Senior year of High School – all these young kids poised to launch into bright futures, ready to fly from home to take on the world! And one of the most important activities this year is the whole college application process! It was quite the learning curve in our house – so different than what…
Chichen Itza – The Seventh Wonder!
About 3 hours from Cancun, and a couple of hours from Tulum is the charming town of Valladolid – the perfect gateway to exploring the Yucatan! The main attraction here, of course, is Chichen Itza – and the numerous cenotes that dot the landscape. There are several tour groups that offer day trips to these…
A week in the Riviera Maya
After 25 years in the US – yes, it really has been that long, August 2022 was 25 years! – I’ve never had the chance to travel south of the border to Mexico. Ironic, considering that Mexican food is probably our favorite cuisine here!! So when our India plans fell through this December, we decided…
Madrigal Queen!
It seems unreal – 4 years, 4 wonderful years as part of DHS Madrigals – this incredible journey, possibly the most rewarding high-school experience for Manasi has finally come to an end. And what an end!! Going out as Madrigal Queen – a true reward for all the hard work, commitment and effort she has…
Niagara Falls – across the border!
After this high energy week – 18th birthday celebrations and a super Madrigal performance – let’s get back to our regularly scheduled programming! Now, where were we? Oh yes, Niagara Falls! So Ajey and I had only ever seen the American Falls – due to our visa status, we had not been able to cross…
Niagara Falls … and the first of the college visits!
Catch-up post here – the last trip we took before school started this year!! I’m sure you all remember the Canadian visa fiasco? – can’t complain, though – we did get a wonderful Bahamas cruise out of it! Still, having paid for the visa, and made not one, but two trips to Chicago for biometrics…
The Great Thanksgiving Phone Deal
It started innocently enough – we were shopping in Sam’s Club, when an AT&T salesman walked up to us. Black Friday sales – amazing offers, the latest Apple and Samsung phones at huge discounts! Did we need new phones – come on, does anyone ever need a new phone??!! But Manasi’s phone did have a…
All that glitters…. must be Silver!
This is one of the most wonderful times of the year – the onset of Fall, start of a new school year, and yes, all our festivals, starting with Ganpati all the way to Diwali! And you know what festivals mean – good food, special menus, great times with family and friends – and a…
Happiest place on Earth!
Now what can possibly be happier than being on a cruise ship to the Bahamas! If you ask Manasi – cruise or not – she would probably say the Hogwarts castle at Universal Studies, Orlando! So she was pretty excited when we decided to add a couple of days buffer before and after the cruise…
All aboard the MSC Divina!
We didn’t get off to the best of starts – because you know, you’re thinking in your head, we’ll have breakfast, drive to the port, drop off our bags, return the rental car, check into the cruise and head straight to the lunch buffet, or maybe hang out by the pool. Except that there are…
Cruising the Caribbean
We had a couple of significant milestones in our family recently – Ajey’s parents celebrated their 50th anniversary last November, and his dad just had his 80th birthday in June!! In Pune, there was a grand party for their Golden anniversary – and since they are here visiting us in Peoria this summer – why…
One Perfect Moment
So I totally meant for this post to build up to the big announcement – but you know what? I can’t wait to shout this from the rooftops!! Manasi is going to be the Queen for Dunlap High School 2022 Madrigals Knight!!! Starting as a totally green Freshman to Queen – what an absolutely perfect…
A place called home... 