthy ways (and stop the always easy home delivery) but now that were there - I'm going to share some recipes with you. Or at least till we decide to move again and I have to re-discover & figure it all out ;) 

I dedicate this recipe to my Salmon eating Norwegian friends who taught me so well. 

                                        

Indian Salmon with Dill & Lime

Grilled Asparsgus

Indian Salmon with Dill & Lime / with a side of Grilled Asparagus 

Serves: 2      Time: Under 30 Minutes       Heat Oven to: 210 Deg C

Ingredients:

• 600 grams Indian Salmon Fillets (Approx ₹500 kg. Ask you fish man to fillet it for you)
• 2 Handfuls Fresh Dill Finely Chopped 
• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• Juice of 2 Limes 
• Sea Salt to Taste (I use the regular unrefined salt)
• Pepper to Taste 
• Chill flakes to taste 
• Oregano to taste 
• 100 grams Asparagus (available at foodhall, namdaris, nature's basket)
• Butter as per preference
• Sea Salt to taste 
• Pepper to taste 

Method

• Wash Salmon and lay it in foil on your baking tray 
• Garnish with chopped dill, salt, pepper, chilli flakes & oregano
• Squeeze lime over the fish & drizzle with olive oil
• In a smaller dish put your asparagus also on foil
• Garnish with salt, pepper & butter (we love the asparagus a bit salty)

You're all set now - just pop both these dishes in the oven for 20 minutes or till you have the consistency you like and then dinner is served :) 

And I promise this really does take 30 minutes.....

Rebooting Country: Norway to India

Talk about being MIA. Seems like my last post was AGES ago. I'm just going to blame it on moving countries.

The hubby and I decided we were going to move back to India by November 2012. I had this bunch of things I had to get done before I left beautiful Europe and Norway that was our home for over 3 years. So in short here are all my excuses for not blogging for so many many months....

• Getting the travel bug out of me with lots of last minute travel - The Ascot Races, Paris, Bulgaria, Bodø
• Doing 2 amazing hikes with friends in Norway at Prekistolen & Kjerag and seeing NOTHING thanks to the Norwegian weather.
• Watching Roxette LIVE along with Lenny Kravitz and Tom Petty& The Heartbreakers 
• Having my mother visit and take her to Paris
• Seeing a Moose. Yes this was top priority I couldn't leave without seeing a Moose... (I did manage to see a bunch of other animals from the region as well)
• Celebrate my birthday one last time there (I was suddenly legal to enter a bar which had an entry criterion of 28 !) 

   

And once these were done the packing started & I got the Farewell of my life from our friends. The tears didn't stop for a very long time..                                                                            

Farewell Cake with the Marius Design

Before I knew it the Norwegian chapter of our lives closed, I was back home in Bangalore. What started next was a whole different kind of crazy - 7 weddings, My Sisters Graduation, Norwegian Christmas Dinner we cooked, House Hunting, Luggage Arrival & custom clearances & finally setting up home .. you get the picture.

Ribbe - A Norwegian Christmas Dish

Not like we didn't have enough on our plate we decided to adopt a dog - YES a DOG. Turns out she is the center of our lives - an absolutely bouncy, love-able, sometimes crazy Labrador. Silly people who abandoned her truly had no appreciation for this furry ball or the immense amounts of love she brings with her..

Ms.Penny Lane Muffin

Changing countries comes with its fair share of challenges but brings joy in equal measure. More to come on that ... for now this is just to say I'm Alive, Kicking & got a few more posts up my sleeve... 

You've got to give to get - Even in the Social World

There is one conversation I have over and over again, with my friends and colleagues - Social Media and it's benefits. I am a social media addict + + and quite a lot of my friends have signed up on every social network possible. They know more about new and upcoming products in the space than I do, who funded which company, when they were launched and so on and so forth. But they really spend no time contributing to these social products, and question the time I spend on them 

I keep trying to stress on the point that being an addict, constantly posting things out and participating is NOT a bad thing. (of course i don't mean you need to tell us every time you are in the toilet)

Let's move to your offline world for a bit - lets say you choose to be a total recluse, not go out when friends call, don't keep in touch with them, never initiate anything social. Then out of the blue after not being involved an inch in their lives, you decide you need these friends to help promote your company. I think we all know you'll probably end up with zero help from said friends. 

