Homemade COFFEE!

For a chai lover like me, coffee is a once in a while affair. So whenever I'm in mood to trade my chai for coffee (usually in the evenings) I make sure it’s something worth indulging into! 

Few of my favorites are: Peppermint mocha from Starbucks, Coffee from my Nespresso machine and home made hand beaten coffee, the recipe of which I'm sharing on the blog today.

 I’ve been making this coffee for years now. Its like making a cappuccino at home without using any fancy equipment. A lot of my friends who’ve tasted this coffee have vouched for its taste and how creamy it is. I don’t know any coffee lover who hasn’t liked the coffee this recipe generates.

In case you’re wondering if a homemade coffee really needs a recipe to be followed just stay with me and keep reading further. I promise I won’t disappoint. Its just a tad bit of a more effort than boiling milk and mixing it with coffee and sugar. But the result is truly worth every sip. 

Let’s start with ingredients:

• Instant coffee powder (4 tablespoon)
• Sugar (6 tablespoon)
• Water ( to beat the coffee)
• Milk (4 cups)

This recipe will yield four medium cups of coffee. I recommend making minimum of four because it gets easier and quicker to beat the coffee. 

Step1:

In a bowl, mix the coffee powder and sugar and start beating it with a spoon adding small amounts of water. 

Make sure not to add a lot of water instantly otherwise the texture will be slimy and not frothy as we want it to be. 

Step2:

Bring milk to boil in a saucepan. In the meantime layer the bottom of the cup with 1 tablespoon of the beaten mixture and then pour the boiling milk over it. 

Stir it very gently once or twice and in seconds you’ll see the coffee turn into a rich creamy frothy one. 

Step3:

Sprinkle some cocoa powder over it. It not only makes the coffee look dressy but the chocolate totally enhances the flavor too. 

This is my go-to recipe whenever I have guests or friends over and are in mood for a hot beverage. 

You can refrigerate the beaten mix for up-to a week so this is definitely a good make-ahead recipe if you are expecting some company over. 

Holiday Party!

Hey folks! It finally snowed here. There's something about the first snow that puts a smile on my face. I feel like everything around starts looking prettier with fresh snow on it. Anyways,  I hope y'all had a fun and relaxed weekend! Mine turned out to be a not so relaxing one. We were switching apartments and all I could see around me was stuff, stuff and more stuff that needed to be packed into boxes. But more about that later...

Coming back to what this post is about, me and my friend - who is a fashion designer,  hosted our first holiday party together. We invited a bunch of friends we know from the fashion and blogging world and had a super fun night alongside cocktails and conversations.

The venue Cibar lounge, NYC deserves a special mention here because of its beautiful ambience and some great choice of food and drinks! If you're making a trip to NYC, I highly recommend trying this hidden gem. Whether you're lounging with your friends or on a date night, it's the perfect spot. Also, they have happy hour Monday to Friday between 5-8 pm so don't forget to make the most of it. Though this place doesn't serve dinner but they have lots of small plate options. And since we tried almost everything on the menu, I can totally vouch for their food. Infact just thinking about it makes me wanna revisit! 

Well, I won't write anything further, want you guys to check out these pics! They pretty much sum up  our party.

Girl Squad

My Co-host, Stuti Majmudar - Owner, Stuti Anand

Monika Rajwani - The Frye company.

Sadia Majeed -  Owner, The Fashion Edit

Neerja Patel -  Owner,  Neerja Public Relations

Nikki Dodani - Blogger, The Nikki Standard

Ritu Bhatia - Blogger, Chiffon Talk 

Mala  Vora - Jewelry Designer, Malasbymala

Perfect Date night spot! Isn't it?

Lunch date OOTD

Sometimes the best therapy you can get is endless conversations with a bestie! This is exactly what happened over the past two days. RJ had to fly out of town for work. For those of you who don't know me that well, I am a scaredy-cat when it comes to staying home alone at night. My brain automatically starts generating flashbacks of all the horror movies I've watched till date when I'm all by myself. 

Thankfully I had my friend to the rescue, who came over to keep me company. What followed next was a night of meaningful/ meaningless/ much needed girl talk! 

Next day started with a heartwarming cup of chai, and a whole lot of Netflix. Later, we headed out for our lunch date and spent the evening playing pool. All in all, it turned out to be the most relaxing stay-at-home vacation I could have asked for! 

