The Voice In My Head…

Yes people! It’s that time of year again! And what better way to herald in the glorious Christmas Season than by going for a Christmas Fete? Mind you, not just your run of the mill ordinary fete, but a German festival at the Turf Club. A fun time was had by all!

Us at the German Festival!

(click on pic to enlarge)

The main reason most people went. No, not the cute chick, the German Beer!

Main reason I went (other than the Christmas Spirit, of course!); German Sausages!

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Ok, the pics are rather late in the day, but since you guys asked (Mehak, esp for you!) here are pics of the beautiful Christmas Display at Furniture Showroom ‘Damian’ in Bandra. I apologize in advance for the flash that you see reflecting in the glass. Next time I’ll ask Akshay to take pics.

The entire showroom was decorated from top to bottom and as usual on every day, at any given time, there were heaps of people who had stopped by only to see the display.

The first window had a traditional manger scene, complete with Mary & child, donkeys, mules & shepherds. Joseph interestingly was busy carpentering.

Most of the main center window display was with a nursery rhyme theme. There was Snow White - this time her seven dwarfs were all dressed up in santa costumes. One who had a bit too much to drink was even slumped over the table & another had fallen off his stool & was sitting, kinda dazed on the floor!

There was also the three little pigs, though this time they were preparing their chimney for Santa and not the wolf. Very cute!

The last display was Santa’s workshop complete with hardworking elves, wrapping, packing & checking lists.

As usual, the details are fabulous (like the expressions on each dwarf’s face) - there’s so much more in the display than you can see in these pics. Best of all though, is the store’s philosophy, a rep for the store informs us: “We don’t want to commercialise Christmas at all, so we won’t be having any special promotions inside the store”.

Kudos Damian, as always, brilliant.

I blogged, they came, they went. And now I’ll blog some more.

It’s funny in a way… I started the year off with going to my very first blog meet not knowing what to expect and now, in some weird twist of fate, I’ve ended the year by actually throwing a blogger’s party. Is this what my life has become?? Blogging Online and meeting Bloggers Off??.. Scary thought that…. Yes, as the pretty Saks pointed out, there’s a big L in blogger

Well that’s not really the way it went down, so I’ll start the more accurate version of the post here (disregard everything I’ve said before this).

So here goes:

It was a ‘Christmas’ Blog party. It seemed a natural theme for me to choose, given the fact that it was is the season of love & joy. I decided not to have a dress code since at the last meet, hardly anyone came in Halloween costumes (tsk tsk).

Ajay came nice and early to help me get everything in order (as a good brother should, pat pat on your back Aj). His very mouselicious girlfriend (who was the next to arrive) kinda did most of the work in the party (thank you guys, what would I do without you??) and left me only to stress a little about things (I’m like that sometimes).

It’s kinda hard for me to write about my own party (will leave it to the rest of you to say nice things - HINT HINT) so instead, I’ll just talk about the people -

Saket, imo, was looking much better than when I last saw him though there was some talk of him having put on weight or something of the sort.

Akshay, without the taliban beard he was sporting when we last met, looked his normal ridiculously-young-for-someone-so-talented 20something (or is it 20nothing?) age.

Shiju (who gave me a innovately wrapped gift - put gift in plastic bag, put plastic bag in Christmas hat! lovely, ty, ty!) was apparently the hit with some of the boys (!!)… towards the end of the night someone was asking for the “football dude”.

Mercifully (for him) the topics at this blog party didn’t center around him and a certain other person (though I did try to bring it up a couple of times… naughty naughty Mel).

Gaurav also looked tons better than when I last saw him. His long locks are gone & he had come in straight from work, so he was all suited and booted (ok, maybe not booted ) in work attire, very nice! Possibly the ‘come in from work’ thing also accounted him for being a tad quieter than he is on most occassions.

Sakshi looked like she wanted to kick some ass in her army pants matched with ‘The Thing’ T-shirt, but as usual she was sweet as sweet can be. She did discuss Bigg Boss & Rakhi Sawant (despite my express orders not to) but did so discreetly behind my back, so I’ll not hold it against her (this time anyway). Gaurav insisted we sing Happy birthday to Salman Khan and that Saks should cut the cake. Since it was his birthday & since I like Sallu too (despite everything), it was so decreed.

