Living in the Caribbean is probably like living anywhere else, with the same ups and downs. But it does have its own vibe and flavour and gives me a unique perspective on most things. I'm often sarcastic, mostly funny, always looking for a new adventure.
I have not boxed myself into any one category of life. I love a lot of things and dislike a lot more. I write about them all.
So after months of hype and media overkill, William, Duke of Cambridge, made Catherine 'Kate' Middleton, Duchess of Cambrdige, and his wife. The wedding was the topic of all conversation for weeks leading up to today, being the bane of many an existence for the same time. God, how does the media focus on one thing and then slowly and painfully kill us with it? Jesus.
In any event, though I am a sucker for love, the wedding fell flat for me. Tradition and the institution of the British monarchy overpowered any emotion that may exist within the Windsor/Middleton inner circles. It was just all too stiff and too formal for me and if I were to describe it in one word, that word would be boring.
Kate's dress was beautiful, though again, because of the hype, it was not a wowser for me. But she did look stunning. William and Harry looked dashing, and Queen Elizabeth showed us yet again that she leads by example with a burst of warm colour.
The House of Alexander McQueen lives on with the royal wedding dress worn by Princess Catherine
Kate Middleton. The dress of the century? What say you?
HRM Queen Elizabeth II in canary yellow. You show 'em Queenie!
But the true highlight of this wedding was undoubtedly the wedding fashion from the lucky suckers who managed to snag an invitation for the royal nuptials. The hats, especially, stole the show. Love 'em or hate 'em, the hats were the stars of this day - with most of them from Irish milliner, Phillip Treacy.
Everything about Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's outfit was shocking in electric blue! Love it.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg and his wife, whose hat was a bold statement
Victoria Beckham's hat was minimal but her best accessory was undoubtedly her hot husband
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie took ugly to new levels with these hats but kudos for being different
The queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips - totally loved her hat
Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria looking rather sexy
And though she went hat-less, Sam Cam looked splendid
So I can finally blog about my day on Tuesday. So to make a long story pretty damn short, I won a competition and ultimately won myself a chance to be on the set of the new T-Mobile UK ad. For those who don't know about the T-Mobile UK ads, they are loads of fun. I cannot decide which one I like the most but getting the chance to be on set for the new one was something I was excited about.
Now I was under the impression that I was just going to be on set, and see how they did the whole thing and for a Communications postgrad, that in itself is exciting. Little did I realise, I was going to be IN the damn thing. lol. When lovely Charlotte called me and told me to dress up in my "Sunday best", I was like "say what?"
Needless to say, the trininista is always prepared and despite being away from home, I did manage to throw a couple frocks in my bag while packing how many months ago, so I did in fact have an item which could be aptly described as "Sunday best". And despite all my quarrelling about no heels in London, I do in fact have a pair with me. I would never leave home without a pair of heels. AS IF!
Charlotte would not divulge much about the location, the concept, what I was going to be doing - nada. It was all pretty 007, and I showed up at the meeting point, which was not the set, and had no clue what I was getting myself into. I figured if I was in a silly purple dress, with a rose hair accessory, and heels, in the middle of rush hour morning - a dress which was more Caribbean than Britain, and on a cold English day, I was hopefully going to be indoors.
Furthermore, Sunday best typically means a) a church or b) a fancy schmancy dinner. The next stop was in fact a hall, where I assumed we would be for option B, but nope - just briefing. It was so clandestine, you would not believe. Not a peep from anyone. Zero. Nada. Rien.
There were probably about 80 other people there - all in fancy suits and fancy dress and hats. I loved the ladies in their hats. All sizes, all colours. Some of these gals took this thing really seriously, coming with suitcases with different outfits and hats to make sure they looked right for the part so they could be caught on camera. I wondered whether I could pull off a hat and decided that yes, I could, cause I am fabulous.
My lovely rose hair accessory
The other lucky winners - all great people might I add - were also clueless, as were the other 80-odd people. We then underwent a cursory once-over by wardrobe, who politely decided who was fancy enough to stay in what they were wearing for the shoot or who would end up in what I would later call, the dreaded choir outfit. I passed the test, in my purple Caribbean dress and rose hairpiece, but they took poor Sonso away from me and I had no idea where they had gone with my friend until later. I could not stop laughing after seeing the expression on her face when I next saw her.
At the church. Yes...the church. The concept was more than obvious by then, but will let you see for yourself below. Keep in mind where I am and what people are looking forward to here. I still managed surprise and enthusiasm because really it was loads of fun, even after doing the same take a million times and acting surprised every time. Also there was Louie Spence, who I imagine is a big deal here cause everyone was like "Is that Louie Spence?" - just thought I would put that in there although even after Googling the chap, still have no clue who he is, except that I assume he helped choreograph the scene.
But the company was good fun, as I sat with 3 gorgeous and funny boys, who made laughing and smiling throughout the shoot rather easy. The other extras (sorry...the politically correct term is support artist) were superb and it was a good day out for the oft-frazzled postgrad. And while my classmates were pulling hairs out over their proposals, I was standing and smiling on cue, and later posing for photos, with "royalty".
The ad is not as great as the others they have done and I expected more actually, especially after all the secrecy and hype, but the fun factor was high for us there on the day. I can put that on my list of fun London moments.
Never a dull moment in trininista-world! Here is the ad, which was released today and which is why my code of silence is finally broken. You can see the edge of my dress but that's all and I am pretty happy with that. I am not a tv star!
