Its been a year since we moved into our sweet little home :) Since quite some time I wanted to make a small video of all the memories that made our home sweet home. Nov 23rd last year is when we did our house warming party with friends and family and today after exactly one year I have my video ready to be shared with everyone. Here you go!
Monday, November 23, 2015
Saturday, November 21, 2015
First Half Marathon!
This story began on my birthday this year when we were discussing about doing something different and out of our comfort zone before the two of us turn 30! Both of us came up with lots of crazy and wild ideas but then we settled on giving it a try for a half marathon. As soon as both of us agreed to this, I immediately registered for the Golden Gate Half marathon which was exactly in 12 weeks after my birthday and on the day of his birthday (Nov 8). We did not even have any idea about what it meant to run 13.1 miles. We just knew we want to do it!
Ok, registration was done. Then we started looking for how to begin. We came across a lot of articles and figured out that it wasn't as easy as we thought. People on internet were talking about 6-8 months of training to do half marathon the right way and injury-free. There were other set of people/training-groups who were recommending 12 weeks of aggressive training. Well, we had exactly 12 weeks and we had registered so we had no second thoughts. So I picked one of the training plans available online and decided to follow it religiously. Here is a picture of our ideal 12 week training program :)
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| Aggressive 12 week training program! |
We went on our first run on the morning of my birthday itself. All energetic, excited and full of enthusiasm. After a mile we realized what 'one' mile running meant. 13.1 miles felt impossible at the bottom of my heart but I never brought it to my lips. We just did 2 miles on that day and were dead tired. The whole day in office I felt too tired and felt too sleepy :P
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| Day 1 @ Guadalupe trail |
After the first day, we decided to move our running schedule to evenings. As days passed we kept our discipline and went for running every day. It was not easy in the beginning. Each one of us would inspire the other and let the running spirit go on. Very soon our dinner time TV channels changed to youtube videos to learn tips and tricks for running half marathon. I used to browse a lot regarding stretching and strengthening exercises and all other good practices for beginner runners. Running became the spark in our life and both of us would come up with new ideas about various exercises, different products, diet, etc for runners. Our weekends used to be going for long-runs and relaxing on a couch and browsing/shopping for shoes, fitness tracker, waist belts, compression bands etc.
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| All set for running with our new shoes and the trackers |
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| We did the Black Light 5k Run as a practice for the half marathon! |
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| Our first-ever Race bibs :) |
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| We also did the American Heart and Stroke Walk (5k) for creating awareness about heart diseases. |
We had joined the 'Founder-Run' meet up group and used to go to shoreline lake for weekend 6 mile run. This meet-up was a group of engineers and founders who were also passionate about running. This group was very motivating and we met some really interesting people. The views of Shoreline lake were breath-taking. After running here is when we realized the energy coming from the people around you and the views make a lot of difference in how you feel after a long run.
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| Beautiful Shoreline views |
6 weeks before the half marathon, Manoj got injured after one of our 7 mile run. He sprained his ankle and could not even walk. It took him around 4-5 weeks to recover fully which means he couldn't come for running. But I was determined to go for practice at least 4 times a week if not daily. We were not sure if he should be running the marathon but we kept that decision for the last minute.
3 weeks before the marathon, I did my first longest run of 10 miles at Shoreline lake with the same Founder-run meet up group. They normally do a 6 mile run but I got two other enthusiasts who accompanied me and encouraged me to achieve my 10 mile goal. Whoa! What a feeling it was. I felt so energetic after the run. It was the best feeling :) I remembered our day 1 when things seem to be impossible and I had reached so far in about 9 weeks of time. I felt so proud of myself. On that same day, I was thinking about what running has taught me. Running has really given me a new perspective in my life. Something that seemed to be impossible 2 months back seemed quite possible. Until now I had always been complaining that I don't have time to do this and do that but after I started running I felt more energetic. Even though running would take away 2 hours of my schedule, I would infact get more things done in a day than I would do otherwise. Running has also taught me a healthy way of living. I have decided to continue running or pursue any other form of exercise even after the half marathon.
