Bollywood, oh my!

I've heard this everyday since I've been here. Last year it was "Om Shanti Om" and this year it is "Singh is Kinng" and that is with two t's. Some astroligists told them it would be lucky to spell it that way. Gotta love Bollywood. Apparently they had to pay Snoop almost as much as production costs for the film. Ha. I might try to bring this one home for a little Bollywood fix for the family. Apparently Producers on the track thought Snoop's hip-hop vibe combined with the Bollywood theme were the perfect pairing and are very supportive of him starring in a Bollywood film. Uh ok. But this is pretty special--keep watching past the intro and you'll see what I mean. I can't get it out of my head.


Being back here, I remembered how gorgeous Indian women are and Deepika in particular. (I find her mesmerizingly beautiful and I don't feel weird about that) AND how much I loved this song in Om Shanti Om and how we are still going to perform this for K on is special day. We haven't forgotten friend. Isn't it wonderful?

Roots.

Back to my hair... I was just noticing today that my roots are starting to make more of a contrast. I like the way it looks...this 2 weeks growth....amazing to see actually how fast your hair grows. Mike has offered to learn how to do them so I will have to give Alene a call and she can coach us through it. Now that is a very cool husband :)

This was unexpected.

The other night we went out to Pizza Hut while we were out at a Shopping Center in Delhi. A bell went off and suddenly all these wiaters and cooks congregated in the middle of the restaurant, some sweet Punjabi hiphop music blasted and they began to break it down, chanelling Bollywood through their veins. It was so sweet and so unexpected. Only in India. Awesome.

Steely Blue Eyes.

Tonight the family I am staying with was watching Cars and I mentioned Paul Newman when his, as the voice of Doc Hudson, and we chatted a bit about how much we love him and how I actually had pictures of him up in my room when I was a teenager (he would have been in his 70's then of course the pictures were of him much earlier but he aged VERY well) and his incredible clear blue eyes. He actually said once somethng like "If my eyes should ever turn brown, my career is shot to hell." Not 5 minutes later, I was checking cnn and there the cover story announcing his death. It gave me shivers.

He was absolutely one of my favorites and I have a total respect for his long time marriage with Joanne Woodward, something we rarely see these days in Hollywood. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid tops my list (Newman and Redford at their primes) and Cool Hand Luke will always be a family favorite. "What we got here is... failure to communicate." Actors pass away all the time and I rarely give notice but this one I will miss.

Emirates is just so cool.

Yeah so in the Emirates airplanes that have these lights that dim from full to orange to purple to dark (with ceiling stars), to simulate sunset and then the same for sunrise. C'mon, that is just cool and it is also kind of pretty...for an airplane. And that is my salmon lunch with spinach and garlic potatoes. It was actually quite yummy and didn't make me feel completely disgusting afterwards.

Lightbulb head.

I had grand plans of taking pictures everyday and uploading them but I can't get my laptop connected to the wireless so words will have to suffice. After my 8 hours in Dubai, I boared the the 2.5 hour plane trip to Delhi and could barely stay awake. I think I fell asleep long before take off and woke up just before landing with my arrival custom forms sitting in my lap. I always get a little stressed/anxious around immigration whichever country I am in and I thought this one was going to be pretty uneventful until they nearly didn't let me through because of my HAIR! Yep, that's right they couldn't quite tell it was me because of my new chopped/bleached coiffe. I think he was just taking the imaginary authority most immigration officers have and being a bully but he wasn't very confincing and I saw his smirk (one Lucy and I saw many a times last year in India) so I didn't really let him have a chance to go anywhere with it and insisted it was me...I mean he had already stamped my passport through before he asked to see another form of photo ID. Dumb, but a little nerve racking, nonetheless. I must have said it pretty loud because there were lots of Indian eyes on me, but I do have a lightbulb for a hair cut now so I brought that on myself. That was the only small hiccup in the whole 27 hour trip.

We spent the whole day planning and talking about the Inn and fabrics so that I can best take advantage of my 10 days here. M & D are in serious transition mode so I am very very greatful for their welcoming me into their home even though they are extrememly busy. I learned more about printing today than I have in the past year of research. Tomorrow we are going to visit a wholesale fabric market and then to a printer so I can see it in action and there seems to be a very good chance of getting a custom fabric made. It is all very exciting.

