Wednesday, December 31, 2014

How to Wear Black on Black: New Year's Eve Outfit Idea

Happy New Year!!!

So, today is the last day of the year! It is the day when we must let go the past and look forward to start again fresh. It is the day about being hopeful, being pristine, feeling upbeat and feeling jubilant. It might seem very coincidental, but 'the song' from movie "Frozen" is continuously playing inside my ear since this morning. I'm sure all of you are having or going to have a great day today. The countdown to the New Year's Day is always exciting. Bring it on 2015...

Yesterday, we went to a tearoom here in Lynchburg downtown! Really liked that place; perfect for chitchatting with friends and family and enjoying great freshly made foods. The outfit I decided on, could be a perfect fit for a new year's eve party! I chose to wear black on black. I mixed textures though. Photos might not be very clear; however, I mixed faux leather (the top) with a shiny textured trousers, previously worn here. The weather outside was not very cold, and obviously I had no plan to stay outside for long, so wore this off-white/ivory blazer, perfect for light-winter. For makeup, I had some no-makeup makeup on. Natural looking eye (for tutorial click here) and natural lips too, because it was an afternoon time event. You should go ahead and play with color for night time parties. Just remember the rule is either vibrant eyes or bright lips. However if you can flaunt it, go overboard; go for a dense eye makeup as well as dark lips: "...Because it's the New Year's Eve Babe!"
To see the complete outfit

Monday, December 29, 2014

The Firmoo Glasses: A Review

Hi Beauties!!!
Hope you all are doing well and can't wait to step in 2015. And here, I can't wait to share my new glasses with you. 
One of my childhood obsession was, going to school wearing spectacles and showing that to my pals. I can not explain how much I used to envy those who had specs. Finally, that dream came true when I received my Firmoo glasses for review. I loved the Firmoo-glasses that I chose. After I ordered, the shipping only took few (8-10) days to reach me. With the pair of glasses, I also received a nice case, a cleaning cloth, a pouch and a tiny screwdriver, all inclusive in the same order and without any extra charges. The screwdriver is very useful, it will help you to adjust the specs if they do not fit you. 
glasses are really comfortable and lightweight. And, I must mention one thing, the glasses are so clear that you will feel like you are only wearing the frame.

To see, how I look wearing these glasses and to know more about these glasses 

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Wearing a RED Coat

The word is "Beautiful"!!!


Hi My Gorgeous Divas!!!
Hope you are having an excellent holiday season!
We had a wonderful Christmas day! Our friends (they are like families) came to visit us. We celebrated the Christmas day with a scenic drive on Blue-ridge Mountain Parkway. It's around 45 minutes from Lynchburg and it was literally a beautiful day! 
Regarding my outfit: The Red Coat I'm wearing is my Christmas gift from the Doc (my Santa). Wanted to keep the jacket as the center piece of my OOTD. So kept everything else minimal.


Thursday, December 25, 2014

How to Decorate A Sunroom for Christmas: Second Edition

Christmas Decoration 2014


Hi my Beautiful Divas!!!
Merry Christmas to all of you! When I shared the photos of 2013 Christmas decor only last few days ago, I promised to myself, I will upload the photos of my 2014 Christmas Decor on Christmas Day. So, here it is. If you have not checked the 2013 decor yet, can check it here. Again, it is on my sunroom. This year I pretty much used the same stuffs that I bought last year. Although, tried to do the decor differently, the tree looks almost same. And it should look like that, because I even have used the same ornaments from last year. Last year I spent a lot, so this time I decided not to buy much. To be honest, just bought two led light sets and few things from dollar store. So, Merry Christmas once again.

Enjoy...



Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Outfit of the day: Pink and White

"Let's all Spread the Love..."

Hi my beautiful Divas!!! 
Can you believe it is literally another 15 days before we enter 2015!?! I'm sure we all are looking forward to it! Hope world will be a much better place to live in; and no more terrorism, specially in school and killing children and innocent people.

