Tag: birthday

  • Unicorn Fairy Tale

    Unicorn Fairy Tale

    October 15, 2017

    I got a lot of love on my post regarding Sareena’s 1st birthday party from back in January. A lot has happened since then, and now that she will be 2 in just a few months, we have an even bigger birthday planned for her 2nd birthday..

    The gift of a baby sister! Sameer and I are so grateful to be blessed with another baby girl on the way!


    Baby #2 is due to arrive three days after Sareena’s 2nd birthday in January 2018 (but let’s see when she decides to make her appearance)! We were so excited and told Sareena as soon as we found out. She definitely knows and is excited that she’s having a baby sister. She has been obsessed with taking care of her baby dolls. She puts them to sleep, nurses them, feeds them, babywears them, basically is just all around nurturing as she always has been. She frequently pats and kisses my growing belly while saying “hi baby!” and sings to her. We watch birth videos together and the weekly baby growth updates, and she’s very hands on and involved in all our midwife check ups. She is going to play such an important role in her sister’s birth, I can feel it.

    In the beginning, I felt so guilty wondering how I can love another child as much as my first, and felt sad about my attention having to be divided at times to tend to both daughters. But then I realized there is so much more to look forward to, like the joy of seeing my daughters interact and love one another. It’s a feeling I cannot wait to experience. Watching them grow and learn from each other, have princess tea parties, and get into all sorts of mischief together.

    Sareena is going to be the best big sister, and I cannot wait to see how our little girls grow up together to be best friends. My heart is so happy and sometimes I cannot believe that I’m married to such an incredible man who I’ve made 2 daughters with. It truly feels like I’m living a fairy tale ❤

  • Sareena’s 1st Birthday Party

    Sareena’s 1st Birthday Party

    August 23, 2017

    This post is long overdue, and after a much needed media break, I am officially back! Slowly bringing you more content as I find the time to sort through the plethora of photos and attempt to put my jumbled up thoughts into words. I’ll also be updating Sareena’s little blog as well!

    Sameer and I celebrated Sareena’s First Birthday Party on January 7, 2016 at Shutters Hotel in Santa Monica. Sareena’s first year was a very social one as we’ve made tons of friends with kids of all ages, but mostly babies her age. Most are born within months or weeks of her. Some even days apart! Each of these moms have been a part of my village; I’m so thankful for sharing our motherhood journey together. I’m glad Sareena gets to grow up with such a fantastic group of babies her age.

    We chose Shutters on the Beach as our venue because we wanted an outdoor feel to her party without it actually having to be outdoors since it was supposed to rain on that day. The fact that the rooms are literally on the beach made it perfect! Naturally, we made the theme of her party Mermaids Under the Sea. I wanted to keep the party fun yet classy at the same time, so I decided to keep the color palette to pastels.

    I collaborated with my friends Cyan Sattin of colorful parties, Francesca Blume, and my sister in law in planning the decor and details and they all helped me bring my Pinterest board to life! The florals exceeded my expectations and I was in such awe of the floral 1 Francesca created. There are no words to describe the talent my friend Cyan has when it comes to cake and dessert. She made everything herself, including the cake topper made of fondant! Seriously, how adorable is her mermaid cake? My sister in law Rati, brother and sister did some major work helping decorate the room the night before by creating the floating bubbles and hanging jelly fish.

    But the most fun (and most important) part of planning the party was the entertainment! It was challenging to find a mermaid who wasn’t the typical Ariel from Little Mermaid, so when the Los Angeles Princess Company offered a beautiful & unique Neverland mermaid, I was so excited! She worked out amazing, all the babies loved her. She entertained with some singing, games, & parachute play.

    The second entertainment we hired was a bubblologist, because if there’s one thing I know about Sareena and the other kids, they go crazy over bubbles! But this wasn’t an ordinary bubble show, they gave a mini science lesson so it appeals to adults as well as kids, and left us in awe over the crazy bubble shapes like a triangle, square, and several bubble tricks. The show concluded in giving people a chance to be inside a giant bubble! It was an excellent performance.

    We really wanted to do something special to celebrate Sareena’s 1st birthday. We just wanted it to be a fun day for everyone and kept it as an intimate party by keeping the invites to only our immediate family and our friends with babies, so kept it at a total of 60 guests.

    Venue: Shutters on the Beach
    Cake & Desserts: Cyan Sattin
    Florals: Francesca Blume
    Theme: Mermaids Under the Sea

    Entertainment:
    Neverland Mermaid: The Los Angeles Princess Company
    Bubbleologist: Bubblemania

    Photographer: Sanaz Photography