I am very excited to feature the lovely Fiona Rossiter today, the lady behind Cape Town based lifestyle blog Inspired Living. Fiona is the 8th guest I have had here on my blog in my Life After the Dress series where I interview woman of all ages and walks of life and ask them real questions about their lives now that all the fuss and fluff of the big day is over.

I am hoping that when Farmboy and I get back home to South Africa in a couple of years time I will be able to meet these ladies for a real cup of tea. I have learned to much from each of them, and I love posting each of their stories here on the blog. Thanks for being a part of this Fiona!

x

Q1: Please introduce yourself (age, of both yourself and your husband, where do you live, what do you do & how long have you been married for?)

Hi I am Fiona and I am happily married to the love of my life, Grant! Last year was quite an emotional year, with me reaching a major milestone in my life! I turned 40!!! Something I still do not like to say out loud but am starting to accept! My hubby Grant is only 11 months older than me so we keep each other young. We live in Noordhoek, Cape Town – in my opinion the most beautiful city in the world (not biased at all)! We have been married for 17 years – it’s was our anniversary on the 7th of December. I cannot believe how time has flown, it seems like just yesterday he was down on one knee, proposing to me! We have two gorgeous girls, who make our world a better place – our lives would not be complete without them. I am a full time mom, blogger and true creative at heart, with too many ideas and not enough hours in the day. Grant is a Portfolio Manager for an investment company (in his own words he makes other people rich ;) but a true entrepreneur at heart!

Q2: Which Disney character do you feel sums you up to a ‘T’?

Amazingly this was a bit of a difficult one to answer, I could not decide on my own, so I opted to do two on-line quizzes to see what the “experts” had to say! As a Disney Character I am apparently like PINOCCHIO yes Pinocchio! Even I was surprised – the synopsis:

“You like to work towards dreams you have, but you sometimes get tempted by the devil in disguise. But when it comes down to it, you're quite a happy person who just wants to be the best they can be!” I had a good giggle but in essence this is all very true. As a Disney Princess I am apparently much like Jasmine, as I dream of freedom from my lifestyle and I hate pompous jerks (ain’t that the truth)!

Q3: How did you and your hubby meet?

Funny story really – I was essentially his boss. I worked at a jeweler and he started working there, as a holiday job, while he was at university. I hate to sound cliché but it was love at first sight – well for me anyway! We were young but I think we both knew what we wanted out of life – or at least we thought we did. We did date for four years before we got married, which I think was important to establish our relationship.

Q4: Was your wedding everything you hoped it would be? Would you go back and change anything? Do you have any advice for brides-to-be?

My wedding was amazing, something fairy-tales are made of! Not having my own mom around when I got married was tough but I have been blessed with the most amazing mother in law! We did get married very young and were the first in the family to tie the knot, Grant is one of four boys and I have a younger brother. As you can imagine there was great anticipation from all involved, being the first to get married {no pressure at all ;)}. Would I change anything about my wedding day - yes I probably would. Our wedding was way too big but being the first in the family we did not know better. We had a very traditional wedding which we both wanted but I guess if I did have to do it over I would have a smaller more intimate affair. Please don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of my day but know what I do now I would do it differently – I am wiser I guess. So my advice for brides-to-be, is no matter how big or small your wedding, make sure you actually enjoy it – dance, have fun because it is a once in a lifetime experience!

Q5: Has ‘life after the dress’ been as you imagined it would be?

I think that life is never exactly what you expect it to be but if you had to ask me if I was happy - I would definitely have to say yes. Growing up I dreamt that I would meet my prince charming, get married, have two children and live happily ever after – see dreams do come true!

Q6: What have you learnt about yourself since being married?

I am an extremely stubborn person and a perfectionist, someone who does not like admitting when I am wrong {which is mostly never} but marriage has taught me that if you want to be happy, you need to make allowances for others and at times compromises. This is true for all relationships in life but especially true, if you want your marriage to work. I was extremely independent before we got married, so for me the biggest lesson has been to learn to rely and trust someone else. Oh and as my hubby will tell you I am very high maintenance!

Q7: If you could describe your marriage in 3 words, what would they be?

LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, TRUST

Q8: Do you have any pearls of wisdom you would like to share with my readers about being married? Perhaps something some wise person once told you, or something you've learnt the hard way?

I think the most important thing is to marry your “best friend”, yes it is important to marry for love but you also need to “like” the person you are marrying. If possible marry someone with the same beliefs and morals as you have, this is especially important when it comes to parenting children. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying marry a carbon copy of yourself that would be boring but discuss what you want and envisage for your life before you get married, to ensure you are actually on the same page! Oh and most of all have fun, remember to laugh – if nothing else it keeps you young!

You can find Fiona at the following places (in particular on her Youtube channel where she posts great videos about her favourite makeup and beauty products, as well as showing you how to use the products!)

I hope you have been enjoying this series as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.

If you would like to be featured here on the blog, you can drop me an email using the contact form above or leave me a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you!

x