I’ve never really gotten into trends much, but recently I’ve found myself drawn to the hipster style for the retro/vintage feel mixed with a little modern quirkiness. Now this post title mentions a ‘new trend’, yes I know this style of clothing isn’t ‘new’, I believe it’s been around for quite a few years now. It is new for me however, and I think alot of other people. I’m definitely not a hipster as in the whole lifestyle, but I do love the clothes for a few reasons:

• Vintage/op shop pieces work really well, which means a new outfit on the cheap, and pieces that no-one else has
• It’s very eclectic, you can mix old with new, quirky with cool etc.
• Hats and glasses! My first foray into this style was with wearing the hipster looking hats and glasses. I’ve always been a huge fan of these accessories, and now they work so well with my new style
• Bring back the 90′s dresses! Do you remember those floral printed dresses that were popular in the 90′s? I am a huge hoarder and held onto some of mine, and for the first time in over 15 years, they’re coming out of the closet.

Where do you find hipster clothes you ask? Obviously for the second hand stuff I go to my local opshops. For new dresses, skirts, tops and jeans I’ve been loving online stores like Urban outfitters and this store called Shoppeclique which is just for hipster clothes.

Perhaps if you’re not fully into the trend, you can get some inspiration on how to update all those old pieces of clothing you have in your wardrobe if you’re a hoarder like me!

I posted a couple of weeks back about writing my maid of honor speech for my best friends wedding. Well the wedding has been and gone since then, it was a lovely day and I’m happy to say, my speech turned out quite well! There was time for a couple of drinks before the speeches, so I and all the other guests were a bit more relaxed. Surprisingly by that stage I wasn’t even that nervous.

When my friend first started talking to me about her wedding and plans, I was a little surprised when she said it was going to be camo themed. I immediately thought it was going to be tacky, but as I started to see the dress, decorations etc. come together in the months leading up to the big day, I saw that it was more rustic and outdoors themed which was quite nice.

Come the wedding day when I saw it all together, I was stunned at how beautiful it all really was, and how well the subtle hints of camo worked. Their wedding rings even had some camo print on them, like the ones here http://www.camo-rings.com/. I thought I’d share that example as, until their big day, if you mentioned camo wedding rings, I wouldn’t have had a clue what you were talking about or how that was even possible. I thought wedding bands were always just your standard gold, silver or platinum possibly with a diamond in it.

The reception was also decorated beautifully with lots of natural touches, like a tree trunk cupcake board, burlap bows on the chairs, native flowers as the centrepieces etc. It really was just lovely, and something a little unique compared to the other weddings I’ve been to which have been fairly traditional. I hope the next one I go to in March is just as unique and fun

Writing is definitely not one of my strong points, so writing a speech for my best friends wedding was something I had been putting off for quite some time. The wedding is still a couple of weeks away, but I wanted to be prepared for my speech. Even though I’m used to performing in front of large audiences of people, I really don’t like public speaking.

I want to make sure I give a really nice toast to the bride and groom at the wedding reception, so I put quite a bit of effort into writing my speech. Now it’s nothing as exciting as the funny Youtube video at the end of this post, but I think it is heart felt, shares a few nice stories I have about my best friend and how she met her groom. Bascially it ticks off everything on this post which teaches you how to write a wedding speech at http://the-maid-of-honor.com, and is similar to some of the examples on Hitched.co.uk.

I’m a little nervous about giving my speech, but I’m sure once the time comes everyone will have had a few drinks (me included!) and it won’t seem so bad. I think a couple of the bridesmaids want to give a short toast as well, so with the amount of speeches we’ll all be hearing, mine will just blend in. As long as it’s not remembered by all the guests for all the wrong reasons I’ll be happy.

Just a quick tip - one thing I learned when researching how to write my toast, was don’t talk about yourself too much. It’s so easy to say ‘I this’ and ‘I that’ while getting into it, particularly when introducing yourself but the point of it is to wish the bride and groom well and talk about them. When I was looking at examples on Youtube, I saw this done so many times and seeing as it had been pointed out to me, it really stood out that alot of the bridal party do go on about themselves for too long and it really takes the attention away from the newly wed couple.

Now here’s the funny video I promised earlier:

Going to see the ballet is one of my favourite things to do for a night out. It’s one of those few occasions you can go to when you choose and get dressed up without having to wait for someone to host an event. If you can’t tell, I just love any excuse to put on a fabulous dress, get my hair done and pull out the ‘special’ shoes that don’t get worn all that often. You can guarantee your satin shoes aren’t going to get ruined at the ballet because you don’t get stuck in a crowd or stood on at a bar. And you get to sit down for most of the night, so no sore feet!

It’s lovely to go for a couple of cocktails afterwards at a nice bar where you can sit down and have a chat with great company, and make the most of being dressed up and out in the city.

While not everyone that goes to the ballet gets all dressed up, I love seeing the people who do and finding an outfit that I’ll feel fab in too. Here are the rules that I follow when choosing my dress for the evening:

• Pick a dress that isn’t too tight and is comfortable to sit down for long periods of time in
• Have a bit of class - nothing too short. I like my dresses to be no shorter than above the knee. The ballet is a great place to be conservative yet a little bit glamorous.
• Don’t go too overboard - it’s not a glitzy NYE party so maybe keep the sequins and sparkle to a minimum

The best places to find a frock:

• Neimanmarcus.com is one of my go to places to find a great dress, that doesn’t break the bank but is still ‘special’.
• If you have extra cash to spend, go to net-a-porter.com for an amazing designer piece
• To find other great stores with evening dresses, look at Shoppeclique.com.au’s special occasion guide. There’s a few stores on here that I’ve never heard of that have some dresses that have caught my eye for next time.

I hope this helps if you’re going to see the ballet for the first time and are wondering what you should wear.

I teach 4 adult dance classes a week and I have to say - for me they are the most enjoyable to teach. For one, every single person that is in the class is there because they want to be - and choose to spend their own time and money on learning dance. While I do also love teaching the younger ones, there’s nothing more frustrating than the students in the class who don’t actually really want to be there but are taking the class because their parents are encouraging them to do so.

The other great thing about adult classes is while they may not physically advance as quick as the young ones, the students do take on instructions and feedback much easier. This leads me to something I get asked alot by friends and other people I tell that I am a dance teacher - that question is “Am I too old to learn to dance?”

My answer is always a resounding “No, you are never too old to learn to dance!”. I think it is a fantastic hobby that has alot of benefits.

Great excercise
Dancing really is an excellent workout, and one that people enjoy doing. It definitely beats going to the gym doing boring repetitive tasks that don’t stimulate the mind as well.

The social aspect
It’s also a great way to socialise and form friendships with like minded people. If you go to a class even just once a week, you’re always going to see a steady group of people. I have witnessed some great friendships form in my classes.

A new hobby and passion
Even if you haven’t danced much in your life, if you take a class in a style that you enjoy, it really does become a passion and gives you something to look forward to. I know a number of students who also practice at home and just can’t wait until class each week.

Now as for starting a class, don’t worry if you feel like you have two left feet to begin with. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it only gets easier the more you practice. A great thing with teaching adults is they pickup on corrections they need to make quite easy.

If you’ve been considering taking up an adult dance class, give it a go! You might be surprised just how much you enjoy it, and that all the other people attending a beginner class are in exactly the same boat as you.