School Formal 2011 - Finally ♡

If you have been reading my weekly posts, thankyou. It's been fun documenting my preparations over the past three weeks :)

So this last week has been fun, I had my hair trimmed 'just a little' and found some time to pamper my nails.  I decided to do my own nails for the day because I preferred to pay $15 for nailpolish rather than much more for a salon to do them!!! I chose 'Serial Dater' by Chi Chi for my fingers and 'Nude Shimmer' by Natio for my toes. I went for a nude toe so that it wouldn't clash with my shoes.


I needed to wash my hair a day or two before my Hair Appointment on the Saturday so that it wasn't 'too clean' for the updo, the only problem was that I was at the beach on Thursday for our last School Excursion and again on Friday morning after 'last rollcall' to do the annual 'School Leavers Beach Run'.  If you're not sure what that is, let me enlighten you a little :)  It's a tradition in my area that all Year 12 School leavers go to the beach after they have been released from school on the last morning and they all run into the ocean in their uniforms, it's kinda like a 'rite of passage' thing hahahaha, anyway it's fun and it was a hot day so why not!! :)


Back on track ....


So I washed my hair late on Friday after a full day. Also on Friday I was packing my bags for my Schoolies trip which starts on Sunday, bright and early!!! Yeah I will be up at about 4.00am for that one! x___x


Saturday morning -- finished packing, painted my nails, answered a few messages etc and then off to the Hairdresser at about 12.00 noon.


Home about 1.00pm which gives me about 2 hrs to get myself ready for my Formal :) That should be enough ..... hehehehe :D Oh noooooooo, the hairdresser did a terrible job on my hair, I had to re-do the whole front bit myself which really made me upset.  The ladies that normally worked at the Salon were not there this day and new people had taken over!!!! I didn't know this when I made the appointment :( Mine was the last appointmet of the day so there was no going back to get it fixed up :/


Anyway, once I fix my hair I feel a little rushed to do my makeup, it's really hot today too so that didn't help much.  


By about 2.45pm I'm ready and it's time for a few photos then I'm off to see my Grandparents, more photos and then we drive to my friends house where a large group of us will be picked up by 'The Hummer'!!!! Yay!! we hired a 14 seat Hummer to take us to the Formal in style :) It's a 4.00pm pickup and we should get to our Formal at 5.00pm where I'm sure there will be more photos on the red/black carpet, more photos inside and even more 'official photos' before the actual seating takes place at around 6.00 - 6.30 pm.


I love my dress, I love the 'sunset' type colours in it, the ruffles and the lacing and of course the fit and style.  I wanted something a little different from the regular dresses that people wear and when I tried this on It just felt 'right' :) and it was also pretty light and cool for such a hot day!! :)

Back of dress

Earrings and Bracelets

I decided to film a 'Get Ready with Me' video for my Formal but because I ended up being a little rushed and frustrated I'm not sure how it will turn out, so when I get back in about a week I'll upload something to my Channel but in the meantime I hope you've enjoyed these quick photos.

My friends and I in front of the Hummer about to leave

Thank you for taking this journey with me, Year 12 has been a challenging year in many ways. It's been great to share my experience with others and I really hope that someone finds my posts helpful in the future :)


Love Cassie ♡ 

School Formal 2011 - One Week to go ...

I really can't believe all my studies for school are now over!!! I had my last Assessment on Friday WOOT WOO!!!! Now for the final week of school, if you can really call it that, I just have to tie things up, you know, return text books, laptop and long lost library books etc. I have my Graduation Ceremony on the Wednesday night, our final senior assembly on Thursday (which the Year 12's get to host) followed by an excursion and then just a safety talk and sign off on Friday morning :D :D :D then that's it!!!! :))))

So my Formal is on the Saturday night, 19th November to be exact which is honestly a stupid day to have it since Schoolies officially starts on the 19th!!!! Only our School Principal could have planned that :/

Hair:

This past week I managed to get the hair dye I was after, it was actually on special for $8.95 and was the last one in that colour (Darkest Chocolate No. 323). It was hiding in a different spot, someone else must have picked it up and put it back in the wrong spot so I thought they didn't have it!! So glad they did. I dyed my hair on Tuesday afternoon so that's something else to check off my list :)

I'm going to try to squeeze in a 'trim' before my Formal just to tidy the ends up.

