Friday, December 29, 2017

Day 29 - Happiness is...

Happiness is... Garlic bread with cheese... I absolutely love them... Compliment them with a white sauce pasta or eat them just like that - they taste heavenly and the smell - wow!!



I have dragged through and today is day 29, I am happy I could write for all these days.. 2 days pending to this self challenge of finding happiness for a whole month. Although I did post some pictures and cheat posts, I am glad I did not take a break in between. I went through a bad writer's block and haven't come out yet... I still cannot write any pretty good posts but I guess eventually I will..

Kiddo is doing better now, the wounds are looking better. We had a physician and ophthalmologist visit to make sure that the wounds were getting better. We still need to see a physiotherapist. It is painful and exhausting for him and I feel really sad to see him like this, but I guess some things are beyond our control. The bff also met with an accident and is not doing well. Kiddo ranted that the accident wasn't his mistake and I know it wasn't, but then again there are many more factors. You might be a really good rider, speed controlled and following traffic rules, but the same cannot be said about the other riders. The road conditions are unpredictable too. I request you all to remember that life is very precious. Wounds hurt. It is better to be safe. Please promise yourself not to drink and drive - call a cab or ask someone who hasn't had a drink to drop you home. Please use seat belts and helmets. Please be safe.

#31DaysOfHappiness
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Thursday, December 28, 2017

Day 28 - Happiness is...

Happiness is... chocolate, cake and compliments!!

On Christmas Eve, I baked a chocolate cake - it was demonic - cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, chocolate essence.. I even tried my hand at making a mirror glaze chocolate syrup to dress the cake with. Though I blew up the proportions (I now have a big bowl of that lying in my fridge) it came out well. Initially, I could smell the gelatin in it and didn't want to it, but after it was complete, there was no awful smell. The kiddo met with an accident and I was in no mood to feast on the cake, and so I just took a bite, halfheartedly... coz I just felt too bad.

It was only yesterday when the hubby told me that it was very delicious. He said that the cake was yummy and the mirror glaze, thought not very glazy was very tasty... The hubby is not the kinds to give compliments, for him, it is simple - If-I-am-eating-it-it-is-good!! So this coming from him on a phone call made me happy :) and left me smiling to myself like an idiot!

Leaving you with pics of the cake...




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Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Day 27 - Happiness is...

Happiness is... making some more clay charms...
I am absolutely loving it and learning it along...
Cute mushy-room charms!!

Baa baa blue and pink sheep!!
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Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Day 26 - Happiness is

Happiness is... completing day 6 of the 10 day lettering challenge.
The sentence for yesterday was - Express More..




I am thankful for your prayers. Kiddo is doing better now. He still needs time for recovery.
So, continue keeping us in your prayers.

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Monday, December 25, 2017

Day 25 - Happiness is

Happiness is... completing day 5 of the 10 day lettering challenge.
The word for yesterday was - Slay..



I am very sad today. The Kiddo met with an accident last night, and did not tell us. Today morning, mom called to tell us about the accident and we rushed home. He is hurt and in almost all body parts - I just cannot digest it. We have been telling him to drive the car, but I do not know why he is so fascinated with his bike. I do not want to write the details, as I do not ever want to re-read this.. Thank God, it is safe. Please pray for us! Merry Christmas!

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Sunday, December 24, 2017

Day 24 - Happiness is

Happiness is... completing day 4 of the 10 day lettering challenge.
The word for yesterday was - Kindness..
Medium - Watercolors on card stock!

Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,
Makes the mighty ocean
And the heaven above!!



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Saturday, December 23, 2017

Day 23 - Happiness is

Happiness is... completing day 3 of the 10 day lettering challenge.
The sentence for yesterday was - Rise above all the hate!
Medium - Gel pen and watercolors on card stock!

Let us spread positivity!!


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Friday, December 22, 2017

Day 22 - Happiness is

Happiness is... completing day 2 of the 10 day lettering challenge.
Word for yesterday was - NOW
Medium - Sharpie and watercolors on card stock!

Do not stop,
Do not fear,
Stand up tall &
Pull your gear..
Coz' the time is now , my dear!!





