Thursday, October 27, 2011
Pink to go, please
Crisis, what an emotional roller coaster of an awful day.
Yes, I know it's frivolous and just downright silly, but Essie French Affair on my toe nails has been the only thing to cheer me up a little this afternoon.
So there you go.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Cape Town, jou lekker ding!
Woohoo, Cape Town has been named World Design Capital for 2014, beating competing cities Dublin and Bilbao.
The title is given every two years by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design to cities dedicated to using design for social, cultural and economic development. Cape Town will showcase its achievements and aspirations through a year-long programme of design-led events and activities.
How unbelievably cool and exciting. How soon do you think I can book a plane ticket?
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Holiday highlights
- Spontaneity - deciding to extend our stay and go to the Northern Drakensberg for an extra two nights. Thanks for the lovely tax refund, SARS!
- Tea and scones at the Champagne Castle hotel. Well, tea and scones for me, Guinness and scones for my husband, but then there's no accounting for taste, is there...
- Coffee in bed, every morning, with my bub.
- Looking at the stars above the Amphitheater on a still, clear night.
- Hiking and fishing. And picnics and braais and naps.
Sigh, I miss it already.
But I did a little bit of a calculation and there are only eight weeks left of the year. Eight weeks until beach time and Christmas, yipee!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Off for some R&R
We woke up very early this morning and are now nearly in the Drakensberg mountains for a week of hiking, fishing, sleeping and eating (well, here's enough food in the boot to feed about 10 people, hope we even make a dent!)
Have a good week and don't miss me too much!
Xx
Have a good week and don't miss me too much!
Xx
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Enjoying the journey
Illustration by Emily Ley
So baby’s in bed and I have a few minutes to update my blog before hubby arrives home and wants dinner. Such a busy but exciting day. I’m really enjoying getting back into work and am so worried someone is going to wake me up and tell me it’s all been a dream, I have to go back and sit in the office. I really don’t struggle to focus on work at home, and don’t get (too) distracted by other things that need doing. (It's quite uncanny how working with the sound of a crying baby is not that far removed from working in a busy newsroom...)
What I am finding to be so true is that the more I write, the more I feel like writing – and this blog is the perfect writing outlet that lets me be a little bit more playful and creative after tackling my more serious corporate work.
I’m also finding it so inspiring that I’m finding so many references to work/life balance lately and people who are finding a new way to work.
I came across this presentation in the Huffington Post last week, and the stories are just fantastic. Isn’t it wonderful how many companies are becoming more output driven and seeing people as human beings with many facets to their lives, rather than just beings out to achieve a set of KPIs? (Yuck. I hate that word. And all corporate speak).
I’m so fortunate to have found a company (after searching long and hard, I must confess) that sees that value its people can really add, and not be worried about the minutia of the working day.
Featured in the Huffington Post is Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom, one of my all-time favourite blogs (see list on the right). She is also running a Work/Life balance project, and some of her thoughts on the matter, while they may see obvious, are points that we often need to remind ourselves of.
Here are some highlights:
1) Doing it all is a myth. Doing what you love is the goal.2) It’s okay to ask for help. If you have a parenting question or if you need an extra hand, ask someone. 3) As parents, we joke about sleep, but it will make or break your day. Make it a priority. 4) Multi-tasking creates poor results. Do one thing at a time and do it well.5) Manners matter. Be nice. Play nice.
I really like number four and think while it is very difficult to be completely in the present, it is so important. So if you are at work, give it your all, and don't feel guilty about your kids. And if you are at home, make the effort to get down on the floor and play with your kids, actually be present with them and give them your all, even if it's just for half an hour before you go and make dinner. Speaking of which...
Coming up roses
On Saturday we drove north of Pretoria to go to Ludwig's Roses. As October is rose month in SA, there were just miles and miles of roses in bloom. We had such a great time, with my daughter leaning out of her pram wanting to touch every rose bush we walked past.
We bought some gorgeous roses - a fairytale rose (that's actually what the variety is called, isn't that great?!) called Knysna, the second picture above. We also bought a Cream Abundance, Sexy Rexy (love that name!) and a Mr Lincoln - a beautiful deep red fragrant flower.
I love the double old-fashioned roses. And now I'm trying to find a spot in the garden where I can put a small pagoda or trellis and grow creeping minuture roses. I've think I've got half a chance of that ever happening...!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
A few things from the weekend
Wow, what a crazy, busy, full-on weekend. I am so finished and feel like I need another one just to get over it all.
- Coldplay in Jo'burg last night was awesome. But I will never buy seated tickets again. Turns out I'm not as over the hill as I thought I was. The whole time I just wanted to be on the field dancing with everyone else, such a frustrating feeling!
- After two Saturday nights in a row of leaving my bub with baby sitters and starting work in the week, I'm having major mommy guilt about not spending enough time with her and not paying enough attention.
- You can't do it all, all at once. That means not accepting every invitation, not going to every party and not fitting in every activity that you want to on a single weekend. A good point to remember for the upcoming festive season that is already feeling so overbooked.
