Monthly Archives: October 2011

Don’t Waste Time on Coupons

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I know, I know, to say this as an Indian American is sacrilege.  Plus, who hasn’t gotten a rush out of the coupon savings on Extreme Couponing, where everyday folks purchase thousands of dollars worth of groceries for pennies on the dollar? 

I must admit that after watching the first show, I signed up for some coupon websites and vowed to start “couponing.”  But after a couple of weeks, I realized that I a) didn’t have the time to put into organizing all of the coupons, b) didn’t want to go to multiple stores to do my weekly shopping, and c) had no room for stockpiling (the couponing experts save money by hoarding their purchases when they are on sale so they can wait until the next opportune time to purchase that item).

Still, I consider myself a bargain hunter and love nothing more than the rush of getting a good deal.  In fact, in the past, when I got a good deal on an item of clothing and received a compliment on it, I used to proudly boast, “$10 on sale!”  I’ve since learned that sometimes it’s better to keep mum on the subject.  Even so, just knowing that I’ve gotten a deal just makes me enjoy my purchase more (I’m thinking about you, like-new Shermag glider and ottoman that I purchased from Craigslist for 60% below the Amazon price).

But I came across an interesting perspective on the issue over at a great blog, Corporette.  You can read the post I’m talking about here.  The guest poster, Sue, of Dollars to Donuts criticized women for doing lots of little things to save money like shopping sales and clipping coupons while ignoring the big opportunities for saving.  She explained that the big savings lie in the boring stuff like flex spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, and 529 plans.  

Now I will sheepishly admit that these are the very topics that make my eyes glaze over (much to the chagrin of my financially-savvy brother).  But hearing it this way motivated me.  Even if I busted my hump driving to three different stores and created a coupon binder and managed to save 50% on my groceries, I could save three times that if I did the boring stuff.  

Do you do the boring stuff?  How did you motivate yourself?  Sound off in the comments section.

www.iammoms.com

Cosmetics for Brown Women: A Review of Burts Bees Lip Shimmers in Rhubarb and Fig

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The Mojo Recovery Project 
As you ladies know, when you have a baby, the frump creeps in.  Well, in the beginning it knocks you over with a thud.  Baby weight, shifting hormones, lack of sleep, and lack of time to primp all have made me feel like I’ve lost my mojo.

In trying to regain it, I’ve been putting a bit more effort into my appearance.  Some of this involves buying new goodies and some involves just using what I already have.

Cosmetics for Brown Women: The Dilemma
Wearing the lipstick and thinking about the mojo recovery project gave me the idea to start a makeup review series.  As a dark-skinned woman, I have a hard time buying cosmetics because many products aren’t pigmented enough.  Also, though there are tons of makeup reviews out there,  it’s hard to find makeup reviews by people with dark skin (though I have had some luck at Makeupalley, and The Indian Make-up Diva).   So I’ve decided to add to the brown woman’s cosmetics arsenal by giving you my two cents on the cosmetics that I’ve tried.  For your reference, I have yellow-toned skin that’s an NC44 in MAC foundation.  I’d describe it as Halle Berry with a tan.  

Review
Two of my new goodies were “you survived maternity leave and returning to work” presents to myself.   At 5 bucks a pop, I didn’t feel guilty for buying myself 2 Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers–one in the Rhubarb shade and one in Fig.  Even better, I added it into my Diapers.com order (was also buying a huge box of diapers for I Am Baby) so I didn’t have to shlep baby and a diaper bag to the drugstore or pay for shipping.

If these had more staying power, they would be my favorite lipsticks, particularly the Fig shade.  They are incredibly moisturizing, like the best, non-greasy lip balm and leave a minty tingle on your lips from the peppermint oil ingredient (they’re made of natural ingredients – here’s the ingredient list).  The problem is, the color fades away in a couple of hours, or faster, if you eat something.  But because they look like regular lip balms, you can reapply discreetly.

Here’s a picture of a Lip Shimmer (not Rhubarb or Fig) from the Burt’s Bees website

It’s hard to categorize these products.  They’re far more pigmented than a typical lip balm but not as pigmented as a regular lipstick.  They’re not glossy, but leave your lips with a subtle sheen.

The Fig shade is a medium brownish red that is very natural-looking on my skin.  It’s the perfect “my lips but better” shade that I’m always chasing after.  The Rhubarb shade is a natural-looking but slightly bright pink.  It’s still very wearable though, even at work. 