Outfit:

I got to try on my complete outfit for the Formal and I'm happy to report that I'm very very happy with the overall look. It's fun and young and I really like the way it all came together, it makes me feel like an 'exotic princess' hahahaha :P So for a run down on how much this has cost me ...

Dress                                   $199.00 - I know COMPLETE BARGAIN!!!!!
Shoes                                  $111.00 - on sale
Bag                                         34.95 - on sale
Jewelry                                $  39.95 - Already had some of it
Hair Accessory                    $  20.00
Underwear                           $  40.00
Hair Dye                              $    8.95
Hair Appointment                 $  75.00
Car Hire                               $  52.00

Total                                    $580.85

I haven't included any makeup costs in this because the only real thing I bought specifically for my Formal was my Estee Lauder Foundation but I probably would have bought it eventually anyway.

I never set out to find things on 'Sale' or anything like that, I went to find something that I really liked. Formal shopping can  add up very quickly, even when you get things that are on sale it still gets expensive! I was very lucky to find my dress, we were prepared to pay more than that when we set out but we didn't have to. A few of the other girls in my year also said they ended up going with dresses that were much cheaper than they originally planned because 'they like them', and isn't that what it's all about in the end :)

When you plan your Formal it makes sense to spread the costs out so you don't have to pay for everything in one go.  If you start looking for your dress at least 3-4 months before the day then you will have time to find all your accessories etc and pay for them gradually. It's also nice to know you have your outfit ready and you can relax a little in that last week.

I guess my real luxury items were my shoes and getting my hair done on the day.

Makeup:

This week I cleaned all my makeup brushes, I had a little breakout last week which prompted me to do this :/

Nails:

Ok so this is still the one that is eluding me!! :( Maybe it's because I've never been allowed to paint my nails for school or anything that they are always the last to get attention.  So this week they are going to be pampered for sure, I don't have much on for school so there really is no excuse. Wish me luck!!! :)))

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Because I will be leaving for my Schoolies holiday very early Sunday morning, I will probably just post a picture of the final look on facebook and maybe on here before I leave for my Formal.  Once I come back from Schoolies I will put up a video.

School Formal 2011 - Two Week Countdown ...

With less than two weeks to go to my Formal I'm pleased to say I managed to cross a few things off my list from last week's post, YAY!!!

Dress:


As I said last week I have my dress already but I wanted to mention that if you do have your dress already or bought it months ago, it's a good idea to put it away where you can't see it all the time, I got my mum to look after mine so I didn't see it all the time, the reason for this is because after a while it may loose it's appeal because you see it a lot!  I've only seen mine about 3 times briefly since I got it home and will be trying it on this coming week with all my accessories etc just to make sure everything works! Then it will go away again until my Formal :) It may sound a strange thing to do but I don't want to fall 'out of love' with it.

Accessories:


This week I found the bracelets for my Formal, I already had two 'marilyn monroe' style bracelets which cost me about $20.00 but I wanted to add to them for a bit of variety and found a bundle of three that will work great, they are sparkly with gold accents, they cost $19.95.  I've decided to wear a pair of earrings I already had, they are a nice medium length large gems set in silver but they're not 'over the top' so they won't grab too much attention.

Shoes and Clutch:


After weeks of searching and trying shoes on I finally found a pair that will work well, Myer had some new stock in on Wednesday and luckily the pair I found are a great match.  They are 'Guess' brand, delicately glittered and very high!! :D ..... some walking practice will be in order before the big event :)  The shoes were initially $149.00 but they were on sale and I got them for $111.00 YAY!!

I also found my Clutch for the night, it's satin with sparkles down the centre which match with my 'marilyn monroe' bracelets nicely.  It's an 'Arabella' brand and the cost of the clutch was $34.95 down from $59.99 :) :)

Hair:


I've cut back on using heat on my hair as much as I can this week and using a 'Deep Conditioner' to keep it looking and feeling great.  I went to get my hair dye but they didn't have the right colour that I want so I will have to keep looking in different stores this coming week and find it, I really want it dyed by the end of the week :/

Nails:


Not much has been done to them as life keeps getting in the way and keeping me busy :/ I haven't broken any so that's a good thing :P

Skin:


I've drank a lot more water this past week and also more green tea.  I've had a little breakout on my chin which is a bit annoying but this is what happens sometimes so hopefully it will settle down again by Formal.

