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This video is so damn hot. Its full of beautiful emo people. Shaant Hacikyan, the vocalist got the best emo haircut. Love his hair. Its amaizng and super cool. Shaant sings out of the side of his mouth. When he sings, his mouth goes to the side but its hot the way he does it. And oh, the song is awesome too.
Love his hair, love his lips.

Sterling Swamimalai was our first choice when we decided to make a trip to Tanjore last December and we cherish our stay and memories till date. A villa built in 1896 in a traditional south indian style is the nucleus of this resort. The other cottages are inspired by this main structure. The resort is the brain child of Steve Borgia of Indeco Hotels.

The minute you step into a very discreet entrance, you are transported to the 19th century.
You are welcomed with temple bells ringing and a beautiful 'Kolam'- Rangoli design at the entrance. The setting is very rustic with the ambience like that of an old south indian village.
Amazing terracotta figures of Gods & Goddesses are scattered all around the resort. All courtesy the in-house potter.

Coconut, Banana, Jackfruit, Papaya trees form the perfect setting for the village scene.
Beautiful folk goddess figure!
A traditional village house forms the dining area.Even the trees are treated well, the potter has created lovely terracotta eyes for the trees.
The rooms are basic with traditional furniture. The roll-up blinds are made of natural fibres for good air circulation.


The swimming pool is designed like an old temple tank. On special occasions the side slots are lit with earthern lamps in the evening. What a gorgeous sight would that be!

The main villa has a lovely courtyard with a natural well and a museum of antiques.
Truly traditional, truly spiritual, truly Indian.

Experience it- http://www.sterlingswamimalai.net

the happy living blog became an instant favourite, ever since I stumbled upon it while blog- hopping few weeks back.

Erinn describes - 'This blog is about everything having to do with the place, experience and spirit of home and making our homes a place that we love'.

Erinn of 'the happy living blog' has been very kind in giving a great introduction to my blogs.

Thanks Erinn!

To add the sparkle to your interiors, just light few candles, diyas (earthern lamps), kerosene or hurricane lamps.

I love lighting diyas or floating candles at the entrance to the house, in balconies, on tables or just about anywhere.

Here are some interesting ideas.

This is Poisonthehat. Probably, most of you emo guys would like to have this look. Here is the instruction and the tools you need to achieve this emo hairstyle according to Poisonthehat himself.

In his own words:

"Well, there are a couple of different "emo hair styles" I guess you could say. If you're looking for something like the picture above, then I can pretty much tell you everything I do to my hair, because that's me. I can still help you with whatever you're looking for though, since I've been through a couple of different "emo hair styles". I didn't part my hair in the picture above, but I usually do."

"Yeah it's a blue black color but I don't remember what dye I used. I think it was some of that crap you mix up with the other crap and then you use the cap thingy and all that. If you cut the back short and then straighten your hair with a flat iron I'm pretty sure you could get a haircut close to mine. Oh, and make sure to let the sides grow out."

"Neutrogena Triple Moisture Healing Shine Serum fixes up ugly "straggling" hair like woah. It's like this oil type stuff, and you put a small dot of it you hand, rub your palms together, and then run your palm through your hair or something like that. I know there are other brands of it out there, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. I always use it after straightening my hair because my hair gets all dry looking after I straighten it, and then this stuff fixes it right up.

I recommend you just ask one of your female friends to straighten your hair, or if your mom has a straightener or whatever, just use hers. I'm pretty sure it would end up looking something close to my hair. As for the part, I'm not really sure how I get that. I just use my hand and push my hair to the side and it works. I'm sure you can figure it out.

The moisture shine stuff keeps it from poofing and fix flyaways and makes it look straighter and thinner. Also, I use the straightener every day."

"Just grow it out, use flat iron straightener, cut it short in the back, and you can spike the back if you wish. I usually don't but sometime I get bored and will do it. You don't have to dye it black if you don't want, especially if your hair is already naturally black. Yes it could take a couple of months for your hair to grow as long as mine. It's a long process but if that's what you want then it'll be worth it."

