Look Who's Wearing

Switzerland - Update

2012-11-22T14:45:00.001+05:30

{Fondue}

Oh, I know, I know! I've been a terrible blogger. Too obsessed with my work to update. But, you're right. I've recently had to move continents for my work. And, I love it. But, unfortunately I haven't had time to write about it. Yet. In all honesty, I don't have the connector cord to connect my camera with this silly Mac, and the SD card isn't being read on it either. For some strange, strange reason. More on that later. Maybe.

I am currently in Geneva, Schweiz at the moment. No, I am not the lead actress for a new Yash Raj Films project. Dreaming on. I am literally at the helm of international affairs. Hah! Again, dreaming on. But, I'd like to be.

I am working at the World Trade Organization. Whoopie! It's actually quite exciting. I get to sit in on meetings between countries who decide trade policies and whether or not you should be paying those extra $50 on those shoes imported from Italy, or pay $10 lesser on clothes exported from India, Bangladesh, etc. Disclaimer: the above data is a figment of my imagination. I wouldn't really tell you what they decide in there. You'll need to get in my not-so-comfortable shoes for that.

Anyway, I just wanted to come by and say Hello with a few updates from where I am at the moment. I do hope you will enjoy some of my iPhone photos lately, if you'd like to see.

{The United Nations at night}

{The Broken Chair outside the UN - in memory of landmine victims}

{Good Morning, Geneva}

{Posing on the WTO lakeside gardens}

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Memories from England II

2012-09-26T23:01:00.002+05:30

{Mum and Dad in front of the Cutty Sark in London}

My final set of favorite photos! There are still loads more, but the one's I have put up symbolise the best and most memorable moments, conversations and stories of the trip. The one's that made me happy. Enjoy ~

{We're back. Queen's College, Oxford}

{Conversations and reasonably priced ales at the Oxford Union}

{Cream Tea at the First Coffee House in England}

{Sugar Drop}

{Mallards atop The Turf Tavern Pub in Oxford}

{Enjoying Bizarre Bath}

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Memories From England I

2012-09-25T02:24:00.001+05:30

{Little French Stall on Brick Lane, London}

*Sigh* *London Pangs*

A friend of mine has recently been having 'London Pangs' (c). She's been missing London like crazy and in a way reminded me I have pictures I promised I'd share, which I haven't. So here we are, sharing! My trip to the UK this year was lovely. I was there with a big chunk of my family. These photos I'm sharing were part of a very memorable holiday, where I really got to show The boyfriend why I love the UK so much. Please share my joy and excitement of revisiting one my favorite places in the world.

Photos below were taken in a plethora of locations including London, Oxford (various pubs) and Bath.

{My brave friend Anne, who was attacked by a swan}

Not really. We had some lovely red cherries to gorge on while punting in Oxford. Mushing up the cherries made it look as though we had blood on our hands. And lo and behold a swan was near. I don't know if you've heard, but Swans are protected by the Queen. Which is why I'm holding my tongue against those, well, slightly nasty creatures. They hiss (like snakes) and peck at you, which hurts.

{The so-called deadly Swan}

Back to our story. Which I think should be aptly titled (for lack of *any* imagination) - A little improv, clever (!) photography and lots of mushed cherries. So, as evident from the title of this story, we mushed cherries and dropped them before The Swan making it look like blood dripping from it's beak and took photos of the deadly Swan and of Anne looking slightly harassed and attacked. And her missing thumb. The End.

Ok, I'll admit. Not a great story. Moving on.

{Relishing some Guinness and London Pride and riveting conversation}

{Dad at Far From the Madding Crowd Pub in Oxford}

{Mum at FFTMC in Oxford}

{At FFTMC in Oxford}

More coming soon.

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Testing. Check! 1, 2, 3.

2012-08-28T22:15:00.000+05:30

I always find it really funny when the electrical guys come up on stage, bump the mike loudly and say, "Chhhheck. Chhhhheck. Testing. 1, 2, 3." So, the first thing that came to my mind as I sat down to write this post was: Testing! Check! Do these pictures work?!

I'm proud and very happy to announce that I finally own a camera. A real camera. You know - the DSLR type. One that I can play around with. This is exciting as it's a big step up from me. No more grainy, noisy photos. No more taking photos early in the morning to get that perfect light. No more sitting glum on a rainy day thinking, shoot, there's no sun today, that means no photos, no posts. No Sir-ee. Not for me. Well, at least not until I figure out how to actually use this thing.

This also means that I am now on a search (hunt) for a new camera bag. And I'm thoroughly confused. So, if you've used any of these bags and have suggestions, I will gladly take them! Choices are: Ephiphanie, TheIt, Kelly Moore and Emera. If you use or have used any of these bags, please do post a comment below with your pros and cons!

Also, here are my inaugural shots. Every time there's a new camera in the family, inaugural shots have been those of my parents in their PJs. Which, we (I) decided not to scar the world with. So here you are, random shots of random things in my room. Enjoy!

{An Austrian Knight/Sharpener}

{Old Cow Bell from Salzburg}

{My Phone and Cover}

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

LwW Loves: Brownie

2012-08-20T23:15:00.002+05:30

Say Hello to Brownie!

My very own vintage baby. All thanks to my lovely grandma, who kept it for so many years. Only to fall into my hands. I'm really excited about Brownie. I can't wait to scrounge Old Delhi shops to find old 620 spools for this camera.

