2012 Emmy Red Carpet looks

Some of my fave looks from today's Emmy Awards.

 

 

Julianne Hough looked in a stunning Georges Hobieka Couture strapless gown.

 

There's that colour again - Heidi Klum in a beautiful Alexandre Vauthier designed gown.

 

Kelly Osbourne matched her lilac-coloured hair to her Zac Posen dress - love her fearless wardrobe choices!

 

Mummy-to-be Claire Danes looked ravishing in yellow. Dress by Jeanne Lanvin.  



 

Homeland actress Morena Baccarin looked flawless.

 

 

New mum, Giuliana Ranci in Romona Keveza.

This is something different - I don't totally love this look, but I don't hate it either (maybe it's her hair/makeup). January Jones in Zac Posen. 

Ellen Degeneres looks sharp! Love her gorgeous pant suit. Not sure about Portia's choice of outfit however...

 

 

Sarah Hyland from Modern Family looked beautiful and age-appropriate.



 Kat Dennings dressing for her curves - love this dress on her.

 

Alec Baldwin and his new wife Hilaria Thomas made a handsome couple on the red carpet. 

Happy to help

I feel like I have the words ‘fragile pregnant lady’ scrawled across my forehead and have come to accept that that’s not such a bad thing.   

Since my belly has ‘popped’ and it is obvious to everyone that I am expecting, I have had people falling over themselves to help me out.

Last week, I had the feral job of doing a mass office supplies shop at OfficeWorks. I had three bags and a box to wrangle to the car. Unfortunately one of the bags I had fell to the ground, the contents spilling out everywhere.

Immediately a helpful young lad who was walking into the store stopped and helped me pick up my wares and asked me if he could help take my bags to the car for me. I politely declined but thanked him very much for stopping and for the offer.

I don’t know why but even though I know I am pregnant and I know people want to help me, I feel bad accepting their offer.

So I decided to get over it and accept some kindness!

A few days after the OfficeWorks incident, I did some grocery shopping at Ferry Rd Markets. I had 4 bags and a carton of sparkling water and no trolley (because my baby brain forgot to get one as I walked in).

The check-out chick looked at me and said “I’ll get one of our guys to help take your bags to your car for you” and as much as I wanted to say “no, it’s okay” I told her thank you very much. Quick as a flash, she commissioned one of her male co-workers to be my pack-horse and we were on our way.

He even made small talk about when I was due and was I finding out the sex? He then told me about his nine-month old daughter who had changed his life and how he couldn’t remember anything about life before she was born. Very sweet!

This morning was another example – I had our refurbished nursery furniture delivered to our house. I would usually have helped unload the pieces out of the van, but I just sat back and watched as they were unloaded and taken into our house by the painter and her assistant.

So all in all, I have found that I am actually pretty happy to be ‘fragile pregnant lady’ and grateful for the assistance I’ve been given to date. I know I can only milk it for so long, so I may as well make the most of it hey!?

WARNING: Hormonal

I am on an emotional roller coaster at the moment, and I can’t wait until it stops. That is the only way I can describe how I am feeling at the moment, and I can’t even be bothered wording it differently so awful clichés will have to suffice.


My hormones are going crazy, and in turn, making the people around me crazy as they try to deal with my wild mood swings, tears and tantrums. Oh yes, pregnancy can be a b*tch.

The smallest thing is enough to set me off… and don’t even talk to me about work at the moment – that’s just been thrown in the too hard basket.

I think I need to get myself one of these shirts...

I get sent weekly email updates from the Huggies people, detailing mine and the baby’s physical and emotional changes. They are pretty interesting and most of the time, quite accurate.

This week the following two paragraphs are especially relevant to my situation:

You could find yourself feeling more emotional than you usually are, with situations or stories really affecting you. Watching the news can bring on a fresh outbreak of tears, not to mention walking past a new baby in its pram.

If you’ve always prided yourself on being very disciplined about your eating and exercise habits, being 24 weeks pregnant may come as a rude shock. You’re hungry, tired and feeling as if you really couldn’t be bothered keeping up your usual routines. Guess what? You don’t have to. Give yourself a break and ease into what should be a reasonably relaxing time. Pregnancy is not a performance based state, nor can it be graded into high, average or low achievement. Trying to intellectualise your symptoms or why you are feeling as you do will just sap valuable energy from what should be an easy time. So keep a supply of treats in the pantry and reach for them if you’re feeling low.