Move back now to the online world. Just because you have someone in your "friends" list on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook - does NOT mean you are networked.

Simple eg: I love baking and I enjoy it more when my friends encourage me to do it. Their responses to my posts or pictures are constant encouragement. In return I need to also ensure I do the same for my friends in whatever sphere their interest lies. Sounds transactional? YES! But when has the world not been like that - and that's where Social Circles online or offline actually help make it less transactional, because you also end up building a relationship in the process. 

I know tomorrow, if I need help promoting my newly founded business, or an event I am managing for work - this very network will be there to help me spread the word.

THE SOLUTION: Build online relationships with your network, show interest in their lives, share, comment, like, tweet, post interesting content. Even more important is to RESPOND when your network shows interest in your life - if they comment on your content, or tweet something, always, always respond & acknowledge what they have said.

Ultimately like any relationship even the social world is based on giving and receiving. They say there is no marketing better than word of mouth and that word of mouth starts with your inner most circle. Today that's your online social circle. 

So take those two hours off to be involved in the life of those in your "friends lists", remind yourself how you function in an offline world and I guarantee the pay off's will be worth it. 

Of Smiles & Fond Memories

Wow its been 6 months since I last blogged - that's a long hiatus I didn't intend to take. Much has happened in my life since then but the most significant would be the people & animals we as a family lost.

I don't intend to write this for sympathy or to mourn  but more to remember each of them and the impact they each had in my life and our lives as a family.

To our Our Doggies - Tashi & Ginger 
My grandparents always told my sister and me when we growing up, that having animals around us was incredibly important - as a result our house had an average of 2 cats and 2 dogs and then their respective children that came along. As an adult my grandparents proceed to tell us why it was important. They said animals instill in children a sense of responsibility, the ability to learn to care for another living being, to love endlessly, to learn to face the cruelties of the world like life & death, to communicate without language ever being a barrier - these were a few on a very long list of only positive reasons.

Ginger & Tashi were Mr.K's & my dogs respectively. We've both had them for the better part of 14 years - through very formative times of our lives.


Ginger - The lovely bouncy golden lab. Always there to greet you at the door with her super strong tail wagging side to side that could leave you bruised for days. She could sniff sweets and food a mile away &  knew her place on the bed, more so when it was a tiny single bed where she would squish herself right in the middle of Mr. K and Me nearly throwing us off. With her corsage around her neck and her best behaviour on she dutifully lead Mr.K & My Sister in Law down the aisle  to make sure they were wed to the ones they had chosen (and she had approved of  of course). She was the center of the Menon family, the heart, soul and stomach and will be more than dearly missed...

Tashi - Our Lasa Apso or little old man as we called him. Grandpa adopted him and his little sister and they came to us when I was about 13 years old. Born with weak hind legs, he could never climb up on the bed but that never stopped him from trying.. right up to the grand old age of 13. He became my grand dad's shadow would sit by his bed and in very sick days lick grandpa's hand to let him know he was around.They truly were best friends both living by the motto 'Never Give In'.  Blind and with a little skip in his step (literally) he could hear a pin drop miles away and would be the first one to greet you at the door. He had quite the mind of his own (think he got some of the attitude from the cats we had ) but oh so absolutely love-able .. always giving us something to smile about.


To My Great Grand Uncle - Uncle John
Uncle John was my Grandmum's youngest brother and he and Aunty Val visited us every 5 years from Australia from as far back as I remember. For the longest time they were our only connection to the Aussie part of the family and we all cherished their visits to India. I can't remember Uncle John not smiling, talk about food and the smile got brighter. A joke on the tip of his tongue and always teasing Aunty Val, he was everything and more you loved about an Uncle. I remember on one visit they brought my sister a Barbie and a Barbie comb. She was all of 5 then  & Uncle John sat patiently while letting Tanya comb his almost balding head of hair with her newly acquired Barbie Comb.That was a picture we framed! Having Him and Aunty preside over our wedding ceremony, and bringing along almost the whole Aussie family is a memory I will forever cherish and one I am so grateful we all got to have. I can almost see Uncle John & Grandpa getting upto mischief up there - if nothing else indulging in their common love for food.

 

And Lastly To My Beloved Grandfather 

(this is a bit out of the eulogy my sister and  I put together for him)

Grandpa was fondly know by many names, Col. Wright, Charlie, Charlie Wright, Wright Dorai, Bridge House Dorai, Grandpa, Father & Husband. He was  a man of many words, a big big heart and a bigger appetite for both food and life.

