3 Faves: Haz & Meg, a tulle-tastic vintage dress and the ‘dullness’ of prayer

Sometimes I watch, read or observe something and discover I like this thing and want to talk about it, but I also don’t want to spam my friends with my nerdy pursuits. Cue 3 Faves.

For the first edition, I’ve got two shows and a wedding dress.

H & M on Netflix

I haven’t actively followed Harry and Meghan’s story. Only a couple of headlines, tweets, and stuff I saw in passing have informed me about what’s been going on. And boy has a lot been going on. The first time I heard they had a Netflix documentary, I thought it might not be a great idea because the trolls and tabloids would latch on to it and spin it out of control— and that proved to be true.

But I was also wrong.

The documentary gave them the avenue to tell their story by themselves. Even though I knew not to believe the smear campaign, there were some things I wouldn’t have thought until I saw the documentary (Nottingham cottage omg), and some details I glossed over because they didn’t matter to me. Like, did they really say they wanted completely out of the limelight or only an end to the targeted harassment? This doc helped to set the record straight.

I’m not going to delve into the politics of it, but I love that they took ownership of their story. Of course, this wouldn’t do much for the people determined to latch onto their bias, but it’s good that they told their side. Everything is out there now, at least for posterity’s sake.

Caroline Vazzana’s wedding dresses

It’s wedding season! And I keep thinking back to American fashion editor, Caroline Vazzana’s wedding looks.

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A post shared by Caroline Vazzana (@cvazzana)

First up, this pink outfit she wore to get her marriage license–what we call a court wedding over here.

I loved it because it’s a skirt suit, it’s pink, and with a veil to match. I like the unconventionality because in Nigeria everyone wears a white dress to their court wedding. I have no qualms with that, I just admire when people carve their own path, it’s a good reminder that individual creativity is not dead.

It also gave me an idea because, for the longest, I toyed with wearing a different-colored wedding dress but I was conflicted because white is timeless. So this is a good compromise for me.

Now to her main wedding dress.

I personally do not care for tulle like that— which some might find ironic to my bubbly personality. But Ms. Vazzana totally rocked it. The tulle extravaganza, puff sleeves, the little details on the skirt, and the style of her neckline make it look like something right out of a vintage Hollywood magazine. I love that she didn’t ditch her glasses too, because it adds a good touch to the vintage vibe.

Her party dress, which is just the wedding dress with a shorter skirt, pleases my anti-time-wasting self. The length is perfect and so are the shoes, and then the low bun gives it a chic finish. Play the embedded video above for the full look.

I wasn’t surprised to find the dress was custom-made by Christian Siriano because he’s so good at working wonders with tulle. And I appreciate that he was able to capture her vibe and personality through this dress.

With The Perrys podcast on prayer

With The Perrys is one of my favorite podcasts and this episode on prayer was really good. They touched on several things but two points stood out to me:

• that we struggle with prayer because we don’t like being bored
• and how we ought to approach prayer as first being in the presence of God Almighty.

They mentioned that we’re so conditioned to be constantly productive, to expect convenience and entertainment in our lives that we find ourselves so uncomfortable when we have to stay still in the place of prayer. And I relate to that. When you add having an overactive imagination as I do, it becomes even more difficult. But God is helping me.

Every now and then, I practice allowing myself to be bored or to wait without reaching for filler activities. Sometimes it works, sometimes I falter. But once again, God is helping me.

Regarding the second point, they said how we view God influences how we approach prayer and His presence. And I was like yeah, God is my father, friend, and teacher. Which is good. I’m thankful that Jesus’ sacrifice gives me access and the grace to see those attributes in God. But the part where God is the creator of the universe, the Great Incomparable as I like to call Him, the holiest being— was missing. And that gave me pause. Like, did I “see finish” God?

I sat with that thought for a while and prayed for help to always see God in His fullness—as much as my human mind can comprehend.

At the end of the day, praying is what helps me pray better.