The Story Of Us

I was born and lived in Chicago up till the age of ten.   We were surrounded by family. Uncles and cousins. The grown ups were all immigrants.. living hard lives and trying to create a better future for the next generation. My generation. I can't put into words why that is relevant, only kids of immigrants know.. you live smaller lives, busy lives, you rely on the family around you. Even those who are not your family become your family. It takes a village.. and we had a tight village. We were lucky to grow up with multiple fathers and mothers.. so much love. We never did anything just the four of us.. everywhere we went we went as a whole.. loaded up in a van. In retrospect it sounds insane, we joke about it; but when you are little it's perfect.  But my immediate family, the four of us left Chicago when I was ten. Back in the day when there was no internet and hence no way to keep in touch. We grew up, drifted apart.. even when we did get internet, emails, texting.. the conver

The Munchkin a Munckin no more..  M and I  Shoes and once my mother's antique payal (an anklet that jiggles when you walk) Rituals and Traditions.. the bride and groom eat a rice pudding of sorts and then all those single men and women looking to get married eat a spoonful too. Our version of catching the bouquet.  Leaving the reception under the blessings and protection of the Holy Quran   Home Saying Goodbye. 99.9% of girls (middle eastern, sub-continental etc) go from their parents home to their husbands home. So saying goodbye really is the hardest part..  I'm taking the next week off.. but when I come back I have 3 days of Istanbul to share with you and 2 BIG announcements!  Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

We have made it through thirteen days and onto our fifth event.. the groom's event.. so as the hosts this was a particularly long hot day.. and by the end of it I was just a mess. There are a lot of formalities that take place on this day.. the event had over a thousand invitees.. I started out like this.. you can already see the tired eyes.. this too was an outfit worn during my own wedding.. It and I looked so much better that day.   D is mischievous self  The happy and I must add stunningly radiant couple One of my favorite pictures..  Five down two more to go.. Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

M didn't arrive till the early morning of the 3rd event. So all the photo taking responsibilities were on me, plus the motherly duties and the sisterly duties and the daughterly duties.. you can imagine the rest.. so the thing I let slide unfortunately was the picture taking. So I have no documentation of what I wore on either of the two events.. :( So we'll skip right over to the fourth event. It was the brides event.. so we got to play guest.  M and I - recalling the days of our wedding photo shoots. D sandwiches between my mother in law and myself.  D is so over the picture talking..  the family :) Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

I wore this outfit in one of the events at my own wedding (yes we re-wear) The intricate details of the embroidery.    The happy couple (the one and only time men wear jewelry except for a ring)  My dad with my great uncle  My mother and my great aunt pretty in pink.. the last surviving great anything on either side of the family.  D trying very hard to avoid having a picture taken Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

When I left home to go spend to months in what was once home, I had planned on documenting everything. What I wore, what we ate.. everything.. the thing is plans don't always work out. There was so much happening that I often simply forgot. So I'll share what I can.. The first thing to understand is that like almost all weddings, they are big productions.. but an Pakistani/Indian wedding is that times a hundred. There are a minimum of five to six events as small as a hundred people and as big as a thousand.. two thousand people. During each event there are several little rituals and traditions.. This particular wedding had eight events.. eight! Thousands of invitations were sent, the most important fifty or sixty were hand delivered by us with a little gift. This gift can be just about anything.. we decided to gift everyone a bottle of honey with a sachet of kalonji  aka fennel flower, black cumin as well as several other names. Kalonji is an Asian spice said to ha

Turns out it's not all that easy to blog while you're on vacation.. and you don't have wi-fi because dial up is a thing of the stone ages. So I'll be back in July with stories to tell and pictures to shares.. till then. Take Care. In case you're new here and wondering where I am and what's going on  I'm here Get my post directly in you inbox with  Bloglovin I am now also offering ad space.  See  Sponsors  for more information .  Newsletter Sign Up - Let's Stay Connected, Shall We?

Yup it's that time of year again when we start to pack our bags and head off on another adventure. But this trip is going to be different.  Which is why I have been prepping for it way more that 30 days before take off.  We're going home. pinterest The trip will start with just D and I and we'll be gone for a few months.. spending time with grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles and great uncles and aunt.. seriously our family is huge.. and not to forget cousins.. and so many other people. And towards the end of the trip M will join us to attend my little brothers wedding.  So I am making lists, buying presents, cooking and freezing meals so the M doesn't starve nor has to resort to take out every night. And while I'm excited I find being away from M for so long extremely difficult..and M finds being away from D for so long extremely difficult.  But I haven't been home in two years.. I last saw my mom and brother 6 months ago.. my da