Tanning:


So I've decided to go 'natural' for Formal, after being burned last weekend and getting 'strap marks' I'm making an effort to apply lots of suncream and stay out of the sun as much as I can.  Wearing different styled tops when out walking will help too so that I don't get a definite line going where my tops are.

Makeup:


I've been practicing different methods of applying my foundation to get a 'flawless' finish this week.

Transport:


Our transport times were finally confirmed by the Company and everyone agrees on everything so that is good know.  There are about 14 of us travelling together to the Formal and we get the vehicle for one hour, should be good :D :D

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Lately I've noticed quite a bit more stress at school between friendships, with final testing coming up this week, formal arrangements to make, schoolies events to finalise and just generally finishing our education it's such a lot to think about but it's still important to take time out for ourselves in between everything else, no point in making yourself sick with worry and stress, I'm making sure I go for walks with my boyfriend and to socialise with my friends outside of school, it helps keep me relaxed and grounded which helps me to enjoy the end of my schooling :) :) :)  Remember to breathe!!!

School Formal 2011 - Three Week Countdown ...

My Year 12 School Formal is in three weeks time so to keep myself on track and maybe help a few others out there I thought I would do a 'Three Week Countdown' to the event :)  This is 'Week Three'

Dress:
I have my dress already picked out but if you don't, now is really the time to get that out of the way! When I picked mine I tried to wipe my mind of any 'pre-conceived' ideas and styles and just went for what was available.  Luckily for me the very first dress in the very first shop was IT!! :D I just loved it so there was no reason to keep looking, YAY!! I hope you find your perfect dress just as easy.

Accessories:
Picking accessories can be done at the same time as buying the dress but we all know that you don't always find what you're looking for.  I purchased some earrings, ring and bracelets but left the dress in the car when I did this and when I got home they just didn't look right with the gown :(

With three weeks to go and my mission is to try to find the perfect accessories for the night.  My dress is patterned and strapless so I'm going for some medium length dangly earrings, bracelet and ring and forgetting about a necklace as I want to draw attention to my face.  I can either go 'vintage' or 'semi-sparkly' with my dress and have about three colours that would work.  Luckily my dress has some extra long laces on it that reach the ground so I'm able to trim a sample of the end to pop in my handbag so I don't forget the colours when out shopping.  I also gave my date a sample this way for his suit/accessories.

Shoes and Clutch:
I still need to find the right shoes!!! This is probably the hardest job so far, I've looked at so many shoes in my area and none shout 'PERFECT' to me so I'm still looking and hoping for new stock.  I would really love to get them this week because that would give me time to 'play' in them around the house and break them in :)  I was also thinking a small clutch bag would be good on the night, one that will do the job but not draw a lot of attention as my dress is patterned so it's probably best to keep a clutch more simple. There's not a lot you need to take with you to Formal but here's a sampling of what to put in your clutch:

Lipstick/Lipgloss
Mirror
Powder
Eyeliner
Mobile Phone
Perfume
Small Camera

Hair:
I booked my hair appointment a couple of days ago, I thought it would be a nice treat and pamper session to have my hair done for the day.  I will be getting a trim this coming weekend to tidy it up and may be re-dyeing it 'darkest chocolate' so it doesn't look tired and dull. I haven't settled on the exact style yet but it will probably be an updo of some type :)

Nails:
Let's not forget about our nails!!! I tend to forget about these little things a lot but I'm making a real effort to have them looking nice for Formal.  I'll be keeping them well trimmed and filed and using my cuticle cream by Burts Bees to get them looking as nice as I can. I'm still deciding whether to get a new set of Gel Nails or not? I'll let you know :) Toe nails are just as important, if you're wearing a lovely pair of peep toes or sandals you want your toes looking cute so some pampering is recommended for toes too!!