I really like the moisturizing quality because it makes these more comfortable than your typical lipstick.

The Verdict
These are excellent everyday lipcolors, so long as you don’t mind reapplying every few hours.  I wouldn’t go kissing your baby with them on though, because I worry that the minty tingle could irritate their delicate skin.  Other than that, I highly recommend these.

www.iammoms.com

Indian-Inspired Lunchbox Ideas

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It’s Sunday night, and I’ve prepared all of I Am Baby’s clothes for daycare this week. I’ve lined up his bottles to be filled in the morning.  But I haven’t gotten my clothes ready like I promised myself I would and haven’t packed my lunch either. And so begins the weekday grind.

Every time I don’t pack a lunch from home, I hear my mom’s voice and feel a twinge of guilt.  Like many of your moms, my mom had a staunch, “bring your lunch from home unless you have planned to eat out” policy.  In other words, don’t eat out because you haven’t made time to pack a lunch.  Though the policy has annoyed me many-a-time throughout the years, I have to admit that she’s right.  Packing your lunches from home is both budget-friendly and healthy. 

Now that I’m on my own, I’m often stumped as to what I should pack in my lunch.  Lucky for me, I Am Baby’s lunch is still eating the same thing for “lunch” every day – expressed breastmilk and some formula.  But one day soon, I’ll have to pack his lunches, and my “what to pack for lunch” conundrum will be even worse.  When the time comes, though, I’ll have some help from a fellow Indian American mom, Shefaly Ravula of Shef’s Kitchen (BTW, I don’t know her personally but came across her blog when I was googling something and had to share). 

So here are some of Shef’s lunchbox ideas (bonus: most of them are vegetarian!):

Lunchbox Ideas for the Modern Day Indian American Mom – Though these are geared towards a child’s lunchbox, I’d be happy eating most of the items.  Why not make a double batch and make your child’s and your own lunch in one shot?

Indian American Tea Sandwiches – If you’re like me and love eating sandwiches for lunch, these will give you a break from the same old PB & J.

Do you have any lunch ideas to share?  Do you have a system for preparing everyone’s lunches?  Do share in the comments section.

www.iammoms.com

Indian American Mom Indra Nooyi One of 25 Highest Paid Women and 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

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Forbes Magazine recently came out with its rankings of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and 25 Highest Paid Women in Business.  Indra Nooyi was on both of them (number 2 and number 9, respectively).

It would be amazing to sit her down for some chai and just pick her brain.  A visit to Google bhagvan shows that she has some stories to tell.  For example, she once wore a sari to an interview, got the job, and continued to wear saris all summer.  Ballsy.  Apparently, she had been advised by a Yale professor to be herself at an interview, and a sari was the outfit in which she felt most like herself.  The decision illustrates her commitment to being her authentic, Indian self.  She once said, “Bring your whole self to work.  Don’t create a persona of someone else–be authentic.”

She is also the mother of two young women.  She’s a committed parent, boasting that she has taken calls from her daughters even during important meetings and late at night. 

She’s all about diversity and women’s advancement, encouraging women to mentor one another.  (Psst, Ms. Nooyi, if you’re looking for a mentee, you can reach me at iammomsblog@gmail.com). 

If I ever had the opportunity to meet with her, I’d probe her views on authenticity in the workplace.  Authenticity is easy when it comes to the parts of yourself that align with corporate ideals but feels dangerous when it comes to the parts that don’t.  For example, I like to work hard and become engrossed in challenging projects.  Easy to be authentic at work–I wouldn’t mind putting a sign in my cubicle that says these things (well, that would be incredibly dorky, but I don’t think that doing so would hurt my professional image).   But I also think about I Am Baby for most of the day, love to talk about him, and can’t wait to see him when I get home.  Not so easy to be authentic about those things though.  Because these attributes would make me seem less committed to the job, and, ironically, more likely to be passed over for the challenging projects that I love.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to meet Ms. Nooyi, but I will say that I’m proud to see an Indian American mom at the top of Forbes’s influential lists. When I was growing up in the 80s, there were few women of color in high places.  And there certainly weren’t any Indian American moms.  I hope that in the coming years, we will see more Indian American moms in positions of power.

www.iammoms.com

Cosmetics for Brown Women: A Review of Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in Stay Currant

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The Mojo Recovery Project 
As you ladies know, when you have a baby, the frump creeps in.  Well, in the beginning it knocks you over with a thud.  Baby weight, shifting hormones, lack of sleep, and lack of time to primp all have made me feel like I’ve lost my mojo. 

