'Oh That's her Sister' //Ariana Grande//

//The Party//

After 2 stressful hours of curling,teasing,pinning and tying our long, and unfortunately thick hair; contouring,highlighting, applying and reapplying makeup until we achieved our desired look, we were finally ready! Getting ready with my perfectionist sister tested my patience to say the least, however were both looking hot, so it payed off.

As usual I went with a more conservative outfit than Ari;she wore a black peplum style shirt and matching little booty shorts, paired with black heels,while I opted for a simple, pastel peplum style dress, paired with a pastel cardigan and my favourite off-white heels. We looked like polar opposites- Ari had just come from some badass movie and I had just come from afternoon tea.

We made the final touches to our look, and pranced up the hallway meeting our mom. Her adoring eyes met each of our own, 'You girls look beautiful,' she gushed. (I swear I saw her tear up,what the hell is wrong with her?) 'You look gorgeous too mom,' I complimented.

Ari and I both hopped into one of the 3 cars awaiting outside my house to take everyone to Nona's birthday celebration. It was a long drive through the heart of Florida but I was relaxed, my window was slightly down and music could be heard lightly. I felt like I was in a movie,hair blowing in the breeze staring out of a car window. However not after long my fantasy was cut short, when we pulled onto a long, stony driveway. It was masked from above with a series of lowly drooping, fuchsia coloured trees.

Once we reached the end of the remarkable driveway our eyes were met with a quaint, white cottage with a traditional thatched roof.

The body of the cottage was veiled in cherry blossom flowers and thick vines. The surrounding gardens were kept impeccably, with healthy green grass accented by multiple flowerbeds. There were roses,sunflowers,lilies, and pretty much everything Nona loves.

Although the cottage itself was small, the surrounding gardens were most definitely not. My mom had done a wonderful job choosing the venue.

The party consisted of the always exciting family questions such as, 'How is school?' Or, 'Have you girls got yourselves boyfriends yet?' (queue the sarcasm) I don't understand why people even attempt to small talk, it's unnatural and NO ONE enjoys being on either end of the conversation.

Nona received her gifts, shedding a few tears here and there. It is moments like this that make me appreciate all I have been blessed with.

When it was time devour the cake, the sun had softened to a warm orange tone. A wave of happy birthday songs took over for a few minutes followed by a lot more eating. Typical Italians.

Even though family encounters are almost always awkward, I wouldn't change them for the world. The night was bliss and I almost felt like I belonged to a somewhat normal family. There weren't thousands of screaming fans or intrusive photographers desperate to take a picture. It was family.