Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wednesday Wonders

I almost forgot that today is Hump Day, and therefore, almost forgot to do a Wednesday Wonders list! This week is motoring on by me! Time to slow down and catch a breath, I think.



Source
 * Mia, the rock star aunty who walked past my office door on Friday. The girl was gorgeous! Straight black hair with a blunt fringe, green eyes, perfect - and I mean PERFECT - skin. Stylish, too: Leopard print kaftan, leather pants, platform boots, bag with studs and chains. Awesome: having a huge party racing her nieces down the walkway. When I grow up, I want to be an aunty like that!

* Surprise awesomeness in unexpected places and people

* Wanderlust

* Spontaneous pool playing on Friday night, which included a Kill Heidi t-shirt (much to Heidi's amusement), and some random stoner dudes who didn't want to eat our perfectly good left-over pizza. Jo'burg... it'll make you suspicious of everyone.

* Born This Way. It may be extremely reminiscent of Express Yourself, but I love it all the same. Maybe even because of that.

* Shoe-Lust. This week, I've drooled over the following:
          - Melissa & Vivienne Westwood Anglomania Lady Dragon
          - Melissa & Vivienne Westwood Anglomania Croco Mary Jane
          - Melissa & Vivienne Westwood Anglomania Temptation
          - Melissa Temptation
          - Melissa & Jean-Paul Gaultier

Random things that made me smile this week:

* getting stuck in to planning new ventures and adventures * rain coming back for a few days * the weather starting to cool a little bit (while I love the warm weather, I'm a sucker for autumn and winter! Scarves! Layers! Boots! Gloves! Being the brightest thing in the room because I love colour so much! cough) * all the orchids around me at the moment * the mystery of mortlake mansion (I'm a sucker for puzzle games) * fighting for what's right, and trying to stay graceful and stylish while doing it * room tidying and cupboard organising * having a huge donation bag for charity after afore-mentioned room cleaning and cupboard organising * my husband cooking dinner while I listen to our wedding playlist * angel feathers appearing out of nowhere just when I've needed them * rekindled excitement for what's coming this year * new tablets which are making me feel better, sharper and more prepared for anything *

Until next week, mas petite chous!

x

Dear... Orange Scissors

In which I write letters to inanimate objects, food and drinks, events, famous people and more random subjects than even I can anticipate.




In better days...
Why did you leave?
*sniff*
I miss you. I miss the sharpness of your wit, your edgy fashion choices (orange is certainly not for everyone, dahling, especially not as an every day signature look), I miss the way your bold style choices make your fashion crit of everyone else cut like... well... only you could.

While I can live without you for a whole, I can't live without you forever. Sure, sleeker, sharper, hell, even more effective models will come along and try to tempt me away from you, but life isn't the same without my hand in yours.

It feels like forever since I last saw you. I hoped you had just been hanging around someone else's desk, catching up on the office stationery banter, but I've come to realise that you aren't coming back. 'Maybe you're being held hostage,' I thought when you first left. 'Maybe it's only a matter of time before I get the ransom note. Maybe they'll even use you to cut up the letters for the demand.' I hung on to the hope for some time, but I see now that it's not like that. I've asked around - nobody seems to know where you've gone. You just up and left.

So, I've started to move on.
Now, instead of reaching for your sun-kissed handles when I need to divide a document, I reach for my purple ruler. Purple. The colour of the bruise you've left. It leaves a rough tear along one edge.
Now, when I need to slice through the tape on a box, I reach not for your smooth curves, but for a blunt pencil, a key, or even my earring.
You see? My life really is better with you in it.
Come back?

Yours, wistfully,

Miss Boo

** Edit: The day after I posted this, my beautiful scissors came back to me, after their prolonged abscence. Either they were kidnapped (scissor-napped?) and the 'napper felt pity after reading this, or the scissors themselves read it and understood I didn't mean it. Either way, they're back, and reunion is sweet!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Gimme Shelter // The Rolling Stones

Gimme Shelter // The Rolling Stones
Gimme Shelter // The Rolling Stones by ShellyNu featuring leopard print jackets
Going to play pool tonight, for the first time in ages. Really looking forward to it! yay!!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wednesday Wonders

- Being married for almost two weeks! OMG, I cant believe how fast time has gone already! Two weeks ago today, I was still a so-called ‘single’ woman. Haha!