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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Day 21 - Happiness is

Happiness is... flowers, petals, watercolors and hope!!

Participated in a 10 day lettering competition on Instagram!
Yesterday's word was HOPE!!
Reached home really late, followed by a cooking spree of soup and sweet corn salad and then dinner and then hot chocolate - as the hubby is down with cold (Yes!! man cold! true blue :D)
Then kept my hope high and started this at midnight and completed just minutes before the clock struck 12! Wohoo!! at least I participated in time. Hope I can do the rest of them! 
It is a giveaway guys.. and who doesn't like gifts..
Comment if you want to enter.. or just join us on Instagram @thecreativepaw



I was lettering and that too with a paint brush for the first time and am happy with how it turned out :)

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Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Day 20 - Happiness is

Happiness is... some more claying!!

I clayed food items - burgers and ice-cream to go with it!
Clay charms - burger and ice-cream!!
How do you like them? Should I make some fries and cold-drink to go with these?

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Day 19 - Happiness is

Happiness is...  knowing you have clayed enough to put on your blog when you have nothing else to write about and you are already running late on the tag you took for yourself!!

So, without any delay, presenting my cute little clay charms -

This cute little octopus couple, these were the first two charms I created :)

My first ever clay charms!!

















And then this cute triplet followed -

And some more kawaii octopus!!















I loved how the accesories turned out - the bows, the hats and the head phone (yes, the one in green is wearing a headphone)
How do you like them? Would you want to carry one as a key chain or a fridge magnet or as a bag charm?

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Day 18 - Happiness is

Happiness is... reading!!
Mad About the Boy (Bridget Jones, #3)Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had read Bridget Jones diary as a teenager and so this was the only motivation to get this book. Initially I was bored and did not reading the mixed diary entries, but then the novel started picking up pace. Bridget and her kids without the handsome Mark Darcy, Helen wove the story around their lives - the pressure of being a perfect mom, the desire to have a partner to share her time and life, the importance of having friends, physical needs, work-life balance - which everybody wants in their lives. The entry of Roxter and the realization that it cannot be forever and then the perfectionist - Scott! I am all in for happy endings!!
Also I liked the owl part! Such small things make the read good for me. Read the book to know what I am talking about.
An average and light read!

View all my reviews

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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Day 17 - Happiness is

Happiness is... awesome videos!!

I am still in awe seeing the videos posted online. Cooking, drawing , painting, crafting - ask for it and you get it online. You get the basics, you get the beginners, you get the in-depth ones, the step-by-step ones.. Some of them are so beautiful, that I am happy I saw them. Do you like seeing videos too?

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Monday, December 18, 2017

Day 16 - Happiness is

Happiness is... chocolates to save you from dementors!!

If you read my last post, you'd know that I had terrible UTI affected Thursday night. Friday turned out equally bad and I was in bed almost the whole day feeling tormented by spasms and pain. Must have been around 11am on Friday when the room suddenly became really cold. The blankie wasn't enough and I pulled over the hubby's comforter... And suddenly all I could think of was dementors in my room. If I could, I would summon my patronus, but nada! it wasn't to happen, so I ran to the kitchen and got some chocolate. Muggle or wizard, chocolate does make everything better!!
As I write this post, I am smiling (People might think I am mad! but then am I not :D) and thinking about how chocolates saved me from the kiss of death!!

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Day 15 - Happiness is

Happiness is... people who care and medicines which work!!

Wednesday and Thursday I faced severe spasm in my tummy. Thinking the pain would subside and plastering a fake smile I carried on with work and the daily chores, to be jostled into reality on Thursday night. I had severe tummy ache and starting symptoms of a severe UTI. Now, if you have been affected by UTI, you'd know how bad it can be and if you never been affected, be happy and pray you never ever get it. We had been to McDonald's on the weekend to get some ice-cream fill and I had used the ewww disgusting washroom as the urge was unbearable. Guess that must have triggered the UTI.. so Thursday night was spent in the loo :( As soon as I'd come and wrap myself in the blankie the urge to pee would make me run to the loo again.. I dropped  a message(post 1am) to the sister who is a gynecologist and woke up the hubby(only to get his shoulder to cry on and tell him I was dying) He had a presentation on Friday (and an important one!!) but stayed awake with me for sometime. The sister (Thank God for sisters!) called me  around 2ish and suggested medicines. Given our prior experience , we knew the medicals would be closed by that time and I didn't want the hubby to go any further (lest I die in the washroom with him not around) So, he checked the medicine box and found one of the medicines already there... So finally after calls with the sister, a dose of the medicine and some more tlc, I rested my tired self around 7am in the morning and then almost slept the whole Friday.