With Sakshi was Shirrin, Arzan Wadia’s beautiful wife. The picture here & the ones on Saks’ blog all are thanks to this charming lady who apparently was the only sensible one who thought of getting a camera. Well, in all honesty, I did think of it, but hey, there were tons of things for me to do & I forgot. Sue me.

Which somehow reminds me of Pensive Lawyer (aka Expensive Lawyer). I SO happy to meet up with him - I really wanted to have people who read my blog come to this party & it was a happy surprise that he turned up. I also managed to have another ‘kisscapade’ (last time was with Saks on the way back from G’s bday) with his pretty (also lawyer) friend Hamisha. I’m worried this is becoming a habit. The guys were highly pleased though.

IdeaSmith was kinda under the weather and was rather quiet (compartively to her usual bubbly self) but it meant so much more that she came despite it all. Sending get-well-soon-wishes your way girl!

Also part of the gang was non-blogger Vikram who’s an artist. We met (through Saks) one eventful night a while back (!!!). Though we’re now good friends, I think he’s closer to Gaurav than he is with both Saks & me. If you don’t believe me, Saks even has a pic of the two cozying it up on her blog…

I was also very pleased to have Sherriff come to the party - he’s also been around tvimh for a while & I like the way he writes. He’s rather a quite chap with a subtle sense of humour & I think it rather becomes him.

How can I end the round up of people present without mentioning the very very naughty-but-so-nice Satya?!!! He’s a (drum roll) food critic bloggger (hmmm). Mercifully he left the party without eating any of my food… he’s just so, well, finicky about tasting food. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, don’t ask

The round up is over, but before ending the post, will quote Manish who mailed me the day after the party:

Sorry i couldn’t make it last night… funny story though… over the weekend i somehow got convinced your party was on tuesday and showed up that evening at nine. one watchman, two guard dogs and one nosy neighbor later i realized my mistake and was thankful nobody was at the door … I somehow managed to copy down your address while ignoring the big WEDNESDAY on the invite. this takes a sophisticated technical mind! …
A for effort, F for execution?

And what they said:
Sakshi - Bigg Boss, Nude Photography, Womanhood, Hell ya!
Vulturo - Ze Bloggy Christmas Party
Ajay - Christmas Week
Shiju - Recipe for good time (though not the only one)
Pensive Lawyer - Ramblings
IdeaSmith - All good things come to an end

Related Posts:
Saltwater Blues - O.K. This makes me very jealous!
My earlier (non)post on the party - here.

This is the reward for throwing a Christmas Blog Party - being surrounded by lots of interesting men who have things to say & who say it!

Like the guy who walked in & said, “You look much thinner in person than you do in the pics on your blog!”… What can I say, flattery does wonders for me!

Am crazy tied up in work today, so will attempt a post later or maybe just link to anyone who does.

(click to enlarge)

So it’s the time of the year when you have to shake, rattle & roll - shake your head wondering what to buy loved ones for Christmas, rattle your wallet hoping there’s enough in it and roll heads battling with others all trying to get that perfect gift.

Well, ok granted, it need not be as cumbersome as all that.

Here are TVIMH’s tips on making Christmas Gift Shopping easy!

(01) Make a list of people you actually need to give gifts to. I know it sounds basic but sometimes when you’re caught up in the season with a hundred other things to do, you maybe happy to find time to shop at all & being out shopping is not the time to start thinking of how many people you need to buy gifts for.

(02) Budget, budget, budget!! Or else!!! I suggest in your list next to each persons name, write an approximate figure (or range) of how much you can afford to spend (not how much you’d like to) on that person.

When you’re done with individual amounts, make sure you add the total and see if you really have that amount with you - if not, start again & propotionately balance out the amounts.