- Wedding photo teasers by SimplyDinee


- U2 360. OMG, hands down, THE BEST CONCERT I’VE EVER BEEN TO. We’ve done a lot of concerts, but I swear, I could never even have imagined the magnitude of awesomness that that engulfed FNB stadium on Sunday night. The buzz - and the pain in my legs after dancing non-stop for 6-odd hours - is lingering still. This video shows the physical magnitude of the show, but nothing could describe the atmosphere and inspiration that has filled me after that.

- Discovering my secret talent. It happens to be totally useless, but hey, at least I know what it is!
(I know you're wondering... It’s the ability to guess correctly who will be the next contestant on old British ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ episodes. Marvellous.)

- Perspective. Grasping it never fails to make me feel like there is infinite potential EVERYWHERE.

- Anticipation for new ideas

- Looking forward to catching up on sleep! After the last few weeks, I haven’t had nearly enough, and I can’t wait to lie in on Sunday and just snoooooooooze!

Random things that made me smile this week:

* tiny little girls in super-puffy tutus * Valentine’s Day Twins arriving to Maja Boo’s cousin * saying ‘my husband’ and not being ironic or sarcastic * crazy, random guys on the train back from the concert who, despite being a bit pissed and obnoxious-in-a-really-fun-way still gave up their seats for Maja and I * said guys heckling the police and making them laugh * waving at random people we didn’t even know in the crowd at the concert, because they were doing the whole ‘Can you see me? I’m waving!’ thing in the crowd * having them wave back as if they’d found who they were looking for * being spotted in a crowd of almost 100 000 people by people I work with - BECAUSE OF MY HAIR * juggling the TV schedule for the weekend - it’s been SO long since we just stayed in and vegged out on the couch, and with the rugby starting this weekend, as well as a stack of awesome movies incoming, I intend to move NOT ONCE * Super 15 season starting this weekend! * new blog design *

Yea, that’s it for now. If I don’t stop now, I might still be going tomorrow! Wha-at? It’s been a while!

PS: Can’t wait to blog some more photos from the wedding, and give you a proper re-cap, but Nades has been pretty hectic this week. Pop over to her blog and fill her comments to ‘motivate’ her! Hehe

X

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

A list of cool on a Tuesday

* Florence + The Machine - Heavy in Your Arms - I LOVE THIS SONG! And the video is even more beautiful. Too bad it's on the Twilight soundtrack, but hey... if you like people despite their bad taste in music, you can like music despite its bad taste in movies, right?

* Awesome weddings I've come across online this week, which have made me feel so much better about our oh-so-different ideas for this weekend, and shown that they will work beautifully!
  -  Such as:
     ~ Nathaniel & Eve's Quickie Wedding (Rock n Roll Bride)
     ~ Rob & Justine's Beeeautiful Art Retreat South African Wedding (Rock n Roll Bride)
     ~ Amy & Jonathan's Cute, Vintage, Village Hall Wedding (Rock n Roll Bride)
     ~ Wanjiru & Ricky's mish-mash of colour and fun wedding (Offbeat Bride)
  -  Also, weddingy-related drool-tastic images

* Okay, enough with weddingy stuff ... for now! On to another passion of mine: Grammar Policing!

* Ghoul Next Door

* There She Goes My Beautiful World - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

* Adele - Rolling in the Deep

It's a short one this week, because I've been preoccupied with rushed prettiness. But I can rest assured that it's going to be beautifully rushed prettiness, and SO worth it! I promise to resume regular, not-strictly-wedding-related programming soon!


"You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life. Everything I am and everything I want out of life goes back to that. "Billie Holiday

x

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Zombieland - Montage (Video)

What it is to "Go Tallahassee"

Wednesday Wonders


* Florence + The Machine's Heavy in Your Arms: I was a heavy heart to carry / But he never let me down / When he had me in his arms / My feet never touched the ground

* The rain, which is making the garden nice and lush; and just in time, too!

* The Universe, which is beautiful, although tough. She is putting obstacles in my path at the moment, but I get the distinct feeling that she’s sitting back and smiling smugly to herself when I overcome them or find an alternative solution. That’s great, but I hope she doesn’t think she can keep this up for too long; I can only learn so much at a time, you hear?!