Few days before the Marathon, we loaded ourselves with lots of carbs. The day before the marathon we went to the expo and enjoyed the sun in the city. That night we relished a nice bowl of Pasta! On the day of the marathon, we got up at 4am in the morning and boosted our energy levels, packed our bags and headed to San Francisco in full form :) We were there to have fun and celebrate Manoj's 30th birthday :) Here are a few pics from the finale:
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| Marathon Madness! |
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| Race Bibs! |
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| Breath-taking views of Golden gate |
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| Almost near the end :) |
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| Hurray! At the finish line :) |
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| Look who ran with us :) - Pankaj |
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| Pankaj-Jiya |
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| Stats from UP Move and Runkeeper! |
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| Showing off our blings! |
The course through the Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, past the Palace of Fine Arts out to Fort Mason was amazingly beautiful and a little drizzle while running over the Golden Gate Bridge was icing on the cake. The experience was breath-taking and worth having! In addition to the views, it was the energy in the crowd and the playlist that I had playing while running that made it possible. It was more about the journey than the finish line. But touching the finish line was in itself a very big moment of achievement!
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| Our Medal - A piece of GOLD! |
This story would be incomplete without my motivations who led me take this challenge up. Shrushti and Pooja and a colleague named Samatha were my inspiration throughout this journey. A brief conversation with any of them would recharge me as much to last for couple of weeks. Whenever I felt the spark going down I would simply talk to one of them and would get my excitement and energy back to its peak!
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Shravan 2015
Welcome back to the Shravan series at beingdhriti :) I know its November already, but its never too late to write a post. Its always better late than never. Here are some of our pictures from different festivals from the month of shravan this year :) This is a picture-only post.
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| Independence Day! |
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| Baked this Independence themed house warming cake for Pankaj-Jiya :) |
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| Independence Mood! |
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| Office potluck ! |
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| Baked this M&M's surprise cake for office potluck :) |
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| Rakshabandhan time - Time to send post cards to brothers :) |
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| Rakshabandhan! |
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| Abhishek! |
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| Smile please... |
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| Prachi bhabhi and Manoj! |
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| With AB and bhabhi. Missed you - Piyush and bhabhi! |
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| Manoj and his rakhees :) |
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| Sagarrrrr and me! |
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| Mehendi time - Teejri :) |
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| MJ |
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| He put mehendi for me for the first time ever :) |
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| Mandatory pose ;) |
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| Look who was home for Teejri pooja <3 - Reema :) |
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| Love you to the moon and back ;) |
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| Look who visited us the next day :) |
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| Pose 2 ;) |
There are no pictures for Saatam and Janmashtami as we were on vacation to Yellowstone during the most important festivals of the month of Shravan! No worries will celebrate next year :)
Friday, November 6, 2015
Alaska Trip 10 day itinerary - May 2015
This post is on-request from a bunch of friends who are planning to go to Alaska and asked us for our expert-advise ;) So I am making it available for everyone who wants to visit the heaven on earth! This is just the copy-paste from the google doc that we make for all our trips. If you need any more details, please feel free to post a comment and I will get back to you.
Although the following itinerary looks exhaustive in first look it is quite do-able as we were able to do everything on this list. Days are very long in May and Alaska provides you a very different energy level that you cant stop exploring it more and more. The last two days were slowed down for us because we got busy in the scavenger hunt for our lost baggage :) So, I have listed a few additional things that you can do for the extra time you may have during your 10 day trip.
Note: It is a very good idea to buy the Tour saver coupon book - http://www.toursaver.com/ and it costs you around 100$ but is totally worth every single penny. We booked most of our trip using this book as it provides lots of good buy 1 get 2 offers.
Below list gives you a good idea about route that we took, where to stay, where to eat along the route. We had with us a Jain couple with lots of food limitations and they had plenty of pizza, burger, sandwiches, salad options along the way. Food was not at all a problem.
Although the following itinerary looks exhaustive in first look it is quite do-able as we were able to do everything on this list. Days are very long in May and Alaska provides you a very different energy level that you cant stop exploring it more and more. The last two days were slowed down for us because we got busy in the scavenger hunt for our lost baggage :) So, I have listed a few additional things that you can do for the extra time you may have during your 10 day trip.
Note: It is a very good idea to buy the Tour saver coupon book - http://www.toursaver.com/ and it costs you around 100$ but is totally worth every single penny. We booked most of our trip using this book as it provides lots of good buy 1 get 2 offers.
