Hi my beautiful friends,
Hope everyone is having a great 1st month of 2017!
Me and Daniel recently completed one year of being married! One whole year you guys. And I'm going to be really honest and tell you that no it didn't just 'fly by'! It was a slow long year...eventful and interesting but slow :D
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| Danny's sweater is from H&M, mine is from a store in Canada. Earrings from Claires! |
It is so much different than just living with a guy you are dating. Its a whole new life, a whole new set-up. Yes you do have a great time and there's so much happening but its not always fun and haha. There are so many experiences, lessons, revelations and realisations. Me and Dan have known each other for almost 5 years now and still there is so much we learn about each other every day and not all things are sweet! For example, recently Danny came to know that I get really irritated when I see someone having the same breakfast everyday (weird but it does annoy me!) and I recently came to know that Danny is one of the people who loves having the same breakfast everyday! Same breakfast! How can you? It is so annoying :/ Can you imagine what goes on in our house every morning?
The point is, it's a journey. And you have to be ready to accept whatever comes your way, you have to try your best to cross all your hurdles...together! Its not always going to be happy romantic moments, at times it'll be harsh and rough, there will be times when you'll feel there's no one more annoying than your partner...be ready for that and accept it when it comes. Do not get stuck on it though. Move. Look at the other bright things. On many (so many) occasions whenever there is an issue, me and Danny find each other so annoying and irritating. Seriously. What do you when that happens? In our case, we just take a minute off, stop the conversation, take a breather and calm yourself. I specially believe in staying quiet during an angry moment. Much better than saying shit to each other and later regretting it. So, yes, stay quiet, calm yourself and when both of you have calmed yourself down, come back and talk about the issue again. Trust me, a conversation you have when you're not angry will be much better and will make so much more sense. When you're angry you're just adamant on proving your point and blaming your partner for every stupid thing that's been happening, when you're calm and composed your conversation will stress more towards finding a solution and getting over it. Try it!
2016 was a great year for us. Not only has it helped us in finding out so many new things about each other, it has also helped us in becoming more patient and tolerant towards each other. Many people ask us how we manage to keep it all so perfect and beautiful and fun. Well, we work on it. Work on it real hard. We do not always like the same things, we want to eat different, we want to watch different shows on TV... Just different stuff you know. Danny loves watching UFC and other sports stuff, some of his favorite movies are Shaolin soccer, Hot shots, You don't mess with the Zohan, Pacific Rim and a few more (there are just a few of them and he can see them everyday!) and his favorite meal is dal and rice topped with lots of ketchup (he can have it everyday guys!)! On the other hand, I love watching Friends, Entourage, The Big Bang Theory and other lighter stuff and I am not that much of a movie person, I see whatever is coming on TV but I definitely can't see the same movie everyday, and I have a lot of favorite meals, chapatis and mince curry or aloo paranthas or a simple vegetable fried rice! Imagine! Danny loves to talk about gadgets and technology...I am a technology retard on the other hand and love to talk about holiday destinations, global issues and stuff like that. No shared interests (except that both of us are foodies and love our cheese and pepperoni pizza!) But we manage. We feel happy in what makes the other happy. We adjust. You don't have to understand and be interested in what your partner is talking about, you just have to listen! Just be there and listen :) Both of us do. So while Danny has his dal and rice, I have dal and a vegetable and rotis. While he watches a movie that he likes, I sit next to him and do something else, read or do something on the laptop or sometimes just watch whatever he's watching. BUT I never walk away and go into the other room. Never. Whatever we do, we make sure we're right there next to each other. That's all it takes you guys. Just being there, acknowledging each others presence :)
The number of times I have made Danny sit with me and watch Friends, over and over and over again...Gosh. And the number of times he's made me sit with him and watch Korean cartoons (some One Punch Man and Prince of Tennis on most days)! Oh and to top it all and to annoy me more, he will memorise few Korean sentences from the cartoon and will keep on saying it ALL DAY LONG GUYS. While we're in bed, ready to sleep, he'll be like "Babe?", I'll say "Yes?", the he gives me such a serious look and says "Mada mada dane". I don't know whether to laugh or cry or hit him on his head. (His advantage is that he's cute as hell and was probably made in a candy factory by some unicorns.) Its amazing we haven't ripped out each others hair apart. We do wrestle on weekends and sometimes what starts off as just a game ends up in hard elbowing and punching each other in the face. I, specially, am known for it.