About to board.

I am sitting at JFK airport waiting to board my Emirates flight 204 to Dubai. Now that I am checked in and through security A OK, the excitement of this adventure is setting in. I have the right mix of magazines, People, The Economist, Entertainment Weekly, and Domino all ready to go. I arranged departure from JFK (not the closest airport to Windsor) when I found a flight on Emirates (which Mike and I had flown to Turkey in 2005) for a good price. If the opportunity ever arises to fly this beauty of an airline, DO IT! The food is almost really good, hundreds of movies and tv shows, you get to hear everything in English and then Arabic (just cool) and they wear kind of odd, but chic, uniforms. I really enjoy the traveling part of traveling (once I get out of security and customs) and find airports such an interesting liminal space of transition and energy. I think this is going to be best the business trip ever, not that I have every taken a business trip but I am starting off right! I have no idea what the internet will be like in India with our friends but I hope to stay up to date with what I do and find. Who knows maybe I can update on what I watched and ate on the plane?

We left in plenty of time to get from NJ to JFK in case we hit traffic, which we did.

That's me in the reflection and all ready to go.

Note: I am going to be posting India insights at our Inn Site as well since I will mainly be working on designs, etc for that project. So if you don't see something here, there might be something there.

Berg Time.

We've been with our friends down in New Jersey for the weekend. Great times with awesome friends. I will be traveling tomorrow to India. Mike is taking me to the airport at 5AM. I haven't traveled overseas by myself for years but I love traveling, airports, and airplanes so should be great to have some time to reflect and think through some ideas. Here are some pix from our weekend with the Bergz.

Wrastling with Mike. The girls will do anything their parents say if they
get to wrestle with Mike after.

We watched M and L play soccer and they were awesome, staying as far away from
the action as possible but looking very cute.

They live right across the street from a very cool bike path and this is Sara's trike that has
a seat for M and E to ride on when she goes to and from the kid's school.

Day 2 After wash.

Ha. I know this is funny but I think it is ONE: great documentation for me so I can check out how my hair was since I am going to be up keeping this baby and TWO: in case anyone else out there is wanting to go platinum blond, this will be a great tool. It was COLD this morning; I could see my breath hence the arm warmers (thank you Lucy) and i got some nice pink lipstick. I think I could darker but I have no money to get anything but the Wet n' Wild stuff and we know how well that works, but it's cheap; the story of my life. So Liz and Pete are back and we are off around noon to head to New Jersey where we are going to be for 3 days before heading to NYC where I leave from on Tuesday for India. More non-hair related pictures to come.

After a wash.

I washed my hair and put in less goop so it was less punker (which I love) and I think the next time I wash, I will try an even sleeker look. I am not that good with styling but I think this is going to be around for a while so hopefully I will get better. I do think I need some red lipstick now or something so I don't look to pale.

The morning after.

I woke up and this is what I had. Still looks kind of cool which is AWESOME. I blew it yesterday and put a lot of product in it so until I wash it again (next week) it is going to be pretty wild and up. I tamed it a little and then I was off. Humor me with all the enjoyment I am getting out of this new change. Man, I needed this! I feel like things have lifted; a new beginning.

With my awesome hairdresser (and new BFF). Come visit again!

I have always wanted to do this.

Mom can attest, I have always wanted to do this and today I did. I LOVE IT! Thank you Alene for coming to visit your sister in Windsor and making this happen. I will be taking lots of pictures so stay tuned. I think there are countless cool little styles I can play around with from flat to serious punk rocker wig look. We went to the Beauty Supply Shop and got all the right gear so all the sisters watched so they can help do my roots...or Mom when you come.

BEFORE: (I actually quite liked this cut)

AFTER PARTY:

THE PROCESS:

On N8's iphone. Everyone was very supportive. JD still hasn't seen me yet. Some of the responses from the nephew's were "Nice Hair-do" "Looks Good" and "Perfect" and they are pretty honest fellas. I realize that not everyone I know will like this look but it's been a rough summer for me and it is a bit of post-traumatic experience hair but mostly, I want this hair and I hope it looks alright. Here I go.

More Eddie Fix (EF).