Celebrating D

Wow.. what a week we had! The house was bustling with people and laughter, we ate, played games and our nights were spent chatting and reminiscing till the clock struck midnight. 

To provide a little back story. We belong to a very small sub sect of the Shia muslim community. This bar mitzvah like celebration of adulthood is quite specific to our sub sect (I think) and is a very big deal and is celebrated with exuberance.

We had a religious ceremony indoors. And as it often is with events you host, you forget to take photos in the chaos. 

My mom made these incredible chicken skewers that we served with curly fries and tamarind chutney.

I had these amazing chocolate mousse tarts made by a friends daughter..

and we handed out chocolate chips cookies as a 'thank you for coming' favor. 

There was a lot more food I have no pictures of and I don't feel comfortable sharing the religious stuff but all in all it was a huge success. We were exhausted. This event required the most prep and my mom and I cooked most of the food. 

Our next event was the next day.. this was a more relaxed outdoor event. Fully catered and way less stressful.. or so we thought. 

All week the forecast showed rain. In the morning, in the evening.. it kept changing and with it my stress levels fluctuated. The morning of, there were dark clouds and the forecast predicted thunderstorms, high winds with a tornado warning and a hail storm. I mean, seriously?!

It rained on and off all morning and by midday the sky was thundering. There was no cancelling. We were going to have this party rain or shine.. 

The rain stopped. The guests started to arrive.. 

M's side of the family

My side of the family

I have no words for how blessed we are.. we had people fly in not only from California, Texas and Illinois, drive in from Canada and Pennsylvania but also fly in from Pakistan and Oman. Among us we had D's aunt and uncles, great aunts and uncles, first cousins and second cousins and at the center my great aunt and uncle. 

 

Boys will be boys and basketball reigns supreme.

Thirty minutes in and the sky opened up on everyone.. we hurried into the tents huddling under its protection.. laughing. 

It got really dark as well.. and we hadn't really considered getting lighting as the party was supposed to wrap up by sun down.  

But just as quick as the rain started.. it came to a stop and the rest of the evening was just perfect. 

 

We had catered thai food.

me and my mom. 

We hired a Nicholas Creamery ice cart for dessert. My fellow Jerseyans, if you haven't checked out Nicholas Creamery yet, do so. They have more than a few locations and even my diabetic no sugar family members indulged. 

            

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