express.

23/365.

Seriously, has it only been 23 days? Why do I feel like months have passed and that we're so far into the year already???

I guess it's because I didn't take leave at the end of last year and so happens, when this year started, all  projects assigned to me decided it was funny to get active at the same time! Altogether now, they say!

So, I've been feeling really tired. Like, seriously, really dead tired!

Be that as it may, in a weird and twisted way, despite the long hours and the after effect that follows, I've been happy. Happy because I have been productive and happy because my brain has been tested in a way I never thought it would be. Also, I've been happy because I've been given the opportunity to learn so many new things; things I never in a million years thought I would even know. 

It has actually also been a very good month because of all the free leaves we get from the public holidays,  which I have made full use of to spend with friends and family alike. 

Like how we had an Express Bachelorette Party for our dearest Dekda on 14 01 14. 

***

The initial plan was to have a really grand and elaborate one with beautiful decor, yummy desserts, games and the whole shebang. We were planning things really well, divided the work up and everyone was doing a good job out of the tasks assigned to them. 

It had to be perfect because we were planning for THE PARTY PLANNER! 

Yes, Dekda plans parties with her eyes closed. So, yeah. No pressure, girls! None at at all. 

Yeah. Right. 

Thing is, like I said, that was our INITIAL PLAN. Suddenly, after all that planning and booking and thinking, the bride-to-be was assigned for an outstation job!!! In Sabah, no less! I mean like, seriously??? After all we went through! Sheesh! So, we called everything off. Took the event down from our list of events on FB, and cancelled all plans. And of course, with that being cancelled, some of us made some other plans too. 

When SUDDENLY. 

I get a frantic Whatsapp Message from Aleng early morning on 14 01 14, saying that the outstation assignment was cancelled! T___T

Since it was still early, we thought that maybe, just maybe, there was still some time to plan a quick party. We were frantically waking people up from their slumbers and gathering as many people we possibly could to come join the party because that was the only date we had. And out of the 15 people who originally said they could make it, 7 of us turned up despite the short notice.

And credits to Ayeem, our party planner extraordinaire, the party was nothing short of a party. We had "party hats" and friendship bracelets to bring home to remember how wonderful that day was. 

At the end of the day, the most important thing was that we got to spend some time celebrating the bride-to-be, presented her with the the pretty Pandora charm we bought for her and that we all had a great heart-to-heart session, talking about everything under the sun. We sure do hope that she had as much fun as we did ;)

It didn't go as planned, no doubt, but what we had, it wasn't so bad. In fact, it wasn't bad at all.

Here's to hoping that Dekda will be blessed with a beautiful union and that marriage would bring her happiness!

We'll be seeing you soon, in sha Allah!

***

Oh, by the way, we had the party at Flora@Hampshire Place and I totally recommend the place. 

The decor was lovely, they had backdrops where we could take photos at, meaning there was really no need for us to take time to decorate the place ourselves, the food was lovely (at least my nasi goreng daging was!) and I thought it was priced quite reasonably! No booking fees required PLUS, the staff was really, really and I mean really helpful and friendly. They volunteered to join the tables and to move them around so that the backdrop would be right behind the bride-to-be, they volunteered to take the ice cream cake off us to be put into the chiller, they volunteered to take our photos and they put up with all the noise we made (yes, you'd be surprised to know how much noise 7 people can make!) so that was the total winner! 

So, check it out for yourselves for your next party, okay!