I really need to be more careful about using common washrooms and stock up cranberry juice and the general medicines, but am really thankful that the sister and the hubby were around...

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Thursday, December 14, 2017

Day 14 - Happiness is

Happiness is... Fandom!!

I love Harry Potter and totally, entirely love the fan-art and fandom that comes along - the books, the movies (yes, yes not as good as the books) , the memes, the drawing, the trivia, the clothing, the accessories!!

One of the major reasons I started creating clay charms was so that I could make harry potter miniatures..
And I did try one, but it tells me I need more practice... (It's leviOsa, not levioSA!!)

Do you follow any fandom? Are you a Harry Potter lover?
All hail Harry Potter!!

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Day 13 - Happiness is

Happiness is...  being mad together!!

We have supper really late, around 10pm, which is early by Punjabi standards but late given I want to take up a healthy lifestyle. So, we have been taking this EFFORT to stay healthy and dine at least 2 hours before going to bed...  But what do you do when, you cook a healthy meal with spinach, cottage cheese and fenugreek leaves, eat it at 8pm and the boy is hungry again at 10pm? You have a small portion of vanilla ice-cream (yeah!! what healthy!) with chocolate chips... and then the boy is hungry again and craving for pizza!! He disturbed the artist in me (who was lost in the world of water colors) to ask which pizza to order!! It was post 11 and we knew it would be difficult, besides I wasn't hungry for a cheese burst pizza... but we ended up baking a pizza... from scratch, yes count the pizza base too! So, the dough was folded, the veggies cut, the cheese grated and 5 mini pizzas made - which were supposed to take 15 minutes at 180 degrees but ended up taking 25 minutes!!
Talk about madness!! The pizza base turned out to be soft in between but had a perfect top and bottom crust... I have no photos clicked coz it vanished in no time!!
Pizza Love!!





















Talk about being mad together!!

Leaving you with the watercolor magic I tried for the first time!!
Christmas Cards!!

Snowman - watercolor on card stock!

Ornament and Christmas Doodles!! - Watercolor on card stock!

Insides of the card - Water color on card stock!

























































































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Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Day 12 - Happiness is

Happiness is... a mystery... I like seeing ancient monuments.. Read history, try to know the occupants and then imagine the life they lived... Most of the times, they carry mysteries...

Chandbibi ka mahal, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra

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Day 11 - Happiness is

Happiness is... drawing on the office white board :D











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Sunday, December 10, 2017

Day 10 - Happiness is

Happiness is... A yummy tempting chocolaty thick shake with little heart biscuits!! A happy tummy = a happy me!!



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Saturday, December 9, 2017

Day 9 - Happiness is

Happiness is... Random watercolor drawings!!



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Friday, December 8, 2017

Day 8 - Happiness is

Happiness is... a friday evening, some yummy chocolate shake with cream, friends and a game of Jenga!! Thank God it's Friday!! Friyay..


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Thursday, December 7, 2017

Day 7 - Happiness is

Happiness is... your morning routine making you feel like a dessert!!
A strawberry shower gel, a cocoa body lotion, a peach milk moisturizer, a vanilla body mist and a honey lip balm -- Feels like heaven or a dessert... heaven actually, isn't dessert synonyms with heaven?

Welcoming winters...


What is your morning routine like?

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Day 6 - Happiness is

Happiness is... Crafting..

Always loved all things elephant - be it cuddly soft toys or drawings or key-chains..
Work in progress for this cute little elephant!!!
Will turn it into a fridge-magnet or maybe a wall hanging, how about a badge!!
Need to decide!!
Clay work in progress!!
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Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Day 5 - Happiness is

Happiness is...

