Suzanne Vega Came to South Africa!

I couldn't believe it when I first found out! The very first time I saw a poster advertise the event, I didn't even think that it was for real, that Suzanne Vega was coming to South Africa! I first heard Luka played on the radio when I was just a little girl. A few years later, I was mesmerised by Tom's Diner (found on one of my dad's mix-tapes) just to find out it was the same artist, Suzanne Vega. I remember rewinding and playing and rewinding and playing Tom's Diner over and over again on my walkman. Many years went past and I met my high school BFF, Katinka, and we were both into the oldies, classic rock, rock, alternative and more. So one day I visited her on their farm and she took me into their parents room where her dad kept his record player and his record collection. We listened to Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and then she put this record on, Suzanne Vega - Solitude Standing. Wow, we just lay on the bed listening to this record, it was amazing! Her song writing skills are so… I'm speechless right now. Her songs take me to a far off place in my imagination, it seems like each and every one is an episode I've lived and relived in my mind.

So now, can you imagine how completely surprised I was to here that she would be performing at the Paul Cluver Amphitheatre not far from where we stay?! I bought tickets right away and dragged Dave with me, a week before the show I heard it was sold out, I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have gotten tickets!

 -we have been living in Hermanus for three and a half years now and have never been to this amazing venue! how crazy is that? It is about a 20min drive from our place. The Amphitheatre is situated on the Paul Cluver Wine Estate's land and has recently been rebranded as Hope@Paul Cluver. What an amazing experience! Suzanne Vega was the kick-off of their Summer Festival which run through to Feb. next year. You can pack a picnic basket and they advise you to take warm clothes and blankets. They don't allow alcohol as they supply wine and beer, they also had food available for those who don't like packing their own food. I thought it even more amazing to do the picnic thing-

 -so exited for the show to start, Dave bought us a bottle of Paul Cluver Pinot Noir. Boy, was it delicious! When we got there(two hours before the show was to start) all the seats down the middle had already been taken. Luckily for us we got this "side" seating right at the stage-

 -the supporting artist, Nakhane Touré, a young and up-coming South African musician from Port Elizabeth, was quite something to watch. Unfortunately his sound was a bit on the loud side and as we sat right in front of the speakers we got terrible distortion and couldn't hear the lyrics. Other than that I was rather surprised at his style of music and quite enjoyed his performance. I would like to see him perform again but with better sound-

-the man above right,  Charl van Heyningen, is the man responsible for Suzanne Vega coming to South Africa-

 -and there she was! what an extraordinary woman! she is so talented. She brought guitarist Gerry Leonard with her(standing next to her on stage, above)-

-I don't know what more to say, it was one of the best days of my life! I don't think any words could describe what an amazing experience this was for me! …and Dave said he enjoyed it too:)

  

Outfit Love: Aztec prints and an Owl

Wow! I'm super slow today! I've seem to be coming down with the flu or something, so yesterday Dave brought me some meds to help fight the bug before I really get sick. But now it's making me super lethargic! But non the less, here I am, doing my Outfit Love post. Just to share with you a few pretty items I found and to show off our beautiful surroundings.

NOTE TO SELF: next time tie hair up for photo's shot in crazy wind

~Nude button-up shirt: found at local thrift store

~My awesome antiqued bronze Owl necklace with enamel detail: from Mr. Price

~This Aztec print, high-low skirt is so lovely and flowing: from Ackermans

~Genuine Leather thong sandals: from Mr.Price

~ Oh how I have searched for an owl just like this one and there it was at Mr. Price, just waiting for me to take her home. And so I did! These photo's were taken at one of our favourite spots. It's called Sievers Point and it is such a lovely quiet place on the rocks with the most beautiful view of Walker Bay and Grotto Beach, Hermanus.

xxx

I love Typo

Dave and I don't get to big malls all that often, since we moved down to Hermanus. So we aren't as informed as we used to be about new shops and so on. So the other day we drove to Cape Town in search of a fridge. Our last stop was Canal Walk, the biggest mall (I think) in the Western Cape. Now, we've been there a few times but this time we found Typo! Oh I thought I was in Heaven! All the goodies that I always only see on the net was right there in that shoppy!