(03) Tackle each one separately - don’t decide to just get into a department store & buy everyone’s gifts at one place. Do your research first to ensure everyone loves your gift. Write down what you think the person would like - and see if it fits your budget.

$$ If you’re not sure what a person wants, call the person and subtly see if you can find out what the person’s wants. 9 out of 10 people will more likely than not be enthusiatic about things they like. For example if you talk about books with a book lover, you’ll see the exciment in their voice and you’ll probably easily be able to get out from them who their favorite authors are too. But remember, be subtle, surprises are always better.

$$ If you can’t speak directly with the person - or if they’re too smart for you - find out from a family member or another friend if they know anything the person would like.

$$ If you’re buying gifts for a couple together then try and make it a gift they’d both like. Find out if there are any activities they enjoy together and buy something to do with that.

$$ If you’re buying gifts for a set of friends, try and make sure the value of the gifts don’t differ too much as they’ll probably compare gifts if not open them out all at once anyway.

$$ If you’re totally lost at what to get someone, then try these:
* Gift vouchers (but can be tricky in terms of how much money you put in these)
* Classics like picture frames & food baskets (can’t go wrong with these, imo!) Most big stores will have lots of these junta gifts on display - and if you already have a budget next to someone’s name, you can just pick out a suitable gift.
* Donate in the person’s name to a charity and gift the person the receipts.

(04) Be Early! - If you’re like me, you don’t like crowds and you sure as heck do NOT like standing in long queues. The answer would be to shop early in the season (now’s a great time!) or do so during weekdays if you’re able. If you’re early in the season, you’ll not feel so harrowed you’ll want to shoot yourself in the head (!!!) as seen in the hilarious toon above!

(05) It’s all about the wrapping of gifts: I believe half the fun of getting gifts is wondering what they’re all about! So make sure you wrap those gifts well so that it’s not obvious what they are. I sometimes do silly things like add rocks in my gifts to make the shape all wonky, but don’t try that if you’re gifting fragile objects!

Also try turning the gift into a bon-bon. It’s a great way to wrap ties (oh, what a boring gift though!), T-shirts and other soft items.

(06) Tag your gifts properly. This is specially if you have a lot of gifts and you’re using the same/similar wrapping paper. Also make sure you write the From name as clearly as the To name so that the person doesn’t wonder who the gift is from (this is specially for families who put all their gifts under the tree together).

(07) Keep / Make gift giving rituals - Rituals of gift giving can be great fun for the entire family. In my family, we all actually all gather together in whichever one of the family homes we’re having Christmas lunch in & all dump the gifts under the tree. Then at an appointed time, there is a “Santa” chosen who goes to the base of the tree & distributes the gifts to everyone. Usually the oldest of the family is given this honor, but in my family we randomly choose a different person every year. Last year I got the job & made everyone sing a carol right after I called out their name before handing over their gift Made ‘em earn their gifts, lol

(08) Last but not least remember it’s the thought that counts!!!. If you can’t afford to spend a lot/any money on gifts, then perhaps you can:
make a special card (all kids should be encouraged to do this!)
frame a photo of the two of you
write a letter to the person telling him/her what he/she means to you.

These gifts from the heart are honestly the best gifts of all.

Indeed it is! Even the weather’s looking up in our beloved Mumbai city… sometimes when we least expect it, there’s a nice (almost!) cold breeze…

My house is totally decorated already - we always decorate by the first week of December - as it the fabulous prize-winning window display at the store ‘Damian’. (I’ll see if I can get some pics later).

I’m so excited about Christmas that I’m starting a whole new category here at tvimh dedicated to this wonderful season of love & peace.

Here’s a couple of things I suggest you do to start off the season on the right note:

(01) Decorate, decorate, decorate!!!

I know it can be quite a pain getting all the Christmas things out & decorating all the nooks and crannies of your home - but when it’s done it can truly life your spirit like nothing else (the more crazy things you do, the better!)! I suggest having a “decorating party” - it’s a great thing for the whole family to do together - but if for any reason your family can’t make it, then invite a couple of friends and in between snacking on Christmas sweets (more on this later) get everyone to put up the decorations with you. Then the next day you all could move the party to another person’s house until all your homes are Chrismassed!

(02) Get your freak on!

(random image pulled off the net!)

