time to ride

Since the weather has turned beautiful here, there are tons of riding classes available, mostly using english saddles like this. The racing season will be starting here soon too, which is again going to increase the interest in riding, especially for kids, as it does each year. I must say, that I've never ridden a horse, but am quite tempted to learn this year, since I seem to be in the right time and place for it. I will definitely be letting you know once I start on my new adventure.

Fall colors

Fall is a wonderful time of the year. The weather is just so perfect, with just a hint of cold in the air, the colors are so amazing, everything from the trees to the flowers and leaves seem to burst into wonderful golden shades. While we don't have much of a fall here, I did manage to find some nice leaves while on my trip to the hills of Mussoorie. I loved the warm yellow color of these leaves.

An all-round destination

Suspense is good, right? Well, I am not about to reveal our next vacation destination, but will instead right about another place, a place that is world famous for fun, for crazy-ness and for amazing-ness. It's las vegas nv, fun central! The really great thing about Las Vegas is that it is different for different people. For those who want to gamble, it's superb. For those who want to shop, it's a great place. And for those who want to relax and rejuvenate in a spa, it's one of the best places to head to. Or if you'd like you can go in for a combination of everything above! I'd love to go to Las Vegas for the spa treatments, which are said to be some of the best in the world. So, there really is a lot more to the city than just gambling and strip clubs!

Making travel plans

Traveling has always been something I have loved and looked forward to from the time I was a child. The past few years, we have been able to travel a lot and I am looking forward to new sights to see and places to visit. We've already planned and booked our next vacation and I'm getting so excited about it, since it's a completely different place from where I've been so far, a place that I haven't even gone close to, a place that I have heard so much about, and a place that I've been wanting to go to for absolutely ages. More on this later....

The right way

Losing weight is big business, for both who want to lose weight and for those who want to help you lose weight. The thing is that there is no easy way, but only a slightly easier way, but one that you have to approach with caution, since it requires you to pay close attention to your body, the signs that it sends out. The thing with diet pills is that people often take them as an easy way out, a shortcut, but they have to be followed with the proper discipline and only then it is worthwhile. Some have known side effects, others don't, but as with any kind of weight loss plan, even the old-fashioned way of eating less and working out more, one needs to have a plan and meet a dietitian and doctor to ensure that you're doing it correctly.

SLV

Taking photos has become such a wonderful pastime for me and it has made me so much more aware of the things around me, especially the simple things. One always sees the large and the grand, but often misses the little things of beauty, the unobtrusive, the hidden, and that is what has been a really fun thing to explore. When I take pictures in public, I get odd looks..."what is she taking pictures of? there is nothing worth photographing there?" and so on, but the end result can be worth it most times. Here's one of the times when I got those looks!

Getting rid of them forever!

Everyone goes through it, or at least a lot of people go through it, but it doesn't make it any easier. Having any kind of acne, is painful, physically and emotionally. There are many kinds of acne treatments available these days, but one has to remember that there is a lot more than just medicine that eventually rids one of these pesky things. A good diet, a good lifestyle and being healthy is a major factor to getting rid of acne and combined with the right kind of treatments, they can be gone forever. Sounds good right?

Buying art online

Have you looked through the Etsy site lately? There are a lot of new things there and as always I am constantly amazed at the the variety of the works. I admit, not everything there is in my taste, but I applaud it for its creativity, for its ingenuity, for its energy and for its unabridged imagery. I bought something from Etsy several months back and really found the interaction of the whole process to be quick and straightforward. The artist that I purchased from, is a well known Canadian artist Mandy Budan and I was really happy to be able to get some of her works. Even better, she sent a free print of one of her works, which is the kind of generosity that personifies Etsy and its artists.

A hole-in-one!

Our home course has been holding night golf several times a week and last night my mother got a hole-in-one! She didn't even realize it until they couldn't find the ball on the green and then eventually looked in the hole....and there it was! She has always been a very disciplined golfer, right from the beginning, focusing on getting her technique right, using the right golf clubs in the right and lucky golf bags. Being a golfer myself, I can understand the incredible feeling, the euphoria and disbelief and the hope to repeat it again. I must add that I myself have never achieved quite a feat, but feel good about the good golfing genes I have!

back!

