tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65660614506096854642012-02-14T23:01:07.408-08:00This blog has nothing to do with anything gelatinous like collagen, gelatin, jellys and other sticky substances. It is in fact a collage of my life with my dear hubby, who I fondly call "gelatu" (among other names), derived from the 'gelato', the italian descendant of icecream. The nickname owes its origin to his yummy personality and his incorrigible sweet tooth.Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-89873632546810918532012-02-14T19:30:00.000-08:002012-02-14T19:30:12.941-08:00

You know Valentine's day is around the corner when a trip to the grocery store feels like you're walking into a 1800-flowers warehouse. Or watching the Gisele Bundchens and Adriana Limas strutting their stuff on multi-million dollar Superbowl commercials, reminding the male dominant fanbase that it's Valentine's day in a couple of weeks. Or getting thrice your regular quota of email

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-71600141399684680242011-10-02T15:07:00.000-07:002011-10-02T16:32:30.022-07:00

We all have days when we wish we had a shrink to turn to. If it wasn't for the recurring cost of paying someone the big bucks to listen to you blabber for an hour, we would all do it once in a while. Or three times a week, depending on the week. :) Life is stressful and you have gotto decompress. Which is why I decided to blog again. To vent for free. :) Until they come up with a cool

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-23345491075307612222011-09-21T11:14:00.000-07:002011-10-02T17:17:10.197-07:00

If you watched the 1989 Michael Douglas-Kathleen Turner classic, The War of the Roses (an absolute must-watch if youre into dark comedy or domestic violence :)),you would agree that some battles can get nastier than they ought to. How often do you see merchants and deals show up on one dealsite and then a couple of days later you see the same deal on another site ? Too often, if you

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-8157551394949086822011-08-28T16:05:00.000-07:002011-09-01T13:25:19.917-07:00

The general idea of a 'date night' is an opportunity for a married couple, especially one with kids, to go out on a date. Picture Tina Fey and Steve Carell in the movie, a suburban couple slogging through their daily lives and marriage. To escape the rut and to reignite the spark in their marriage, they visit a fancy Manhattan bistro, where a case of mistaken identity hurtles them through the

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-71010901749123934502011-08-17T00:36:00.000-07:002011-09-01T13:20:28.599-07:00

We live among cheaters. It occurred to me while watching the Casey Anthony trial and the Arnold Schwarznegger nanny scandal that since there are so many different words for lying and cheating in the English language, that there must be a significant amount of dishonesty in the human race to describe every nuance of it. Let's see: swindle, falsify, mislead, fraud, fake, pretender, imposter,

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-25107013337831927582011-08-14T13:50:00.000-07:002011-09-01T13:21:01.066-07:00

Remember what Mamma Gump said ? "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get." And when you get it, you don’t know what’s it’s like until you take a bite. Deal sites are no different. I think I am an astute shopper but I’ve picked some bad apples on deal sites. My deal-reveal blog this weekend is about 2 failed deals we landed up with in the past 6 months. I should lay down a

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-70695146977889792282011-08-11T16:23:00.000-07:002011-09-01T13:21:34.500-07:00

It turns out that while plenty of those Hollywood losers types can be spotted on ‘Celebrity Poker’ (Tobey Macguire, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Alexander etc), the people who really run the world play Bridge. We’re talking Bill Gates and Warren Buffet who are mad for the game. Add my hubby and his dad to that VIP list. S & his dad have figured out a unique way to stay connected. Every Saturday

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-38903395710202983072011-08-07T03:23:00.001-07:002011-09-01T13:22:10.799-07:00

de·lir·i·um noun \di-ˈlir-ē-əm\Definition of DELIRIUM1: an acute mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations2: frenzied excitement This week's post is about our experience at a local playhouse. If you thought it was about me in the madhouse, I'm not quite there yet. :) Deal Reveal: Groupon tickets for

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-17888523341615964992011-08-03T02:41:00.001-07:002011-09-01T13:23:21.228-07:00

I have recently developed a keen interest in the edgy, pop rock music of a California born and raised singer/songwriter, Sara Bareilles. I first heard her on a local radio station on my morning commute to work, a time when I stuck in traffic some days and can really appreciate good, hummable music. Next, I found myself craving for some 'King of anything' on youtube in the gym to make my workout

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-78040309527799165102011-07-31T23:02:00.000-07:002011-09-01T13:24:47.169-07:00

