Euro Trip

To those of you who know me, know that I grew up abroad and I've been travelling for as long as I can remember. Taking a 14 to 15 hour flight is a norm in my family since we're so far apart. My parents are in Mangalore, India and I'm in Texas. My husband's parents are in New York and his sister is in Melbourne, Australia. Remembering time zones and when to wish everyone for their birthdays and other occasions can be a very challenging task to say the least.

With that being said, I haven't seen my parents (in-person) since September 2011 and I'm super excited to say that Al and I have planned a trip to see them in May! YAY! We're going to cross paths in Italy and also go on a cruise trip together. I can't tell you how awesome this will be! I have never been to Italy and I love my parents and cruising! To add to all the fun, my mum's sis and hubby will be joining us on the cruise ship, Norwegian Jade. It leaves from Venice (think gondolas) and travels through Eastern Europe. We'll be visiting the beautiful ports of Croatia, Turkey and Greece. Itinerary below :

Doggie play dates

Watson had an impromptu play date this past week and boy, was it drooly fun! My friend from work, Sharon brought her adorable English bulldog, Pancho over and we took the boys for a walk around the complex and they seemed to get along really well. The cutest was when both of them turned their heads at exactly the same time to look at the mechanical gates, opening and closing for cars. Pancho is the cutest, wriggliest bulldog I've met and was even more active than Watson. He's got a bit of boxer in him, so that's why he looks like a mini-Watson, jumps around so much and uses his paws to box!


Over the weekend, we also took Watson to the Doghouse Drinkery Dog park with our friend Antonio and his pug, Baxter. That was his first dog park outing and he had a blast! We were a little worried about leaving him off his leash, but he was really good and enjoyed sniffing around and playing with the other dogs. Some of his favorite friends were pugs and puppies, which makes me belive Watson thinks he's still a puppy! The best part, was that while he was running, we were drinking! And then when we came home, Watson was soooooo tired and passed out, the hubby and I were able to relax and have a lovely evening together.

The city of angels

We recently visited Los Angeles for the very fist time and my first and last impression can be summed down to one word 'traffic'. LA has a LOT of it. If you've ever seen the SNL skit, Californians, you know that they are always talking about traffic and now I completely understand. This photo was from our first night in LA. Granted it was Friday at 5pm and around rush hour, but we saw the same on Saturday and Sunday!

We still managed to have a fun time. We stayed right in Hollywood opposite the Dolby theatre where they hold the Oscars. We went to Malibu and Santa Monica beach, saw Soundgarden live* and ate lots of delicious ethnic food that only a large city can offer. The highlight of our trip, was seeing Steven Spielberg leaving his house in his 'Expensive' car, when we were on the celebrity hill. And the best part is he waved to everyone on our tour bus. Even our tour operator was uber-excited! Here is a snapshot of our trip.



Rodeo Drive - I so wanted to start singing Rage out loud!

*Special thanks to my hubby for Soundgarden tix!

Sri Lankan goodness

 

The hollywood sign from Griffith observatory

BH 90210

Chris Cornell, I love you

Sunset at Santa Monica

Grauman Theatre on Hollywood

Fancy cocktails at the Roosevelt hotel

 

Happy Hearts Day

I’m a lover but I do hate the way people celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s one of those overly commercial holidays, probably only second to Christmas. The amusing part is no one could even tell you why today is so-called. For those that don’t know, it’s because of Saint Valentine; yes, an actual person and not because Hallmark said so. Instead you find most people caught up with what to buy their special someone or where to get dinner reservations. And don’t you just love the stores and restaurants that mark-up prices on roses, gifts and meals just for today? In my opinion, people who fall for these gimmicks are suckers! I personally think that you should celebrate your love for someone all through the year and not make one day the be-all and end-all for any relationship. Not only can you get majorly disappointed because you are expecting the world, but your guy will be overwraught with anxiety on what to get you. Wouldn't you rather get many, smaller suprises during the year, especially when you're not expecting it?

With that being said, here are a few cute things I’ve come across this V-day that I love and you should do ALL YEAR LONG - heart-shaped breakfast! I absolutely loved the heart shaped boiled egg (on the left) and it's so easy to do.

And this is a great page with many ideas on how to use a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Hard-boiled hearts

Mini-heart pan for pancakes

Heart Waffles

 

Foster parents

Not only do we now have a dog in our lives but it feels like we're parents. Many of our friends call us dog parents and it sure feels like parenthood - a lesser social life, middle of the nights doodie duty, super early mornings and a sinful craving for caffeine. However, all the lack of sleep is negated when you look at your babe's cute face (on right), and get big spontaneous kisses and hugs.

We took Watson to PetSmart on Saturday morning and he was a hit! The staff, adults and kids absolutely loved him! He got treats from the employees and even personally fitted with some new threads (harness and leash) by Steven, who also got a lot of sloppy kisses. We got him this awesome dog pillow and it's one of his favorite things in our house, which isn't surprising considering he loves to sleep. Can I say Lazy with a capital 'L'?  And he's a snorer too!






Sharing the love

Today, we fostered a dog from the Austin Boxer Rescue. The dog's name is Watson and he is incredibly adorable, as you can see. The photos here are from the ride home. Watson was as excited as we were and kept looking outside at the houses and cars. Throughout the car ride, he was well-behaved and even took a nap on my lap, when we were stuck in traffic.  Awwww!

Both Al and I love dogs and have been wanting to get one for as long as we can remember. We had planned to do so last year when we were new to Austin as it's such a dog friendly city and we actually have more free time on our hands. We decided it was time this year and over the past couple of week's we've been contemplating between a dog and a cat, interviewing potential candidates too :) We went to a Boxer meet and greet last Saturday and after talking to a friend about fostering, we bit the bullet and sent in our form. Now, here we are with our handsome Watson and we're happy to say that we'll be helping him until he find his 'forever home'.