2012 in Review

2012 was a fabulous year for us. Amazing, exciting, busy and fun!! Here is my 2012 in review.

JANUARY saw us celebrate our engagement with those who matter most in our lives (well, most of them anyway!) with a big party at the local sporting club. I used my 30th Birthday present from the Englishman and jumped out of a plane (attached to someone else with a parachute of course!). The Englishman's parents Kate and Dave came to visit and we spent time with my family.

FEBRUARY started with a Sunny Day wedding for my awesome cousin and his gorgeous partner in crime - a perfect sunny day for a beach wedding! Next was a holiday with Kate and Dave - shame about the weather but we had lovely time anyway, picking strawberries, cooking lovely meals and watching the storms!! We ended Feb with a 30th birthday for a good friend - lots of food, fun and little people.

MARCH started with a visit to my Pop in his new home - not where he wanted to be but there were no other options. Some comedy, A birthday for a Mummy-to-be friend, a boozy dinner at a friends house, and a very welcome discovery - we had our own little baby on the way!!! Another wedding rounded out the month.

APRIL started with Easter and a camping trip to Tiona with friends. Another 30th, this time decked out in 80s gear! We bunny-sat our friend A's gorgeous bunny Sootie, hung out with lovely friends for Anzac Day and took a trip to the Gold Coast to celebrate an engagement for some other sunny friends.

MAY started with another engagement party for QLD friends, but a little closer to home thank goodness! The Englishman caught a nasty flu and was bedridden for a week - not fun at all. Luckily he recovered in time for a house party which he DJ'd at, and a very important day for him - becoming an Australian citizen! Followed by another important day - turning 30. In the midst of all this my Mum made Mother's Day a little special for me with a cute book :). We ended the month with the Englishman's birthday celebrations, including a meter long pizza at the local pizzeria!

JUNE started with chocolate milk cravings for me!! Two weddings on the long weekend - one via Skype, the other at the State Library. We had my 20 week scan and found out we were expecting a boy! Huge surprise for my Mum! I attended a baby shower for a dear friend and discovered how intolerant I can be of drunk people when I'm sober.

JULY's highlight was a last minute "baby moon" to Fiji for a week - perfect weather, great accommodation, lovely people and an all round relaxing holiday! We had another 30th for my wonderful friend C which included a cake with macarons on top - yum! We became an Aunty and Uncle for the first time - so wonderful!!! And started work on our little monkey's nursery after picking up the family furniture.

AUGUST began with a weekend in the Blue Mountains with a lovely group of friends - food, olympics, birthday celebrations for C's hubby and lots of fun with the Little Girl. Cooking (including a croquembouche!!) a new iPad, hormonal mood swings, a Hen's night, and Monkey's cot started to look like new. We rounded out August with another gorgeous family wedding!!

SEPTEMBER started with a catchup with my lovely 'Uni' girls which included some baby news! I found out I was suffering from Gestational Diabetes and we started getting ready to sell the Englishman's car, Ruprecht. Another baby shower and another Hens Day/night.......and a Baby Shower of my own, in Newcastle :-) Our new lounge arrived and we had a trip to Ikea!

OCTOBER was a busy month! A second baby shower for the monkey and I, 2 weddings (both beautiful!) and I finished up work and started maternity leave!

NOVEMBER started off with some lovely time off work, being social and getting important things like hair appointments and massages in before the monkey was due to arrive on the 19th. Lucky I got stuck straight into them though as he decided to arrive 11 days early, on the 8th of November. Little Billy made a reasonably quick entrance into the world at  7pm on a Thursday and our lives totally changed, forever.

DECEMBER brought a bit of experience and some challenges - going out for my birthday for dinner (success!!), staying with my parents over Christmas (success but hard work for them) and a quick change of plans for New Years when Billy got a bit sick. We brought in the New Year at home instead of at the J's house, but still managed to celebrate with a bit of an impromptu bbq, a view of the fireworks, homemade pizza and a glass of bubbles or two.

2012 has been insanely amazing and good. We have had so many opportunities to celebrate life and everything wonderful about it, watching our friends and family tie the knot and start their little families, and ended it with a wonderful family Christmas and a New Years at home with an amazing view.

I can't wait to see what adventures 2013 will bring, with the Englishman's parents coming to visit, our planned trip to the UK and watching our Billy grow for his first 12 months!

27 Dresses......well....5 so far!!!

Sooooo I've been a bridesmaid 5 times in the last.....4 years or so. Since my younger sister tied the knot in September 2008, I've put on a pretty dress, fancy shoes, got my hair and makeup done, carried flowers down the aisle, fixed dresses and makeup, got drinks, given hugs, organised photos, created Hen's nights and weekends as well as bridal showers, played Toilet Paper Bride more times than I care to mention....and generally been a bridesmaid what feels like many, many times.