Another trick I learnt is that I can re-spool a 120 spool into the 620 spool. There's just one thing though. I need to find a 620 spool first. If anyone knows where I can find/order a *cheap* 620 spool, please let me know! I would be eternally grateful.

Though I can't take pictures from this lovely old hag, I can take pictures of her! Welcome to my new obsession.

Watch this space for un-filtered vintage-y photos!

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

A Graduate At Last

2012-07-08T23:28:00.000+05:30

{The Graduand outside the Sheldonian}

Hello everyone,

The family and I took a small vacation to England this summer. The vacation was meant to coincide with my graduation ceremony (Degree Day) at Oxford. You may have seen recently on the news, the famous Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese politician who has been under house arrest in her own country) receive an honorary Bachelor of Civil Law Degree from Oxford. That is the degree that I graduated in on June 9, 2012.

{The Ceremony, inside the Sheldonian}

It was the most amazing ceremony I have ever been to. It's completely in Latin. You're brought in and presented still as a student of the University and you're asked, in Latin (excuse my translation), whether you agree to abide by the rules of the University and uphold what your degree stands for, so they may confer it upon you. And you agree, by bowing and saying 'Do fidem'. You're then escorted out, so you may change your existing gown, ie, your existing student status at University, put on your new gown defining your new student status at University. You are then brought in and presented to the whole theatre in your graduated status, with the entire theatre roaring in applause, you stop before the Vice Chancellor again, he takes off his mortar board to you and you are now a successful graduate.

I really don't mean to gloat, but the degree conferred on us, and later that week on Aung San Suu Kyi, is one of the most prestigious law degrees in the world. Which, is why it is conferred before every other degree during the ceremony. The whole experience was quite intoxicating and everyone felt as if they were the centre of the universe. Until it was time to return the rented gown. At 5 pm, sharp.

Oh well, the rest of the trip was quite amazing too. We had a proper family vacation with all three of us after a very long time. The Passi came down for the graduation as well. And we all had a splendid time. But, more on the vacation later. For now, I'd really like to share some memories from the ceremony.

{Pre-Ceremony Drinks at Corpus Christi College}

{With Mum}

{With I Pops}

{With The Passi, Before Heading to Drinks, in the Corpus Garden}

{Post Ceremony Family Photo}

{The Whole Lot}

{With Katie}

{Freaking Out in the Corpus Garden}

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Review: Out Of The Box, Hauz Khas

2012-07-03T14:26:00.001+05:30

{Worst White Russian Ever}

Right, since I have on my own taken up the role of the tackle-bad-food-joints-in-Delhi-crusade, I am going to continue my rant on how bad the service really is in Delhi restaurants.

Last night, at Out of the Box, Hauz Khas (OTB), we had a "wonderful" experience.

As we made our way over a large number of steps, we found that there was no one to direct people to their tables at the entryway. So, we wandered about until we found a suitable place to sit. Once sat, we waited about 15 minutes for menus, after repeatedly asking two different waiters. We then spotted a more suitable table that had just been emptied, and seeing as it were a free-for-all we headed down to make ourselves comfortable there. Waiting for another couple of minutes or so, we finally caught hold of a waiter and proceeded to tell him how we have not been waited on, at all.

Since our menus were not being brought to us, we proceeded to check out the menu on Zomato's iphone app. Finally with our menus, we happily ordered our drinks and food but not before finding out, 'surprise, surprise!', some items on the menu were not available. Alright, deep breaths.

Since I don't want to annoy you with our regular wait intervals, please note that between any two events we waited about 15-20 minutes (which we understand for food, but drinks? Really?).

Anyway, service begins. First came the beer. You really can't go wrong with beer. But, cocktails? Yes. Not thinking that bad service would also culminate in bad food/drinks (and trusting them so), I ordered myself a yummy white russian. Or so I thought. What I could taste was ice water and a subtle undertaste of baileys', which by the way burned me a hefty Rs. 400+. What does a rational person do when they encounter a terrible/non-working product? Ask for a new one or a replacement. As did I. Who wants to guess what they brought me? Look at the photo above for hints. No prizes - it's obvious. They removed the ice that had already melted and brought the drink back to me in a surprisingly 2 minute window. I'll applause them for that. No. Not really.

Annoyed and not willing to argue, like a lot of consumers in Delhi, I went with it. Next, food. With the things we ordered, I can't fault them much, except that the food tasted just about alright. My enchiladas tasted like a Shawarma and the Shish Touk, I thought was average, nothing spectacular. We did, however, really enjoy the Chettinad Chicken with Malabar Paratha. It was, by far, the best thing I had that night and would highly recommend it. Yum. Unfortunately, as you may have figured, technology and I aren't the best of friends and she bails on me when I really need her. Which is why, I don't have photos of the food we ordered. Next time, I'll make sure, I promise.

Just to add to my crusade, have you checked out Akosha yet? If you haven't and if you do, in fact, have any consumer concerns or issues that have not been resolved by your respective companies, do try them out - they're extremely helpful and very effective!