Below list gives you a good idea about route that we took, where to stay, where to eat along the route. We had with us a Jain couple with lots of food limitations and they had plenty of pizza, burger, sandwiches, salad options along the way. Food was not at all a problem.
| Date | Activity | Comments/ Links | |
| Day 1 | 5/16/2015 | Anchorage | |
| sat | 12:00 PM | Car Rental; Almo - Full Size Car - Dodge Journey SUV | Costco reservation |
| 45-59 Partly cloudy | 4:00 PM | Red Tram Downtown Tour | |
| 5:00 PM | Anchorage Downtown Shopping | ||
| 7:00 PM | Walmart Anchorage | Getting ready for the trip! Buy snacks etc | |
| 12:00 AM | Overnight Stay | Aleyaska Resort (http://www.toursaver.com/alyeska-resort/) | |
| Day 2 | 5/17/2015 | Seward | |
| sun | 9:30 AM | Tram ride | |
| 43-55 + Showers | 12:00 PM | No time for going for Lunch | Had thepla and clam chowder at cruise reservation office restaurant |
| 1.30 PM | Portage Glacier Cruise | http://www.toursaver.com/portage-glacier-cruises-alaska/ | |
| 4:00 PM | Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center | http://www.toursaver.com/alaska-wildlife-conservation-center | |
| 7 PM - 11 PM | Exit Glacier Hike - 2 hr | http://www.alaska.org/detail/exit-glacier-hike | |
| 8:00 PM | Dinner Ressurection Roadhouse | http://www.sewardwindsong.com/lodge/resurrection-roadhouse/ | |
| 10:00 PM | Overnight Stay at Van Glider Seward | http://www.toursaver.com/van-gilder-hotel-seward/ | |
| Optional | Sealife center | http://www.toursaver.com/alaska-sealife-center-seward/ | |
| Day 3 | 5/18/2015 | Seward-McKinley | |
| mon | 7-10.30 AM | Kayaking | http://www.toursaver.com/kayak-tour-seward-alaska/ |
| 44-59 Partly cloudy | 11:30-5:30 PM | Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise | http://www.kenaifjords.com/day-cruises/national-park-tour/ |
| 6:00 PM | Start Driving to McKinley Princess Lodge | On the way went to walmart for picking up camping stuff | |
| Dinner: Subway | on the way! | ||
| 1:00 AM | Overnight at McKinley Princess Lodge - checkin at 1am | http://www.toursaver.com/mckinley-princess-lodge-alaska/ | |
| Day 4 | 5/19/2015 | McKinley | 6.5Hours ScenicDrive |
| tue | 10:00 AM | Aurora Borealis & Bear Show in McKinley Princess Lodge | |
| 45-74 Sunny | 1:00 PM | Lunch at Grizzly Bar - McKinley Princess Lodge | |
| 3:00 PM | Flight seeing & Glacier Landing | http://www.flyk2.com/denali-flightseeing/mckinley-experience.html | |
| 5:00 PM | Roam around Talkeetna - Local shops - restaurant hunt - Blueberry icecream | ||
| 6:00 PM | Dinner at Payo Thai | ||
| 8:00 PM | Prepare for Camping & planning next day | ||
| Overnight at McKinley Princess Lodge | http://www.toursaver.com/mckinley-princess-lodge-alaska/ | ||
| Day 5 | 5/20/2015 | Denali | http://www.denaliparkvillage.com |
| wed | 9:00 AM - 3:00PM | Denali Bus Shuttle- 9 AM | http://www.reservedenali.com/play/shuttle-buses/toklat.aspx |
| 48-67 Sunny | Lunch at Local Thai to go restaurant/ Prospectors pizza at Denali commercial center | ||
| Rent camping tent & sleeping pads | http://denalimountainworks.com/ | ||
| Camping in Denali | http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/campground-riley.htm | ||
| Day 6 | 5/21/2015 | Denali-Fairbanks | |
| thurs | wake up early at 6:30 am | ||
| 37-55 sunny | 11:00 AM | Dog Sledge Show | http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/things2do.htm |