'Emo' stands for EMOTIONAL HARDCORE and not just EMOTIONAL! To call it "emotional" is just listing one of its traits. Besides, ALL music are emotional anyways so that's a pretty stupid definition. Emo is a culture that has its own values, ideals, an emotional investment and of course fashion. They do not believe in conforming to mainstream fashion or trends. Emos want to be different and therefore create their own distinct styles. That is why it’s not surprising that Emo hairstyles break the mold as well.



Probably nothing characterizes the Emo look more than the Emo hairstyle. Typical Emo haircuts are characterized by asymmetrical lines, bold highlights, usually red or white and a jet black hair. An emo girl or an emo boy dye their hair jet black and the bolder the effect the better. You don’t have to worry about the dye looking unnatural and can even shade the edges with frosted highlights, blue, orange, or purple. Emos usually wants to be alone and their haircuts are simply an extension of this belief. An Emo hairstyle is a one of a kind experiment. Its not the type that you can get at an ordinary salon. If you want an emo hairstyle, better bring a picture of Pete Wentz and tell the barber this is the style you want.

It is perfectly acceptable to create your own Emo hairstyle just with a pair of scissors, razor and dye. Emo hairstyles has no set technique. It maybe described as more of a personal art-form, a style of expressing yourself, of one’s deepest emotions. In other words, any style can pass off as an Emo hairstyle as long as it looks different and doesn’t look like one of those “dos” that you might wear to a prom. Being an Emo is all about being true to yourself, being unique and comfortable with one’s self. An Emo hairstyle is also all about the distinct personality of an individual and self-expression. If you feel that you are not one to follow the flock either, then you might just want to consider picking up any pair of scissors and doing up your hair the Emo way!

When I saw this on the cover of Inside Outside Magazine few years back I just wanted to be there on the swing...

This is a traditional Gujrati Hitchkar (swing) which can be moved either way to face inwards or outwards.

A place in a natural setting where one can rejuvenate and escape from the stressful city life.
A series of wood sculptures of birds & serpents are scattered around the place.
The walls of the house are plastered with mud to provide natural insulation against heat. The wall has mud patterns with small mirrors fixed on them. ( Lovely!)
Her living space reflects her beliefs of conserving natural resources & importance of indigenous traditions. The sofas are made of natural materials like cane, jute & handloom.

Mallika's love for traditional crafts of Kutch can be seen in the hand embroidered covers and quilted bedcovers in her rooms.

( images from Inside Outside Magazine, June 2003 issue)

Rural India is a great inspiration for door art & vibrant colour combinations! Here are some inspirations.




This an old chettinad door restored from a demolished mansion. We loved the brass door knocker and intricately carved panels, we got it embedded in one of our living room walls.

Karaikudi is a city in Tamilnadu which is known as the homeland of Nattukotai Chettiars. Chettiars are a prosperous banking & business community many of whom migrated to Burma, Sri Lanka, Malaysia etc .
We visited a mansion of one of the Chettiars who welcomed us into their home with open arms.
Intricate carvings on the door just took my breath away. Close-up of the carvings in one of the main doors.The design is typical of traditional south indian village homes...there is an open courtyard in the centre through which natural light fills the whole house.
Beautiful stone-carved pillars line the courtyard. Colourful handmade floor tiles called Athungudi tiles demarcate the various sections of the house.This entrance room had a chess board floor design.
Just loved this space dedicated to the black & white pictures of their ancestors. Lovely!

The highlights:

* Intricately carved doors in Burma Teak.
* Carved stone & wooden pillars and beams.
* Handmade Athungudi floor tiles.
* Carved wooden furniture with antique tiles.
* Antique furnitures, enamel, lacquer & wooden vessels from Burma, Srilanka, Malaysia etc