Me and Halloween, we have an okay relationship. It’s not my favourite holiday, I may say it’s in the top three but if we count my birthday as a holiday (and I do) then it’s bumped to the number four position. I love seeing people put creativity into their costumes and love the opportunity to DIY my own, but I need a house party or some place where I don’t pay insane cover charges and high drink costs to make it worth my while.
This year, I didn’t have plans for Halloween. Well, the day of I did. I was going to a friend’s wedding and the invite explicitly said that costumes were not allowed. Hooray! I didn’t have to think of a costume for this year. But then I found out other friends were celebrating on the 30th so Annie and I joined them.
And then I found myself needing a costume and only a week to prepare. A week in which I had very little time to prepare, may I add.
I won’t tell you what Andrea’s costume was, mainly because I don’t want to embarrass myself with my lack of Harry Potter knowledge. All I know is it included an Elder Wand and that’s a reference to the flower and not someone who is senior. Also, wands are fun.
Note that Andrea wiped the red lipstick smudge off right after.
For myself, I totally phoned in Halloween. I was a cat. Why a cat? Because I wanted to wear all black and I knew that making a pair of ears would be cheaper than buying a witches hat.
It was important for me to make my ears because I like to be crafty and I didn’t want to be wearing some cheap dollar store ears. And, it seemed incredibly easy. And it really was.
All you need to make your own ears is a headband, two black pipe cleaners, lace, a needle and thread. I just formed the ear shape from the pipe cleaners, wrapped the ends around the headband and then sewed the lace to the pipe cleaners.
It literally took 15 minutes. The whole process was so quick that I didn’t even take photos of the process. I like to think that sentence up there that explains the steps is good enough for you to make your own pair.
On Halloween I then wore all black, I like to think I didn’t go as the stereotypical “sexy kitten” and instead had a fashionable and sassy kitten look wearing a skater skirt from ASOS and a crop top I bought from Forever 21 for under my sari a few weeks back. Which I never thought I’d wear again, but you know what, plus size girls most certainly can wear a damn crop top.
Finally, I found some make up tutorials on Pinterest and created my best cat make-up look at home.
Bathroom selfie
Looking at it now, two days later, if I had gone with different makeup and a half-up ponytail I could’ve gone as a plus-size Arianna Grande. I guess I have my costume for next year now.
What did you guys do for Halloween this year? I noticed a lot of friends and coworkers were lazy with their costumes this year (myself very much included), were you?
This past weekend I was invited to one of my co-worker’s wedding, my first ever Indian wedding. Growing up in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, where there are a lot of families with Indian heritage, I’m surprised I went this far in life without attending an Indian wedding. Before I begin this post, I need to point out a few things about myself…
I’m white
I’m allergic to curry
I’m the whitest person you’ll ever meet
I break out in fully body rash from just the smell of curry
Armed with allergy drugs and a crew of Asian friends, I took on this weekend full of festivities. Here’s my how to guide on how to be white at an Indian wedding.
Dress Code:
A few weeks before the wedding I grilled the bride about what to wear. I had been invited to three parts of the wedding, Indian weddings typically last a week with parties almost every day, and I was invited to the ladies party, the ceremony and the reception.
I didn’t attend the ladies party because I had a friend’s birthday party that night, but if you find yourself going to this party you’re encouraged to wear bright colors. In fact, if you’re going to any celebration in an Indian wedding, wear bright colours and be conservatively dressed. That’s the number one tip I can give you for Indian wedding dress codes.
For the ceremony, you’ll be at the temple and if you’re not going to be wearing traditional outfits then it’s recommended to wear a conservative dress, something longer and without cleavage showing. Your shoulders should also be covered. Bring a scarf or pashmina to cover your head as well for the prayer room, you’ll also be required to take your shoes off. Longer dresses are better since you’ll be sitting on the floor a lot.
For the reception bright colours are recommended again. You can wear a dress, but I highly recommend the Sari (or saree) route. I had originally planned on wearing a dress but was super happy with my last minute decision to buy and wear a sari.
The Sari:
Sari’s are also cheaper than most dresses.
Up until Friday morning, I had planned to wear a dress to the Sunday reception. I actually went to Macy’s just across the border in Washington and bought a beautiful royal blue lace dress to wear, but I’ll be saving that for my Christmas parties (stay tuned for that in December). All the girls in my group had gone out and bought sari’s, I didn’t want to stand out as the white girl in a dress (I basically went in to this thinking I’d be the only one of the thousands invited to the festivities, I was pretty much right).
So on Friday, I texted Andrea and asked her to come with me to buy a sari. Let me tell you, us two ladies are the two most efficient shoppers in the world. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Sari in hand.
Buying a sari was a bit scary, so let me share some of my fears about buying a sari so you can go in a bit more prepared if you ever find yourself in the market for one:
Would it fit my plus sized body? And will I be judged when buying one? Sari’s are one size fits all, they’re basically a long bolt of pretty fabric folded and wrapped to fit beautifully. While prepping for this wedding I was offered some sari’s by my (skinnier) friends and I declined, worried that they were being nice but forgetting about our size difference. This is not an issue, if someone offers one or you need to go buy one, don’t worry. You’ll be able to fit and the lady who helped me out was very nice.
