Home Coming

After getting my bridesmaid dress & coordinating accessories together, I am ready to go home and fulfill my duties for Anj & Mark's wedding, my sole reason for returning to Toronto.

I drop my oversize puppy to the boarding facility and we part ways painfully. This is what leaving a child in Kindergarten must be like, except you get to see them 4 hours later. Lovely Air Canada allowed me to watch The Lincoln Lawyer (mmm Matthew) & some good ol' Canadian Rick Mercer until I arrived home.

I am greeted in true princess fashion with:
- A car
- Full tank of gas
- Mars bar & Bounty (faves!),
- Canadian money
- A Blackberry

I head straight to Day 1 of Wedding Weekend (Wednesday). There were in fact many events prior that I unfortunately missed, but was there in spirit. At Anj's house I get to catch up with my lovely girls and fellow BM's and 2 biatches ask me if I remembered to pack my dress. I'm not even known for things like that but umm...a little late now for the reminder isn't it? LOL. We get our mehndi (henna) done and then proceed to eat one-handedly. I still managed to get seconds. It's been a while since I've indulged in some West Indian food! I paid for the chickpeas, roti & tofu royally with a stomach ache until 5am!

Thursday I headed downtown to visit my John Hancock familia & enjoy a cup of Tim Horton's coffee. Nothing special, just missed the thought of it. It was nice to see my old team, and the best part was that there was a pre-planned girls nite at Shaima's house! Of course I stuffed myself with hors d'oeuvres, wine & cheeses (lactose-intolerant, eek!) & caught up with some of JH's finest. One of my girls Theresa is moving to Italy in a few weeks, so she is gearing up for that. Check out her blog @ torontototerni.blogspot.com for some italian culinary lessons and all-around wittiness (if mine isn't enough). Next stop: Brassai on King St with the lovely Farah (see Bikini's post to put a face to the name), & my former Mgr Amanda. A few drinks & random run-ins later, I trek back to my parents house, the only home I can always call home, no matter where in the world I am.

Friday is Day 2 of wedding fun: The Hindu Ceremony in the temple! Once at the hall, we sat in a room with the lovely bride-to-be and she look so stunning! It was time to get this show on the road: cue Tassa band & bridesmaids do a half walk, half dance into the hall before Anj enters. The ceremony started, and it is lengthy (compared to Muslim/Christian weddings I have been to). There are many ceremonies, each one explained in detail so that the witnesses are always aware of what is happening. Once they are married according to Hindu culture, it's time to eat! Again, I managed to get about 2 dinners on one plate. But it was SO GOOD!

Hindu Ceremony, beautiful bride!

My binge-ing does not stop there. Saturday morning, everything my mom put in front of me was gladly eaten until I had to worry about my dress not fitting me for the wedding reception. I finally slithered out of the kitchen and did a quick visit to my friend Sharmiza & saw her new baby for the first time. She became a mom while I was gone...but luckily she is the obsessive type that constantly updates her bbm profile, etc so that I felt I watched him grow the first few months! (xo, Shama).

I meet up with my asian brother Daniel & we head to Ultra to have dinner & drinks with as many Toronto friends that can make it! It was definitely a great night catching up and seeing everyone. Thanks to those that made it! On my way back to my hotel, I made a pit stop @ Embassy Nightclub and hung out with Rocsi from BET's 106&Park. Apparently she needs a personal hair stylist to go on tour with her....so if anything I will bring a personal stylist on tour with me, as I tour with her, hehe  =D

Rocsi & I

Sis!

A few tired hours later and it's time for hair & makeup. Some of us girls got our Blo's @ the Vaughan location, then our limo went to pick up our Bride. Something about that initial moment, seeing your friend in THE white dress: Speechless & tear-jerking. The Church ceremony was really nice & flew by. We did our bridal party pics in Unionville, then headed to the party! As we freshened up for our cool entrances, Anj's extensions had a slight malfunction: the curls had become dead-straight due to the heat! Can you guess who saved the day with a flat-iron in her car & some Blo University expertise?? ;)
After my heroic moment and partial group speech/rap, it was partay time! It took me a few tries, but finally my 'wine' came back, as it was lost in the Miami house scene for a while. Oh did I mention I ate for 2 again?? Hello: Indian butter chicken!

Obv we parked here for a few

I woke up Monday still intoxicated, as I was convinced the night before that the drinks were too weak and doubles were a good idea...and I got a lovely family BBQ! How great to have my siblings, cousins, aunts/uncles there, while continuously eating all day.

It was such a great time in Toronto until... the biggest nightmare of a day: flying out. I can't discuss details via blog, however let's just say I missed my flight, had to re-book an American flight in a different terminal for a high-priced downgrade from Air Canada & didn't eat my first meal until about 2pm (the way I was eating the last few days, I thought I would be dead by then).
I missed Tyson's pick-up time when I finally did get back to Miami, so I came home to an empty place, loads to unpack, nerves shot, sore neck, normal blood pressure (mine is naturally low, so higher for me is a normal person's), and thankfully a bottle of wine...

Scared of the scale,

xo
Fatima