 -it caught my eye as we were walking by, it looked like exactly my kind of shop. so I dragged Dave in there with me and he ended up enjoying it 'almost' more than I did! Hats off to the creative brains behind the shop layout and design, I thought the type writers hanging from the ceiling was a nice awesome touch-

 

 -man! this place is filled with fancy and funny greeting cards, stationery, cups, mugs..you name it!

if is geeky, modern or just plain awesome, they've got it.. and Owls! did I mention they have OWLS?-

 -you can also test the pens to see which ones are better suited for your personal needs...

check out this test book! I know, my hand writing isn't very good-

-not only is this the most amazing shop I've been to in ages, they have staff to match! what an awesome bunch of people... I can't wait to go back there! We went home buzzing about this place.

I joined their facebook page and browsed their online shop on Cotton On when we got home that day-

~ love ~

xxx

Love is all around

Yesterday morning Dave woke me with a big bush of flowers and a lovely little gift bag filled with goodies. After work, we took our picnic basket and drove to "Brekfis Baai" (it translates to: Breakfast Bay), a small isolated beach in Vermont, Hermanus. We walked the nature path down to the rocks and found a nice spot to sit. In our picnic basket I packed Marsh Mallow Sunday soda's, a Sushi platter for two and Vanilla yogurt with Turkish Delight pieces for dessert. It was a bit tricky to sit and eat sushi with chopsticks and balance the platter on the rocks, but it was delicious!

  -we had the most beautiful scenery, clouds and sunset-

- everything was so yummy, the sushi was so fresh! Thanks to Dave,
this turned out to be such a wonderful day-

-when the sun went down and we started walking back to the car, we realized that we were trapped! Swarms of Sand Fleas were coming from the plants, the sand and everywhere you look. All of them heading towards the sea. It was like we were in some kind of sci-fi movie, we had to make a run for it. These things were all over that beach, I've never ever seen something quite like this before. It was freaky and disgusting-

xxx

  

take me back...

Sorry friends, no outfit post today. We're still waiting for our internet to be sorted and I can only get to a connection once, maybe twice a week. It's so frustrating and I feel so distanced from the world(you know, not being connected and all). Any-hoo... I do have some awesomeness to share with you!

The other day we went to Cape Town to look for a fridge, and found not a fridge but this amazingly retro 1950's style diner. We were walking around in Canal Walk (a shopping center in Cape Town), when my eye fell upon this little gem, named Joe's easy Diner.

 -We sat at the counter to get that "movie" atmosphere and then we ordered 'American style 

stacked pancakes' is was so yummy! ...they really did an awesome job with the layout and decor,

it makes you feel like you're playing the roll of an extra in one of the Back to the Future movies-

-The staff were all dressed-up in the appropriate gear and oh-so friendly. In the background you could

here the swinging music of the 50's, playing their happy tunes. 

As you can see we couldn't help but snap away. 

I joined them on facebook right away and we will definitely be going back!-

LOVED IT!

xxx 

Hermanus Whale Festival

Every year busloads of tourists flock to our little town for the Whale Festival. This Festival marks the peak of the Whale season and if you're lucky you can see the whales playing in the water from the shore. This year we have had quite a lot more whales than last year. They are also not shy, we've seen the most awesome displays of whales breaching, so close it feels unreal! We have a Whale Crier who blows his bamboo horn when he sees the whales, this notifies the tourists who the swarm the view points, taking pictures and even applauding when they see the whales breaching. For amazing aerial photo's of our whales, click here.

 -fun for the kids at the Festival was moved to Gearings Point this year-

 -Old Harbour: this is where you go for kayaking and other water activities

-Are those people hanging about in the freezing Cape waters?

-It can't be?!: Our Family friends, all the way from Gauteng! We didn't see them, they didn't see us and when I went through our photo's after meeting up with them, I was astonished! We walked right past them, Dave took a random photo and then we went to the Checkers tent-  

 

-What a beautiful display of local Fashion designers' latest ranges and local food prepared by two of our well loved celebrities, David Flock and Sharleen Surtie-Richards.