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| This fabulous jacket is from H&M and oh my God it has been a savior this winter! |
We also had an amazing Christmas week. We were in my hometown Meerut for that entire week. Cousins, friends, bonfires, lots of awesome food - what more do you need! I was so happy to see Danny having such a great time with my family and friends. The best thing about being at home for Christmas is just that special spirit of Christmas. You feel that its Christmas. There's something in the air :)
The other day we went to Hamleys to get some gifts for a colleague's son. While I was looking around thinking what the perfect gift would be for a 3 year old, my husband had started getting his own list ready for things he wanted - A big Brachiosaurus from their animal section, a nerf gun, a huge remote controlled car and a lightsaber (to use as a night light!). It took me a couple of minutes to convince him that a nerf gun is actually very dangerous and we finally settled on a T-Rex. People like this should not be allowed into Hamleys!
Some of you also asked for a few pictures of details from our wedding. Here are few of my favorites:
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The first on my list is Danny's boutonniere. This was made by a very talented friend Tanya, using the net from my gown. She also made the boutonnieres for the rest of the guests as well. You can inbox me if you would like me to share her contact with you. She's amazing :)
I had to search a lot for the perfect earrings. I wanted earrings which weren't too long and not too short and invisible either. After days of searching and trying every market in New Delhi, I finally found these! The combination of stone and the tear-drop pearl was perfect :)
The most beautiful accessory for the day was this breathtaking hairpin from Claires! I did not want a tiara and had been looking around for a pretty hairpin which I could fix around my bun. I remember going to Claires for a totally different thing when I suddenly came across this beautiful Elsa'ish hairpin. The moment my eyes set on it, I knew this was it :)
I will share some other details soon!
Also, I thought I'll share below a quick one-pot recipe. One-pot recipes are the best thing ever.
Spanish one pot chicken and potatoes
1/2 kg boneless chicken breast (cut into cubes)
2 potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes)
1 onion (cut into square pieces)
1 yellow bell pepper (cut into square pieces)
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 tomatoes (cut into big chunks - pulp, skin, everything!)
1 cup tomato puree (here you could either use 200 gms of ready made puree or 100 gms or puree and 1 cup of freshly grated tomatoes - I used both, the puree and the grated tomatoes.)
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika (or red chilli flakes)
3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
some coriander (or parsley)
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of sugar
olive oil
water
Take a big deep pan. Put in your olive oil. Once the oil is all warmed up, put in your garlic. Stir till your garlic is nice and golden. Be careful to not burn it. It is extremely easy to burn your garlic. Watch it at all times! Put in your onions, bell peppers and chicken. stir stir stir. Once it all starts getting cooked slightly (your onions start getting golden and start caramelising, the bell peppers will start getting soft, you know the gist), add in your tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Mix everything together and let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes. Once they become all soft and mushy, add your puree (and your grated tomatoes) and a pinch of sugar. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and add your potatoes and water. (So I usually just cover everything in water, enough to cook the potatoes and thicken the sauce. But, if you would prefer to keep your dish slightly dry, then maybe put less water in the beginning and keep monitoring it, add more water if you feel the potatoes need a bit more water to cook)
Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes, do a quick check. Add seasoning if needed, add more water if needed. Check your potatoes. Once your potatoes are cooked, add your olives and some coriander, keeping some coriander for your garnish as well. Mix thoroughly. Take it out in a bowl, garnish with coriander and yay you're done.
You can have this with rice or some toasted bread or even plain :)
Perfect meal for a winter evening!
Well that's all for now you guys. Be good, have fun and don't forget to be grateful :)
Sending you big hugs! Have a great week ahead <3