 In January, we are gonna celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary! Time truly flies! 
So, here is another outfit of the day post! Very casual: skinny white jeans with pink oversized sweater and white jacket and grey boot. Absolutely no makeup, only lipstick! Totally obsessed with this color right now! For more Pink outfit posts, Click here and here.

BTW, Have you noticed the background? Those are the seven hills. Lynchburg is called the "City of Seven Hills". United States College Hill, Garland Hill, Daniel's Hill, Federal Hill, Diamond Hill, White Rock Hill, and Franklin Hill were the original "Seven Hills" of the City of Lynchburg.




Saturday, December 13, 2014

How to Decorate A Sunroom for Christmas: First Edition

Christmas Decoration 2013


December has always been very exciting month in my life! Even when I was in India, I used to look forward to those few coldest days of the year during Christmas and New Year time to go out for a picnic or two with friends and family. And, how should I forget about the cake rituals on Christmas day? In Kolkata, all the families used to cut a cake and celebrate Jesus's birthday on 25th December. Sometimes, I remember, we baked the fruit-cake at home for the occasion. Extended families would  come to visit us or we would go to visit them. In one line, we always had gala-time in December.

In USA, December is the holiday season, festive season, joyous season. Philadelphia, New-York City and all other big cities in USA get a luminous makeover around this time. You would see lights and decorations and celebrations everywhere. Last year after moving to Lynchburg, I started decorating my Christmas tree for the first time. While uploading 'the christmas village' picture yesterday on thedocndiva facebook page , I realized I never actually shared my decoration from last year with you. Well actually shared few here. Therefore, enjoy...

Find 2014 Christmas Decor here



Thursday, October 9, 2014

How to style a simple Red-White Jamdani Saree: Saree as Outfit of the Day

festive fashion 2...


Hi Beauties!
Subha Bijoya!!!
and
Happy Dusherra!!!

Sigh! we have to wait another year for all the fun. I wanted to go to India so badly for Durga-Pooja this year, but tough luck. What is Durga-Pooja? I have said everything about Durga-Pooja here. Anyway, this is no time for whining. We went to a friend's place at New Jersey and had lots of fun. Of course, we attended a pooja there. Auripra enjoyed a lot, she was dancing with Dhak (Drum). It was actually hard to run after her in saree; the hardest part was managing her when she was feeling tired and getting cranky and was crying.
All the moms out there know, in a situation like above, it is just impossible to pose for an OOTD photo-shoot. Still tried to take as many pictures as I could. Hope you will get an idea of how I styled the very simple, very common red-white Jamdani saree for Durgapooja!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Pink OOTD: Denim with Buttoned down

October is for Pink...

"I need your love
I need your time
When everything's wrong
You make it right
I feel so high
I come alive
I need to be free with you tonight
I need your love"

I am sure you have heard this song from Calvin Harris. I just love this song. Suddenly, I heard this one again today while I was driving.

 Girls!!! This is the October 1st. It's my birthday month and it is the breast cancer awareness month. The first blog-post of the month had to be something about pink. 
It was already cold out here; however, we are enjoying beautiful weather for last few days. It is not too cold and not too warm. Just perfect for enjoying outside. So, I've worn the pink cotton shirt again, this time very casually, with a Denim. Click here and here for more ways to wear a shirt. 



Saturday, September 27, 2014

Thursday, September 25, 2014

10 Saree Inspirations for Durga-Pooja: Compilation of Saree Posts

My Saree-Book


Hello Pretty Ladies!!!
I Was thinking about doing this Saree-compilation post for quite a while. This morning I felt the urge that I must do the post today, because Durga Pooja is only another 4 days away!
Click here  to find matching nail-arts with these sarees!





Monday, September 22, 2014

3 Floral Dining Table Centerpiece ideas for Festivities

Happy Fall Y'all!