   --- Grandpa loved his food and in wellington he knew exactly how to sniff it out ..who’s house to go to on which day to get lovely hot dosas, or iddiappams, fantastic biryani or where to find the best prawn& fish pickle. Aunty Sudha's dosas became a Wright Favourite & Christmas lunch at daisy bank never to be missed.

    --- He also loved his music and that deep voice of his was unmistakable in the choir. Apart from teaching us to appreciate & love a variety of music he taught us one of his very special music abilities – the art of making  up words to a song whenever you forget them. Grandma I think battled for years to get him to learn words of so many songs …

      --- At an early age he taught Tanya and Me the importance of camaraderie – Tanya always managed to blame grandpa for eating all the brownies and fudge that she had actually eaten without anyone looking. I don’t remember him once not taking her side and would always mumble to grandma how he must have got up in the middle of the night and eaten some

      --- Growing up as young girls under a soldiers care meant he made sure we mastered the essential skills in life like tying the perfect tie, fixing a puncture, pushing an old car when broken down, the importance of shiny black polished shoes, knowing you times tables backwards & how to sneakily feed the cat & dog under the table when grandma was not looking.

      --- Grandpa had a deep bellied distinct laugh that could be noticed in any crowd & he ensured he always had a couple jokes up his sleeve many of which we remember and will give us a laugh for many many years to come and some not always repeatable

      --- His school motto ‘Never Give In’ was very close to his heart and one he stuck by firmly (and made sure the family did to) especially when it included all 4 of us sitting on his bajaj scooter struggling to make it up the Holy Innocence hill. More often than not it ended up with all of us falling off but he Never Gave In and there were those times we actually all made it up that hill in one piece all 4 still on the scooter  
Trying to sum up Grandpa’s life is an impossible task but if there was anyway to do it – it would simply be to ‘Never Give In’

You can take the Indian out of India but you cant take India out of the Indian !

I went down town to the area where it feels most like home here in Oslo  - Grønland. It's where one of my favourite stores is - one which is full of undiscovered treasures of different textures, smells, familiar banter & then  mixed in are treasures that make you feel close to home, & then the few that stir a childhood memory  - yup its the Indian - Pakistani grocery store. From dals, to all the masalas to make a perfect curry to ready-made rotis, paneer, Indian green chillies, coriander in bunches, bindi, haldirams, frooti and maggi this IS my treasure trove of all things home !

Today I went there on the  'we need more rice' trip. After trying a variety of rices available here in Norway nothing came close to our good old sona masoori, we (well more me) decided to stick with the Basmati from the Indian store. Cost wise it is identical to other rices here,so no we are not being posh unlike in India where Basmati rice means your having guests to dinner.

As I was saying - walking home I couldn't help laughing at myself lugging back this 5kg bag of Basmati India Gate Rice - nothing screamed 'I'm Indian' more than that and to make the picture more realistic I had 3 other shopping bags strapped across me and one very aromatic bag of briyani take away.

Sitting on the couch at home still laughing about it I remembered the Chumbak poster we have up in our loo - ' You know your Indian Because.. ' and so many times when friends have come out of the loo here they've laughed and remarked about one thing up on the poster than resembles what we have ..

1. Yes we own a pressure cooker (2 infact)   
2. Yup a rice cooker too
3. The toilet mug is tucked away in the corner (transported all the way from India)
4. The house doesn't smell of tomato, onions and garlic but they are 3 ingredients that can be produced on demand (curry patta &chillies included) 
5. A whole shelf dedicated to tupperware a.k.a  the collection of plastic haldi stained dabbas by the dozen  (this one is infectious a lot of our friends here now have their own personal dabba collections minus the haldi stains) 
6. Correct the fridge is jam-packed with leftovers in the above mentioned dabbas

And

I definitely have my 5kg bag of rice !!

Leaving me with the conclusion .. that you can take the Indian out of India but never India out of the Indian ....

My Hues Of Autumn

                                       
''Some call it autumn, some call it fall, some say the season is the best of all, look all around and you will find that fall is here.... just look for the signs. See red and yellow, orange and brown, bright coloured leaves are falling too the ground ... ''  -This kiddies song puts it so aptly.

