The Weekly Story ~ wk 65

Hello Monday!! Another Weekly story waiting for you to link in... *smiles*... And another story I'm waiting to tell you!!

These are our outdoor months in Dubai... and I love doing up the table and setting up specials during this time..

You must know of Rajee Sood and her elegant - exquisite blog... Now, if you've seen her blog, you'll be drooling over the things at her store.. 'Rajee Sood Home'.. I wanted to do something special in the centre and slightly higher.. as all the food was being served around this .... *smiles*

And here is the special treasure I picked from 'Rajee Sood Home'... It stood talk, pretty and majestic and definitely started a conversation ... Don't you just love it??

Now, if you've been to 'Rajee Sood Home', you'll know there are sooooooooooooooo many things on there that I'd love to bring home.. and they'll probably be coming home in smaller instalments... *smiles*..

And I got this Diya... as well... only coz its sooooooooooooo pretty...

And do you know what the below is?? Do you?? Be honest!! If you don't ... go on and check 'Rajee Sood Home'... and also let me know what you like from her store!!

Blog focus for this week - You've got to see Creative Mind to beleive the kind of stuff she makes.. ...

.... and from last weeks posts ... I totally loved the way this desk looked and amazed with the story as well... Read on at Live and Times in Bangalore

Like always... post a comment on these two blogs.. its nice to know you visited them.. and dont forget to follow, if you are impressed with what you see...

Can't wait to see you linking in... for 'The Weekly Story' linky party ~ open from Monday through Wednesday every week..  ...

1. Do a post on your blog, about ANYTHING! and it can really be anything – example – a fun recipe you tried out, a craft project, a DIY, a table top, a few candles, coffee with friends or a good book or a movie review… The list is endless… just about ANYTHING… and anything about YOU !! *smiles* ... It can also be 'anything pretty' ...
2. Original photographs only... No images from other websites or magazines please!! This is about YOU.
3. Link back to my blog.... only as a courtesy, so we have more people joining the party.
4. Copy the 'permalink' from your post (not the link to the front page of your blog).
5. Add your 'permalink' to the 'inlinkz' at the bottom of this post.
6. Click the link before you. Don’t forget to comment and if you like the blog, please follow!!

Any questions, email me on torresp27@hotmail.com.


Please note, you DO NOT have to be a follower of my blog to join the party.. I'd love to see you here!!

Please grab the Colours Dekor 'The Weekly Story' button!!

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Travel Taiwan ~ Taipei City

Taiwan is known as the city of butterflies and orchids. It has more than 300 species of butterflies and about 30 different types of fruits. You do know that Taiwan is an island.. don’t you?? The island supposedly looks like a sweet potato!! But in that little island, its got main land, mountains, lakes and some stunning beaches… Saying that, today, we tour Taipei City… 

The second day in Taiwan, we ventured off to the ‘Museum of Contemporary Art’, which was walking distance from out hotel. popularly known as MOCA, the museum was showcasing some fashion related art… which really is not my expertise… 

On our way, we stumbled upon the ‘Taipei Metro Mall’… and were simply speechless.. 

It’s a city underground… there is a Metro Mall connected to another Metro Mall to another Metro mall… and it simply goes on!! More than half the city is underground… the metros and stations run above the ground and underneath… are these breathtaking shops… *sigh*

I couldn’t believe myself… I nearly walked half the city… or more… from one mall to the other, from a shopping mall to a book mall.. You surely need more than a day to check the shops and buy some souvenirs… The shopping is incredibly cheap and they are still willing to bargain more….. Yes!! Indeed… I got a lot of junk.. *smiles*. The metro malls are open all day and close by 10pm.

From here, we ventured into the night market, that opens at 7pm and closes at 2am… There are a few night markets in Taipei. We visited the Shilin Night Market at Jaintain Station. If you’ve been to a night market in Bangkok, its quite the same.. I wasn’t super impressed..

Oh.. another thing to be careful of… is that not many people speak English, hence its always worthwhile to carry a map or the address of your hotel in Mandarin. *smiles*… No! No!! I didn’t get lost.. I’m very good with roads and am always willing to head to the unknown.. *smiles*

My Home, My Haven ~ home tour Vandana

"A house is made

of walls & beams,

A home is made, 

of love & dreams"

~ unknown

The above words are so apt for Vandana's beautiful home, filled with lots of love, amazing colours, stunning beauty, with truck loads of passion, added in a few dreams, and a little clutter ... I'm sure you agree with me!!

Now a little about the 'architect and designer' of this home ~ Vandana *smiles*

I am Vandana, a primary school teacher by profession. I have always enjoyed doing up my 'home' and making it a place my family would love to come back to after the day's work. I love colours and exuberance around me. I've never shied away from making use of bold striking colours in my living space.

Recently, we moved house and city. After living in Mysore and Bangalore for over 15 years, relocating to Delhi was not easy. I miss my city, my own place that I decorated with so much love. The rented place we live in now, has not been able to take the place of my colourful home in Bangalore. So here I am trying to make the most of my available resources to turn this pad into a cozy home.....

I am sharing some photographs of my living room and one of the balconies. I have always loved greenery and have tried to have a small balcony garden. This is just the beginning....in days to come I plan to have a proper garden.....

My decor style is very simple, ethnic and youthful. I believe in low budget decor. The cane furniture blend all these elements so well! The bright colours in my home really make me happy and cheerful...rust, orange, blue, green. yellow...... these are some of my favourite colours.... There's no colour coordination anywhere in my place.... It's a mix of all these colours....