Right now it is still 22nd September in USA, the first day of fall; however in India it is already 23rd September and it is the day of Mahalaya, that means Durga-Pooja is only 7 days away. Durga Pooja marks the auspicious act of Holy Diva power defeating the evil power of the world. It is celebrated in India during Autumn that is the Fall color season here in USA. Autumn used to mean a lot to me, because autumn and Durga-pooja is synonymous to Bengalis. After I got married and I moved out from my beautiful little world, I started to appreciate the beauty as a whole. In other words, even though I miss Durga-pooja so very much, I have started appreciating the beauty of Autumn as a whole. Here, in USA fall is full of different festivities same as in India. I am so glad that now during fall we do not only celebrate Durga-pooja and Diwali, but we also celebrate halloween, harvest, Thanksgiving and the beautiful fall foliage.

What can be a better time of the year than to work on the home decor to give your living room or dining room a soothing festive look? I do not claim myself to be a pro in this but Home-Decor is another interest that I savor! Going to share some of my floral work that I experimented with. I had lot of appreciation from friends and families for the decor that I did last year, so wanted to share some of these ahead of time with all my friends .... that's you!  

 Now, I am going to do "floral dining table centerpiece ideas" to welcome festivities aka Fall...




Continue Reading...

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Chapter 11 by TandemTensome: Puppy and Pals


Read the previous chapters here.


This morning was different for Cyrus. He did not want to indulge into his love for wine; rather he wanted to finish his morning chores as soon as possible, so he could call back the number from which he missed a call last night. He did not know anyone in Mumbai and this was not from Jennifer's cell phone. 
"What if ...." he thought aloud, "Jennifer was trying to call me from a landline! - this must have been from her, it would be too foolish for her to ignore my text that said I have some information."
"But that was a lie ..." he kept on thinking, "now what am I supposed to say to her when I call back?" He quickly finished his breakfast, did some research on Jennifer's beloved picture that was 'stolen'.
Then he called the number. "Hello" it was a masculine voice, "ohh! it's not her" his heart skipped a couple of beats. 
"Hi, I was wondering if somehow you know .... someone might have called me from this number last night ....." Cyrus said in a very hesitant way.
"Is that Mr Daruwala?" The voice said.
"Yes! That's me ... who am I talking to?" said surprised Cyrus.
"Hi! Mr Daruwala, this is Shekhar, Roohi's father! We met yesterday. You brought my "Jaan" back to me. Remember?" 
"Oh! Yes. Of course! You can call me Cyrus .... How is your little princess doing?" Cyrus asked.
"She is doing great! Thanx! Actually she was really excited yesterday and was telling me she liked you a lot." Shekhar said.
Cyrus chuckled, "Really! Didn't know that kids actually like me!"
"So how are you? I hope I'm not disturbing you." Shekhar tried to be polite.
"No no not at all. As you may remember, I came to Mumbai just to meet my mother, do not know a lot of folks in Mumbai .... so not really busy.....!"
"Well, I wanted to make sure I am not disturbing another date plan!" Shekhar joked, and Cyrus laughed. "So what's the plan for today? Any special plan or any plans that you have made with your mom?" Shekhar asked. Shekhar wanted to be sure before he spoke out his plan.
"Nothing much; I am sure I will get it all done by afternoon...." Cyrus explains.
"Actually, I was thinking if you are free this evening, we, Roohi and I would be delighted to have you at our place for dinner." Shekhar said.
"Papa Papa please be quick! Remember we have to go and meet Ahuja uncle this morning!" Cyrus could hear an impatient Roohi in the background. 
"This little girl is a perfect blend of sweet innocence and smartness." Cyrus thought with a smile on his face. "Ohh, you don't have to do all that ...." Cyrus said to Shekhar.
"No, no, nothing formal ... just a little chit chat over dinner." Shekhar explains.
"Really? OK, that would be great. Please text me your address; I will be there." Cyrus wanted to wrap it up after hearing Roohi's voice and could not say 'no'. 
"Actually, you text me your mom's address, I will go and pick you up! May be six-ish?" Shekhar suggested.
"Sounds like a plan, See you this evening! Bye." Cyrus concluded.
"OK great, see you then. Bye." Shekhar hung up.
Cyrus looked at the wall clock, it was already 10 AM. He quickly donned a jeans and T-shirt and jumped out on the road. "I should be in the office of the English daily before noon." He told to himself. 