In trying to regain it, I’ve been putting a bit more effort into my appearance.  Some of this involves buying new goodies and some involves just using what I already have.  I have tons of makeup from my pre-baby days and recently decided to haul out one of my old goodies, Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in Stay Currant. I wore this, mixed with Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in Always Sienna, on my wedding day.  (Note: I purchased both of these products on my own.  In the future, I will tell you if the products I’m reviewing have been provided to me for free).

Cosmetics for Brown Women: The Dilemma
Wearing the lipstick and thinking about the mojo recovery project gave me the idea to start a makeup review series.  As a dark-skinned woman, I have a hard time buying cosmetics because many products aren’t pigmented enough.  Also, though there are tons of makeup reviews out there,  it’s hard to find makeup reviews by people with dark skin, (though I have had some luck at Makeupalley, and The Indian Make-up Diva).   To add to the brown woman’s cosmetics arsenal, I’ve decided to give you my two cents on the cosmetics that I’ve tried.  For your reference, I have yellow-toned skin that’s an NC44 in MAC foundation.  I’d describe it as Halle Berry with a tan. 

Review:
Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in Stay Currant is a hard tube with two lip products, each containing a wand-style applicator.  One side has a liquid lip color, which you paint onto your lips the a sponge applicator. You let that dry on your lips for 60 seconds.  The other side contains a clear gloss that you paint on with an included brush applicator.

Revlon claims that the product will give you 16 hours of comfortable color and moisturizing shine.  I agree with the 16 hours of color, but not the comfortable part.  Can’t comment on the shine part, because I couldn’t be bothered to keep reapplying the gloss (isn’t the point of these long-lasting products that you don’t have to reapply?).

I put on the color around 6:30 p.m. last night and almost 24 hours later, the color is almost as pigmented as it was last night except that it has faded on the inner part of my bottom lip.  This is even after I ate 3-4 meals, showered, and brushed my teeth.  So, A+ for staying power.

As for comfort, I’d give it a B-.  The color dries out my lips.  This wouldn’t have been as big a problem if I had kept reapplying the gloss, but like I said, I don’t like reapplying.

I don’t think I can grade the color, since that is so subjective.  The shade is a bright fuschia red color that’s nice if you want to do a statement lip.  It’s wearable, but not appropriate for work. 

The Verdict
This is a good lipcolor for a special occasion, but I wouldn’t use it every day.  This color is too bright and it’s uncomfortable to have it on all day. 

Are there any cosmetics for dark skin that you would like me to review?  Let me know in the comments.

www.iammoms.com

Baby’s First Navaratri Garba

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Tonight I Am Dad, I Am Grandma (my mom), and I took I Am Baby to his first Navaratri garba.  I thought I’d do a post for all of you Indian American moms considering taking your babies to garba.

What Is Navaratri garba?
Navaratri is a Hindu festival whose name literally means “nine nights.”  This represents nine nights in which Hindus worship shakti mata – mother goddesses associated with strength.  Hindus from different regions of India celebrate this festival in different ways, but us Gujaratis celebrate with folk dances called garba and raas.

When we “do garba,” we dance in concentric circles around a shrine to goddesses such as Durga (goddess of strength), Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), or Saraswati (goddess of knowledge).  Garba involves rhythmic jumping and clapping  (great aerobic exercise!) to folk songs and music.  When we “do raas,” we clack pairs of dandiya (sticks) together rhythmically and dance with partners.  A poignant part of the celebration comes at the end, when young and old gather around the shrine to sing a devotional song/prayer called aarti.

Here is an example of garba. 

My Navaratri Garba Memories
I grew up going to Navaratri garbas in Southern California.  Typically held in college gymnasiums, these garbas were massive gatherings of Gujaratis from local communities.  I hated to dance (too self conscious) until I was about 13, so garbas meant dressing up in Indian clothes (a special skirt, blouse, and scarf called a chanya choli) and socializing with friends.  But when I became a teenager, suddenly something clicked, and I loved doing garba and raas.  I loved going to garba to dance, hear awesome music (Dholida, anyone?), and of course to scope out guys other than the regulars from my family’s social circle.  When I became “of marriageable age,” (in my parents’ eyes, my early 20s), garbas were also a place to meet and mingle with local Gujarati singles.  I also loved how I would run into people I knew years ago (e.g. the mother of my first-grade best friend, who I hadn’t seen in over a decade).

