monday afternoon surprises.

 

 

 

there are no words.

except THANK YOU MAN GODS!

mega weird

anyone else used this mascara? is the wand supposed to be at this angle? 

i look like an absolute twat trying to put it on. it works fine for my top right lashes and the rest just come out looking so wrong. it's just really awkward to handle. 

do i have a dud? or am i a dud?

 

drumroll! this is some sweet news!

this has got to be one of the most exciting joint blog ventures i've ever heard of...let alone been involved in. super super excited to team up with GLOSSARY GIRL herself and cook up a storm. 

here's a bit of a background explanation from Lauren's already super awesome blog:

"To put it simply, I can't cook. Friends have kindly tried to teach me over the years but I'm a bit of a disaster in the kitchen. Burnt Pots. Fire Trucks. Soured Fondue. It's one calamity after the next.

See, I come from a family of grazers. Healthy, gym-going grazers. But I can't bare raw nuts and the like! So I tend to eat a lot of processed junk. 'Tis no good, I know. But I am determined to cook once and for all. And I'll tell you who inspired me to officially challenge myself before the year is up.

I was recently reading Siân's blog and I thought, 'Heck, if this girl can cook these amazing meals with a handful of ingredients picked from her veggie garden in Zimbabwe, I can muster up a meal with store-bought stuff!'

Siân used to live in Johannesburg where she owned a successful boutique catering company called the Pink Kitchen. As fate would have it, she's since moved to Zimbabwe for love! I read with intrigue how the grocery store is miles away from Siân's country home and that even when she does visit the store, she can't buy much because the ingredients are so expensive. The Zim currency has gone bananas! So Siân's been making scrummy homemade meals with just a handful of ingredients - many of 'em picked from her own garden. In Siân's words: "I love knocking up quick, healthy, yummy food. I bake bread nearly every day and we eat out of our veggie garden."  Wholesome and delicious - sounds good to me!

I wrote to Siân and told her how she'd inspired me to give cooking one more bash. I asked her how she'd feel about sharing one recipe with me per week and she kindly obliged to help me out of culinary ruin! Once a week, I'll blog my attempt at cooking one of Siân's recipes, and if time and internet permits, she'll blog her (profesh!) version too.

We're aiming to do it for eight weeks but we'll see how we go. I'm so chuffed to have made a Kitchen Pen Pal in Siân! And it's kind of serendipitous that we're the same age and living in Africa. We both love a good shopping sesh too!

I was also wondering how you guys would feel about having a Kitchen Pen Pal? It could be fun to hook up people in different countries, or even provinces. Let me know your thoughts if you'd like to partake in something like this. Maybe we can all blog our cooking escapades once a month, or if you have time, once a week like Siân and me. There needn't be any hard and fast rules. I could link us all up and create a little blog badge of sorts. These are just some thoughts...feel free to weigh in! I'll blog my first recipe from Siân next week. And all her recipes will be the sort of dish that you can whip after work with a couple of items bought from a regular grocery store. I can't wait to begin! x

PS: Excuse ridic posed pic of me! Only one that would fit in that area. (I don't cook with sunnies on. Promise.)"

OHHH I AM EXCAATED! so looking forward to cooking across borders with my new pen pal. think it is ridiculously cool that we can share this love for food, shopping and cross-border experiences never having even met in real life.

hope some of y'all will join in to. and one day we can have kitchen pen pals all across the world.

let's start cooking good looking! 

worst and best

this has got to be the WORST shampoo and conditioner i have ever used. it's supposed to be "salon quality" whatever the heck that means. it makes my hair feel like straw...and so knotty. the shampoo doesn't foam at all and you literally need to use half the bottle of conditioner to make your hair feel 'conditioned' 

what a waste of R200! anyone else used it? shame.

R28 later - the RADDEST body cream ever! it's my favourite tub of anything i own. even better than body butter from the body shop!

just goes to show money don't buy quality.

jeggings!

got hold of the raddest pants from jay jays. never given 'jeggings' much time but i tried them on for sh*t's and giggles and they actually rule! i love them because they are the perfect length and the perfect stretch. 

 

 

 

pants: jay jays

top: mr price

belt: mr price

sandals: legit

lunch on the verandah

i had lunch with rox on my verandah (in south africa) yesterday. beaut weather and such a special time with my pal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

today i'm wearing...

love/hate how shots from the top make you look so much thinner than you actually are. argh.

top: woolworths

skirt: mr price

cardigan: target, usa

tights: mr price

sneakers: pick n pay

i heart wedges...the shoes and the potatoes.

cannot wait until summer arrives so i can wear some of these darned chunky wedges of fun...

these are a pair of my favourites from the usa...they cost $20 (R140)

ridic right?

oh and i also got glasses.

new stuff!

so obviously one of the first things you do when you land in joburg from zimbabwe (after hugging your mum) is that you shop. i've only been here a day or 2. i've only just begun. 

 

 

some pretties from mr p.

 

picked this up at the woolies sale for 40 bucks. it says "do a lot more than just exist..."

 

and yay finally a grey melange maxi skirt. also from the ww sale for 80 bucks.

 

i actually bought these last time i was here...but left them here because i didn't have space in my luggage and because i knew i wouldn't be able to wear them inbetween then and now because it is just too cold. but how flipping rad are they?

August and September food pages in Cleo Magazine

 

 

 

last verandah breakfast for a while...

we started the long trek of getting me to harare airport so i could come back to joburg for a bit on sunday. greg made a rad breakfast and we spent a little time together with the girls, taking in the view, breathing the fresh air and psyching myself up for the big smoke once again.

 

omlette of doom! peppers, spring onions, oyster mushrooms, baby tomatoes, cheeeeeese and rocket.

 

 

 

 

 

fresh asparagus! from our garden!

greg arrived home the other night with the most beautiful green spears of fresh asparagus that had popped up in one of the gardens. he then proceeded to make me such a yummy asparagus, oyster mushroom and lemon risotto. in possibly the quickest time i have ever seen. it was creamy and soft and flipping delicious.