Color, Color Everywhere

Maybe another reason why my baby shower is in such a happy place in my memory:

THIS is what we did right after!  

Yes, fill up on yummy and delicious food, get presents for baby, chat it up with lots of friends, and then go throw neon cornstarch on complete strangers...can you think of a better way to spend your Saturday?

We watched the "timed throwing" from afar (which is good, because it looked like an atomic bomb testing site - we would have asphyxiated I am sure) But as soon as we showed up people started decking us out before we could even get our own bags of color.

I'd been to the Holi Festival of Colors about 5 years before and I was amazed at how it had changed - last time they really focused on the religious aspect of it - for example, we dumb spectators could peek into the temple, but only worshippers could enter the mystically peaceful room.  This year they let people enter the temple to hoop, holler, and dance around.  It was a little sad to see, along with the colored handprints on the temple walls (yes, they will wash off, but it is a site of worship!).  I guess when the attendance grows by over 5,000 every year you can't help but let some commercialism creep in.  

Not gonna lie, though, we had a BLAST ourselves!

The most memorable moment must have been when two females absolutely drenched in colors came up and started exclaiming over my belly - and then insisting to draw a heart on it. And then a smiley face, and then... you get the idea.  We heard lots of comments, laughs, and congratulations about our baby-on-the-way.  Some people were surprised to see a seven-month pregnant lady there--but I was more surprised to see people carrying infants around the festivities - glad our little baby was breathing amniotic fluid and not incense-spiked powder.

It...mostly came off.  I had a pink arm pit and a blue arm pit (TMI???) for about a week until it wore off, as well as a bright pink scalp (but most people assumed it was a bad sunburn, so it wasn't too obvious except to other festival of color veterans).

Good times--great life:)

Baby Shower

Somehow, I think it's a lot more fun to post on my blog than to study for my finals/write the papers that I am supposed to be working on (and have been working on...almost...faithfully for the past 2 hours).

Especially because what I'll be writing about ended up being a lot of fun!  I've done showers before - getting married ensures that - and had yet to really enjoy it.  Not that I don't like getting gifts (who doesn't?), but it was hard showing my excitement about kitchen appliances and bathroom supplies without feeling like an idiot--even though most gifts were things I really wanted! And I was still not excited about the whole getting-married experience yet - that took quite a while (like maybe the week before the wedding...ah, to go back a re-live those days and actually want to plan everything out!  

My poor mother!)

This time, it was different.

1. Baby stuff is so much cuter than house and bridal stuff - so much easier to ooh and aaah over - and everyone else wants to ooh and aah over it as well!  Also, it was more like I was opening presents at someone else's birthday party - a lot less self-centered and a little more like a mom helping her 0 month old open her first gifts.  Weird perspective, I know, but so much fun.

2. I actually had things to talk about with the people who came.  It's rough going to a bridal shower and all people ask about is "are you so excited?!" and "what are our colors?" and "I can't believe you are getting married finally!" and you have no replies to any of them - really kills a conversation.  This way we could talk about baby, plans for her colors, excited grandmas-to-be, other things going on in my life, and (*gasp*) the lives of the people who came and I wanted to see--really, the whole point of the shower was to meet a bunch of my friends after months of MIA.  

3. The food: maybe it's because I am pregnant, but food tastes SO GOOD - and my sister and mom (and awesome friend Chaucie) made the most delicious things for me to eat as much as I want!  Actually, a large part of the menu were treats I had served at my wedding reception, but the line was so long that I never got to try any of them...so Emily (thank you!) and Mom made food heaven for me right inside my living room.  It really can't get any better than that.

 

Still, showers (gimmie, gimmie!!!) are still not ranked on my top ten (twenty, or one hundred) favorite pastimes, but I have to say, I had a lot of fun at this one!!!!

My three awesome sisters - the oober-excited (and gorgeous) aunties-to-be!!!

Fun Times