“We do not know the value of our moments until they have become a memory.”  ~Sam H. The saying reflects my school days, perfectly. I didn’t give much thought back then, but school days and school friends were the best.

Days pass and memories fade. We just didn’t realize how soon time flew past. Distance, family commitments and work pressure is keeping many of us away from each other. But our bond of friendship is still strong and the good memories are with us forever.

“When you take the step towards your dreams, you will be met with fears because you have never traveled this way before. As you go, you will discover that you had nothing to fear.” ~ Gardner
And before I could think of anything, I was already prop shopping for this premium Australian brand – Longleaf Tea Vodka with Kunal Daswani, a very experienced and eminent Photographer in Chennai.

Every time a photo-shoot assignment lands on my lap I am like a happy kid, running around, shopping, planning and stacking props enthusiastically for the shoot.

 My house resembles a NASA workstation during morning hours on weekdays. We all get up quite early and continue doing our routine chores, just as any robot will do. Though there is hustle & bustle of activities going around all over the house, a pin drop silence is always maintained, lest we forget to execute any task.

I get up at 5.30 am, brush teeth, rush out to get milk, go for a small morning walk, cook and pack the lunch & breakfast for hubby, all by 6.30 am.

 There is no better way to start a day than with a hearty breakfast with your family!

To me the best thing about vacation is brainstorming the places to visit and then making a tentative plan for the entire trip. Online reviews and Google comes to rescue for searching a comfortable hotel/resort, book safaris in advance and design the itinerary all by myself.

Years of traveling has made me a planner and I often look out for off beat destinations in India to avoid unruly crowd, commercialization of tourist places and to experience the thrill of meeting new challenges all the way. Traveling together to some known and some unknown destinations has made the nature lover, the adventure enthusiast and the history buff in my family come out in open. We now appreciate the ruins of history and pristine beauty of mountains in the same breath.
A first-hand narrative description of our trip can be read in a series of seven blogposts I published recently on my other Blog, here.

During weekdays with hectic school schedule and busy office routine, breakfast is the only effective meal time when I can stuff my kids and hubby with all the goodness of veggies, fruits, nuts and cereals.

Over the years I have experimented with various breakfast recipes liked by my family and which also give me ample time in the morning rush hours besides providing them with good nutrition. And Vegetable Sandwich is one such recipe I count upon.