Preparing for engagement photos

I'm excited about getting our engagement photos done! My beautiful Laura is doing them for us. I must share some of her photography but first I want to share a few dress pictures.

I bought this dress for our actual engagement party which will be in September. It's really pretty in real life, a sort of gold tone. I bought it from Forever New. A favourite shop.

Now at our engagement shoot I will most likely be wearing a black dress, but I'm not sure which one to wear. For one it's the middle of winter here not that it gets that cold. Here are some photos. They're not that great due to lighting not sure how to take the photos.

I bought this dress awhile ago but still haven't worn it. I always seem to fall back on black dresses (hence why I bought a gold one for our engagement to break out for the black and white mold).

This was taken last year. I have trouble posing sometimes so I end looking a bit awkward. So this is the other black dress for my second choice.

One is little bit dressy whilst the other is bit more casual I guess. I'll figure it out tomorrow.

Anyway, I also just have to share some of lovely Laura's photos. I've taken these from her Facebook (sorry hun!).

Just two of the engagement photos she took for Elise and Dan, some friends of ours. There are more but I didn't want to take too many.

I just had to add this photo in. Laura took this at my 22nd birthday. I know I'm wearing fairy wings but it was part of the theme =)

So we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Dinner with friends tonight, engagement photos tomorrow with a picnic afterwards or before the photos. Hope you all have wonderful weekends!

Introducing my bridesmaids

I thought I would dedicate this post to my beautiful bridesmaids. I still haven't quite got the colour and style of dresses confirmed yet but I really wanted to introduce my lovely girls. I have 5!

Ok I will start with my wonderful matron of honour Liz. She's also my sister in law =) I've known her since I was about 12.

Image taken from Liz's facebook

So she has been with me for all my awkward stages. Since I don't have a sister she has been like the sister I never had. We had talks, hung out and she gave me clothes and other things. She always buys me little gifts just because =)

My beautiful Laura. We first met at church at our Easter musical rehearsals. I think I was about 19. And I didn't really know anyone doing the musical so I was by myself. And I saw Laura and thought she looked friendly and I went over and talked to her. She was new to Brisbane.

Image from Laura's Facebook taken by Sharon Pappas

We had a tendency to dress the same at first. It was pretty funny actually but obviously now it's not the case. She is such a creative person and she inspires me sp much with her photography and design. In fact she is taking Jason and my engagement photos this weekend!

I've actually known sweet Kristina for a long time. We were 8 when we first met at church. But we also ended up going to the same high school.

Image taken from Kristina's facebook - taken by Laura

Taken from Laura's facebook

It was great fun because we shared a few classes together, most notably Physical education and health ed. It's awesome that we have known each other and been friends for 16 years!! Plus she makes some really yummy cupcakes and other desserts!

This is lovely Melissa. She's my middle brother Alvin's fiance. And she's a lovely person. We have had some great conversations and fun times.

Image from Melly's facebook

At her 25th birthday this year

And it's even more fun now because we get to plan our weddings together since their wedding is in April! Even better we're bridesmaids for each others weddings so it's very special. She's a fantastic cook too! I've eaten quite a few of her dinners.

This is my chica Thara. We've known each other since year 9 at school. So we would have been 14. We actually met because we had crushes on some guys in the year below us (yes how embarrassing) though they were the same age as us funnily enough.

Taken from Thara's facebook

Taken on the weekend at a friends birthday. I just came from work.

We had a great time at school. We used to write notes in class all the time, danced and talked about crushes and went to sporting events to see the guys from the all boy private schools. We volunteered to be officials one year with some other friends at the cross country competition for the boys at our school and the other private boys schools. We were giving out the placings and at times would have some of the guys collapse into us due to fatigue. Yeh fun times. Oh and she also happened to be in the same course at uni as Jason. (I must write a post about high school one day and the memories).

I have a fair idea of what dress styles I like but I have been debating with myself about the colour to use. I think it will be some type of pink. Maybe blush pink?! Of course the dresses in this pic are from Rose and Ruby.

Image taken from Real Weddings - hard copy mag

I took this from my Real Weddings magazine. My scanner isn't working at the moment, so I took a picture of it but now it's grainy. I don't mind this pink, so I might pass the image around to my bridesmaids and see whether they like it.

I adore all my girls and I'm truly blessed to have these beautiful ladies in my life. I love them all!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Julia, and the rules are:

+ Link back to the person who tagged you

+ List six little things that make you happy

+ Tag six bloggers and let them know they're 'it.'

This is a sweet tag and it's always nice to list little things that make me happy. Sometimes it's the little things that make it a day filled with happiness.

1. Ballet Flats

Image via French Sole

I'm completely obsessed with flats. I'm making myself quite a collection.

2. Books

Image from Design Sponge photo by Perfect Bound Studio

I love to read and drink tea to relax and it makes me happy. So do pretty covers.

3. Writing and receiving letters

Image from Perfect Bound Studio

I love to receive letters and to write them. I still have every letter written to me since I was 9. I'm always up for new penpals if any one wants one (let me know). I always add little notes, stationery and other bits in my letters =)

4. Moleskine Notebook/Journals

Image via Notemaker

Ever since I bought my first Moleskine I've loved them. I always carry one around in my bag. I usually go for the plain pages instead of lined.

