Weekend bliss!

Phi, Amy, me, Kyla, Ben, and Kate celebrating Amy and Jesse's wedding on Saturday

It was a very rough week at work, for reasons I will not go into here, but a wonderful, wonderful weekend.

Friday, Cesar Chavez day (which is a recognized California [and clinic] holiday but which most of you have probably never heard of), permitted us to go skiing! This has been such a fantastic year for snow and, just the night before, Tahoe had a couple more feet for us to play in! I missed all of February's great skiing due to being overseas, so I was excited to get the chance to get back onto the slopes. Phi, his brother, and I drove up to Tahoe to spend the day at Sierra. Although we were faced with minor inconveniences such as a spin-out on ice on our way in and a need for getting pulled out of the snowbank (no, I was not driving) as well as a lost camera (mine.... I don't know why I have such terrible luck with cameras!), it was a great day with great powder! My legs are still sore.

We finished off the day with potluck dinner and karaoke at Phi's house, which is always a fun time :)

Saturday was Amy and Jesse's wedding day and oh, what a day it was! It being a full-on Indian Sikh wedding, they had numerous events going on in the days preceding the actual wedding day events, but Saturday was also packed!

In the morning, it started at the Gurudwara (temple), with the bride and groom's families greeting one another (Milni), breakfast and tea (we ate pakora and curry at 10 am!), and then the Anand Karaj wedding ceremony. It was really neat, although the UC Davis crowd (largely non-Indians) could not really follow what was going on, and we are still puzzled about how to interpret "Indian time."

Jesse, the groom, in traditional dress, entering the temple


Here are Phi and me with our head coverings which were required on entry to the temple. Swati loaned me her salwar kurta to wear for the morning!


Ben, Kyla, me, Katie, and Brandon

Here is Amy walking in with her parents, with her gorgeous embroidered dress which weighed something like 40 lbs!

The morning's events concluded (for us) somewhere around 2:00, and we had a break before heading to the Sheraton downtown for the reception where something like 1000 people were attending! (I'm not sure I actually know that many people!)

Ben, Kyla, Phi, me, Barb, and Mark

Below is me in outfit number 2 (a sari) borrowed from Swati (you're the best!!!) for the occasion! Believe it or not, this is the first time I have donned a sari and, with 4 safety pins, it stayed on without a wardrobe malfunction. I certainly had enough Indian help in case I needed to adjust it during the night!!

Kyla and Eleanor

Kacey, welcoming Eleanor, the "younger baby," to the elegant reception :)

Noelle and Jeremy got Kacey these awesome headphones to protect her from the loud Indian music (and which, believe it or not, permitted her to sleep amidst the partying!)

The newlyweds: Jesse and Amy

Amy looked absolutely breathtaking! Her dress was gorgeous. Despite there being so many people there, we did get a chance to congratulate her.

Here you can see the exquisite henna on her hands.

The reception was a wonderful time, with amazing Indian food, good fellowship, and lots of fun dancing!

Bride and groom

The groom and groomsman

Kyla and me (sorry the lighting isn't the best)

Phi and Kyla

Fun times! I think weddings and skiing are two of my favorite things :) I so love Sundays, but hate Sunday nights when the next thing that faces me is a 24 hour shift at Stockton starting Monday. However, this is my last week until VACATION so I think I can stick it out :)