Mood: Happy!
The Peanut Countdown: 45 days.
POD:
Groom on elephant
Groomsmen on camels
Procession dancing
Wedding elephant
Bride waiting for her groom
Bride and groom together
Day 8: India - Jaipur (Wedding Day!)
Finally, the day had arrived... the day we had traveled halfway around the world for, yippee! Both Shehrzad and I were still feeling pretty bad, but there was no way we were going to miss this occassion. We had skipped out on the mehndi the night before, but we were going to be at the wedding no matter what!
All the girls had decided to wear saris, so I went to the bridal suite where all the gals were gathering to get them put on. Man these aunties were fast! I had my entire sari pleated, wrapped, and tied in less than 5 minutes. Once we were all ready, we took a taxi over to the hotel where the wedding was. Oh my gosh, this place was unbelievable. I've never in my entire life seen a hotel like this. In Jaipur, there are lots of old palaces that have been renovated into hotels and the "in" thing to do these days is to have weddings at these hotel palaces. This place was beautiful. The wedding was set up outside in the gardens with canopies of flowers everywhere, flower petals lining every single walkway, and flowers floating in the numerous ponds all throughout the garden area. So amazing. We were part of the procession (see picture above) and walked in with a marching band playing behind us, the groom on an elephant and his groomsmen on camels. There was an exchange of garlands (see other picture above) and then about an hour long wedding ceremony. Then dinner, yum! Traditional Rajasthani food, complete with a tandoori oven where the fresh naan was being made. I was still feeling pretty queasy, so I didn't eat much. We cut out early since both Shehrzad and I weren't feeling too hot, but the wedding was just amazing!
In other exciting news, we are now in the middle of moving! Everything seems to be going so fast... we just started looking at houses last last weekend!! But I guess these things happen when you least expect it. We're working on renting out our condo, meeting with various property managers, coordinating our actual move, and setting up all our new services at the house! So exciting!!
This past weekend on Saturday, Shehrzad and I spent most of the day emptying out our downstairs storage unit and part of our rental storage unit. The house isn't currently occupied, so the owners are letting us put stuff in the storage sheds in the backyard. So we took a couple of trips back and forth loading the car, unloading car, dumping garbage, repeat. In the evening, Sabiha and Bhaijan invited us over for dinner to celebrate the new purchase. Shehrzad ate the whole chicken! :) Zee gave me a birthday card and Valentine's Day card he made for me... on the inside, it says "I Love Poophi". So cute!! I have them sitting on my desk at work now and I smile every time I look at them. Thanks Zee! :) And Faiz has started walking! It's so cool to see, especially since he knows he's doing something really good. So he always gives you a big grin when he gets up and takes a few steps... adorable!
Yesterday, our real estate agent met us at the new house to let us in so we could take some pictures of the inside layout before the staging company takes all the furniture away. After pictures, we were on our way out when our new next-door neighbor pulled up to his house. So he came out, introduced himself and we chatted. Then our new next-next-door neighbors joined us and we stood outside for a long time just chatting and getting to know each other. It was so nice! It's been a really loooooong time since I've lived somewhere where the neighbors actually talk to each other... I think the last time was when I was still living in Houston. Shehrzad says that Palo Alto is one of the few communities where the community really feels like a community, with neighbors having parties together, lots of activity with the neighborhood association, and just lots of mingling. I'm really looking forward to it! I'm even thinking about starting a book club with all the ladies that live in the cul-de-sac. :)
Daily Dose of Lubna: Gym tonight. I was so busy this weekend that I never got a chance to go...
The Peanut Countdown: 45 days.
POD:
Groom on elephant
Groomsmen on camels
Procession dancing
Wedding elephant
Bride waiting for her groom
Bride and groom together
Day 8: India - Jaipur (Wedding Day!)
Finally, the day had arrived... the day we had traveled halfway around the world for, yippee! Both Shehrzad and I were still feeling pretty bad, but there was no way we were going to miss this occassion. We had skipped out on the mehndi the night before, but we were going to be at the wedding no matter what!
All the girls had decided to wear saris, so I went to the bridal suite where all the gals were gathering to get them put on. Man these aunties were fast! I had my entire sari pleated, wrapped, and tied in less than 5 minutes. Once we were all ready, we took a taxi over to the hotel where the wedding was. Oh my gosh, this place was unbelievable. I've never in my entire life seen a hotel like this. In Jaipur, there are lots of old palaces that have been renovated into hotels and the "in" thing to do these days is to have weddings at these hotel palaces. This place was beautiful. The wedding was set up outside in the gardens with canopies of flowers everywhere, flower petals lining every single walkway, and flowers floating in the numerous ponds all throughout the garden area. So amazing. We were part of the procession (see picture above) and walked in with a marching band playing behind us, the groom on an elephant and his groomsmen on camels. There was an exchange of garlands (see other picture above) and then about an hour long wedding ceremony. Then dinner, yum! Traditional Rajasthani food, complete with a tandoori oven where the fresh naan was being made. I was still feeling pretty queasy, so I didn't eat much. We cut out early since both Shehrzad and I weren't feeling too hot, but the wedding was just amazing!
In other exciting news, we are now in the middle of moving! Everything seems to be going so fast... we just started looking at houses last last weekend!! But I guess these things happen when you least expect it. We're working on renting out our condo, meeting with various property managers, coordinating our actual move, and setting up all our new services at the house! So exciting!!
This past weekend on Saturday, Shehrzad and I spent most of the day emptying out our downstairs storage unit and part of our rental storage unit. The house isn't currently occupied, so the owners are letting us put stuff in the storage sheds in the backyard. So we took a couple of trips back and forth loading the car, unloading car, dumping garbage, repeat. In the evening, Sabiha and Bhaijan invited us over for dinner to celebrate the new purchase. Shehrzad ate the whole chicken! :) Zee gave me a birthday card and Valentine's Day card he made for me... on the inside, it says "I Love Poophi". So cute!! I have them sitting on my desk at work now and I smile every time I look at them. Thanks Zee! :) And Faiz has started walking! It's so cool to see, especially since he knows he's doing something really good. So he always gives you a big grin when he gets up and takes a few steps... adorable!
Yesterday, our real estate agent met us at the new house to let us in so we could take some pictures of the inside layout before the staging company takes all the furniture away. After pictures, we were on our way out when our new next-door neighbor pulled up to his house. So he came out, introduced himself and we chatted. Then our new next-next-door neighbors joined us and we stood outside for a long time just chatting and getting to know each other. It was so nice! It's been a really loooooong time since I've lived somewhere where the neighbors actually talk to each other... I think the last time was when I was still living in Houston. Shehrzad says that Palo Alto is one of the few communities where the community really feels like a community, with neighbors having parties together, lots of activity with the neighborhood association, and just lots of mingling. I'm really looking forward to it! I'm even thinking about starting a book club with all the ladies that live in the cul-de-sac. :)
Daily Dose of Lubna: Gym tonight. I was so busy this weekend that I never got a chance to go...
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