Things are good!

Pictures: me&kavi in restaurant; the golden wok restaurant; students gathered outside for a student body election that we passed by; some of the yummy food; from newly built buildings to shacks, right by each other; shops.

Hi! I'm not sure that I have a way to move these pictures from the top of the post on my phone so it'll just have to be at the beginning.

Things are going well here! Kavi is doing great. I'm so happy about that. The time difference still presents a sleep challenge but Kavi did better last night. I have been up since 4am India time after falling asleep after midnight. I tried sleeping more but I've just been laying in bed awake. It's now 8 am here, Saturday. The internet is being weird due to a wiring issue that my husband keeps fixing, so I'm writing this now and will just have to save it to publish when the internet is back on.

I already feel more happy on this trip because it's going to be filled with more outings. Yesterday we went out to east with our niece to an Indo-Chinese fusion restaurant. It was about a 20 minute taxi ride away. Besides eating at a hotel here in india, it was my first real restaurant visit(McDonald's doesn't count, I've already gone to McDs here in the past hehe). So that was fun. It looked similar to a nice chinese restaurant we would have in the US.

And today, we are going to the mall! Possibly two malls! We will be looking for a pretty Indian outfit for me to wear to my sis-in-law's wedding on March 6th. Yay! The only downside is that since I am taller than the average woman here ( I'm 5'7") and also ummm, not thin, it can be a challenge finding an already made outfit in the right size. ;)

I think it's going to be a fun day though!

The internet is working again now, goodie.

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Hello!

Pics: A familiar view outside our bedroom; a happy Kavi with his new toy train from the family.

Just writing to say that we got to India safe and sound! Of course we were exhausted but we got a little sleep on our 14 hour flight. We left our house on tues at 10:15AM, and after two flights - one 2 1/2 hours, one 14 or so hours, we landed in Mumbai at 11am EST wednesday,9:30pm local time.

It's surreal to be here again! Thank you for the prayers!

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Inspiration: Pants

1. vintage suitcases stacked at the end of the bed, 2. 2/14, 3. AnatomyClydeB, 4. 82.1

Only pants allowed for today's post! Since traveling will commence soon-ish, I can only think of more comfortable fashion inspiration right now.

I might be absent from the blogging world for a few days or longer. But I will come back and update when I can! I appreciate all the kind wishes for our trip, thank you!

Bible verses like these are helping me out right now:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Boys room

I finally got decent shots of the cute shelves in Kavi's room. I'm using my phone for the pictures and for writing the post. I'm still having a lot of fun trying things out with it.

Today I'm going to a baby shower. I have three friends(one is my cousin ) due within about a month and a half of each other.

The rest of the weekend will revolve around getting ready to pack.

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Vintage Thursday: Silver rose rings

ring 1; ring 2; ring 3

I have loved silver rings since I was a little girl. Even though my wedding rings are yellow gold(traditional gold used in India for marriage), I have always loved buying silver rings from little stalls in places like flea markets or streetside vendors. Since I could get a real silver ring for under $10-15 most of the time, it would be a fun little purchase. There is something charming about these vintage rose silver rings.

Wed-nes-day

Valentine's Day turned out nice and relaxing here. We spontaneously decided to meet up with my husband for lunch that day. We rarely meet him for lunch so it was a nice treat, even if it was just Wendy's. Then we went to Target but my husband had to leave soon after to go back to work. Me and Kavi stayed at Target for awhile. I love Target. I think I may have said that before. ;) In the evening we stayed home and watched a movie after Kavi went to bed. (The movie Red).

Wow. Not too many days left before the trip. I get butterflies in my stomach once in awhile. And I'm still on a little quest to find two more comfortable, but not ugly, shirts to bring to wear in India. It will be warmer there than it has been here. I think it will be mid-high 80's during the day while we are there. I have shirts I could bring, but I'd rather not have to wear anything that requires a tank top underneath if it's sheer or too low cut, since that will make me feel warmer.

I'm 11 sales away from reaching 200 sales in Coffee and Cream, but I'm going to be putting both of my shops on vacation in a few days.

I wanted to share some cute artwork that I have been admiring from InkTreePress.

Inspiration on Valentine's Day

1. vintage tray - restyled., 2. Valentine, 3. BoHo Tea Dress from Etsy, 4. thrift finds: plates.

I didn't pick the big red hearts and such for today's post. I picked some romantic looking items. I hope you are all having a nice day so far!

I have mixed feelings on Valentine's Day! I have a wonderful husband who I love, but we haven't planned anything specific for today. Some reasons are that every weekend for three weekends in a row, we have had birthday parties to either attend or prep for. Our trip is coming up soon and that is also a main focus. So V-day kind of got lost along the way! I want the day to feel special but it just feels like every other day at the moment due to thinking about all the other stuff we have going on. I don't mean to sound like an anti-romantic! (heehee) It's just been busy here and I think it's going to stay that way for the next week.