After I was bridesmaid to 3 very close friends within 5 weeks of each other (actually, before the actual weddings even happened!) I told all my other friends 'No more, sorry.' Being a bridesmaid can be stressful, is generally expensive, and takes a lot of time and energy! Not to mention, when all you see around you is people getting married, you really start to think that you want that, too. And it can mess with your head :-S (but thats another story)

This meant that friends I think may have asked me, couldnt. Which was tough. But some of them found other ways to include me, such as doing a reading at their wedding (which I loved!)

Since it's been a while since I last blogged, I though I would make this one a bit longer, and I figured out how to add photos (although they're in the opposite order I wanted - I'll remember that next time!)....so here are the dresses I've worn as a bridesmaid so far.....



FEBRUARY 2011 - Little Sister's Wedding
So, I have 2 little sisters, and in February this year, the youngest one tied the knot with her Defence Force Man. It was a military wedding, with a guard of honour, men in uniform, and lots of fun! There were 3 bridesmaids, Little Sister L's BFF M, myself, and our Middle Sister J. All our dresses were the same colour and fabric but different styles, to suit each of us. I opted for a more straight across bust than the other girls and it was one of my more favorite BM dresses to wear!


APRIL 2009 - C and D's Wedding
My Girlfriend C, who has her own blog (http://superluminous.wordpress.com/) and inspires me to get back on here all the time, married her perfect match D in April 2009,...... almost 2 years ago now!
Her bridesmaids were her BFF A, myself, and E, who are all really close friends ourselves. We all went shopping together for these dresses and tried to pick something that fitted C's idea for her wedding, but that we were all happy and comfortable with as well.
I wore this dress a few times afterwards, but after a while I knew I wouldnt wear it again, and wanted it to go to a good home. Sooooo......I sold it on ebay. It was such gorgeous material, and such an unusual colour (my Englishman wore a blue and brown tie to match rather than purple or grey). I'll always think of that dress with warm memories.


MARCH 2009 - Wedding of the ex-friend....
This photo is not from the wedding (I can't find the photos and I'm positive I wouldnt have deleted them out of spite!)....but I was maid of honour to a girl who was a good friend, in fact I would have said my best friend at that time. Things changed last year and we're no longer friends (but thats another story!).....but this is the dress I wore for her wedding. It was custom made, boned and fitted. This was the most expensive bridesmaid dress I ever had to pay for! It did fit well, but unfortunately, it just looked like a bridesmaid dress. I wore it in this photo to another wedding 2 or 3 weeks later as I just simply couldnt afford to go and buy any other dresses,.....ex-friend's wedding was the week before C and D's wedding and a month after my friend Miss A......

FEBRUARY 2009 - Miss A's Wedding

This wedding was SO MUCH FUN!!!! Miss A is a long-time friend and I was so excited when she asked me to be a bridesmaid for her. Our dresses were very different to all the other BM dresses I've worn- Miss A had a vision but had bought this gorgeous Thai Silk to make the dresses, which I think limited the options for how our dresses would turn out......... and while the dresses turned out differently to her vision, she was really happy with them (I think!) and they really fitted with the rest of the wedding (which was stunningly over the top - diamantes, feathers and frills everywhere!)
I haven't worn this dress again but I had such a brilliant time in it on the night, and it was so much cheaper than most of my other dresses, that it didnt matter. This photo is me with the other 2 BMs, who were such fun fun girls. We had an awesome day!

SEPTEMBER 2008- Middle sister J's Wedding

I have 2 little sisters, and when the middle sister J got engaged to her man J (I like to call them J Squared...haha), she asked Little Sister L and myself to be bridesmaids, along with her BFF G. She expressed a wish for black BM dresses and one weekend when I was in town, the 3 of us went to look at one she had picked out. L and I tried it on and approved, and J said "great, I'll get G to come in with me one day and if she likes it we'll get them."

Just as we were walking out of the shop, G and her man M walked in - perfect timing! G tried the dress on and we bought them on the spot.

This dress has been my cheapest BM dress so far and the one I've worn the most. I had it hemmed from below the knees to just above, and I've worn it a number of times to the Races and other weddings. It's colour helps - black never goes out of style - and it fits so nicely!

I have one more scheduled set of BM duties in October this year - my Englishman's little sister S has asked me to be a BM for her and I am so honoured. She called me the day she found our dresses and has had mine sent to me! I feel so lucky to be included in the family in such a way as S, my Englishman, their parents and S's man D are such beautiful people.

I've been lucky that none of my dresses has been hideous, they've all been different in colour or shape, and (apart from one) I've been able to avoid the worst of bridezilla behaviours.

I can only hope, when its my turn to pick bridesmaids, that I can do as good a job as my beautiful friends did of being gracious and considerate.

Being a bridesmaid was a little stressful at times but gosh it was fun!