My Travel Diary: San Juan, Puerto Rico

I love to travel and when it comes to travelling to a place rich in history and art, the excitement is all the more. 

This summer, we took a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico and I must say, the place is a gem of a vacation destination. I did not know what to expect when I landed here. But... it had soooo much to offer.....

natural beauty, old colonial architecture, beautiful arts and crafts....what more can one ask for from a vacation spot. 

San Juan is the oldest city on US territory.  The city has a Spanish based culture mixed in with African traditions. 

The cobbled streets of old San Juan, lined with brightly colored Spanish townhouses with wrought iron doors and windows; centuries-old forts with  impressive architecture; spectacular 

views of the ocean; lots of galleries with local modern art....all of these made my travel experience truly unique and memorable. I hope I can go back there someday. 

Here are a few snapshots from my trip. 

Images: All mine

Weekend clicks

A few random clicks from my sunny weekend.....

Happy Monday and hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

All set for Diwali...?

The weekend was a very busy one....with prepping for Diwali day.... and the Diwali get together that I have planned for the coming weekend.

With Diwali falling on a Wednesday, I wanted everything to be all set over the weekend. We managed to do a lot....cleaned nooks and corners of the house, put up lights outdoors, prepared for the pooja, planned the menu for the party and then the most exciting part.....decorated the house.  

I tried out lots of different ideas....

Decorating with wine glass lamps...such a simple idea- using block printed paper to make little lamp shades for wine glasses.

Lining up a row of tea lights on a bright colored table runner...don't they look lovely....?

Using a mercury glass tea light holder...I'm seeing mercury glass everywhere these days in stores. It adds to the glamour and zing of the decor and I'm loving the look:)

I'm all set for Diwali... Are you...???

Wishing you and your family a very Happy, Prosperous and Joyous Diwali!!!

Linking to Weekly story, Metamorphosis Monday, Emreen's Itz Festival time, 
Show and tell Friday

Postcards from Paris

Hellllloooooo there! How are you?

I'm back from my break... and I feel so refreshed....only mentally though. Physically.... I am exhausted. We visited two cities....Paris and Barcelona...in a span of 10 days, and most of the exploring was on foot...so you can imagine:)

It was an awesome vacation.....so much to see, so much to take in and an unforgettable experience.......:)

The two cities are different and very unique.....rich in culture and architecture, both beautiful in their own way. I would do total injustice if I start describing them in my words only due to my limited literary skills-:).

But I'd like to mention some of the things that I thoroughly enjoyed on my trip......

the countless cappuccinos, endless pain au chocolat (chocolate filled croissants), gobs of goodies (read quiches, macaroons, pastries et al,...) from the slew of bakeries at every street corner; and then.....walking along the river Seine, view of the Eiffel Tower at different times of the day, wandering the fresh markets, ambling the labyrinth of narrow streets in Barri Gotic-Barcelona and of course shopping for unique finds.....



I have more than 2000 pictures from the trip and to sort through them seems quite a task. I managed to pick a few shots that I wanted to share with you...just to give you a glimpse.

PS: I have tonnes to write about my trip, but with Diwali right around the corner, I guess my trip related posts will have to wait till next month. For now, I'm going to take off the 'Traveller in me' hat and put on the 'Diwali obsessed Indian at heart' hat.  So come back here for some gorgeous Diwali inspiration:)

See you soon!

Linking to Show and tell Friday

Fall Love

It's that time of the year when I really, REALLY miss being in the norther part of the country. All across blog land, fellow bloggers are talking about the changing weather, the changing colors of the leaves and the beauty that surrounds them.

Living in Florida, I can only talk about it. Or, look at pictures from my past trips to places which are known for their fall splendor, ....and be happy with it. One of them being Vermont.

I visited Vermont a few years back, and it was right when the fall colors were peaking. The road trip will always be one of my most memorable ones. 

We drove across the state for three days, taking halts at byways and sideroads, small streams and quaint waterfalls....almost any spot that beckoned. I collected leaves in all the colors. The yellows, the oranges and the reds were so brilliant...and the view of all these colors with the blue sky as the backrop was breathtaking.

The beauty of nature at this time is truly beyond words.

If I think about it, the fall palette is my favorite color palette....I have those colors all over my home:)
Linking to Weekly story, Show and tell Friday

If you haven't already, check out Shanthi's blog for some gorgeous fall clicks. 

In Love with the city...

...New York City!
While browsing old photos on my laptop, I came across some pictures,
that brought back memories of the time I spent in and around the city. 

I lived in the tri- state area for about a year, very close to the city...on the other side of river Hudson.
The view of the city by the night from my window was to die for.... 

I could just sit there....looking out... admiring the array of lights that lit up the sky scrapers and their shadow in the water....

....ahhh it was a beautiful sight.


Here are some pictures of the New York City skyline as seen from my window at different times of the day.

Having lived in Florida, the sunshine state, 

for most part of my life in the US, the city life was a different experience altogether. What amazed me more than anything else was the changing seasons along with the changing scenery. 

I'm far away now, but yes, the memory lingers.....!

Images: All mine.


Linking to Show and tell Friday, Weekly story, Good life Wednesday

It's Friday!

The weekend is here....who doesn't like the weekend...they are always fun! But you start to value them even more when you're out of the house all day five days of the week....and even more when you've spent the previous one being out on a vacation...:). Are you like that...? Well, I am. All of last weekend we were away for our road trip, so there was no time spent at home. I was so looking forward to this weekend. All I want is to just hang out at home and relax.....!

What are your plans this weekend?

Image: My Flowers collection

A weekend in the mountains

Hello folks!

How was your weekend....? The weekend is long gone....it's Wednesday today, halfway through the week!?....you may say, right? Well, you are right. But, for all of us in the US, it was a long weekend, Monday being a holiday. I normally need a day to get over the weekend if it was anything special.....and....it was. So here I am.... blogging about my weekend.

We, along with some friends, took a road trip to Blue Ridge in northern Georgia over the weekend. We rented a log cabin in the mountains. The place was nestled in the wilderness, surrounded by nature with a creek flowing in the backyard....! 


Our trip was filled with a number of interesting things......a trip to the apple picking farm, enjoying some delicious fresh apples, hike to a couple of waterfalls, roasting marshmallows in the crackling fire that we lit in the fire pit, sitting in the swing with feet in the creek water, and finally, collecting rocks to bring back home as memories of the trip.


Here are a few glimpses....

Trees loaded with apples at Mercier Orchards

Surrounded by trees on our way to the Fall branch falls

The waterfalls

the fire pit

roasting marshmallows...

The creek behind our cabin

Do you see the swing on the right?

Linking to Weekly story at Patty's

Flower fetish

I can never have enough flowers in my garden and my patio.....and I never get 

tired of clicking pictures of flowers. Seriously, a huge chunk of my hard drive is 

pictures of flowers and plants...no kidding......

 So I selected a few clicks of daisies from my stash, 

did some tinkering on picasa....

and here they are....!

Well.....what d'ya say? 

I'm trying to improve my photography skills (remember my to do list for this year), 

and learn a few photography tricks.  There is so much you can do with just picasa- a free software...... make collages, crop photos, add color effects......

I'd love to share tips and suggestions on how to edit pictures on picasa. 

If you are interested in knowing more, just email me here. 

If you have any interesting tips, do share. 

PS: Thank you all for your lovely comments, emails and wishes on my previous post. 

I'm truly touched.

Linking to Show & tell Friday, Weekly story, Creative Exchange, Seasonal Sundays