Now, I see Navaratri garba as part of our spiritual and cultural heritage as well as an opportunity to socialize with others in the Gujarati community.  Now that I Am Baby is becoming more social, we decided to introduce him to Navaratri garba.

Our Navaratri Garba Experience with Baby
Overall, I thought Navaratri garba was pretty baby-friendly, so long as one parent is willing to be on stroller duty.  Because it was very loud in the garba hall, I Am Dad took I Am Baby to the lobby area in the stroller and walked him around.  I Am Baby didn’t cry for the 10 minutes or so when he was in the garba hall, but I was worried that the loud noise would damage his ears (note to self: e-mail my pediatrician about this).

When we got to the garba, I was surprised to see this in the lobby of the gymnasium:
a girls’ chanya choli pop-up store

I Am Grandma and I stayed inside and did garba.  I Am Dad hung out with another Indian American dad who was also watching the kids while his wife got her garba on.

After awhile, we got tired of dancing, partly because the band wasn’t very good.  So we did what these people were doing:

A time-honored part of garba is sitting on the bleachers
and people-watching. It’s also a great chance to socialize,
if you can hear your friends over the loud music.

We left before the raas portion of the evening started, but not before participating in another Navaratri tradition – searching for our shoes in the huge pile of shoes outside the garba hall:

Luckily, I was wearing these mom-tastic Crocs and found mine right away. 
Did you go to Navaratri garba this season?  Do you celebrate Navaratri in other ways?  Please share in the comments section.
www.iammoms.com

The Fingerpaint Rangoli Debacle

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So in this week’s post, I had planned to show you how to do a simple fingerpaint rangoli craft.  Out of homemade edible fingerpaint, no less.

First, some background.

Rangolis are intricate designs that women make on their floors or outside their doorways during Hindu festivals.  When I was growing up, every year my best friend and I created rangolis in the entryway of my parents’ house during Divali.  Divali will be here in a few weeks, and what better way to introduce my son to Divali than with a fun craft?

I had planned to adapt something like this:

 (photo credit: http://maplewoodlibraryprograms.blogspot.com/2011/07/rangoli-for-adults.html)

for I Am Baby, an infant, by dipping his fingers into the paint and helping him to stamp out a symmetrical design. (Yes, I’m trying to get my infant to do crafts.  No I’m not a tiger mom.). 

So, I cooked up the fingerpaints using this recipe.  It made a TON.  If you’re going to try this with one child, I’d recommend making a 1/4 batch.

I created some rich, saturated colors by using 1.5 tablespoons of edible fingerpaint base and several drops of food coloring.  I used an empty plastic egg carton to store the different paints, like so:

I even wiped out the egg carton with baby wipes so I Am Baby wouldn’t get salmonella.  (Because I knew I’d get the side-eye for making a baby do crafts.  I didn’t want to be a total pariah by getting him sick while doing crafts. While reusing an egg carton.  But at least I get points for recycling.).

I stripped I Am Baby down to his diaper, because I knew the food coloring would stain his clothes.  He grows so fast that he hasn’t “worn out” any of his clothes yet, so I didn’t have anything old to put him in.

So, we were all set to paint.  Then we hit the first obstacle.  The paint was too goopy and thick to adhere to the canvas that I had bought for the project.  So that went out the window.  Then I grabbed a piece of printer paper for him to paint on.

Second, my son can’t sit up yet (I know, I know.  There I was trying to make my son do crafts when we couldn’t even sit down to do them.  But stay with me here).  So I had to figure out how to get him to interact with the paint.  I finally put him on his belly and tried dipping his hand in the different colored paints and stamping them on a piece of computer paper.

He either didn’t get the concept or didn’t like having the paint on his hand.  At one point, he started crying when I put it on his hands.

Here’s what happened to the printer paper.  There was some painting and some chewing involved.  Oh, and sorry about the rudimentary Iammoms.com label.  I’m still working on my photo editing skills.

So, we cleaned up and decided to call it a day.

It was still a fun afternoon, and we got a lot of cute shots of I Am Baby with fingerpaint on his belly.  I hope that in a year or so, we can revisit this craft.

Have you had any art and craft debacles?  How are you planning to celebrate Divali?

www.iammoms.com