Monday Man Crush

The Man I admire...



Mom; Nana; Nani



at my engagement

I know topically girls post picture of hot sexy guys for their Monday man crush #mmc. But my Monday man crush is a little different. Its my grandfather, Jora Singh. Mera Nana ji. He has inspired, encouraged, and supported me without my life. 

 

He's a big Redskins Fan

Nana & Kuljeet

Nana with Mom holding Himmat

His life story is really amazing. He has been through many difficulty and hardships within his lifetime; and now he lives a life with content.



With Nana, having lunch with kuljeet

He came to the USA when I was around two or three yrs old. So he's been in my life since the beginning. He's taught me how to drive, money saving tips, and life lesson before even going through them. 

 

Nana and Fateh

Nana talking a nap with Fateh

He can't read or write any language yet knows dates and events like he was there himself. He can tell you the history of any country and explain scriptures of any religion. Even being in a foreign country, he was able to drive 45 minutes to his work without getting lost. 

How can a person like him, be so down to earth yet modern for his age and time. They say those who are illiterate are closed minder but he is the complete opposite. They say education is key however in his case an untainted mind is the power. 

His humbleness and this outlook on life always interests me. How can you be so down to earth when there are sin all around? Plus all the difficult life situations he's been in.

Therefore my man crush Monday is my grandfather. ❤

 

Himmat, my courage

My birthing experience

Our gift to Manpal's Mom, that's how we surprised her with the news

I know lot of you have been waiting for this post. And to be honest, I'm excited to share my experience too! It was such a memorable and wonderful experience... I would definitely do the same for next baby.






Most of you know by now I was planning on doing a natural birth from the beginning of my pregnancy. I started off seeing a OBGYN because I thought that was what you were suppose to do. (I later learned from the hypnobirthing class about how OBGYN came in the picture, plus my friend who is originally from England explained to how they see midwives; they only see OBGYNs for emergencies or complications) I saw a midwife in the office for the most part but it still wasn't what I was looking for. On my 4th month check up, my midwife gave me brochures of different classes I could take to prepare for the birth, fitness classes, and support groups. The hypno-birthing brochure popped out to me instantly.

I took a class with +Katie Tolbert, Peace on Birth. At first my husband wasn't too excited to come with me but later he became interested in the whole process too. She did an amazing job explaining everything, the different types of natural births, the history, what your body is going through, and so much more. I truly came out of the class prepared and ready to get this baby out! Also from her I learned about +NOVA Birth Center, I remember the day I found out about them... I was beyond relief and ecstatic. Because I already knew I wanted natural birth but I wasn't looking forward to the whole hospital setting. Originally wanted to do a home birth but with our living situation it wasn't ideal.

The midwives that helped me during the birth

Moving forward I began going to +NOVA Birth Center, they were exactly what I was looking for. Natural. I didn't want numerous amount of ridiculous test done. I had one test done that rang an false alarm all because of a technician error; it had me all worried for nothing... not to mention the $400 bill. But that's beside the point, I wanted my birthing experience to be memorable and wanted to feel the real power a women has to birth a life. My close family and friend already knew I am a strong-willed person and I would be able to natural birth, but I did have a few skeptics.

 The due date my midwife at the OBGYN gave me was Sept 16 and the date came... and nothing. So I decided to help my body out a little... or a lot. I did everything possible to get the contractions started.

• Eat crabs and lobster
• Essential Oils
• Organic Dates
• Castrol Oil, mixed with orange juice in a blender bottle real good and drank it with my eyes closed
• Went to +Teavana to get Raspberry tea, the young lady knew exactly why I was there so she made it extra potent
• Bounced on the yoga ball
• Hot shower

I did ALL of these the night before and at 4am the contraction started!! At first the contraction were about 20-30 mins apart, I was able to handle it and able to walk it off. Then they started becoming closer and we called the midwife on duty at the +NOVA Birth Center. She advised us to stay at home until the contractions were 5-10mins aparts. Soon after the call I started getting surges to push, so we called the midwife again and headed to the birthing center. I remember at one point when the contractions became closer, I told my husband to just take me to the hospital and he immediately responded "NO baby! You can do this!" I instantly got the motivation I needed. (by the way, he learned how to response to my reactions like that from the class) As soon as we got there I got ready to get in the tub, which is how I wanted to birth. At the same time, the midwife and the student midwives, checked my temperature and blood pressure.