Whatever you are doing today, big or small, I hope it's nice! Happy Valentine's Day!

Sad Saturday...

Sadly, my family had to cancel their trip again, this time after leaving their house and driving more than an hour or two. My mom is experiencing the stomach virus my father and sister had last weekend.

As you can imagine, she is very bummed out. We all are.

I do have one positive thing to mention today- I got a smart phone!! My first one! I'm actually writing this post on it. How modern and high tech of me right?? ;) I'm using android on my new LG Optimus V. I didn't even have texting service turned on on my other phone. But we are trying a new provider with low rates compared to our old provider.

I was already planning on doing some shopping today while waiting for the fam to arrive, so I will still do that today to drown my sorrows. :p

Please say a prayer for my mom to feel all better soon...thanks!

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Laundry Day

Today is consisting of catching up on laundry and cleaning up. Since we did a lot of cleaning before the party last weekend, some of the house isn't too messy yet so it won't be as hard to make look nice again. You know when you invite a bunch of people over how it forces you to clean areas you ignored for far too long? I hope it's not just me who does that!!

My family is really coming this weekend to visit! They will have to leave AL early tomorrow morning though so they will only be here half the day Saturday and all day Sunday before heading back on Monday. But we are just happy we will see each other since it will be the last visit before I(and family) go to India.

Oh, I mentioned in my 30 Day shred post that I was bloated and that hopefully the scale would show more lost by the end of the week. Well it did, two more pounds down!*phew* That feels better. Me and the hubby did level 3 last night and as long as I don't feel too tired out by tonight, we will do the workout again before taking a break for the weekend.

I had a dream last night that I could do regular push ups! In my dream I was like, "wow I'm doing them"! I guess one day that will happen...and I found it funny that the exercising made it into one of my dreams. I woke up and thought oh bummer, it was only a dream! :P I think I'll go attempt a push up right now in case my dream meant that today I would suddenly be able to do one, but I won't hold my breath. ;)

Have an awesome weekend!!!!

Vintage Thursday: Have a Seat

I found these items for last week but I didn't do "vintage Thursday" last week after getting busy with things.

Have a seat on a mod vintage -or- pretty antique sofa!

Mid-Century Danish Modern Sofa $2,200

luxe Louis XVI settee $2,500

Mid-Century Modern Sofa $2,750

Antique Edwardian settee $850

Eames Herman Miller Red Shell Armchair $225

Antique French Chair Louis XVI $325

Which one are you more drawn to?
I think for me, the first Mid-Century sofa and the Red Armchair grab my attention the most!

30 Day Shred: Days 25-30 and Result

25. 25. Day of rest
26. 26. Went back to level 2, certain things were easier now. But still a challenge, of course!
27. 27. Back to level 3, and I’m improving.
28. 28. Felt so tired today but we did the exercise, level 3, and I am happy we did. TWO DAYS LEFT!
29. 29. One day left! Feeling good.
30. 30. Last day of the “30 days”..I feel so much stronger than the first day!

So I did exercise 6 days a week, and went up a level about every 9-10 days. There are still quite a few moves I can hardly do. I think I need to lose more weight before I can do it all, but I have definitely built muscle and endurance! This really will change how you feel in a month!

Even though the 30 days ended last Friday, I will keep doing this workout, alternating which level we do, maybe 3-4 times a week. The other days I will use the exercise bike.

I lost about 4 lbs during the month. Some days I carefully counted calories and other days I didn't.

I measured myself in various areas so that I could share those results too.

Amount of inches lost from each measured area:

Waist -1 inch

Hips -1 inch

What I call the "bulge" above waist - 1/2 inch

Left upper arm - 1/2 inch

Right upper arm - 3/4 inch

Right and Left upper thigh - 1/2 inch off each
Right and Left lower thigh -1 inch off each
Right lower arm -3/4 inch
Left lower arm - 1/2 inch

I am very happy to see results! I actually noticed the inch gone off of my waist after about 3 weeks! Of course, I made the mistake of googling other people's results and some people lost 2-3 inches from their waist and elsewhere. But I need to not think about that. I am bloated right now(the monthly thing) so I am wondering if things will change at the end of this week with more pounds shown lost.

If anyone wants to catch up on what I wrote about days 1-30, you can click the Losing Weight link on the left, under "Common Topics". :)

I would suggest this DVD to anyone looking to tone up muscle and lose inches! My stomach muscles feel incredibly different than when I started. My husband, who is much thinner than I am, did most of the shred with me. He just missed the first week. You can tell how his stomach muscles have shaped up from only 3 or so weeks of it! Since he doesn't have much stomach fat blocking the muscles, it's more visible. But I know that my stomach muscles(underneath everything lol) have taken a similar shape even though I can't really see it!