Skin:
I've started to drink more water this week, the weather is warming up and I want my skin looking nice so water can be your best friend.  A once a week face mask should help out too.  Don't forget the skin on your shoulders, chest and back areas.  If you're wearing a strapless dress or even shoestring straps you're going to be showing off the skin in those areas so try a gentle exfoliating scrub on your back and shoulders once a week.  Don't use this on your chest as the skin here is quite gentle, a cleanser on this area would probably work better and don't forget your neck :)

Get someone to help you with your back and gently massage the scrub in for you.

Tanning:
To tan or not to tan??? Now may be the right time to think about your tan, if you want a fake self tan or spray tan and have never had one before at least you have three weeks to get it right, do not leave it for the week of the event!  For spray tans try to go to a quality salon, recommendations from friends are probably good for this one. Remember some self tanners can rub off in humidity (like sweating when you dance).

If you want a real tan, remember those tan lines!!!! They are not a good look in a strapless dress so be very careful not to get sun burned! :/

Makeup:
Start looking around for ideas for your makeup.  Book your makeup appointment now if you haven't already. I'm doing my own makeup for my formal as I feel comfortable about it and if you are too, start trying different looks now so that you know exactly what you want on the night, write down what you use in a book so that you don't forget and even take a photo up close so that you can look at it a couple of days later and see if you still like it and that it works well in photos.  Apparently a lot of the SPF foundations don't always turn out well on film/camera so test it out! :) :)

Transport:
By now hopefully you've arranged some sort of transport for the evening.  You will need a way of getting to the event and returning. There's a lot of ways you can arrive, helicopter :), motor cycle (watch that dress hahaha), Limo, Hummer, Carriage etc... Car hire can be a bit expensive if you go alone but if you book with a group of friends it will cut the costs down drastically and you can all arrive in style together, remember to allow and confirm time for photos before your formal if you want them.  Getting home or to an afterparty etc doesn't need to be as fancy, just be sure to have a safe and reliable ride to get you where you need to go and tell your parents or family exactly where you will be for safety's sake!!! You may want to change out of your formal clothes before partying on so they don't get ruined so arrange some extra clothes for this.

Ok, so this is like my 'Three Week's to Go' list of things to get organised, join me next week and see if I got them done and what still needs to be done!!!! :)

Shoe Shopping ...

Hahaha I went shopping for shoes the other day for my Formal which is in November and of course you know how it is, when you want the shoes, they are never to be found :/ Last year I saw so many bejewelled sandals around with heels but I didn't need them and now this year I can't find any .... so what do you do?

You buy luggage instead ....  yep, I couldn't find shoes so I ended up with my new luggage :) these will see me good for IMATS and my Schoolies at the end of the year YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!  I settled on the 'Lucca' Fluer de lis 24" suitcase, just loving the subtle pattern and the way it expands out to fit in all the stuff I'm gonna buy on my trips hahahaha .... and the 'Lanza' WM III Cabin Bag which is big enough to hold my makeup, brushes and my camera safely :) :) I got both these bags at 'Strand Bags' along with a courtesy card and $15 off! YAY again :)

  

Well at least my shopping trip wasn't a complete waste, hopefully next time I'll find my shoes!!! fingers crossed :)

Gel Nails and time with friends and family

I LOVE being on holidays it's such a wonderful feeling :D I get to sleep in 'sometimes' and bum around the house doing what I want, when I'm not working that is.  I've also been able to spend time with my friends outside of school by going shopping and to the movies, I went and saw the new X-Men movie on Friday and really enjoyed it, I know it's not everyone's style of movie but I thought it was great and tied the other movies all together :) Oh and I also scored a 'POTC' drinking cup while I was there, YES!!!! :D




I was thrilled to spend a day with my best friend Juanita recently, we decided that we would get our nails done together and go shopping.  We had a full set of Gel Powder nails done with a french tip, the original price was $60 but we got a Student Discount so it was knocked down to $54, YAY for discounts.:)

How are they going you may ask?  Well ...... I really like them so far, I've stopped tapping practically everything in sight (well almost) and am learning to do things again, hahahaha, do you know how hard it is to remove the little caps inside loose powders when you're not used to having longer nails!  Luckily my mumma and sister help when I just can't do it,  scratching an itch is also a bit harder too but I'm sure it won't take long to get back to doing everything for myself, drats! :D

My nails were healthy before I got them on and they grew just fine but my nails are very small and I thought the Gel Nails may increase their presence on my hands, I think I was right. For now I'm sticking to the french tips, don't want to wreck them by painting them myself do I.