When I got in the tub my husband did exactly how I wanted, put his phone next to my ear with relaxing hindi music

• Theme song from Fanaa
• Tera Liya From Veer Zara
• Instrumental to Mirza

In the meantime, my mother in law waited patiently for the arrival of her grandchild, not knowing if it was a boy or girl. My husband called my sisters and mom to come. When the contraction started my husband would massaged my back which relieved the pain. My water broke in the tub and I could feel the head. The midwives guided me when to push and encouraged me to keep breathing, staying hydrated. I had prepared labor aid couple of weeks before so I was drinking that to keep me hydrated. I was so eager to meet baby ghuman I began to scream and push. However the midwife relaxed me and told me that I would put my body in flight & fright and it would be hard to get out. Thusly I began to breath deeply in and out. Dosed off, relaxed, completely merged within the water.






With 3 pushes and out came baby ghuman! They laid him on my chest, tears came rolling down my cheeks. I looked up at my husband and his eyes were watery too. Then it hit me, I still didn't know if it was a boy or girl.I At 8:36 am on Sept 20th Himmat Singh Ghuman was born. My son. My courage.

At Home, cutting a birth-day cake 

After the birth, the midwifes help me stabilize, got me out the water, helped me shower...go bathroom, assisted me with having him latch on, and overall just make me feel comfortable. They told us we could stay there as long  as we needed to. Manpal brought food and we all ate then began to get ready to go home. Around 12pm we were all ready to go. We stopped by Raj Khalsa Gurughar(Holy Temple) to receive blessing. At 2pm I was at the comfort of my own bed and sleeping with my son, Himmat Singh.

SIDE NOTE: I know I didn't go into too much detail about vaccines, medicine, and other somewhat important details. But I would be more than happy to talk to any of you about my thoughts, experience, and belief.

Liquid Gold

Argon Oil

There are many oils on the market that claim to have miraculous results for your skin, hair, and nails. However do you really know what’s in those oils? Are they truly from where they claim?

Argan oil has gained popularity over the years with beauty product lovers. This liquid gold comes from southwest Morocco, Essaouira to be exact.  It is the exclusive region where the argan tree grows. It is extracted from a thorny tree fruit by hand, by peeling the outer layer of the fruit, then pounding it’s inner nut with a rock to extract the kernels from which the oil is extracted.

The oil is high in vitamin E, essential fatty acids, and can help with many skin conditions such as dry skin, acne, psoriasis, eczema, and wrinkles.  The restorative and age-defying effects have made it one of the latest miracle ingredients in beauty and cosmetic products.

Argan oil is named as an ingredient in 111 personal-care products since last year, compared to only two in 2007. Products range from facial masks to shampoos, from makeup to shaving creams.

The omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid has anti-inflammatory properties that make it healthy for the skin. There are studies out that statistically show an increase in vitamin E blood levels when five teaspoons of argan oil are consumed daily for two months. Even cholesterol levels have dropped subsequently.

Natives of Morocco use it on their skin, hair, nails, and even their babies. It is also eaten, drizzled over salad and couscous, or used as a dip for bread. This golden-colored oil is truly liquid gold. Moroccans  
believe it has a miraculous effect, so, it’s something you might try too.

A good friend of ours at +Skin Sutra MedSpa, +aisha jabrane is the founder & CEO of +jabarganoil. She personally goes to Morocco to oversee the production of the argan oil. Therefore, we believe and trust this product. +Skin Sutra MedSpa  is the exclusive medspa in the DMV that carry this amazing oil. 

Vampire Facial

Micro-Needling 

Collagen Induction Therapy, also called micro-needling therapy, is a minimally invasive skin-rejuvenation procedure that involves the use of a device that contains fine needles. The needles are used to puncture the skin to create a controlled skin injury. Each puncture creates a channel that triggers the body to fill these microscopic wounds by producing new collagen and elastin.  There is improvement in skin texture and firmness, as well as reduction in scars, pore size, and stretch marks.

