How to light candles that are being difficult?

I have long faced this problem: fat candles after being used for a couple of times form a valley in the centre and i find myself struggling to light them and always end up burning my fingers. When i saw this on Naveen's FB page, i knew i had to share it with you all... I am not sure if it will work but apparently raw spaghetti sticks can be used to light hard to reach candles. Would that be genius now?

{via Naveena, from Pinterest}

Eukanuba

Just saw Eukanuba now... if you like dogs you'd like this video. You might like it even if you don't like dogs too much... :D

PS: That's Nawab, an American Spitz. Dheeraj, his mom was saying to me yesterday that she thinks he is missing me. I know i am missing him.

The rest of the Ultraviolet story

Before i begin, i must warn you the pictures are no good... i made the mistake of not clicking them when the work was over... and by the time the people and their baggage came... everything was in chaos and there are some areas i could not take a picture of at all.

These are the pics i took when the work was done and i was tired... but that's all i have with me to share now. (Raam, how i wish you were around!)

Cabin 1: Art on the wall from Chor Bazaar - old prints ads, a hanging lamp, a floating shelf, dotted fabric soft boards, black furniture and a lime green door. And a bottle with fresh flowers.

Cabin 2: Similar but the art on the wall is slightly different. Marilyn Monroe for Vibhaas and old tin adverts for Dheeraj.

And those little posters on the soft board that you can barely see... every team member of UV got one. A movie poster for each person, laminated and pinned on their workstation. Vibhaas' says Main Azaad Hoon and Dheeraj's is Mother India. All the others got interesting ones like these... like for the accountant we got Khazana, for someone else we got Jaadugar, for another we got a Bond movie poster...

That's the way to the washroom. On the wall is a framed poster of RK's 'Ab Dilli Door Nahin'. On the right, old relevant ads and on the door, a framed piece of paper that says - 'Flushing, via Harwich'...

A Staedtler pencil on the divider, a workstation with its printed fabric softboard, the pantry with its Chevron curtains beyond, and the green walls that lead to the wash room - some of the little things that made a big difference.

More wall art. On top is my favorite... graffiti hand-drawn by Vibhaas using just two HB pencils. Below is a collection of beer coasters, sourced from Chor Bazar, that have been mounted on yellow chambray and hung on a green wall in the breakaway zone. There is going to be a wall mounted TV, some denim bean bags and a rug in that space.

So that's the UV office... what do you think? I wish i had been able to take more comprehensive pictures of the larger spaces, but honestly, there were boxes strewn everywhere and till the time i left the team had not managed to sort it out...

I miss you, salary!

I got this in an email recently and remembered the good ol' days when i used to draw a salary. Have a lovely day people! And remember it's just a few more days to payday... so hang in there and abstain from shopping with money you don't have!

Short, when it is hot

When i was in Bombay, i saw people of all ages and sizes wearing shorts and walking about...  In Hyderabad too, i see people wearing them in the Hitec City area... but never anywhere else...

I wear shorts when i am at home. Or when i travel. But very rarely when i am going out in Hyderabad. But yesterday, I just gave up... the heat was killing me and i roamed around my beloved city wearing shorts... Of course, i hardly roamed, just got into my car, got out, met a friend and came back home. That's all.   Not bad, even then!

I wonder how much longer it will take for my city to change and it will be quite alright to wear the clothes you want and not get eve-teased?

{Today, I saw these lovely sage green shorts with lace trim here. So pretty. I want.}

Naveena, Amy Style

Naveena lives and works in LA ... you may remember her from the time she made an appearance earlier as a guest blogger where she shared the recipe for a Pecan Pie.

Naveena is stylish and well turned out always... but when a stylist friend of hers helped put outfits together for her, she upped the  style quotient even more...

There are plenty of outfit combinations that Amy worked on for Naveena... but this one is my absolute favorite... the short skirt that shows off the legs, the striped tee and the scarf to add that 'pop' off color. Gorgeous, don't you think?

{for more stylish outfits, go here}

UltraViolet - The journey and the meeting room

The client did not give me a brief. None at all. All I knew was that it was an advertising agency and i had a limited budget to work with. Plus the space was going to be home to two different arms of the same agency - UltraViolet and InfraRed.

Vibhaas had already worked on the basic layout-  how he wanted to divide the space, where the team would sit, where they could chill etc... In fact, they had even spoken to a vendor who made modular offices but they received a quote that was quite steep. At this point i was roped in.

I knew i had to be clever in my choice of colors and fabric because the move itself was costing the company a lot and the agency had a budget for just the basics.

The walls were going to be painted cream. We changed that to white... The walls were screaming their need to be pristine white. We later, also painted the entrance door white.

