The art of gifting

Light show at Grand Central station during the inauguration 

Weekend started on a very busy note. I was to meet Rohith at Grand Central station and it was crazy there on Friday evening. The Grand centennial celebration is going on from Feb 01-March 18, 2013 and Friday was the inaugural day. They even had a light show, which was captivating. 

The ride to CT:

The ride to my friend’s place in CT was uneventful. Rohith and I spent the time catching up on the day’s activity and discussing about our friend’s daughter, who turned one last week.

Treat awaited:

Our biggest treat to visit my friend is to meet her year old daughter. She is cuter than ever. Another one is a literal treat as

my friend is absolutely one of the best rajma-chawal (rice and Indian kidney beans) cooks in this world. She is an ace in the kitchen and I owe the success of many of my dishes to her recipes and invaluable tips. So we had our favorite dinner as expected.

Signature dish

Her kicker is to top the rajma with raw onion and tomatoes as salad. I can’t even begin to describe how heavenly it was. At our household, it’s Rohith’s duty to prepare all the dishes like the one above. I am complete amateur at it.

The weekend unfolds: 

We had a lazy start on Saturday and my friend was ready with another one of her perfect recipes for poha (flatted rice) made the Indian way.  Both Rohith and I took two helpings at least. 

Poha at it’s best

If you would like to try her recipes, please let me know and I will request her to share them with you all.

Shopping in CT:

Love the skin you are in :)

We decided to browse the Old Navy outlet in their neighborhood and came across quite a few bargains there.  I got myself this steal for just $3.99. I regret that they didn’t have it in any other shades or else my friend and I could have bought a few more. Rohith got himself a pair of shorts for only $5 in clearance! We also bought a graphics tee for my brother in India. It is very clever too. I never go to any of the Old Navy outlets in the city somehow. However whenever I am in CT, I always find a bargain there for sure.

Pigging out begins: 

Nonna’s pizzeria: 

We have been to Nonna’s pizzeria on last trip too, as my friend loves their mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce. This is what had.

Mozzi sticks with marinara sauce

Margarita slice. So fresh, so yum!

Besides these, Rohith ordered a pepperoni slice and my friend’s husband had a BBQed chicken slice.

Casa Villa: 
The evening rolled in and we thought of taking it easy at home watching the NFL 2012 awards on TV together. 

For dinner we decided to go Mexican and ordered these from Casa Villa. 

Three veggie tacos with rice and beans: I polished them all

Veggie quesadilla

Rohith ordered jumbo shrimps in spicy red sauce and my friend’s husband ordered palla chicken in cre’ma sauce for themselves. We also ordered a side of nachos with everything, which was tasty too.

Sunday:

This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning. 

The morning after snow

After loafing around in the house for most of the day, we went out for some South Indian fare. This is what we had

Kanjivaram idli and vada combo appetizer 

Onion rawa masala dosai

Unfortunately, I was so full from the appetizers that I ate only a little portion of my dosai. What a shame!

The art of gifting: 

We decided to come back to my friend’s place and rest for sometime before heading back home. That was when an interesting discussion took place. My friend and I started talking about the art of giving gifts. Since she has an year old now, she was full of stories and experiences to share. She and I are so close that I outrightly ask her what she wants as a gift every time, otherwise  surprises  are always there.  I for one have really come a long way after marrying Rohith. His formula is to never give anything that you won’t want for yourself. There are other small criteria too about the utility and significance. We came to the conclusion that giving gifts is an art. Some people are born with it and others inherit it as they grow up and see examples around them. To illustrate more, this is what my friend gifted to me this time without any upcoming occasion.

Because she remembered that Rohith is a cheese freak!

Because she remembered that I am on a fitness kick

Because she liked it and wanted me to try it too 

Dinner last night:

Sicilian slice

Tomato soup with home made butter

We came back late and decided to go for pizza slices with home made tomato soup.

Workout this morning:

I decide to take it light this morning, as I was starting the routine after a break on the weekend. This is what I accomplished.

• 10 minute cardio warm up
• 10 minute core workout and cool down
• 10 minutes VS’s abs workout
• Get 6 pack abs and rid of those love handles
• Rid yourself off those muffin tops

As always, I did my Sun salutations 1 and 2 post shower. 

Brunch:

I decided to have brunch as I am planning on having an early dinner with Rohith and head to Marshalls for some last minute shopping for my folks. 

Ingredients   

Three layered avocado sandwich

I made a slight variation this time by adding raw onion rings to the sandwich. They were a good crunchy contrast against the buttery texture of avocado. I did remember to chew gum, ate cardamom and  gargle with the mouth wash later though.
Tomorrow:

I am looking forward to tomorrow morning as it is my very first day of the impending assignment. I will let you know day after how it was!

I will be rooting for you all xxxx

Questions for the day:

Do you believe that gifting is an art? Yes or no.

Which is the best gift that you remember having received in this lifetime?

Do write to me at pallavibhar at gmail dot com or comment below the post.