Birthday weekend

**WARNING: this is a photo-heavy post!**

It was my birthday last month (if you follow me on Instagram, you might have already known this) and I am kid when it comes to celebrating them! The day started off with hubs creating a birthday wonderland for the customary 12 o'clock cake-cutting (yummy black forest from a German bakery) followed by the gift-giving ritual. I have always wanted to party in the Big Apple on my birthday and so this year charming hubs took me off for a perfect weekend in New York City (NYC). 

He knew that the restaurant of my choice would be Junoon (Chef Vikas Khanna's baby) and he had promptly made the dinner reservations. But in between all the travel and reservations and birthday planning, hubs had planned an awesome surprise (and I didn't have the slightest hint of it!). Believe me; whenever something is up his sleeve, I have a slight idea of what's going on. 

It was a cold winter night on my birthday so here I was all decked up and wrapped in the woolen coat, scarf and gloves. Just as we stepped outside the hotel lobby and were heading towards the metro station, hubs held my hand and started walking towards the hotel parking lot. I was kinda confused by this gesture; I was about to tell him that the train station was on the other side of the hotel entrance. But as I walked a few steps I saw a LIMOUSINE! And right then hubs screamed in excitement ‘surprise for the birthday girl’ Yes! a LIMO ride to NYC! Absolutely loved this surprise and riding in a limo in Manhattan was definitely a ‘high’ for me! It was my first time ever in a limo and by the time we got down at our restaurant, I was dizzy with happiness :)

The culinary experience at Junoon was worthy of a Michelin-star restaurant and so was the ambiance; especially their lounge area with the full-size and beautifully carved wooden jhoolas aka Indian swings. It's an ideal place in NYC to celebrate a memorable occasion. Sadly, my hopes of seeing/meeting Executive Chef Vikas Khanna were not gonna come true that night; he was away in India shooting the MasterChef India series (and so, I had to settle down to watching him every day on TV). We ended the big day with a stroll at the amazing ‘Times Square’. All in all, couldn't have asked for a better day with the best person in the world! Thank you God!

On to my outfit, peplum trend has been around for a while. I have seen a good deal of bloggers (almost all of them) embracing this trend. I had heard and read that it was the perfect cut for pear-shaped people like me and had also tried a couple of peplum outfits in all the glory. But sadly, they didn’t work out great for me. While birthday shopping, I found this peplum LBD (little black dress) and decided to give it a spin. I was impressed that it fit me like a glove and so there, I was sold! I love the hint of lace on the back and dig the exposed-zipper look. Well, with a pretty peplum I matched a set of gold accessories – bold collar necklace, earrings and cuff. This was also my first time wearing stilettos  and thanks to the limo service I was saved from a lot of walking around that day. 

Well, time to stop my blabbering now and leave you to enjoy the pics!

Hubs: Banana Republic blazer | Express sweater and denims  | MK watch

Me: Express dress and jewelry | Tory Burch 'Amanda Logo' clutch | Payless pumps | H&M cuff

Beautiful memories from a whirl-wind day!

Delicacies at Junoon!