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Review: Underdoggs Sports Bar and Grill

2012-05-25T15:55:00.000+05:30

{Image Via}

If you want your money stolen, please DO go to Underdoggs. At the bar during the IPL match (Delhi vs Kolkata) on May 22, 2012 (tuesday), because of the limited number of tables we ordered our drinks at the bar. The bartender brought us our drinks and charged Rs. 1800 for two glasses of Stella and a gin and tonic. We know there's inflation and what not, but that was ridiculous.

So I asked the man who served us that I wanted the receipt, a reasonable request I presume. Shocked and in awe the server repeats, "Bill???". He wanders off for a while and returns to tell us that our bill is actually Rs. 1600 and returns the stolen 200 to us. I insist on the bill yet again. FYI it is my right at any institution to request and receive a bill or receipt for any transaction. Again, flustered he runs off to appear another 10 minutes later. The innings are almost over.

He waltzes up to my friend, testing our integrity and says, (translated) "Sir, your bill is actually 1655, are you willing to pay the other 55?" We say yes. He's MIA another 10 minutes. I catch hold of him and inform him that if he doesn't bring us our bill in the next 5 minutes, I will file an FIR (First Information Report) against the entire establishment for 'cheating' under S. 420 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Two minutes in, and the bill is finally brought to us. The calculations seem correct and includes a service charge for giving us our drinks at the bar. Lovely.

Ignoring that, we finish the rest of the match and leave, never to return to this racketeering hole they call a sports bar. I wonder, how many other poor souls they may have successfully duped, or cheated.

Moral of the story: Never forget to ask the establishment for your bill. It's your right.

...

The Housewarming

2012-05-22T01:21:00.000+05:30

What's the best thing about decorating or moving into a new place? Housewarming!

I love throwing parties and being hostess. If it were a well paying job, I'd be doing that.

So we invited some friends over for a chat, some good booze and amazing cheese, if I do say so myself. No, seriously. Good. Cheese.

Besides, I was really excited about using our new slate cheeseboard. So, up for dinner we had toasted baguette and focaccia with an Italian olive oil dip, four basic types of cheese, that go well with wine, with accompaniments, a green salad, mini bruschetta and guacamole toast, caprese on skewers, ravioli tossed in pesto and a vegetarian version of that. Our lovely friends brought over Beef and Vegetarian Biryani and some gorgeous Tiramisu. We finished the night with great conversation and a game of Jenga. Thanks for coming guys!

{Cheese Platter}

The star for the night, at least for me, was the blue cheese paired with the grapes. The spiced holland cheese was quite popular too. Pairings for the Brie and Gruyere were Salami, sundried tomatoes and toasted baguette and focaccia as well. With cheese, it's important to take the cheese and lay it out at least 15 minutes before your guests arrive. Cheese should be served at room temperature as it takes a little while before it becomes soft. This allows all the lovely flavors through and lovely cheese tasting experience.

{The Prepped Up Bar}

For the teetotalers we had lemon iced tea, a different offering than the regular sodas and juices. To pair with the cheese, we kept a bottle of Merlot since it's a wine that goes well with almost all kinds of cheese and a Pinot Grigio for the white lovers. Although, The Passi enjoys fixing drinks, we took a shortcut and picked up a few bottles of the readymade Margarita, Long Island Ice Tea and White Russian. You serve up good tasting drinks, don't waste time running about but actually conversing with your guests and getting people tipsy much quicker.

{The Living Room}

{The Party People}

{Some Food, Cocktails and Good Conversation}

{Having a Go at Jenga}

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Final Reveal Project: Bachelor Pad

2012-05-18T15:34:00.002+05:30

{Medieval Headboard + Yellow/White Striped Painting}

It's finally out. The final reveal for The Passi's Bachelor Pad, hopefully not for too long. No, no, don't worry. I'm not insinuating anything, least of all to The Passi. It was interesting doing up his place, mostly because it led to three major realizations:

$1000 is not a lot of money.
Indian home stores are actually pretty good and quite inexpensive.
America is really expensive when it comes to furniture (and rugs), and sometimes it's not even that good.

Oh and one more. Target isn't too bad if you're starting out. Look and you shall find. I had to make a lot of sacrifices. He literally would have to hold and pull me away from stores and things I wanted to pick out for the place. I was obsessed.

But, since the budget wasn't too high for a quick revamp, I kept to places like craigslist, Target and TJ Maxx and we found quite a few inexpensive and lovely things. Bear in mind, the flat was done from scratch, not a lot of money and although I prefer filled up walls and a little bit of chaotic symmetry, classic and modern styles mixed in, The Passi prefers clean empty walls and spartan modern design. So there had to be a bit of compromise. I also refurbished a few old things of his to use and decorate the place with. Oh and re photos, the sun wasn't very kind to us that weekend, which is why all the lamps are on during the day. Hope you enjoy the little tour!

Image above: I prefer plastic flowers to real ones, and prefer twiggy flowers like lavenders or long stemmed sunflowers. The curtain rod atop the window is actually a longbow. The Passi is an avid archer and we thought bringing some of his interests into the decoration would make this flat feel more homely. The paintings on either side of the window were done by me. We both love yellow and a solid yellow canvas was just what the room needed to bring more life into it.

You may notice that the room contains a platform bed. We weren't impressed very much with the regular beds and the box spring concept. In his previous apartment The Passi had a floor arrangement in his bedroom and had two XL twin spring mattresses. While he was keen on a memory foam king mattress, the budget was being overshot by over $600.

