What a day!
Started early with my gorgeous guy sewing orange geometric patterned table runners, orange and white table clothes - more of them later - a breakfast of croissants and cereal snatched inbetween long stints at the sewing machine (while I watched the news and read, being sewing challenged as I am), and kept going with trips to pick up the balloons I had ordered at Balloon Inflation in Alexandria - great big red 5 & 0 and a bunch of metallic orange and silver balloons - and the orange and red polka-dotted cake from Marrickville Cakes, which had been damaged by the elderly guy at the bakery but then fixed up while we waited.
We managed to get home after all this activity, all of it in preparation for our dear friend Fahmi's 50th birthday party that night at the Zanzibar Hotel in Newtown, and find some much needed nap time (not that slept constantly worrying about the party preparations even though everything was well in hand) before heading back out again to set up the party @ Zanzibar.
From the word go, the staff were wonderfully pleasant - from the duty manager Jordan to the chef, Dom (who chatted away quite happily to us as we laid out the runners on the tables, set out the candles and arranged the cake and balloons) to the head bar guy, Pat - and nothing was too much trouble. We left there at 5.20 much later than planned but feeling like everything was under control, which was good since it's a big deal party and we both wanted it to be just right.
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| Phillip, Ian and Sandra looking fabulous |
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| Cake table and those giant numbers! |
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| The early arrivals mix and mingle |
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| How we kept the tables to ourselves till about 10pm when the roof top bar closed and the hordes descended |
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| My gorgeous Steve, the birthday boy and yours truly |
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| Phillip and Ian camp it up! |
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| Phillip printed up T-shirts with Friends of Fahmi on top and had two left over so Steve & I wore them |
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| My wine and my cocktail... the first of many |
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| Fahmi and Hamo |
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| Fahmi, Hamo and me being a little..well not sure really! |
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| The cake in all its funky polka-dotted glory |
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| Fahmi always comes back from his trips to Singapore with endless shots of food so I had to photograph at least one plate of the canapes! |
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| Essie lit by the candles glow |
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| Fahmi with friend Lenora and Paul either side |
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| Barbara and Steve |
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| Steve & fahmi very close up! |
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| Ron, Deb and Fahmi (Deb worked with him at BP Solar and SITA) |
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| How old are you Fahmi? |
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| My guy and I |
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| Fahmi and his delightful sister Fat |
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| Getting ready to slay the cake! |
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| Fahmi and Fat cake cutting time |
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| Steve offered to hand out the cake including to the cute guys at the next door party...so selfless! |
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| My man gallantly went and fetched more wine! |
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| Waz, Ian me and Peter....the gang! |
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| Fahmi & Ian |
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| Steve and Fahmi ham it up |
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| Waz tries the glasses on for size! |
...and behold it was! After encouraging everyone to be on time, they largely were, they loved the food (the garlic prawns were delicious and the pineappled & haloumi skewers yummo) and the decorations - Zanzibar's event organiser told me the staff told her it looked "amazing", impressive since they see a lot of events! - and the gorgeous caramel marble mudcake. Being Fahmi's friends, they were uniformly warm, friendly, talkative people, and while I was bobbing frantically here and there as one of the party's hosts, putting presents here, sticking bar tab wristbands on people there, and didn't end up having longer conversations till later in the evening, I had a ball getting to know people I had only ever heard Fahmi talk about. Most importantly Fahmi, and to a less extent his twin sister Fat (short for Fatima), for whom we got a small mountain of almond cakes to act as her 'cake', had an absolute ball, loved all the attention, seeing good friends, and really, that what it was all about!
Naturally we were the diehards there right till the end, and Peter, Waz, Ian, my gorgeous guy Steve & I walked back to Fahmi's place with his friends from Singapore, Phillip, Ian and Sandra, before leaving them there and heading to the Imperial Hotel for some post-party drinks. We only lasted till just after 1 a.m. though, and were snug in bed, tipsy as hell, by 1.30 a.m.
Happy Birthday Fahmi!!
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