Celebrations

Hoor and I headed back home over Columbus Day weekend to spend time with our families. While in Chicago we celebrated four birthdays (Dad K, Mom B, Zeenat and mine) and my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! Our trip back home was a short one, but it was jam-packed with family fun! We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. The leaves were changing colors and the temperatures hovered around 75 all weekend long. A perfect fall weekend if you ask me! Thursday night we had dinner with Hoor's family at his youngest brother's place in Chicago. Joy spoiled me with a early birthday present and treated me to a facial and massage the next morning at The Palmer House!
 

 

Hoor receiving the World's Best Shoe Shine at the Palmer House!



Refreshed and ready for the day, Hoor and I headed to good ole' Elgin for lunch with my mom. (I really missed her cooking! I devoured everything she put in front of me!) We stopped over at Ali and Zeenat's place to see them and the kids before they headed to their fundraiser. We jumped on the trampoline, collected fallen leaves, and made leaf rubbings (a first for Shariq and Sabreena).

The plan for the evening was to meet Ali and Co. at Funway towards the end of the fundraiser and then go out for dinner. Little did I know that this was their way of getting me to Funway and throwing me a surprise 80s roller skating party for my 30th!

I was so surprised to see 40 of our family and friends waiting for me with skates on! With 80s music and side ponytails, we skated the night away! And I'm happy to report that there were no major injuries! I will never forget this birthday and I have my loving husband and family to thank!

Saturday we had lunch at Weber Grill in Schaumburg to celebrate my parents 35th wedding anniversary and my dad's birthday. We surprised my parents by giving their wedding album a makeover. When I was in India in 2008, I found their wedding album at my uncle's place and knew they would be excited to see their long-lost pictures. With yellowing pages and damaged pictures, we needed to do something to salvage the album. Enter Ali and Zeenat! They spent countless hours scanning in the pictures, designing the layout of the album, and capturing the essence of October 7, 1976! To say the album was beautiful is an understatement. Even more beautiful was my parents' expression!  

Then and now...Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you!

Mr. and Mrs. Zoaib Kapadia ~ October 7, 1976

The food at Weber Grill was excellent, but the company was even better. After lunch, we played telephone for quite some time. The kids got a kick out of this and couldn't understand why the message drastically changed from what they initially had said!

 
Before we knew it we were on a plane back to Florida. I had picked up an awful sinus infection over the weekend and spent my actual birthday sipping chicken noodle soup and Theraflu while Hoor was in DC. Once I was back to my normal self, we celebrated my 30th by going downtown for a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. Later that night we met up with some friends for cocktails and great conversations!

 

Las Olas Blvd.

The plan for the weekend was to go to South Beach, but it was  pretty rainy. I'm looking a little pale and I'm hoping to get to the beach soon!
All in all, thirty has been good to me so far! Despite the fine lines and sometimes achy joints, I feel great!

http://mycharitywater.org/Zenobia30

Thank you to those who have already donated!

Welcome to our home!

Our 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment is much smaller than our townhome in Saint Charles, but we love the location and all of the amenities!





 

 

 

Second bedroom pictures will be posted soon. It's not ready for its close-up at the moment!

Reunited and it feels so good!

Shortly after Joy came and went, Ali (and Alvin and Brittany) made a stop in So Flo to see us! Ali had a conference in Orlando and was able to spend two nights with us. The chipmunks were sent by Shariq and Sabreena. Ali received special instructions from the twins to take the chipmunks everywhere he went and to document their experiences with pictures. 

Friday night we had dinner and drinks at Cafe Europa on Las Olas Boulevard. We came back to our place and played a few rounds of shuffle board (my new favorite game).

 

 

Saturday morning we drove down to Miami. We enjoyed a sunny day on the beach and had a late lunch at The Tides. Their lobster tacos and mojitos did not disappoint! Hoor and Ali enjoyed their time drooling over all of the beautiful cars that drove by. We walked around for a bit, but we couldn't fight it, we were tired! Damn, we're getting old! We came home to pizza and movies.

Sunday afternoon Fort Lauderdale was hosting their annual IndoPak festival, but there was no convincing Hoor or Ali in going. Instead we had breakfast at La Bonne Crepe and walked around Fort Lauderdale Beach shopping for souvenirs and enjoying cold beverages. When we came back home, it was time for Ali to head to Orlando. Come back and visit us soon, but this time leave the chipmunks at home and bring the wife and kids!

Joy, sunshine, and rain!

This past Labor Day weekend Hoor and I experienced a little piece of home when our dear friend Joy visited. We were so excited to host our very first guest after being here barely a month. Before Joy's arrival we came up with the perfect South Florida itinerary. When Joy touched down, rain clouds filled the sky promising heavy showers (ruining our planned beach day). We decided to grab some fish tacos for lunch and head home to show Joy our place. We kept a watchful eye on the weather radar in hopes that we would be able to make it to the beach.      

The clouds broke for a short period and we hopped in the car and headed to Hollywood Beach. As soon as we arrived it was pouring…. We decided to hang tight and enjoy some mojitos. The sun eventually came out and we were able to swim for an hour.

That evening we hit up Las Olas Boulevard for crepes, gelato and shopping.

 

We woke up early on Sunday and drove to Universal Studios in Orlando for “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!” I could hardly contain my excitement on the way up and I truly felt like a kid all over again. This was an experience that Harry Potter fans of all ages could appreciate.   

   

We rode HP themed roller coasters, drank butter beer and shopped for wands and robes (way too expensive for my liking)! After lunch at Three Broomsticks we went through Hogwarts castle and played a round of Quidditch (my favorite part of the day)! On our way out of Hogsmeade we stopped at Honeydukes and Zonkos. As we were making our way around the park it started to pour, again. We decided to leave and check out the Orlando Premium Outlets on our way home. We were overcome with joy when we found out that they were open until 9!

Monday morning we drove to Miami and went to South Beach. We couldn’t have asked for a better beach day. The sun was out and there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight, but there were many jellyfish in the water! We avoided getting stung and enjoyed the warm waters. Later the teenagers sitting in front of us at the beach swam out and found two starfish! I couldn’t believe all of the marine life we saw that day!

 


Listening to a live DJ and overlooking fancy cars on Ocean Drive, we enjoyed an amazing lunch at The Tides Hotel. It felt like our waiter was recommending salads only. Must be what all the skinny supermodels get while on South Beach. We stayed true to our Midwest roots and opted for grease and carbs, well at least Joy and I did! Hoor went with a salad, go figure!

After lunch we walked around Collins Avenue to shop and we visited The Kardashian’s store, Dash Miami. Other than the free mojitos at lunch this was the highlight of my day! The store was quite small and had cute and not-so-cute things that screamed Kardashian. There was a tank top I really liked, but I just couldn’t justify spending $80! I could have had a Gryffindor robe for that much! I decided I would buy a $10 bottle of water that had the three sisters on the label.

After all I needed a souvenir! At that moment Joy’s expression spoke louder than words. I quietly put the water bottle down and walked away and decided our picture in front of Dash would be a better souvenir.

 We are so excited to have our next visitor (my brother) this weekend! Until next time, dolls!