I seriously go crazy over Christmas carols! What an amazingly easy way to transport yourself into times past, to be with people loved (regardless of where they are right now), to be “in” the Christmas spirit. If you’ve got WorldSpace, then there’s a 24 hour Christmas carol channel - or invest in a good set of Christmas CDs, past & present.

(03) Forget the diet!

Ok, actually, you shouldn’t completely forget the diet… but still, it is the holidays!! Don’t worry too much about adding on the extra kgs - what’s Christmas without our delicious Indian Christmas sweets - neoris, kal-kals, marzepans, chocolate & chocolate-walnut fudge and of course, most people’s favorite - milk creams!! (yummmmmmmm). You can also go global & make some more international treats like ginger-bread men, candy canes & sugar cut-out cookies (great fun for the family!). Here’s where I get my Christmas recipes from.

(04) See it on screen

I love Christmas movies so much, I literally watch them the whole year through! This year, there are a couple of new releases which you can snuggle up with a loved one & watch:
Deck the Halls, The Nativity Story, The Santa Clause 3 and what I’m REALLY waiting for (hope it’s not dissapointing) - The Holiday.

Ofcourse, all the olden goldies like ‘It’s a wonderful life’, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, ‘The Santa Clause’ (if you haven’t seen the first part, you should!). As for me - the utterly butterly romantic-comedy Christmas lover, it’ll be ‘While you were Sleeping’ (my all time favorite movie ever) and any other movie, where boy meets girls & they fall in love during Christmas, lots of nice decorations everywhere in the movie, snow falling, carols playing. Ahhhh.

Finally (for today at least) (05) Don’t forget the reason for the season!

It’s so easy to get caught up in all the merry making that we forget that Christmas should be about Christ - about His birth, His Presence among us even today. Christians, Catholics and even non-Catholics alike should make it a time to thank God for all the abundant blessings received throughout the year, to pray for peace, to forgive and to mend bridges.

(Watch this space, more Christmassy stuff soon!)

Today marked the beginning of the season of Advent. I really look foward to the different seasons in the church, it’s much like the physical seasons, which give variance & new light to our world.

EWTN has a really good section on Advent including the background, Advent Wreaths (ours is already up!), Jesse Trees, Advent House & Calendar, the Manger Scene, Christmas, Christmastime & Epiphany. It also has an online calendar with daily reflections for this year’s season.

Looking foward to the birth of our Lord! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

When we went to se ‘BeCool’ the other day, noticed that ‘The Polar Express’ was playing at the dome (2.30pm show).

Ok granted, we were completely off season for this Christmas Special but decided to go anyway

As it turned out though, the IMAX experience was really amazing - I’m sure this movie was MADE for IMAX (correct me if I’m wrong), it was just so beautiful.

And yes, fun was made because I did cry a little towards the end. A truly beautiful story about the wonderful magical season of Christmas & the innocent joy of belief.

I think a lovely thing to do would be to find some poor children (maybe from an orphanage?) and take them to see this lovely movie at IMAX. I’m sure it’ll be an experience they’ll never forget.

Christmas was very well spent with family (the only correct thing to do, in my opinion!)

Had luch at Day’s with Sons playing Mrs Claus (see pic above!) & generously distributing all the gifts Ate till we could not eat anymore. TOTALLY stuffed, even more than the turkey

In the evening, went along with Nathan to drop off the 30 or so youth who were off to a youth convention at Chennai. Was great fun meeting up with them all & making sure they got on the right train & right compartment! Oh such confusion! Sean even msged me that he was off the train minutes after the train left… naughty naughty boys…

Night was off to Sher & Priya’s for a quite home dinner. Planned to go to Indigo & Lush following but didn’t. All in all, a FULL day.

May you have a blessed Christmas.

Participated in one of the BEST Holy Masses ever! It was really soo great!

Went with Mum & Dad (feels kinda weird without Sim).. We reached a little before Mass actually began - which means usually there wouldn’t have been place to sit (ppl go well in advance for High Masses here). Anyway, we were still blessed enough to get almost front row seats (fifth from the front) on the extreme right aisle.

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