I'll keep you up to date on how they go over the weeks and whether they're worth it.


Shopping has been done lately too, I haven't really bought much (just as well) apart from a couple of jewelry pieces, I bought a belly ring when I was with Juanita from this cool 'alternative shop' in the local shopping centre and also a new ear cuff when I was out with another friend, from the same shop.  We actually seem to spend our time just hanging out and enjoying each other's company more than buying stuff.

I'm off to Brisbane with another friend through the holidays so that should be a fun experience, we're looking at formal gowns and hopefully there will be some great sales too :) ..... or maybe not because I really should be saving more.

Oh I finally finished my Australis Primer so I picked up a new primer for myself that I've been trying out, it's called 'L'Oreal Base Magique'.  Unfortunately I didn't realise until I was home and dipping my fingers in it that it's not animal cruelty free :( (oh dear), well I'm using it anyway because it cost me $30 and I'm not throwing $30 away, I'll just have to print out a list and put it in my bag so that next time I can check what I'm buying. In fact I'd like to try out the Face of Australia primer next time as I know they are cruelty free, I would have bought that instead but they didn't have it.

I've been asked a few times about primers but I've only ever used the Australis one so I'm trying a few out, that way I can actually see and feel the difference for myself.

Something I've been really enjoying as well is my new 'Suckerpunch' soundtrack, I bought it just because I wanted it and then put it on my ipod for constant listening, love this music.

Spending time with family is good, I got to go climbing with my brothers through the week, haven't done that in about a year so it was alot of fun. It took next to no time to get to the top where we all enjoyed a yummy lunch and the view was breathtaking on this crystal clear day. Strangely it took almost three times as long to get back down because my brothers decided they wanted to climb a really steep part and one ended up getting stuck, luckily we took rope etc and could get to him that way. So while my other brother was doing all the hard work I was standing at the bottom dodging falling rocks and trying to take pictures, he won't be trying that again for a while!!!! :)

Schoolies 2011- getting organised!

I'm super excited because this is my final year of school and I will be doing Schoolies. For those who don't know what Schoolies is, it's when you get to go away with your friends after school finishes and celebrate, it's actually a month-long graduation festival celebrated by Year 12 school leavers from all around Australia. 


There are so many different places you can go and if you still haven't booked your trip there are sites that can help you with this, one place is:  Bookschoolies.com, they have packages available to book around Australia that suit many different budgets and tastes and you can also book your flights and transfers through them too. 


Most holiday destinations booked through this site also have the Red Frog people on hand

 

Red Frogs is an internationally recognized schoolies and universities support network which has been operating for over 12 years.   

The Red Frog Crew is most well-known for its service at schoolies and leavers festivals, where over 1200 volunteers aim to support school-leavers through their week-long celebrations, providing a positive presence within their party culture.  The Red Frog Crew assist school-leavers by walking young people home, cooking pancakes, cleaning rooms, handing out Allen’s Red Frogs and most importantly, offering emotional support through what can often be a challenging week, always remember at schoolies - safety first and safety in numbers, stay with your friends all the time and look out for each other.

Red Frogs also provide some of the best entertainment at schoolies week. 


I'm so happy I've booked my trip, now I can concentrate on my studies and other things that need to be done this year such as Formals, IMATS, QCS ,,,,,,, yerrrrrrrrrr!!!!


If you're in Year 11, now is the time to be thinking about schoolies, believe me when I say that the best places book out real early, my friends and I left our booking a little later than we would have liked so yeah, start thinking now and planning and SAVING for your special schoolies holiday.


Bookschoolies.com
Web:         bookschoolies.com/
Twitter:      https://twitter.com/#!/bookschoolies
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Schoolies/118778411384