How the hell do you wrap a sari? I still don’t know. We paid a nice lady in a hair salon to wrap ours. $7 and a handful of safety pins later, I was wrapped up and safely covered for the night. There are a few videos on YouTube to show you how to do it, one of the girls in our party used one and it turned out just fine.
What about make-up and accessories? This is one occasion not to skimp on your hair, make-up and accessories. I typically follow the rule that you should only wear one big accessory if you’re getting dressed up, to this reception I went with a statement necklace (from Etsy, which I wanted to link to but the shop is no longer available) and earrings from Forever21. I also added three bracelets my mom was gifted from a friend who had gone to India. For makeup I wore much more than usual, including false eyelashes and one of my favourite red lipsticks – Cruella by Nars (from the Sephora Birthday Bonus this year). This is the time to do it up big, I loved it.
Hair did. Heavy make-up. Lots o’jewels. Check. Check and Check.
Overall, I loved my look. The sari was actually really comfortable and once I got the hang of it, I felt better in it than I would have in my dress. When buying a sari you also need a top to wear underneath, they suggest a crop top but others were wearing tank tops as well. I bought a crop top from Forever 21 that was a bit longer than a regular crop top, which helped a bit with the self-conscious feeling of having my muffin top hanging out.
Fun fact: Now that we all own saris we can trade amongst each other for all the weddings we go to.
The Wedding Ceremony:
The wedding took place on Saturday morning. Originally our invite said it started at 8am, luckily the bride told us we could arrive around 10am otherwise we would’ve been at the temple before everyone else. It started off around 10:15 with the groom’s procession to the front of the temple where male members of each family exchanged flowered garlands.
Once inside, there were food and drinks served. Since I forgot my allergy medication that morning I wasn’t able to eat the fried goodies that were handed out, but I did get the opportunity to try some of the Indian sweets.
After this, we all headed up to the prayer room where we covered our heads with our scarves and removed our shoes (they have a room to keep your shoes). Women then sat on the left side of the room and men on the right. As they entered, people would walk up to the temple at the front and bow in prayer.
The groom sat at the front and the bride entered. Having only attended catholic, protestant and non-denominational ceremonies in the past it was incredibly interesting to watch this traditional Indian ceremony, even if I didn’t understand a word being said. It was also different because there was quite a few people still talking while the ceremony was going on and some people were on their phones. Midway through there was an intermission (probably not the technical term but due to the language barrier this is what we called it). Some people left during this part and never came back, but it started back up again after 5 minutes. As previously mentioned, we were sitting on the floor and at one point we had to stand up, which was kinda hard when we were all packed in there and our feet were asleep. There were 5 guys with cameras in the place and I feel like one of them should’ve been trained on us, we had absolutely no idea what we were doing and were confused with the standing and sitting and bowing, it must’ve been hilarious to watch. We had a good laugh
At the end of the ceremony men went around with this mixture in a bowl, we’re still not sure what it was but it was greasy, warm and had the consistency of oatmeal. After this was handed out, it was over and lunch was served. Since there were so many people there we skipped out and went to a restaurant. There wasn’t much of an opportunity to meet with the newlyweds at this ceremony.
Fun fact: only one other white person was in attendance at the temple. We walked by each other twice and both times we smiled and nodded at each other in a way that conveyed to each other that we understood what was up. Also, my Asian friends found this hilarious.
Reception:
The photo booth, a must have for every wedding reception.
The reception was held the next day at a huge banquet hall and this is where we debuted our saris. The décor was beautiful and there were a lot of similarities to the western wedding receptions we were used to. Traditionally the reception is thrown by the grooms family so there’s more of his side than hers. Appetizers are served buffet style and people also come around with plates and plates of food. So much food. So much deliciousness.
As previously stated, I’m allergic to curry. Not in a throat closes up way, but that I break out in full body rash. So I took some allergy meds before heading to the party and ate all the food, anticipating a rash but willing to deal with that sexiness. Luckily the rash never came, so I’ve either conquered my allergy or Aerius is the best allergy medication ever (it really is).
The gorgeous (and delicious) cake
The couple made their entrance and many of the traditional elements of a wedding reception followed. Speeches and the first dance, cake cutting and a slide show. The dance floor then opened up and it was packed with people dancing to Indian music, ourselves included. Later into the night western music was played, but we left around 11pm before this happened (downside to a Sunday reception… we all had to work in the morning). Return of the Mack literally started playing as we were walking out the door.
So rare, I had to Snapchat it
Fun fact: There were about 7-8 other white people at the reception other than myself, they sat at the next table and the women wore regular dresses. One of the guys at the table bobbed his head along to Don’t Stop Believing in a stereotypical fashion during the slide show.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. And I almost prefer the idea of a ceremony on one day and the reception on the next. It was fun to have all day to get ready for the reception, but I can imagine if you’re doing this every other weekend you start to resent your weekend being taken up by ceremonies. But then again, we still had a lot of time after the temple on Saturday and before the reception Sunday for weekend stuff.
