Blondie and his paparazzi

I'll be the first to admit that my husband is a looker. He's tall and blond and has swishy hair. I just find it weird that Indian men agree with me.

Anytime we leave the house, he is mobbed by chubby short tweens with patchy mustaches and gelled hair. Pushing me aside, they gather around him, starring into his eyes questioning whether he's Leo or Matt or some freakishly ideal combination of the two.

He of course obliges when they ask for photo ops. And I of course document the whole thing, holding back laughter and rolling my eyes because seriously, this is like the 4th time it's happened today.

I miss America

Ken and I just spent the past 16 hours on a 3rd class overnight train from Chennai to Hyderabad. And by overnight I mean we had to sleep on it. Enter a smattering of cockroaches, snoring Tamil men, and the sound of tuberculosis. #thisiswhathardcorelookslike

We arrived in 1 piece, sort of, but I don't think I've ever missed America more. Especially after seeing Nabil Samadani's pics of Cali. The fact that places this clean exist, and that I once upon a time lived in them, is baffling to me.

For more of his dreamy, nostalgic imagery check out his blog or portfolio.

Dakshina Chitra

How were your weekends dear readers? Mine was spent in a marble painting workshop at Dakshina Chitra.
 
Dakshina Chitra refers to itself as a "living art museum" and is filled with traditional craftsmen from Southern India that come and practice their art in public.

Sari weaving for example... 

They offer classes from pottery making to glass blowing, Kalamkari drawing and palm reading. I got to make a pot for 25 cents.

 

The workshop I took focused on the ancient tradition of miniature marble painting in Rajasthan. Turns out painting on marble is really fun. The surface totally glows and makes the image look translucent and lit from within. If marble wasn't so expensive I think I'd switch to it permanently. I loved it.

Here's a look at mine start to finish:

The teacher was so strict it was hilarious. We weren't allowed to change anything about the composition. I snuck in a few extra flowers and peacocks, and when he walked by I got a talkin' to. :)

 

After two months of desperately searching for anything art related in Chennai, I'm so excited to have found this place.  Also I'd recommend it to anyone passing through Pondicherry or Auroville--it's definitely worth a stop.

Temples

There isn't a lot of sightseeing to do in Chennai--it's mainly just filled with traffic jams and your occasional goat. But one thing we do have are temples. Incredibly intricate, beautiful temples.

The most famous one in the city is called the Mylapore Temple. Its technical name is the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, but that's really hard to say and most people don't call it that.

On all sides there are piles and piles of flower garlands and incense that people buy to take inside as offerings. The jasmine garlands smell amazing and usually sell for 10 cents.

Next on my list is the Meenakshi Amman Temple. Aren't these vintage photos of it so stunning?

Have any of you visited a Hindu Temple before?

A new painting for your Wednesday

 Holy Cow, Watercolor on paper, 9"x12", 2011

Dear India, I made you a cow. So why don't you use that positive karma and put an end to the cow harassment my rickshaw and I endure on a daily basis. Namaste.

ps...Click here to purchase!

Into the woods

This weekend Ken and I packed our bags and headed down south to the famed town of Auroville.
Auroville, as the name suggests, is like something straight out of a Dr. Suess book. It's filled with hippies, artists, and lots and lots of French people, all of whom call themselves "Aurovillians".

For the first time in 6 weeks I breathed clean air and ate a salad.

We stayed at the Gaia Gardens Guesthouse for $22/night (I'm continually baffled by prices here). Our room was beautiful and surrounded by ponds and gardens on all sides.

Ken befriended two Aurovillians back in April, so we were lucky to actually spend time with the local community. On Saturday we went to a candlelit birthday party and on Sunday we were invited to brunch at Johnny's treehouse in the woods.

This is Johnny.

This is brunch.

We also got to peek into one of the many handmade homes in the village. This particular one was renovated by Johnny's son and used to be a chicken coop/school house. The interior was breathtaking, complete with an indoor rain garden and stairs built by Johnny himself.

I felt like I'd accidentally fallen into Design*Sponge.

Needless to say, we didn't want to leave. It was an amazing weekend. And fingers crossed, we'll be returning very very soon.

Just a photo

Someday I'm going to have white hair and wear it in a bun.

[photo via Kimia Kline]

A drawing for your Tuesday

When I arrived in Chennai, one of the first things I noticed was the massive amount of crows that rule the city streets here. They are big and loud and everywhere. Imagine Hitchcock's "The Birds" meets Bollywood.

The Crows of Chennai, 9"x12", Ink on Paper, 2011

So in honor of our flighty friends and their manic ways, I made this drawing. It took a long time. And every time I looked up, I'd see a crow sitting on my window sill staring at me.

A Tennessee Engagement

It's been a while since I posted any weddingy stuff, but Sameera and Hossain's engagement was simply too good not to share.

Don't they look like something straight out of a fairytale? And I love that they drove down to my hometown of Nashville, TN, to meet up with wedding photography genius, Tec Petaja.

Tec's talent paired with their impeccable style equals pure brilliance.

So many congratulations to the stunning couple! I simply can't wait to see all the beauty your wedding holds.


[All photos courtesy of Tec Petaja]

From the sea

I was walking along the beach today and came across these tangled, colorful messes.

Does anyone know what they are? They seem so purposeful.


And in case you're new around these parts (welcome!), here's three India posts you might have missed:

*Why we moved to India
*Yes, that's my husband driving a rickshaw
*3,000 photos in 3 minutes

Standard

Just a normal day in the neighborhood.

Massages, Mint Baths, and Ginger Tea

Today is my one-month-in-India anniversary. In these past 4 weeks I've been eaten by mosquitoes, hunted by ants, increased my bad smell tolerance by 150%, and learned never to wear makeup in 120 degree heat (it melts into your eyes). I've also learned what mangoes are supposed to taste like and gotten a sweet tan.

In celebration of such a milestone, today was deemed spa day. Enter, Oryza.

For any Chennai dwellers out there or happy tourists passing through, I highly recommend this lovely bamboo oasis. The service was great (ask for Pinky), it smelled like dewberry, and their massages are awesome. Not to mention, they're followed with mint baths. That's right, a hot bath filled with mint. And for the record, you haven't lived until you've experienced this.

They had to force me out.

We finished off the day with ginger tea and chocolate cardamom cake from Ahnoki Cafe across the street. Generally we've been grossly disappointed with the baked goods here, but this place clearly knew what they were doing. So happy to have discovered it.

Cheers friends. Here's to another month.