Luckily, we found a local craftsmen, who made bed frames from refurbished wood, packing up his business for something new and decided to sell the beds for a pretty heavy discount. We asked him to tweak the measurements a little bit so it could fit the twins and voila, a beautiful pine wood bed for less than $200. To make the spring mattresses more comfortable we added a memory foam mattress topper from Target and it's one of the most comfortable beds I've slept on.

Image above: The wall behind the bed was missing a little something-something. We found this light medieval looking door at Hobby Lobby. We put it up on the wall so it may work as a pseudo-headboard-wall-art for the empty room. We had extra chairs lying about that his previous roommate left behind and instead of throwing them away converted one into a bed side table and one as a step that sits comfortably hidden away in his walk-in.

Image above: We changed the loo cover to make it slightly more interesting and give the room a bit more color. We had picked up the beach sign a few years ago and he's held on that so keeping with the beachy/nautical look of the shower curtain we went with nautical for the entire loo. There's even a sailor-like wine jug.

{A reminder to look forward to sunny, breezy days on the beach}

{Sailor's Wine}

Image above: My favorite part of the living room is this 1950's couch that we got off craigslist that cost us about $75. Its in great condition for its age and even has a sturdy pull-out bed for when guests are over. Ignore the food on the table, we were preparing for the housewarming while these pictures were being taken. The table on either side of the couch are chests that we picked up from TJ Maxx and act as a good storage space as well good looking side tables. Being as it is, quite a small apartment, the long horizontally placed mirror give the room a bit of depth and makes it seem slightly bigger than usual. We've tried to incorporate vintage and modern furniture along with a bit of the 60's with the lava lamp next to the couch.

{The bar ready to serve up cocktails along with The Passi's Curve Bow}

Lesson learnt at the end of this blog post: Only take vertical photographs. Geez.

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

A Taste of Delhi

2012-05-14T04:39:00.000+05:30

{Creamy Afghani Chicken at Location #2}

So I'm back in 'saadi dilli' (my Delhi) for a bit and while I wait around before I graduate in June I'm hitting the town for some good food, wine and lots of catching up.

First on my list was a popular Food Tour on Trip Advisor, the Delhi Food Tours. It's run by a lovely couple Prashant and Ayesha, who personally conduct the tour and explain everything you need to know about different types of Indian cuisine concentrated in this amazing little melting pot of a city.

The tour usually lasts about two hours and they personally take you to different joints and present to you the best they have to offer. With Indian food being so extensive and all that variety, it's important to let someone guide you to what you should really try and what you should give a miss.

Wait a minute. Trust someone else's taste? No way! Well then, tell 'em what you'd like and they'll try to give you the best version of it, or at least the most authentic version of it.

Although I grew up in Delhi and as a rite of passage, visited all the places they took us to, we tried things I never would have ordered myself. I'd like to think I'm adventurous. Well, slightly. But when we go out, I tend to order my regular adventure. So it was good, going to the same haunts but trying something completely different. And loving it.

I'd love to tell you where we ate, but that's the USP of DFT. Mystery. For us dilli-waalahs, it was a surprise at every step. For me, it was tasting new memories in the same old spots that already hold so many amazing childhood memories.

I can tell you this though, we started off in South India with a nice vegetarian pre-set meal supplemented with chicken curry and a well-charred mutton fry. We then moved up slightly North/Northwest for Afghani-style creamy tandoori chicken, biryani, sheermaal (sweet milk bread with holes in it) and melt-in-your-mouth mutton kakori kababs. Though I frequent Location #2 a lot, I have to say that my favorite when it comes to Kakori's is the newly christened Sab Ki Khatir. However, the Afghani chicken at Location #2 was Ah-may-zing. *Drool*

We moved slightly further north for butter chicken (or chicken tikka masala to the rest of the world. Short rant - its not an English delicacy and it was in fact invented in India. Harumph). Finally, we proceeded all over India for dessert. I'm really sorry but Location #4 is not pictured in this post. Why, you ask. I was so full my brain stopped working. Literally. Give the over-stuffed lady a break, will ya?

All in all, a fun night with great company and ree-uh-ly good food. If you'd like to go on a Delhi Food Tour then please, by all means, contact Prashant or Ayesha here.

On a side note, you're probably shuddering in your chair right now thinking about the Delhi Belly. For those of you not in the know, it's the terminology applied to traveller's diarrhea contracted in India especially by tourists. If that's you, DFT has something special for you too.

{South Indian Thali at Location #1}

{Punjabi Butter Chicken at Location #3}

{Punjabi 'Dal Makhani', ie, Rich Black Gram or Lentil Curry at Location #3}

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Weekend in Vegas

2012-04-26T03:55:00.000+05:30

{Mon Ami Gabi, Hotel Paris}

So, we took a trip. A weekend in Vegas. Quite a weekend. With all of The Passi's friends from work. Thanks guys it was a really fun trip!

We did the general things you do in Vegas, and then some. I would definitely recommend checking out the Freemont Street Experience. Its an eclectic mix of people with crazy lights, sounds and things to do.

On the first day we got our giant 48 oz. Margaritas to go and walked about town and explored the Strip. For us, its always important to stay at a place that's centrally located so you can walk about town. We all put up at the Treasure Island, which is on the Strip but not right in the middle of the crazy traffic jam. The same night we got out our party wear, dressed up and painted the town red!