Living in Norway you actually get to experince the 4 seasons in their entirety. Till I got here they were just the 4 main seasons that we loosely referred to. But being here and experiencing them is absolutely something else.


Autumn is now officially one of my favourite seasons - no not because I like the rain, or the mush, or the one day cold - one day hot weather, not because the days start getting shorter but very simply -
The Colours. 

A road with some beautiful houses - very close to where we live

Autumn brings with it some of the most stunning hues of greens, yellows,oranges & brown I have seen, leaving the city bursting at its brim with sunshine when there isn't too much sunshine doing the rounds.

An Autumn evening Sunset as we saw it from our living room

Autumn is almost drawing to a close &  I've clearly fallen in love with the colours considering I have inserted  them into my wardrobe.. so I will have a spot of Autumn Sunshine all winter long ! ;)

Add Mr.K's Golf bag models  the Hat & Scarf

One of my favourite purchases !

   

The Pattern for the Yellow Knitted Hat can be found Here & the Extremely Easy Scarf Here

Sufficient Enough Thank You's

In Norwegian Thank you is 'Takk' and the equivalent of Thank You Very Much is 'Tusen Takk'. However whenever I have used the Norwegian versions here in day to day life I have always felt like it was lacking a punch of some sort, or never conveyed my gratitude enough -  but I could not quite put it in words.

I've just read an amazing book called 'Mornings in Jenin'  (as a side note a must read) and it so happened that around the same time i was playing with the impact of 'Takk vrs Thank you' I came upon a paragraph that just explained what I felt.

**"Thank you" I answered, unsure of the proper American response to her gracious enthusiasm. In the Arab world, gratitude is a language unto itself, "May Allah bless the hands that give me this gift"; "Beauty is in your eyes that find me pretty"; "May God extend your life"; "May Allah never deny your prayer"; "May the next meal you cook for us be in celebration of your son's wedding...of your daughter's graduation...your mother's recovery"; and so on, an infinite string of prayerful appreciation. Coming from such a culture, I have always found a mere "thank you" an insufficient expression that makes my voice sound miserly and ungrateful.**

I liked the simplicity with which this paragraph echoed my thoughts, and also made me realise how a simple word like 'thank you' differs culture to culture, how using another word in place of the one we have learnt to use takes a very long time to seem right or at the very least enough to express the way we feel.

If at a level of 'thank you' there is such a huge cultural difference imagine how much more culturally understanding we need to be in a world where the starting point of most issues is religion and culture..

Musically United By Scandinavia ..

In social gathers and get togethers over my time here in Scandinavia conversations have led to amusing discoveries of  how so many musicians we grew up listening to in our teen-boppy years were actually Scandinavian. The discovery of each artist amused me as much as it did the other person, and conversations would have statements like 'oh they are Norwegian', ' you've heard of them', ' they were popular in India?' and then of course proceed to listen & dance around to them.

Well now to the point, I've been making a list to share here in the hope I might also surprise some of you out there ..

1. Abba *Swedish - (it has to be number one on the list) Here's the Megamix 
   
   
2. MLTR *Danish - I had both albums on cassettes that were frequently in my cool sony walkman . Paint my love on play- rewind - play
   
   
3. Lene Marlin *Norwegian - Remember I'm Sitting Down Here but hey you can't see me 
4. Dr.Bombay *Danish  - We sang this song so much in Aiesec I think we even had a jive to it and I always thought he was Indian - Cal-cutta i drive my little taxi in
   
   
5. A- ha *Norwegian - So many Catholic Club Memories come to mind on this one Take On Me
   
   
6. Roxette *Swedish -  Age 10 and I was singing It Must Have Been Love much to my mothers disapproval
   
   
7. Aqua *Danish - 'Hi Barbie, Hi Ken, Want to go for a ride? Sure Ken' Ah what the hell yes I listened to Barbie Girl even guilty of dancing to it !
   
