kylee and i

Here we are. As thick as thieves. I hope London is ready for us! He he.

holiday

Tomorrow my best friend and I leave for a one week holiday. It's been 9 years since I last visited London. Shocking!

Images: Big Ben from here.

Kate Moss from here.

the oyster box hotel

This weekend I stayed over at the Oyster Box hotel in Umhlanga. It was my grandfather's 75th birthday and he thought it would be a great way to celebrate his "three quarters of a century". Being the only granddaughter in the family (I have two brothers and my cousins are all BOYS), I had the luxury of having a whole suite to myself. I love being a woman! Anyway let me get going on this hotel. From the food to the decor, to the 5-star service... Everything was mag-nif. So I took these pics to show you a little bit of what I experienced during my stay. I definitely recommend this place for almost any occasion, whether it's sundowners, high tea, dinner (the Indian buffet was more-ish)... even an anniversary. When I arrived, the conceirge told me if I was wanting to watch DVDs in my room I just had to call reception and they would bring me freshly made popcorn! Are you getting the picture? This place is faaaancy. I had separation anxiety the moment I had to check out of the hotel. Here is the website if you would like to read more about the Oyster Box. 


P.S - The Oyster Box can also boast being eco-friendly. And they have a world-class spa. Hmmm. It is really hard finding fault with a hotel like this.


P.P.S - My mom was wearing a supporters jersey because of the RWC game. She asked me to mention that. Ok mom.

zesty lemon and lime biscuits

I baked these little biscuits on Sunday. They were finished in a matter of hours. That's all I'm saying!

Makes +-25

Ingredients:

60g butter

2 tsp grated lime rind

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups self-raising flour

1 tbsp lime juice (you can use lemon juice or lemon essence if you wish)

Icing:

3 tsp soft butter

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp lime juice

candied citrus peel (for decoration)

1. Beat butter, rind, sugar and egg yolk in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

2. Stir in sifted flour and enough juice to make ingredients stick together. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead gently until smooth.

3. Roll mixture into balls, place onto a greased oven tray, and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon or fork.

4. Bake in oven for +-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on tray.

To make the icing:

1. Combine butter and sifted icing sugar in bowl, stir in enough juice to make smooth and spreadable. 

2. For extra decoration, top biscuits with citrus peel. 

look good, do good, feel good.

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? I can't stop drooling over this collection by UK online fashion brand Never Fully Dressed. I don't usually do the whole copy and paste thing, but I loved how they introduce themselves on their homepage - incredibly refreshing, with an encouraging, inspiring brand ethos. (It's a little long, but worth the read.)

With a wish to dress, de-stress and impress, With a longing to inspire and appreciate each individual and each girl’s individuality, Not taking ourselves too seriously, Knowing that you don’t want your new frock to be worn by every Tom, Dick and Harry, Trying to make effortless-chic effortless, Keeping it low key with our stalls at Spitalfields and Portobello Road, Have fun dressing fabulously, for you, every day: NFD blog, DJ, style, sew till 4am, get up at 4am to do the markets, dance, chat, alot, Twitter, and sprinkle fashion glitter upon your dressing up box.

Our very own line of loveliness: Lucy Tighe: consists of crystal clear lines, on-trend colour pallets, casual femininity, flattering silhouettes, and chic classics. Encouragingly, they’ve turned out to be our best sellers, and so enables us to look forward and keep creating new, fresh fabulousness. From our refurbed studio, with a combo of vintage sewing machines (thanks nan, bless her) and modern trimmings, sugar, spice, and all things nice, we’re slowly creating a humble line of beauties that are dangerously addictive, adaptable, wearable and affordable. 

