THANKFUL FOR...

Happy Thanksgiving! We don't celebrate thanksgiving, but i just love how on this day everyone comes together as a family, and the day is filled with gratitude. On such a day, its hard not to join in and be thankful.

This year i am thankful for a lot of things, some of them are (in no particular order)

DIWALI OUTFIT: RESTYLING AN OLD SAREE WITH A TRENDY BLOUSE

Happy Diwali! Hope all Indian readers had a wonderful Diwali this weekend. Sweets are big during this festive season, and I made Gulab Jamuns to celebrate. They turned out great. I decorated our house with string lights and we invited few friends over for dinner, and ended up having a poker cards party after the dinner. All in all we had an amazing time with good food and better company. 

This year, Diwali was not even on my radar until two days before the festivities. I know, what i was thinking? So there was a lot of last minute planning, but it all came together so well, i couldn't be happier. I knew i was not going to buy anything new for Diwali. I haven't bought a new outfit for Diwali for three years now. Traditional wear shopping took a back seat after moving to Seattle, and i see no point in spending money buying something grand that i wouldn't get to wear frequently. So i have made peace with it, and have been finding different ways to repurpose the items i already have in my closet. You can see what i wore for Diwali back in 2014 here.

FOLLOW ME AROUND FRIDAY HARBOR, SAN JUAN ISLAND

On the first weekend of October we went to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Island for a weekend getaway with two of our friends. It was my first time there and i absolutely loved the town, the food and all the things we got to see, and do. So i thought i would share the tidbits here incase any of you are looking to plan your island getaway to Friday Harbor too. If you are looking to go to Orcas, here are some snapshots from our trip from two years ago.

FALL LAYERS IN FRIDAY HARBOR

Calvin Klein Trench(similar), Loft Jumper(similar),Teva Waterproof boots, Forever 21 Scarf(similar) and Hat(similar), Fleece lined Leggings(similar),Rayban Sunglasses

Fall is full on here in the Pacific north west. But before the temperature dropped further down we decided to accompany our friends on a weekend getaway to Friday Harbor last weekend. It's a cute little town in San Juan Island with lots to do and is famous for whale watching. This was my first time here and i had a great time. From Seattle, we drive to Anacortes ferry terminal, and from there we take an hour long ferry to Friday Harbor. The weather on the island was colder than out here on the mainland. So I decided to dress in layers to handle both chilly morning/evenings and warmer afternoons. 

FALL/AUTUMN SHOPPING LIST: ANKLE BOOTS

One thing i was very excited about after moving to Seattle/America was Boots. Its true, because i had never worn boots till then in all of my life. So i was excited to create my winter wardrobe. As much as i dread the cold weather, i will endure it for cute boots. Now one might think that i would have bought a load of them in these 3 years. But you will be surprised to know that i have only two. In those two, one was a gift (bought using a gift card), so i actually spent money to buy only one boots in these 3 winters. And i call myself a style blogger, ha! Anyways, i think that i deserve one more boots for this upcoming winter, so my search begins.

FOLLOW ME AROUND PORT ANGELES

Few weeks ago, T & I took an impromptu day trip to Port Angeles. After a 2 hours drive listening to old Tamil songs, we ended up in this cute little town filled with giant wall murals everywhere. It was love at first sight. I love small towns, their quaint little cafes, boutique shops, cozy restaurants, and friendly people.

CHEVVAI DHOSHAM - A TAMIL PLAY (NADAGAM)

When i heard that Indus creations are back this year, i booked tickets for their play this past Friday. This is our second time going to theatre to watch a play. We got hooked the first time, you can read more about it here(by the same team , called Chidambara Ragasiyam). So naturally we weren't second guessing ourselves this time. The play was in Tamil(my native language) and i was looking forward to it.

Play was conceived and executed by Indus Creations. Its a team of volunteers in Seattle who in addition to their full time day jobs, run this show every year out of sheer passion for theatre, art and music. And i have to talk about their goodwill. All the proceeds from the show are donated to a charity of their choice every year. This year they chose ASHA for education, and we couldn't be more proud to have made a contribution.

ONE SHIRT - TWO WAYS

Few weeks ago (although not totally surprising), Seattle got chilly. Not cold enough to go for a jacket, but chilly enough to wear an additional layer. And this plaid shirt came to my rescue. I wore the same shirt on both days of the weekend, but styled differently. On saturday, i styled the shirt with a simple all black maxi dress($9 find at Marshalls). And on sunday, i wore it under a sleeveless knit sweater and white jeans. This is the first plaid shirt i bought about 5 years ago when i was living in Chennai. Its been my favorite ever since. So it makes me happy that i still find new ways to incorporate this personal favorite into my everyday looks from time to time.

Saturday

Levi's shirt (similar, more) 

Dress(similar) & Bag - Marshalls 

Aldo Slides(similar)

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

HOUSE PLANTS 101 - HOW TO BUY HOUSE PLANTS

I am a Plant Lady. And that's a phrase i never thought i will associate with myself, but it happened. I have never cared for a plant by myself until quite recently, although i grew up having a garden in our home in India. My parents are big time into gardening and probably that's where my love for plants come from. They have so many trees. Huge mango trees, gooseberry trees, pomegranate trees and lots of flowering plants like Hibiscus in 4 different colors, and many more for which i know only vernacular names. You can check this post for more snapshots of my parents house. But they have never had an indoor house plant other than a vine of pothos (known as money plant in India) in a glass bowl. Its all thanks to our rental apartment which was bare with not many furniture, i decided to decorate it with plants. And that's when i ended up falling in love with house plants.

2016 SUMMER READS: BOOKS I READ IN JULY

I am a voracious reader, its takes me a max of 3 days to finish a book usually. At the same time, i don't read regularly. I read in phases. Like right now, i am in the zone. I might stop anytime, and wont touch a book for months. But i read more in summer. Its probably because all the TV series i binge watch are on summer break, so naturally i turn to books. But i plan to continue to read, more slowly if that's what it takes to read regularly. Will update you all on how i fare. Coming to today's post, these are all the books i read in July, and here comes a short review of each. My list is a mix of old classics, feel good, thriller and a brand new book that released couple weeks ago.

OOTD: CROP TOP & NEUTRAL SHOES

MAKING BUBBLE TEA AT HOME

T and I love our post dinner cold drinks, calories take a back seat. Having a Thai restaurant few blocks from our house that serves yum Thai Iced Tea is just added bonus for us. We talk a walk after dinner, grab one Thai Iced tea to-go and share it between the both of us. After a point we started thinking about making it ourselves. Making something new in the kitchen is our favorite way of bonding. Couple weeks ago we decided to try bubble tea at home, cause T loves his bobas.

BAGWATI

Kate Spade New York Bag

HOW TO PACK FOR TROPICAL VACATION THIS SUMMER

Kaanapali beach, Maui, Hawaii

Its been a while since my last post. And all i can say is that i have become downright lazy. But laziness is only with writing cause i am still obsessed with capturing daily life and regularly update my Instagram (@agoldentulip). So if you find me absent here, you can catch up with me on the social media. And if you did see my updates on Instagram, you would know that me and my husband, T went on a vacation to Hawaii few weeks ago. It was a celebratory vacation for our 3rd wedding anniversary. While we have never been happier in our relationship than we are in these recent few months(maybe its being the new homeowners? i don't know, but more on our home later), we really wanted to go somewhere to celebrate. Hawaii was a no-brainer cause we have seen our fair share of the mountains(check out our Alaska travel diaries here, here, here and here), and wanted to go somewhere tropical, and decided on Maui, Hawaii.