Cute last minute halloween costume ideas

Hellooo lovelies! So, I have a dillema - I've been invited to a halloween party, but halloween isn't really a thing in South Africa - we don't really celebrate it, me the least as I have my own views on it, but now that it's a dress up party and it falls on the traditional date of the US halloween, well ja, I have no idea what to do or what to wear.

So, I snooped around and found some pretty freaking cute halloween costumes to try out. While I would love to do a couple's look, ie the girl and boy from Moonrise Kingdom, my individualist husband wants to do his own thing. But I haven't planned anything yet. So here are some last minute ideas I think I might try - it remains to be seen :)

If you are looking for something cutesy and fun, these bokkie tutorials are quick and easy ways to dress up your face. I really love the Bambi look and I think it is too cute. // Left // Right

If you are into cartoons and have a beloved character - my husband likes to call me Gretchen from Recess, especially if I wear big glasses - then you should dress up as your favourite one. I think Minnie Mouse is pretty cute, while Darryl nailed the Velma look from Scooby Doo.




 But, if you are a little more skilled with the make-up brush and would try a more intense, 'difficult' look, these sugar skulls are the look to try. I love the story behind sugar skulls, even though they creep me out a little bit. // Left // Right

Lastly, if you follow the Mean Girls rule of "In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up in costumes and beg for candy. In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it" then a little more daring outfit is a definite must. Find your shortest dress and pop on some bunny ears and voila, your all halloweene'd up.

Kantine Deluxe {Berlin}

Choosing a restaurant for lunch in Berlin is tricky; no, near impossible. With ample cafés, five-star restaurants and food stalls on every corner of the old {or as my bike tour guide said: young in terms of European standards} city, I walked around the city centre for almost an hour before deciding on a perfect little lunch spot, Kantine Deluxe.

I chose this particular restaurant on a Sunday afternoon, as the restaurant looked reasonable in price, and I chose it because its look and feel reminded me of home; like a trendy restaurant from Parkhurst has been transplanted in the centre of Berlin. 

And while its menu was far removed from the typical South African Sunday lunch of rys, vleis and aartappels, I still enjoyed having my first official currywurst here, accompanied by a delicious peppermint tea and the BEST panna cotta I have ever tasted. I was not disappointed, as it was quite filling. I would not need to eat for the next few hours after this lunch, and when you are hopping from tour to tour, there is little time for meals.

The restaurant, which is located on Spandauer Strasse, about 450 m from the famous Alexander Platz - the transport hub in the Mitte district, as well as the home of the TV tower and a couple of famous churches and fountains - was opened in April this year. It already features in the top 50 of almost 6 000 restaurants in Berlin on TripAdvisor.

Restaurant manager Alexandros Psifidis - from Greece, but fluent in German - told me that the decor of the restaurant truly reflects its name and idea of a cantine. "We are deluxe in our look and feel, but we are a cantine in the sense that our order system is electronic and you collect the food yourself. The exposed ceiling, with the pipes showing, also lends to this industrial feel of a cantine. But, the tables, the bar, our moss wall and our lighting gives that deluxe feel."

Married for an ENTIRE year

I think congratulations are in order. Congratulations to my husband for not killing me in the last year and congratulations to me not going entirely crazy in the first year - which is supposed to be the HARDEST year. All jokes aside, we celebrated our first year wedding anniversary this weekend and I could not have asked for a better life partner.

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Dear Flip,

I'm finding it difficult to write how this year has changed me. Changed you. Changed us both. For the better, for the stronger, for life. Marriage has taught me so much about acceptance, letting be, letting go and forgiveness. Marriage has taught me about unconditional love, even if it means staying up till 2 am and arguing - because, you know, you're not allowed to go to bed angry. 

The only way I could think of writing about our marriage was to quote from my wedding speech, but I can't even find that. I am at a loss for words to say how much I love you.

Yes, I will probably always moan about the Grand Prix, but then I know I can at least watch an hour or two of Keeping up with the Kardashians without a single whinge from you. You're good at compromise, better than I am. I will learn to compromise like you. 