5. Being a kid again

We love to play in the park when we get the chance. It's fun to just be a little kid again.

We just adored jumping on the trampoline at Christmas last year. It was a present for the nephews.

6. Sweet Kisses

Image via Le Love

Those sweet little kisses on the cheek always make me happy and loved. And images like this fill me up with such joy!

I now tag:

+ Laura of Miss Laura+Mr Joshua

+ Melissa and Megan of Fiddlesticks and Funny Girls

+ Claire of Book Shelf

+ Jo of Labour of Love

+ Ellia of Green Bean Baby

+ Nicole of My Teacups in Peony

Thanks lovelies! Hope you enjoyed!

Memory Keeping

First I want to say congrats to my middle brother Alvin who proposed to his gf Melly on the weekend!

So now there are going to be two weddings in our family next year. Eepp!! Almost an excitement overload. (As a family we seem to really love play grounds). It's crazy to think that after my wedding a few months later my brother will be getting married too.

This week I'm doing a huge clean of my bedroom, the study, wardrobes...pretty much everything with my things. Whenever I clean I always get a bit nostalgic as I usually find old meaningful items like journals, letters and other little bits. It got me thinking about keeping memories.

I'm a journaller, letter writer and memory keeper. I have boxes of little items that mean something to me and I keep all letters, cards, notes and journals. Except there was a time I went on a rampage and got rid of my journals from age 12 to 18. For some reason I went a little crazy and didn't want to keep them. Now I regret my decision to throw them out and wish I could look back on what I wrote.

So I thought I would share a few memory items that I like or would love to buy.

A. Kikki.K Cloth photo album

B. Kikki.K Memory Book Love

C. Kikki.K 365 Diary

I adore those photo albums with the black pages and the white paper between each sheet. I would love to get one of the Love memory books and fill one out with Jason. And that 365 diary is a great way to write a little something each day. When I journal I like to add pictures, stickers, movie ticket stubs, little bits of paper and other things.

Image from Real Weddings

I had to add this picture in. I definitely know that I would love my bridesmaids to be wearing the same colour but different styles. The more I see pictures like this the more I love it.

Have a lovely week and thanks for all your comments!

Contemplating

Right now I'm sitting here eating breakfast and listening to my nephews play the Wii (they stayed over last night so I'm the one looking after them today).

(I got them to stop playing and pose for me)

I'm drinking my tea and just doing lots of thinking. There are a few family issues that are stressing me out but all I can do it keep praying and believing that God will make a way. 

* I do want to say thank you for all the lovely comments your all so beautiful thank you!* 

To keep this post more upbeat I thought I would share a few images from The Style Salon and Angels Dreaming website. The Style Salon is an events styling company and Angels Dreaming is their sister company specialising in custom invitations. I like to use the website as inspiration. 

I just adore the design and prettiness of the decorations. All the images come from their website. 

Well I have a day off this weekend so Jason and I can book our honeymoon and look for wedding rings and plan our engagement party! Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. Watching Harry Potter tonight! Wheee! I re-watched all 5 other movies in preparation. 

A dinner

On Saturday night Jason and I had our 4 year anniversary dinner. I had work all day so I was quite tired already. We went to this place called Liquorish. It was lovely. Great food and company.

This is a little collage of our night. I know it's uneven and the photos aren't too good. The lighting was soft and the flash made things look bad. 

Jason had bought me a lovely trench coat. I saw it at work and loved it. It's what I'm wearing in the pic.

And this is the trench. It's soft of a silver shade. I thought I would muck around with iPhoto to get the other picture. 

Here it is again, and I have been playing around with iPhoto a lot. 

I did say last post that I would write about how we met. So here is a quick rundown of the story.

Jason and I met on the train in 2004 and we were 19. We were on our way to university. It really wasn't as random as that because a friend of mine, Thara,  was in the same course as he was and she was also on the train. We just happened to meet that way =) Although if you really want to get technical you could say we 'met' at a party in 2003. I went to a party with Thara for another one of her uni friends and I kind of met him there. I don't remember it but the weird thing is Jason happened to be in the photo, which I only realised after I met him properly. 

This was our first photo at uni. Yes, he had funny blonde hair and we look young (not that too much has changed). That year we became really good friends but we didn't start going out until the year after. I had just come out of another relationship and really didn't want to be in another one. He was definitely patient as we both had our issues to deal with and really when we finally starting dating it was so much better than it probably would have been if we started going out earlier. We built up a fantastic friendship first and I really do think that helped. 

I really do love and adore him and I'm so excited that in 6 months I get to be married to my best friend! Here are a few more pictures over the course of our relationship.

This was Jason's university graduation in 2006 I think it was (I forget sometimes).

I don't remember when this was taken but I think it may have been the first time I met some of his extended relatives. 

This was my 21st birthday we went down the coast for the day. Yes I'm wearing swimmers they're just strapless =p

This was for our church's young adult formal. A masquerade. I think in 2006. 

This is my university graduation in 2007. 

Jason came to the Philippines with me and my family in 2008. This is at a restaurant on water. 

Us now. It's been a wonderful 4 years and I look forward to many more years together.