   
8. The Cardigans * Swedish -  How much I tried imitating their voice on Lovefool 
   
   
9. Ace of Base *Swedish - So many fun dancing memories to All that She wants & The Sign 
   
   
10. Eagle Eye Cherry *Swedish (Of African -American Descent) - Save Tonight 
    
    
11. Whigfield *Danish - This song brings together all things Aiesec for me, what a work out - Sexy Eyes
    
    
12. Safri Duo *Danish - Not quite the Teen Bobber when this came out but love the energy even now of The Bong Song
    
    
13. Outlandish *Danish - One word 'Spin' and the summer of 2003 Aicha
    
    
14. Kings of Convenience *Norwegian - I didn't really know of them till Mr.K  introduced me to them and one of his favourite songs I'd Rather Dance with you than talk with you  
    

I'm sure this list is only going to grow as I discover even more artists but for now it seems that Scandinavia was a part of me long before I even knew one day it would be my home ;) 

Nice to Meet you .. Oops We've met! Of Norwegian pleasantries

Scandinavia in general has a interesting set of social greetings that you exchange but one particular one has got my interest :

'Takk for Sist'
So when meeting someone for the first time you ofcourse extend out your hand and say ' Helen, 'hyggelig' (the second word basically translates to 'nice to meet you'). Now initially I made sure I said nice to meet you because thats a clear indicator you don't speak the language but in the aim of 'integration' I've started using the word hyggelig which of course leads to a response / conversation in Norwegian and me looking a bit confused and waiting for the correct time to say 'err I'm sorry I don't speak norwegian yet'. So really I squash the aim in a matter of seconds but that's an entirely different topic :) But one must remember this greeting is used only the first time you meet the person.

Subsequent times that you meet this person you are going to be using the term that interests me the most 'Takk for Sist'. Literally this means 'thank you for the last time' and could be extended to either it was nice meeting you last time or thank you for the fun time we had together or the lovely dinner etc you get the picture. What's even more interesting is that time is of no consequence. The *LAST* time could even have been a year ago ... so this is clearly where my problem begins.... my most recent experience went something like this ... 

Helen: Hei, Helen, Hyggelig

Person: Hei Helen, Takk for Sist .. 

Helen in her mind: **BIG Oppss !!**

This is usually the point where I then feign ignorance of what just happened ...I think I'm just going to stick to my safe pleasantries in english and definitely ones I can wangle my way out of when met with situations like this :)

Clearly Norwegians have a  better memory than this Indian ...... Must Be All Fish !

My DIY Attempt At Pimping Up a Set of Ikea Stools

We have 2 basic Ikea stools in our home and they are at the entrance. We use them to sit on and put on shoes etc. They were annoying me simply because of their lack of any aesthetic value they added to the area. I contemplated looking for something to replace them but I knew I would just a soon want to change that around (give how easily I get bored and want to change things around) not to mention how much I would spend on something new. Just then I had a genius thought or so I'd like to think .. of doing a simple pimp up of these stools. The good thing is that if I made a mistake it wouldn't cost me an arm & a leg and well if it came out well .. I'd be super happy and then share it here with all of you :)

So here it goes a quick step by step guide to pimp some boring stools at home.

What you need:
1. 2 Stools (or as many as you want)
2. Thick'ish Ironed Fabric enough to cover the stools (I used less than a meter)
3. A glue gun (hot glue)
4. 2 round cushions (not very thick)


How to do it:

Step 1:  Access your stool.. then place the cushion on top of the stool and cut out the bit of fabric you will need to fit & cover it. Be a bit generous as its always good to have a bit more instead of a bit less.
















Step 2: Heat up your glue gun. Place the cushion on top of the stool seat and keep lifting it up and putting the hot glue between the seat and the cushion and pressing it down immediately. I realised hot glue cools very fast  and doing it this ways ensures you can quickly stick the cushion to the seat.

Step 3: Lay your fabric down print facing the floor and then put your stool upside down with the cushion on the back of the fabric. Make slits to the fabric in accordance with where the legs of the stool will come and then pick up your glue gun and start gluing the fabric to the underside of the stool seat. When doing so try and ensure that there are no creases and that the you neatly fold the fabric on the sides.

Step 4: The back of the stool doesn't look the prettiest and in the case of an Ikea stool you can screw off the legs in the beginning and when your done with the seat put a piece of material over it or a cut out board. Lazy me I've just left it as i don't really think people will be looking under the stool :) But once your done with you're gluing ... Voila you have a set of nice to funky stools and in my case definitely made the entrance a bit more attractive than it was previously :)

              

   




Price wise 2 stools were 90 Nok (that's 2 cups of coffee here in Norway) The fabric 50 Nok , the Cushions 100 Nok also both from Ikea and the glue another 50. So in about 300 Nok I have 2 fun stools.

