Tuesday I had the chance to cross off another item on my bucket list...attend a Melbourne Cup race party and wear a fascinator! It was a really wonderful day and even though none of my horses won, and I didn't win a single raffle prize, I had a great time with some wonderful ladies and friends.
As you can see, I went with the pink fascinator! I had so much fun shopping for it on Suzhou's Wedding Street.
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| The beautiful ladies at our table |
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| Me with my friend Shannon |
As an adoptive mama, the highlight for me was listening to where all of the charity money raised at the event was going. An amazing lady from the US, Jenny Bowen, started a charity called Half the Sky many years ago. Her organization seeks to train caregivers in orphanages how to interact with the children and to enrich their lives. They also set up model preschool and programs to impact the children in a positive manner. Half the Sky has done some tremendous things for the children of China.
The woman below is the current CEO of the partner program in China to Half the Sky. She is holding the book that Jenny Bowen wrote and book that I just happened to read last month. It's called Wish You Happy Forever. I was a tad bit teary when I realized the speaker's connection to the Half the Sky foundation and that all the charity money would go to this organization. For me, it was the best reason for being at the Melbourne Cup party!
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| All smiles with my Australian friend Claire. |
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| The ladies from Building 68! (Our apartment building) |
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| The husbands jumped in too! |