I especially like that bit at the end there talking about the supply of treats in the pantry – hey if the good people at Huggies say I should be treating myself to make me feel better, then pass me another chocolate chip cookie.

But seriously, I have got to say, I do not love being an emotional wreck. I have been a cow to my husband and my dad, the two men who (sadly for them) have to deal with me day in, day out at home and work. I hope they realise that it’s not the real me, just the mega-hormonal, tired and cranky version of me who really feels pretty rotten about most things in the world at the moment.

All I can say is that I am sorry and I hope you understand – this too shall pass.

Near-naked posing with the bump

SHE Magazine's September edition

On Tuesday I was contacted and asked to participate in a special feature being prepared by the girls at SHE Magazine for the Gold Coast Bulletin. A journalist who works with my friend and ex-colleague Chantay told me that I’d been suggested as someone who might be interested in participating.

The feature entitled ‘Gold Coast women bare all’ is part of the magazine’s October body issue where Gold Coast women discuss body image, health and fitness.

After I was given the details of the interview and photo shoot it took me a little while to decide whether this was something I wanted to do. Then I thought stuff it, you only live once, and it would be a great keep-sake anyway.

I must say I was pretty apprehensive this morning when I was readying myself for the semi-nude shoot – yes you read correctly. Bar a few props I was to do a photo shoot celebrating my pregnancy baring as much skin as possible without being too risqué.

 

It's not like I was getting full on naked like Demi Moore or Britney Spears did with just their hands strategically covering their lady bits and showing off their baby bumps - I am not that brave!

I wasn't as brave as Britney was for her Harper's Bazaar cover!

I think body image is such a personal thing, but it is so widely discussed! I haven’t always loved my body – it has been a love-hate relationship to be honest! But I think it is an important topic to talk about. I find it even more relevant now that I am pregnant and my body is actually going through something it was meant to… I love seeing my body change and grow with my baby.

The shoot today was fantastic and a lot of fun – I can’t wait to see the pics! Make sure you keep your eye out for the October edition of SHE Magazine in the Gold Coast Bulletin!

Can't wait to tell our baby one day that it was in my belly at the time of these shots!

Can't touch this

Maybe I should consider getting a t-shirt like this one printed...

I recently had an experience, which up until now, I thought would be horrendously invasive and an assault on my personal space.

A stranger touched my pregnant belly without my permission.

Let me paint a picture for you.

On my hunt for something to eat for lunch, I went to a little local kebab shop where I knew the owner made amazing felafel kebabs. She is Indian-Australian and is about four foot tall with a broken accent and she is very sweet.

“Hi, I’d like to get a felafel kebab please,” I asked her. “With lettuce, tomato, a little bit of onion and barbecue sauce thanks.”

When the lady was finished taking my order, she looked up at me and then down at my belly. Quick as a flash she was then softly stroking my abdomen while saying “You’re pregnant – how far along are you?” to which I stuttered “About 24 weeks – we’re not finding out the sex.” She simply smiled and said “Good girl. Now go and sit down and I will bring your lunch out to you.”

Now I always thought that when I got pregnant, that I wouldn’t allow complete strangers to come up and touch me – I am funny about people I don’t know being in my personal space. 

But this lady had such a kind demeanour that even thought her actions took me by surprise, I didn’t react in the negative way I thought I would. I guess it depends on the person and the situation.

My belly has been growing, but it has become such a part of me now that I don’t really notice that I am getting bigger. I find myself going out to check the mail or do the grocery shopping and catch people looking me up and down or staring at me. My first thought is to go “What the hell are you looking at?” before I remember that I am pregnant and they are probably looking at my little protruding belly.

One checkout chick even offered to lift my bags of groceries into my trolley. I stupidly thought “Why?” and then realised that she was smiling at me saying I shouldn’t lift anything heavy in my state. Duh she can see you’re pregnant Ashleigh!  

So I guess I just have to get over people reacting to my pregnancy. Whether I like it or not, people are going to comment and want to touch me, which kind of creeps me out but I do understand that they are just being sweet. But I’d appreciate a little bit of notice before you try and put your hands on me because it's still my body, not yours.