Well, no. Not really. We capped out early, if you know what I mean.

Pfft... Amateurs.

We did enjoy an amazing dinner (the steaks are to die for) at the Mon Ami Gabi at the Hotel Paris (Paree) and then walked over to the Bellagio for our "bottle service" at Hyde. It makes a lot of sense to order bottle service in Vegas if you're in a big group. There are no lines, well almost, because if you order bottle service you'd be in the VIP line which is *much* shorter. Your drinks are by the bottle and you usually have a personal bartender pouring out your drinks.

The problem here is that there's a little bit of a racket going on, at least at Hyde (watch out for the music if you open the link). They're not meant to touch or take your drinks away. That's the whole point of a bottle service, your table is your table and you can *safely* leave your drinks on your table so you can go dance and to come back and have your drink still there. No Sir-ee. The minute you put your drink down and turn your back, its gone. And this kept happening the entire night, which led to, me concentrating on the drink, more than the party. There's a limit to how much you can cheat your paying customers. Tut tut. You'll see in the Hyde photo below that my drink is sitting behind me, but when I turned, it was gone.

Oh and a warning. If you're not a US resident, make sure you carry your passport to all clubs, no matter how *tiny* your clutch. They won't let you in. I had to trudge all the way back to our hotel cause my DL wasn't good enough. Harumph.

The next morning we all had a greasy-post-drinking-breakfast at Denny's and spent the day by the pool at our hotel. Most pools (pool parties) have a cover to get in. So we stayed put at our hotel pool and ordered a Cabana. Again, makes sense if you're in a large group and want to hang out together. The pool chairs fill up surprisingly fast.

After soaking up the sun - NOT. I'm from India. I don't do tans - everyone was out after another day of drinking, so The Passi and I headed down to the Stratosphere tower that has thrill rides on the 108th floor. Yikes. Imagine hanging off the side of a 1100 feet tall building. Oh wait, I did that. The Passi is obsessed with going on every crazy roller-coaster/thrill ride in the world and makes sure that I go with him no matter how scared I am. I have to say though, it was a lot of fun! I love heights!

After, we found our way down to the Freemont Street (watch out for the music again!). Psychedelic lights and sounds and a different type of concert/live show every 15 feet. Quite an environment. We walked the entire length of the Freemont Street to beyond Neonopolis. We hung out around the Golden Gate hotel, the oldest hotel in Vegas and listened to some rock and country. By this time, we could only drink water or cola.

Since we were flying out early next morning, The Passi thought it would be a good idea if we stayed up all night and headed straight to the airport. No, it was not a good idea. Still recovering. We did however, meet up with our friends and headed into The Wynn for one last cocktail. Whadday weekend!

Hope to see you again Vegas, for all the things I couldn't do this time around!

{Hyde, Bellagio and the case of the disappearing drink}

{Stratosphere Thrill Rides}

{Outside the oldest hotel in Vegas - Golden Gate - @ the Freemont Street Experience}

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Meet Charlie

2012-04-24T22:41:00.001+05:30

Hi everyone!

Meet Charlie. She's a quirky lil lab, who loves to bite and is very obedient.

She's a new addition to The Passi's house. No, you do not need a doggy to do up your home. But, it doesn't hurt to adopt one. Especially cause they're so adorable.

So, let's all welcome Charlie! Hurrah!

Hello Charlie. I love you.

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Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Some Work, Some Play

2012-04-11T03:22:00.000+05:30

Oh, Hello!

Since you're here, might as well share some photos of the bachelor pad with you.

Who am I kidding?! I've been dying to show these photos to you! I was just trying my luck at being posh. Ahem. Anyway.

As I've mentioned before in my earlier makeover posts, the thing that really makes your house a home should be the memories. Your best memories. Those, that when you look at them, make you happy, even if a little bit.

And you never know, mixing the quirkiest of pieces may give you an area in your home that has the most character.

In the first photo, from the far left, a toy I got from my visit to Beijing for The Passi, postcards from our trip to London, a holy beaded necklace I used to tie a letter I wrote him in high school, a metal poster he picked up from Portobello market in London after we met with one of his old friends, his favorite character (and movie) and his half of our tickets to Les Miserables at Queens Theatre in London.

{Memories}

Now, all work and no play makes The Passi a dull boy. A very important part of his new apartment. Like most (all) rentals, there's (obviously) no bar. But in the new apartment, a very strangely placed study desk right outside his bedroom door. Since it was an anomaly - well, for me - so I thought it might be a nice place to set up the bar.

The top cabinets are empty at the moment since a lot of the glasses are still in boxes that we need to unpack. Soon. But, once that's done, the glasses go in the cabinet above the desk, tools and corkscrews in the wide drawer under the desk and shakers and ice buckets go in the cabinet at the bottom.

{Bar}

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Sneak Peek into Project: Bachelor Pad

2012-04-10T01:55:00.001+05:30

Hello lovely people!

I'm sorry about such a long wait, but as you know, setting up a home is a long drawn and tedious process. A lot of the work had to be shelved until The Passi was free to do some heavy lifting (as you can see below). He's a really busy man, doing really good work. So, I guess we can give him a pass. And as I can't really hire any one to do the heavy lifting for me, I guess he will have to suffice. But, I was pleasantly surprised that he has a great eye for symmetry and that's our OCD, together.

