may 22 : the bjorn has landed

my good friend and south indian compadre..anu ( in new jersey) has sent us a very essential gift for swindubaby. the baby bjorn! yeahhhhh!

who knew i'd be living in the country that invented one of the most popular and most bought baby carrier around the globe? there are bjorns everywhere and then baby bjorns too! hah hah!

a little background on my dear friend anu. we met in los angeles for an undercover project ( you'll have to ask me later about that) and became instant best friends. she was the manhattan babe and me the OC hottie. and we managed to meet up every now and then in our respective cities or bangalore, every now & then.

well, she's a newlywed and i was able to go to her 'indian' wedding this past oct. in bangalore. and that was when swindubaby was reeeeeeaaallly small :) it was great fun and allowed me to finally meet the man they call dan, her hunka hunka burnin love that finally made an honest woman out of her.

for those of you that are unaware of the indian wedding crisis situation...well, its what anu & i shared and went thru for a loooong time, while single, indian and getting closer to 30! she and i have stories we can tell till the elephants come home about all of our parental set ups and our own set ups that went array. but in the end, we always knew that we'd never settle for anything less than the prince charmings we now have.

anu and i share our cultural heritage, language (kannada) and life of an indian born outside of india...me the states and anu a bit more international with stints in iran, brazil, holland (most of her life), the phillipines, uk and india. whew!

so anu, we thank you so much for our essential bjorn and will use it immensly - i know!

may 21 : santa barbara to sweden

received some thoughtful gifts from a lady i truly admire for her tough style with a goddess heart. i speak of none other than madame tina long. my bosses boss at one time who became a good friend thanks to the shared sense of humor and dislike of 'thong enthusiasts' (you had to be there to get that one). she now lives in the calm serene of santa barbara, much to the envy of many im sure. she has a calm shanti about her that makes her a complete soul for great advice and friendship.

miss tina sent along a humorous book for guiding me thru the first year - which im certain to enjoy and a boppy cover that i liked and had on my wishlist! its so nice and colorful and had an indian feel to it, hence i think i liked it.

so thank you tina! swindubaby shall benefit from your thoughtfulness thru the miles :)

tracy strikes again

well, madame tracy just doesn't know when to stop..she keeps showering me or should i say, swindubaby with gifts!!!

the elephant throw is sooooooooo friggin soft, i want to use it! this baby sure is lucky! and even though we're not into any set color schemes..the throw looks so nice in the stroller too!




thank you sooo much!

the birth bead arrival

the birthing beads of positive energy and strength have arrived! the Complete Strand for use in Baby Showers and Blessingway Ceremonies to be added to by guests, friends, and loved ones: 7 semi-precious beads representing the seven Chakra Energy Centers within the body.

well, saying i was completely speechless and happy would be an understatement to getting the most amazing gift anyone can receive....specially chosen beads by many of my near and dear friends for me to have when i give birth and for my journey now as a 37 week pregnant woman. to feel the presence of all of you here so physically far, but spiritually close is very special to me. and i thank you for it.

the notes sent with the beads from each of you was very heartfelt and i was just driven to tears while reading them and by reading the letter tracy wrote to me as to how and why she came up with this beautiful way to celebrate me and the new life about to come into this world. i'd be lying if i didn't say that at times i was feeling alone-without having friends around for physical support and to see me in my growing glory - but the arrival of these beads immediately put to rest all those feelings as i felt like everyone was right here in my little town of nykoping. so it was just what i needed and im so grateful to have received it.

here's a geographic and historical reference of each friend that sent a bead:

[ hilda hayes ] mission viejo, california : my 2nd mom from south africa, girl scout leader extrordinaire : mother to my best friends keri & sheena

[ ella troutman ] berkeley, california : fun-filled daughter of keri and big sister to newborn hayn troutman

[ christina maez ] gilbert, arizona : my best friend from college at ASU, hottie half punjabi and new mother to isabella :)

[ elizabeth ploppert ] idaho : former co-worker at ingram micro in orange county and fellow design group board member

[ dina mcmillin ] tustin, california : former co-art director at ingram micro and fellow taurean with a killer baking talent and mother of two darling boys sean & evan :)

[ keri troutman ] berkeley, california : my best friend since i was 5, partner in crime in girl scouts and mom to hayn & ella

[ shannon leonard ] venice, california : former co-worker at ingram micro, warm spirited, creative bead goddess

[ marinka roehl ] chandler, arizona : college friend, croatian hottie and loves jason patrick

[ sheena panchak ] ladera ranch, california : younger sis of keri and the kid i used to beat up as a child, proud mom of two girls daryn & kelsey

[ tina long ] santa barbara, california : former co-worker at ingram, all-round goddess and just gets me like i get her

[ daryn panchak ] ladera ranch, california : 3-yr.old (soon) daughter of sheena and cute as a button with those big blue eyes!

[ sue segade ] laguna niguel, california : former co-worker at mbd design and fellow cat lover who took care of my dear siamese sushi despite his mysterious ways and soon to be proud grandmother :)

[ sarah kerr ] olney, england : my brit bud and wife of fellow mission viejo wannabe, jim, lover of all things giraffey and my supplier of the best tea by fortnum & mason :)

[ tracy sellman ] plymouth, minnesota : my carpool buddy while at ingram who turned into my goddess friend, choc.chip cookie supplier, OC runaway and mother of adorable roland :)

[ doreen caldera ] boston, mass : my first boss at my design internship in phoenix as a student and current design goddess at her own firm, saltworks.

