Steps of Vision

The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs- Vance Havner

Hope you all are having a great weekend....xoxo

Images @ Shaz Originals 

The First Sunrise

Wanted to start the new year on a different note....we wanted to catch the first sunrise of 2014.....so me and my friend drove to Mt Washington early morning to watch the sun rise...

Sharing a few of my pictures....

My beautiful- City of Bridges

The reflections on the skyscrapers

Molten sun

Warming up on a chilly morning 

Wishing all my readers a warm...happy...and prosperous 2014

Images@ Shaz Originals 

Instagram - Love

 What do you instagram about all the time..??? 

 Oh ! you are such an instagram freak...... 

 I get to hear this from my friends all the time...  I wonder what instagram means to you ?

 For me its a celebration of life....I share the little random surprises in life... the special things that make me  happy in a day.... and of course sharing my daily nitty gritty details with my family that lives miles away....

Sharing a few of my favorite pictures and the stories behind them. 

1.  When I graduated and my family couldn't make it to the US. 

2.  When I spaced out one morning and wore two watches to work.... My hubby laughed so hard at this one and so did my colleagues. 

3.  Caught these beautiful tulips on my way back from school.

4.  When me and hubby got super duper tired exploring the streets on NYC...and still wanted more.

5.  A beautiful  treasure box I saw in a hotel lobby in Tucson.                                                                 

6. An absolutely drooling dinner made by my friend , one random night after work                              

               

7.  My two year old niece's first ever rainbow. it was beyond her to understand how it got so high up in the sky.

8.  An amazing vacation - Rajasthan,India with my cousins and family

9.  Purple on my nails... one of hubby's favorite color.

10. My latest abstract painting which earned me compliments from abstract artists like Molly Cox and William Witenberg. 

..... and there is so much more to share..... I probably cant stop with the stories.....

So what does instagram mean to you ... do you have stories too??

Have a great weekend guys !!!

                                                     Images @Shaz Originals 

Dinning with tulips..

 The last few weeks have been  so "creatively" satisfying that I can probably do too many back to back posts... :D.. Here is the oil painting I made a few days back for a friend's housewarming ( apartment warming??)


Sharing it with you guys here.. 

 I would call it " dinning with tulips".  It is a 16 inch X 12 inch in size..on canvas with oils...Did you'll like it?? 


Oh and one more thing... 2012 is turning out to be one hell of a lucky year for deals and steals... check out my latest one..

...check out the price tag...beat this. :P..

Have a great weekend !!...xoxo

Loving it @ student budget...

 Hello dearies, 

  So you all know how my tiny little apartment really has no more place for any decor or wall art unless I really rearrange my furniture and walls or get rid of stuff... **sighhhhh**...(I know I have promised a house tour to many of you ..will do soon :))... and if you love decorating, you can not resist deals.and amazing finds...and I end up buying more and more.. .. **problem**... so when my  friend needed someone "to do" the apartment...I was more than willing to do it.. simply because I would get to shop and fill up the brand new place... new angles...windows....and so much more.

But there was a itsy bitsy issue about budgeting of course..being a grad student gets to you at times.. but then you want to enjoy life too as this time will not come again.. So I was told no more than $50 on decorating.  

We went to the a couple of thrift stores and garage sales.  I have been dying to tell you about my awesome steals and deals...  check out these goodies ..

  

Wall murals bought at a local garage sale.... now hanging in the dining area . *$2* for both

Wall art from a thrift store... now in the kitchen. *$1*

 

Baskets bought at a thrift store... now hiding loads of junk & crap... *$1* for both.

Huge wall art from a local thrift store... now in the living room.. *$4*... I was so tempted to keep this one for my self... as I have ikea- lack side and coffee table... would go so perfectly with it... :)

Decorative glass jar from a thrift store.. now on the floor in living room... *$3*.. I am not sure what we can do with this... it looks pretty nice when it is empty.. but maybe we can put in some potpourri or some pines..(picked from the streets of Pittsburgh)... 

Back to the budget..we spent a total of $11...loads more to shop... :):)..Yayyy!!

Did you like my deals and steals...??

xoxo

Images@create-me. 

Christmas wrap up...

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas.  I celebrated mine at my friend Mindy's place with her adorable family.  We reached ahead of time and had loads of fun baking cookies...wrapping gifts...playing board games...watching movies...!!  I guess it would end up being a very long post if I start writing about all the fun we had...

Here is a wrap up of it all....

 

The festivities began with our trip to the Oakmount bakery and I drooled over this red velvet.  This was so good it melted in my mouth.

Then I got to wrapping up some fresh cookies for my colleagues at work.  Since cookies got a little oily I simply wrapped them up in wax paper...tied them with twine...and printed out some Christmas labels...Simple Bimple..!!!

We reached Buffalo...and I tried making these Santa hat brownies that I had showed you guys earlier over here.  These finally ended up so cute... except..that the frosting got a bit running..:(:(

We baked these cutie pies... white chocolate cookies...chocolate chip cookies...M&M cookies...!!

Later, gifts got wrapped..placed under the tree..stockings got ready.. ( the one above is my 1st ever stocking..:P)

Our candles in place.. table all set....till we sat for our amazing Christmas dinner.   Had a lovely Christmas, thanks to the Mallon family !!!...

How was your X-mas??

xoxo











Click...click..

Have you ever wondered about the awesomeness all around us and how we take most of it for granted...

...but then, a few amongst us have an eye for minute details and capture moments in all its beauty... one such person is my adorable friend Zankruti.  She  modestly calls herself an "amateur photographer".... **yeah right!!**.

 Check out some of her amazing shots here...

Niagara Falls

Reflections..

She calls this.."Heaven of earth"

Survival

Fall..

Shades of Fall

Cozy Fall

Simply ..beautiful...

Ain't they just so beautiful...??..Tell me about your inspirational
friends...

Zank.. you are amazing at this..!!!  stay your adorable self always..

xoxo..

@ images by Zankruti.D