* Having (mostly) awesome new hair! Now all I need is for my fringe to be cut the way I want it, and I’m A for away! This will be fixed in the next week or so, though, so it’s no worries. I’m looking forward to a blunt-ish, choppy-ish piepie fringe again! Yay!

* I’ve had a bit of a cold for the last few days, but today, finally, I feel like my constant scowling at it has made it self-conscious; it’s now retreated back into its shadowy, siff little corner, pouting.

* Daily task lists! I am the world’s LEAST organized person – I’m a Cancerian, what can you expect?? – but I have taken a page out of the Virgo organization book, and have started to make to-do lists every day. I’m loathe to admit it, but you Virgos? You’re kind of on to something here. No wonder you are such happy, productive people! My tasks on an average day include things like “Wake Up” – tick; “Take Tablets” – tick; “Book Wax” – tick; “Send passport number to best friend whose wedding you are attending… IF YOU REMEMBER TO SEND HER YOUR PASSPORT NUMBER” – still unticked… for now. That way it’s entirely possible to have some items ticked off every single day, and not feel bad about not achieving stuff, because, clearly, I have. Now I just have to manage my stationery so that I don’t have to write the same list in three different books at the start of each day… Hmmm….

* Hitting the last stretch of wedding crafting. I know, it feels like this wedding has been in ‘planning’ mode forEVER, and that’s only because it has. BUT, with things changing as drastically as they did last year, we didn’t know where we were going with it, and stopped all wedding-related activities. But, since we decided, three weeks ago, that, yes, we still wanted to do it, and we wanted to do it fast, I have been crafting at full tilt. In the last week, I’ve put wire handles on about 40 coke bottles (another 40 or so to go!); I’ve made about 7 tissue paper pom poms (with a whole hoard still to be done); I’ve made a chandelier out of paper doilies; I’ve made banners and I’ve painted bottles. Now I just have to finish the rest! In a week! BUT I’m not freaking out at this stage, because I have made such good progress in the past week, and I know that I can get it all done and dusted before the party, so it will all be fine and beautiful.

* On another Virgo-like note, planning for the next 12 months; vision boards, flow charts and lists et al! There are big changes coming to my life, and our lives, in the next year. The time is right and I’m not going to lose this chance!

* My in-built ability to laugh at the toughest of times, to make other people laugh when they think they’ve forgotten how to, and to appreciate every little thing as a gift. (That last one is a bit of a downfall too, because it means I attach sentimental value to EVERYTHING. Which makes it a bit difficult to let go of anything.)
* For the first time since we got engaged (almost two years ago!!) I am feeling really, truly excited about getting married. I’ve spent most of today grinning and bouncing and squeeing, just because I’m so happy. This time around, with this set of plans in action, it just feels right. We are meeting with the minister tonight to discuss the ‘ceremony’ and our paperwork, and even that has had me emitting a high frequency squeak every time I think about it. Seriously, I have become one of those squeaking brides. Oh well, at least it’s only another week that I will be squeaking “I’m getting married!” to myself and anyone else within earshot. After that, there will be a few weeks of “I’m married!” or “Call my husband – SQUEEE!”  and then the bunnies can restore balance. * The fact that it’s lunchtime and I have a stash of fruit to look forward to!

* Payday was this week! Yay! I had fancy food for lunch yesterday – Chicken Livers with pita bread and a peri-peri sauce (YUM), and have my eye on a dress that would usually be out of my budget. BUT, since there’s this special occaision, I have an excuse to buy a funky dress. The bonus is that it’s a dress I know I would wear over and over again, until it falls apart, so it’s value for (quite a lot) of money. It’s a dress I could wear in summer or autumn or winter or spring, all in different and equally awesome ways. Also: I DREAMT ABOUT THE DAMN DRESS LAST NIGHT, so it’s pretty clear I HAVE TO HAVE IT.


* Adele's Rolling in the Deep: There's a fire starting in my heart / Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark

* The fact that it's lunchtime and I have a stash of fruit and gorgeous food to look forward to.
* "What whiskey and butter cannot cure, there is no cure for." - - Irish Proverb

Right, my stomach seems to be grumbling, “I’m very happy for you and your gratitude list, but I’m HUNGRY!” I have no choice but to obey its command.

Until later, ma cheries!

X