Macy's

Just found out that Macy's ships to India! The Taxes are high, but Macy's is one of my favorite department stores! Can't wait to make my first purchase! 

                                                          

Cathedral of the Madeline

Today is July 22'nd and is the Feast of Mary Magdalene! https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2025-07-22

One of my favorite Cathedrals is the Cathedral of the Madeline in Salt Lake City, Utah. On the Feast Day they have a lovely meal of Fried Chicken! I've spent many a few Sundays and evenings here just contemplating. Lovely place to visit if you're in the area. 

Was browsing through my emails after a long gap and saw that Burning Man is back =)! Would have loved to visit when I lived in America!

The New Yorker

Just finished reading this weeks issue of The New Yorker! I have a special relationship with the New Yorker, I have been subscribing since my Alabama days...... most years I have piles of New Yorker magazines lying unread around my apartment somewhere, along with books and compilations by David Remnick, Malcolm Gladwell. I even follow contributor Mark Harris on Twitter. Since I've moved back to India I can only afford the online edition, which I surprisingly completed over this weekend. You can see the influence of the New Yorker in the culture of the early 2000's, movies, fashion et al.

 I have to say I have had a fascination with Eustace Tilley (the mascot) for a while now. I cannot believe that he is not a real person. Having lived in my apartment for so long, I'm sure his spirit lives around me. A good first issue to get back to... now to continue my New Yorker and New York Times subscription (in India) along with Harvard Business Review! 

This is a picture of me reading a New Yorker book Wonder Town at an Israeli restaurant in Greenwich Village? circa 2010 

Here's some new music from the New Yorker Selection Junk Drawer Heart by Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse :

Check out this new video by Malcolm Gladwell and IBM!

Natasha Bedingfield is Back!

I've liked Natasha Bedingfield since the beginning, especially since we share the same first name. Hope I get to attend one of her concerts!

Here's her interview on Forbes and her songs Unwritten and These Words. So Natasha's having a resurgence on TikTok with content creators?

Starbucks Mugs

I have been collecting Starbucks City Mugs since I was in the US. ☕️🗺 It's a nice momento to collect while traveling. I've started collecting them here in India. A few mugs and ornaments were gifted to me by my sister and a few I picked up right here in Mangalore. I'm looking forward to adding more to my collection. 

Superman turns Punk!

I'm a huge Superman fan, so I'm happy that Superman turned Punk for this movie! That having been said this movie was a little difficult to watch in places. If you can make it through the cringey parts. You can actually see the punk. Punk Rock Forever!! Kryptonite!! Yeah!

 

Jurassic Park Rebirth, Sitaare Zameen Par, Life in a Metro - In Dino

I watched 3 movies back to back this weekend!

 

Jurassic Park Rebirth!  Great for the dinosaur effects, sea and actors! 

Sitaare Zameen Par: Great acting by the entire cast, I definitely cried through some parts of this movie. My cousin Ashritha had a  special appearance as did my aunt Nikhat Hegde.

 

Life in  Metro - In Dino - I love this franchise and have watched the first movie a million times. Watch for the songs and acting. Great acting by Soha Ali Khan, Aditya Roy Kapur and the rest of the cast! 

 

Visit to Hampi!

Visited Hampi with my family last week! It was fun we saw all the sites! Thanks to our guide Mr Ravi Kumar.  We stayed at the Hyatt Place and visited Evolve Back. Definitely going back again for a stay at Evolve Back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel, Gifts and Labubu! Voici mon secret, il est très simple.

One of the fun things about travel, is the gifts. In the past when I lived in the US... I used to buy Knick knacks and things that I found cute from my little road trips or trips to the mall and put them in my suitcase and then finally when it was time to leave I had a bag of goodies to gift my family when arrived! So I was  pleasantly surprised when I received a bag of goodies from my sister arriving from Dubai! 

I was excited to get my first Labubu, it was from the Big Into Energy series, the Red Love colored one! My next Labubu is going to be from the Coca Cola series! See how cute he looks next to the tin houses! One of the reasons I love Labubu, is that his name is so much like my nick name Babli, Babli - Labubu - get it!!

This mug and magnets from Sea World! And a jute bag from Warner Brothers Abu Dhabi!

This Pink Elephant pouch from Bed, Bath and Beyond! And Care Bear Stickers!

Toblerone and a bunch of chocolates from Dubai! Still have to taste the famous Dubai Chocolate!!

A King Disney Mouse! 

Of course I gifted my niece many books, a cute pink suitcase and a silver frame! And I'm about to order a copy of Le Petit Prince By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for her as it's her favorite subject in school, and is one of my favorite books!

Voici mon secret, il est très simple.

On ne voit rien qu’avec le coeur.

L‘essential est invisible pour les yeux.

(Here is my secret, it is very simple

We only see with the heart.

What is essential is invisible for the eyes)

TV Part 1

Here's what I watched recently on TV

The Minecraft movie. Really cute and what I expected from Jared Hess; might be better  to watch on the big screen. Watch on Amazon 

In transit. Poignant and positive documentary about Trans people in India from Zoya Akhtar. Loved the stories and courage of the protagonists. Available on Amazon. 

Mountainhead: A picture about millionaires in a house in Park City. On Netflix

The Brutalist: Movie about an Architect and his work in Post World War 2 America. On Amazon Prime

Cheers to Life: A Portuguese? movie set in Israel, a cute romance about finding your family and filmed at lot of great locations in Israel! Watch if you've visited The Holy Land. Hava Nagila!

Here's a picture from my garden from a few days ago. 

Movie Review: Materialists

                                                                     

                                                                 

One of my favorite things to do is watch movies. Yesterday, when I went to the mall (my happy place, along with the cinema), I was surprised to find out that Materialists was playing in the cinema there, so I quickly bought tickets as I've been wanting to watch this film.

Materialists stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal and Sawyer Speilberg (who I follow on Instagram!!!)  and is directed by Celine Song. I've watched all the 50 Shades of Grey movies ( 2 when I lived in Los Angeles) and have loved them. Dakota Johnson is so good in each of them. 

Chris Evans from Captain America and Pedro Pascal from Narcos and the Last Of Us. Celine Songs previous movie Past Lives is a masterpiece! 

Go in expecting great things from the movie, watch it for the soundtrack and the beautiful visuals. The story is cute. It was nice to watch a rom-com; if you can call it that after ages. Definitely watch this movie. I give it a 10. So what movie will I watch next?

Here's a song from the Materialists Soundtrack; My baby got nothing at all by Japanese Breakfast

                 

 

Blacky's painting by Sasha Spielberg

Thank you Sasha Spielberg for this lovely picture of my dog Blacky! Love this!!! Going to get one of my cat!!!

Doesn't he look like a Disney-fied version of himself?

                                                               

Vacation!!!

Using up three weeks of my yearly vacation! It's a great benefit that we have at my college. Nice to just relax at home with a good book during the rain. I am fortunate to have very helpful and supportive colleagues and I'm grateful for this opportunity! I'm looking forward to new ways to mentor in the future!
Below are some pictures I took of my workplace!
Cheers Y'all!-Natasha

Udipi Sri Krishna and the best Fish Fry!

Below is  a statue of Udipi Sri Krishna that I like, it stands tall near the Krishna Temple area. I remember clicking a picture of it years ago, and I clicked one today when I wanted to fix my phone.

                                                      

                                                        

                                                        

Visit Hotel Vishwas, branch of Thimappa's in Manipal for the best Fish Fry, marwai and chicken sukka. It's a tiny hole in the wall but is worth the effort finding, and trust me it was a lot of effort getting here in this rain.