Micro-needling has been around for a while, however marketing and new technology has evolved to improve this old technique into a modern treatment.  Micro-needling is either done with a derma roller or micro-needling pens. There are various micro-needling pens on the market right now that health professionals can utilize. We at +Skin Sutra MedSpa use +SkinPen by Bellus Medical 

Derma rollers are done manually, they come in different needle penetration configurations. The needles leave microscopic channels into the dermis, which triggers the body’s healing response to produce new collagen synthesis without causing scar tissue formation. The micro-needling pens are medical grade micro-needling devices that penetrate deeper into the dermis.

Treatments can be performed on the face, neck, chest, arms, hands, legs, abdomen, and back. Depending on the area being treated, the procedure can take about 30-45 minutes. Also depending on the severity of damage on the skin, more than one treatment may be needed. Immediately after the treatment there may be some redness, flaking, or mild irritation to the treated area. These aren’t anything to worry about and will subside within 24-72 hours. It may be difficult to apply makeup over treated skin where it is flaking, however usually there is little to no downtime.

This treatment can be used to promote radiant, even-toned skin, minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, acne/body scars, and reduce pore size. It can even help the appearance of stretch marks and ice pick scars. Another great point about micro-needling is that it is safe for all skin types, with no risk of fibrosis.

Overall this procedure has many advantages: it’s quick, safe, non-ablative, and requires no thermal energy. You can check out our Facebook page +Skin Sutra MedSpa for more before and after pictures, deals and specials, and upcoming events. 

The Beauty & The Beast

Our love story

Where do I begin...Manpal and I aren't your topical couples that dated and we're madly in love and knew they would eventually get married. We were completely opposite of this stereotype story. 

Long, long time ago back in 2004, Manpal first laid his eyes on me was the Guruwara (religious temple)  I had heard through the grapevines that he liked me and wanted to met. This made me furious! Why you might ask.. well its because I think it's disgusting when guys/girls check out the opposite sex at a religious temple!!! I thought to myself: I will met him and teach him a lesson; maybe slap him across the gave or something. 

When we met I dressed as ugliest and tomboy as I could. We talked and talked and I realized he's not like the rest of them boys. The original idea was canceled and new plan was to be friends. 

You can label your relationship whatever you want. We were labeled boyfriend and girlfriend but we were more like best friends. I was becoming more comfortable sharing personal stuff with, like my family, school, and dreams/goals. He, however, felt comfortable but never really shared much of his family or past. 

In the back of my head I was falling deeply in love with him. But he had already told me he would never marry so I was to never dream we would be to gather forever. That did not stop us from strengthen our relationship. 

Years went by and together we been through many ups and downs. While the storm's kept coming, we kept facing them. Eventually one storm came that Manpal couldn't let pass. My parents were looking for suitable suitors for me. It came to a point where I was about to get engaged too. Since I always felt like Manpal was a BBF, I told him about the guy and that I think he might be the one. And I guess that trigger something; he not only wants me but needs me.. and forever.. He wanted to marry me. 

Before I knew it, Manpal called my mom and arranged to the families to met. April 9th 2011 we had a simple religious pre - engagement ceremony. I couldn't registered that this all happened. Then soon after August 3rd 2012 we got married!  

That's our love story. At the end of the day, I married my BBF and thing are just getting started for us. 

I hope you enjoyed our story and I will post more milestone within our marriage as they come. 

Avocado Dip/Salad

Summer Favorite

Summer is a time for BBQs, water gun fights, and long nights. One of my favorite things do is create yummy recipes in the kitchen. This recipe I actual got from my friend, Amanda, who used to work with me at Guess By Maricano. It's a great dip, salad, or even a topping for chicken. The ingredient are common too so no need to make special trips to the grocery store. 

                                                                                 
1.big mixing bowl

2. 2 big Red tomatoes

3. 1 Red onions

4. 2/3 avocados /depending on how much you like avocados

5. Can of corn

6. Black beans

7. Italian salad dressing

8. Black pepper

9. Chips to dip !

All you do is mix all the ingredients. Depending on how watery you want it, put how much need Italian dressing. You can use fresh corn or canned. Just remember to get kennel corn not mashed. 

I use tortilla chips to dip but my mom eats it like a salad. Sometimes I will even add meat to make a bit more filling salad. 

Enjoy! 

