WORKING FROM HOME: WHAT WORKS FOR ME

All of us around the world, in our different phases of staying at home, have been working from home. While the idea sounds very idyllic, I must tell you that it does come with its own set of unique challenges. As many of you know, I have had ample experience of working from home, as I needed the flexibility when I started my family. And last year, I had an experience of working from the hospital(also WFH), when my husband was battling cancer. So when the stay at home orders started, I had a few ideas of what works for me, and what does not, when it comes to working from home.

A few weeks ago, I had written a post about "Things to do while you are staying home: Self-care edition." If you haven't yet read that, then Click Here.

So here are some ideas of how I work from home, specially designed with the quarantine situation:

Plan your workday and child care needs: 
Just like every other person, every evening, I like taking a look at my calendar for the next day. I am not working from along. I have my husband, who is also working from home, our first-grader who is home from school, and my 75 lb puppy. While we are fortunate for all the online work, which the school district has been sending us, let us face it, there is time, we have to devote, to make sure it is done. So I plan out my daughter's day with a mix of online school work, some written worksheets, some playtime in her room, to name a few. The puppy needs his meals and walks. And my husband also has his share of Zoom calls. As long as the other partner is aware of your video conference/office call times, then you can plan for better child care, in my books.

Sort out your technology needs:
It sounds basic, but let me tell you, how important it is. For instance, the internet isn't the best, in all corners of our house. And with all of us doing our share of Zoom calls every weekday, we have to make sure, all three of us had connectivity in our designated workspaces in the house.

Make your bed: 
When you are home for good, you need some routines, to let your mind thinking in the right mode. As funny as it may sound, the simple act of making my bed in the morning, really helps my mind to create that idea, that I am ready for work.

Dress up:
Not telling you to cake your face with makeup and work in a ball gown by any means. While it is very tempting to stay in PJs, I have seen that it helps me, when I take the time to get dressed for the day. Both I and my husband, and our daughter does our share of Zoom calls every day, so being dressed professionally, doing our hair, for instance, really helps. While most days I am make up free, some days, I will just apply some eyeliner, mascara and some lipstick.

Create the right ambiance: 
Yes, you have a laptop, and yes, you can work from bed. But it doesn't work for me, honestly. While my husband works out of our kitchen table, I have created a desk space in our guest bedroom. It does have doors, which means I can have privacy when I have my Zoom calls. The technology works well, in that corner, ensuring my bandwidth for the calls. And it helps me in creating the distinction between workspace and lounging space.

Another thing which has really helped me is listening to some calming music while I work. One cannot deny, that stress levels are at the highest for all of us. So playing some soft music, helps me relax and yet, be productive. I love the app called Calm, ad their music selection.

Enjoy breakfast together: 
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right. So now that w have all this extra time together, we make sure that we spend some extra time, bonding over breakfast. On a normal workday, breakfast is rushed, with daycare and work runs.

Take breaks:
I am a workaholic if you didn't know that already, so for me its very important that I take breaks. To give my eyes and my mind a break. Even if it means, just going downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack or some coffee. We do complete digital detox when we have lunch together as a family. It really helps us focus better when we get back to work.

Maintain regular hours:
Being a workaholic, it can be very tempting to work at all hours, since I am not rushing to the daycare now. I have realized that I need to stick to regular hours. Very often than not, I forget, and I will either have my co-workers or my husband, to remind me, that I am again working late.

Have an evening routine with your family: 
Last but not the least, enjoy the evening with your family. If the weather is good, go out for a walk, while painting social distancing. We enjoy working in our garden together. Cook dinner together. Plan something which brings all of you together, and all of you can alleviate the stress of the day together. If it involves making a tub of popcorn, and watching cute puppy/kitten videos on tv, and snuggling under a blanket, do it!

I hope you enjoyed going through my list of what works for me while working from home. Hoping we emerge from this global pandemic healthy and happy.

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ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS WITH DINNER TAKEOUT FROM WALDO THAI

We had our anniversary this week, and we wanted to make it memorable. Usually, we go out for dinner together, every year. On rare occasions when its weekend, we try going for a drive together and explore somewhere closeby. A park, or a trail at a park, somewhere we enjoy the outdoors together as a family. If you know me, you know that I love documenting our family and our milestones. So we carry the tripod and the camera in our trunk. This year everything is different. not for one, but for two reasons. 

Last year, my husband felt sick just before we were about to step out for our anniversary dinner. two days later, he was diagnosed with a very aggressive form. One year later, he is cancer-free but we are facing a world pandemic. We had spent the larger part of last year, in quarantine as my husband is immune-compromised. And this year, we are staying at home again. 

We decided to make the most of the day together. The only good part of staying home is all the time we are having together. So we were lucky that all four of us were home together. It was a day off from my work, which was an added bonus. After my husband wrapped up his work, we got ready to enjoy some time out in our backyard. It is always fun to coordinate outfits for a special occasion/family photos. I had picked out this snake print shirt dress for this day, and I knew I had to wear it. When you are coordinating outfits for the whole family, try out to pick one persona's outfit as the anchor piece. We offset the gold tones of my outfit, with the blue of my husband's. Rii's dress was white with gold accents, and I paired a light blue denim jacket and leopard shoes, for her. We brought it all together with Blaze's blue bandana. Not bad, right!  

