#rumify

I once had a classmate who took it upon himself to let me know, very delicately of course, that I was really gullible. Now i'll tell you the real truth about that sentence. That classmate was/is a good friend. He didn't take it upon himself, it was thrust upon him when he lost a bet amongst my other friends to be the bearer of - get to know yourself - mind opening- news. He didn't tell me delicately, he was hunched over laughing when he told me. This was after he had told me Salman Khan had died. (still isn't funny #truefan) He didn't tell me I was really gullible. What he really said was,' Oh MY GOD, you're so gullible,' between cackles of laughter and tears. I didn't even know what that meant and when I found out, I was incredulous. and indignant. I am not gullible I thought to myself. I simply err on the side of optimism and humanity and choose to trust easily and quickly  I said. At least that's what I told everyone and anyone who would listen to me rant. The lunch lady listened. My dogs listened. My grandmother listened. Even my favourite professor listened. Everyone nodded along and made all the right noises, patted my shoulder and gave me hugs, but I knew what they were thinking. It's true. I do tend to believe everything I see and hear without question or thought. It would be nice if that were only true with close friends and family but it's not. I will whole heartedly believe anything I see on tv, hear on the radio, read in a magazine, etc etc. I am the best person to plan April Fools Day pranks on. Anyway. Why i'm telling you this is because I might have the opportunity to spread my design wings soon and I have gotten it into my head that I absolutely need a black bedroom. Is this because i've been influenced by all the 50 shades of grey flying around? I don't know. Is it because i'm gullible to all the ads i've been watching? I don't know. All I know is that I ABSOLUTELY need a black bedroom in my life.

I love

on trees and vines,

bought in patient haste  

tumbling from an arms embrace

or

swirling beneath lovers chase 

sewn on dresses

circling a slender waist 

a beautiful mess, 

 woven through hair

light and fair, 

I love 

everywhere 

~ R.N. 

I am the lover's gift; I am the wedding wreath; 

I am the memory of a moment of happiness; 

I am the last gift of the living to the dead; 

I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow. 

~ Khalil Gibran 

Lay down on your pillow

and turn the lights down low

let me take you to the garden

where the passion flower grows 

~Charles M Moore

Such beautiful images deserve such beautifully written words especially when such the images are filled with such pretty pretty flowers. I love flowers, but that's nothing new or special, everyone can appreciate a pretty thing, let alone a pretty flower.

 What drew me to these images and the florists responsible for the images is that they have explored a deeper darker side to flowers and floral imagery in a way that is uniquely refreshing and new. The floral arrangements aren't the usual roses and peonies with a little baby's breath or lily of the valley thrown in. There is nothing cookie cutter about these arangements - from the colors used, the variety of flowers used or the way they have been arranged. When I look at the arrangements a new set of emotions are evoked, something deeper, more substantial, a little more avant garde and gothic. 

I love how the arrangements are allowed fluidity and movement, vines and branches not have to conform to a rigorous silhouette or shape. 

My favourite images: 

The florist used dry corn stalks here! 

I love how flowers have now become the centerpiece of the look, the statement maker and not remained as mere accessories. 

Here are my favourite florists at the moment: 

For the bright and fresh arrangements that have so much movement and life. 

For the darker, edgier arrangements that evoke such strong emotions.

My dad used to work in a little town in Mississippi when I was a little girl and ever so often he would take me to work with him, usually on a Saturday morning when he would get called in for an emergency. Most probably to give my mom a little breathing space but in my 6 year old head it was always because he needed my expert medical opinion and assistance on the complicated surgery he was about to perform. Driving the forty minutes to work with daddy, getting to sit in the front seat with warm Alabama air blowing through the open car windows, cruising down the highway singing along to Cotton Eye Joe, calling mom from the car phone just to say hi i'm calling from the car phone, listening to him give pre-op instructions to his team. It's one of my favourite childhood memories. Sometimes mom would come too and we would hang out in his office while he worked. I would sit in his secretary's chair and  play at her desk  with tongue depressors and crepe bandages, mom would sit in dad's office and paint her nails. In between surgeries, he would come by with coffee or a treat. The icingde on the cake to a perfect Saturday would be when they were serving banana pudding in the cafeteria. He would bring a little container with three spoons and eat it with us before he had to go back. That banana pudding my friends, was perfection. It always had the perfect ratio of decadently rich silky vanilla pudding to crunchy Nilla wafers and banana slices. Every dip into the container would bring with it perfect layers in perfect proportions. Ever since then, every banana pudding I've ever made or eaten has fallen short when I compare it to the memory of eating that incomparable pudding. Every. Single. One. The pudding is always decent, but never as rich and decadent as The Pudding. The wafers were either too big or too small, either too soggy or too crispy. The bananas were either too mushy or too hard, too brown or too green, too sweet or too bland. You get it. Nothing was ever good enough. Two weeks ago I came across another recipe for banana pudding that seemed worthwhile, but I was quick to dismiss it. My heart couldn't take another beating. #dramaqueen #iknow Until a few days later and the recipe mysteriously popped up onto my screen again. I'm no idiot. I know a sign when I see one. I steeled my heart and girded my loins for one last time. Turns out I didn't need to. The minute I took the first bite I immediately became that 6 year old in a pink dress and matching headband, knees on the chair and elbows on the desk, reaching over the edge of daddy's desk to spoon fight her parents for the last pudding coated Nilla wafer. You are more than welcome to my memories of The Pudding, but I'm pretty sure you will be making your own memories when you make this pudding yourself.

