Fifty-Two Objects: Three.

Starry-eyed.

Hello, hello. How was your week? It's been a star-struck week for us here at P&P central......my little guy is participating in the school play (a two hour long adaptation of  Annie) and I'm in awe of all the behind-the-scenes effort that has been put into its making. I have a renewed respect for sets and set designers--it has to take an awful lot of vision and hard work to put up something so transient, but oh, the results. In. Awe.

 

Speaking of star struck, did anyone catch the golden globes this week? I usually don't watch but we actually sat through the whole show this time-- this past year, we've watched a lot of movies, (mostly all through redbox), and it was fun to actually see some of our favorites get awards. One movie that we fell in love with was Beginners. If you've seen it you probably know why I loved it--from the sunny home it was set in to the actors--Ewan McGregor (adorable!), Christopher Plummer (probably the performance of a lifetime!), Melanie Griffith (girl crush, anyone?), Cosmo (want to adopt him!), to the score (love love love the theme suite) to the story (finally figured out why it had such a genuine ring to it--it was based on the director's parents, there's nothing like having lived through a story to lend authenticity to the narrative.) Anyhoo, I thought I'd poke around the net to see if there were any screengrabs from the movie--the set was amazing, part of an actual home (a family actually lives there, and the kitchen wasn't touched up for the movie. How do I know this? I found an article on Elle Decor--they had done a piece on the beginners movie and set. Bazinga!) The artwork and sculptures you see scattered around the home actually belonged to the director's parents (told you it was authentic!)  Here's a look at the set.........

Credit: Elle Decor.

It actually looks so much better in the movie, hope you get to catch it. While I am on the topic of amazing on-screen sets, have you seen the interiors in the sitcom the big bang theory? When I'm not busy laughing my head off (funniest. show. ever.) I love ogling at the sets--so many furnishings are actually identifiable as being from Anthroplogie, but I just love the feel of their homes--especially the couch-rug-bookcase combo in Leonard/Sheldon's apartment. And how amazing is the giant double helix? I want. (I'm not really going to put any pictures/links in here, because I'm sure everybody and their grandmother already watch the show........)

Do you have any favorite on-screen homes? What about in hindi movies? I think I've shared this one earlier, but just because I'm repetitive sometimes (he heh), here it is once again.......

Do share your favorites too.....

Hope you're having a great weekend, see you here tomorrow with the third object in my series of fifty two. Till then, be good.......  :)

Fifty-Two Objects: Two.

Sorry for the no-show all week, it's been grey and dull and I've been suffering from incessant headaches, hence no screen time. I hope this will make up for the lack of posts.....the sun finally came out today and I manged to take a few pictures to share with you. Hope you're having a great weekend, I'm just happy to see some natural light! I'm off now to make a huge batch of aloo parathas..... :) Ciao for now!!

New (inspired) series: Fifty-Two Objects: #1.

Hello there, dear reader! How was the first week of the new year? Mine was quite busy--along with the usual weekday madness, I had to eke out time for appointments with the mechanic--yes, the new year came with car trouble. I'm not complaining though, as long as things can be fixed (and stay fixed) it's all okay. The week was surprisingly productive (mostly mundane, but essential tasks) and with the satisfaction of having tackled that to-do list, I'm quite pleased with myself and ready to go!......Which brings me to the post on hand. Some of you may be familiar with the 52 Objects series on Emma's blog, The Marion House Book. I've always admired the series--I was hooked from the first day I stumbled across her blog, sometime in the summer of '11. It's a beautifully composed narrative strung out over the 52 weeks of a year-- in it, each week, Emma picks one object from her life and shares the story behind it. Over the course of the past year, she's (un)covered the secret lives of her favorite possessions, each rich with personal history, fragrant with memories. Thank you for the inspiration, Emma!