It's my Party!

Hiya Friends! I know this seems a bit late (as my birthday was last Thursday) but I have my reasons:)

So if you would like to join me for the most delicious croissants ever... meet me (and Dave) at the Belgian Bakery in Hermanus on Saturday at 11:00. If you would be so kind as to RSVP by Thursday so I know how many party favours to make<3 p="p">

Hope to see you then, have an awesome week!

xxx

Lovely Spring Weekend

...Love my Spring day hair. Although it was a cold and rainy Spring day, I enjoyed just chilling at home. I started a new knitting project and I spent some time musing on Pinterest and in the evening we had a "braai" with my parents and I made "smashed potatoes" found the recipe via my Pinterest. It was delish! 

-love my hanky curtains too-

On Sunday, Dave decided that he wanted to go for a drive. So we packed lunch and drink and off we went to the Southern most point of Africa. It was the most beautiful day and the sea reminded me of our time in Mauritius. Isn't the L'Agulhas lighthouse just too cute?

 -it was damn cold! the wind blew right through all three layers of clothing I had on--

 -by the sea...ooh-ho, by the wonderful sea--

Our week in George: Day #2

Hi-ya friends! What a strange month this has been. The first week I had fun in George, the second week I got sick, the third I got busy and then sick again. Now I'm starting to recover and I even know what day it is again. So to catch-up with you guys, I've decided to do a double header this week. This means that I will be doing two posts per day this whole week. I hope you're ready for some fun...

-this day we drove out to Mossel Bay, enjoyed the beautiful scenery while the boys played a bit of Rugby on the beach and a strange old man spent the day with his Dachshund-

-we drove a bit further where we stopped at another beach to enjoy the calm of the waves, the gathering Kelp Gulls and the way the earth became darker and all the electric lights started flickering across the waters. We then ended the night with the most delicious dinner at a restaurant which name I have now forgotten but will post as soon as I remember, cause it was great!-

xxx

Our week in George: Day #1

Well hello... I'm back from a quick holiday in George, Western Cape. We spent the week at Dave's parents place. Dave's brother, Paul, and his wife, Yuseon, came to visit there all the way from South Korea. We haven't seen these two lovely people in three and a half years! Isn't that crazy! Any-hoo, we were on quite a tight schedule that Dave's dad worked out for us. The first day we spent walking the amazing nature trail at Herolds Bay, wow! What a view and to be surrounded by utmost beauty!

-someone had cemented this heart(above) onto a rock, right on the edge of the cliff-

 -there are the most beautiful houses around the Herolds Bay Beach area,
but these ones(above) really stood out-

-Yuseon made us Vietnamese spring rolls(as starter) and Korean Chicken(as main)

It was delish! I asked her to right down the recipe for me, so I will be making this dish soon-

xxx

MATCHBOX...hello!

This is my most favourite secondhand shop in Hermanus! I first stumbled upon this little shop when I was on holiday in Hermanus, a year before we moved here. I've been going back to Matchbox regularly for the past two years now. The owner, Irma, has become quite a good friend of mine and I like to just drop in for tea but I always come home with something awesome! I just can't seem to help myself... Matchbox sells anything from records to vintage treasures and the goods are reasonably priced. I wish I had a truck-load of money to spend there, I would clean her out!

 I love how she displays everything! She even painted the walls and put up the wall paper herself, she is such a creative lady<3

 ...me &my camera shy friendy:)

 Oh, Irma found Mr. Bunny at an auction, he look to be quite old...even vintage. So she let Mr. Bunny visit me for a while so I can investigate how he was made (I've been working on some plushy OddOne's...shhhh!) 

xxx

October flash back - Rivendell Grand opening

 

Dave was asked to document the Grand opening of Rivendell, the new Wine Estate and function Venue on the Road to Kleinmond. Being the Photographer's wife, I was invited to join him as a guest. It was so nice of them, I thought, and when we arrived at the Venue I quickly found that Niceness was part of their service. We were greeted by a friendly hostess and staff and met the equally friendly owners, Heimo and Maria Thalhammer. The evening turned out perfect. The food was not only delicious but also beautifully prepared. The selection of wine was amazing with fruity flavours that lingered and made you want more. I really enjoyed the night. Congratulations on a successful Grand opening, Rivendell!    