| 12:30 PM | Lunch @ Morino Grill at Denali Vistor Park | ||
| 1:00 PM | Denali Visitor Center - Museum | ||
| 2:00 PM | Denali Horse Shoe Trail & Beaver Dam Hike | ||
| 4:00 PM | Denali - Fairbank Train Ride 4pm - 8pm $56 | http://www.toursaver.com/alaska-railroad-fairbanks-denali-national-park/ | |
| 7:00 PM | Dinner in Train - Salmon Chowder & Chicken | ||
| 8.30 PM | Drive to Chena Hot Spring Resort - reached at 10:30 pm | ||
| 10:00 PM | Overnight Stay at Chena Hot Spring Resort | http://www.chenahotsprings.com/reservations/ | |
| Day 7 | 5/22/2015 | Fairbanks | |
| fri | 7:00 AM | Chena Hot Springs | http://www.chenahotsprings.com/chena-pool-house/ |
| 49-76 Sunny | 10:00 AM | Breakfast at Chena Hot Sprint Restaurant | |
| 11:00 AM | Chena Ice Museum | ||
| 1:45 PM | Gold Panning at Fairbanks | http://www.toursaver.com/fairbanks-gold-panning/ | |
| 5:00 PM | Dinner at Pita Stop | ||
| 10:00 PM | Overnight Stay | Hotel in Fairbanks - BEST WESTERN PLUS | |
| Day 8 | 5/23/2015 | Fairbanks to Talkeetna | 4 Hours Drive |
| sat | 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Fairbank- Denali Train Ride - AA | http://www.toursaver.com/alaska-railroad-fairbanks-denali-national-park/ |
| 50-75 Partly cloudy | 12PM - 9PM | Lost luggage scavenger hunt | |
| 9:30 AM | Life saved by a shuttle driver at Denali Bluffs hotel! Yeppiee!!! | ||
| 10:00 PM | Dinner and drinks at Denali Priness Lodge! Celebration Time! | ||
| Overnight Stay @ Denali Princess Lodge | Hotel in Denali - Princess Lodge | ||
| Day 9 | 5/24/2015 | Talkeetna-Anchorage | |
| sun | 9:00 AM | Tour Denali Princess Lodge Resort | |
| 47-68 Partly cloudy | 11:00 AM | Meet Driver & Railroad guy for finding lost luggage | |
| 2:00 PM | Meet Rakesh & Harika at Mile 200 between Denali and Talkeetna | ||
| 4:00 PM | Lunch @ H&H Lodge | ||
| 7:00 PM | Ulu factory, downtown shopping, earthquake park, air craft drive | ||
| 10:00 PM | Dinner | Ginger REstaurent | |
| 11:00 PM | Overnight Stay | Jewel Lake Bed & Breakfast - Anchorage | |
| Day 10 50-66 sunny | 5/25/2015 | Fly back to SEA |
More things to do :
Things to carry:
| Toursaver booklet |
| All reservation details/printouts(Airline, Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks accommodation, cruise booking) |
| toothpaste/toothbrush/mouthwash |
| sunglasses |
| Towel - take small towels |
| Personal Items |
| Deo |
| advil etc |
| First aid kit - antiseptic and band-aids - headache stomach ache ki dawai |
| socks extra pair |
| Sun screen |
| Hats/caps |
| bagpacks |
| Camping |
| Sleeping pads |
| propel powder/gatorade powder |
| Tent |
| flashlights |
| water proof matches/lighter |
| Water(hydration pack/bladder/bottles) |
| Sleeping bag |
| plates,cups,bowls,forks and spoons |
| Towels |
| Water 24 Pack |
| mosquito repellant cream or Spray |
| xtra chargers/batteries for phones/gps - phone, gopro, camera, portable |
| Car chargers |
| phone chargers/portable chargers |
| Warm Jackets |
| Thermal inner wear |
| hand warmers/toe warmers |
| gloves |
| shoes |
| Flip flops |
| soap/bodywash/facescrub |
| plastic bags dry bags/ziplocks |
| ponchos |
| maps |
| Tissues, paper towels, cleaning wipes, hand sanitizer and a roll of toilet paper |
| Playlist in your phones |
| Playing cards |
| Camera + charger + Go pro + chargers + Tripod |
| GPS |
| swim suit |
Hope you find it useful!
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