The Royal Wedding 29th April 2011

I cannot help but feel excited about the Royal wedding and I cannot pinpoint exactly why ; perhaps because I have moved closer to London now , or maybe because I have visited the lovely worldfamous golf and University town of St.Andrews in Scotland so many times where the ' Royal love ' blossomed, or maybe because April ,particularly this year is the month of my five year engagement anniversary and four year 'Ceilidh anniversary ' (My wedding reception /scottish dance party).Or maybe because I am just an old-fashioned big romantic at heart that likes to rejoice at  happy endings and glamourous weddings for a loved-up couple.

    According to me, Kate and William really make a great pair and Kate has won the nation's hearts and bowled us all over with her powerhouse personality. Not only is she an immaculate dresser , she is also extremely intelligent , has  a great figure,  height and lovely smile . She knows what she's getting into via this marriage into the royal family and has made the decision to marry at a mature age of 29 years which is great as she's had time to do all she wanted in her twenties after seeking a degree at the prestigious St.Andrew's University . I hope she's being a good role model for other young girls who will be inspired to gain a University degree, take their time to work and find their true calling , get in shape and dress up in a sophisticated manner and finally settle down happily with a man of their own choice.

        The whole of the United Kingdom had erupted into a frenzy yesterday at the Royal wedding with feasts ,street parties and celebrations everywhere in public and private places .What was particularly great was the crisp dry weather and the fact that the wedding date was planned alongside the long Mayday weekend so that everyone could relax . Though I was working from home , I managed to watch most of the wedding and like so many others , I thought the entire wedding was great , and the bride was absolutely classy in her modest gown that did'nt reveal much and had a manageable trail that was'nt over the top .

  I 'd been missing my girlfriends from Glasgow and we were supposed to visit my uncle -in-law Malcolm MacDonald in the evening of the wedding ,but the visit had to be cancelled due to a last - minute medical problem, but that did'nt stop me from having a 'Royal tea-party' of my own with Martyn . I'd been shopping for ' Royal Britannia ' souveniers ,but nothing much caught my fancy and most of it was tacky anyways so finally a disposable wipe-clean plain red tablecloth and Union Jack print tea-towel from Tesco was the ideal base for my tea-table , topped with my two printed tea-pots and vintage cake plates that I ordered online and took ages to be delivered . I  took some tips from newspapers and magazines on how to organise your own 'Royal tea party' and baked some heart shaped cookies , special stuffed cupcakes (bake it, slice the top, stuff with whipped cream and strawberry, replace the conical top, ice with whipped cream and whole strawberry ) and decorated a Victoria Sponge cake in Union Jack pattern with strawberries,red grapes and blueberries . I also iced some cupcakes with cherry blossom petals and some with red and blue icing flowers .  I was glued to the tv screen all day and all evening , and since all preparation and baking had been done the previous day, all we did was relax , sip tea and eat cupcakes all day . It was a small but very original and creative celebration at home sans alcohol so there was no hangover to worry about .

   

Ode to my mother

Mother's day is a day honoring mothers, clebrated on various days in many places around the world. It is the day when you acknowledge your mother's contribution in your life and pay a tribute to her,often with flowers and gifts .

The history of Mother's day is centuries old and the earliest Mother's day celebrations can be traced back to the spring clebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea,wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology.

Ancient Romans too celebrated a spring festival called 'Hilaria' dedicated to Cybele, a mother Goddess.The more recent history of Mothers day dates back to the 1600's in England.Here a Mothering SUnday was celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of Lent ( the 40 day period leading up to Easter ) to honor mothers.After a prayer service in church to honor Virgin Mary,children brought gifts and flowers to pay tribute to their own mothers.

On the occassion,servants,apprentices and other employees staying away from their homes were encouraged by their employers to visit their mothers and honor them.Mother's Day continues to be one of the most sentimental and personal occassions no matter when it is celebrated in any country.

No words can describe the total sacrifice , complete dedication and painstaking work a mother puts in to bring up her child , and no token of appreciation can bring as much joy to any mom as spending time with her children and seeing them truly happy. We may not remember stages of our baby days , or all events of our childhood days but my mom, like any other mom had just one mission in life - to raise a happy and healthy family with my dad , my elder brother and younger sister , though we lived in Bombay without any support system as none of our extended family lived there . ' Ammi ' as we fondly call her has not only given me this beautiful privileged life, but also saved my life on several occassions ,always striving to inculcate great values in each one of us by being a role-model .Both me and my sister have imbibed her passion for cooking ,housekeeping , traditions and gracious hosting .

On this occassion I'd also like to pay tribute to my 'Godmother ' - Mrs.Surekha Atre - my close friend Manasi's mom whom I adore since my college days as she always adopted me as her second daughter and to date continues to inspire me with her tremendous qualities of inner strength , intelligence , her awesome culinary skills and elegant sense of style. And another tribute to my adorable mum-in-law Margaret who is exactly the kind of mom in law I wanted - traditional,old-fashioned,broad-minded and intelligent professional . It amazes me how she managed to juggle her job as a banker as well as bring up Martyn and my sister in law Mhairi so well and she continues to be an understanding , loving , down to earth, non-judgemental friend to me.

Last but not the least - a toast to all my girlfriends who are mommies !You are all beautiful,intelligent,talented and hardworking ladies and hats off to each one of you for juggling home and career -I am as proud of you as your babies !