I'm back from my trip! Well, actually I got back at the beginning of the month, but have been busy catching up with stuff...work-wise and house guest-wise, so it's been a pretty hectic time. The trip was superb...I will post a few photos here later on. The bast part was of course being in the hills in Mussoorie for a few days, which was a really nice place to chill for a few days.

a different setting

I know this is not your usual coffee drinking spot, but then nothing in Dubai is usual and normal. Everything is larger than life, exaggerated, grander, and more fantastical. This is in the Ibn Batutta Mall in Dubai, in the Persia Court where there is also a Hediard Cafe behind the Starbucks. It's certainly a great place, although so very incongruous, for a cup of coffee. I find it very interesting to see modern signs in such an old setting, but then everything is new in this city, things are just made to look old that's all.

Finally, a little respite...

As the weather is turning better once again, it is time to think about getting some new outdoor furniture covers so that one can fully enjoy the nice weather. The barbecue area needs a bit of an update as well and hopefully we will be able to find some nice extras to add there as well. One of the best things about the fall and winter here is that the evenings become pleasant and it is wonderful to be able to enjoy that time of the day, after so many months of long hot days.

sorting out the photos

Since I now have so many photographs taken over the past 8 months, I have begun to go through them and start deleting some of the repeats, similar ones, or simply bad ones. As I was going through them, I found this shot, which I had completely forgotten about. I really liked this series of shots that I took, since they are so simple and minimal, in the color or non-color rather, the composition etc. It is quite different from what I thought I would photograph, so am happy with the result.

getting trendy

Lately I have been noticing a very strong trend towards all sorts of embellishments that teenagers and young adults are going in for. Everything from body jewelry, tattoos, airbrushing and so on is very popular these days it seems. Fashion is extremely cyclical and lately the cycles have been getting shorter and shorter, quite similar even though they are are still variations of the original trend. Open any popular fashion magazine and you will understand what I mean. Younger people today are greatly influenced by what they see around them and on the television and are creating their won style of clothing and jewelry to define them.

The downsizing trend

US consumers are changing the way they shop and live. In a recent survey done by DisplaySearch, it was found that US consumers are switching to smaller size televisions, along with smaller cars. While the number of LCD TVs shipped last year increased by 52%, the bulk of this increase was made up of smaller size TVs of the 19, 21 and 32 inch sizes. Samsung still remains the number one flat screen TV manufacturer, followed by Sony. It will be interesting to see the effect of these changes in the long term, not only on the economy but also on the environment as every small change will definitely have an impact of that aspect as well.

freeing up memory

I've been running dangerously low in memory in my laptop lately and have had to delete some of the programs that I no longer use to free up some space. I spent some time researching add on memory, micro sd and so on, and have come to the conclusion that I actually need a new laptop. I've had this one for 3 years, which in the life of a laptop is quite a bit. The way I work and use the laptop has changed quite a bit too in the past few years and so I need to re-figure what all I use it for and buy one with the correct specifications. I do hope it's not going to mess up my settings for connections that I have here and when I travel, since that will be a major hassle.

Driving by

Here's a picture that I took last month, but only recently uploaded to my Flickr page. I've been taking lots of shots while in the car and a decent number of them are pretty good and interesting. It's been so hot lately, that I've been avoiding going out into the heat too much and taking a shot from the comfort of one's car is so, so easy. Not every shot is worth keeping of course, but one does get lucky...as I have found!

Enjoy!

summer woes

Summer time is the worst time of the year for the skin. Besides battling sunburn, its acne that is on everyone's minds thanks to the high humidity levels. A certain amount of humidity is really great for the skin, but too much can wreck havoc on ones skin if one is not careful enough. One has to have a good skin care regimen to tackle acne, and one has to catch it as it starts. Only then one can have a nice peaceful summer! There are so many options available for acne treatments, but one must try them out for oneself and see what suits ones skin, instead of just relying on what the magazine's say. Good luck!

this past month

The past month has been unbelievably busy and I can't imagine just how fast it has gone by. It was just the start of July the other day and now August is here. Work wise the time has been really great, as I've had lots of assignments, and have been kept really busy. It's also been a good time for reading and I finished four books this past month. I had set myself the task of reading at least 2 books every month and so I am really happy that I managed to read double that amount. Two of the books were very serious stuff, about the Bush administration and the other two were more lighthearted, one about the wives of Henry VIII and another about a British writer's year in France. Great stuff, all of them.

The marketing behind the product

I constantly am amazed at how much difference there is in the way the different products are marketed by companies. Since electronics are deemed to be a masculine area, these ads are always edgy and manly, while for things like bedroom sets, the format is usually more feminine. That is how the marketing and consumer worlds function, but what I find interesting is that they almost have a sort of sociology undercurrent going on. Interestingly, more and more companies are realizing this bias and changing the way they make their ads, and focusing some of their ads more towards women.