I was recently invited by McKinney’s Jewellers to attend the Hear and Say Centre’s annual black tie charity fundraiser event at Gianni’s, Portside.

The Hear and Say Centre, based in Brisbane with regional centers on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Townsville and Toowoomba, is an organisation that specialises in teaching children who are deaf, or hearing impaired to listen and speak.

Like most girls I jump at the chance to get dressed up in formal attire, so I was already pretty excited when the McKinney’s also told me I was welcome to accessorise my frock with some of their show-stopping jewellery.

They didn’t have to twist my arm.

Feeling a little like Cinderella, I arrived at their Emporium store only to have Andrew and Ann, the ultimate jewellery experts, pick and choose the perfect jewels to compliment my outfit.

I can’t say I have ever before had the chance to wear a single diamond, let alone try on a succession of out-of-this-world pearls, colourful gemstones and sparkling diamonds – certainly not your average day in the office.

A few days later and I was dressed to the nine’s wearing the most beautiful diamond earrings, necklace and bracelet I have ever seen and after getting over the initial panic attack of wearing them, I left the house feeling a million bucks.

The event itself was a huge success with exciting entertainment featuring incredible ‘Carnivale’ dancers, nail-biting live and silent auctions and a huge amount of money raised for a very worthy charity.

All-in-all a truly great night and all for a good cause – can’t get much better than that.

15 Years of Fame