Now I know its not the biggest achievement in the world and definitely not the hardest thing to do, but  I'm still happy that it was cost effective (as was the husband), it took 2 hours one evening (works well for my short span of attention) and I love them !! :)

Thank God Its Friday - More Like ..Yummy Its Friday !!!

In Norway they seem to have this fantastic work tradition of 'honouring' the last day of a working week. Each company has their own way of doing it ..In a friends company on a friday a fresh oven baked batch of Pain au chocolat arrive at the office as a mass email is sent out and everyone gathers to devour them. In my husbands company they have 'Friday Beers' the canteen fridge is stocked on a friday and post work whoever wants gathers for well ... some beers, another friends company also has beers and sometimes a games night AND in our company friday means one thing .. YUMMY HOT WAFFLES .. at about 11:15 the smell starts wafting through the office and the call for lunch comes must faster :) We also on most Fridays have a wine lottery which I've won once .. ah the joy of taking home a bottle of wine on a friday.

The weekend here is sacred and everyone knows and appreciates that. Emails from friday morning onwards all end with a customary have a great weekend attached to it, there is no sense of guilt or apology that the weekend is here - that its time for you to take a break (sometimes in India i felt that .. hence the comparison). I love that together as a company with your colleagues you welcome the weekend and have something to look forward too after a week of work ..

I normally work from home on a friday, but for  fridays i come into work like today - i can always be sure that there will be fresh waffles to greet me, make my friday happier and welcome the weekend in all its glory !!!

Have a Great Weekend :) 

For me the 'Romance In Paris' is.....

I've now been to Paris twice and 2 drastically different experiences were what i have been met with. Pre- Paris one has always heard of how romantic it is, and you step in there and you feel it blah blah blah .. well when i went there first (with my husband) both of us, well more me of course was waiting for this 'Romantic' feeling to come over us and well it never came. Yes, the city had its charm, it rained most of the time we were there, the tiny cafes were awesome but i guess i expected to be hit like a rock hitting my forehead & to be swooning in the 'Romantics that is Paris' ..(probably my first mistake)

Dont get me wrong -the holiday was fantastic - we were true tourists did all the must do's and must see's took the tour bus around, ate and drank and went to Lido and was all in all a great trip - and one that broke all the 'pre-conceived' notions. The only downside was we went when all the Parisians had actually left the city .. making it a tourists city.

My second trip with the ladies (now don't get any ideas) :) was just relaxed we had all done the must do's and see's of Paris and the idea was to well just drift with the city. In retrospect the best way to experience Paris. The holiday revolved around eating, drinking, ice cream and yes some shopping. Perfect !! It was on this trip i experienced Paris's 'Romantic' side .. Finally right :) But what I experienced for me was a far cry from my 'pre -conceived ideas of romance'...

Paris's romantic side for me lies in its peoples passion - the city was in the throws of amazing weather. The passion that i saw over conversations, or a simple glass of wine. The passion over eating a meal or indulging in ice creams after battling Que's that went all around the block or doing their weekly shopping at the farmers market, the passion they displayed when kissing in a subway absolutely oblivious of the world around them - even more simplified their passion for life in its most basic form..

                                                 

So simply put the Romance is Paris is all around living life to the fullest, eat, drink and be merry and you could see they did exactly that ..

And for me that's how Paris will always be romantic :)

The Big Apple and its Tiny Nuances

My first trip to the US was absolutely fabulous, as much as i always said the US would be one of the last places I'd visit I actually found the change from Europe refreshing in a way. NY is everything a Big City should be and just being part of the Buzz and in a city that literally doesn't sleep is just amazing !! I did come away with a few interesting observations or so I think .. quirky little things that will always remind me of NY .. so here goes the list

1. There are 3 standard signs you see everywhere you go - they amused me because 2 of 3 were so obvious...
- Above the bar - 'Pregnant Women Should Not drink' (followed by the Hazards of Drinking During Pregnancy)
- In the Restrooms - 'All Employees must wash their hands before returning to work'
- At the Entrance of an Establishment - 'The Cpr Kit is Located Above the Bar'

2. New York is ALL about BRUNCH - yes every restaurant has a brunch menu, brunch specials, peoples lives revolve around Weekend Brunch Plans

3. There is a Minimum of a 1 hour wait for ANYTHING in New York be it to Enter the Abercrombie & Fitch store, Get an Apple Ipad 2 (this can go into many hours)or to get into a restaurant

4. Every Address in New York has a way of sounding Posh be 84th on Fifth or 192 on 17th (second one is made up .. but get my point !)

