It's getting a bit chilly here in good old South Africa, which by the way is celebrating its 18th Birthday today. Here it is known as Freedom Day and it also equates to a long weekend, which is always fun. Unfortunately, it seems that these days, the only people with freedom is those that don't live in Gauteng, or the President. But I won't go into all those problems.

Here's to another 18 years of implied democracy.

On to Friday Fancies, I went for something a bit daring, something I don't own at all, a pair of tight white pants. I think I should invest in one for the winter!

Tunic/Pants/Scarf/Ballet Flats/ Bangles

I think my boyfriend has a crush on Rachel McAdams

H

e is a big film flea and will watch a movie over and over again if he really likes it, but recently Flip and I watched a fleet of Rachel McAdams films in the span of about two weeks.

Can you blame him?

When Flip heard that she is playing a role in the Mean Girls (you go Glen Coco), he didn’t think twice about watching it with me, when it played on the telly the other day. Besides it being a flipping funny movie, what guy would really want to watch it?

And then another RMA movie came on sometime later that week. ‘Morning Glory’ or some or other. It was quite boring, but we had to watch it.

These moments of impact

Finally, we watched The Vow, which I sort of bullied him into watching, because we both thought it would be a terrible chic flick.

There were actually a few lessons to learn in that film. Moments of impact in our lives help us in finding who we are.

Even though we aren’t married (yet) we both did a little soul searching and asked ach other if we would keep on fighting for the other person’s love, even if the other one can’t remember. The answer was yes.

We also learned that a relationship that is fun and daring adds so much more value to the bond between two people. A bond that was created by our Maker.

The characters in the movie not only embraced life’s little moments, but also acknowledged each other in every moment. They had a love that was visible and that they weren’t ashamed of showing.

Isn’t this how all relationships should be?

I’m not saying that there will be eternal happiness in all relationships, and that you won’t have your odd fighting days, but if you put the effort into love, it will thrive on its own energy, just like their love did.

"I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands, to speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not and to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.    "

Rummikub and puppy breath

This weekend we finally got around to pulling tearing (with my heart’s desire) at the stinky, filthy, stained wall-to-wall carpet in our bedroom. We inherited an already ugly carpet from the previous home owners, but with having the pups sleeping in our room, and Jethro not being entirely house-trained, well, you can imagine, it got worse.

 The little culpritface.

After a grueling Saturday of working and cleaning, and coughing my lungs out no thanks to all the dust that was hiding in that filthy carpet, Flip and I both passed out at shamefully early hours, for a weekend. Meanwhile, on Sunday we watched my brother play bowls. Yes, the old people's sport. He is quite good at it, but unfortunately this weekend wasn't a good one for his game. 

Mila nearly breaking both her paws and crying like a banshee didn't help much for anyone's concentration either. You see, she tried to jump off a park bench, but her paws caught in the bench, and she made a summersault, falling flat on her back. Poor baby. After all that drama, we retreated to the safety of my parent's house. You know, old people don't like noises while they are playing such an intense, thinking man's game such as bowls.

After lunch, we decided to become a few thinking men and played Rummikub.

1 - My board. I always lose. I'm not good at math.

2 - Flip, deep in thought.

3 - Mom, deep in thought.

The pups wanted in as well. The pointy eared bowzer is my my mum's pup.

Her name is Juno and she and Mila differ just one day.

(All photos taken with the iPhone. Not the best quality.)

She gave up.

PS: I have been really untactful to someone today and I feel like an absolute cow about it. To that person, I apologise once again. 

Tashas Take Two

Okay, so I officially have a new favourite restaurant. Cue Tashas. Flip and I had a delicious breakfast there the other day for the first time, and I was lucky enough to be taken there for a business lunch a week or so ago, and I decided to feast on a quaint (what I thought would be quaint) salmon salad.

Let me just tell you something. NOTHING about Tashas is quaint. Except the decor. The people that frequents the place are extravagant, the coffees are deliciously sinful and the food! Don't get me started on the food. Fresh, crisp, tasty, colourful, EXTRAVAGANT! If you look up every over-the-top noun in the English dictionary, it will probably apply to this lovely spot!

I generally don't like fish, but I have developed a soft spot for salmon. It doesn't really taste like fish. 

Anyone agree?

