Ganesh Chaturthi Wishes

Wishing you all joyous and glorious festivities 'Pinkz Passion' style. May Ganesha always shower his love and blessings on all of us. Here are some eye-candy images to begin the festival. 

'Happy Ganesha Chaturthi'

Here are the vignettes of Ganesh Chaturthi special if you missed on my social feeds. 

A Year End Post!

With the lingering haze of sleep and nerve grinding Toronto cold weather, I am wrapping my mind around with the possibilities of words to shape up this last post of the year. Although, this is the busiest time of the year, keeping my nagging worries aside I am pretending to be in the state of a controlled chaos (with our upcoming travel) and connecting with you all for the last post.  

I am totally bogged down (with a thought of long travel), my stress level is through the roof (managing all the packing) and I can‘t keep calm (with all the excitement of a family wedding). For now I am going to let them slide and pretend they are not part of my life and daydream about the choices I might have to ‘spoil’ me with my long & weighty shopping list of silk sarees and glistening jewelry. Shopping is undoubtedly one of the most exciting aspects of the entire wedding preparations….probably more when it’s an immediate family wedding.

However I find it overwhelming …even though I have precise favorite shopping places, a favorite designer, hundreds of photos saved on my phone and many pieces stored back in the memory of my head…I feel finding the perfect piece or saree is a daunting task especially when you are ‘oh so old-school’ & fussy kind of a person when it comes to settle from the latest flashy trends. No matter what the latest trends say, my fashion funda is clear, I wear something without any pressure from any trends, grace and sophistication comes easily to me when I am sticking with my love for traditional.

Apart from shopping, excitement level is soaring higher thinking about all the massive spread of food and festivities. Feasting on an unending menu of multi-cuisine delicacies and dreaming about dressing in best of the attire we are ready to stir up some fun at a family wedding. There are some typical glitches of travelling overseas but the satisfaction of meeting and mingling with family and friends is worth everything.  

Humming the tune of excitement and with butterflies in my stomach….we are so ready but how could I leave without wishing you all well at the year end for all the love. As we close the year end post, acknowledging each one of you for being a part of my passion. Thank you for your unwavering support and sticking around. Shall crack open new decorative adventures in the coming year. Until then, if you are travelling like us or staying home to enjoy the magical time of Christmas...wishing you and your family the very best of the holidays and a happy new year! 

You may stay connected with me on my Instagram to #travelwithpinkz stories until my return on the blog. A big e-hug to all of you, toodles! 

Festive Mode is on - Ganesha Chaturthi 2017

The festive season is upon us and I feel it is the best way to recharge and feel rejuvenated. Festivals give us a chance to debunk the suffering of our stereotype lives and enjoy the unapologetic and non-guilty pleasures of celebration.

 

Nevertheless, this year with our recently ended road trip and schools re-opening in a week, punishing schedules has begun to take toll on me and with that our home is an absolute madhouse.  Still the temptation to welcome 'Bappa' with all the grandeur is as strong as Fevicol adhesive :). After all, festivals are all about forgetting our worries and celebrate the positive side of life which also includes finding the time to do all your favorite things! And as you all know my favorite thing is to ignite a new romance and unfold new décor stories at the herald of any festival.

The one whose arrival has captured the social media, many homes and many hearts this festive season also is our rotund and plump bellied fella, Ganesha. Whose love runs in our genes and in our collection being the soul of our home. On this pious festival of "Ganesh Chaturthi", presenting few rare pieces of grand antiques from our collection that resonate with history. At the same time, they echo our sense of pride being a passionate collector of such gems. 

The very first in the antique series is "Sitar playing Ganesha" paired here with the rest of the antiques. My everyday gold brass is scrubbed and shined especially for the festive season. The brass water jug and small 'lota' housing flowers are recent loots from an antique dealer this summer. I personally think, these rare pieces keep us plugged in the past and surround ourselves with nostalgia and history. 

Next is an intricately carved brass hanging diya..which is quite heavy to hang. I have proudly displayed it here with all the bumps and knocks it came with. Every time I call these antiques in service, my husband wonderfully smug about collecting them all with his discerned eye, I let him take the credit of adding them to our collection ;), but it is me, who feel contented to bring out the best of them by displaying them in the nooks and corners of our home.