The Royal Baby Shower

With a Celebrity's closet

Sukhpreet - 1st time mommy! 

My beautiful younger sister, +Sukhpreet Sohi, is having a baby boy soon! So in the honor of the prince & 1st time mommy, our families hosted The Royal Baby Shower. With the theme being royal, I knew I had to have a elegant outfit to match.  +Lashkaraa Ethnicwear  outfit  from Priyanka Chopra collection was a impeccable choice. 

Priyanka Chopra 

 I had seen Priyanka wearing this outfit on various soical media, like pinterest and instagram. I been wanting to get my hands on this but couldn't find a legit place to order it. When I saw it on +Lashkaraa Ethnicwear website I instantly placed it in my shopping cart! 

When I received it in the mail, I ran to my room to try the outfits. The Asin Yellow and Black Anarkali fit perfectly and no alternation was needed. The Priyanka Chopra's Churidar I already knew it was going to be a bit long, because of the reviews left on Lashkaraa's website. When I tried it on it reached right above my ankle. Therefore, I definitely needed some alternation to replica the picture. Thank god I have a wonderful tailor, who fixed it within a day and under $10. Everything else fit perfectly. The sleeves are long, there a zip on the left side, and only 4 buttons on the top open up.





The day of the baby shower, I was frustrated with my face! I had no idea what kind of look I should do. I first tried a smokey eye with a hint of turquoise, but of course that didn't work. Washed my face to clear the canvas. Took a deep breath in and +Manpal Singh gave me a big hug (because he saw how frustrated I was getting) and starting doing this shimmery dusty brown look.

The products I used are the following:
Motives Sculpting kit
Custom blend foundation
Neutral Medium Powder
Red Current Lip Liner
Lustarfy  Black Mascara
Little black dress gel liner
10 years younger setting spray
Eye Base
Runaway Blush
Vino eyeshadow
Bedroom Eyes eyeshadow
Vanilla eyeshadow
Cappuccino eyeshadow



All products can be purchased at www.motivescosmetics.com/luckyskin Custom Blend can be made per request.

Enjoy some of the picutres I took with friends and family =)

My sister's mother in law, Sukhpreet, and our mom

Selfie =)

Sukhpreet & I 

Manmeet & I 

My chachi ji (auntie) & I 

Me, Sukhpreet, and Harinder 

Me again hehehe

Floral Fling

Lashkaraa Bollywood Anarkali

For a while I been looking for a vendor who has designer outfit with reasonable prices. I also wanted to be careful and not become a victim of fake or fraud distributors. Indian/ Punjabi fashion changes so fast it's hard for us "foreigners" to keep up therefore I needed acceptable delivery time too. 

After seeing Dressyourface wearing a Lashkaraa outfit on her instagram, I started looking at their reviews and various outfits. The more I saw the more I couldn't wait to order. I had couple outfits already picked out to purchase but I decided to only go for two to check it out. 

Once I placed the order it arrived within 7 business days! Considering its coming from Mumbai, India that's pretty good. Everything was neatly packed and folded. This Asin Yellow and Black Anarkali is one of the outfits I brought. I order a XXS and it fit my petite figure. To be honest, even though I did see the size guide, I still had doubts it would not be my size. I always run into the problem of tailors messing up my measurements. Sometimes the neckline is too tight, too tight under the arms, not fitted around the waist, numerous other things. But I was impressed! The sleeves could be a little tighter but it's still wearable. 

The top half of the anarkali is a thick cotton which is perfect of winter. Sleeves were the same material thus I didn't need a coat. I hate wearing big heavy jackets that cover up my suit. The bottom portion of the outfit is a delicate and transparent material which gives the outfit it's flowy feel. My husbands niece called it a mariachi dancer suit. lol 

Now on to the makeup part of the outfit. So after getting this outfit, I know I wanted to keep it classy but eye-catching look to match it. I used the Motives Mavens Element Color box and the Sculpting kit. I love trying new colors but I was a bit scared using bright color with my already bold outfit. Needless to say, everything flowed together perfectly! 