The carpenters had started their work so we had to stop the painting. There were three partitions to be made, the workstations for all the rooms and some storage. This took a huge chunk of time and no matter how often i'd think that today, the carpentry will get over since there is only so much to do, i'd never be right. They made partitions, tables, shelves, cupboards till i could take it no more and fell ill... but didn't leave till the last day. That was an important lesson learnt... no matter how much you plan, you have to go with the flow...

Anyways, that's enough background... the painters came and painted, the electricians did their bit, i shopped for fabric and art and lamps and furniture and it all came together...

The reception-cum-meeting room

As soon as you enter, this space is on your right. 

• The wooden furniture is from a place where they sold old furniture or replicas. This one is a replica. The cane weave is what stole my heart.
•  The fabric on the sofa is ombre-dyed cotton that i picked up  from a wholesaler in Mumbai.
• The curtains are cotton, white dots on black fabric. 
• On the wall is a laser cut wooden sheet that imitates the pattern of the curtains. 
• The centre table is made with a magazine stack and topped by a glass piece. 
• Flowers are placed in an old candy bucket made of tin - a hole has been drilled in the lid to hold them there. 
• The flooring is a vinyl carpet to give that old-fashioned feel and there is a lamp in the ceiling that you can't see - it's chrome tube with a green lining and lots of tiny holes in a geometric pattern... very modern.
• There is a glass gar on a side table on the left. It's filled with black and white striped candies .

What do you think? This is just one of the rooms but i am kind of tired right now... i think this has been my longest post ever! I am looking forward to what you have to say, so please, this once, don't be shy, say what you think... 

The Ultraviolet office: a blank canvas

Here's what the office looked like. I will attempt to walk you through...

You climb a flight of stairs, open the door and walk in.

On the left there is a small room, followed by two glass cabins and then an open space.

On the right is a big open space with a pantry and washroom beyond.

One of the doors is brown, the rest a light wheatish brown. The walls are painted cream - the color all Indian owners prefer and believe will mask dirt.

The 'after' is coming up in a bit... 

Another styling project: The Ultraviolet office at Mumbai

I recently helped style an advertising office in Mumbai. Here's a preview of the 1000 square foot space... this is what it looks like now, when you open the door and step in.

I have used three colors - white, grey and lime green (you know, i like that pop of color!).

The client loved it, my family and friends loved it and i hope you will too... more pictures and details coming soon... i promise.

This kept me busy the last two weeks and the reason why i haven't been around much lately... But now that i am back, you will see me around more often than you'd like.

Hope all's well with you.

Love,
Me

Cotton block printed bag

How gorgeous is this cotton bag that i found on greenn good.com? For Rs. 455 its a steal and i am extremely tempted to pick it up. Do you think i should... do remember that i have more than 50 bags languishing in the wardrobe.

{buy it here}

Can't stop listening to...

Gunch koi sung by Mohit Chauhan... I have heard this song so many times and can't seem to tire of the song or his voice.

Song: Aaj jaane ki zidd na karo

I am tripping on Ramya Iyer's ... this i am loving more than even gooncha right now. I had never heard Ramya Iyer's name or voice and this one song has made me a fan. She looks diminutive but has a strong voice. You are going to love this, i promise.

Trailer: Gangs of Wasseypur

The first few shots of the trailer blew me away. Am waiting for this Anurag Kashyap flick to hit the screens. Even though i can't stomach too much violence... this one looks like something i don't want to miss.

Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur, 
releasing June 22

So many shoes and a pipe shelf

I cleaned last week till i thought i'd drop dead from the exertion and i am only done with 70%. It's my fault, i know... i have managed to accumulate so much stuff. And shoes. Especially shoes. More than 50 pairs.

I needed another shoe rack so i did some juggling and used an open steel shelf i had. But i wish i had the ingenuity to think of something like this, that you see in the picture here... PVC pipes cut and stacked to store shoes... isn't it fabulous?

{Found on Kelly Small's Pinterest board. Love this Lazy Susan shoe rack too!}

DIY Vase from a glass

I like organic, natural elements. But this one is rather cute even though is made of rubber... if you have a balloon and glass handy, go try it and tell me if it worked!

{find simple and doable more DIYs here}

Memory saver

Do you need one too?

{thisisnthappiness}

Girl with curls

Have you ever curled your hair with a curling iron? This Monday, while spending time with two of my much younger cousins, one of them asked if we would like to color our hair blue or pink with some temporary goop she had got from the US. I had the good sense to no, but the offer of curling hair was something i couldn't refuse. She did a super job that me, and my friends all loved it. I had to wash my hair the next day and with a lot of angst, i washed it. Thankfully, Yamini did not mind and managed to do a fabulous job. Tell me, have you used a curling iron ever?

This is the YouTube video that taught me Yamini:

PS: I love these curly locks so much, i am going to keep this look for a bit. :D I just need to find people to curl my hair for me!

PPS: What a great way to keep the curling iron, don't you think?