Yes, we are both home bodies and there are the odd days where one of us wants to go out, but the other doesn't. I promise, one day, we will both feel like going out at the same time. 

Yes, I will always try and push you off the couch and off the bed, steal the blankets, hog the dogs, eat all the chips, chocolate and popcorn, but when I am doing those things, I am in a zombified state. Yet, you still love me, even when you are shivering cold and have to use your arms as coverage.

Yes, you will always drive me nuts with your crazy made-up songs, your silly jokes, your whistling and your inclination to tickle me, pick me up and carry me around when I'm trying to cook, or get dressed, be all up in my face when I'm trying to get ready for work - but the minute you are not around, I miss all of those things. 

Even though we don't get each others' love language, I can say that we are each others' love language. It's the little things that outsiders don't understand, that they find weird and perhaps demeaning, that make us work. Even though there are many uncertainties in our future, we are each others' certainty. You are where I can confide, and where I can find confidence. You are where I can let go of all my negativity, and in return only find positivity.

Thank you for being the beautiful face I get to wake up to every day, and thank you for loving my face, even though you wake up to me every morning - matted hair, raccoon eyes, crazy left-over breath. You are my all. You are my best.

Forever yours,

Megan

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Berlin Bike Tour

Listen, the best way to travel in Berlin is not by tram, bus or train, which is both expensive {unless you abuse the system, which you shouldn't do, and which I totally didn't} and super confusing to work out, but by bicycle! I recently spent a five-day stint in the city of bloggers, artists and parliament.

On my first day in the city, I used all trains, taxis, trams and buses and by the time I reached my destination, I was so overwhelmed that I just cried non-stop. The S-bahn and U-bahn gets easier as you go along, but then - as soon as you get off - you still have to navigate the streets. Let me tell you something, one kilometer in Berlin is a communist kilometer! You end up walking five kilometers, even though the map indicates just one. The city's layout is confusing as heck for a first timer. Here in Joburg, if someone tells you that something is one kilometer that way, it is literally one kilometer in a straight line that way. Berlin, well Berlin isn't. 

So, I decided that as I had a Berlin Pass, which was about R1800 for two days - but includes free trips and museum entrances and many other things - I would make use of a bike trip with Fat Tire Bike Tours. I had a number of options, but chose the All-in-One City Tour. Best decision I could have made while in the city. Believe me, it is just the best way to travel. 

Our trip started on the Sunday afternoon at 16:00, with Andrew as our tour guide. Now in SA, the sun starts setting not long after that in autumn, but in Berlin autumn - albeit a bit chilly - the sun only really started shining then and shone until 7ish. Our tour lasted well into the night, and I made some solid friends - two New Zealanders named Sam and Angeline - while on the tour.

The tour takes you to see all of the most important landmarks in the city - great, if you do not want to walk yourself to death! - and included highlights such as the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, The Wall, Museum Island and a break in a beer garden, in the middle of Tiergarten, the huge park in the middle of the city.

Our tourguide, Andrew, was like google on wheels and gave so much insight into the history of the city and all of the sites we saw. For history afficionados, like me, it was a real treat. And even when we peppered him with questions, he was still so well prepared to answer them.

The great thing is that you can also rent a bike for about 10 euros a day - or R150 - and explore the city on your own. This is only advisable if you do not mind getting lost or treading far.

The next day, I met up with Angeline and Sam (the New Zealanders) and did just that. Angeline was born in South Africa, but her parents moved to NZ when she was 9 years old. However, she still speaks Afrikaans, so we spent the whole day chatting away, while poor Sam understood little more than asseblief and dankie.

TOP TIP: The Europeans drive on the wrong side of the road, so you have to check yourself when riding your bike. Are you on the correct side of traffic and are you in the wrong bike lane {or on pedestrian territory}? I got many foul scowls from German pedestrians because I was not in my lane. It can be very confusing.

Also, if you hear a cling cling cling coming from behind you, it means "Get the hell out of my way!". All the bikes have little bells on them that warn people that they are about to get hit by a bike. People also don't seem to like when you ring your bike bell out of enthusiasm. In Germany, it is strictly about business. Don't be the girl or boy who cried bike bell - you will get such awful looks.