Here's the link

I followed the recipe to a T expect for one thing. The Habibi and I love nuts so I added toasted pecan halves to every layer. 

Remember the post I did on the different make-up looks we could do from the Huda Beauty Rose Gold palette? Here's another edition of the series to help you make up your mind on what make-up you wanna do. #harhar #lovealliteration I was shopping at the outlets this past weekend when I happened to stumble upon this palette by Nars, a useful little compact palette that Indian girls everywhere would die for.

The And God Created Women Palette. 

I mean come on. Those are classic Indian Chicks smokey eye colors. And that gold. Perfect for Indian outfits. Buying this palette was a no brainer. #duh Doesn't hurt that it comes with an eyelid primer and eyeshadow brush. These are some of the looks that I loved that I found floating around the world wide web:

Here are some tutorials in case you want to see it used in action:

Super pretty look but the tutorial isn't in English.. soooo.. good luck!

The perfect daytime to nighttime look :

I think the reason why bloggers are doing so well in this day and age is because everyone out there is just like me - snoopy nosey little busy bodies. #guilty #gossipmuch I'm all about the blogger world, I love being able to click on a button and see what someone I follow in California or Dubai or India is upto in their lives.

But. You know what I love even more than seeing what they are wearing or buying or looking at pictures of their pretty pretty homes? I love knowing how much someone makes and how they spend it and save it and use it. #snoopmuch #noseymuch #noneofyourbidnessgurl #so?

IF you are like me, read on my friend! I have a treat for you! It's so interesting to see how men and women spend and save so differently! If you aren't like me, keep reading anywhere, albeit with a little less joy, it's still super interesting.

'Isabelle Menin decided to abandon painting to turn to digital photography. Taking pictures, scanning pieces of nature, the artist constantly plays with textures and colours, transforming them, mixing them, in order to give shape to a fictional nature, dense and flamboyant at the same time.' I don't think I could have described what you are about to see any better so I didn't even try.  Isabelle Menin has this other-worldly talent to simultaneously evoke joy and fear in her artwork, magically layering feelings and flowers one on top of the other until both merge into one cohesive statement. It's magical, it's provoking, it's beautiful. 

I love love love make-up. Like love. Not like love. Love love. So what does a person do when they love love something? They buy buy buy it. Well at least I do. But then I come home and promptly either forget about whatever it is that i've bought or I don't know what to do with it.

I figured i'm not the only one; so I put together looks that I found from around the world wide web of some of the make-up palettes i'm currently obsessed with.In case anyone is sitting at home holding the palette in their hands and going 'now what?' or are bored of using the same 3 colors from the palette: here you go.

I'm going to start my current top obsession - the Huda Beauty palette.

From Huda herself: 

Watch here create the looks here!: 

Other Make-up bloggers:

Wowza right! Videos I loved  to get started on those looks!:

 I'm a creature of habit. If I like something-or someone for that matter- I tend to lay my roots down and settle in for the long haul. I very rarely change grocery stores or coffee shops, or restaurants.... you get the picture. What surprised me recently was that I never realized I was attracted/drawn/noticed a certain type of art. I came across an image of artwork by Kim Keever and quickly found myself hunting for more. I love what he does, but the more I found, the more I realized these images were very similar to the works of art by Alberto Seveso and Mark Mawson, artists I had already been following for years and whose artwork I loved. The very same artists I mentioned here on the blog way back in the day! I guess I do have a type. #imconsistentifnotanythingelse  #loyal

What I love about Mr. Kleever is that he and I seem to be attracted to the same color palettes and schemes, which makes his work even more delightful for me. 

I also love that as an artist he has evolved and that reflects in his work. He first began by staging landscapes underwater and photographing those which made for haunting evocative imagery. 

From there he evolved to more abstract imagery. 

Want to see more? Buy one? Here you go!