Khazana Boutique

This picture shows off a henna piece I did Friday night. The design continues up my arm past the bangles. It's my first attempt at a bridal henna design, and overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. Took 6 hours, including breaks, and a couple of phone calls.

I went to a gallery art show last night. A friend of mine's boyfriend had 2 photos in the exhibit, and the curator is himself an artist. I dressed up in my best salwar kamiz (ok, my ONLY salwar kamiz) and realized I needed some bangles to match. So I went to the local Indian boutique called Khazana.

I visited the location before, when I was looking at buying a kamiz but with no idea of my size, what they would think of this strange white girl and so on. Another store I'd been to pretty much ignored me, but this place was different. The ladies treated me just like a regular customer they wanted business from. They showed me different outfits to try on, were patient with my questions, and very helpful. Even though I didn't buy anything then, the pleasant experience made me want to come back when I did have a purchase to make.

So I walked in a lil shy, as I know how strange it is for them to see one such as me dressed up in their native clothing. I'm never sure if they will think I'm some poser "stealing" their culture, or if they're just surprised. One came over to help me, and I asked to see the bangles. They have a corner wall from counter to ceiling with bangles stacked in all different colors and sizes.

Unlike the US, it seems to be very common to have different sizes of bangles. At the henna party last weekend, I'd tried on a size 2-8 and it was too tight going over my hands. So I knew enough to tell the lady I needed a size 2-10. I wanted something in orange and gold, to match my outfit, but I wasn't going to spend $20 on what was prolly the best in my size :P I settled for a peach and silver set that was $10, and a decorative $3 bindi for my forehead.

All in all, I looked great, and felt great (which is more important, in my opinion). I got a lot of compliments at the exhibition. The curator of the place asked to paint me :) And while most people would assume this was a pickup line, my friend had informed me about his work, and need for plus-size white models. And if it was a pickup line? (he says he only dates plus size women) Well... he's a scorpio who's got a lot of issues going on in his life, and I just got through dating one of those.