 

Whatever the festival it is, make-overs on my consoles and coffee table are part of my decorating DNA. Placed on my console here, the chubby little deity 'Bal-Ganesha', is my absolute favorite. Festivals are the best reason to bring out those hidden gems and scatter these treasured pieces into dead spaces. However, this Ganesha doesn't take turns often on my social media because keeping him clean is a herculean task. Though, this year, my son offered his hands for shining these beauties. His thoughtful and appreciative gesture revealed that festival values are being instilled in him firmly without being said.

And for the last of the series, I am ending with antique duo of Ganesha with more brass (is there a such thing as too much brass? Not for me!). Each of our pieces are distinct and have an individuality and character of its own. Multitude of such brass items can bring a buzz on the coffee table with ease.   

 

All this antique pieces are hunted and acquired from different antique dealers who have sourced these pieces directly from the destruction of palaces and temples, hence the exact era and age of these pieces are unknown. We feel proud to own and display these pieces from history in our collection which are hard to find in current market for owning. 

And before I wrap up this post, it hit me that you, my dear reader, might not know that these stunning but simple vignettes this year are created with the flowers from our tiny garden. With every bloom, I have leaped and whirled in one of those dances to see these babies and my green thumb grow ;).

Signing out wishing that may this festival of faith and joy bring the prosperity and happiness in you and your family. Happy Ganesha Chaturthi, enjoy the festivities until we meet again, toodles. 

Celebrating November and My Second Blogoversary

730 days….yes, approximately 730 days ago, Pinkz Passion was born. The fact is, this passion page was started on a whim in the middle of one sleepless night and two years and nearly 135 posts, I am still here and my, how much we’ve grown. My décor chronicles have led me to somewhere much better than I could have dream for. I am in a happy place where life tastes different, a little sweeter with all of you :). Opportunities find their way, when you unfailingly work hard in the area you are passionate about. Looking back after two years, I am constantly amazed that this is something I created and grew out of my passion.

Though, none of this would have been possible without you all. I can’t drop the opportunity to thank all of you for reading my blogs, commenting on my posts, fanning me on Facebook and following me on Instagram and all the other many ways in which you lovely peeps have backed up on me. And it still really jazzes me, when readers go out of their way to touch base with me and let me know that my blog has inspired them to look at their home décor chronicles in a different manner, especially with my timeless brass collection. My brass fondness has set a new trend in the décor stories of my readers and few close friends who have started their own collection. It truly warms my heart when readers sent in their pictures when they uplift corners of their home inspired by my posts, it makes me feel I have been invited to their home. I truly hope this little blog of mine can be a source of inspiration and do its best to help you look at your home décor stories in a different aspect.

I must confess that, few motivating pundits of blog industry have been the silent force in shaping up my blog. Stirred from their style, I often feed myself from their inspiration and motivation. After all, that is what blogging is about….get inspired and be inspired.

As we move forward to the month of November, we have a beautiful home tour lined up next which has been bottled-up due to Diwali posts. Also a post of moods of my entrance (sitting in a draft for a while now) has been overlooked but will try to pull it back and publish it in November.

However, after November I am planning a digital time out and hoping to pull the plug from blogging for a while and restore my serenity as I have travel plans to meet and mingle family and friends. Will share a final post of the year sometime later but until we meet again, stay connected, toodles!

September - A Herald of Festivity!

As we step forward to September, it’s hard to believe that we are about to kiss goodbye to summer and welcome fall. As the beach vacations, road trips and cottage staying will fade in distance, life will be trapped back into a busy cycle by hitting the hay early. However, the tan on our skin and the memories we created this summer are adequately evident that we enjoyed summer to the fullest. Ignoring the look of displeasure we are also ready to pack the bag and send our older teenager for her university life again. We will miss her presence (which is loudly felt in the home) and her infectious smile which is unfazed.

With September we also march into festivities and our home is so ready for a grand affair with celebrations galore.  We are all set to make Ganpati Bappa’s grand presence felt in our home. Hope the coffee table arrangement here will exude the same vibe for you all :).

On top of my saccharine and syrupy stories of our "Gifted Ganesha" collection on the blog, this month first time ever we are also taking a different turn by hosting a wonderful ‘Giveaway’ in collaboration with our featured product segment. Further down the road, this month we also have a home tour which will leave a compelling impression on all the décor lovers.  

