In lieu of change...

It has been a long time since my last post and so much has happened!  The most exciting/daunting event is the fact that I will be moving to Bahrain at the end of the year (visa permitting).  This obviously means I face the dreaded task of...updating my CV and portfolio <insert BBM facepalm>.  Luckily I have been getting some help and so things are starting to move along - I am over qualified in the act of procrastination!

This is the latest attempt:

I do still need to take a proper photo, one that I have not very obviously cropped other people out of, but I think I'm on the right track?  I'm also busy working on my online portfolio...however, procrastination prompted this latest post :)

I'm hoping to visit Bahrain for the first time at the end of the month so I should probably get back to CV prepping!  Any tips or helpful crit is welcome.

Liza & Lukas Wedding

In February I helped out with the decor at a friends, sisters wedding.  The wedding was at Strandkombuis in Yzerfontein a beautiful backdrop for the quirky decor...It's the first wedding that I've done and was so much fun!  I must say that Pinterest provided an amazing platform to share ideas with the Bride as she lives in Prague and her sister and I are in South Africa.  Here is a link to the board I created with some ideas for the decor...

Entrance

At the entrance I made this feature of Chinese lanterns and pom pom tissue paper flowers (Tutorial link here) to hide the shade cloth screen...

Table settings

The table decor was very simple, and because the tables are so narrow, I decided to rather use two lengths of cotton ribbon instead of the traditional runner.

Place setting

Each guest received a miniature cactus as the gift and they worked perfectly as the place settings too!

This was one of the most fun and special weddings that I've been to..Most of the guests helped with the set up and I think just about everyone ended up on the dance floor thanks to the brilliant DJ.  I hope that that Liza and Lukas have a lifetime of happiness together...And that I can decorate many more wedding venues ;)

New find...vinyl wall art

So vinyl wall art is definitely not a new thing, but, finding affordable ones that do not peel off after two days can be a challenge!  I recently discovered Gin & Chocolate, and yes, I'll admit that at first just the name attracted me!  According to their website however, their wall art has a 7 year out door lifespan!!  And although they do provide a consultation service, they also sell DIY kits...Generally in order for one to get that sort of quality you would have to go to a printing company with your design and have them print and cut it and possibly install it for you...which in short can add up to a grand total which can be very off putting.

Here's to sprucing up our walls...and having the decal last more than just two days!

Happy dance day!

Today is happy dance day because my blog has already had 41 views (that seems like a lot to me) and it marks the end of the 7 day detox!  I'm proud to say that I only cheated once - it happened last night...I was put in a situation where I had to say no to pizza after a day of limp salad and beef.  I don't eat a lot of red meat and after days of only vegetables I wasn't feeling particularly excited about them anymore.  So I gave in, rather willingly, to a delicious thin crust pizza!  It was worth it...

I was good this morning though and had some brown rice and roast veg for breakfast, but I am so looking forward to my celebratory sushi dinner this evening with a very good friend.

Another reason for the happy dance is that I have 2 sleeps left until 12 friends and I enjoy a long weekend up the west coast - it's not often that we can get such a nice big group together so it should be quite fun!  And there is also only one sleep left until a certain person embarks on the 10 hour journey to get to me!!

So yes, today will be filled with the happiest of dances and considering that I'm alone in the office I can dance to my hearts content!  [And also sneakily look at all recipes that are definitely forbidden on the detox...]

The art of smoothies

Just a quick one before I head out to sort out some of my adult life admin (credit card, eek!)...My sister and I are currently on day 4 of our 7 day detox (Click here) and although there are no 'quantity' restrictions there are stringent food group restrictions.  Being a lover of all that is food, at first I felt like all I could eat was raw fruit and vegetables because bananas, dairy and oil had been cut out.  Eventually though I realised that there are no preparation limits and so I tested out a few fruit smoothies which turned out to be delicious and involved no cheating!  I think...

Mixed fruit smoothie

- Pineapple

- Kiwi

- Plum

- Apple

- Mango

- Frozen mixed berried (no added sugar)

Blend together with hand blender until smooth.

When you are very hungry and in need of something other than 'wonder soup' there is no time for measuring, but I think the ratio was quite equal, maybe slightly less berries than everything else.  It might have been a good idea to add some ice blocks so make the mixture more 'liquidy' - this was more of a fruit puree, but, as mentioned before, we were getting desperate!  Hence no photos of the creation..It was pink though.

Maewi (Mango/apple/Kiwi)

- 1 Mango

- 1 Kiwi

- Applesauce

Blend together with hand blender until smooth.

Yesterday I googled oil substitutes as I have been missing olive oil which I use in almost everything savoury. Interestingly enough applesauce was one of the most popular substitutes and very easy to make - just boil a bunch of apples and then process.  I didn't end up using it as oil, but rather a potato substitute in butternut soup.  I used the left over sauce for our dessert smoothie and it was divine!  Once again, ice blocks would have been a good addition.

Today is milk and banana day, so it should be interesting...wish us luck!

The very beginning...

I have managed to procrastinate this first post for two weeks now...It's funny how one can get a simple idea and then the follow through or initiation of it becomes the biggest mission.  But, there is only one way to get over that..And that is to just start!

My latest discovery was made this past Monday at the Barley Corn in Lansdown Road.  I met up with some friends to listen to Emma du Preez sing.  I had heard she was good, but did not expect to be completely blown away as I was.  I am a huge fan of Regina Spektor; her quirky lyrics are coupled with amazing music and I've been known to listen to her on repeat for 10hour drives (Yes, I do those!). Well Emma is going to be my next artist on repeat!  She has a similar style to Regina and also writes her own songs.  Come May she will be recording her first album and so come June/July I will hopefully have her CD in my car ready for the long drives!

Emma at one of her gigs [Yes, I stole this from her Facebook page;) ]

So that's it for now...I will hopefully have something new and interesting to share soon!