The apartment is still unfinished. So, you might have to wait slightly longer for the final reveal, ie, until its all done. But I will bring you some sneak peaks over the next two weeks.

There's a slight clarification I must also make at this point. I call this a bachelor pad mostly because I'm not going to be living here with The Passi. I'm still jobless. And will probably keep making regular trips between Fargo and New Delhi until I find one.

Also, The Passi has a roommate and I have to be mindful of her things while setting up. So, I'll keep referring to her things on the way and how we have incorporated them in our style to set up. I say incorporated, because she has been really kind to let us take the reigns on the setting up process. Thank you Tara!

I'm on a tight budget which I'm about to reach, so some things may have to be cut down, and The Passi will fill them in on his own terms - read: bar stools - more on that later. I have some venting to do on that bit.

So here's a list of things that we still need to get/do:

1) Rug for living room

2) Rug for bedroom

3) Complete DIY decor projects

4) Cushions/cushion covers

5) Lamp shade

6) Storage for Nerf Guns. Yes. I know. I said that too.

{The Passi and all the heavy lifting}

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Moving and Packing

2012-03-28T05:13:00.000+05:30

We're moving!

And with moving, comes packing. Ugh. Not one of my favorite activities. We're not moving very far, just a few blocks down, so we've got one U-Haul, some furniture and some boxes. Also, because we don't have a lot of furniture, we dont really need to stack boxes. We also don't have too many boxes. So we thought, let's make the most of it and give our boxes some extra space.

The bigger boxes containing the tv and other fragilities will be boxed and sealed for cushioning. But we figured some of the others could remain top-open. This works exceptionally well for flatter boxes with less depth, like a Flat TV box, which can instantly get up to three times its original depth (see Picture #3 below).

A simple tip for those moving, or when/if you move. Take the top open panels of your box and stick them together, standing up, with some tape. It'll give the box at least twice the depth needed for bigger things that don't have their own boxes or for stacking lots of easy access food while you're moving (and cleaning the kitchen).

{3x more space in a flat TV box}

{Tape up around the edges}

~ Gayatri ~

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

A Good Cause: reCAPTCHA

2012-03-22T06:22:00.000+05:30

I love helping out, so much so, that sometimes people have to push me off and say, "You're helping too much!". I don't necessarily think thats a bad thing, but yes, I would love to help out and get others to help out too once in a while, without being told off. Ahem.

Anyway, if you have the time, do watch this (embedded) brilliant TED video about "reCAPTCHA". Some may already know about CAPTCHA. It was an attempt to block spammers and spam bots from leaving ludicrous and irrelevant comments and links on your webpage or website.

But then, the people at google came up with reCAPTCHA. The thought behind it was, "How about while people write those silly words in word verification forms, they also help translate scanned books which the computer can't do." What a great idea!

What is reCAPTCHA?

"reCAPTCHA is a free CAPTCHA service that helps to digitize books, newspapers and old time radio shows." -- Google.

"reCAPTCHA asks commenters to read two words from a book. One of these words proves that they are a human, not a computer. The other word is a word that a computer couldn't read. Because the user is known to be a human, the reading of that word is probably correct. So you don't get comment spam, and the world gets books digitized. Everybody wins!"

Apparently, hundreds and thousands of people type in word-verification forms on a daily basis. By typing in that second and "extra/unnecessary" word (while you're cursing the double amount of work you need to do to get to that page, your "attempt"at transcribing that extra word just helped properly scan and transcribe a paragraph from an old book.

Wouldn't it be amazing if this very small self-less act of ours helped translate millions of books which are being digitized right now? This is a major step forward for libraries all around the world, digitizing forever old books that may rot away and allow us easy access to them. What a lovely good deed for the day, don't you think?

Lend a hand, just 10 seconds of your time. If you come across reCAPTCHA (as you will on my blog if you comment) fill in those two strange words and help digitize a book.

PS: If you want to have a go, or just help out because you feel like you want to contribute click on the "reCAPTCHA" button on the right sidebar and it will take you to their site and you can start helping out right away!

A Stylelist Home Feature and New Ventures

2012-03-16T05:56:00.000+05:30

Hello lovely people!

I am so excited about my new project! Its a new move-in, so I'm doing up the place from scratch. You can follow my inspirations for it on Pinterest, here.

Talking about Pinterest, guess who made the "Top 5 Pinners to Follow" list this week on Stylelist Home? You're looking right at her blog page.

Thank you Stylelist Home for including me on your great list with such amazing pinners! I feel honored.

PS: Watch this space for more sneak peaks of Project: Bachelor Pad.

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

LwW Loves: The Koolaburra

2012-02-08T12:57:00.000+05:30

{Via Koolaburra Blog}

LwW is loving the Koolaburra boots! Watch out UGGs, you have some serious competition.

Although they look similar (the Koolaburras are easily mistakable as UGGs to the untrained eye) the Koolaburras are sassy yet casual, edgy and very symmetrical. They dare to go beyond the regular UGG and are not for the faint of heart.

My favorites include the Haley, Savannity, the Taylor and the Sadie Studded Buckle Boot (no longer available!). When I say they're not for the faint of heart, I meant be prepared to shell out $300+ on a pair of boots. That's a little steep considering you can get a sturdy pair of UGGs for half of that. But like I said, Koolaburras are the next UGGs and are taking the scene by storm. If you're a GILT member make sure you check out the Koolaburra sale for what's left! ($119+)

On a side note, LwW is also loving Kate Hudson rock the red pants!