How do you write a Happiness post when you really aren't happy, when you are feeling low and want to hide in the blankie and never be seen again?
What do you write about when you do the everyday chores just for the sake of and march off to work just because you have to!

But then on days like these, the blog helps doesn't it...
Now, just for the sake of this blog, I am thinking about what made me happy, so that I can write about it..

Happiness is.. my blog - which gives me a platform to express.
Just like a full box, which when tried to stuff more, will explode or overflow, so does the heart when filled with emotions and then tears flow. It is easy to keep my feelings to myself than to pour my heart out when I know I won't be heard and if heard I'll be ignored and if not ignored, I'll be told that I am bothering about things I can ignore...

Happiness is... the smell of hot coffee and that yummy chocolate cookie to go along with it..
Happiness is... the smell of rain..
Happiness is... trying a new craft and not failing miserably in it..
Decoupage for the first time!!
















Happiness is... hearing a good song..
Happiness is... learning new words..
Happiness is... liking the sound of a word!!
Zephyr - a soft breeze.. I like the sound of it!!













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Monday, December 4, 2017

Day 4 - Happiness is

Happiness is French Fries and citrus drinks!!



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Sunday, December 3, 2017

Day 3 - Happiness is

Happiness is mushrooms.... not 1, not 2 but a bowl full of mushrooms...
Watercolor love!!

Mushroom Love. Watercolor on paper!!


#Watercolors
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Saturday, December 2, 2017

Day 2 - Happiness is

Happiness is drawings of love...
Wall e and Eva!

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Friday, December 1, 2017

Day 1 - Happiness is

Starting December 1, I will write 31 "Happiness is..." posts!!
I might write another post to crib... Feel free to take up the tag blogger friends!!

So, for today's post -

Happiness is a bowl of steaming hot cheesy pasta!!!

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Thursday, November 30, 2017

Happy Endings!!

Do you believe in happy endings?
Does it always end with  happily ever after?
How do you know that this is the happy ending?
How do we define these terms?

Acrylic on canvas. The original painting courtesy google. I call this "The Wait".
Wore that red dress you liked on me,
Adorned my ears with red rubies,
Sprayed our favorite perfume...
But you keep me waiting too long?
Is our love not for keeps?
Are we never going to be happily ever after?
The fragrance is wearing out,
My feet hurt in the heels,
But you still aren't here?
Is our love not for keeps?
The wait - don't make me wait too long,
Don't make me so independent, that I don't need you anymore.

I, frankly do not believe in a so called 'Happy Ending'. Yes,we see and hear that people are happy. But I do not know how do you know that this is the happy part of it, if you aren't happy? I mean, we are not actors in a Bollywood love story to have this lovey dovey , high profile life. We struggle every day, the struggle isn't just professional, it is personal too. People judge, people expect and no matter what you do, it is never enough, until you give up one day.Guess the day we give up on trying to make others happy, is the day we start living. They say keep on giving without expecting anything in return, but I do not even understand how does this work. I mean, how can I keep on loving without being loved in return. Till when I continue helping someone, if all they do is turn their backs to me when I am in need. If at the end, I end up with only expectations and longing, then why not redirect my effort in making myself happy, helping myself. If not a happy ending, atleast I will sleep like a satisfied soul. But why is it so difficult to implement this? Why don't we learn from our sufferings? Top this with an OCD and the ticking biological clock and what are you left with ? A mundane life, studies, job, marriage, kids, death - only to realize you went with the flow and weren't happy throughout.

Leaving you with this beautiful Punjabi song playing non-stop on my playlist - Qismat..

Je hun tu vi badal gya,
Mai te mar hi javangi..

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Beach, please!

“You can never have too much beach, can you?” Beaches are awesome. The infinite sea, the welcoming sand, the sun – what more can you ask from life. I love beaches. I love the sound of the waves hitting the shore. I love seeing the ships afar; waiting to come back to loved ones. The sea for me signifies infinity. There is no end, everything seems small – all the worries, all the troubles… so small compared to the gigantic water body. I can stare at the waves all day, all night. So, when I wanted to take a much needed vacation, all I could think of was the beach and the water.