***************

Mr Aryan Ahuja was one the longtime residents of the community in Malabar Hills. For his friendly nature and his five pet dogs he became very well-known in the community, especially amongst kids. Every morning on her way to the school bus, Roohi would stop for few seconds and cuddle one of the Puppies that Mr Ahuja brings to the little community park along with his other 4 dogs. Roohi dreamt about having a pet-puppy - Shekhar knew that. That's why he was excited to accept a Puppy dog when Mr Ahuja suddenly offered one about 2 months ago on his way back home after Roohi boarded her school bus in the morning. 
"My dog Lisa just delivered four puppies you see, I can not take care of them all, I can barely take care of what I already have. Your daughter really likes dogs and I would love to give her one puppy if you are OK with that." Mr Ahuja said that day.
Shekhar readily accepted but wanted to wait for a couple of months to let the pups grow a little bit and also, Roohi's 10th Birthday was coming, "so that would be a great gift" Shekhar thought. 
Roohi watched all the other Puppies go one by one, as Mr Ahuja gave them away, but Roohi knew nothing about the fact that the one Puppy left was for her. Shekhar already explained Mr Ahuja the plan of surprise and today was the day Mr Ahuja invited them to his house so that he can share all he know about how to take care of a puppy, little did Roohi know that the Puppy that she adores so much was going to be hers in a matter of few days. Roohi's birthday was coming in one week. This year, Shekhar has not even discussed with Tara about any plans for Roohi's upcoming birthday. He had his own doubts whether Tara even remembered the day or not!

 Tara has already left for her office early at 7 AM. Shekhar had got up at 8 AM and helped Roohi get ready. She demanded that she did not want to go to school today. Shekhar gave in after minimal resistance to this idea. He was getting ready to take Roohi out to Mr Ahuja's place to see the dogs but the phone rang and he spoke to Cyrus over phone. The previous night he had called him to invite for dinner this evening.  He was planning on inviting Mr Ahuja for dinner as a token of appreciation - the gentleman firmly refused to accept any money in exchange of his puppy and was kind enough to offer a crash-course on puppy care at his house. 


***************

Right after the conversation with Cyrus, Shekhar had to pick up the phone immediately as it rang. It was Jennifer.
"Do you know anyone in the English daily main office?" Jennifer asked after initial formality. She was slightly shocked how quickly Shekhar answered the phone, she did not even hear a ring!
"Sure, but why do you ask?" Shekhar was curious.
"Nothing special, work related stuff .... just need some info." Jennifer explained.
Shekhar gave her a contact person's name who works in the English daily and told Jennifer to mention that Shekhar has sent him there. 
Before he let her go, he invited Jennifer for dinner as well. Jennifer agreed to be picked up at around six in the evening. She had no plans for the evening and was eager to meet Roohi again. Shekhar did not forget to get Jennifer's cell phone number this time.
"I have to be at the English daily office before lunch time." Jennifer told herself after hanging up the phone.

Jennifer was trying to learn the trick of living away from family and relatives in a new city. She was trying to learn fast how to differentiate between strangers, the good and the bad. She was moving on from her Cyrus saga. 
"One-track minded, lier, freak ..." she thought, she was sure that Cyrus lied in desperation when he sent her a text claiming that he had new info about her 'stolen' picture. 
"Pathetic pervert ...." Jennifer kept muttering, she felt thankful to herself that she did not meet this guy. 
"Enough is enough .... I will do the needful myself. This is my problem after all." Jennifer thought while tightening her jawline.




