confession.
home decor makes me more excited than clothes.
i think i'm officially an adult.

if i had to describe my decorating style, i think i'd call it 'british raj with a modern twist.'
yeah, i just made that up.

but the british part is because i have some pretty traditional pieces...mostly family hand me downs.
the raj part is because pretty much everything else is from india. or world market.
the modern part is because, well, i'd like to think that i make it look cool. :P

we've lived in our house for a year and a half now, and we're slowly getting all the rooms furnished and to our liking. one room that i still can't get quite right though is our master bedroom.


i think one of my biggest issues with it is the bed. it needs some drama.
that headboard is one my mom gave me (that i think she garage saled from my grandma) about 8 years ago when i moved to my first real apartment. i spray painted it, and since then it's moved with my 4 times. it's pretty rough.

thus, draped over it is my wedding veil. one of the only things in the room that i'd say really goes with the whole 'raj' theme. it has some awesome indian embroidery on it. oh, and i guess the green block print blanket on the bed...that's one thing that i smuggled back from indian this time.


well, the good news is that i'm getting a a new headboard!
i'm suuuuuuper excited!
and what makes me extra thrilled is that my big baby brother is making it for me...
out if this!

that happens to be an antique door from my parents old house...i'm in love!
i love things that are sentimental, and also things that are completely unique, so this definitely fits the bill for both! oh, and i love things that are free! :)

he's going to stain it darker to match my other furniture.
so now i'm inspired to make some other changes, and i need your help.

i need to bring a bit more india into this room, and i think some piece of art over the bed is just the place. with a window on each side, the bed is really the focal point of this room

i was on the hunt for a cool wood carving or wall hanging when i was in mumbai last month, but my prey was elusive, and i didn't find what i was looking for.

so now i'm thinking of putting some kind of blown up photo up there.
i need a pic that will inspire tranquility though...and romance. ;)

so i was browsing some free stock photos, and i found some pics of the places in india that we honeymooned! how bedroom appropriate. :)

but what do you think...would any of these look good blown up oversized and framed above the bed to give this room a little more raj and romance?

#1

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#3

or be honest, would something like this look cheesy?
i've tried over and over again for a mosquito net above our bed, but since the husband is from a place where they're actually a necessity, he doesn't find them as romantic as i do. :P
so let's get creative!

it is done.
i'm officially a thirtysomething, so watch out.

i guess the weird thing for turning thirty for me isn't so much that i feel different...but somehow i feel like it changes people's perceptions and expectations of me...should i be more responsible now?
is the bio clock ticking or what?

then again, maybe not...maybe it's all in my head.

but despite the weirdness factor, i did have a marvelous birthday week.

i was able to see my family, and take my dad's books from my parent's old house...he had like a gazillion amazing books. it meant a lot to me to get them, because i super miss my dad.
but sadly i had no place to keep them.

soooo...for my 30th bday my husband got me a library!
ok, so really it was some billy bookcases from ikea, but they made our office feel just like a library, and made me oh so happy! i feel like i'm being hugged by my dad's books!


i'm in love!
...with my husband i mean. ;)

 and the week was nicely topped off with a bollywood style birthday, which for me just means lots of crazy bollywood dancing. that stuff is seriously the best stress relief ever.
nothing like that to take the years off...plus amazing friends and food.



so thanks for the bday love everyone...
and please tell me i have a baby face. :)

what can i say about my twenties.
well, they've really been the best and the worst years of my life thus far...

so today on the last of being a twentysomething i thought i'd just list in no strict order the highs and lows of this passing decade:

cut off my long hair
traveled to africa
graduated college
met the love of my life
moved to missouri
first real apartment
got a masters degree
thought i could never be with the love of my life
moved back to texas
started working with internationals
became a dog mama
married the love of my life (it worked out)
traveled to india for the first time
lost my dad
lost my grandma
mom's home makeover
traveled to germany and austria
bought our first house
first white christmas ever
traveled to ireland

so if my life were a line graph, these would be the biggest peaks and valleys...well, obviously some much bigger than others.
wow. life changes a lot in your twenties.

ok thirties...let's try keeping it in the peaks. :)

so clearly blogging wasn't one of my new year's resolutions this year!

life's been pretty busy since we came back from india.

3 house guests, pet sitting, a conference, a cold, christmas, new years...the days have been packed.

and now i am experiencing my last few days of being a twenty something.

yes it's true. on to the new decade.


i hope our texas snow bodes well for this new season. love it.

here's a little something just to give you a taste of going around town in an auto rickshaw...
and trust me...this is pretty tame compared to a lot of rides i've had! haha.


i think rickshaw drivers here would be awesome at video games.

this has been the week o'indian weddings for us!


i must say i've enjoyed it greatly.
indian weddings are kind of like bollywood movies.... colorful, exciting, extravagant, dramatic, and crazy long! haha.


but i've loved being pampered with mehendi, eating an insance amount of amazing food, dressing in sparkly clothes, and dancing like a crazy firangi!

good times!

greetings from india.

this is my third trip to india, so you'd think i'd be a pro by now, right?
hehe, ok, maybe not.

even if i'm mentally prepared, india is always a slight shock to the system.

i once heard rick steeves, the famous travel guide, say that india is his favorite place to tour...
because it's the most of opposite of any other place he's visited.
and that man has visited a lot of places!

but to me that's a good way to describe india. opposite world.

i've been to my fair share of places as well...i'm no rick steeves, but i've seen a bit in europe, south america, and even africa...and i must say that india is still strangely unique.

i think it would be fair to call it a land of contradictions.

there are many things about india that are very beautiful, and there are many things that are very ugly...and these things strangely often go hand in hand.

i'll tell you what i mean...

the sense of community is amazing...the extreme over population and lack of privacy is not.

the importance of respect is beautiful...the disrespect towards the lower classes is sad.

the strength of family is powerful...the family drama and politics would rival a soap opera.

the way people here are in tune with more nature and natural health is fantastic...the extreme pollution and environmental stress is a major problem.

so you never really know for sure how you feel about something here. everything is a double sided coin it seems. though maybe it's like that a bit everywhere?

anyways, that's my perspective...at least from the big city of mumbai. i know things have varied a bit in other parts of the country that i've visited.

i've had the fun this visit so far of meeting up with some friends that we know from the US here. we've gotten to be tourists together, so that's always fun. the other day we actually did sort of a 26/11 terrorism tour...inadvertently. haha. we pretty much visited all the sites that were targeted by terrorists a couple years ago.

the gateway to india/taj hotel (they're right by each other)...



there were some cute little girls dancing with the navy band in front of the taj on the day we went...i think it might have been for some kind of 26/11 week memorial.


this is in front of the leopold cafe...one of the spots that got shot up. on our other camera we got some pics of some of the bullet holes that are still inside...kind of eerie... good food though. :)


we also went by the oberoi, though i forgot to get a pic of it.

anyways, i shall leave you with this typical indian street scene. 



crossing the street here is an art. :)