*Sigh*

Valentine's Day Wishlist

2012-02-02T09:18:00.000+05:30

Its the lovey-dovey time of year again! Even though some may say (sometimes, including me) that V day is just a money-making holiday for card companies and whatnot, it's just another excuse to show them you're thinking of them and love them dearly. You may say it everyday, and you may say it in a special way, but why not on Valentine's day too, huh. You know what else, some say its been linked with love since the 14th Century (Wiki it!). Now if that isn't reason enough to celebrate love, just do it to make your partner happy! Another reason to celebrate is an amazing offer LwW has for you! Keep reading to find out more.

On my wishlist this year (hopefully some clueless boyfriends will google this!):

Red-velvet Mini Cupcakes

{Breakfast in London}

This one's for the boys: Forget chocolates! That's way old school. Grab some mini red-velvet cupcakes. They're red and she'll love them more than the box of chocolates you pick out at the groceries. If you're in the NCR area, you can contact these lovely ladies who could whip up a batch of red velvet goodness for you!

Addicted Cupcakes. Find their menu here.

Remember the offer I was talking about. Well, Addicted Cupcakes has very graciously offered a 10% discount to all LwW readers ordering a batch of their cupcakes from now till 14th of February!

All you need to do is quote that you're an LwW reader (or that you read Look who's Wearing) and you'll get a 10% discount on your order! Thanks Addicted Cupcakes!

You can even order cupcakes from Baking From My Heart.

*Make sure though you call them at least a day in advance!*

Write A Note!

Whatever you decide on doing, remember its not what you get them, its the effort you put in to put a smile on their faces that counts! Even if that means writing a simple letter and placing it in their lunchbag, file or coat pocket.

Other ideas:

DIY Valentine's Day goody bags

Fun Valentine's Day cards

Surprise Breakfast - Egg in a basket

A Toothy surprise

If you haven't already, do check out last year's Valentine's Day Wishlist! Very applicable this year as well! Its got a heart cake and cookies (if you like baking), peonies to give to the ladies, and a link to some fun fruit stickers (Orange you glad!) that will put a smile on your loved ones faces as they reach out for breakfast or a snack.

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Happy Birthday, LwW!

2012-01-12T17:07:00.001+05:30

{Birthday Red Velvet Cupcakes}

{Birthday Goodies}

You know, It seems to me that birthdays are always going to be stacked next to each other in my life. This past week, we celebrated my birthday, then The Passi's birthday and today is LwW's first Birthday! We also celebrated my parents' birthdays here, which happen to be right next to each other on the calendar.

I can hardly believe that one year has already passed since LwW came into existence. I am happy to say that there have been some good improvements and we've made lots of friends over the past year!

I just want to say thank you and give out a big virtual hug to everyone who visits LwW that makes it so special! I would not be writing if it wasn't for the great response. Thank you everyone!

I also promise that you will see more on LwW this year. There are a few very important things I must finish before I can give my absolute all here. So while my posts may be slightly erratic, I'm always thinking of you and thinking of writing for you. So keep an eye out!

Again, thank you everyone for all your unending support! We truly appreciate it.

PS: The gorgeous red velvet cupcakes you see in the photo above are from Addicted.

And, Yes. Yes, that is a Tiffany box.

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

LwW Loves: Feather Skirts

2012-01-11T17:49:00.000+05:30

{Via Lipsy and Pinterest}

LwW is loving, no wait is totally bonkers for the feather skirt! You can also find D.I.Y. feather skirts at WhoWhatWear!

Ways to wear it:
For a party, I'd pair it with a plain white or a black tee (specifically if the skirt is black), a fitted blazer, a statement necklace and high pumps.

In the summer, I'd wear it with a broad belt with a statement embellishment and a light printed blouse.

For a boho-chic look, pair it with short tan cowboy boots, a tan leather belt and a leather biker jacket.

{Via LiveGlam and Mango}

{Via Asos and Harrods}

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been credited to their authors.

iPhone Tips

2011-12-27T02:24:00.000+05:30

Tips for iPhone-ers: Do you want to sync your iPhone address book with photos and information of your friends from facebook?

Easy!

Go to your friends list on your facebook app and tap on the arrow for more options.
Tapping the arrow will give you a pop-up with two options. Tap on Sync Contacts.
Tap to change 'Syncing' from 'off' to 'on'; and the same with 'Replace Photos'.
It'll ask you to confirm. Say Yes. It doesn't overwrite anything!

That's all you need to do :)

P.S.: It even updates all your whatsapp contacts' profile pictures since all the contacts on your iPhone now have their profile photos as the ones synced from Facebook!

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Christmas Special: Mulled Wine and Mince Pies

2011-12-24T23:24:00.000+05:30

{For the Mulled Wine}

Happy Christmas everyone!

Its not really christmas until you have a cup full of mulled wine in one hand and a mince pie in the other. I've been missing both terribly. And since I'm not that professional a baker, I decided to make the mulled wine also known as Gluhwein, and buy the mince pies. (More pictures below!)