*Gold Rush Eyeshadow
*Aubergine -Maven Element box
*Shell- Maven Element box
*Customer Blend
Foundation
*Ignite- Fire Sculpting Kit
*Heat- Fire Sculpting Kit
*Eye base
*Neutral- Lipliner
*Rosy Brown-Lipstick
*Little Black dress-Gel liner
*Lustrafy black-Mascara
*Naughty- Blush
*Neutral Medium-Powder
*No shine setting spray 

Well there you go, I hope you liked the post. I will post later when I wear my 2nd outfit from Lashkaraa. I will defiantly be buying more suits from them and keep all of you posted with blog post with outfit details. 

All Motives Cosmetics products can be purchased from www.motivescosmetics.com/luckyskin Feel free to contact me via facebook, instagram, or email about product questions or other concerns. 

Enjoy lovers!

Chaar Sahibzade

A reminder of the past...

Last week, we went to go watch Chaar Sahibzade. It was my husband, little brother kuljeet, little sister harinder, mom, and my nana ji (mom's dad), we were all eager to see the movie. Kuljeet was the most excited one of all, he loves listening to our history and shows a passion for our culture/religion. He previously went to go see Saadda Haq with us too and asked many questions trying to understand what happened. Therefore, I was excited to see this reaction to this movies; especially since it was animated. 

If your not familiar with Sikh history, let me give a brief overview of this film. Guru Gobind Singh ji, our last of ten gurus, sacrificed the lives of his 4 sons aka Chaar Sahibzaade for religion, injustice, and tyranny of the Mughals. 

When the movie started, I immediately noticed that the animated characters were very well done. Each of the Sahibzade were beautifully characterized. Their punjabi was so polite and rich with culture (which I expected). What I didn't except was to be so emotional over an animated movie. I thought if there were actual actors, I would be more attached, but I was wrong. I cried numerous times throughout the movie.

I also appreciated the fact the Guru ji was shown but no one voiced for him. At first, I was a bit skeptical how this would work but when I saw it... I was impressed. It is hard to this but they did a great job.

I'm not going to go into scene by scene to tell you how much I loved it... you just have to see it yourself. Take the whole family, reconnect your kids, little cousins, nieces and nephews with our rich history of sikhism. I love the fact that our future generation now has a well depicted movie of our history. Making the film into 3-D was a great idea, I personally didn't watch it 3-D but that will definitely get any kids attention.

At the end of movie, we left with tears rolling down our cheeks and thinking how distant we have become from our roots. The chota Sahibzade spoke with such pride, confidence, and passion about sikhi that it re-energize us as future generation. My nana ji, who lost his own son during the 1984 attack on the Golden Temple, had puffy eyes and red nose from crying. Kuljeet was left speechless, I think that the movie was so well done that he understood what happened and why it happened, leaving him very more passionate about being a guru sikh.


Great job Harry Baweja! You have two thumbs up and a standing ovation from my family and I. Even chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, loved it so much that he stated no tax will be charged on this movie! Famous actors like Shilpa Shetty, Tabu, Raj Kundra, and Bipasha Basu were all at the launch premier. It took Harry Baweja couple of year to make the film, perfecting and gathering correct information about history... but it was well worth the wait.   

Looking forward for more movies like these to watch with my kids in the future. 

Don't Suit Me Up!

Modern Indian

When family events comes around, I always have a hard time picking what outfit to wear. Indian suits can be heavy and very form fitting; which is fine.. When I'm in the mood to get dolled up. But not when your tired, don't feel good, and/or lazy. In addition, I'm still labeled as an newly wed I can't go to in-law occasion wearing jeans and a shirt or cotton Indian suit. BIG NO NO!

I think I found an answer to my prays! Zahra Saeed outfit are so versatile. I can dress them up or down, Indian or western. I just can't get enough.

For this family dinner, I wore a turquoise top with stone work done in the middle. The top is long; it went down to my ankles but there was a slit starting from my hip.

I pairs it with light brown leggings and a black sleeveless cover up. The cover up was silk in the front so the texture of the top and cover up were the same.

I apologize for not having the best pictures. I just couldn't not take picture of the makeup before my camera battery died.

Outfit: Zahra Saeed

Legging: walmart

Cover up: cache 

Makeup::: Motives Cosmetic

Black mascara

Little black dress gel liner

Natural Medium powder

10 years younger setting spray

Eyebrow kit

Eye base

Motives Sculpting kit - fire

Beauty blender