We're Engaged!

We're Engaged! About 10 days ago, my most amazing man whisked me away on one of our "drives to nowhere" on what was to be the most beautiful day of all! We ended up in Paternoster, one of my favourite places, for lunch at Skatkis Restaurant at the Paternoster Lodge where they were setting up for an Aussie wedding (how fitting!)



Guess who put a (beautiful, sparkly) ring on it?!

After an awesome seafood lunch we took a drive and found a pretty much deserted beach a little outside of Paternoster. Picnic blank and bottle of bubbles in tow, we settled on a stretch of beach with the most amazing view of the blue water. And that's where it all happened!

10 days in and the wedding planning is underway - the dates are saved and the venue booked. Super excited for both our "white" and traditional weddings taking place in December 2014 and all the planning involved.

Read more about our story here!



Wine, Glorious Wine

A few weekends agp my friend Margs came to visit. Besides being a great friend, she is also a great lover of wine and is super clued up on all things fermented! We made it our mission to squeeze in as many farms as possible in the 30 odd hours we had together. What made the tastings great was that neither of us had been to any of the 4 farms that we visited, so it was an awesome weekend of discovering new spots.

We started our journey off at Waterkloof - in the Somerset West / Helderburg region - an area that I was not at all familiar with and probably the nicest surprise of the weekend. What an amazing, modern farm with a stunning restaurant where we enjoyed a fabulous meal. Featured in Modern Wineries of South Africa, this farm didn't disappoint - perched on top of a hill, with an awesome view from it's modern façade, Waterkloof is definitely a farm I'll be visiting again soon as I didn't buy any wine from there so will have to be back!

Next up was Ernie Els. I was initially hesitant thinking that it would be another commercial farm because of it's famous owner. But boy was I wrong! An awesome farm, with amazing views and great (albeit expensive) wines...the cute "golfer" servers didn't hurt either ;-) Day 2 saw us visiting Warwick and Rustenburg. Warwick, know for it's family picnics and First Lady wines was our first stop and I left with a lovely bottle of their Pinotage. Rustenberg, one of the oldest farms in the Cape Winelands, hiddenon the base of Helshoogte was a lovely place to end our weekends' tasting. We picked up a couple of lovely bottles here including their Straw Wine - a lovely desert wine - which was a thank you for our trusty designated driver ;-)

 

 

Some friendships never fade!

Very few times in my life have I met someone for the first time and within 2 minutes known that I would be friends with this person for a long time to come. One such occasion was a good 5 odd years ago when I met Margs after a church service back in the bay (also known as Port Elizabeth, my place of residence before finding a home in Cape Town!) There was just something about her - bubby, friendly, confident, but most of all, herself. This was a time of self discovery for most of us, as your mid-twenties are, but Margs knew exactly who she was, where she was going, what she stood for and was not apologetic for it.

Margs and I went on to be "partners in crime" from painting the town red, to joining old ladies book clubs to cell group meetings. We did pretty much everything together and when she moved away, I realized that my time in PE was drawing to an end...everyone kept leaving!!

This weekend Margs came to visit and after over 2 years of seeing each other (and both being very bad at keeping in touch!) we reconnected without skipping a beat. The weekend was spent sampling some delicious wine and food while catching up on what we've missed and reminiscing on all the fun and funny times we shared.

Some friendships truly never fade and I'm so pleased to have such a special person in my life.

Fashion Fundie or Fashion Faux Par?!

To say I'm obsessed with fashion might be an overstatement but definitely not a lie. I've always had an appreciations for style, clothes, self-expression and artistry - I've just never had the confidence (or, to be honest, the budget) to express myself fully through what I wear.

I see people I went to school with become successful fashion bloggers and stylists and I'll sign up to see their posts, watch every episode of any fashion intern reality show I can find, never never miss a Fashion Police (and generally correctly predict the best and worst dressed) and will never miss an E! Live from the Red Carpet slot and yet I don't think I'm someone who dresses well!

Practicality and durability have long been the name of the game in my family when it comes to clothes. Never extravegant, too loud or out of the ordinary. Growing up in a private boarding school, this was probably the largest bone of contention between my mother and I. I appreciated the home sewn clothes...really I did, but there came a time where fabric similar to that of a table cloth was not appropriate attire for an impressionable teen!

Given the budget, I'd like to believe that my dream wardrobe would have a point of view. A diverse and perhaps eclectic point of view - but a voice of sorts none the less.
 

In a recent blog post, Lauren Conrad defined her style in three words: classic, feminine, Californian Girl.   She asked her readers to do the same for their particular style and here is where my brain started searching for 3 definitive words to describe something I struggle to envision myself. Realistically it would be: practical, simple, corporate that would sum up my current wardrobe vibe, but give me unlimited budget and a trip or two overseas, I'd like to believe this would transform to: edgy, feminine, classic. 

It's a work in progress I suppose and something I've tasked my self with improving this year. A New Years resolution of sorts. To spend money...wisely, on timeless, classic, and yet out of the ordinary pieces with character and personality and voice, not forgetting that quality and taste are the key to it all.

That being said...I'm off to shop!

All you need is love...

'                       

My most amazing man and I recently celebrated two whole years of togetherness! This milestone was significant for both of us: my longest relationship to date (plus making it past the twice devastating 2 year speed bump was awesome!) and his longest relationship by 21 months ;-) it was indeed time to celebrate, and celebrate we did with an amazing meal at one of our favorites, La Mouette in Seapoint. 

                         

Our relationship, his love and support for me, was what got me through 2013. When all else failed, these three are constant. As I sit here writing in my quiet, almost dark lounge (Eksom, our national power supplier has us on loadshedding as their "coal got wet") I'm reminded that love really is all we need. Fill out hearts with love for ourselves, each other and those around us particularly hard to even like and things can only look better than they did before!