All that glitters :) :)

There are quite a few places in this city which I never get bored of visiting. Every time I visit one of these places I find something new to explore, and fall in love all over once again with that place. So, one of the top few places  in this city which always  keeps me intrigued and excited is “Jill Mill” in Pondy Bazar.

Located in the shopping hub of the city, “Jill Mill” has a lot more to offer than what you can expect.  The mega accessory store has everything you have always wanted.  Be it fancy earrings, antique jewelry, bangles, bejewelled clutches, traditional pieces of jewelry, cosmetics, funky jewelry, gypsy collection, I could go on listing every form of jewelry available in the planet. You name it you have it, that’s the range Jill Mill boasts of.

The lovely collection will lure you into buying something, for that matter anything from the store.     “Jill Mill” is pretty much a heaven on earth for every woman and the ambiance and layout of the store just fuels that thought .

Everything about this store spells creativity and art. The ground floor is exclusively dedicated to earrings and antique sets. Imagine!! You have a floor full of earrings to choose from. ( Joy :D)

The first floor has a lot of hair accessories to choose from. From lovely clutches to, cute flat clips, tiny butterflies, Velcro clip on’s, any form of fancy add on is on display to choose from. They also have a lovely collection of rings. Starting from the “Jodha Akbar” inspired big and fancy rings to really funky ones are available.

The second floor will completely sweep you off your feet. You are welcomed to an array of bangle racks. Bangle rack after bangle rack after bangle rack will definitely tempt you . The vibrant display of colors on the bangle racks is bound to set you in the “shopaholic mode”. The bangles come in all shapes and colors. From the standard ethnic metal bangles to enticing stone studded bangles to bangles that match every reason and season is on display. They also have a collection of foot ware and jewelled clutches on the second floorJ  

The two storied shopping paradise can really test your pocket.  The price tag can sometimes send a sinking feeling to your heart, but once in a while you can indulge in a bit of extravagant buying  just for the joy of it .But if you have  the patience and endurance to search through the numerous racks of earrings and bangles and never get tired of trying on one thing after the other, am sure you will not only walk out with a wonderful purchase, but also with a heavier purse  :D That’s when your patience hits a jackpot J “Patience + relentless effort to search through the racks =Smaller impact on your purseJ”

Over the years ,visiting Jill Mill has become more of a family tradition,  every occasion in the family is incomplete without paying a visit to Jill MillJStarting from my youngest cousin to my grandmother , we all find something about this store which keeps us giving reasons and happy occasions to go back there .

Love

Sanz J

Beachside Splendor

I am a foodie to the bones. I love experimenting with different cuisines and this has driven me to explore a lot of food joints in the city. Being a hardcore vegetarian I have explored most of the         “ pure Veg” places in the city. And I am starting my first venture with a place I visited recently. 

Splendid beaches is one thing Chennai city is very proud of. It is not just the beach, the area surrounding the beach is always bustling with activity. Amidst all the hustle and bustle in the Besant Nagar beach there is this quaint little place called “ MASH”.  At one glance this place strikes as a decent hangout. Set in the first floor facing the beach, giving us a lovely beach side view, Mash is a perfect place to sit back and relax. It has an open air service area and also an indoor service area. On a breezy evening, the outdoor seating would be an ideal choice. The ambiance is welcoming and relaxing. The place is lit up with yellow lights , not too low , not too bright, just perfectly set.

 The menu offers a fairly good amount of options to select from. There is an equal share of Veg and Non Veg items to choose from. The choices offered range from soups , to Tandoor, to Burgers and sandwiches , Pastas, Fresh juices, cold shakes and a few ice cream delights.

With mostly school and college going people visiting the place, there is a very young and vibrant appeal to the place.

Soaked in natures splendour and relishing a delightful meal makes MASH a perfect place to spend a quiet and lovely evening.

Love

Sanz J

 

Celebrating Chennai

As the share auto zipped past the city streets braving the Sun’s Rage, the city opened to many beautiful sights. Roadside vendors , children hurrying to school, office goers, construction workers, these are few of the many things that catch your attention. The 7 seater Share auto had 12 people  clinging on to dear life as the auto swayed left and right with every turn in the road ahead. Thanks to the metro Rail project, the roadways in the city seem to have been resketched all together. It is an interesting mix of people in the share auto, there are the IT people hurrying to work , holding on to the share auto for support in one hand and clutching  the laptop bag in another, women carrying baskets with home supplies dressed in saree and wearing “ maligapoo”, school children sitting with their text books propped up on their lap. The share auto driver has the latest “kuthu paatu” playing from his music system, the loud deafening cry is sure to make your heart jump out of your skin.

No prizes  for guessing the lovely city I come from, Yes, it is our very own “singara Chennai”. There is a lot more to Chennai than the clichéd Sambar, vadai, idli , thalaivar and maligapoo. I am on a quest to rediscover the city, a city with over a 100 years of rich history and culture has a lot of things to boast about. In my quest to rediscover Chennai, I am going to write about every place I visit, be it a restaurant, or a fancy mall, or a roadside kiosk or an architectural landmark, or a super brand store in the city, or a road side stall or the lovely beaches bordering the city .I am going to explore the length and breadth of this city and give a taste of it to the readers of my blog.

