O Valentine!

HeLOVE there!

"What's all this fuss about?" some of you may wonder.

In fact Valentine's Day has been commercialized to the extent where one actually feels it necessary to stand one's ground and refuse to succumb to all this 'madness': What with all the red hearts, bows, arrows, cupids, roses and what-not? 
Businesses keep offering discounts and deals, radio stations keep playing love songs one week ahead, dances and dinner parties are organized, hotels offer special rates, the whole world goes frantically 'RED'! 

But what is the message hidden under all of this? 
Is there a message in the first place? 

This is what I think:

After all the 14th of February is actually the feast day of St. Valentine of Rome who had blessed the marriage of soldiers despite the law not allowing it, and for those soldiers he would truly have been a cupid! 
Come to think of it, one should appreciate the need of the soldiers to 'get married' in front of the Lord instead of living with a woman anyway while abiding by the law and not getting married.

And for his efforts, I believe 'Marriage' should be celebrated on this day. 
At least a simple sitting together with your spouse and thanking the Lord for the togetherness He has allowed between the two of you. 

And if a generous husband would want to take his lady out for a special dinner or a dance, I for one am all for it! 
Therefore:
- Kudos to the hotels that give offers and organize romantic dinners
- Much love to the florists who encourage my husband to buy a bunch of roses for me 
- Praise the Lord for the jewelers that allow at least a 5% discount on those gorgeous stones!
and

- For the many other businesses that decide Valentine's Day should be celebrated. 

Secondly, for the same reason, I do believe it is the perfect day for a Marriage Proposal: This is showing that two people want to commit to each other for life! Isn't that what those soldiers wanted too? 
So I wish all you lucky couples out there much LOVE and JOY in the togetherness you hope to enjoy! 

And finally, let me narrate a little incident a friend of mine related to me last Saturday. 

My friend had been sleeping with her daughter the night of Feb 13th, coz the poor girl was not feeling well. On the 14th this little girl wakes up as her mother (my friend) sits next to her in bed stroking her head, and asks; "Mom, when is the 14th?" 
"Today, darling" my friend answers.
"O no! I couldn't finish the card I was making for you and Dad!" the little girl exclaims, her face dropping with dissapointment. 

"That's what Valentine is all about" my friend tells me, as I feel a strong sense of warmth welling up in me. 

Does it not sound rational then to claim that St. Valentine's Day is also the day you celebrate the love of the Fruits of Marriage - Children! 

Love felt for another person isn't one which could be confined to a single day, of course not. But as part of loving each other everyday, may this day be one that encourages us to make sure that the other person knows he/she hasn't been taken for granted and that this day is yet another beautiful day to treasure in his/her memory... 

Till I blog again

Love
~Portia~

P.S. Thank You St. Valentine and through your intercession may those who search for love, find it! Amen.  

WOW Offers via WOW.lk!

Hello there! 

Welcome to Blue Roses - Weddings & Events!

I'm gonna skip the formalities and get straight to the point. :)

With your purchase of Blue Roses (BR) Deals on WOW.lk you also get to claim further discounts on a range of services we render. 

Follow this link to see what these discounts are - SPECIAL OFFERS via WOW.lk

And you can read all about me (Portia) and us (Blue Roses) by following this link - About Blue Roses - Weddings & Events  or simply clicking the 'About Us' button up on top. 

Looking forward to hearing from you! 


Love
~Portia~

How much of Make-Up can guys tolerate?

Hello folks,

So recently I came to be enlightened to a great truth about girls using make-up to 'transform' themselves in order to look like they have wider eyes, lusher lips, thicker lashes and flawless skin...

I don't want to use any local photos since I might offend somebody so I'm gonna use these google images to show what I'm talking about, though of course you girls out there know exactly what I'm talking about.

And of course there're much more dramatic transformations achieved through contouring!

But hey! I am a woman and I know we ladies like to do what we call "highlighting our features, hiding the flaws and looking evenly toned"
When we go to salons to get our make-up done we often tell the beautician to try to keep it natural...
But more often than not, that is exactly what the beautician does not intend to do.

