Sisters are doin it for themselves.

I was completely overwhelmed on the weekend.

In the most positive way possible.

By the most incredible group of women.

 

My beautiful maid of honour & dear friend Clare decided a little while ago that she wanted to throw a bit of a fundraising 'do' for me. If there is one thing you need to know about Clare, its that she is amazing at rallying people together and organising things, be it a weekend away, funding for a project, a girls night out or a backyard bbq...she is your woman!!! So needless to say I felt incredibly honoured and just a little bit excited! Add to the mix the rest of my fabulous girlfriends who sneakily got together in a secret facebook group and you've got a recipe for a completely fantastic night.

The event was held in a private function room at the newly renovated Royal Hotel in Queanbeyan. I had no idea what was in store for the night, other than I was to turn up to the Royal on Saturday at 7pm wearing a red dress and that Clare & 3 other friends would be shaving their heads.The rest was strictly hush hush, even my husband was sworn to secrecy on pain of death.

The first surprise of the weekend was the arrival of my old friend Amanda, who flew down from the Sunshine Coast on Friday. It was wonderful to see her, (even if the surprise went slightly awry and she was left waiting on my doorstep while I was out and about doing preschool pickup, oblivious of my visitor's arrival...oops, sorry AJ!). We had a lovely time catching up over dinner. Saturday we had breakfast together at 4th Seed, then went and picked out fabric so that I could make headscarves for each of the girls who were braving the shave. After I dropped Amanda back at her hotel, I went home, hemmed the scarves and popped them in little gift boxes along with a pretty beanie as a token of my thanks.

At 7pm I was dressed in red and ready for a rollicking Royal party!

When I walked into the Royal I couldn't believe my eyes...a sea of gorgeous women all dressed in red, a table stretching along one wall filled with incredible prizes for the raffle draws, red balloons everywhere, waiters with platters of food and a bar serving frozen margaritas.

It was so great to see so many familiar faces and very humbling to meet so many new faces too...friends of friends who had come along to show their support.

(Clare & Tammy...if these two ran our country we'd be set for life! They are a force to be reckoned with and did an amazing job organising the event!)

My friend Amita had arranged for her hairdresser to come along and shave the girls' heads. I can't tell you how proud I was of Clare, Amita, Susan and Sam. Such generous, brave and beautiful women who were willing to lose their locks as a show of support for me.

(L-R Sam, Susan, Amita & Clare)

 

Clare kicked it off

 

then Susan

 

then Amita

and to round it off...Sammy.

 

The room roared with cheers as each gorgeous girl stood up and showed off their buzz cut. And I felt brave enough to ditch my headscarf and bare my bald head and it felt GREAT!

The girls got a quick lesson on how to tie their headscarves

and then it was time to draw the raffles. My goodness I was blown away by the generosity of the businesses and individuals who had donated...the prizes were AMAZING! Headscarves from Birdsnest, beautiful wine glasses, champagne flutes, platters, a saucepan set and tea set from Bunzl Catering Supplies, $300 David Jones gift cards, iTunes gift cards, a weekend at a holiday house in Bermagui, a gorgeous indulgence hamper, a wine hamper, coffee travel mugs filled with chocolate and a basketball signed by the Canberra Capitals...AMAZING I tell you! A huge thank you goes to the management and staff of the Royal as well, they very generously donated the profits from the night and did a fantastic job with the food and cocktails.

We had great fun doing the draw.

The rest of the night was spent chatting, drinking and having a fabulous time together.

You know, as staggered as I am by the amount of money these women raised, and believe me, the amount is truly staggering...it doesn't come as a surprise that they could achieve it. Women have that fantastic ability to come together and support each other. Above and beyond the financial support, which I am very grateful for, I came away from the night with an immense amount of kick ass courage and morale to face a thousand rounds of chemo. Every word of encouragement, every hug and every smile gave me the strength and determination to beat this damned disease. I have never been alone on this journey and after Saturday night I know that I never will be...these girls have my back and I love them for it!

 

So to Clare and all of my beautiful friends both near and far...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

xxx

 

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