West Coast Is Best Coast Part 2

I've been back for about a week now and I'm still trying to get back to my normal routine. Guess that California sunshine really took a toll on my sleeping schedule. To those who had to deal with me falling asleep during drives more than 15 minutes, I apologize. What can I say, I get sleepy!

I last left off talking about the wedding I attended. The next 4 days consisted of catching up with friends, an incredibly intelligent 12 year old's birthday (Happy Birthday once again Anisha!) and mostly FOOD. I always have a list of places I like to go when I'm out and about in the Bay, and despite the weather I got to go to most of these places. Although I can't remember exactly when I went to these restaurants I do have that list handy for anyone who's interested!

• Yardhouse - Santana Row (the macaroni and cheese is simply to die for)
• Cream- Get a cookie ice cream sandwich.. just do it.
• Bombay Pizza- the Desi BBQ pizza is LIFE
• Andersen Bakery- pretty much everything there is on point
• Suju's Coffee- Probably the best mocha frappe I've ever tried
• Wipeout- Pier 39 in San Fran. Great food and a great view!

Thursday was a special someone's birthday so we decided to head to Dave and Buster's and have a low key celebration because..why not! It's a big kid's Chuck-E-Cheese's with awesome food and spares you the embarrassment of being twice the age of everyone playing games around you. It was an awesome night with friends and a fantastic beginning to the amazing weekend we were about to have!

Friday came along and we had a visitor...MY MOM! After picking her up from the airport the day went by quickly with so much to do and so little time. From picking up tables and chairs, to the set up of a gorgeous backdrop by R and R Event Rentals (RamanandRaveen.com) and the women of the family gathering to fry dozens of homemade samosas, Saturday was about to be bigger than I expected. As Friday evening approached, there was another wedding event to attend. We rushed to get ready and head to the party venue where we were about an hour and a half late due to everything going on back at the house. Worried that we were a little TOO late, we rushed in to realize that we were perfectly on time. Exhausted from the day, we stayed for a couple of hours and headed back to get some much needed rest for the next day.

Saturday morning was bright and sunny as expected. I woke up at 8 to give myself enough time to deal with any last minute issues that might come up (as they always do). Thankfully, once again my hair was already done so that was one thing I didn't have to worry about. I planned everything I possibly could the night before to give me a stress free morning. It was the morning of my Takha after all! A takha, also known as a roka is a pre-engagement ceremony! Yeah...I got engaged. Well..kind of. Basically it was an engagement without the ring. This pre-engagement ceremony means that Mr. Gagan Dholi and I are now promised to each other and can start planning our wedding!

After getting myself and my mom ready, my lovely friend Harpreet and her parents picked us up and we all headed to Gagan's aunt's house for the takha. Ever since I met them, they've treated me like family. So it was only fair that they represented my side as the rest of my family couldn't make it to the event because of the last minute planning. Like the fun loving family the Bals are, we blasted some music in the car, making a grand entrance ( even though no one besides us heard the music). As we walked to the door we were greeted by the entire family.

I was going to make you all wait for part 3...but I won't.

My future in laws have a HUGE family, something that I'm not used to although my family is pretty large. Instantly I was greeted with smiles, hugs and flowers, which just happened to match my suit perfectly. We all went into the backyard where the food was being served and the set up was stunning with champagne and royal blue everywhere. Those samosas that had been made the day before...ON POINT. I would have eaten about 10 if I wasn't so worried about ruining my makeup. After being introduced to all of the members of the family we were whisked back inside to take a few pictures before everything officially began. I had been nervous all week, but surprisingly the day of I was pretty calm. Everyone crowded the living room as Gagan got down on one knee and proposed (just for pictures) and the takha began. It started off with my mom and Gagans parents feeding us laddoos and giving us shagan (blessings in the form of money). One by one each family gave us shagan and posed for pictures and that was it! After all of the pictures we went back into the backyard where we cut the cake, took more pictures, mingled with family and at last had some much awaited butter chicken! Gagan and I are always down to have some good desi chicken so we were obviously extremely excited. 

The rest of the day was pretty chill, everyone sat around, danced a bit and mingled. All of Gagan's younger cousins have already started calling me bhabhi ji (sister in law) and they were all so sweet, specially Bir who's about 4 years old. If you follow me on Snapchat or Instagram you've seen some adorable and hilarious videos of him singing "I'm in love with the coco" and saying "Damn Daniel" that day! Around 6pm both Gagan and I headed to a wedding reception! Talk about a busy day!

Overall it was a great start to our journey for Gagan and I. I'll have another blog post with pictures and more details about clothes, hair, makeup etc. from my trip. Before I end this post I'd like to thank Gagan's entire family for the hospitality, specially his parents, and Puji and Uncle Ram for generously hosting the event at their home. Thank you to Harpreet and her parents for all of their help throughout the whole planning process. Big thanks to two talented individuals, Amit and Ramanjot from Drumsoundz Entertainment for the pictures I'll be posting later on as well as the videography and a huge thanks to Raman and Raveen from R and R Event Rentals (RamanandRaveen.com) for the beautiful decor. Last but not least I'd like to thank everyone for all of your love and blessings for Gagan and I!