This is true especially for BRIDES!
These make-up artists rub the natural features clean of the bride and add new ones!
I've even heard on television, beauticians speaking about how they enjoy doing bridal make-up coz they can really show their talents!
Translation: They can show the world how well they can transform the bride into someone her husband hasn't seen before! LOL

Well, I was all for it actually, I wanted to look my best on my wedding day, as do all brides: Though I carefully chose my beautician after many trials, the truth is I might have actually chosen the one who 'hid my flaws' the best.

Okay, okay my bridal make-up wasn't bad... She did do a good job overall
But I hope you get what I'm trying so say here... (phew)

I, like most of you ladies, like to choose a beautician who can make magic happen. But as I came to know very recently, guys don't like these 'transformations'...

Some time back a guy I know showed me one of the FB pages of a beautician that I was already following due to her miracle working make-up, and told me this;
"Look at the difference! Why do girls want to change the way they look on their wedding day when the guy had agreed to marry the girl he has seen and known to be completely lovable and beautiful without the make-up?"
The comment got to me but didn't linger till my husband told me very recently that he didn't like my bridal make-up! :O

Just to be fair on my make-up artist - this is a pic of me on my wedding day:

So I thought I should ask around a bit, and when I did the answer was unanimous...

So ladies and ESPECIALLY BRIDES, keep this in mind the next time you do your make-up

Something like this is what I would recommend:

Any guys reading this, feel free to comment. :)

Adios for now!

Till I blog again...

Love
~Portia~

My Christmas Gift Hunt!

Ho Ho Ho!

How have you been keeping?
It has been a while since my last blog, but here I am again!

I am feeling Christmas already! 

I am not sure if it is just my subjective opinion or if it is actually true, but I think Christmas has started early this year...

Most shops have their Christmas décor up, bands and choirs are practicing carols, TV channels have switched to their Christmas themes and I am already panicking trying to calculate my Christmas Budget!

And obviously I am looking out for all offers out there, especially since I have to hunt for gifts for my huge family. Christmas (not forgetting the New Year that comes right after) is certainly not kind on the wallet, but when it is time to celebrate I believe we Sri Lankans hardly hold back.

So obviously spending is inevitable this season, and therefore the real question is HOW to spend wisely and manage within the budget.  

And on top of all that I have two weddings this Christmas; and therefore I have the additional problem of managing time! 

Poor me... 

About the gift list; I usually like paying a visit to the exhibitions that are happening these days where I can get good stuff at affordable prices. (Do be careful in your choices though not all stuff in exhibitions are good... look carefully) 

O! and that reminds me of the beautiful crystal candle stand that I got just 6 months ago which suddenly just fell apart! Apparently the pieces were just stuck together! Ridiculous right? And I didn't even buy it from a sale... I paid what I consider a reasonably high price for it too... :/

Lucky I took at least this picture of it... (if you can see it)

So back to the topic, 

These sales at BMICH do have some good stuff, really. 

For example: 

• The cushion covers are awesome - very durable and lots of pretty colours 
• The 'wood 4 kids' stall hosted within the 'wow.lk' stall had really nice wooden toys for kids (their facebook page does not do justice to their collection don't be fooled by it. And you could find them at the Good Market on Thursdays)
• The huge wow.lk stall itself has a lot to offer but be careful what you purchase, the prices are great but you need to be careful with your selection because their is a risk of buying what you really don't need due to the sheer overwhelming nature of the range of products they offer.  

Other vendors who I think have a good and reasonably priced collection include:

• Midaya Ceramics - Kirulapone (I simply adore their collection) 
• House of Gifts - Wattala and Colombo
• Pixy Owl Hampers - Battaramulla 

Surely there are others but the above are basically my choice for buying gifts. 

:) 

Let me share a few pictures here.

I have a lot of little ones to give gifts to so these are just perfect choices for me...

Midaya and Pixy Owl products are handmade which makes it so much more Christmas-y
(if you know what I mean)

You could always gift clothes too :) (for which the choice of vendors are limitless) 

The backstage accessories and the scented oils and soap at odel are also one of my favourite gifting choices.
(And now the new management - 'soft logic' is offering some great discounts for bills above 5k if I remember correct) 

Okay enough for now...

