silly sophisticated'ness

*sigh* busy, busy. we'll finish delivering all the invites over the next few weeks i hope!

my really good friends back home organized a weekend of sophisticated silliness! there was nothing raunchy all weekend, which i really appreciated:

	wild oat - fantastic vegetarian food. as you're walking towards this place, all you can smell is yumminess!
	hotel indigo - quaint boutique hotel with an awesome glass ceiling. we found the voyeur window from the room into the shower a little disturbing. thank goodness there were blinds!
	sir john a pub - home of the banana mothership connection! a "friendly" drink the bartender served on the house. banana liqueur, amaretto, orange juice, and one other type of alcohol i can't seem to remember.. tasted like banana medicine - yum :)
	canada science and technology museum - this was one of the fun field trip spots growing up! super cheap: $9/person entry. it's not very huge.. really, you're paying the $9 to walk through the crazy kitchen! it's totally worth the $9 for the silliness :)
	midway family fun park - so much silliness. cheesy'ness to the n'th degree :) this is the place you go to play games with tokens to win tickets; then redeem the tickets for prizes. we redeemed our 400+ tickets for four shutter shades shaped liked stars! class i tell you, real class :)
	beau's all natural brewing company - mmm.. beer. the beer's rather delicious! unfortunately our bottles did not travel well.. :S
	chateau laurier - BEST SURPRISE!! their standard rooms are the size of a suite. their beds are so comfortable. i could live there if i was rich enough.
	social restaurant and lounge - we tried a variety of martinis and cocktails here. some good, some super disgusting. at one point i left my drink full to the top, only to come back to it empty.. *raises eyebrow* the girls were obviously thirsty. :|
	elgin street diner - home of ottawa's yummiest poutine! one serving could feed a family.. they use mushroom gravy too, which is a definite bonus.
	cora's - my favourite place for breakfast. huge servings, fresh fruit, deliciously greasy and deliciously healthy options.
	le nordik spa en nature - the perfect ending to a great weekend! hot and cold baths. sauna. steam rooms. massage. hammock swings. serene environment. *sigh* i'll have to go with kiwi at some point.

this was definitely a MUCH NEEDED break from life! i owe these ladies big time :)

champagne bar

i love this idea.. champagne & cider bar!  this idea is from a baby shower, but it could totally work at a wedding reception.  guests start with either champagne or sparkling cider, then choose from an assortment of mixes to enhance their drink.  what's great about this is that everyone can indulge: drinkers, non-drinkers, and designated drivers.

i would do this for the reception if it weren't for the cost of champagne for the number of guests we're having.  perhaps we can do this for one of the pre-wedding events, sans-champagne.

from hostess blog

colourful elephants

i considered making a kid station for kids to keep occupied during the cocktail hour with crayons, colour books, etc. cause i know how boring weddings can be for kids. there's nothing interesting to do. why do this kids run around so much and scream at events..?

mum and dad nixed the idea though out of fear that some of the tyrant children will let loose with the crayons and start designing their graffiti tag on the walls. we don't need an even larger bill after the event.

if indian kids were typically tame and we didn't run into the risk of child vandalism.. i would have made loot bags (favours) for them with a mini, homemade colouring book and some homemade crayons shaped like ELEPHANTS!

aren't these cute?! i love them!  i wish i had a whole herd of elephant crayons.. they look pretty easy to make too: how to make custom crayons.

oh well.. i wish i could have done this. there's always that one, rotten little kid all hopped up on sugar (or better yet coke) who ruins it for the rest. *sigh*

from hostess blog

the hijra tradition

i just read this blog post about hijras.

when i was fourteen, we travelled to india with my foi's family to see part of the country properly. we travelled mostly the north and west parts of india. while visiting the ganges (a holy river), there was a group of 4-5 hijras that followed us as we walked through the streets of haridwar (i think that's the city we were in.. i don't quite remember :S). now, i don't remember if we gave them any money or just kept walking, but i do remember my fuaji not realising they were hijras. he just thought they were female beggars asking for money.

a few years back, my oldest bhai got married in india. during his santhak (pre-wedding ceremony), a hijra showed up asking for money. dad came up to me after the negotiations to point out the hijra from the window telling me that one did in fact show up. i was incredibly disappointed i missed it! had i known, i would have taken video of the incident. apparently they had the hijra sign a letter stating that money has been given to a person of the hijra community in case another shows up later.

i've been told that if a wedding has happened overseas, hijras will show up to the family's house in india demanding money, otherwise they will curse the newly weds. sometimes a hijra will show up even a month after the wedding asking for money. this doesn't actually happen in north america mainly because hijras don't really exist here (well to my knowledge anyway..). hijras are a unique category that is different from transgender since hijras don't perceive themselves as a man or a woman.

maybe in a warped honour of this "tradition", we could have drag queens during the cocktail hour! how much fun would that be? or, going on a previous idea, we could have one of the drag queens be a fortune teller. i would die of jealousy if someone pulled this off during an indian reception.

palm reading

on monday bhabhi got a call at work:

caller: do you like hands?
bhabhi: i have never really taken an interest in hands..
caller: is your date of birth 12/7 or 7/12?
(weird.. he's right :S)
bhabhi: no sir, it isn't.
caller: does your last name begin with m?
(more creepy.. he's right again)
bhabhi: no sir, it doesn't.
caller: i'm only asking because i read hands so i realise that's an interesting hobby.
bhabhi: thank you for calli..
caller: by the way, the test will be passed.
*dial tone*

not long after that phone call, i emailed mum, dad, the bro, and bhabhi letting them know that kiwi passed his citizenship test that morning! so creepy.. but if he reads hands, then how did he know all this when the entire conversation happened over the phone? *dun* *dun* *DUN!*

on a kind of related note, how much fun would it be to have a palm reader or fortune teller during the cocktail hour?

mad love

i love madlibs.. i loved madlibs as a kid, i love madlibs as a pretend-grownup, and i envy this person for thinking of such a fun way to get people to rsvp!

[your name(s)] [will/will not] attend the wedding, and will most likely [verb] [adverb] on WEDDING DATE.  we are [adjective] for BRIDE & GROOM.  they are the most [adjective] [plural noun], and we wish them nothing less than [adjective] [noun] for the rest of their lives together.  my best advice?  don't forget to [advice] before you [verb] and [advice] after the [noun]!

CUTE!  i'm totally stealing this idea for an activity during the cocktail hour but redo it to relate to the theme and make it not so rsvp.

from the broke-ass bride