 We did want to keep up our tradition of a family dinner date. As dining options are closed, so we did the next best thing - order a take out from one of our favorite local restaurants - Waldo Thai! These are tough times we know, and we wanted to make sure, we supported our local small businesses. Waldo Thai is a foodie's delight if you didn't know that already. Early in 2019, I was at the launch party of a new restaurant in Kansas City, and the chef-owner, who is a James Beard Award winner himself, couldn't stop gushing about the new place in town - Waldo Thai. We love going to Waldo Thai to dine in, and every time is a special occasion. Chef Pam Liberda, chef-owner of Waldo Thai knows how to wow every foodie, in town. And moreover, the brilliant team at Waldo Tahi has been providing free lunches for service industry people every single day.

Waldo Thai has a great take out menu. You browse the menu and order online. The restaurant has a brilliant curbside pick up option, where you do not even have to leave the car.

We enjoyed the drive-through town, to reach the restaurant to pick up our dinner order. And guess what was waiting for us. Chef Pam had picked out some bubbly for us, as a gift, so that we could celebrate at home. I cannot tell you what a big surprise that was! 

 Let's start with the yummy spread, shall we! Welcome to our anniversary dinner table. While we love spicy food, Riona takes the opposite route where spice is concerned. So it was non-spicy noodles, with shrimp and eggs for her. We are so grateful to the chef, for creating something for our daughter, which was not necessarily on the menu.

 Out first course was "Tom Kha Goong," - coconut-based soup with s shrimp, onion, galangal, lemongrass, mushroom, lime, cilantro, and scallion.

 Our second course was "Gaeng Phed Gai Yarng," - roasted bone-in chicken with coconut red curry, pineapple, cashew, Thai basil, bell pepper and served over Jasmine rice. I loved the balance of sweet and spicy, with the cashew and the chili heat. The bone-in chicken was juicy and moist and lip-smacking. There are red curries and there is red curry by Chef Pam, which will surely make you go for second, and third helpings.

 Our third course was "Phad Kee Mow Nua," - stir-fried fresh flat rice noodle with flank steak, egg, onion, bell pepper, serrano, Tahi basil, and gailan. This was my favorite of the tree courses, though every course was brilliant. The beef was juicy and tender, the fresh noddles were al dente, and it was hot, hot, hot! And I love a good spicy dinner. A huge thank you to Chef Pam and the whole crew at Waldo Thai for making our special day extra special.

If you were wondering what for dessert, well, we went to old school, didn't we. Having grown up Cadbury's, it was but natural that our dinner was Cadbury's Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut! It was a perfect day, even in the most imperfect scenario, that all of us are facing across the world! Cheers to another year together!

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FAVORITE MAC LIPSTICKS FOR SPRING

 Makeup is a passion of mine! So I decided to pen down a beauty related post, which was old-school. When I had started blogging, which was almost a decade back, it was quite trendy to pen down monthly beauty favorites or even seasonal favorites. As blogs became less popular and Instagram frenzy took over, few kids of posts fell through the cracks. All of us content creators were busy chasing the algorithms. Any f you miss the old school blog posts?

If you do, this one's for you. Amidst the sunny and rainy cold days,  we can't deny the fact that Spring is surely here. And just like fashion, our beauty choices also change with the changing weather. Cue the peaches and pinks, and all the pastels!

While there are so many favorite beauty brands, I shall always be partial to MAC Cosmetics. They are undoubtedly my favorite when it comes to lipsticks and eye shadows. I picked out just 6 lipsticks from my collection of MAC lipsticks, as my Spring favorites, as I have reached out for these the most in recent times. Well, I know what you must be thinking. When we completed our third week of staying at home/quarantine life, how am I talking about makeup? Like so many others, I have been working from home, which invi=olves multiple Zoom calls. I have seen that when I make the effort to get dressed ad do my makeup, my productivity is surely high. The temptation is real, to be in sweats all day, but it isn't working for me.

The 6 lipsticks from MAC that I chose for my Spring makeup are as follows:
(from left to right) - Velvet Teddy, Speed Dial, Costa Chic, Patisserie, Mehr, Flamingo. For reference, I am C2 or NC 20 with reference to MAC foundations. Which means I have a light tone, with a very warm undertone. Let's start with Patisserie, shall we, as you can see, it is the one I am wearing in the photos. Its been a cult favorite over the years, and once you use it, you will realize why. MAC describes it as sheer creamy neutral pink, in a Lustre finish.

Velvet Teddy (first from left to right) is another cult favorite when it comes to neutrals from MAC. From Lustres, we venture into Mattes. Velvet Teddy is a deep tone beige, in a  no-shine matte finish. Although its matte, it is not at all drying. I love the color payoff and its a perfect transitional shade from Winter to Spring.

Speed Dial (second from left to right) is a shade that I had tried out many times, and it never made it to my shopping cart, till I got one before it was discontinued. Speed Dial is a blue-based pink with a golden sheen, in a Cremesheen finish. The color pay off is sheerer, and it's a great shade for work, or day time use.

 Costa Chic (third from left to right) can be described as frosty light coral. I know frost screams 80s, but this is surely chic, just as the name suggests. The formula is buildable, without becoming cakey. When the pool reopens and we resume normal, this one of the perfect shades for all those pool dates.

Mehr (fifth from left to right) is one of those shades, which I repeat buy. Mehr is one of those shades which was created by Mickey Contractor, MAC Global Artist from India, and Bollywood's favorite make up guru. Mehr can be described as dirty blue pink in a matte finish. It is my everyday shade, no matter what time of the year it is.

Last but the least, is Flamingo! Another favorite of mine, which I have bought many times. It can be described as light milky bright coral in a luster finish. Years ago, it was a limited edition shade, till about 5 years ago, I think, it became a permanent shade. Its the perfect peach which literally suits everyone.

Hopefully, you liked my picks for Spring lipsticks from MAC, and I was able to distract you a bit, from the pandemic news. Stay well, everyone! 

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