deepavali round three

tomorrow is deepavali--the indian equivalent of christmas and thanksgiving combined.
it's our third time celebrating it in singapore, and i love that it's a big deal.

 the weeks leading up to it are filled with concerts, festivals, decorations, lights, all kinds of food you'd have to pay me to eat, and crowded, hot, filled-to-the-brim markets. 

you just pick a line and push your way through the people and stalls full of knick knacks.

so much gold, so much color.

beautiful handmade strands of flowers...

and jingly strands of elephants and bells crowd the ceiling.

i was soaking it all in until a grumpy uncle pointed to a sign and shouted, "no prams! no prams!" about ten times.

so we walked down the street for some henna. the sweet woman even painted a flower on sage's hand and stuck bindi (the little jewel) on her forehead. you've got to look the part, right?
i pulled out sage's shalwar kameez we got in india earlier this year for some photos.
i couldn't get my girl to smile normally. she was much more interested in cracking up at my made-up songs...

or twirling...

 

or tending to her baby. don't forget baby!

 

and by the end, she just wanted to get in the pool so badly that she stuck her feet in the water. 

happy deepavali!