An intimate EP release party – December 4, 2011

Thank you to everyone who came out to share this night with me -- I was only expecting around 20 people... but over twice as many bums squeezed in to make it even cozier!!! There was a bit of improvising, but I'm really glad that everyone left the venue smiling. Definitely a night I will never ever forget for so many wonderful reasons. C:

Here's some behind-the-scenes footage from the release, starting with balloons!

And photos, provided by the Rilakkuma-loving Raymond Kam!

A special thank-you to Guru Bhaskar for playing us some tabla and to Faizal Jiwa playing guitar with me. (I can't wait to jam with you guys again soon!)

My favorite part of the night was singing Freeze Up because we had arranged to have people dropping bags of balloons on the audience. I don't know what it looked like from the crowd's POV, but from the stage, it looked really beautiful... especially when the smoke machine kicked in! There was a moment in the song where I couldn't stop laughing because I could see/hear the guys at the back ripping open bags and releasing balloons - you had to be there to enjoy the surrealness of it all. :)

I admit I was a little frazzled and panicked before the show had even started. We went to the club a couple of hours early to set up, but we found that nobody was there... a big thanks to Raajan and Vikaash for coming down so early and waiting with me in the cold. (We really need to go back to the Foundation and ask for their Maple Chili recipe!). The event was to start at 5pm and they finally opened their doors at 4:45. It took us some time to set up, and I was also freaking out because their PA system wasn't working properly! Thank goodness my dad (who I found out earlier that day had all the lyrics memorized on the EP!), Faizal and the guy at the club figured it out and we got the one microphone and Faizal's guitar plugged in just in the nick of time.

My sister (Thank you Kajal!!!) bought and brought pizza (and my iMac when I forgot it at home!) and my mom and dad brought samosas (which were almost gone by the end of the night). I thought we had gone overboard with 12 bottles of pop, but they too were left as dry as a desert.

My friends also helped set up and pack up - A special thank you to Sze and Brandon for putting up a fabulous backdrop. It looked so pretty and fantastical :) Ohhh and Sze totally caught me by surprise when she presented gave me a cute little mini voo-doo doll keychain (Thank you Sze!!)... I wonder what will happen if I poke pins into it? lol. I don't really know anyone with red and white stringy hair...hmmmmm

An extra EXTRA special thank-you to Vikaash Prasad for making all of this possible. You are the brains and talent behind the visual magic (and musical!) of the Book of Dreams EP. Without you, I don’t know where I would be. Thank you so much!

And a special shout out to everyone who stayed back after the party to help tear down and pack up. Thank you Kam Sidhu, Brian Quan, Gabe, Raajan, Parin, Jason Randhawa, Jason K, John Meas, Avi, Paul Bopari, Faizal, Riyaz, Varun, Dasounda, Anish, Papa, Mom, Kajal, Rakesh Ji, Raymond, Vikaash and everyone else who helped make this event possible!!! I love you soo much!!! :)

And an extra special thank you to Brian, Sze, Vikaash and John for your support right from the beginning. I am forever thankful that you have all shared your excitement with me and have helped put together ideas and build a foundation for the EP to grow off of. I still want to make special limited edition CD’s…maybe for the actual full album in a few months? I’m looking forward to planning out music videos together too! Between us and the prop shop, I have no doubt that we can come up with something out of this world!

A HUUUUUGGGGEEE THANK YOU to WINSTON HAUSCHILD for producing this record! I just heard it being played on 101.9FM (thank you Oswaldo!) and the quality was amazing! Thank you so much! :)

Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to attend - I appreciate your love and support beyond words! THANK YOU!!!