Honeymoon to Dubai x1

We took a wonderful trip to Dubai which wasn't our first trip as a couple but the one I deem our "honeymoon". Although if I mention we went with my mother and younger sister all the "Americans" will be like 'gasp, that's not a honeymoon'. Well to me it was and Jeff and I very much enjoyed the company of my mother and sis.

This was the first night we arrived and got settled into our hotel rooms. This hotel was closest to Dubai Mall and I think by far the nicest. The lobby smelled of incense which was the most heavenly scent ever. I didn't want to leave the lobby. They had beautiful flowers and everyone was so kind. To be honest, they were kinder to Jeff than they were to my mother and basically any brown people. He's white. People outside of America think Americans are rich (also fat). In my experience, talking with the locals, overhearing the locals, in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc. Everyone talks about France. The french are the ones with class and posh, not Americans. 

Inside Dubai Mall they had a giant aquarium. We are in a desert. And this mall, just nonchalantly has a freaking huge aquarium with sharks and what looked like a whale at one point, I don't know what type of fish it was just that it was LARGE. Just swimming around. For a fee you could go inside this aquarium, walk around, see other sea creatures and I think even dive with them. We saw some divers here and there swimming up and down.

It was hot outside but not unbearable. The skyline is absolutely gorgeous mashAllah! They have a lot of activities to do walking around. They encourage you to walk and your children. To keep your kids entertained outside they had seesaws, trampolines, they had a life sized pool 'table' but instead of sticks you kick the balls into the holes. They had park type of stuff too, slides, monkey bars, etc. All these things were just lined up down these huge paths, you just had to keep walking to see them one by one. A lot of families we saw in the evening bringing their kids out without the harsh sun beating down. Made me want to live here too! :)

We then ventured off to the best place in the world. This place tops Disney World in my book. GLOBAL VILLAGE! When I have kids one day, forget Disney World we are packing up and traveling to Dubai to visit Global Village! Why you ask? First let me ask this. What do you learn from Disney World? You see princesses from imaginary story books and movies. Great. Global Village is.. Global. They have pretty much every country in the world as a "place" here. So you get to experience these other countries by having their specific food for sale, snacks, groceries, clothes, souvenirs, paintings. Each place also has their own custom dance derived from that region! 

Right in the beginning they had, America, New York City to be exact. When you think of America you think of New York. Or Washington DC. If you're going to visit, I think most people would pick New York. Although I personally would pick Washington DC and not because I'm from there but because they have so much history, museums, parks, what kind of made America you know? New York is great I just choose Washington. Biased. :)

Turkey is my favorite. I've been to Istanbul, Turkey with my family. I would love to take Jeff there one day. It is absolutely gorgeous, the food is awesome, the ice cream is the BEST. I kept coming back and looking at these beautiful white lamps. The dude looked at Jeff and jacked up the price and wouldn't lower it because he saw me with my mom and knew I was with Jeff, he didn't budge so we didn't buy. :( One day though! I'll have lantern lamps like these. If I can convince Jeff to go to Istanbul Turkey with me one day. 

Jeff wanted to take a picture in front of Jordan.  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 

I can't remember the reason why he wanted to stand in front of Iraq. Lol. 

 Pakistan!!!! I've been wanting to take Jeff here. He has refused so I think the closest I will get to bringing him here is by taking him to Global Village and introducing him to the food and clothes there which he actually gets when he visits my parents in Maryland, so.. Oh well. I told him I would love to take our future children to Pakistan one day. He said that's fine. Maybe he'll change his mind and he will come along too. Who knows. :)

 They kind of bunched up South Korea, Vietnam and Japan. 

They gave China it's own kind of place though! 

One day I'd like us to visit Japan!

 This was Egypt from afar, I couldn't get all 3 pyramids when you're standing right there under it.

 If you got tired of walking around or needed to leave and didnt feel like walking back or whatever reason you could no longer walk but had to be somewhere, they had these cute little buggies! 

Okay so when walking around we came across one of these huge people statues.

Jeff decided to take a picture standing next to one of them. Jeff is 5'10 btw.

20 minutes later the lady was joined by two 'men' and they put on a show!

This was MY favorite part of the whole thing, I loved these things!!!

I think Jeff's favorite part was the car show! 

Stayed Tuned for Part x2!

Wedding Day

It's Shadi time! Also known as, Wedding Day! :D
Another Urdu word for you to learn, Shadi means Wedding!