The late planners that we are, when we checked Goa, it was all sold out. Then we checked the beaches on the Konkan stretch. The photos were beautiful, the beaches looked serene and the reviews were good. But there were constraints - we had two days in hand, wanted a driving difference not very tiring for the hubby (Yes! Me cannot still drive L) . While I enjoy the peace and calm, the hubby is the guy-who-loves-his-beer. So, finally we narrowed down on Diveagar, and I am such a happy beach bum that I did….

The journey –
I ordered these cute Superman and Supergirl T-shirts from The Souled Store, coz #CoupleGoals.
#CoupleGoals Superman and Supergirl Tees from TheSouledStore
 We started off our Saturday morning wearing our matching tee’s, 8ish in the morning with a flat tire. After the puncture repair and the petrol refill, we started our journey. We took the road from Hinjewadi – tamhini ghat – mhasala road – diveagar. The road is bad… too many potholes, too much of broken road. There were repairs going on along the way, causing more traffic. But the view is scenic. We were hungry so stopped at “The Paradise Café” for breakfast. It was early and they were still opening up. We ordered our share of cheese omlette and scrambled eggs. The place is pretty and gives you a vacay feeling. So, we were glad we stopped by. The breakfast turned out yummy, just the ketchup – it was too acidic for my tongue and I avoided it totally.
With our tummy full, we moved ahead the bumpy road on our journey to the beach. After a total of a five hour drive, we reached Diveagar. We had booked the Exotica Sea View and after the tiring, back-aching journey, we were glad to see the hotel.


The stay –
The cottage
There are two hotels by Exotica – The Sea View and The Beach Resort. The Beach resort has been leased to MTDC and the sea view is managed directly by them. We did not get reservations for the beach resort, so we booked the sea view hotel via Make my trip and it couldn’t have been any better.

The bedroom
It is a wonderful place. They have cottages- eight on them built on machans and four built on ground. The ones built on the machans(raised platform) are old, while the others have been constructed a month back. We were offered the cottage 109.
The sofa room.
The only difference is that you cannot view the sea from these cottages as they are built at ground level. The cottages are very pretty.

The white lotus shining in its glory
 There is vegetation planted around – we saw baby spinach leaves and cauliflower and lemons and coconut trees and lotuses. I loved the rectangular parallel lotus ponds , three of them with white, purple and pink lotus.
The purple lotus.
There is a swing in front of every cottage and a lot of parking space. It looks really beautiful. 
The ponds and the parking area
  There is a tiny lobby in front of the room and you enter inside to a small room with a sofa and a center table. The bathroom was clean and spacious, with a geyser. The bed room was spacious and nice.
The back balcony with the coffee table.
There is a back balcony from the bedroom where there are two chairs and a table. We enjoyed both our mornings here with the chirping of birds and the sound of the sea. You'd see a variety of colorful birds here.
View from the reception.
 As you enter from the gate of the resort, you cannot miss the beautiful reception area with the restaurant. I liked the beautiful dining area – the huts and the coconut trees! They have these nice tiny hut like lamp covers which run throughout the hotel. I also absolutely loved their garden speakers which were spread out everywhere and played soft instrumental music throughout the day. So ten on ten for the place.
Dining area
The rooms were spotlessly clean and tidy. The room service was quick. A special call out to Rupesh and Sudarshan. Mandar – who was at the reception played his role well. He arranged for the bonfire, put on some really good music, told us about the cake shop and the beach and resort options. So again a ten on ten.
Food!!! Happy breakfast times!
Coming to the food, the breakfast spread had poha, upna, idli-sambar, sabudana khichadi and mango juice. We weren’t really fans, so we requested for an omlette. And our request was duly honoured. The mango juice was tasty and we also liked the poha and idli. You do not get roti, so have to be satisfied with the chapatti – but the chapatti was good too. The chicken wasn’t tender but apart from that everything else was tasty – the dal, the Manchurian, the breakfast menu. So overall, I’d recommend everybody to go to this hotel, provided you have a car, else it is better to stay at some hotel at a walking distance from the beach.

