Deena's Wedding

This weekend Sohail and I went to my college friend Deena's wedding in North Carolina. It was wonderful catching up with old friends and celebrating Deena & Chris' nuptials. Congratulations Deena and Chris and thank you for a wonderful weekend!

A daring dog!

Oddly our hotel looked a lot like the undergrad dorm where many of us who were at the wedding met for the first time over ten years ago.

Before the wedding Sohail and I visited the NC State Capitol building

It has this amazing library with old law books inside.

Sohail sported a new suit to the wedding.

This trio played throughout the ceremony and reception.
The music was beautiful and the wedding very elegant.

The bridesmaids ready for the action to start.

Shirin and a groomsman

Sarah and a groomsman

Deena and her Dad

Deena and Chris as husband and wife!

The reception was held in an old house with several rooms.

It was great catching up with Gabriel and Shirin.

And Deena and Sarah

No Egyptian wedding is complete without a belly dancer!

On our way to the after party we got caught in this rain storm...

Sarah & Shirin

Friends!

Sweet Deena used these decorations that my Mom and I made together.
Some of you will see them in another setting in October. ;-)

Sohail and Gabriel met for the first time on this trip and planned a joint family vacation to Japan (where they lived the same year). I'm happy to oblige!

This morning we all got together again for brunch at this cute restaurant before heading home.

faces & rejections

It's time for a new passport photo. Here are my [Cyrus-inspired] photo options.

silly

silly

trying to be serious... but not really

silly

and why this pile of rejection letters?

because i finally realized that persistence pays off.

Ian's birthday, soccer & Keren's visit

This weekend was so much fun I forgot to take pictures! Friday night we went to our friend Ian's birthday party and caught up with several people we hadn't seen in a while. Saturday - soccer at Hains Point. And then a visit from Keren! Keren is a friend I met in Argentina in 2000 and have kept in touch with over the years. The last time we saw each other, it was in Israel where she spent the last five years of her life and she's finally moved back to the States where it will be much easier seeing her regularly. For those of you who don't know Keren, you can get a feel for her love of adventure and amazing writing by reading about her recent trip to India: http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=166002 Poor Sohail also did a lot of working this weekend.

Why this picture of a fox? Because it was recently spotted on the field where we play soccer... I didn't see it on Saturday but there was a dog that looked like a wolf.

With Keren in 2007 in Israel. Welcome back nena!

Tribeca

Big News! Sara's (Sohail's sister's) short film "The Pool Party" was selected to be in the Tribeca film festival this year. She and her producer (boyfriend Davyde) went to Iran last year to film it and the result was beautiful, touching, and a huge success. We'd already seen it but it was much more powerful to see it in a theater and fun to hear strangers complimenting the film and talking about Sara around us. In addition, Sara's film was shown with other shorts directed by some big shots - Domenica Cameron-Scorsese (Martin Scorsese's daughter), Kirsten Dunst, and Max Hoffman (Dustin Hoffman's son). All of the directors participated in a Q&A after the films were shown and, of course, Sara was the best (not that we're biased...).

A scene from The Pool Party

Outside the theater

Lots of stars were around

Thanks to our connection to a filmmaker, we got to walk the red carpet as well (after the show...)

Q&A with Sara & the other directors.
Sara's on the far right and immediately to her left is Kirsten Dunst.

Yum! NY pizza.

Celebrating Sara & Davyde's success after the film.

Sara with some friends.

Davyde with his Dad.

Sohail, Mona (Sohail's cousin) and a friend.

At the hotel.

A family picture.

Walking around NY.

Tribeca film festival banners everywhere.

Sunsets from the hotel were beautiful

CONGRATULATIONS SARA & DAVYDE!!!!

friends, art, and productivity

Friday night we went out with some of Sohail's former colleagues (one of whom was visiting from San Francisco) for dinner and drinks.

Bolero (+) of the Washington ballet Saturday.

Building a bookcase all day today. This was around 10 a.m.

3 p.m.

10 p.m. (and multiple trips to the hardware store and an empty closet later...).

soccer and other spring fun

Spring is finally here and we've been making the most of it by playing lots of soccer. This year I'm captaining the GW alumni team which has kept me extremely busy but the roster is finally in order and we had our first game Saturday. The alumni league is one of my favorites because the people are great and because we (usually) get to play at Hains Point, an island in the middle of the Potomac surrounded on the weekends by sailboat races. It also happens to be where Sohail and I got engaged.

Sohail getting a shot off (relatively graciously!).
After our game we were linesmen for the following game. It was a great way to spend more time in the sun and scope out our future opposition.

After the soccer games at Hains Point we went to watch the Madrid - Barcelona game. I think we may have been the only non-Spaniards there.

This tree is at the entrance of our building and make me happy every time I walk by.
Anyone know what it's called?

Sunday Sohail and I decided it was about time we got a bookcase / tv stand for our apartment so we spent most of the day running around Ikea and then started putting it together.

The bookcase is a work in progress... It's about a fourth complete now.

Last night I made Shakshuka - an Israeli dish with tomatoes and poached eggs. Yum!

Very happy in the kitchen.

Cherry Blossoms

Today the weather was incredible and poor Sohail had to work so I went to the tidal basin to see the cherry blossoms which are at their peak. There were a ton of people there but it was worth dealing with the crowds to see the trees.

Andy & Caroline's wedding

Yesterday Sohail and I went out to the eastern shore of Maryland for Sohail's college friend Andy's wedding. Sohail caught up and a lot of old friends, many of whom I met for the first time. Luckily for everyone, the weather was beautiful and the wedding was a lot of fun and at times funny (like when the extremely cute ring bearer lost the rings in the grass or when the DJ introduced the groom, Andy, as Paul) but Andy and his wife Caroline have a great sense of humor so luckily they took it all in stride and added some more humor to the event.

On our way to the wedding.

the ceremony

Sohail got to catch up with his college friends

and hang out with me

this morning at the hotel

today's brunch

Lately...

We've been having a lot of fun lately. Last weekend Sarah & Barney were in town. Oddly we don't have any pictures of them but Sarah and I went wedding dress shopping and I found the dress I plan to wear at the wedding.

We also convinced Sarah and Barney to join us in throwing this parachuting bunny from the window of our apartment. I felt a bit like an 8-year-old doing it which is what made it so fun.

Last weekend we also went Eid didani (visiting family for Persian New Year). Here's Sohail playing his grandfather in backgammon.

This is Sohail's grandparents' haft sin (seven Ss). It's a table with seven objects that start with the letter S (in Farsi) each of which represent something you hope for in the new year including prosperity, good health, and happiness.

Tuesday night we had dinner with Sohail's cousins. The couple on the left got engaged over the new year but we were in Charleston and missed the party.