If you'd rather watch first instead of reading I put together a video!
Click the link below to be directed to my personal Youtube Channel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5VEmvcVIg8

 My hair and makeup were done by the oh so talented Masooma! 
Click on her name to get linked straight to her Instagram!

I definitely felt like a Princess here, as every girl should on her Wedding Day! The traditional color for Pakistani's to wear on their special day is red, for American's, white, I chose neither and went with my favorite color instead, Lavender! Ammie was able to work her magic and had a beautiful dress designed!

 The theme of my dress was displayed throughout the entire wedding!
Ammie worked with Sarah Khan to come up with a wonderful stage presence! 

Ammie did an amazing job mashAllah coming up with the most perfect choices for everything, to the flowers, the stand, the cake, the color combinations, just everything! I'm so lucky to have a such a talented Mama! 

Appie came up with the idea for the entrance table! She designed that awesome round picture frame and added pictures of both my childhood as well as Jeffrey's. This table was a nice added touch to everything. 

 The table was simple yet elegant, exactly what I wanted. We had wedding favors in these adorable lavender boxes tied with a purple ribbon. Seeing this holds a memory of my mother and aunts sitting together in the family room at home putting together these boxes with love and care!

I created this myself! I found the topper off Amazon, painted the bride, turned her blonde hair brown, her white dress lavender, threw a plate of cookies onto Jeff's lap, with Enzo sitting beside him, with a tv and xbox in front! Everyone loved it! Sums up our personality!

 Our family picture! Minus bhaijaan. He wasn't able to make it.
Noora was matching with me and Mohsin was matching with Jeffrey!

Jeffrey's side of the family! Including his aunt's family!

And now my family all together! From my mother's side as well as my father's side!
As big as this is we're still missing a good chunk of people from my side!

I could name everyone but it's easier to name the people that were missing!

My brother wasn't able to make it, Japan Thaya his wife and two daughters, son-in-law and grandson, Mohsin was running around with his cousins Hasan and Ali, Noora and Leena were passed out at this point,Imran (Uzma's husband), Sabir Uncle (Baree Phuppo's husband), Aisha (cousin) and her husband, Saimah (cousin), her husband her three kids. So that makes 20 people? All together I think we're at 75-77? I would like 3 kids. :)

Mehndi

The next event my parents hosted was the Mehndi!

The Mehndi party is one of the most vibrant and essential parties that are part of the traditional celebrations of a wedding! It's an ancient form of body art originating in South Asia and the Middle East. The bride gets "painted or stained" with beautiful designs on her hands and feet. Tradition says the deeper the color of the bride's Mehndi the happier the bride and groom's marriage will be! 

I have a friend, Urooj, (who is also my cousin's best friend) that does the most wonderful designs! I was lucky to have her do my Mehndi and it came out oh so lovely! If you're in the DMV area for a wedding you should definitely have her do your Mehndi! She actually did all the women's Mehndi that day!

My grandmother says if you squirt some lemon juice on your hands and go to bed with the Mehndi (in a glove so you don't stain your bed) it will come out darker the morning of your special day! I love the feel of Mehndi when it's being drawn on your hands, it's like a massage, it tickles but feels so nice and cool!

 Ammie (Mom) had a beautiful Mehndi/Henna table set up.

A few cones of Mehndi and Chooriyan (bangles) for the ladies.

A close-up of the beautifully decorated table! Ammie got a sparkly pink tablecloth and Sarah (my younger sister) used her awesome Mehndi skills to decorate the candles! Ammie had a few Pakistani instruments and even a Dohl (not pictured). The traditional colors for a Mehndi are yellow and green. There are of course all colors of the rainbow that you have to add vibrancy but if you see a lot of green and yellow, that's the theme!

First picture of course is with the honorable Nani! I miss her so much!

Fun fact for you all, Nani means maternal grandmother and Dadi means paternal grandmother. I feel like Urdu (and Arabic) are very respectful and detailed languages. There is a specific word for each person and thing, there are respectful words for when you are speaking to someone older than you and different words for when you are speaking to someone at your level or younger. There's feminine and masculine words for objects and animals. The English language is extremely rude. o_o I hope to teach my future children Urdu! Keep the culture going!

My wonderfully, generous, sweet, loving, kind parents! 

I think the world of them, I love them and miss them terribly! 