***Image Source: Google Images


***************

Hope you liked this chapter too! Stay tuned for next ones!
XOXO
Thedocndiva




 

Thursday, August 28, 2014

How to Stop Nail-biting: 5 steps to healthy nails

Nailing it!!!

So its been a while since i actually talked to you and i've done a nail-art! So how are you all doing?
It was a promise to myself that I will do this blog-post soon. 
Now you might think why suddenly I chose this topic. Well, those who know me since college and school days, know this can't be a sudden topic for me. Because I was the champion nail-biter at school and college. I loved to bite them; it was kind of a comforting act for myself. 

Actually, it was when I was pregnant with Auripra that the doc came in with this amazing offer I could not ignore. It's obvious how much I love to wear nail-polish So, he proposed me if I stop biting my nails during my pregnancy, I will get one nail polish every week as my reward. I was like "REALLY!"

 And that's how it all started. Believe me it was not the case at all just three years ago. I had the most crappy looking nails possible. However, I worked hard and now I have it. So, if you want to have beautiful nails, you can have it too. Stay tuned to know what exactly I did to stop biting my nail along with bribing myself with gorgeous nail-liquors.




Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Wearing Stripe: An Outfit of the Day

A Day-out as a City Chic

Hi Beauties!!!
Oeendree is back again! And, she is back with one of her favorite type of posts: The OOTD. Firstly, I LOVE fashion and secondly I love OOTDs because these are the quickest post. Even if I have 10 minutes, I am good to go. So Enjoy!



Friday, July 11, 2014

How to Decorate a Sunroom: Decorating with Diva

Hi! Beautiful!

It's Oeendree here again. Probably most of you know that we moved recently from Philadelphia, PA to Lynchburg, VA. Well, it has already been eight months since we are living here in our new apartment in Lynchburg! And, I have been thinking about doing some decor posts ever since!

In this first home-decor post, I'm going to share all about our sunroom, the favorite place of mine in this apartment.


After
Before



Friday, April 18, 2014

How I Pack my Outfits for Vacation: Mix and Match more than Once

OOTDs from Recent Orlando Vacation 


Hi! Beautiful! 
Finally I am going to post my OOTDs from Orlando vacation today! I have really short free time and I'm using it all!. Auripra is on spring break; so all the moms out there, you of course know what does that mean!!!



Last month we went to Orlando, FL for few days. It was a family trip to spend Auripra's 3rd Birthday there! Visiting the parks at Disney World is always very hectic and tiring; with a toddler it was even harder for us. We were there for five nights and four days and took it very light. Went to only two parks on every alternative day. Will do few blog posts on our experience of park hopping soon. Here is only the OOTDs, you will see how I packed the stuffs that I could mix and match more than one time!
So, Enjoy...

Continue Reading...


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Homemade Banana Scrub Facial: Real, Rejuvenating and Refreshing

4 Beauty-Bloggers' Skin-care Secret Absolved

Hello, Beauties!!!
Finally, looks like spring is here in Virginia. Well, actually it was almost 84F the other day, and felt like summer! I do have a love-hate relation with summer; as much as I love wearing summer-dresses, visiting places, I hate the scorching heat and not to mention the sunburn! Consequently, we always have to be more vigilant about our skin-hair-health care during this time of the year. 

With summer approaching fast, we, my 3 Beautiful Beauty-Blogger Friends and I decided to share our skin-care secrets just in time with all of you!  
Let me introduce these gorgeous ladies to you first! Beena of "BNiionbeauty", Bidisha of "Fashion with Bidisha" and Preethi of "Cute Pinks and Purples".


I can not describe how awesome they are! You must check them out yourself. You will find loads of helpful fashion and beauty related information on their websites! 