And now, since my appetite is back, following my horrible flu,

I thought I would tackle this delicate, yet delicious, fish!

I found this wonderful recipe and I'm thinking I might try and make it this weekend.

Potato and salmon tumble

Salad

400 grams potatoes, unpeeled, cut into wedges

1 glug  olive oil

1 can salmon

1 medium red onion, sliced

1 medium avocado, diced

1 large tomato, chopped

15 grams rocket leaves

1 pinch salt and milled pepper

Dressing

3 tbsp  mayonnaise

1 tbsp tomato sauce

1 half lemon, juiced

• Preheat oven to 200°C
• Place potato wedges on a baking tray and toss with a little olive oil
• Season and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden and crisp
• Toss salad ingredients and arrange on a platter
• Top with wedges and season to taste
• Mix dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad

Another idea

• Use tuna or pilchards in place of canned salmon

My family and very close friends will now that I am an absolute word freak. On weekends, weather permitting, and by this I mean shitty duck weather, I like to round up my family or friends and play a few rounds of Scrabble, with a nice tall glass of wine. Or I like to wrap myself in a few blankets, a couple of dogs and a Huisgenoot in which I do the crosswords.

Can you imagine the happiness that was bubbling in me when I came across this post? I nearly jumped with joy.

SCRABBLE FRIDGE MAGNETS

you get on my fridge!!

 

 Oh, freakin happy day indeed! I know what I am going to do on my next, not so nice weekend.

Winter is around the corner, so I'm guessing I'm going to have a few of those weekends.

Funny face

Guys, I have been struck by the flu. It happened after Flip braaied us a lovely afternoon lunch, with Lobster as the main.

I blame the lobster.

Silly. I know. 

But just the thought makes me unbelievably sick to my stomach.

I guess I'm never going to eat lobster again.

I'm still carrying the aftermath of that flu.

Snot and all.

But I'm not here to talk about that. 

I want to show you that my lovely boyfriend cannot pull a straight face to save his life.

 

Yes. That is his tongue.
He is gross.
He is an ass.

But why, you might be asking, (if you noticed) are we taking photos of ourselves in a hospital?
We were in anticipation!
Waiting for something awesome!

We were waiting for this little sweet love face!

Flip and I became uncle and auntie on Good Friday!
Good Friday it was indeed.

Isn't she just the sweetest little gorgeousness you have ever seen?
Her name is Andrea.
I love her already.

PS: I can't pull a straight face to save my life either.

You must be traumatised now, after seeing that unbelievably gorgeous baba and now me.
Apologies for the heart attacks in advance.

Oh frabjous day!

Matthew 28:6

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Happy Easter!

How to: Put Up a Vinyl Sticker

I was looking for an interesting way to spruce up my kitchen. And I decided on a vinyl sticker that I bought at this local boutique flower shop. It cost about R420 or about $60. It was designed by Twiggy Vinyl Wall Art, and you can check more of there stuff out at www.twiggy.co.za.

This is the original idea. Now I will show you the step by step.

1. CLEAN YOUR WALL OR SURFACE. I don't have a pic of that, because that's just nitty gritty. But for the entire excersise you will need scissors, prestik, the sticker (duh) and measuring tape.

2. PREP YOU VINYL & PLAN YOUR LAYOUT. I used the measuring tape to measure the walls and figure out where I'm going to put the sticker up. I then cut it into several pieces and arranged it on the wall using the prestik.

3. APPLY THE VINYL WALL ART. When I was happy with the layout, I got Flip to slowly peel awy the wax backing paper. I was too scared to do it. Start in the corner, the vinyl should be sticking to the transfer tape. Discard the wax backing paper. At the end of the day, I walked around picking up pieces of paper. The dogs got hold of some pieces, and I had to pick up a lot more than there had initially been.

I digress. As you lower your vinyl to the surface, move your hand lightly across the decal, starting at the centre working your way outwards. The instructions said that we should use a credit card to smooth the graphic out, but we just used a spoon. 

TIP: If you want to make extra sure that the vinyl sticks to the wall, warm it up with your hairdryer.

4. REMOVE THE TRANSFER TAPE. Starting from the corner, slowly and carefully pull the transfer tape away from the wall at an angle. If parts of the vinyl are left attached to the transfer tape, stop pulling and press the vinyl to the wall through the transfer tape. Then, step back and enjoy the finished project!