Sixteen Candles

Last Saturday afternoon, a group of my co-workers and I piled into a rented mini-van and drove to Plainsboro, New Jersey, for another co-worker's daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party.

I hope you followed all that.

I've heard stories about the extravagance of Sweet 16 parties, and while I've never watched the MTV series "My Super Sweet 16", I get the idea - these things are over the top! I'm pretty sure many of them cost more than DLang and my nups. My 16th birthday party (back in 1990) was basically the same as all of my other birthday parties in high school - a half-dozen girlfriends slept over, we made ice cream sundaes and watched cheesy horror movies ("Sleepaway Camp," anyone?). It probably cost my mom $100 and a decent night's sleep.

We were pretty excited about Aditi's party, because we work with her mom Nitika (and know that she's incredibly down-to-earth and wouldn't be buying her daughter a BMW or a diamond bracelet!), and also because we were going to get to chow on delish Indian food.

We arrived at the party before any of the other guests, and watched Aditi's family and friends trickle in. The Birthday Girl arrived fashionably late, looking stunning (and age-appropriate, I might add) in a sparkling turquoise lehenga and matching choli. Her family showed a video they'd made for her, and her friends danced for her. She lit sixteen candles in a Sweet 16 Candle Ceremony (who knew such a thing existed?). Not only did we have an amazing evening of dancing to Bhangra (screw in the lightbulb, pet the dog!), we experienced the Sweet 16 party at its finest. Sixteen is kind of a remarkable age of being on the verge, and the perfect time to receive public affirmation from the people who love you. Aditi was surrounded by her family and closest friends, and it was a good reminder to me that no matter what transition you might be undergoing in your life, (physically or virtually) being around people who love you is oh-so-important.

We got to eat some awesome Indian food, too.

Photos on Flickr