Yesterday Romaana and I had the pleasure of dining at Craftbar in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. Our dad’s life long friend’s daughter, Uzma and her son were in town from Manchester. Although we don’t see them often, listening to the laughter coming from our table last night, one could never tell.

When she arrived, Uzma walked into the restaurant clad in an army green one piece silk jumper, Prada heels and a Marc Jacobs bag on her arm with shiny long hair and sparkling skin to match her smile. She was gorgeous as ever. Some things never change. After sharing hugs we started to share old stories about growing up .We talked about how at the tender age of 10 I traveled all around Europe with her and her family, dressed up in perfect little girl dresses and perfect little purses.

At this point my mom decided to share a never before told and quite funny story about me as a child. On one of my first trips to Pakistan, my grandmother, who was a lover of all things fashion: clothes , shoes, handbags, beauty and jewelry; one day sat with me as I watched her  take out all her jewelry. She showed me each piece, one by one, delicately placing and organizing; a trait I know I most definitely inherited from her.

At one point a young me turned to my grandmother very excited and said ” Agha Jaani ( ‘agha’ meaning elderly and ‘jaani’ meaning dear ), ” When will I get to wear all this jewelry?”  She turned to me and in her very proper British english  said ” When I die, you will get all of it.” An eager me turned to my mother and said ” Mama, when will Agha Jaani die?”

And a mini fashionista was born!

Although my grandma is no longer with us, the spirit for her tremendous love for all things fashion lives on in her grand daughters. I thank her for instilling in me how to always dress like  a lady.

Hugs and Handbags,

Nyla Noor