The weekend that was

Hope you’re all ready for another Monday! This weekend I…

+ Watched Kiki’s Flying Delivery Service.

+ Ate some of the best Chinese takeaways I’ve ever had.

+ Had dinner with the lovely Se, wonderful Meh and awesome Wal.

+ Realised that I eat too much toast and need to find a better (healthier) snack option.

+ Tried Simonsvlei’s Sauvignon Blanc and really liked it.

+ Went dancing with the awesome Wal.

+ Probably had too much wine.

+ Got to try some of awesome Wal and the lead singer’s cake (yum).

+ Bought a pair of high-waisted jeans and turned them into shorts.

+ Had a date night with the lovely drummer boy.

+ Went to Assembly for the aKing gig and much preferred DJ Sideshow.

What did you do this weekend?

Oh, and today, screw the rest of the world and kiss someone passionately in public. Image from here.

Le Bonheur Wine Estate for a bit of wine, fun and French

So on Friday afternoon the lovely Se and wonderful Meh and I set off for the stretched out lands of Stellenbosch area. We were headed for Le Bonheur Wine Estate, some fine wining and an evening of Frenchy fun.

Firstly: don't ever set off for the far-out lands of that side of the world without directions. We did and ended up taking a wrong turn, spending hours in the car and visiting a crocodile farm. Hmm.

But, eventually our femaley-intuitive-directional-radars (we have those) helped us find the beautiful Le Bonheur.

We were treated to a complimentary glass of wine (just enough to tempt you to buy a bottle), some themed snacks and a warm environment in which to chill, chat and await the screening of the film for the evening.

Since the lovely Se is studying French and plans to whisk herself away to Paris at some point we found ourselves seated in front of a warm fire and a big screen to the opening credits of La Vie en Rose.

It was a fun evening doing something a bit different but I do have some advice for those wanting to enjoy the estates dinner and a movie evenings: bring along your own pillow for the film and make sure you specify any food issues - Se doesn't eat ANY meat and I've just given up pork which didn't really work with their bacon and cheese quiches and parma ham wraps.

Otherwise it was lovely!

Image from here.

The weekend that was

I love wintry mornings in Cape Town like this, especially when I don't have to leave home.

This weekend I...

+ Felt exhausted after just three hours of sleep.
+ Couldn't stay awake at Zula (was literally falling asleep at the tables).
+ Saw Captain Stu and The Plastics.
+ Slept / lay in bed for pretty much the entire day on Saturday.
+ Enjoyed 2 Minute Puzzle, Jeremy Loops and Gazelle at Assembly.
+ Was wrong about someone.
+ Ate delicious cheesecake (thanks Scal for having a birthday).
+ Realised how much I miss my friends when I don't see them.
+ Had a family dinner on Sunday night (my family is crazy but I love them).
+ Made a big mistake and I'm not sure I've fixed it yet.

Happy birthday Scal, hope you had a killer weekend.

What did you do this weekend?

The weekend that was

Hello Monday (again) hope this week brings everyone something to smile about.

This weekend I...

+ Saw Boo! at Mercury.
+ Made new friends.
+ Drank too much.
+ Stayed in bed until 3pm on Saturday.
+ Ate some delicious homemade soup.
+ Watched DVDs with the lovely drummer boy.
+ Second guessed myself.
+ Let someone down.
+ Wolfed down a veggie burger from Pickwicks in Long Street.
+ Watched the Taxi Violence Unplugged show at Silvertree Restaurant at Kirstenbosch.

Twas lovely.

I also love love love love this open-planned loft/space/apartment.  The high ceilings are stunning!

What did you do this weekend?

The weekend that was...

A tower of delicious cupcakes, la heaven!

Hello lovelies, this weekend I...

+ Sold four Poofums.
+ Ate the most delicious cupcake I've ever had.
+ Went to Mercury twice.
+ Drank wine and sang along to Backstreet Boys, Lighthouse People and Nsync.
+ Snuck into a club.
+ Went for a walk in Newlands Forest with two wonderful girls.
+ Had a braai with the crazies in my family and only ate half a piece of beef rump (I'm trying to eat way less meat).
+ Spent a lot of time behind a computer screen.
+ Decided I really like Stepdog (You should go see them).

What did you do this weekend?

the (long) weekend that was

 

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. It was Human Rights day on Monday and my friends and I took advantage of the public holiday and went away for the weekend to Plettenberg Bay.


This weekend I...