Though there a number of bakeries in New Delhi, not many kept mince pies. After some research I found out that the bakery, 'Angel's In My Kitchen', had mince pies. So, very excitedly I popped over to the Defence Colony bakery and walked in to find satisfactory looking mince pies. I got three, one for each family member. They were pies, and had mincemeat, so technically, they were mince pies. But, were they any good? I wouldn't put my money on it, again. The pie tasted like gooey raisin filling in a croissant. Because, that's what the pastry tasted like, it was flaky and bread-like rather than sweet pastry for a pie. The mincemeat had everything but the mincemeat. Lacking the essential currants and sultanas deeply soaked in rum and the Christmassy flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg.

I did enjoy the Gluhwein and while I took a bite of the pie I imagined myself tucking into the lovely Waitrose mini mince pies and clementines. Oh well, can't have my cake and eat it too, now can I? This saying must really change. Its really not fair.

{Mince Pies and Mulled Wine}

I packed some of the cinnamony-organgey mulled wine into a glass bottle to gift to my lovely friends Piya and Kirin from funkanatomy.com for Christmas. I wrapped the neck of the lid with some baker's twine and made a homemade label for some homemade wine. I've cut some tags out of some thick decorative paper to label 'To's and 'From's.

{Packed Mulled Wine as Christmas Gifts}

For the Mulled Wine, I would take an inexpensive cherry based wine, as its already got the sour flavor going for it. I picked the Grover's La Reserve red which, at least to me, has a strong hint of cherry. Must mention though, different families (and European countries) have slightly different recipes for the wine. Recipe below.

{Mulled Wine}

What you'll need:

A big saucepan (for an entire bottle of wine)
A bottle of inexpensive red wine (cherry hints, if possible)
A large orange (or two small clementines)
10-12 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks (or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder)
150 g Honey (I used Bhutanese organic honey)
180 ml water

To make the wine:

Cut the orange in half and stick the cloves into one half of the orange as in Picture #1.
Pour the water, honey, juice from the non-clove half of the orange and grate some orange zest into the pan.
Add the cinnamon sticks and the clove ridden orange to the pot and bring to a boil. Let the mixture boil for 10 minutes to extract the flavor from the ingredients.
Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for a minute before adding the bottle of red wine. Keep stirring, not allowing the mixture to boil but slowly heat up and slightly simmer. Boiling the mixture with the wine in it will evaporate the alcohol entirely.
Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes or so. Its important to keep tasting. On tasting, if the wine tastes a little sour and leaves an aftertaste of orange and cinnamon in your mouth, shut the heat. You're done.
Pour into mugs, garnish with a cinnamon stick and enjoy!

This is the easiest recipe you can use for mulled wine. You can even add a teaspoon of nutmeg powder or a dash of rum to give it more potency.

Do you have a particular mulled wine recipe that you use? It'll be great if you could share yours in the comments as well!

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

The Week That Was

2011-12-23T18:39:00.000+05:30

{Latest Obsession: Longchamp Le Pliage Small Bag}

Its been a great week! Mostly because I've been obsessing over my new bag. I have the large Le Pliage Shopping Sac. But, since I finished with University, I no longer need a big book bag (of sorts) for everyday. And, in my line of work, a big red bag isn't always welcome. Ahem.

Moving on, I very apprehensively completed Task #1 on last week's list. I got bangs or a fringe, whatever you'd like to call it. I was apprehensive because I'm always scared walking into a Salon, even if it's the same guy I've been going to for ages. Because! They're creative and can blow their top at any point and cut your hair into teeny-tiny spikes. Which is sort of what happened with my bangs. I even had a photo of what I wanted and he said, "Yes, Yes, very well."

I got spikey bangs.

But, I still love them! They make my face look narrow. However, I am going to grow them out and let them look like little chunks of my hair in a month or so. You'll also be happy to know, I have increased the speed of my laps while at the pool.

We have also made use of a mirror-effect terracotta bowl in our garden as a bird bath. Looks pretty, shimmers in the sun (thereby drawing attention to itself) and quenches the thirst of all those squirrels and birds.

Right, now for next week:

- Gluhwein (mulled wine) and mince pies post especially for Christmas

- Romantic chignon for all those amazing parties and weddings coming up.

- What you can wear to keep you warm at Indian-winter-weddings.

{Mirror Effect Terracotta Bowl as a Bird Bath in the Garden}

{Last Week's Task #1 Completed. Got Bangs}

Photo Credits and Copyright: All photos have been taken by Gayatri Kumar and belong to Look who's Wearing (LwW)

Look Who's Wearing

Switzerland - Update

Memories from England II

Memories From England I

Testing. Check! 1, 2, 3.

LwW Loves: Brownie

A Graduate At Last

Review: Out Of The Box, Hauz Khas

Review: Underdoggs Sports Bar and Grill

The Housewarming

Final Reveal *Project: Bachelor Pad*

A Taste of Delhi

Weekend in Vegas

Meet Charlie

Some Work, Some Play

Sneak Peek into *Project: Bachelor Pad*

Moving and Packing

A Good Cause: reCAPTCHA

A Stylelist Home Feature and New Ventures

LwW Loves: The Koolaburra

Valentine's Day Wishlist

Happy Birthday, LwW!

LwW Loves: Feather Skirts

iPhone Tips

Christmas Special: Mulled Wine and Mince Pies

The Week That Was

Final Reveal Project: Bachelor Pad

Sneak Peek into Project: Bachelor Pad