Last month on Instagram

No matter how low I’m feeling, I can always browse my instagram feed & expect it to cheer me up. So today I’m doing a post sharing all my instagram photos from the last month & a half. Many of you who follow me there might have already seen these, but there’s no harm in a little repetition, right? Besides, I like seeing these on Life etc.

#1 Russian Matrosyka (also known as Babushka) nesting dolls were on my wishlist for a while & I finally bought a set – except instead of portly Russian ladies, these have David Bowie on them! They’re handpainted & very lovely. I bought them from the etsy shop artmatroshyka, run by a bunch of Russian crafters who make all kinds of nesting dolls based on musicians/bands, TV shows (love their House M.D. set), sports teams etc.

#2 I ordered an old-school DYMO-style labelmaker (it’s hot pink!)

#3 The labelmaker made me a little crazy (in a good way) & I started to label everything, like the boombox notebook from retro journal set.

#4 I received a gorgeous pair of Lady Stardust danglers from MaMA CiTA jewelry. They so dainty & feminine, I can’t wait to wear them somewhere. Do check her etsy store for more pretty stuff like this.

#5 I’ve baked a couple of Pumpkin Pies in the last month (with a ton of help from mom, as always) to get into the whole autumn/fall spirit. They’re not hard to make considering the fact that pumpkins are pretty easy to find, locally & they taste delicious.

#6 The onset of fall/winter means a whole new skincare regimen (I don’t generally have a regimen. But you can’t keep ignoring skin as dry as the Sahara). Every year I pick one lipbalm/chapstick to overdose on, this year it’s going to be Maybelline Baby Lips.

#7 I’ve discovered sweet soda snobbery after finding these Bellot at my local grocery store. They’re  produced in France, available in a variety of natural flavored (pink limonade is my favorite) & come in the prettiest vintage-style bottles.

#8 Do you remember Ricco Crafts? Well of course you do, they’re the ones who introduced washi tapes in India!. Well they sent me some sheets of satin wrap tissue. I want to do something creative with it, but I’m still not sure what. Do any crafty folks out there have any ideas?

#9 My mother gifted me a prepaid card to my favourite café.

#10 The Bowie: A Celebration zine that I ordered came in the mail.

#11 A street photo that I took of a man typing legal documents near Andheri station. It really excites me to see typewriters still being used for something other than décor/novelty purposes, though that too will probably end soon.

#12 Spotting a well-maintained vintage car close to home was such a thrill. Someone on facebook identified it as a Morris.

#13 I can never have enough prawns. Never.

#14 I ordered a beautiful new digital kitchen scale (made by Typhoon UK) from the Zansaar Vintage Pantry Collection. I really love the vintage appliance print on it.

#15 & #16 Some cute Asian stamps that I bought online finally came! The tiny cat lady stamps are really nice (though the lilac ink I used is obviously too light), but I really like the Poulain & Fotka camera stamps. The’re made of wood & designed to look like real cameras, & the stamped image looks lovely too.

You may have noticed something about the photos above- most of them were taken at home. I’d been advised strictly by doctors to rest for a few weeks, even after the I got the all-clear from dengue. That suited me well for a while because I felt incredibly weak, but now I’m feeling really cooped up. But I’m definitely much better & I’d like to thank all you wonderful folks for all of the kind get-well-soon messages I got on here, on twitter & instagram.

We’re currently getting into Mumbai’s version of winter. 23℃ might not seem to cold to most but it is to me. I’m really looking forward to a little winter trip I’m taking with my mom soon, all part of my mission to see more of my own country!