+ Spent about 20 hours in a car.
+ Ate an amazing Apple Crumble.
+ Walked in the Garden of Eden forest in Knysna.
+ Played a new drinking game.
+ Realised some interesting things about some people I thought I already knew.
+ Created a new veggie dish (we call it the Stairmaster Paella - don't ask).
+ Was shocked at how popular Rebbeca Black's weekday song became.
+ Hiked for almost four hours around Robberg Point.
+ Got silly and it was wonderful.
+ Went late-night swimming in the neighbour's pool.
+ Slept very little.
+ Read my book (Taking Lives by Michael Pye).
+ Watched a crap suspense movie - Pathology (don't get it out).
+ Enjoyed the company of friends in a diferent town.
+ Danced, laughed, drank some wine, chatted, giggled, swam, walked, lived out of a rucksack, had lots of tea, relaxed, lost my bank card, found my bank card.

How was your long weekend?

Image from here. 

I toadally won

The photo that I "captioned"

Eek, I completely forgot to tell you all. I entered a caption competition on Facebook that was being run by Taj Cape Town and I won (to be fair there was only one other contestant, but still)

The wonderful people at Taj Cape Townhave given me a voucher for two people to enjoy a tasting experience at the Bombay Brasserie restaurant to the value of R900! How crazy!?

I just wanted to say thanks so much to Taj Cape Town and to the peeps who voted for my silly little caption.

And just in case you were wondering, I'm taking my Marja with me (yay). Soon we will be enjoying some fine-dining. Looking forward to it 

i love Ram!

ok wow, so Ramfest was incredible, crazy and hot. our carpool left Cape Town at 1pm all cramped up and listening to Phoenix's Lisztomania (soundtrack to my life currently) and embarked on our lil adventure.

We had our tents, sleeping bags, booze and food and we were ready to rock the weekend out of its socks! we arrived and were brisked right through the entrance, no queues for the awesome, found our site and immediately headed for the pool for a swim.

the vibe was incredible. the weekend had begun.

i had checked out the lineups of all the acts and made a mental note of everyone i wanted to see. i probably missed more than half of my "want to see" list for, uh, reasons.

friday afternoon we kicked off with some vino and bounced around from electro pyramid to main stage to river to main stage to river to river to river (it was hot ok) and just generally had an awesome time. then i got hungry, got tired and passed out only to wake up in time for Die Antwoord.

the ninja and yolandi were disappointing. but even though the sound was terrible and they were shouting at us i couldn't tear my eyes away, especially when the fiesty little blonde pulled down her trademark gold pants and flashed us all her lily-white ass.

then i headed over to the pyramid and was blown away by Tom Deluxe and Haezer. somewhere between all this my lovely friend Se and i made a sneaky late-night trip to the pool for a little bit of swimming and i managed to slice open my palm a bit on the broken asbestos of the pool floor: fun. the medics were super accomodating even after i'd been back a fourth and fifth time for a redressing. needless to say i'd be swimming with one hand for the rest of the weekend.

saturday passed in a hot, dusty time loop of swims, refills, chilling, more chilling, arbing around and food. i tried to enjoy the "beach party" vibe they had set up but the acts were all scheduled wrong. bummer. and let me just say this right now: Alkaline Trio and Funeral for a Friend: disappointment. i didn't watch either passed the first two or three songs.

instead i revelled in the madness of the pyramid. Mr Sakitumi, Bruce Willis?, P H Fat all totally blew my mind. and of course throughout the weekend i'd amble in and out of crazy reminiscence at the Mercury tent where everyone loved everyone else and everyone knew the words to every song. DJ Sideshow you are pure, beautiful music-love.

my Ramfest highlights:
+ Vodka slushies
+ the river
+ late night missions
+ the pyramid
+ naps
+ redbull
+ hanging around our awesome campsite (Sash, Se, Wal, Paul, Kaley, Key, Jeanne, Matt, Nick, Kyle, Steve and Karl, you made this weekend amazing - thank you!)

how was your Ramfest experience?

oh and thank you Griet, your excellence is well-observed.

pics to follow

also if you've got Ramfest FOMO check out more of Paul Ward's pics of the entire weekend, they'll almost make it better.

the weekend that was

Hey lovelies! I hope you’re all having a fabulous Monday? I am indeedy. This weekend was a very chilled one with a few wonderful highlights, this weekend I …

+ went to the Baxter Theatre Taste, Tweet and Theatre event
+ met a few Tweeters in person who are lovely
+ tried (and enjoyed) the pinotage from Diemersfontein, and I don’t usually drink red wine
+ read comics in bed
+ celebrated my gran’s 70th with her and all her friends with a mouth0wateringly good spit-braai (sorry little lamb)
+ went to Sirocco in Kalk Bay and tasted the most delicious mojito I’ve ever had
+ had four visitors (two from Joburg, two from south korea) staying at my house
+ chilled with some friends at Banana Jam
+ listened to the interview with U2

What did you do this weekend? 