My biggest take away from this weekend is to definitely go with the sari. I’m glad I made the decision to wear one, mostly because I wanted to fit in, but also because it was so comfortable and fun to experience another culture.
Share with us, have you ever been to an Indian wedding? What were your experiences and what did you think of the sari (if you wore one)?
In all my years, I have never met someone who loves their birthday as much as I do. I have many modest friends who would prefer that a fuss is not made (ahem, Jen). But I love my birthday. I love everyones birthdays. I am the girl who will show up at your house with a garland, and a cake, and expect for you to be as excited as I am that it is your day.
When my birthday comes, I count down the days for a month. With my birthday here TOMORROW, it shall be the day to end all days. The best day of the year. For sure. So I am gonna share a few things that I have been wanting to try out for other peoples birthdays.
Recently, I have been super into the Naked Cake ideas. I love frosting as much as the next girl, but I think that the bit in between layers is plenty, and if you use food colouring to make the cake a fun colour, it is even more awesome. Below are a few of my faves that I have seen recently.
I also love a good garland. I found an awesome tutorial on Pinterest, and it is much easier than you think to make.
I made mine a little thicker because I liked the look (and it was a lot easier ;). Here is a pic of my creation.
I got the tissue paper from the dollar store, so the whole project cost me about $3.00.
Now as far as reality goes, I am not super into throwing parties for my birthday. I love getting together with close friends and last year, I had a pool party at my moms house. It was great. And my amazing friend Cory made just the best cake ever. Now Cory has a penis cake mold. It has been used on many occasions, and you would be surprised how many different things you can do with this cake pan. Check our our inspiration here.
Cory created the wizard cake for me, because of my endless love of Harry Potter. See the magic below.
Here are a few other fun pics from the party.
PS Pro tip, if you use stemless wine glasses, they float in the pool #science.
Do you love your birthday? What are your favourite things to do on your special day? Let us know!
I recently moved across a great expanse of water. The Burrard Inlet. For those of you not in the Vancouver area, it is not really a great expanse, it is a 15 minute Seabus (petite ferry) ride, or a bridge, but to me, it is a long way. I was born and raised in North Vancouver and lived there until one month ago. I lived on my own in a one bedroom apartment there for the last three years, but when my landlords decided to sell my apartment, I also felt that it was time for a change. I set out to find a place closer to school and in a fun walkable area. I settled on The West End, close to restaurants, the beach, and much closer to school. The only thing holding me back was my beast (my pug Lilly) and my budget. It became increasingly apparent, even after a few hours on Craigslist that I would not be able to afford a place in my desired area without a roommate. Now let me make something clear, I am a nice person, but I have a certain standard of living that I like to maintain. I am tidy. By tidy I mean compulsively clean and organized. I bought a label maker with my first paycheque, and asked for a vacuum for my birthday. Need I say more? Now the only pal I had who is equally (if not more) crazy about these things than me is my friend Diego. After a big hunt, we found the perfect place in The West End, and are loving living there. Now the only thing to do after all the boxes are unpacked, and the throw pillows have been chosen, is to throw a party.
Diego and I (plus Lil)
Now Diego is originally from Mexico, and we wanted to have the party in the beginning of May, so it only seemed appropriate to have a Cinco de Mayo theme (plus I like guacamole). I also love to cook and there are so many fun things to make with the Cinco de Mayo theme! I made Pico de Gallo Salsa, Guacamole, Salsa Verde and Tacos! Now I also wanted to make a piñata. I am a big fan of paper maché and the kinds of things that go in piñatas (candy, kazoos etc) so Jen and I set out to make one. I wanted to just make a balloon shaped one, as it is 1000x easier, but Diego requested a donkey. This was the goal.
Unfortunately I only learned of said request 10 minutes before we were starting to make it. And I only had balloons, so Jen tried to fashion it out of balloons and it looked more like a jankey turtle. And then the legs started falling off. And in the end, it was just a balloon with a smaller head like balloon attached. Not ideal, but it held the candy.
Us with our masterpiece in progressThe finished project looked more like a swaddled baby
For the party, there is one important aspect. We needed a drink, a pal of mine, Cory, had once made us Beergaritas, and they we super yummy and easy to make, so I am going to share the secret to our vehicle of tequila ingestion for the evening.
Beergaritas
1 can Limeade
1-2 cans of Beer
Tequila
Orange Liqueur
All you do is empty the limeade into a punch bowl, fill the limeade container with Tequila (I used El Jimador Blanco) and dump it into the punch bowl as well. Then you fill the limeade container 1/4 full with Orange Liqueur (I used Cointreau) and put that in the punch bowl as well! Last but not least, put in 1-2 cans of beer, I used Corona and Bob’s your uncle! Just add lots of ice and stir until it is all combined and you have a perfect fiesta drink!
All in all, it was a really fun party and we have no noise complaints yet!
The last kids standing
Let us know what kinds of parties you like to throw! Any other ideas of what would have made this party even more awesome?
The Rill Girls 