I am one of four, number three in line. I would say I'm the most bold, I would do and say what was on my mind and take trips alone away from my family but after moving and living 1000 miles away, I'm having a very difficult time surviving without my parents nearby. It's not even about Ammie's awesome cooking skills, I've managed to keep myself and Jeffrey alive with my Pinterest recipes. It's not about being financially supported by them (although they do continue to help me, phone bill, etc). It's about SEEING them, spending time with them, whether its gardening, going to events as a family, watching movies together, eating dinner together, reading a book while Ammie sews, going to the library with Abbu, working on crafts. The bond and shareable, memorable moments you spend with your parents, the little things, the big things. I MISS EVERYTHING. 

An almost family picture with Appie (my older sister) and Rizwan Bhai (my brother-in-law) along with Mohsin! This is a rare sighting of my nephew, he rarely likes to be in pictures, he's always off running around playing with his cousins. You may catch a glance of him in the background of other pictures but this is the only one I found of him! Noora and Leena are both missing from this family photo, it's hard to get a snapshot of children all in one place!

My younger sister, Sarah! Aka the Dweeb. :) In most ways she acts older than I do, she's more responsible, she does a great job of always helping Ammie in the kitchen. I like to let things "soak" in the sink. She's more adept at cleaning, although I will say I do an excellent job of mopping! Getting on your hands and knees the old fashioned way is the best way. All in all, she's a wonderful little sister who acts like an older sister! :P I can't wait for the day when it's her turn to get married, she is quite the opposite of me, I'm a tomboy and she's a girly girl! I have a whole girly wedding Pinterest board filled with ideas reserved for her! Hopefully I'm not preggo when she gets married, I'll most likely be a useless bum sloth then, as if I'm not already one haha.

Here is a picture of my in-laws. Ammie had custom Pakistani clothing created for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for the Mehndi as well as the wedding! Who do you think Jeffrey looks more like? I think he resembles his mother more and his sister Carrie looks like their father. I think she looks pretty good in a Shalwar Kameez! 

He has only one sister, Carrie. She's very sweet and kind, strong willed and rules the roost!

Jeff has a single aunt on his mother's side, Aunt Janette. They came to Maryland as well!

Ammie also had Pakistani outfits for Aunt Janette, Uncle Bill and Cheryl too! 

 My parents backyard is absolutely beautiful mA. They added a deck and trees to the surrounding area, in the summer the grass is lush and green and paired with my Mehndi outfit it was simply stunning. I would have settled for a garden wedding in the backyard! Sunshine makes for the perfect lighting. My cousin Zainab and my cousin's husband Mohsin (yes there are two Mohsin's, one is my nephew the other Erum's husband) had me twirl around the deck and they captured these awesome pics! I did feel a bit dizzy after that, haha!

Ammie had a wonderful idea to have Noora match with me on the Mehndi as well as the Wedding! She's my mini me! It's funny, her mannerisms, the way she looks and acts remind everyone of me when I was a baby! And Leena is a resemblance of Sarah! Which means my future daughter(s) or Sarah's future daughter(s) will look like Appie! 

Ok I have to showcase the awesome cake we had at the Mehndi. Look at the barbies! They're matching with Jeffrey and I! So backstory, the very first "wedding" dolls were an idea Appie had for someone's wedding. I can't remember who was the first person in our community to get married but Appie and Shanno Khala paired up together to have a male and female barbie doll on the cake whose outfits matched the bride and groom. One wedding later, it became a tradition and Shanno Khala has created countless dolls for so many brides weddings (family and friends). If you look closely you can see the minuscule details, the barbie is wearing jewelry, her hair is set up, she has nail polish and Mehndi on her hands! I keep telling Shanno Khala she needs to turn this into a business! It's time consuming but it's a wonderful keepsake to commemorate the special occasion! 

A picture of the creative and talented Shanno Khala and I!

Zia Khalu made it here as well from South Carolina! 

Farie Khala is awesome, she's the youngest aunt on my mother's side!

She's down for the peace sign or anything goofy along with her awesomesauce daughters!

My cousin Sahar (the black belt karate champion) her husband Israr and their 3 week baby Safa! 

This is Naheed Khala's family! I'm not sure where Shahid Uncle went, yes he has the same name as my father, lol. Anum and Usman are pretty cool, Usman keeps in touch reminding me my family hasn't forgotten about me!

Gullo Khala and Nasir Uncle

w/ Erum and Mohsin!