The beaches –
Beach...   
The beach was around two and a half kilometers from the hotel, let me requote, the nearest beach was two and a half kms from the hotel. It was like staying on a stretch, where no matter which right turn you took, you’d see the beach. This is life!! We were hungry, for both the beach and food, so we went to the beach first. And it was mesmerizing – pristine, clear, sparsely crowded. Then the hungry tummy called for some food. But alas, this was a difficulty. It was 3pm and nobody wanted to serve us any food. We finally landed in a small home stay and requested them and they accepted to serve us. We got some yummy hot dal tadka with chapatti. It must have taken them more than double the time to cook, that we took to finish the meal. Wow! It was tasty.
Dal roti - comfort food!!
We then went back to the room for some rest and then went back to the beach. We went to two of the other beaches on the same stretch. There were water sports and food stalls. You can actually drive your car right to the beach. We enjoyed the setting sun. By 6:30, it was very dark and we decided to stop for the day. We retired back to the hotel, enjoyed the breeze while hearing the waves hitting the beach. We had a yummy dinner at the hotel, which again was dal and chapatti as we were not very hungry having gorged on some onion bhajiya at the beach. The food at the hotel is tasty, so we enjoyed the simple food too. A special mention to the freshly cut onions wherever we had our food.

The waves and the beach...
Next morning, we enjoyed the sunrise from our room window, we were too lazy to go to the beach. After a yummy breakfast – omlette, bread, poha, coffee, idli-sambar and mango juice, we went to the beach and had an awesome time. We started walking on the stretch. There weren’t many people, we could count them on our finger tips. We enjoyed till we were totally drenched with water and happiness and went back to the hotel. We went to the Exotica beach resort for lunch. Wanted to check out the location. It is good.
The hammock
There are two hammocks, but the sun was shining bright and it wasn’t much fun sitting on the hammocks. They do not allow beer in the restaurant area, so we ended up just having lunch. They have swings, a carom board and a pool table for recreation. The food menu is similar as at the Exotica Sea view. The chicken kadai turned out tasty and the hubby enjoyed the food.
The never ending sea and white beach on the right when you travel across the stretch
We spent some more time at the beach after lunch and then proceeded back to the hotel, where the receptionist informed us about another beach at a 10km distance. So, we went on a long drive to Velas beach. The view is scenic.
The Velas beach.
You travel with the beach and the never-ending sea on your right. It was too beautiful. Calling it a day, we went back to the hotel. We wanted to get a cake and were told about the Densh bakery. They charge a 100 rupees to deliver the cake at the resort. As we wanted to checkout the cake before ordering, we went to the bakery and got ourselves a black forest cake.
And the bonfire is lit!
We had requested the hotel staff for a bonfire, which they happily agreed to. They also offered to set up a candle light dinner, but it was too windy for the candles to be lit. The weather was cold, so we enjoyed the bonfire. Again, a special call out to the staff for setting everything up. We enjoyed our yummy Manchurian with soft music playing and the cold wind. It was too good to be true. We had a good time – the kinds you see in movies. The cottage we stayed in had three rectangular pools with white, purple and pink lotuses and what a sight! We had dinner at the bonfire too, but the chicken was disappointing, the only negative in our otherwise perfect stay. It had become cold and was almost twelve when we moved inside. We cut the cake at 12 ushering in the fifth year of our married life and slept satisfied.
Leaving footprints on the sand
The next morning, we got up to the chirping birds and the rising sun. After a tasty breakfast, we went to the beach again. Monday morning, the beach felt like a private beach. There was nobody but us. We didn’t wanna go back, but we had to checkout. And so with a heavy heart, we went back to the hotel, packed our stuff and left back for home.


The return journey –
For the return journey we took the alternate route via the Mumbai Banglore highway. We took almost the same time to reach back, but the road still wasn’t good. The journey was still tiring. But the route from Kolad was scenic. So, overall both the roads are equally bad, and be prepared for a bumpy ride. We stopped by at the German Bakery Wonder Bar at Lonavala for a quick food break.


German Bakery
 We ordered some noodles and a pizza with a chocolate shake. The food was tasty and we quickly finished it and came back home. I am still carrying the sea in my heart and want to go back. 

Moments to cherish!

 When Veer was really little and wanted to nap he would climb in my lap and hold onto my neck. In a sitting position and holding me tight, h...