Now, here comes my secret recipe! Well, not so secret to you if you are an indian like me! Because we Indians just love home-made beauty care using the basics from our kitchen!
During summer time, due to all those sweats and dehydration, our skin starts to look dull and dead! So we always have to do something extra! Read along to know about the facial scrub I love to use not only during summer but through out the year!

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Wearing a Little Navy Dress: Outfit of a Dinner Out

Happy Holi all!

Hope everybody had a great Holi! Few weeks ago, I wore a very bright navy dress to a friend's birthday dinner out. As Holi is the festival of color, I am going to share that outfit with all of you now. I had very bright navy eye makeup on with it too!


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

How to Style a Green Saree: Saree as Outfit of the Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day All!

Last year around this time, I did the "Green eye-makeup tutorial" to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on my blog. Also last year, I rocked a beautiful green Bomkai Silk Saree to a party because it was on that very day. However, never had the perfect chance to share how I styled that Saree with you all! Today, I thought, is the ideal opportunity as St. Patrick's day is next Monday! 
 I got this Saree from my brother-in-law as a gift and it was a "love at first sight" case! LOL!!! Bomkai Sarees are the artifacts from Orissa Hand-loom. Not to mention, they are very unique in style!



Monday, March 10, 2014

Spring Fashion 2014

Spring Look-book #1


Yessss! It's March and we are officially only 10 days away from Spring! YaYYYY!!! So, here comes my first spring look for 2014. Spring means soft, spring means bloom, spring means pastel. I'm so done with winter, can't even wait another 10 days! What about you all?



Thursday, February 27, 2014

Wearing a Little White Dress: Outfit of a Date-night

Little White Dress: A basic in our wardrobe

Last week, I wore this dress for another dinner out with doc. I kept it all simple with very bright emerald accent! If you want to know how I did my eyes, click here. To find out how I wore a red wrap dress for another night out, click here.




Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Wearing a Red Wrap Dress: Outfit Of the Date-Night

RED: Wear it up, Wear it Down!!!

Since we are in February and it is the lovey-dovey month, we land up doing lots of romantic stuff just like that. The other day after coming back from hospital, Doc revealed that we are going out for a dinner and I must dress up nicely for the night-out (in other words, I should not wear anything casual). And, I chose this red wrap dress from my closet!



Continue Reading...

Friday, February 14, 2014

St. Valentines's Day Inspired Nail-art with your Love's Initial: A Step by Step Tutorial

Happy Love Day All!!!

Still remember those exciting teenage days, when February used to be a special month every year! Valentine's Day (14th Feb) was a very new term to us and since then we (us the 80's born) have seen how people have gone crazy regarding how to celebrate this iconic love day all over the world. Even before all V'Day madness, February has always been a very romantic month to us (Bengali teenagers), because of the coincidental timing of Saraswati (The goddess of education) Pooja. The only day, when boys were welcomed into girls' school! Actually, The Doc admits, it was on the day of Saraswati pooja when he saw me for the first time (Well! I had no idea though, it was back in 1997). After that, we met officially for the first time in 1999 (not on V'day or Saraswati pooja day)!

Anyway, we are here to celebrate the Love Day today again with "the nail-art tutorial"! "The Nail-art" that will have your Love's initial on the ring finger. How cool is that?  So, let's directly jump into the step by step!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Roasted Salmon with Indian Spices: A step by step Recipe

Happy New Year with a Delicious one

Hello Beauties!!! 
Can you believe it is already 2014. They say time flies, and it sure does!  
So, Happy New Year!!!
Hopefully, you all had memorable ones on the last day of 2013 and the first day of 2014. 
I had a party on 31st at a friend's place and spent the whole day with my family on 1st. 
Well, doc was working on the both days as usual. Anyway, I should not complain, because he had a few days off during Christmas time and we had really great time together.

Wishing someone with sweets is a universal tradition. Personally, I am not a big sweet lover, I like it Spicyyy! Many of my friends asked me about a spicy recipe with fish. 
Therefore, this is the best time to share my secret recipe!





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