An Outlet: Part 5

24 December, 2018.

Today went so well I'm so happyyyyy!

I woke up considerably on time and began with last minute cleaning and other preparations. I took a bath, got ready and at around 12:30PM, the first of my friends arrived.

It was Deborah. I have been friends with her since junior college. In fact we were in the same friend circle and would hang out often but for some reason, we both weren't that close at the time. We could be around one another only if Paloma was with us. You could say that the only reason we even spoke to each other was because of our mutual friends.

We then went to the same senior college and as expected, we had different groups/ people we hung out with in the beginning. But then we became good friends with this particular set of people, came in one class, hung out together, and eventually, we got to a point where I could actually say that Deborah is my friend.

So a couple of years ago, it would have been HELLA uncomfortable if I had to talk only to Deborah while waiting for the others to come but now, we had quite a bit to talk about. I didn't even realise that a full 30 mins had passed until the second person, Gurtley, arrived.

I realised it was 1PM and we hadn't ordered our lunch yet so I left my two friends to socialize while my mom and I called for food. We had decided on getting pizzas and pastas from a vegetarian outlet in the hopes of getting Jain options as well because if veg restaurants don't have Jain food then who are they serving, am I right?

Wrong. They had legit zero Jain options. Bruh what?! I panicked and tried to think of other places I could order food from. We called a Chinese place and guess what? They didn't make Jain food either! Where do you guys get your damn calories from Jain people?!

Ultimately my mom calmed me down and asked me to place an order for pav bhaji at a place where she was sure you'd get Jain stuff as well. So ultimately, that's what we ordered. They had Jain starters as well so that was convenient too. I've not had many 'parties' or 'get-togethers' at my place- definitely not where Jains are involved- so this setting the menu thing was damn stressful for me. I have to really thank my mom for everything she has done today.💜

I then spoke to Gurtley and Deborah until Kristen, Daisy and Hannah showed up. There was a big debacle over whether Darcy would be joining or not. I won't go into the whole thing because I don't find it worth journaling. Let's just say, she was the last person to arrive. It was around 2:30PM by that time, the food had arrived and been laid out, and I was really hungry by this point.

We happily had are our pav bhaji, paneer chilly, moong dal pakode and a carrot sweet dish, the last two being generously prepared by my mother.

We spoke quite a lot this whole time, Hannah also wrote me a letter, this sweet little girl and then after lunch, the cake cutting ceremony began. They got me a blueberry cake because I prefer fruit cakes over chocolate ones. They also got me a bunch of rings along with a birthday girl sache! I'm thankful to all of them for doing this for me. Then they loaded my face with cream. I happily invited them to do so because what's the point of struggling when people are anyways going to do it. We took loads of pictures with my caked as well as uncaked face.

Then they forcibly made me wear OTT stuff and made me dance. In the beginning I was revolting against it, but then decided to let loose for once. And once I did so, everyone was very surprised. They had never seen this extra side of me before. I am very calm and quiet as a person in general but I do have my moments.😋

We had a blast and at around 4:30PM, most of them left. I wouldn't have minded if they had stayed longer but it's their call. I'm not the one to force people to stay. I'm pretty indifferent that way. You wanna stay you stay, you wanna leave you leave.

Kristen, Deborah and I played (half) a round of monodeal afterwhich Kristen and I played a round. We also played some card games and eventually spent quite a lot of time talking because she had decided to stay back and physically gift Alex (who had college till 6PM today. Don't worry. It was his last day). We spoke about so many things ranging from her hair (she wants to go bald but has pushed it back now), her family situation, Venus, Paul, dating, etc. It's very natural to talk to her for hours you know.

Eventually, Alex came home and after having some evening snacks, we taught him mono deal and played it until it was time for Kristen to leave. It was around 8PM by the time she left.

Overall, I think today's party was a success and I'm glad and relieved that it was.