In an industry that all too easily becomes very self indulgent, we try to work with as wide charitable insight as poss. We were in Tanzania in 2010 to build the foundations of a school and a water well for the oh so welcoming community and underprivileged kids of Moshi, all in association with ChildReach International. We try to vary our campaigns, and are currently giving 100% profit from the Emerald Barbie shirts to Great Ormond St. Hospital Charity. So if you can't make up your mind on which colour to buy in this Classic Button Up, maybs that'll sway you. Lets make giving a fashion that never goes out of fashion! This Summer we'r in colab with Malaya Jewelery, cycling to Paris for The Big Issue...Support the cause if poss...

…And as an ambassador of attention to detail, we provide a personal service with feminine wrapping, fast delivery, a friendly answer to your emails, and post your frocks with genuine thanks and love. And if there's anything you want that we don't have, drop us a line and we will try our very best to get it for you...Whether it be size, colour, style, label or a random fashion fix you just cant get your fingers on...NFD are at your service.

 “Who cares what you’re wearing, From Main St. or Saville Row, it’s what you wear from ear to ear, and not from head toe."

The good news is, I am heading to London in two weeks time, so I will be making a bee-line for their shop at Portobello market! 

new suede shoes

Just before I moved back to Durban I gave away over half of my collection of "everyday shoes" to my domestic worker. I felt like a needed a spring clean, however, it left me with a really skinny looking shoe cupboard! Since then I've been on the lookout for practical, wearable, everyday shoes - and I keep finding myself going back to these lace-up brogues from Mr Price. I bought this pair yesterday and I'm completely in love with this shade of grey!

natasha poly dot com

Loving the colour combo of electric blue and nectarine. My blog was in need of some brightening up, so when I found this image on the right (over at Everything's Not Lost) - it was just a BONUS that my girl Natasha Poly was in it. Love her. Always have, always will.

P.S. Image on the left - I was feeling polka dotty so I let my fingers do the talking and that's what they came up with. Well done fingers.

leave it to lamas

I came across this lovely little lama about a week ago, whilst passing a petrol station on the N3 between Johannesburg and Durban. Don't you love the rich caramel colour of his coat? Claudia Schiffer sure does! Her image found here.

water | colour

Ok, this is now the third consecutive post that features water! It's only until recently that I realised how beautiful water is to photograph. I love it's fluidity and the effect light has on it. These are obviously not my images, I came across these on neoprimitivismo, via my friend jp's blog, eye candy. These images make me want to take a trip down to my grandparents' beach cottage on the coast again, so I can make star shapes in the sand and swim in the ocean and become a mermaid again. He he.

sparkles

I snapped this pic whilst tanning by my pool this weekend. Again, using my iPhone. Every time I look at this picture my pupils dilate! 

waterbabies

I took this picture a few weeks ago when I went for a walk at Durban beachfront. Yes, this image was taken with my iPhone! Beat that Blackberries.

in the garden

And here's just a quick post to celebrate this beautiful jasmine growing in my mom's garden. I've been waking up every morning to the fragrant smell of it. Can't get enough.

cranberry coconut muffins with cream cheese frosting

Hey y'all! I'm belated with my spring post. Today marked the start of a new season and, for me, the start of a new job. I moved back to Durban on Tuesday this week, so my attention has only been focussed on settling in, and preparing myself for new beginnings... Yes.

I have a lovely recipe I'd like to share with you - Cranberry and coconut muffins with a cream cheese frosting. Does it get any better? I don't think so. I've been obsessed with coconut lately, jissie... It all started when I made white chocolate lamingtons this week! ;) 

Ingredients:

2 cups wholewheat flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup cranberries

1 1/2 cups light coconut milk

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

1/2 tsp coconut essence

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

2 tsp sugar

For the frosting:

1 tub of cream cheese

4 tbsp butter

3-4 cups icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2. Whisk sugar, egg, oil, coconut milk and coconut essence together.

3. Add all dry ingredients to mixture.

4. Pour mixture into a muffin tray.

5. Sprinkle sugar over batter, and bake for 20 minutes.

6. For the frosting - Cream butter in a small bowl, then slowly add cream cheese to it. Sift icing sugar, making sure it's blended smooth. Add a dash of boiling hot water if frosting is too thick.