Project wedding planning

I love weddings!!!! Everything about them gets me excited! The flowers, colour scheme, dresses, gown, decor, cake, vows, RINGS!!!!!!!, music - everything!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really want to make them a apart of my life by becoming a wedding planner. So in order to prepare myself for the task I helped a few friends of mine with the decor for a wedding they were doing on Saturday. They were the ones behind all the planning and design ideas so I got to learn a lot from them. I had so much fun doing it and the room looked really good when we were done. These are some photos of the hall both during and after.

One of the entourage tables - loved the detail on the organza

The beginning of the centre piece set up

The chair tie backs

The final centre piece

Glasses with candles standing in yellow and green balls

The entourage table - beginning stages

The final table set up (green table)

Napkins with a twist and a glimpse of the table runner

The final table set up (gold table)

Chair tieback

A glimpse of the room with the dim lights

Finishing up the head table

The final head table

The cake (I thought it was a bit much but oh well)

The lights and flowers behind the head table

I enjoyed every bit of helping with the decorating and I learnt quite a lot too. Especially about where I can find good materials at a good price and who I can use to do what. In Uganda, weddings are no small affair but this wedding was a lot smaller than most with only 300 guests so it was a nice start to my learning experience. I'm so grateful to my friends for letting me join them. I can't wait to actually start planning weddings. Planning my wedding was easy coz I knew exactly what I wanted but I'm up for the challenge!!!!! And I'm really excited about it.

Christmas plans...

Christmas is here!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!! For the last 8 or so years I really haven’t been feeling very ‘Christmassy’ but this year I’m so excited!!!!! (I believe it has something to do with being newly married to my tall, dark and handsome farmer.) Anywho, I’m super excited. I’ve been sick at home for most of the week and I managed to put up our very first Christmas tree!!!!!!

I chose to use red and gold because I find it very hard to mix too many colours on a Christmas tree. I’ve never decorated a tree all by myself because my brother is the design genius in the family and he would do most of it while we just helped out. (Paul, I hope you’re proud) My husband loved how the tree turned out and I was super proud of myself  (there’s something about the light in your man’s eyes that just makes you feel like you just walked on the moon – anyone agree?)

Another reason why I’m so excited about Christmas is because hubby and I are going away to a quiet resort for two days over Christmas :-) We really need to get out of the city and have some alone time.  I’m also glad that I don’t have to worry about what we’re going to eat for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook but I’d really like to relax this time. For the last 8 years my paternal aunts, uncles and cousins would spend Christmas at my parents’ house. Just so you get the picture – I have 6 paternal uncles and 3 paternal aunts and they all come complete with spouses and not less than two children (maximum 4). It would be quite crazy at home trying to get things ready so this year will be a much needed breather for me – I’ll have a quiet, stress free Christmas :-) 

My sweet hubby is also getting me a wonderful gift for Christmas that I shall blog about when I receive :-) It’s something I’ve wanted and needed for a loooooooooooonnnnnnngggggggg time!!!!!! Love you sweetie!!!  (And no, I did not snoop around to find out what he was getting me – he gave himself away! teeheehee!)

I’m also going to try my hand at baking this year to complete the Christmas feeling so wish me luck!!!!!!!

I hope your Christmas plans are coming along well too.

Sick :-(

I'm not feeling too good - I'm catching a cold. My nose feels like it has a mind of its own and my head feels heavier than a bowling ball! But guess where I am - at WORK!!!!!!! Yup, crazy right? And what makes it worse is we had a really hectic weekend so I hardly rested (we seem to be having a lot of those these days :( My brother-in-law got married on Saturday so hubby and I were running up and down the whole day. (I will post photos later - though I did not get to take too many as I was running around like a headless chicken)We slept at around 2 am and had to get up to go to church then for lunch with my parents (they live about 45 minutes away). The hubs had to go to the farm to check on some things so we got home at 10:30pm - EXHAUSTED!!!!!! And the whole day yesterday I was feeling sick :-( I'm glad we got to hang out with my parents though. It was such fun.

Anywho, now I'm at work feeling so sick and wishing I could crawl into bed with a mug of ginger and lemon tea and watch tv. Growing up sucks!!!!!!! :(

Literary goodness!

My husband and I studied literature in high school so we LOVE to read. I prefer novels while he prefers anything to do with business or self development (seriously?????) Anywho, the other day we were reminiscing about all the lovely books we read in school and we decided that we'd read a few together since we have studied different novels.

The first novel we picked was 'Mine Boy' by Peter Abrahams.

It's a novel based in apartheid South Africa about a man called Xuma (pronounced with the click of the tongue) who came to Johannesburg to get a job in the gold mines. He struggles to understand why the people in the city are so sad and why the black people are treated the way they are. It gets harder when he starts dating an educated black girl who wants to live the way the white people do. Xuma's boss- nicknamed the Red one for his red hair- wants to be his friend but Xuma does not understand how a black man and a white man can be friends because he thinks they are too different. The Red one tries to explain that they are the same but just have different skin colour and Xuma does not get it. Eventually Xuma and the Red one have to stand up to the authorities and defend the rights of the black men working in the mines and that's when Xuma's eyes are opened - he realises that he is a man first before he is a black man because the Red one is supporting the black men against his fellow white men. It's a really good story. Xuma really struggles to understand that all men are the same. I like the way it ends though - Xuma has a eureka moment!!!! Yay!

What really amazed me about this book is it's written like it's directly translated from a native language because there are some expressions that do not exist in English or are not proper English but would exist in my native tongue. There is only one bit in the book when the Red one is chatting with his wife that seems to be written in proper English because - I assume - they ares peaking to each other in English. I think someone who does not speak a second language (whether it's French, German or Zulu) would be a bit puzzled by it at first but that's what makes it such a masterpiece. Hubby has not finished reading the book so I'll move on to the next book alone I guess :-(

Next up - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy!!!! My dad recommended this book and told me I won't want to put it down once I start reading.

 I've not found a copy yet but I hope to soon.
What kind of books do you love to read?


(All images found here.)

Going home :)

I'm going home today!!!!!! Well, to my parents' home that is :) I know, I know - it's not my home anymore but it's really hard not to think of it that way. And I'm going to spend the night :) My hubby is going off on a retreat with his workmates so he said I should go spend the night with my parents - isn't he sweet? (heart him). In our culture it's frowned upon to leave your marital home and go back to your parents home for a night (unless you are annulling your marriage)  but right now culture can go hang!!!! My mum is soooooooo excited - she even made my bed last week thinking that I would be going then hahahaha!

Now, you might be thinking that I'm being childish but allow me to make you understand. I am the only girl in my family and my mum is the only girl on her family. She has 5 brothers, I have 3. So in a way we are sisters. Now I don't have to explain how hard it is for men to understand the simple things that come so naturally to us women - shoes, clothes, colour coordination, talking about three different things in one minute :) They just can't keep up!!!! So my mum and I are really close and we've been thrown into houses with men only!!!! It's hard I tell you hahaha!! So I'm looking forward to sitting with my mum and telling her everything that I've not been able to tell her since we last spoke - on Monday :) and I'm also looking forward to seeing my dad - that man was the measure that I used to select my wonderful husband so he is beyond AMAZING!!!!!

Mummy and Daddy, I can't wait to spend the night in my old room (the one that was usurped by my brother once I left because it was better bigger than his) and to talk with you at the dinner table. Coming home will make me cry when I leave but I'm glad that you've not let culture stand in the way :)

Has any of you gone back to your parents' home for a night since you got married?