I hope this information helped... or maybe you already knew
and I just wasted your time with this long write-up
ooops!

Do comment and share your favourite places for Christmas Gift Hunting!

O! and I think I should tell you that none of the listed vendors know or have asked me to endorse them in this article. I am merely stating my personal preferences.

Happy Shopping!
Stick to your budget

:)

Love
~Portia~

Married Life of the Average Housewife

So it is 10.00 a.m. in the morning after you've sent your kids off to school, husband off to work, washed the dishes, swept the house, made the beds, washed the clothes and finally settle down to have some breakfast, and you’re thinking; “Now I have to go shopping for groceries!”  By the time you get to town it’ll be almost high noon and as we all know the heat at that time of the day – for the lack of a better expression – is unbearable!

By the time you’re back from town, it is most likely that you've skipped lunch, you might have had something cool to beat the heat (unsuccessfully) – perhaps not even that; and of course you have no intention to cook just for yourself – you’d rather drink a jug of ice-water and throw yourself on to the bed to take few precious minutes of sleep before you have to wake up to go pick the kids from school or hopefully you've arranged a school van to bring them home.

Either way you have to wake up, prepare something for the kids to have when they come home – all kids ask for something to eat/drink when they come home – and then start on making dinner!

The availability of a domestic help might add a few more minutes to yourself but little is different from otherwise.

So by the time your man comes home, you look something like this:

Hopefully he finds this sexy LOL
What a life…  

So ladies, if this story is true about you, let it not be…

“Pft” you say…

Of course it is easier said than done; but Honey, it can be done! 

Here are THREE RULES I've gathered from well experienced women which you might find useful:

Rule Number ONE: Check yourself. When is the last time you went for a facial or clean-up? When is the last time you bought something nice to wear? For most of you, I’m sure the answer is in months. You would fail to see the need for such things when you become so busy with life as a wife and specially a mother. But darling, darling, DaRlinG Please!  Everyone else in your family thinks about themselves first – that includes your children and husband and anyone else at home. So your number one priority is yourself – and I don’t mean it in an irrational narcissistic manner of course. You know what I mean…

Rule Number TWO: Find out your life’s purpose and NO it isn't caring for your children and attending to your husband! – Think about yourself before you got married, what was your dream? What things did you like doing? Find something that you’re passionate about and get to it. Remember, the magic word here is ‘Passionate’

e.g.

·         Drawing

·         Sewing

·         Cooking / Baking

·         Writing Poems

·         Playing the Piano (or any other instrument for that matter)

·         Charity/ Social Work

·         Singing and Dancing

Once you get going, every other duty you have to perform as a Wife and Mother will find a way to fit in to your day’s schedule – trust me it does. Being happily occupied is the best medicine for all emotional problems – I believe. You wouldn't have the time to be sulky and depressed. Even if it is tiring, at the end of the day the feeling of accomplishment more than compensates for the energy spent – or should I say ‘energy invested’? You can even go ahead and make an income out of it! J 

Rule Number THREE: Get out! Ladies do not confine yourselves to the walls of your home, dress up and go out!

Shopping is a good excuse, but it has to be a fun experience – not grocery shopping at 12 noon. Shop for some nice and comfortable but posh looking clothes to wear at home, so you don’t have to look at yourself in the mirror in that depressing nightie/pj you wear day in and day out – you know the one with the huge yellow stain on the stomach? LOL  If you girls love lingerie – that could be a thrilling inclusion to your shopping list.

Join some effective groups/clubs, not the gossipy gatherings but something relaxing and worthwhile, like joining a choir if you can sing! 

***

I hope this helps some of you out there!

Lots of Love Ladies 

Take Care 

~Portia~

au naturel

Sitting under the cherry tree out in the open with my good friend Ravi we discuss our plans for the website while I enjoy a warm cup of tea and a delicious passion fruit tart and he a handsome slice of gooey chocolate cake (the chocolate cake is sinfully rich - believe me it is a choco-lovers orgasm) 


"Hi guys!" says Yohan as he comes out to to say hello and make sure we are all sorted. 

