Author: gundara

Vani’s 42nd Birthday 2021

| gundara

42 here we are!! Neeru sent beautiful flowers that arrived Sunday night! Birthday fell on a Monday this year. Worked a bit but took the majority of the day to have fun 🤩 Lunched at Nordstrom Cafe with Nick. Kids and Nick showered me with lovely cards and mango cake and then Nick and I headed off to Yamashiro in Hollywood! Nick also surprised me with a Romero Britto / Puma limited edition sweatshirt. It was very windy and cloudy on the way to dinner so the views were not as clear as they should have been but it was still a lovely night out. Tuesday morning I continued the celebration with a lovely breakfast with Mommy and Daddy and on Thursday we had dinner at Joeys with mommy and daddy. To top it off I got to pick out stunning diamond hoops!!! #luckiestgirlever #lovemyfamily #lifeisbeautiful #blessed read more

Aanikas 10th Birthday 2021

| gundara

This beautiful child, our darling baby girl Aanika turned 10 years old today!! Here she is enjoying her 10 kisses of chocolate from her daddy to celebrate her 10th birthday!!

Aanika started her morning by visiting the doggies in their home 🙂 I’m pretty sure she woke them up lol.

Aanika went to school wearing her custom made tie for shirt. We weren’t allowed to bring any goods for a party this year but I did make her a custom funfetti and banana custard cake decorated with blue, purple and pink icing and characters from Trolls 🙂 read more

September 2021 – 1st Half

| gundara

So usually as September moves on things get busier, fall starts, kids school activities are in full swing and of course soon birthday season in the Gundara house will be upon us! So before I forget some of the smaller details before the craziness arrives I though I would document a few sweet and funny memories.

Aanika and I enjoyed a lovely garden morning and painted with the “good stuff” while the boys were on a drive.

I got my haircut for the first time in a very long time!

Jatin has been hard at work studying pretty late at night. He’s a sweetheart and truly our blessing. Love him so much. read more

Summer Get Togethers 2021

| gundara

We’ve had the pleasure of having family come and visit and we got to host as well as attended a friends wedding reception and got to see the entire extended family after what feels like forever!

First we had The Maniktalas, Krishnans and mom and dad over for a garden dinner. We got Ciceks chicken for dinner and Masi fell in love with Billy!

Next we had Aakash over for a weekend and then had Maya over for drinks!

Then Kartik, Zita, Kai and Jace came over after so long ask we had brunch at the house.
read more

August 2021

| gundara

In August we had our typical LA heat wave. Swam a lot, had a lovely visit from Neera and family and the kids started in person school again after 18 months of quarantine!

Here are the kids first week of school! Jatin started high school 9th grade and Aanika entered 4th grade. They each have to wear a mask at school and have to get weekly covid tests.

Like I said we’ve really enjoyed our pool more than ever…and trying to make sure we get al the days in we can before it gets too cold!

Jatin got his braces off right when he started high school! He looks awesome 🙂 And my beautiful Aanika has been taking full advantage of her backyard and doing lots of art and water play outside. Check out Jatins before and after pics!
read more

Nicks 44th Birthday

| gundara

Nick and I took the day off to hang out and celebrate his 44th birthday today as we always do! We made reservations at Salt Baes new restaurant in Beverly Hills so we went down there a bit early and walked Rodeo drive for a bit and then had a fabulous lunch.

We ordered the tomahawk with garlic mashed potatoes and fried onion and for dessert we had baklava that is flown in fresh from Turkey!

In the afternoon we headed home and had mocktails (which were a big fail lol) but I had to try 🙂 I made dirty cokes which are coconut, lime, Coca Cola and half an half poured over ice! read more

Bay Area Visit Summer 2021

| gundara

After over a year and a half we finally made the trip back up to the bay to see Neeru and Nikki’s beautiful new home and to visit Kartik and Zita and meet the kiddos!

Friday: Started the journey late morning and stopped by the Ostrich Farm! The boys thought it was time to conquer my fear and feed them in my “ostrich riding outfit!” Complete with pink ostrich egg pattern lol.

After that we continued for a bit then broke for lunch at San Louis Obispo. Please notice Jatins adorable but very messy chocolate ice cream face. read more

June Fun 2021

| gundara

Kids are officially on summer break. Nick and I are working but trying to get into the summer spirit! A few highlights below from our June.

First I’ve been using my Mother’s Day gift like crazy – ipencil to create digital art! Best gift ever!

Aanikas has been LOVING swimming every day. She’s a total mermaid and loves to flip, float, spin, twirl, jump and play in total bliss in the water.

I got to create the “She’s a Bruin” stickers for the UCLA alumni and they hand delivered my box and stickers as part of the sip and share series! Proud moment to be hired by the same university where I learned my craft from. read more

Father’s Day Weekend 2021

| gundara

We started the day with a lovely brunch at mom and dads house. The boys got an early start and took the Ferrari out for a spin to Malibu and met us at brunch. Aanika waited all of 10 minutes before deciding to jump into the beautiful pool!

The evening before we all got together as a family for the first time in over a year to celebrate Shriya’s 21st Birthday!

Family is everything and we are so blessed to be surrounded by our loving family in such close proximity.

Jatin skipped out on the family party to hang with his best friend Mark and Charlie for Marks birthday! A hit was extra special because they haven’t been able to hang out in over a year either!

Jatins 8th Grade Culmination

| gundara

Our handsome, funny, sweet Jatin graduated from middle school today! We officially have a high schooler! Hard to imagine! He insisted that he needed to get over a 96% on every final class report card and of course graduated with honors! We’re so proud of him. He got to play with the band in person for graduation. He wore Nicks dress shoes and socks!