I'm totally in love with all the colours in this home, the bold blend of colours has my heart. The fusion of types of furniture, colours of furniture, use of canes and the pretty colourful mat ... makes me want to visit Vandana's home... and makes me wonder what her home in Bangalore or Mysore looked like... if this one is sooooooooooooooo beautiful....

This home definitely has a lot of character and reflects the vibrant personality that lives in there...

So... go on and post a comment and let me & Vandana know what you think... *smiles*... A little word of encouragement goes a long way...

And if you'd like to show case your gorgeous home... email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

Simple table centre piece

The winter months in Dubai means making most of any outdoor space available. Its our seasons for BBQs, beach parties, picnics, long drives, etc.... 

This simply means, its my opportunity to set up an outdoor table... *smiles*.. And would you think I'd let this opportunity go for anything in the world... *grins*

Here is an extremely simple centre piece idea, that any of you can try. Be it outdoors or indoors... A few leaves from the garden (you could use stems, leaves, or even flowers)... put it under an inverted wine / cocktail glass... and top it up with a candle... and voilà.. What do you think?

Do ignore the rest of my garden.. *smiles*.. I'll be doing 'project garden makeover' next month!!

Now.. what do you think?? If you've got any such interesting ideas... email me on torresp27@hotmail.com

The Weekly Story ~ 64

Its Monday!! Yay!! I'm running a bit late this morning... *smiles*.. But that's ok... isn't it?? I had a fabulous - chilled out - relaxed - feet up kind of weekend... Absolutely did nothing!! Drove off to Al Ain, which is about 3 hours away from Dubai and it was lovely to get away from home... 

We stayed in Al Ain for two nights and only drove back on Saturday... We also went up Jebel Hafeet mountains to see the glorious sun set... It was a truly beautiful weekend...

And then... getting back to work on Sunday... *sigh*.. Isn't that soooooooooo tuff!!

Now... I'm sharing with you a few of my Christmas gifts.. The festive season was so mental with my gran being ill, etc, etc... that I didn't even get an opportunity to look at these gifts properly.. so as I opened them again, I see Santa has been very generous to me this year... Here is a little fridge magnet with a message for me... *smiles*... This Santa obviously has a little problem with me cleaning the house all the time...

These two Santas obviously know how mental I am about elephants and peacocks... *smiles*

This gorgeous peacock pendant below has given me an idea... Can't wait to show you... what I've got in mind... *smiles*..

And to truly bring a smile to my face.... is this key hanger... Isn't that gorgeous?? This Santa knows me too well... I haven't put it up as yet... so more pictures to follow...

One Santa knew I had my eyes on this for a long, long time... *smiles*.. I know you can still see the packaging... coz I haven't really unwrapped my gifts as yet... That will happen in the weeks to come.. and all these will have a special place in my heart and in my home!!

Thank you... to all my little Santas...

I know this is already a long post... but I simply had to share two posts from last week!!

I'm surely going to try these cup cakes from Flavours!! Watch out... for next week.. Sims & I are having 'mom-daughter' time... making these.. She loved the recipe, so its a definite hit!!

Oh.. and I've always hopped on to Lisa's Room with a View for ideas and inspiration... This particular idea... simply stole my heart... So pop in.. and have a look...

Remember.. its always nice to leave a comment... and even better if you follow them... Go on and spread the love... *smiles*..

and while you are here... join the party this week... I'm not going to bore you with the rules... if you don't remember... have a look at last weeks party... *smiles*

And finally... Colours Dekor 'The Weekly Story' button!!



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Travel Taiwan ~ Sun Moon Lake (part 2)

Did you read my post last week about the Sun Moon Lake… Now we are the Wenwu Temple!! The temple area is the home of two temples. One is the ‘Benefit Temple’ of Jihyueh Village and another is the ‘Dragon Phoenix’ Temple of Shuishe Village. The Gods of these two temples protect territory and people and are worshiped by the local people. 

Here you will see loads of petitions written on golden lamps… and some on paper too.. I wrote a petition too.. Mine I guess was the only one in English!! *smiles*…

In early days, the only way to enter the temple from the lake, was through steep steps. There are 365 steps leading to the Wenwu Temple. These are called… ‘365 steps to heaven’… Each step has an inscription that I couldn’t read, with a date on it…

The construction style of this temple follows the Northern Dynasty with three halls ~ the front hall, the middle hall and the back hall. The temple has a spectacular main entrance and a grand temple courtyard. 

After spending a few hours at the Wenwu Temple, we ventured into the Wenwu Temple Hiking Trail to the Bamboo Rock Garden. From here a bus ride back to the Shuishe Dam and Shuishe Peir. We stopped for coffee as the sun was setting, and I clicked nearly a million pictures of the stunning sun set. 

Sorry… my lovelies… we don’t really get to see such gorgeous skies in Dubai.. so my heart felt like an 8 year old child again… and I simply couldn’t stop clicking… *smiles*

I sure hope you enjoyed this tour with me to the ‘Sun Moon Lake’… By far a refreshing and rejuvenating day! *smiles*

Blog find ~ Warli-Soul

You know how much I love Warli art... Don't you? I've been dreaming of doing a small Warli wall... at home.. and that's when my heart found 'Warli Soul'...

I'd like to introduce you to Aparna who blogs at Warli Soul. She is a software techie turned home maker turned mommy turned artists who loves making modernized warli paintings...

A few pics for you to enjoy...

I totally love peacocks too...

Another gorgeous Warli... with warli borders... wow!!

Do you like this??

So now... hop on to Warli Soul.. and don't forget to like her page... and leave a few comments.. Its always inspiring and motivating...