Yohan and his wife Ellie are the Merlins behind the Magic. It is sad that I don't really have a picture of the two... :( 

The English Cake Company (TECC) is one of the finest cakeries in the country without doubt. It is special coz the cakes are NAKED! 
L O L
Keeping true to the "All Natural" promise TECC offers un-decorated cakes, tarts, pies and desserts (they do savouries too) that have no artificial ingredients added. 
"Straight out of the oven!" says Yohan with a big smile. 
No proof is needed to confirm the latter, because as I dig my fork in to the cake it crumbles into soft lumps and as I put it in my mouth it melts instantly sending my taste buds on a wild trip to Flavour - Paradise! 
Believe me there is a MARKED difference in the flavour when natural ingredients are used. 

TECC's desserts are perfect for those who care about taste than looks. I would definitely recommend TECC for Birthdays!
Husbands and BFs, ditch the slab of chocolates and take home a chocolate cake from TECC, she will definitely love you for it! 

I and a bunch of my cake-o-holic friends are not TECC's most regular customers. As a matter of fact I am sure we can't even be called regulars, but the staff always remembers. And it is a nice treat to see them again, not so much as it is to taste the cakes though... 
;)  

My husband gives me this 'look' every time I mention cakes, so I know I cannot indulge in it as often as I would like to.  But TECC is always busy, with an open kitchen area where the guys and girls are happily at work, we can watch as more good stuff get made, the aroma filling the air! 
It reminds me so much of those Enid Blyton stories I used to read where a pixie steals the cakes off the window sill where it was kept to cool down. The cake must have smelt like this, no wonder he was tempted to steal it! L O L

O! and there is one more thing that is special about TECC's cakes; they use veggies in their cakes too!
This carrot cake for example is one of the favourites at TECC. 


They also have Chocolate-and-Beetroot Cake! Now, what would that taste like, you wonder...
I haven't tried it but it is reputed to be pretty good! 
..

Ok, now all this is making me real hungry... 
My husband isn't at home today so I guess I can help myself to some sweet-ness! 

Yippee! 


TC Sweet Readers
Love

~Portia~ 

Escape the Mundane!

Recently I was asked what sort of books I like to read.
I felt a little embarrassed to answer but the truth is I like fantasy, magic and out-of-the-norm stuff.

What topics interest an individual is subjective to the individual and I do not stand in judgement over anyone's taste. And I hope no one judges me! :D

So I'm just going to state why I like what I like:

When I read I like to escape to a world different from the one in which I live. 
True stories, stories-inspired-by-true-stories or real life fiction like novels etc. are touching, heartwarming, inspiring and beautiful but they don't help one escape to the wild and exciting arena of IMAGINATION! 

From the magical folk up the 'Enchanted Tree' to the mystery solving clubs of 5 or 7 by Enid Blyton to the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' (the fantasy novel series on which the famous Game Of Thrones TV Series is based) by George R. R. Martin; Mystery, Mystic, Adventure, Enigma, Super Natural Power, Enchantment and Magic has always released me from my earthly bonds and opened to me the universal possibilities of creation of the human mind. 

Blessed are the imaginative! 
LOL
Haha
Writing about it makes me sound like some mystic right? 

Well I am not - I am a normal woman caught up with the ticking clock and the rushing traffic - a part of the usual hustle of the everyday world. 
I am not Khaleesi who commands the dragons and cannot be killed by fire 
I am not Galadriel the greatest of elven women, immortal and unmatched in beauty and character.
I am not her or she, I am I, and I am You... 

Now you might me thinking that this post is absolutely unrelated to the blog page. 
But it is!

Forgive me if I took too much of your time to come to the point: :) 

Weddings, Parties and Events are one place/occasion where you can actually 'live' (at least one day) in your fantasies. The one day you can create the world as you would like it to be, the day you become Khaleesi or Galadriel! 

Girls, if you want to do it, and you can do it, DO IT! 
Create the craziest atmosphere on your wedding day or your 21st birthday! 
Dress up like Bella of Twilight, have those flowers hanging from the roof, go to a forest, set up the tables and chairs, bring in the flowers, wear a crown or even wings! 
If you are not in to twilight then something else of course! :) 


Live IT! 

Love
~Portia~