.the princess portal.

It’s getting pretty cold down here in the southern hemisphere! I love winter, I think there’s something magical about it. In winter I find myself looking inwards, focusing on my thoughts, dreams, relationships, issues and it is easy to get caught up in all this and become too introspective. To remind me of the beauty of this season, I thought I’d write a little list of my winter pleasures.

• Fireplaces, heaters, the warm orange glow and crackling sound of logs burning
• The way my breath turns in to little cloud puffs in the cold air
• Dance practise on a cold night, warming up, getting my blood flowing again
• Snuggling down under soft fleece blankets and goose down quilts
• Watching the rain decorate my window in fine liquid silver tracings
• Wearing pretty vintage dresses that are older than I am
• A sea of Umbrellas, in every colour, shape and pattern
• Jumping in puddles!
• Hot chocolate and chai lattes with buttered muffins
• The city at night, every rain slicked building sparkling in the lights
• The smell of spices and good things baking
• Warm embraces

  What are some of your winter (or summer!) pleasures? What makes the season special to you?

  

  
  
  

I had a really busy but enjoyable weekend! I worked saturday morning and then rushed home to make some cards and get ready for the evening. There were two parties to attend so I knew it would be a long night. The first was Eugene’s birthday celebration. He had rented out a hall with a stage and dance floor and organized a little ball. It was really nicely set up with balloons and masks on all the tables.

I wore a vintage dress I bought recently. I really love the sleeves on this one, you can’t see in the photo but they’re slit over the shoulders and they flutter when I move! The fabric is a soft cream with little blue and lilac flowers. It was quite cold so I also wore a shawl and carried my beaded reticule! I love this bag, its round and has a tassel at the bottom, carrying it always makes me feel like a fairytale princess. I braided my hair in to three plaits and curled them around my head, pinning a few flowers in for a hair piece. It was fun to experiment with a different look, though getting used to walking (and dancing) in a full length gown takes practise!

I was kindly given a lift to Eugene’s by Zing, and when we arrived there was delicious food and lots of people to talk to. Eugene also had some games set up for people to play and I had quite a struggle pulling Mirai away from Rockstar so we could go to the second party! Unfortunately by the time we arrived at Jeff and Emily’s engagement party it was nearly over, but we still got to congratulate them and catch up with a few people there. We decided to head back to Eugene’s after that where we danced the night away.

Happy Birthday to Eugene and Congratulations to Jeff and Emily! Thank you for a beautiful night.