LADIES WHO LUNCH Part I

One glance at the glossy invite and my gut feeling told me, I shouldn't show up in Lower Mainland's most favourite attire - yoga pants and flip-flops! As always, the gut was right!

Yes, even here in Vancouver, the world's most relaxed, most beautiful, most unfashionable city of all, glamorous ladies are out and about; you just need to know where to find them!

Last week, after 1,5 years of living in Canada, I discovered a crowd which speaks fluid fashion:
I had the honour and privilege to be invited - and speak - at the inauguration event of                   Ladies Who Lunch

 at the Arbutus Club in Vancouver!

Here is the first of two parts,   THE PREP

Surely,  I was able to sprinkle some inspirational Christina Dust over the listening crowd . It was all about "Women living their Dreams, How can you inspire others to do the same?" The ladies were laughing and stopped eating, - that's always a good sign, isn't it??

Like most women I have a secret, and like most of us I like to share one of them with you here,
It took me less time to prepare and rehearse the speech than deciding on what NOT to wear, putting the colour into my hair and onto my body, buying earrings and the forever question of which shoes to slip on.

HAIR:
 Take a close look at my hair and you will see it's curly and grey!! Isn't grey the most persistent colour ever? Becoming older is fun, getting wrinkles is part of my (happy) life - getting grey hair? Give me four words to express myself, It p... me off!
Thank God there is a company out there who promises us to become Natural Browns again 'because we are worth it." What I want to know is, why is my favourite hair dye always playing hard to get whenever I need it most?

SKIN:
When it comes to skin tone, I tend to pale in with the Nicole Kidman's of this world. Being too pale is a big No-No, especially if you want to wear a knee length dress. Help is at hand: With the help of squeeze bottles we can squirt the perfect amount of mayo, chocolate paste, mustard, salmon pate or self tanning lotion onto our crackers,  pieces of bread or bodies!

For this particular get together I opted to involve a tanning specialist, Spray Tan anybody? Strip down, spread your legs, open your arms wide and let the fun begin!

SHOES:
 Carrie Bradshaw will faint if she opens my shoe closet. First of all, I don't have one and secondly, all she will find are runners, boots, sneakers, and flip-flops! High Heels? In your dreams Carrie.  Here is another secret I want to share, I can't walk on heels! I prefer to walk it flat and safe than sky-high with the risk of looking stupid! My choices were clogs(!) or sandals. Again, the gut decided on my behalf. A pair of sandals had the honour to lead me ....behind the podium!

It's all about the presentation - and when it comes to Ladies Who Lunch, it was all there>
Glamour, sparkle, a Good Cause and some serious fashion.

Stay tuned for Part II, the PHOTOS!