Eat.Shop.Love.

These three words quite sum up my current state of mind that is still reeling under Goan trance. A mid week break was the perfect excuse to sneak out from the city for an idyllic getaway and what could be better than Goa at this time of the year. It turned out to be such a crackerjack holiday that even a week-long break left me salivating for more!

Goa has become a second home of sorts for us and we rarely go through a year without holidaying in Goa…at least once and sometimes even twice. This was our fifth time there so sightseeing wasn’t figuring on my wish list at all. I’d rather planned to laze around the beaches and soak up the heady mix of sun, sand and surf. In midst of doing lot of nothing-at-all, I indulged in making the most of Eating, Shopping & Loving! The eating and shopping bit will get a room on this post and I’ll reserve the details of the loving bit :D

The gastronomic journey that I experienced had some stellar pit-stops which deserve a respectable mention. Had the best brick-oven pizza ever, gorged on cheesecakes and banoffee pies and savoured a delectable array of seafood. Here are a few of the images I clicked to keep the awesomeness alive in memory…

Seafood Pizza at Magic Italy (Palolem -South Goa)

Cheesecake at a German Bakery (Baga -North Goa)

Apart from being immensely hip & happening, Goa never fails to surprise me with the effortless style in clothing. A nip here, a tuck there and ta-da u have a beautiful gown made from a traditional sari or few seams conjoined to make a wraparound out of almost anything. Barring a few items that cater to the ‘Butter Chicken & Dal Makhni’ crowd like block-print kurtas, cotton dresses, straw hats and souvenir t-shirts to name a few, the flea market can churn out highly interesting stuff if you have the eye for it.

The flea market is also the pulse of latest trends and this time around I found few things dotting the market

• Scarf Dresses

• Harem pants in all dimensions (short/medium/long) and different fabrics (cotton/ tie-dye/silk)

• Jump Suits

• Hot Pants

• Shimmer Bags

• Ruffle Lamps

Flea Market at Palolem

The colorful ruffle lamps in the flea market

I grabbed a whole lot of stuff from the flea market which gave me a head rush and made me feel good. And at those prices, it’ll make me feel less guilty even if I don’t use them more than once.

I will post some pictures of outfits I wore and those of my flea market buys in subsequent posts…after I figure out how to manage 2.5 GB of pictures spilling out of the folder on my already saturated hard disk and each one vying for my attention. Damn these digital cameras!!!

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Nourish Bath & Body: Product Review

My Nourish Bath & Body order from 99Labels came just in time for stocking my vanity bag for the harsh winter ahead of my vacation. It was delightful to receive an order just the way it was seen on the internet and saving some bucks on a planned TBS body butter buy added to the delight! I grabbed only the body lotion from the combo box for my trip and made a note to post a review once I’m back for the interest of the fellow makeup & beauty bloggers who’ve stuck around…

Now that I’ve used all the products atleast a couple of times, I would like to share my experience. The Nourish Bath & Body Care Combo included two handcrafted soap bars, a body lotion, a body scrub and a complimentary soap dish in beechwood.

Café Latte Body Bar – This body bar has a creamy texture and comprises of milk, cocoa and a dash of nutmeg and scents of vanilla , honey & ofcourse coffee , hence the name. A coffee icon on the bar does more that just refresh with the heady blend.

Ingredients: Soap Base, Glycerine, Vitamin E Oil. 

After 8 AM Body Bar – This body bar is made up of a mix of natural oils, has a creamy texture, smells of after dinner mints and has embedded jelly chunks of chocolate flavor. Quite tempting, isn’t it?

Ingredients: Saponified oils of Olive, Coconut ,Castor & Palm, Vitamin E Oil & Fragrance.

Sweet Almond Oil Body Lotion – It’s a nourishing moisturizing lotion with pure Sweet Almond Oil as its base and a host of other oils with good moisturizing properties. It has a distinct Almond Oil fragrance, protects the surface of the skin and keeps it soft & supple.

Ingredients: Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Aloe Vera, Vitamin E Oil, Glycerine , Fragrance & Preservatives

Madras Coffee Madness Body Scrub - I absolutely loved this particular product! It contains a sugar scrub with coffee beans, cocoa butter and nourishing oils and it shows great results on skin on application. It melts on the skin leaving it satin smooth and is believed to be effective in busting cellulite. A good substitute for my cuppa morning coffee – just the smell is enough! :)

Ingredients: Coffee Beans , Cocoa Butter, Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Fragrance & Preservatives

Pros: Products are totally organic and handmade; Offbeat products with complex blends and interesting packaging; Good on skin and easy on pocket: p

Cons: The fragrances are bit too strong (as a personal preference I don’t mind smelling of coffee but surely don’t dig smelling of almond oil all day long!)

Price : INR 1300 for the combo (individual prices not available)

The product is manufactured in NCR that explains its limited availabilities in cities other than Delhi and online. Hope it hits the shelves in your neighborhood mall soon. If you do come across Nourish, go ahead & take your pick for a sensual experience…

Which one did you like best?

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Holiday Tales and a Tote

First things first. A very happy new year to all you lovelies. I was MIA on the blogging front for over a fortnight as I was vacationing in Dilli ki Sardi but I’ve been missing blogging terribly. I was hoping that I’ll have exciting holiday tales to dish out but I’m afraid those are bordering on disappointing :(

My wintry excitement went for a toss the moment our flight got cancelled due to heavy fog. Train tickets that I’d booked as a backup plan came handy but I was in for a rude shock when the overnight journey was completed in double the time due to abnormal weather conditions. Landing in 2 degree celsius at 2 in the night on wasn’t really my idea of winters!

Anyhow, with our itinerary gone awfully haywire there was little we could do except eat, drink and be merry! I needed minimum 3 levels of layering to withstand the extreme cold and my winter fashion was lost somewhere between those layers. Now that I’m back to my warm snug zone and the teeth chattering and mind-numbing cold is behind me, I’ve got lot to catch up on and a series of posts to make.

Between the traveling, the dinners, and the in-laws, the holidays turned out be a stresser but the saving grace was quality time with family and a gifted Liz Claiborne Tote (about which you read here).

It’s a nice BIG carry-all tote in which I can practically carry my household, apt for a GOG (girl-on-the-go) like me and since the big, big bag is in fashion, I’m delighted to have it. The tag details read that it is from the Liz Claiborne Paige Signature Collection and comes with a 10 year warranty! The fabric is signature jacquard in a cotton/poly bend with LC initials dotting the exterior and hardware detailing is quite distinct.

It has a separate padded section for laptop which was my preference. Though a 14” laptop compartment was what I was looking for, this one can carry a 17” one which is also fine.

Apart from this, the most vital feature that I noticed in few days of usage is that it manages to fit it anything and everything from a laptop to a bulky camera to a spare set of dress and a pair of shoes and still carry it comfortly. Ok, I haven’t tried the shoe bit yet but I did fit it my fluffy jacket inside so full marks for dat! Overall, I think I like it and its just perfect for my ‘heavily loaded’ workdays.

Let me hear from you what do you think about it…

P.S. Hauling myself to the shopping malls seemed to be a difficult task in the chill but I managed it somehow. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! More posts on that coming up…Stay connected :)

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