5. For the visitor, Address in New York are just difficult & unfathomable - Period !

6. You Can Never be Overdressed in New York ..

7. Women in NY seemed to have a certain belly dance style or step .. saw it everywhere .. maybe a fad ?!

8. Yellow Cabs and their In-Cab Entertainment Tv's (Note Kiran Managed to mess every tv in every cab we got into)

9. New York is ALL about Niche Specializations - A Pancakes Restaurant, A Crepe's restaurant, A Ramen restaurant not to forget the pediatric dentist and the salon that Only does and specializes in short haircuts for women

10. Clearance Sales are very Dramatic with Store Windows plastered with big signs reading ' EVERYTHING MUST GO'

11. THE TIP - they have a set of permutations and combinations that arrive at the right amount you should tip .. double the tax, 10% , 20%, amount of the tax etc even a week later i was never sure how much was right !

12. Every 'chatty' cab driver we encountered turned out to be Egyptian .. Hmmm :)

13. To qualify being a New Yorker you need to live in Manhanttan .. anywhere else is well up for debate

14. Cupcakes are the NY thing, with a cupcake van almost everywhere !

15. You Can be sure to find 2 things on every street corner - A Nail Bar & A Psychic

And that's my two cents on the subject ;)

** some of these could be generic to the US but i experienced them first in the NY ..

Do-It-Yourself : Norwegian Style

DIY is almost like a gene embedded in every Norwegian. From simple handy craft projects to complex building of walls, patios, laying their floors, building their kitchens, cleaning their homes, maintaining gardens that are storybook worthy .. you name it and I will find a Norwegian that's done it .. and all of this comes with a self pride of being able to create & build their own.

Coming from a country like India where most of the time there is someone to do things for us ... this concept was well a bit alien not to mention absurd. Why should I build something in my house when i can get someone to do it for me without me lifting a finger, or just buy it right off the self. That parts slowly changing (not that i've built anything apart from ikea) but in small ways I'm starting to understand that pride of doing it yourself...

Thanks to friends here I've had my mini introduction to this .. with friends B & T we not only picked apples from the apple trees in their garden (this itself was a treat for me) we then proceeded to make jam, marmalades,chutneys.. out of it, then sterilize the bottles and then stored them, also add apple pie to that list .. In India I would buy home made Jam .. now i have my own cupboard full of homemade jam = a certain sense of pride of doing it myself

                                                

With my other friend M she re-introduced me to Knitting .. now I'd done this once before as a child for SUPW and honestly it seemed like the most painful thing, leaving my grandmother to finish my 'piece'. Never touched a needle after that labeling it something i would do when i was well at an age i thought would be appropriate. With nothing to do on 4 hour bus rides everyday knitting seemed like a perfect occupation and I started off .. I've finished a scarf for kiran a hat for myself and decided Tina needed one to mark her visit to Norway and made her a hat as well. This morning I put on the hat i knitted myself,and was strutting around almost wishing i could point at it and say 'yup made it myself' (a norwegian would probably point at their sweater and say the same back to me) = a certain sense of pride of making it myself.

                                                   

Over Christmas B decided we should make christmas decorations and happy was I when she asked me to join, with the forewarning that my creativity skills were umm questionable. Forewarning in hand we started and by the end of the evening we had these beautiful advent candle stands (sorry about the bragging I'm still in awe)and later on something for the front door. It sits proudly on the centre coffee table at home and when Tina saw it and refused to believe we made it .. well no guesses what feeling came out = a certain sense of pride.

                                                   

I think what truly enables them to do all this is 1. the time: their work life balance is almost an art form the rest of the world needs to learn. And 2. their ability to enjoy the simple things of life, in its most basic form and from that stems the need to create things yourself. (I'm not ignoring the fact that getting things done her comes at an insanely high cost and hence DIY makes even more sense - but that aside there is no denying the force of their DIY gene)

I hope this DIY gene will stay with me, and maybe I will have some new found skills when i return to India = no shortage of jobs for me :)

To the Norwegians who have introduced me to this .. thank you and hey you know who to call when you needed some labour, all in the name of cultural understanding ;)