The Tiny Mexican

This post is brought to you by Marcia, who Mike refers to as 'The Tiny Mexican!'.  She came in to our lives many years ago and we can't imagine life without her now!  She is full of life and laughter and always has a smile on her face!  With so much character she is often photographed by www.pixrani.com :) 

www.pixrani.com

Hello everyone, my name is Marcia. I am Mexican and have lived in Toronto since 2002. 

I met Natasha and Mike over ten years ago at work when they were students, and now they are like family to me. I am very fortunate to have them so close, they are the coolest, most wonderful friends ever!

That being said you can imagine how excited I am to go to Mexico and enjoy the company of their family and closest friends, I think it's just going to be incredible!

A little about myself: I love music, food, beer, dance and good company. My motto is "the Cheerleader", and honestly I can't imagine why someone would call me that... :) 

My family lives in Mexico and I try to visit twice a year because I am very close to them, and love them very much, and also because I really love going to Mexico. 

Here is a picture with part of the family, my mom, grandma, two of my sisters (I have three), my brother in law, my niece and my nephew. The other three pictures are me doing three of my favorite things (eating, drinking, and dancing!) and the first picture is me with my favorite people (Mike and Natasha).

Looking forward to seeing you all!!

Bestie Nicole!

This week's post is brought to you by Nicole.  Nicole and Natasha have been friends for 12 years now and have many many memories.  She has quickly become like family and looks forward to meeting everyone else in Mexico!  In fact, this whole trip began with an idea to celebrate our 30th birthdays somewhere warm!  

Also  www.pixrani.com can't help but photograph this stunning woman!

www.pixrani.com

Hello everyone, my name is Nicole.  I met Natasha at age 18 at York University.  I have lived with her twice. She is my best friend.

I am a Denturist and bartender.  I enjoy reading, shopping, and good food.  I can't wait to meet all of you and hang out on the beach!

My Lovely Daughter

This post is brought to you by Saskia.  You will often find me, Natasha, call her my daughter.  This is a long standing joke as she came to live with me in Vancouver and I was her home-stay!  She quickly became like my sister and although she lives on the other side of the world somehow we have managed to stay close and have met each other in Toronto, Romania, Turkey...and now Mexico!

Hello everyone. My name is Saskia and I am a friend of Natasha, we met in Vancouver where we lived together for a few weeks. Last year I got to travel to Romania and Turkey and became part of a big adventure starting with the wedding and exploring Istanbul. I enjoyed meeting part of the family and had lots of fun. 

In Mexico you'll find me on the beach, most likely with a book and swimming in the ocean. I look forward to good food (I don't like to share ;) ), great company and the SUN.

A Brother From Another Mother!

This week is brought to you by our brother from another mother!  Welcome Abeed Shariff!  Also, I am EXTREMELY jealous of your pic with Patrick Adams!


Hey everyone my name is Abeed Shariff. I'm a friend of the Pirani family as well as a distant relative from both Inayat and Shaida's sides of the family.

I am very much looking forward to this amazing vacation Natasha has planned. You will see me exchanging life stories with Shafique and Mike at the pool and I will be the first one ready to explore the hiking trails nearby.

My hobbies are sports, travel, photography, literature, film, and adventure.

2014 was a big year for me in terms of travel, some highlights include Romania , Athens Greece, Mykonos and Santorini in the Greek Islands, Rome, Naples, and Sicily in Italy. I'm looking forward to adding to the adventures in 2015 and this trip will definetely be one of the special trips coming this year. Looking forward to hanging out with you all.

Cha Cha Cha!

Week 3 gives us a post by Shafique Pirani, also known as by his nieces and nephews as Shafique Cha Cha!  Coming all the way from Vancouver he looks forward to uniting with many of his family members as well as some new friends made in Romania and Turkey!

Hello everyone, I'm Shafique, Natasha's uncle. I'm really looking forward to this trip as it should be very different from last years venture to Turkey! 

It's going to be fun getting to know everyone. A big dose of sun will be very welcome after a long rainy winter. 

You will most likely find me at the beach or in the pool. I had the pleasure of getting to know Mike on our last trip and everything his post says about him is true!

Ram Ramroop Family

Week two of 'let's get to know each other' series brings a post about the Ram Ramroop family written by Kevin - song writer, singer, creative writer, and all around amazing artist :)  

Hello everyone, I am emissary to Mike’s sole contribution of this trip, which consists of myself, Mike’s younger brother Kevin, and our two parents Reva and Nary. As the clear-cut black sheep of the trip, we are most excited to assimilate ourselves into the overwhelming majority that is Natasha’s family, whilst at the same time soaking up some sun, enjoying a good meal, and picking up some interesting tidbits about the Ismaili culture.

Since we are all shrouded in mystery, I will provide a brief bio and headshot as a guide of reference. 

This is the whole fam!

Nary is a Trinidadian-born Trinidadian. His interests include Game of Trones (this is not a typo due to his slight Trini accent), hot peppers, and that covers it pretty well. He can hold a conversation from anything to the architecture of the resort building to which people on the beach resemble which characters from Game of Thrones.

Reva may ring a bell as the name that spearheaded the booking of this trip for most you. Of course she is a travel agent, but her zeal for geography does not define her life. A self-professed jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, she is affluent in topics from fashion, celebrity marriages, 90’s sitcoms, and more.

Kevin is a 21-year old English student who likes music and has a beard. Imagine another Mike who doesn’t really look like Mike and you pretty much nailed it.

Unlikely to make an appearance on the trip is our older brother Naren, his wife Nadine, her parents, and two lovely children Etash and Shrey.  But here's to hoping as it seems the attendee list keeps on growing.

That is all.

Shrey and Etash! 

The bros!

Mukund & Natasha

As promised we will feature posts done by the different households that are attending the 2015 reunion!  Here is the first one :) Enjoy!

This is the blog post for the residents of 4905-11 Brunel Crt. This specifically refers to Natasha Pirani and Mike (Mukund) Balakrishnan.

Inspired by her Cousin Omar’s (See Virani Family post for more information on him) graduation gathering and ever-eager to plan well into the future, Natasha Pirani endeavours to establish lasting family traditions bringing all parts of her life together to celebrate her amazing network of family and friends. In 2014, Natasha looked forward into 2015 and saw her (and Mike’s) 30^th birthday and saw for herself an opportunity to weave these loose strands into a full-fledged quilt of family, fun and merriment.

This pictures shows exactly how Natasha feels about Mike's description. 

Mike provides a unique perspective on this trip. As someone who seemingly knows it all, all the time, to the general annoyance of all around him, he is among the few participants who you can count on to explain how, why and who is on the resort at any given time. Always up for beach volleyball, cards, or a beverage or two, find Mike and you’ll find yourself a conversation worth having.

As a unit they are looking forward to the beaches, the food, the pool, and last but certainly not least, the family time and activities.

Who are we here with?  WHO AREN’T WE HERE WITH!!??

Who will we miss? See Figure 1 (Answer = All People – People in Attendance)

How excited are we? See Figure 2

Figure 1 – A Venn Diagram

Figure 2 - Histogram