October flash back - Checkers Living Table

It was quite fun! The shows took place during the Hermanus Whale Festival, 28 Sept. - 1 Oct. 2011. As Checkers is one of the Festival sponsors, they really the deal on the table, so to speak. It was amazing to see the work of Errol Arendz and David Tlale right in front of my eyes! These are two very talented men, playing with bold textures and flowing lines to create unique fashion statements. Checkers' ribs were good but the wine was better and what made my day was that it was prepared by Nataniel! He is one of our country's most talented entertainer, among other things. He has a way to make the crowd feel comfortable and gets them to laugh till they cry! It was awesome to experience the Living Table! It made my Whale Festival a memorable one.

PS. Thanx to David Badenhorst Photography for the amazing photos!!! 

Just a little taste of what lies ahead...

Everyone keeps asking me "so, have you open that shop yet?" well just about... David and I are opening a small shop in Hermanus. It will be an Art, Design, Gift shop. Our aim is to get local suppliers, artists from South Africa and mainly from our surrounding area. I put this collage together of images I collected from all over the Net. This is my inspiration for the atmosphere and decor of our shop.

more will be revealed soon...

Please forgive me if I cannot remember where I got the images, as I went through a lot of them. The only image I do know, is the top middle one which is from Cupcake Couture.

China Town:))

My favourite sweets would have to be White Rabbit sweeties! The ginger sweeties are quite yummy but very sticky to chew. The other sweets with their pretty packaging turned out to be salty prunes... they taste a bit like medicine. I have no doubt that they are very healthy but they're not so great on the taste buds, yucky!

 Oh, look! We've got ourselves a couple of White Rabbit Moustach's, hehehe!

I just love Chinese tea's mmmmm...

xxx

Hello again Wolves!

We couldn't go to Joburg and not pop in at Wolves . I love that place! Just sorry I missed Angie again!  Maybe next time:(

Hello Wolves. My, how you've grown!

 Yum! ...and stuff our faces, we did!

Dave, that moustache looks rather good on you:)

Hello Angie! I made that:)

The art on the wall looks Awesome, I love the colours.

 Good Bye Wolves, Thanx for the Chappies:)

xxx

DOGBOXSTUDIO now open!

 Just look at our pretty little "box"... DOGBOXSTUDIO is a small studio/shop. We specialize in pet photography because our pets also deserve a spot on the "frame-wall".

Oh, just look at the pretty gray-scale bunting I made for DOGBOXSTUDIO! They're hanging pretty in one of the oldest trees in Hermanus. So if you're in the area, swing by Victoria Square, Hermanus and bring your beloved pet for a portrait and some good memories :) 

Bellbottoms:P

This "outing" happened some time in June, when we were still staying in Pretoria. Bellbottoms is one of my favourite antique shops in Pretoria! When you walk into the shop, you are greeted by a friendly shop owner, the smell of old dusty antiques and the sound of an antique Gramophone playing old records. Here you can find anything your 'antique-loving-heart' desires, from old tins to old-school sweets. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that day, but I took some pics of my lil' package as soon as I got home that day...

Oooohhh....brown paper packages! I probably spent an hour scratching around in a big old glass jar to pick out these pretty vintage buttons. Mr. Kudu here, was part of a Coca-Cola wild animal collection. The shop owner told me that, back in the day, you got a token in the bottle-top of your buddy-coke which you then handed in at the local cafe to collect your little animal.     

It's a couple of squirrels!!! See how pretty they piece together:) These little critters came from inside a Dairy Bell ice-cream, or so I've heard...also part of a collection.   

Whoo-hoo? Little Miss Owl, was hiding in the display case at the counter, waiting just for me to sniff her out. She's such a finely painted pebble, I wonder who found this pebble and thought "you shall be an owl".

Peaches, nickerballs and milk toffees! Yum! I just love these old-school sweeties, he-he:) Half of these went straight to my tummy and the other half went to Dave's tummy.What an Awesome way to end the day.