Photo thumbnails: From Pour House From Pour House From Pour House Why I bagged it: The Pour House sells itself as a wine lounge/beer bar. S is a self proclaimed wine "expert" and I prefer wine to any other alcohol (less regrets the following morning). $10 is fairly low commitment and I liked the dark, smoky ambiance in the yelp photos and the reviews. Why I loved it: The Pour

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-34692016543330727562011-07-31T22:30:00.000-07:002011-07-31T22:50:29.984-07:00

After too much nagging from S about neglecting my blog, I have decided to write about something fun: our shared experiences with deal and coupon sites. Every week (with a bit of luck), I will publish a blurb about one of the many LivingSocial deals we redeemed or new ones I bagged. I will write about what got me interested in a new deal, and once I redeem it, if it was a winner (dealight) or a

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-27741298870120767272011-05-09T13:43:00.000-07:002011-05-09T13:45:19.376-07:00

Speaking of commitment, while most people don’t stick with the same laundry detergent or cologne or spouse (or blog ;)) for long enough, my father-in-law is a one-employer-for-life kinda guy. He is retiring from his job at Birla this month, the company with which he started off his career some 35 years back. He ends his long stint with the company on 31st May 2011. Wow! So proud of him.Congrats

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-59178916899580653172011-05-03T12:14:00.000-07:002011-05-03T12:17:10.604-07:00

This is a somewhat sincere attempt to do a better job of updating my personal blog. I am aware that I have sucked at it so far, but I wont go there. I lack the time management skills of my husband. Sometimes the robotic ease with which he manages his life stuns and impresses me. Me, I’m more mortal, mediocre and flawed, but I celebrate it everyday. :)I’ll start with an easy commitment: I commit

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-28745364887739961112008-08-05T11:01:00.000-07:002008-08-05T12:00:23.808-07:00

I'm pretty stoked about some new kitchen equipment I just got. It's a set of 3 shiny, beautiful chef's grade kitchen knives by an australian manufacturer, Furi(http://www.furitechnics.com.au/) and endorsed by the very famous food diva, Rachel Ray. Before I go on, I should admit to being a devoted viewer of Food Network(FN) on TV. Gelatu sometimes calls me a FN junkie. The thing is, I'm really not

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-9664309358799731122008-06-27T15:47:00.000-07:002008-06-28T01:46:42.918-07:00

The apple of my eye is off to the Big Apple. Which means I wont have him for Friday night or for the weekend. Which really sucks. His plane left at 3.19 pm on Friday afternoon. It was originally scheduled to leave at 2.35 pm.Today was an extremely busy day at work. So much so, that I had no time to savor my daily caffeine fix from starbucks, which turned warm by the time I returned to my desk at

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-24191478309198816922008-06-18T11:16:00.000-07:002008-06-18T12:26:59.236-07:00

We dont have a lot in common at all. We're definitely a ying-and-yang type of couple. He makes a beeline for outside seating in the sun at a restaurant patio when it's a 105 degrees day, whereas I'd rather sit in the cool comfort of the air-conditioned indoors. I mean, why do we have to be at the same temperature as the food we're eating ?The one thing we both love doing is going out for a good

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-83904253453916293852008-06-13T16:11:00.000-07:002008-06-13T16:21:48.730-07:00

This is a quick one. He gets spooked so easily. He carefully avoids horror movies like the plague. All claims of machismo bite the dust when I slide a horror movie into our DVD player. The only ghost movie he can watch without screaming and ducking under the covers is probably Casper. So here's to you, Mr tough-guy. Another Friday the 13th, this way comes. Let's hope you survive it !

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-73839637030480871392008-06-13T15:02:00.000-07:002008-06-13T16:06:04.252-07:00

This happened on a sunny afternoon, on Saturday, June 7th, just a day after his parents had landed on american soil for their first visit to the US and the bay area. We had spent a perfect morning touring some of the best spots that SF had to offer: the Golden gate bridge, Vista point, the Crooked Street (Lombard Street), and the beautiful buildings in downtown San Francisco and were heading

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6566061450609685464.post-41730367622516911382008-06-10T16:03:00.000-07:002008-06-13T16:10:58.587-07:00

Recently, on the long weekend of Memorial-day, we made a trip to the Oregon coast. It was two-and-a-half days of sedate bliss in a quaint town called Cannon beach. Two-and-a-half days away from home in a quiet oceanside town, at a gorgeous inn property right on the beach. Two-and-a-half days of sun and sand and plenty of fresh air to relax. He, of course describes it as one of the most geriatric

Akansha Guptahttps://profiles.google.com/113441682524848841985noreply@blogger.com1