And our every year’s ritual has been followed this year as well. Our young lady in the house has created another eco-friendly Ganesha for this year’s celebrations. I will be unfolding the new 'avatar' of him on the blog tomorrow. Until then signing out hoping that my enthusiasm has rubbed off on you to bring on the festive mode. Make sure to keep yourself connected on Facebook and Instagram for more big and small decorating ideas, toodles!

Summing up the solitude

Here I am, leisurely hitting the ground running after the roller coaster of a sweltering hot weekend. Toronto is sizzling under the heat wave for the rest of the week but might as well enjoy before I enter in my fall nesting mode ;)

Our home, for now, is empty as kids are shipped off for an interesting venture of a whole week camping, leaving just two of us around in the home. Unleashing all the bottled up wishes of being “alone” and enjoying every bit of it. Savouring our freedom by treating ourselves more than often dinner dates with that chilled (all mine) Piña colada ;), long breezy walks and late night movies. Though, it had made us sense how lonely we will be when we get the label of ‘new empty nesters’ with our first child leaving us in couple of days to start new journey of her life. Comforting thought of having the younger one, the recipient of all well needed attention, is still with us and it's enough to restore our souls.

We both have hard time clutching the fact that kids are old enough to face the world on their own. Though, this detachment will expose new ways of thinking and learning for them along with new opportunities waiting to be tackled from the reality of their comfort zone. Quite positive that everything instilled in them until now, will have them ready to face the new world challenges.

 Though, I get much time without having to worry about cooking, feeding, cleaning, this solitude mode of life is now serving us an opportunity to build and find ourselves. Along with the pleasure, much needed task at home front also got taken care for. And as you know, that led me to spend some inordinate amount of time in doing what I love the most. Our Guest Room is shaping up and I can hardly wait to share it with you all.

Extra shopping hours could have led the budget to break its own boundaries, but I tried to stay contained with what I have. Few long forgotten pieces were brought back in to the life by resting on the coffee table. 'Swastika Ganesh' came home as a gift more than a decade ago, which is presently adding the aesthetic beauty and charm. Tried to boost up the appeal by adding few more brass after exploring many different ways. The flickering light contributes stunningly impactful appeal on the vignette. Few pieces of my collection have sentimental attachments and others like the ’Swastik Diya’ was added to the collection from a recent puja ceremony at my friend’s.

 

My collection is growing and going but I don’t ever want it to complete. I cluster my finds in clever ways that allow each item with even great decorative value that it might otherwise have. I hunt for something new and wonderful in something I already have. Eco-friendly decorating is to be able to see the prospective in existing pieces. Of course, the pieces have to be styled and edited instead of covered and cluttered taking up space in your closets or basements.  

Empty moments and mummy thoughts led me to loosen up the emotional apron strings here. For now, this free bird 'mom' is getting back to dreaming of those frequent, tighter, and loving hugs from kids until we bring them home.

 
Until we meet again, stay connected on Facebook, instagram or Pinterest pages of my passion, toodles.

 

Hello Monday :)

Hello Monday, here I am scooting over countless chores and juggling with many balls at a time. Taking a compulsive break to get connected with you.  Catching  up with a quick post to gather all the energy I might need to survive for the rest of the week.

Unveiling today, another signature piece of Ganesha from our collection. His stress-free and peaceful mudra leaves a smile on my face at every glance.

Past few days have been working against the clock for me as we had a  “pooja” arranged at home this weekend. Lovely crowd of family and friends accompanied the occasion, hoping to share few glimpse soon J. Though, presently, I am turning a blind eye to all the chores on the horizon for me.

My agenda of the week is jam packed with tons of activities. Lingering haze of many draining dance practices and few final touches of an approaching weekend dance performance is etched on the screen of my mind right now.

Also, last exam of school life ended for my daughter, leaving us with a thought of how fast the life and childhood slip away so soon. We have hard time grasping the truth that daughters grow up so fast. Since exams are over the young girl has a fresh reason to go on a shopping spree with mom for upcoming prom.

 

The good weather is also to be blamed for being inattentive on the blog front. I have professed my official envy for those who can take pleasure of indoor and outdoor life throughout the year, but for us Torontonians, just few warmer months bring our "boring" winter life to some  "chatpata" weather. Hence, busy enjoying the first taste of sandal season after long.

Along with my ranting, I am signing off today with some beautiful blooms, though, I have pretty few posts in pipeline, so stay connected with me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, until we meet again, toodles!