Starting this week, I plan on sharing some of my personal favorites with you--some breathtakingly beautiful, some crumpled beyond recognition, some pristine, some marked with scars.........each, a beloved object from my life. It's an ambitious project, one that will require a degree of dedication that I've struggled to bring to this blog in the past year. Hopefully this will remedy that! Wish me luck, my loves, and then join me on this journey as I do what I love to do--dig through my memories for stories to share.....

So here it is, the first of 52........

One down, fifty-one to go..........

xoxo,
Gagan

Update:

Dear all, thank you so much for your lovely words on this post. This painting is a favorite of mine, for obvious reasons, but I really need to do a post on my mother's art. She's quite old now, and hasn't picked up a paintbrush in many years, but I made sure that she got to read all the comments on this post. She thanks you all and wants everyone to know that this painting isn't an original, it was a copy of something she'd seen in an illustrated weekly. (That's my mom in a nutshell, always the perfectionist.) (Just FYI, there are plenty of originals scattered throughout my parent's home, and in homes of friends and family members around the globe.) I need to write that post, it's an emotional subject for me to write on, especially now that I better understand what she gave up to build her family. I'll get to it, maybe just not yet.
Thank you for all the love!

Gagan

Hello world!

How is the new year treating you dear reader? It was a quiet day for me today, filled with mood music and comfort food--partying is all very well, but at the end of the day (make that 10 madcap days! Oh, may I vent a little? What is it about karaoke that makes sane, balanced, human beings sound like hyenas? my poor ears. As far as I'm concerned magic sing and its ilk belong on top of the list of things we should eradicate! OK. Exhale. whew.) I think there's nothing more nourishing to the body (and soul) as a simple meal. :) Just like a good warm cup of chai is the perfect antidote to winter! 

Speaking of chai, do you have any special recipe for the perfect cup of tea? Do share--I plan on sharing some recipes from my kitchen this year.....no, I'm not going to start a food blog, because Of Peacocks and Paisleys seems to have evolved into its own (totally organic!!!) blend --a bit of lifestyle, a pinch of decor, the occasional foodie post, a little bit about my life. If I'd tried, I couldn't have planned it better-- I'm really pleased with what is up here. I do plan on enhancing some aspects-- I used to love sharing home-tours with you and I didn't do a single one in all of 2011. (what???!!??) (there's an embarrassing story in there, but I'll skip that bit for now. ) Anyway, that needs to be repaired, pronto! I also loved inviting my friends over--the "My kinda Gal" series was total soul-food. And believe me, I hadn't even begun to scratch the surface yet--there are so many awesome, inspiring women I'd love to invite to this space--hopefully I'll be able to get that series started up again. In other news, I'm planning on taking a page (quite literally!) out of my friend Divya's blog and creating some links to the absolutely wonderful cache of talent out there. I find, as life becomes busier, it is a little more difficult for me to work on designer profiles; and much as I'd like to come in with both guns firing, I've found myself battling severe writer's block when it comes to these posts.....unfortunately, when I don't follow through on my promises it's not good for my morale (or reputation!) One of my resolutions is to not fight myself and just accept things the way they are. I'm sticking with what comes naturally and not pushing it anymore. So, like I was saying, I love Divya's solution and I'm unabashedly copying her idea. (Thanks, D!--you're the best!) The links page is under construction and will be up shortly. I'll try to update it each month, so please be sure to check often!

From where I sit, the year stretches out in front of me, full of promise. It's almost impossible to stop plans from swirling about in my head......while 2011 was good to me on the personal front, my poor blog baby got ignored a bit. No more. I'm hoping this new year will bring with it many exciting collaborations on this blog; I want to make it a little more interactive--some new series, a few new features, a little more of everything. Maybe some reader requests? I received  a few via email this past year, which I responded to in person, but maybe we could do that on the blog? I have just the post to start that series off! (Did you realize that I was actually thinking out loud just then--I love that I'm so comfortable "talking " to you that I can let slip the voices voice in my head. )

Big plans. The hope for action (LOL!). That's all it takes to put a smile on my face. ;)

What's making you happy today?

xoxo,

G