New Resolution: To eat healthy. Lunch: Two chapattis and a sad cabbage oil-free subzi. Mood: Rained upon owing to the extreme sultry plus rainy feelings in Mumbai. Pet Peeve: Traveling in Mumbai Trains. Real Age: 26. Mental Age: 65. Looking to: Change my moodiness into something more productive.

You know you’re old when:

1. High Heels begin to annoy the fuck out of you when you’re dancing anytime after 2 pm. Ah, at one point, decades ago when I was in College, it was mandatory I wore heels and jumped till 6 am at the local disco. They were definitely good three-inchers and they neither pinched or bruised my feet or my ego. But yeah, now I will seriously claw someone’s face. But wedges, wedges that I bought recently from Nine West (pretty Mary Jane pink wedges) do make a good style statement and are also good for an all-nighter.
2. Conversations take over Loud Music while you’re trying out a new dinner place. Seriously! One of the best places I visited this week was this new small italian-village type place called Delitalia next to Mocha at Juhu Chowpatty. Excellent, Excellent stuff. The place is a picture perfect Italian joint with peachy-coral walls, old cotton Spanish grandma-type table cloths embossed in bright prints, cute bar, nice cocktail list, super cool old Italian pictures framed up on the walls and oh, nothing on the menu exceeds 350 bucks except the plate of assorted cold cuts. And the one single best thing I loved about the place? The background music that allowed you to talk. And you must try their Green Apple Martini, Tenderloin Steak with Porcini Potatoes, Sausage Risotto and their super yummy – Pannacotta with wild warm berries. If you’re not a chocolate person, and more of a cheesecake person, this is your best bet.
3. Going to late night parties is no longer as exciting as a nice Wong-kar-Wai picture your husband has gotten from Palador. It’s true. We have a deal, my husband and I. We want to watch one movie each everyday. Thankfully we are blessed with good friends in the movie business and other movie freaks who give us nice DVDs. So this week’s fare is Chinatown – hailed as the most amazing screenplay ever. Also, Dark Knight was watched with much enthusiasm and Heath Ledger simply rocks. Which brings back to me the sad fact of averages that only death can make you a big star. Ditto Shakespeare, Milton and all the Rennaissance Artists.
4. Drinking like a fish is replaced by Dinner at 7 p.m and fresh fruits at 9 pm. I heart eating healthy. Though this week has been an amalgamation of Red Box ( a nice little restaurant with the best chocolate brownies and beef steak and the loudest music), TGIF ( Cheese balls with fancy stuff called Dynabites and Happy Hour Beer), Appams and Chicken Curry at Rice Boat ( Mallu food, yummmm) with some Pazham Pori ( Banana Fritters, which I learnt to make this week), Dr.Oetzer’s Chocolate Mousse that can be made at home ( instant yummy dessert available at any supermarket). So the little time I got off from these, I ate healthy. Apples, Slim Milk, Soya Chips from Jain Biscuit Centre at Andheri Station (They have the best yummm soya chips in the land) and cabbage curry and soups.
5. You start betting on the word, classic. In terms of clothes, I had always been a bohemian or bling person. My style is totally bling type fashion and very quirky stuff which explains why I altogether ran away from anything classy and sophisticated. I am not, the demure little dame who wears pearls and dresses herself in black and virgin white. But now, with regard to the number of high-fashion dos I am attending and some more in the line, I am opting to go more classic. I know friends from school and college will do some extreme somersaults. This prelude is to let you know ladies and gentleman that I have finally invested in a classic piece called the tulip skirt from Forever New, a very very super cool new haunt of mine at Pheonix Mills. An add on: Raspberry Lip balm I bought at The Body Shop. God save me from going broke. I am the new desi Becky Bloomwood.
6. When parties full of booze and gossip and meeting new people begin at 8:30 pm. All my parties in Bangalore or Chennai when I was in my prime ( say 23) had invites stating clearly the time as post 12 midnight. And now, everyone’s making panic calls at 7:45 and talking about how everyone has to leave early on a week day. I get nostalgic about the times we had late night aprties and after parties and near-dawn parties. Everyone’s smoking up and I am passively inhaling the dope, cigarette smell on my hair from a certain date, lots of vodka shots, half-filled plates of food and midnight rides around the fields. Yesterday’s party was good booze, good companionship, steamy hot momos- in Mumbai, dominoes pizza, Pear Vodka, Wine and more Wine, Gulab Jamoon with Mango ice cream.

Life’s right now on a slow road when it comes to work. Certain personal family obligations are also trying to remove all kinds of sanity from me. There are heaps of of things to do and so little time. I guess fashion can't shield you from it all. :)