It also built a lot of muscle in my thighs and you can see it especially in the lower thighs. I am stronger for things like squats, jumping jacks and lunges.

We did the shred, level 2, last night just to keep it up like I plan to! One last thing...if you try this out and feel discouraged that you can't do all the movements, just keep going! Just attempting it will make you sweat and burn calories. You can always do the modified versions shown, and sometimes when I needed an even more modified version, I made it up.

I hope you're all having a nice week!!

Party snippets

Pictures from Kavi's 3rd birthday party last Sunday.

Thomas the Train cake and hats! He had a blast driving his new truck with the other kids, and let other kids take turns driving too. Thankfully the weather was decent. It had rained all day Saturday and then later on in the day on Sunday, but the rain held back during the party. It rained again most of yesterday.

P.S.

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes!!

P.S.S

Two weeks from today=leaving for India! ahhh still have to buy some things in preparation. I am actually getting excited about the trip now! Praise the Lord. I think it will be a fun trip - one of my sis in laws will be getting married while we are there!

Inspiration and Rest

1. vintage fan on suitcases, 2. All the Pretty Little Horses, 3. AR06216_AR06216-R1-E011, 4. hallway looking back into the dining room

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We had a busy, fun (and a little sad) weekend. Today me and Kavi are relaxing at home. I am drained! Kavi's party was really fun for him yesterday. I will share pictures tomorrow! We were just sad since my parents and some others couldn't come due to illness. We still had about 20 people here. There were 5 little tots running around, plus his 2nd cousin who is almost 10yrs old now, plus a baby. I think they all had lots of fun!

We worked hard cleaning the house ahead of time and getting all the snacks ready. I have bad ankles and today they are really sore from being on them so much. So it will be a day of rest.

Oh, I also want to update the 30 day shred info! I will write about it tomorrow or Wednesday. :)

Birthday Pictures

I missed my vintage post yesterday! The day got away from me. I was cleaning and then not having my laptop to use makes putting pictures on here take longer.

And today we are bummed out because it's Kavi's 3rd birthday party on Sunday, and my mom, dad, sister Jenny, and friend Rachel were supposed to be driving down from AL today to visit for the weekend. But sadly, my dad got sick and Jenny and Rachel didn't feel completely well either. So they can't come. There has been a stomach virus going around up there, probably everywhere! I wonder, can we really escape it?

We will still have a lot of people over for Kavi's party, but it won't be the same without my immediate family. Boooo! :(

Here are pictures from Kavi's actual birthday on Tuesday, his present, his little cake, etc.

Blindfolded him for his present..."truck!"

wow...When my husband first showed him where to push to accelerate, Kavi was very nervous and said he wanted to go back inside! That's after months of him seeing these power wheels in the stores saying he wants one! But after five minutes, he got used to it and then was driving without help!

A big piece of chocolate cakemmmmm...

We are going to have a big Thomas the Train cake at his party. He loves Thomas!

Inspiration Sharing

Today looks like it's going to be rainy! I only recently finished up some coffee, which I felt I need extra bad this morning! I am just so tired out feeling! I got a decent amount of sleep but still felt so sluggish when I got out of bed. Last night Kavi had a lot of fun with his birthday present. I will probably share pictures on Friday. His birthday party is happening this Sunday! We are having a bunch of people over to the house.

Last week I asked if anyone wanted to comment with links to things they like and Beka of hold on, love left links for three wonderful turquoise things! All were featured on a blog called Everything Turquoise. I hadn't seen that blog before, so thank you Beka for that!

She linked to this adorable apron:
This bench:
It could definitely be a do it yourself project with an old bench and the right paint color!

Beka linked to these heels:
I decided to add some dress ideas for the heels.
Both dresses are from Forever21.com, one is from the plus size section for people like me. :P
Maybe the shoes would be better with fancier dresses, but that is what I found for now.

As I was trying to finish this post my browser decided to close suddenly. Thankfully blogger auto saves the posts as you are writing, otherwise I would have been mad! Sadly, my laptop is having problems again. My husband ordered a part for it that should be here soon. I am using our regular PC and it is not good for downloading files or trying to open them! The PC starts sounding like a distant airplane engine getting ready for take off, when opening one simple file.

Guess who's 3 years old now?

Kavi is!

Today is his birthday!!! Here's a little walk down memory lane...

Newborn

One year old!

Two!

Last picture taken yesterday, almost three! We put together his cardboard house that you can color on(bought by my parents awhile ago, we only now put it together!). Last day of being 2!
I don't have a picture of him today to upload yet but he looks the same as yesterday. :P I wil be taking pictures today though! He is about to go see his surprise present from us. (It's a power wheels car/truck to drive around!) Just waiting on my husband to finish assembling the pieces before we show Kavi.