[ donna kadell ] san ramos, california : my graphic design cubical neighbor while at ingram my first time round with whom i just always stayed in touch with, who made the move to northern calif. after being an oc skater/surfer brat :)

[ kelly early ] orange, california : my ivory sister from another mister, seriously, we're the same person in different shades, im funnier but she's got better shoes. i should have met kelly in girl scouts but we ended up meeting as designers the late 90s.

[ paul caldera ] boston, mass : husband of doreen and partner boss at my first internship, good, honest italian-american and dog lover

[ viktoria bjorn ] nykoping, sweden : my only swedish friend in sweden and im lucky!

[ annemarie wyder ] switzerland : my mayday bday friend whom i met thru tracy and just kept in touch with and now we're euro neighbors :)

i got viktoria's bead in person...cause, well she doesn't need to fly to meet me, just drive down the street :) so i share the bead giving moment :)

my fancy friend - ginny

the girlfriend connection reaches worldwide -as ive mentioned before and coast to coast in the grand 'ol US of A.

my friend Ginny, orginally from florida, lived in paris, newport beach, san francisco and now the great big apple-manhattan. we met during her stint as a paper rep in the OC and the professional relationship turned personal as we found out we enjoyed each others company and had our dear honeypie richard along for a fun gang indeed. well madam ginny, the fashion designer extrordinaire has an eye for clothes and all things trendy and has sent some ultrariffic soft goodies from baby gap. every piece has been chosen with care, i can feel it and its in a range from newborn to 6mths! how nice!!!! i miss the gap terribly and am so happy that swindubaby will be clad comfy & stylishly. the camouflage leggings are crazy cute and as she and i discussed...if swindubaby turns out to be a boy, we can just nip off the lace or not. ;) the red track suit is reversible...oh so cute.

well...baby clothes shopping is too fun & cute..i can feel it!!!!

then another thing madame ginny introduced me to..is an expensive treat..which is Kiehls products. an institution of americana of course and oh sooo rich. she has been toooo generous in sending baby cremes/cleanser and a few products for me...one called silk groom which is too, too good to tame curly hair and me!!!!!

and as if that wasnt enough, she has sent something i will definitely use while in the hospital...fashion/entertainment magazines!!! i will need reading material and this qualifies as that for me as i'm a magazine addict, so i thank you for that weighty treat :)

thank you fancy friend...a term coined by my parents that just holds true through time..we'll always have a chuckle with that.

powerful stones

my dear annemarie also sent a special gift for me, some amber beads for strength. they are beautiful and i hope to wear them while at the hospital..and before...and after....for the strength she has sent along with them.
again, so thoughtful and beautful. thank you annemarie :)

AND...

i feel pretty confident in saying that no mom to be has EVER received a box of BERUHIGUNGSTEE!!!!! gezundheit!


dude...im pretty damn lucky.

being euro and all...

i guess i've become a bit of a snob...we've decided that swindubaby will be shitting only in swiss diapers.


[apologies for the un-ladylike language-but its the only way to convey such humor]

thanks annemarie! your practicality is precious! :)

and no swiss gift would be complete without the delicious swiss truffles! mmmmm

swiss diplomatic connections...shhhh

swindubaby and we are just overwhelmed with this worldy connection and generosity of friends. baby gifts from switzerland arrived yesterday from my mayday baby-bullish partner in crime, annemarie and her darling rony.

switzerland, the land that everyone thinks i moved to. since no one really knows where sweden is, but everyone has heard of switzerland...home of chocolate and all things diplomatic oh and yes, those alps. my first taste of switzerland came from a packet of swiss miss hot chocloate that i used to eat instead of drink..but childhood issues aside....madame annemarie has sent some very fun/creative/practical gifts...as expected from a great mind. we bulls stick together.

how the heck do i know a chick in switzerland? Well, for that we must thank that sassy sellman, Tracy..she used to work with annemarie at a swiss based co. in the OC. They became friends..kept in touch and then a few yrs. ago while miss annemarie was loitering in laguna, i met her with the sellmans and lets just say, an instant taurean friendship was born. Taureans are pretty good that way. So we kept in touch, I moved to Sweden, we met again in England for Jim & Sarahs wedding 2 yrs. ago and got to meet her tall half (heh heh), Rony. Rony and JP became fast friends at the wedding-since they both knew no one else and felt lost, they took refuge in trying to communicate their frustrations over some pints and not understanding british humor too well.




the swiss treats that arrived were: a hillarious bib, cute socks, tiger rattler, ergonomically cool bottle, bandana, spoon/fork set and a traditional swiss cow with bell (so cool).

mayday : gifts from my taurean sister in the OC!

dina mcmillin - my co-worker at ingram, cookie/cake maker extrordinaire and another gorgeous taurean has sent some very thoughtful gifts for swindubaby! each one i opened up i was 'oohing' and 'ahhing'. her designers mind came thru as she has taken the time to really pick out some very nice pieces. couldn't stop laughing at the clever onesies and loved the softness of the full suit that will look too cute on baby! thank you dear friend and lets hope we can share a piece of cake at rutabegors again, well, how 'bout we each get a piece. :)

MAYDAY : MAYDAY

im actually growing old during my pregnancy..is it possible?
why yes, cause its my birthday today. but im not worried about the age thing, cause i still got it goin on...seriously..its all in the mind people. plus, im living in a country that has parades today and considers it a national holiday. how could i possibly complain?

feeling fine at 34 and knowing that life will never be the same again. :)