Love

Sanz :)

Quintessentially Me :) :)

There is quintessentially something about someone all the time. It is these little quirks that add spice to our life.So, I decided to write about one little quirk I had/have and will sure continue to have
"Lucky charms".
I always had my way with lucky charms And my obsession with these go a long way back
I don’t exactly remember how I fell into the habit of lucky charms. But then again this habit has grown so
deeply within me that this has become a very integral part of my lifestyle.

I have my share of “ charming memories”. So here are a few of them.

Summer of 2009

It was my 6th semester exams. I always found even semesters difficult to tackle with. It was more of a
mindset rather than any actual reason. So it was that part of the year were my belief in my lucky charms
were on a all time high and I trusted them over actual preparation.

So there is one thing about me which I should say before I proceed with my little anecdote My lucky
charms are always seasonal only a few of them manage to break that seasonal trend and make it to
the forever category . So my lucky charms come in all shapes and sizes, can come in any form , some
are pretty much the conventional stuff while some can make you sit up and have a second glance
And plus since these charms are seasonal some of them tend to reflect the aura of the situation or the
occasion the lucky charm is associated with.

Now, back to exam time There was this very difficult paper that semester that was driving me up the
wall. So I had to have a stronger base of “charm power” to deal with that situation. I didn’t want to take
any chances so I had all the charms with me, the ones that managed to survive the previous season ,
some from the forever category and some “ instant charms”.

“instant lucky charms” are something I came up with to tackle ”emergency situations “. The emergency
situation basically reflects moments wherein I was not ready with any lucky charm for the event/
occasion/situation and I needed something to give me that confidence so under such circumstances
anything I pick/choose/wear that day is a “default lucky charm” and has the power to control the
situation. ( Trust me!! Your imagination runs wild when you are in a tight spot).

So there I was sitting in the exam hall, scribbling away  in the answer paper when suddenly one
of the invigilators in the hall stopped by my desk and gasped out looking at me “ omg! What is that on
your left hand “ ?? I turned and glanced @ my left hand worried if I did something wrong. Phew!! It was
my “assorted collection of lucky charms” adoring my left hand from the fist to half way down the elbow
I told you I didn't want any risks with this paper, so I had to make sure I was perfectly sure with the lucky
charm selection, so I simply wore them all :D

My left hand comprised of my watch hidden under a host of lucky charms , which included 2 wooden
bangles gifted to me by my friend( gifts are always lucky , especially the ones that come for your
birthday. Gifts reflect a person s affection/love and happiness for us. So it is always a powerful
charm and falls under the “default lucky charm category”) . I then had 6 different colored bands on my
wrist , which was wrapped around the watch , making my watch look like it had 6 different colors on
the strap( fashion statement even during times of peril !! :P phew!) . I then had a charm bracelet , it was
made of different colored beads and it had tiny trinkets dancing around as I moved my hand ( thank
god it didn’t make noise as they moved :P that was the last thing I wanted :P ) Then finally, I had the
heavily beaded blue bracelet . So I was set mentally to attack the paper with the hidden powers of my
lucky charm

So when my invigilator asked me about it , I gave a sheepish grin and replied “ lucky charms sir”. He
looked @ me aghast for a second and burst into a fit of laughter He asked “ all of them” ? I replied “ yes
sir “ .He then asked me “ so you believe this will help you “ ? I said “ It is more of a comforting factor to
me than anything else sir “ . He smiled and walked away.

So as expected the paper turned out to be “ a not so difficult one “ making it easy for me to tackle with

Lucky charms have been a very integral part of my college days and looking back and reliving those
memories is sure bringing an adrenalin rush into me. I have had some of the craziest of crazy lucky
charms, one season it reached new heights where I prayed that it should rain on the morning of my
exam only then will the paper be easy!! That was insanely crazy! But trust me out of 6 papers it rained
for all the 5 papers and that one paper which It did not rain I just managed to scrape through( phew!
Scary indeed when you wish for something crazy and it does come true) . And all even semesters where
ruled by the outcome of the previous night s IPL match if Chennai was playing, I was crazy enough to
wish that if chennai wins I will pass!( passion for Chennai over my exams ;) )

But my lucky charms never let me down. They always added to my self confidence and gave me the
strength to handle any situation.
I have never tried to analyze the real reason behind why some
things become “lucky “while others don’t .To be honest I am not interested in the scientific validity
behind my actions and I see this as more of something to do with hope and belief. A lucky charm is a
physical manifestation of these 2 words. Hope because I want a lucky charm hoping that things will go
well for me and belief because it is a physical entity wrapped around my arm, or wrist or being around
me reinstating my hope.

It is not about being blinded by the power of lucky charms, sometimes it is nice to believe in something
random and erratic just because it makes you feel good. And a good feeling is always a path to
happiness and joy. These are little tricks to play around with the mind to make it believe and grow
stronger into not just desiring something but also reassuring yourself on chasing it with the 2 most
powerful weapons in this world, “ hope and belief “

Love
Sandy

PS : I once wished that I will write about my obsession for lucky charms if I pass my final math paper :P
 I have evaded this piece of writing for so long :P and finally it has happened now