An Indian Engagement Party!

Ok, so yesterday was so cool!.. A good friend of mine from UCF, where I'm getting my Master's degree from, had gotten engaged last year, and her sweet parents-in-law decided to throw the soon-to-be married couple an engagement party!

We left Gabi at home with Jelena, our fabulous baby-sitter, and Rich and I took off to Downtown Orlando. I love the hip, fresh, young atmosphere of Downtown Orlando. With all the new, modern high rises, the city's skyline is definitely changing (to the best, in my opinion), and strolling around Downtown before we got to the venue was so nice...It's a side of Orlando that unfortunately most tourists forget to visit, and I recommend visiting it on a Friday or Saturday (early) evening, and staying on for Dinner (great choices!). Anyways, I will write more about Downtown some other time...

We got to the City Arts Factory, where the engagement party was taking place. What a nice surprise we had when we went upstairs and saw this amazing space, full of art, full of people, beautifully decorated tables (in black and white) surrounded by indirect lighting, live music, and all the amazing colors of the Indian dresses (I believe they are called Sarees..) the ladies were wearing. My friend looked beautiful and seemed truly happy. I was thrilled to finally meet her fiance! We got our drinks (I had a glass of wine - that's ok while breastfeeding...1 is ok, getting hammered is not....I forgot what that is like!?...), and mingled here and there, until we took our seats for the ceremony.

Wow, when I got engaged, 4 years ago, it was so nice. Rich did the "talk to my Dad" thing first, he did get down on 1 knee, he totally surprised me in our living room back when we lived in Celebration, FL....and we did celebrate our engagement with my family, Richie and Brittany, at Dixie Stampede, a Dinner Show that, I believe, is being shut down right now...(oh, well). It was great and I felt so special. But the Indian way of celebrating an engagement blew me away! It was an institutional thing, I have to say. Very emotional, very family oriented, very deep, very involving, and taken so seriously. The speeches made were wonderful, the fiances were so happy, family members were all there, present on the "stage", embracing each other and celebrating, giving them their blessings...What a NICE way to go on to married life! I wish we would have these great ceremonies and traditions as well! What a nice Indian tradition I learned about yesterday.

The food, Indian food, was very yummy! I never had Indian food the way I had it yesterday, and while I understand that Indian food varies regionally (like in Brazil...the food in the Northeastern is totally different from the food in the South), Rich and I enjoyed it very much. To accompany the great meal and atmosphere, the friendly people we met at our table added a very positive note to the evening. My friend even played "friend matchmaker", as she sat me next to a very nice young lady from Germany (living here, though), and we got along well instantly!

It was such a great evening, definitely one I will never forget!

Look at the CityArts Factory (so nice!!): http://www.cityartsfactory.com