Also, how cool are these stairs?My favourite ones are the first ones that criss-cross and the ones in the libraries.

the BaxterTTT

Last night was lovely. I was invited to attend the second Baxter Theatre "Taste, Tweet and Theatre" event and took along the lovely drummer boy. I wasn't too sure what to expect and it turned out to be an awesome evening.

Diemersfontein made sure that everyone's glass was full with tangy whites and full-bodied reds. I don't often drink red wine but simply fell in love with the Pinotage - you have to try it. We were also treated to some scrumptious morsels of canapes, what a perfect way to spend a Friday evening!

I also think a visit to the wine estate's "Pinotage on Tap" is in order. It's happening sometime around October and if you enjoy live music, wine and the outdoors then I'll see you there.

It was really cool to meet some of the Tweeps in person too. I often wonder what my Twitter friends are like in person and was a little nervous about actually meeting them but everyone I met was friendly, fun and full of interesting stories.

I'm quite a shy person when I don't know people so it was quite intimidating for me to just go up to complete strangers and start up a conversation but last night made me realise that most people are naturally warm and inviting, and once the wine started to warm the insides it felt like some of us had known one another for much longer than half an hour.

We were then ushered into the theatre space to watch the show. Wow, I was completely blown away. Neo Muynga's "Memory of How it Feels" has been described as "inspired by the traditional Zulu practice of exchanging beads encoded with secret messages between lovers". The play's central theme is love, but it's message extends all boundaries. The amalgamation of visceral movement, the musicianship of the piano-, cello- and violin-players and the passionate story-telling was more than a glimpse into the intimate moments of people who love; it was an invitation into the very essence of those moments.

I love the theatre and it's because of shows like this one. The female performer, Chuma Sopotela, for me was phenomenal. Her potency flows outwards through her muscles and her vocal chords and she demands your attention when onstage in a way that endears you to her.

You should definitely go see it if you get the chance!

Happy Saturday lovelies.

Image from here. (I can't believe I did not take one photo lastnight!)

The Baxter Theatre's Taste, Tweet and Theatre Event (number 2)

Ooh I'm excited, I've been invited to the Baxter's second Taste, Tweet and Theatre evening.

I get to take a partner with me (oh, how lucky you are lovely drummer boy) and enjoy a cultured evening tasting wine, snacking on canapes and watching a show at the theatre!

I can't wait! It's this Friday, so at least I won't be stuck at home while the Marja goes to the U2 concert.

Happy Monday everyone!

Oh, and how beautiful is this theatre? I found it here.

The Weekend That Was

Hello lovelies! I’m feeling pretty happy seeing as it’s almost time to go home from work! Can’t believe how quickly this Monday flew past! But, onto important things – the weekend, this weekend I…

+ Got a pizza and a dvd with the lovely drummer boy

+ Went to visit my gran who is going through Chemo at the moment for her lung cancer

+ Spoke a lot about future plans/changes/developments/dreams

+ Caught the train from Fish Hoek to Town and really enjoyed walking up to Kloof Nek

+ Stopped at a bar and had a drink with only me for company

+ Got very very drunk with the Magic Wal on a mixture of wine, beer, punch and sparkling wine (Don’t do it. Ever)

+ Was a brat and the lovely drummer boy still loves me (He is the best)

+ Woke up with scratches and bruises all over my hands, feet knees and stomach (What was I doing!?)

+ Had a rude and slobbish hangover

+ Spent my Sunday sleeping on the sound foam in the Sound Dungeons

+ Realised how stupid it is to drink too much

+ Felt all round groggy for two days straight now

Don’t drink kids, it ain’t worth it. How was your weekend lovelies?

Pic from here 

and speaking of wine...

I just love this secret wine cellars!

how magic, I definitely want one of these in my home one day.
I found them here.

Book Launch

Eclectic Kalk Bay Books

Last night my mother, my aunt, a friend and I went to a book launch in Kalk Bay.

Kalk Bay Books often have these launches and this time it was in the form of an interview with Lewis Gordon Pugh. I felt so cultural standing in the store, with my free glass of (white) wine in hand, waiting impatiently for things to get going.

Lewis' new book "Acheiving the Impossible"

Lewis is an amazing person. He is a cold water swimmer and recently swam 1km in a glacial lake on Mount Everest! It was a lovely evening, listening to this inspiring man talk about his life and adventures with humility and jest.

I enjoyed it grandiously!

You can read my full article on the evening here