The Gratitude List #4 – USA bound!

So folks, we’re at the end of another week and mostly I’m just grateful that we made it through to this point! I was in Patiala earlier this week for a wedding shoot and Rob’s been super busy too so it kinda felt like our wait to finally be on holiday would never end!

Anyway we are now well on our way to the US of A! We were mostly passed out on our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and now we are waiting it out to get on to our connecting flight to Newark!

Here are a couple of other things I am grateful for this week:

// Shooting a college-mate’s wedding in Patiala! Though I can’t say I cared so much about the weather (40-45 degrees celsius!), it’s so great to feel a part of the wedding party and not just be “the photographer”.

// My second-shooter, Genevieve who celebrated her birthday with our clients’ family on the first day of our shoot in Patiala! They ordered a cake for her, and made a big hullaballoo to make her feel special which she totally is! It’s so great to have (very talented) company on shoots and I look forward to shooting lots of weddings with her!

// And of course, last but most definitely not the least… here’s to a two week break from India because goodness knows I need it (Rob is much less unfazed by Bombay-Living than I tend to be but he is happy to be going back to his “gaon”)!

I’m going to be a total tourist and take photos of everything so watch this space (and Twitter) for more ;)

*Happy Dance*

The Gratitude List #3 (And Photos from Meg and Terry’s Visit!)

// Hosting Meg and Terry! It started with a blunder on my part. I misread the date that they were supposed to arrive so Rob and I spent about an hour waiting for them at the International Airport on Friday night until I thought, “hmmm, I hope I didn’t get the date wrong…” I am so grateful for my gracious husband who was all like, “Don’t worry. It happens. Let’s go home bud.” <3

Anyway, they did arrive on Saturday night and Rob and I enjoyed showing them around the city a little bit over the next two days. In the evenings, we stayed in and played some super fun card games! We are planning bring back a few of these from the US and start up a game night once we get back! *SO* fun!!

// Of course our friends from Canada brought us a HUGE jar of maple syrup. (And Maple biscuits, which my husband decided to toast to a crisp one night but that’s another story). Of course, we love our maple syrup on pancakes but last night I made chicken with a maple syrup-mustard-vinegar sauce. They call it “Man Pleasing Chicken”. Let me tell you, it’s a “Woman Pleasing Recipe”. Check it out here. Thanks Meg for the idea!

// Shooting at Kyoorius Awards 2014. I have to admit I had no idea how huge this was until I went for my briefing the evening before the event. This was my first time shooting an event like this and I was mega impressed. I had fun donning my little red elephant badge and bumping into some friends while I covered the event. ‘Twas a fun night!

// Late-night impromptu trips to Pinkberry!

The Gratitude List

This week Rob’s been traveling a LOT. I edited photos and a video from the second Creative Mornings Mumbai event last Saturday and had another shoot on Wednesday night and then editing that for the last two days. So it’s been kinda crazy around here lately but there’s still plenty that I am grateful for…

// PEACHES! Over the weekend, we noticed peaches on the fruit vendors’ stands and we were pretty excited. I was even more excited to know that these peaches come from Himachal Pradesh as opposed to being imported from abroad. I like to avoid buying fruits and veggies (and other stuff) that’s been imported (unnecessary shipping and goodness know what they’re pumping into them to keep them ‘fresh’). So we are really enjoying these desi peaches!

// A taste of monsoon! It’s always pretty humid in Bombay but in the last two weeks, it’s been getting wetter and wetter until the sky finally poured down sweet rain water on us on Tuesday morning! Of course it didn’t last too long and got humid again after a while but it was just so good to smell that wet mud smell! I love rain and though it gets pretty icky with the rains in Bombay, I can’t wait for the monsoons to finally be here!

// We can officially stay in India for another year! Of course, I can stay here as long as I want with my Indian passport but the husband has to renew his visa yearly (and let’s face it, if India makes him leave, I’m leaving too!). It’s a bucketload of paperwork and a long day at the FRRO but it’s done! And hopefully once we are officially married for one year, we can apply for a PIO* card and then we don’t have to do this every year anymore!

// Crash course in lighting. On Wednesday night, I did a shoot for my friends who are extremely talented dancers in a studio setting with big softboxes and a black backdrop. I was kinda nervous initially because I am so NOT a studio photographer and though I do know about lighting, I am definitely not an expert. But I played around with it and finally figured it out and I am SO excited about what resulted! Can’t wait to show you all and I am so grateful for the opportunity to conquer my mild fear and distaste for studio lighting!

// Last weekend we hosted a friend of mine (who is more like a little brother) from my Zambia days and tonight we welcome Meg and Terry from Canada to stay with us for a couple of nights! I am grateful for these opportunities to open up our home to friends. Both Rob and I have been at the receiving end of this kind of hospitality many many times and we are grateful that we can now host people at our home! My parents definitely taught me to value this as well. Our home in Bangalore was always open to friends and family and I’m so inspired by how graciously my mum would take care of them even if she was exhausted at the end of it. Yay, for amazing role-models!

That’s all for now, folks!

Happy Weekend!

*PIO stands for “Person of Indian Origin” and a foreigner whose spouse is an Indian citizen is eligible to be a “PIO”. The terminology makes absolutely no sense at all but it is what it is.