- We went rose shopping on Saturday. It was lovely walking around the huge nursery filled with blossoming roses. I'll post some pics later in the week that I took.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
More house-y type stuff
Ever since we moved into our house just over a year ago I've been dreaming about revamping my kitchen. I have a lovely big kitchen, and I adore spending time in it. But it desperately needs a bit of an update. Luckily, I won't need to gut it and start from scratch, but the melamine cupboard doors are looking slightly tired and the oven isjust plan rubbish.
I have been dreaming of removing the floor to ceiling white tiles, painting the cupboard doors, getting plantation shutters for the windows and new light fittings. The lovely black granite tops can stay, because while they wouldn't have been my first choice, quite frankly I don't have any other option at this point in time.
I went and bought paint samples last weekend and thought I would start with the doors, and then move onto the tiles. And then to my surprise saw that white tiles are actually making a comeback. Who knew! Ok, so it's more like subway tiles, which I don't have, but the principle is sort of the same.
So what to do now?? I have red accents in my kitchen, rather than yellow like above, and would love to get one of those little red espresso machines for the countertop.
I have a feeling I'm going to be spending lots of time today on Apartment Therapy looking for more design ideas...
I have been dreaming of removing the floor to ceiling white tiles, painting the cupboard doors, getting plantation shutters for the windows and new light fittings. The lovely black granite tops can stay, because while they wouldn't have been my first choice, quite frankly I don't have any other option at this point in time.
I went and bought paint samples last weekend and thought I would start with the doors, and then move onto the tiles. And then to my surprise saw that white tiles are actually making a comeback. Who knew! Ok, so it's more like subway tiles, which I don't have, but the principle is sort of the same.
So what to do now?? I have red accents in my kitchen, rather than yellow like above, and would love to get one of those little red espresso machines for the countertop.
I have a feeling I'm going to be spending lots of time today on Apartment Therapy looking for more design ideas...
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The new kind of flattie
No, I'm not talking about the chicken you pop on the braai.
One of the things I really miss about Cape Town, not having been there in over a year, besides the cold Atlantic Ocean, beautiful mountains, amazing seafood, the vibe, walking in town, good wine drunk on a wine farm etc etc etc etc (I could go on) is Deluxe coffee.
Deluxe Coffeeworks in Church Street is a small, unassuming shop that you’ll miss if you walk past too quickly (we did on or first visit). It’s got a great retro vibe and is the kind of place you could sit for hours and watch the passing parade, either on their outdoor bench or in an elevated seat in the window if the weather is foul.
When we visited over a year ago, we bought two bags of beans, Guatemala and Kenya, which have been chilling in my freezer since last June, as I was pregnant and off caffeine. Yesterday I bought myself a one person Bodum plunger and can now indulge every morning.
Deluxe sell all their wet coffee to take away, or have on the premises in 70’s style chunky brown cups. They also roast their own beans to sell to the public. If you are lucky enough to live in Cape Town (and yes, you know you are lucky, and let everyone else know it too, don't you...) you can also have Deluxe coffee at one of the swanky stockists listed on their website like Superette, Field Office or Skinny Legs & All.
One of the very special things about Deluxe is that they must be one of the few coffee shops in SA selling a flat white. I’d only recently read about the flat white coffee craze, originally an Australasian invention, that’s sweeping the UK in an article in the FT Weekend. Small independent coffee shops in London have been serving it and now coffee monoliths Starbucks and Costa have caught onto the trend.
So what’s a flat white? The following comes from Matthew Kilgour’s article This is real coffee in the 8 May 2010 FT Weekend and describes it best:
A flat white, or “flattie”, is an espresso-based coffee served in a small – usually 6-10oz – cup with less milk and froth than either a cappuccino or a latte. The base is a double shot of espresso topped with heated (not steamed) full-fat milk, carefully poured to create a sweet and velvety short coffee: full-fat milk adds a natural sweetness, with texturised milk taking the place of frothy cappuccino foam.
The result is a lovely creamy cup of coffee that still holds the true flavour of the espresso. The Deluxe Coffeeworks site has a great illustration (also at the top of this post) showing the different ratios of espresso to water to milk for espresso, cappuccino and a flat white.
So now you know. And if you are in Cape Town soon, pop in. And please let me know, as I'm going to be needing some more beans any day now. Or, better yet, take me with you!
Home office chic
Trust me to worry more about the decor of my home office than the work piling up!
I will share some pics soon of my 'office space' - which at present is a trestle table desk in the guest room. We were planning on having a dedicated study when we moved into our new house, but that was before our bundle and the need for a nursery came along...
After having looked at a few of these home offices on Home Office Snapshots, I've decided what is definitely missing in my office is a pinboard. So I may take a coffee break today and go search for one.
The offices under the 'white' and 'organized' categories are definitely my favorite on Home Office Snapshots. Which might just say quite a bit about me!
I will share some pics soon of my 'office space' - which at present is a trestle table desk in the guest room. We were planning on having a dedicated study when we moved into our new house, but that was before our bundle and the need for a nursery came along...
After having looked at a few of these home offices on Home Office Snapshots, I've decided what is definitely missing in my office is a pinboard. So I may take a coffee break today and go search for one.
The offices under the 'white' and 'organized' categories are definitely my favorite on Home Office Snapshots. Which might just say quite a bit about me!
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