Flirty Thirty!

I turned thirty on the 25th of March, I had my first ever grown up party. I shared the celebrations with my wonderful family and friends.

I knew that I wanted a Shawarma (our version of a kebab) stand and my friends insisted on some hubbly bubbly and so I spoke to the caterer and before I new it we had the biggest Salad buffet, a  live Fatayer stand (like a pancake with anything you want on it) and the Falafil and chips were fried right in front of you! They set up the seating, which looked horrifying in the day time and had me VERY worried but these boys really new what they were doing,  my parents house looked amazing, we are already planning the next party and how we can improve on it, which will be quite difficult!

We danced, oh boy did we dance! We shook our bottoms and shimmied our shoulders to some Arabic music, we Salsa’d, and finally we danced the YMCA!  I turned Michele Bubble’s HOME on at three in the morning and the lovely people finally got the hint and went HOME!

In true Laila fashion, I forgot to charge my camera’s battery before the party and so I have none! But have managed to get some from Ghada and will get others, there must have been about forty five people at the party!

Jamal and Tariq (my dress was a present from three very generous girlfriends, my first designer dress!)

Aisha (in the blue dress) made the trip from Abu Dhabi, we have been friends since we were eight! Then There’s Ghada, Anetra and Raghda whom had her third baby eight weeks ago and has the flattest tummy ever!

Raghda and Samih :-)

Amirah, Sami, Nawal(nawal andsami are married and make the loveliest couple) and Nidhal

A toast to the non-alcoholic champagne for the non drinkers!

Breg, Tariq, My mum and my cousin AbdulKarim.  Breg is soon to be the newest member of our extended family!

Salsa with Felix our Venezuelan friend, how we used to dance the nights away! I hadn’t seen Felix since Mohamed and I got married. He is recovering from two years of gruelling chemotherapy but he is looking fantastic and dancing as well as ever! Trying to remember the moves to thriller! Brown girl in the rain? Still that brown girl! This is when my brothers tried to throw my poor mum in the pool, I got caught in the melee but luckily a lovely person tackled them like a rugby player and my mum stayed dry!

Salim told us that he would stay up to one a.m and then fell asleep at exactly one! Sara couldn’t be there, as she had to finish assignments before coming back to Muscat. Tariq made it from Bahrain and arrived fashionably late. I shared the party with Jamal whose birthday was four days later so happy 27th birthday Jamal.

I got truly wonderful presents, ones that make you gasp! Thankyou.

I am blessed to have fabulous family, wonderful friends. What more can a girl want?

Laila

p.s We’ve just had five days in Koh Samui and our now in BKK.