The Dress

I have a confession to make: I am one of those little girls who has dreamed about her wedding since she was a little girl. When Wade surprised me with my dream proposal (and, even more surprisingly, my dream ring), I immediately began envisioning exactly what our wedding would look like. I have always loved the book The Great Gatsby since being introduced to it in eleventh grade at school, and with the release of the Baz Luhrmann remake, 1920s Gatsby weddings are a huge trend for this year. All it took was for me to see this inspiration board, and I was hooked. I mean, aren't those Miu Miu heels divine?

Source: onewed

So I could picture the style of wedding that I wanted - classic with a little bit of bling - but I couldn't picture my dress in my head. I wanted the dress to tie into the theme and work with the bridesmaid's dresses, but also to be completely flattering on me and look amazing. I don't ask for much, do I? My bridesmaid's dresses were almost a no-brainer. I logged on to Facebook one morning, and they popped up immediately in my news feed as a post from one of my favorite fashion outlets, Forever New. I texted my girls straight away, asking them to go and try on the dress in their size, and, amazingly enough, they all fit! And they fit in with the colour scheme (soft pink, silver and champagne).

Source: Forever New

Like all other brides, I started trawling Pinterest, looking for my dream dress. I knew wanted something with beading, and something lightweight - we are, after all, getting married two weeks before Summer. Then I went on a few shopping excursions with my mom and my bridesmaids and learned very quickly that the styles that looked amazing on size four models did not look as amazing on size ten girls with curves. Sheath dresses were out, along with most figure-hugging styles. To my surprise, what I did like were empire waist bodices with tulle skirts - in short, princess dresses. This surprised me a lot. I had never really considered myself a princess dress kind of bride. But there I was, standing in these gorgeous dresses, and, even more surprising, I felt like I could breathe. Tulle, as it turns out, is very lightweight. Finally I felt could twirl around in those dresses, eat a four course dinner and pose for hundreds of photos and not feel exhausted. So I had the style narrowed down, but not the dress.

I started contemplating buying a cheaper dress and hand-beading it. I do work in a craft store, after all! But the thought of buying hundreds of Swarovski crystals and stitching each individual bead to the bodice simply gave me a headache. And then I found the dress. It was sitting in the window of a Brisbane fashion designer's shop and - there's no other way to say this - sparkling at me. It was from the designer's Gatsby range. It was tulle. It was beaded. It was perfect. As soon as I tried it on, I had the dress moment. As soon as the shop assistant zipped me up, I started beaming like I hadn't with any other dress. I wanted to run around the shop in it, and twirl until I was so dizzy that I fell over. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that is honestly how I felt with I saw myself standing in that dress.

I can't wait to wear it! I honestly can not wait.

- H

Book Review: The Secret Daughter

I bought this book on my trip home from Canada, not expecting much, but hoping for a nice light read on my plane trip home. I don't like to watch movies or play games while flying, but I do love to read. And boy, did I read on that flight! I picked up the book on my first connecting flight to Vancouver, and didn't stop reading until I touched down in Brisbane, 18 hours later. Okay, I stopped reading to eat, and I had a couple of short naps, but other than that, this book kept me totally engrossed for the whole flight. I also bawled my eyes out in some parts, which was totally embarrassing for both me, and the person next to me. Oh well.

The story, written by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, begins in a small Indian village in 1984, where Kavita, a destitute mother gives birth to her second baby girl. Knowing that her husband will insist on killing the baby, as he had with their first daughter, she runs away and drops the baby off at an orphanage, saving her life. In the social stratum that Kavita lives in, daughters are considered worthless and a drain on the family because they can't do physical labor and they require a large dowry in order to marry.

Meanwhile, an American couple, Somer and Krishnan are having trouble conceiving and decide to adopt. They travel to Bombay and adopt a ten-month old baby girl, Asha, who is Krishna's daughter. The book continues by moving the plot forward to 2009. It alternates chapters between the three protagonists of the book: Asha, now a young woman, struggling to find her place in the world, Somer, trying to hold on to Asha, but feeling that she is losing her, and Kavita, living in a slum in Mumbai with her husband and young son.

What I loved most about this book was the vibrant imagery and beautiful language that Gowda uses, especially when describing their different experiences with India. As the story progresses, each woman grows to have a distinct love of the country and their own place within it.

I completely recommend reading this book - but fair warning, you will need to find a time when you can be totally engrossed in the story! You can find the book here, both hard copy and for Kindle.

- H

PS. Don't loan this book out. You might never see it again! (Yes, it is that good.)

Salt Water

Isn't this an amazing quote? I think I first discovered that it was my favorite quote when I was driving down to Currumbin with my friend Sandi for my very first surfing lesson. I have always been in love with the sea, and I honestly believe that there is no better cure for anything than heading out into the water.

- H

My birthday brunch in pictures

Yesterday marked the beginning of the most crazy, insane, exhausting and exhilarating time of my entire life... my twenty-first year. In the next twelve months, I will be starting full-time work, moving out of home, graduating university with two Bachelors degrees (Arts and Communication), getting married, going to New York, and - hopefully - buying my first apartment with Wade. Just thinking about it makes my heart start to race. What better way is there than to start off the year with my favorite meal of the day - breakfast - with my favorite people in the whole world? My family, my fiancé, and my closest friends (seriously, I have known these girls for a decade of my life) all gathered together at my house to celebrate. They are so sweet! Here are a few pictures from my wonderful day.

 

 I've decided to start a new blog after a two-year hiatus to document this crazy and incredible time. Thanks for stopping by!

- H