Thank you babe for a memorable time and using your camera skills on me!

 

Outfit Details:

Sunglasses - Burberry // Top - Forever 21  // Denims - Abercrombie & Fitch // Watch - Karl Lagerfeld  // Overcoat - Zara // Booties - Aldo // Clutch - Old 

Eventful November!

November loving!

If there is anything like a favorite month in the year, undoubtedly its November for me. And so I decided to do a post dedicated to this beautiful month of fall hues! The reason I call it my favorite is because it's my birthday month. I know that sounds quite a cliche and yet its true. 

This year, my birthday month decided to get pretty eventful. With Trump's (unexpected) triumph in the US election and the MODI'fied currency situation in India, clearly the change has been bigger than just leaves switching color this season. 

On a personal note, this month has been quite an exciting one!

As one of my bestie preps up to tie the knot later this month, another BFF made me aunt to an adorable baby girl last week. I know both my friends will make for a gorgeous bride and a doting Mother. I couldn't be happier for them. 

In the middle of all the exciting news, new phase in my friends lives and being witness to political news that will go down in history, RJ popped the question about how I wanted to ring in my birthday this year? 

After pondering over the question for sometime, I realised that the idea of "birthday celebration " has definitely changed for me this year. From doing something fancy and over the top, it has boiled down to spending quality time with loved ones. I think its a part of growing up and I'm happy I am starting to feel that way. 

Its been a month of change - for me, my friends and the entire world! With that said - November is, and will always be my favorite month!:)

Have a happy rest of your November!

A decade of friendship!

They say blood is thicker than water, and I possibly cannot deny that but then there are few other people that come along and leave a permanent mark in your life.

Friends we usually call them and I know we have them in plenty, but sometimes when we're lucky god sends a special one, who will appear to be an angel in your crisis.

Ten years back when I first met Priyanka Shah, I saw her as nothin more than a girl who was going to be my hostel roommate for first year of college. And just maybe for the second and the third year too, if things worked to be cordial between us. With the passing of those three years not just did I land up sharing a room with her but also every bits and pieces of my emotions that my heart went through.

Each time a good, bad or an evil thing happened in my overly dramatic college life, she went through the same roller coaster of emotions with me and made sure that I was doing fine.

Ever since, until today a lot did change...

We lived together in the same room for three years of college life!

Then moved on to live apart in two different cities...

and as of today, while we live in two different countries, the addition of these miles hasn't subtracted anything from our bond.

Whether it's the feeling of anxiety or a piece of advice that I need. Sometimes it might be a random phone call to pour my heart out. Then there come these specific occasions when confessions need a non judgmental view. She stood by me as a pillar of strength in every little and big decision of life, and for all these reason I call my friend the angel in my life. 

Thank you P.S for being the best roommate, friend, confidante and an angle in crisis for sure! Here's to the first ten years of knowing each other and many more decades to come!!:)

*This blogpost is written for http://incrisisrelief.org/ in association with Indiblogger.

Old friends reunite!

An old friend is like an old pair of jeans. We might love the new ones we buy, but the

comfort of an old we cannot deny.They have witnessed our past,been our partners in crime. Though we did fight a several times, what really does matter is that the friendship still survived!

Old friends, new memories.

When such old friends from back home visit your town, they bring along with them not just your favorite goodies to nibble on, but an experience of nostalgia that can transport you back in time.

"Back in time" to those days when responsibility was just a word that belonged to the dictionary.Real life was more synonymous to words like chilling, bunking and partying.Yes! that was the college life. A life that we lived with our friends.Those friends that we made for life.

Having them over led to a series of activities reminiscent to a life back then. Long drives with our favorite songs from the past playing on repeat.Shopping sprees that lasted as long as our feet didn't give up. Painting shades of neon on each others nails. Late night Maggie meals.Two mugs of coffee
and endless conversations made our days!

Then comes the time when they have to leave. My heart feels heavy as we exchange our final goodbyes. I know we would get busy and move on with our respective lives, but never mind.We would meet soon the next time:))

Their physical presence may not

surround us 24/7, yet when life is treating us dull we know they are just a phone call away.
Such relations are timeless, precious and special...

I call them family, but they are generally known as FRIENDS.