It's 2015 Baby!!!

While I know we are into the second week of 2015 already and I'm now stating the obvious but it's the first time I'm showing up on the blog for the new year therefore I have to take a moment to wish you everything of the best that this year can offer and more.

I don't know about you but I've got big HUGE plans for this year and while I plan on sharing some insight with you tomorrow I thought I should share a life lately post so you know what I've been up too and why I haven't been posting recently..

~ I've moved into a new place and it's been ridiculously hectic but I think I'm almost all settled in. 
~ I had a quiet Christmas with a few of my family members, I can easily say it was the smallest Christmas we have ever had but it was still big. We played games and sat around chatting - it was awesome!

~ I road-tripped to Durban for New Years and my niece's dedication.
~ I spent New years Eve at the Ballito Street Bash which was a neon party (which I found out hours before and I had a black outfit) and it rained the entire night, not drizzled - full on pouring rain but we were good sports once we were there we just thought "Whatevs, let's make the most of it" . It was soooooo much fun. 

At the New Years Eve Bash

 ~ New Years day is also my cousin's birthday and she turned 18 so we had lunch and a walk on the beach... 

Birthday Lunch Selfie 

Blushing birthday wishes

~ The 2nd of January is my mother's birthday so there were even more birthday celebrations.

~ Then we had my niece's dedication (similar to a baptizim) and I made this incredible cake!

~ Followed by my brother's fiance's 30th birthday which coincided with our last morning together..

~ We all said our goodbyes and made our way home. 

The festive season has been good, very chilled and very much family orientated. I think it's exactly what I needed to end 2014 off with and definitely what I needed to start 2015.

So with all the basis covered, I wanted to wish you this.. 

Till next time.. x Nats 

The Creamery, Cape Town - Review

In keeping with the theme of exploring my country, I thought I would give a new place a try. A friend of mine told me about this incredible ice-cream store, the creamery.

I thought she was exaggerating but this girl has an amazing body so I should have realized if she was cheating on her healthy lifestyle, it had to be worth the cheat.

The creamery can be found in Newlands, Cape Town but according to their latest blog, they are moving soon to bigger and better premises.

Last night I went to visit a friend who lives close by so I dragged her non ice-cream eating ass to go with me and I would pay with coffee. Turns out she didn't want the coffee but she would take mint tea and a waffle.

So, we went there at 10 , and the place was packed! We actually waited a few minutes for a seat and then we dashed to a table when a couple of ladies got up.

There are an array of ice-cream flavours and they are super original! However after tasting the lemon swirl and sea salt caramel I chose lemon swirl and the other flavour was peanut butter. I like peanut butter!

I didn't finish the lemon swirl but that's because that was way too much ice-cream even for a cheat meal...

My friend had a waffle with a banana brûlée and she added some chocolate sauce and LOVED that banana brûlée!

I liked the setting, it is perfectly placed near UCT and all the surrounding schools and it's trendy! You pay for the quality of homemade originally flavoured ice- cream and large quantities of happiness!

What's your favourite ice-cream? Or more importantly... Will you have ice-cream this weekend??

13 Things i learnt in 2013

It's the first installment of 13 of 2013 series and I am super duper excited! I feel somewhat bitter sweet about this year. I have had so many incredible things happen to me this year but at the same time I have had some of the hardest situations to handle.

I'm glad that there are officially 13 days of the year left and while 2014 holds it's own challenges, joys and sorrows - now is the time to reflect of 2013.

First up, are the lessons I walk away with. While some are obvious and some may seem redundant to previous years - each of these took on new meanings to me.

1. It's ok to be lonely but I'm never alone, while it appears not everyone agrees - I think it's important to know what kind of person you are when you are lonely and then be ok with that person

2. I have the ability to light up a room as much as I have the power to dampen it, apparently people feed off my energy!

3. I am more fearless then I would I ever give myself credit for.

4. God has truly blessed me with the virtue of patience this year. Things at work or situations in which I have found myself has shocked me that I haven't reacted badly because this is how I really felt...

5. I will not apologise for not blogging because my daily life is busy - after all it is my life.

6. Some people will bully you - even as a grown up

7. Some parents shouldn't be parents because they have no idea what it means to educate a child.

8. Holding onto Serenity in the midst of chaos is an art form but once you've mastered it, there is nothing as wonderful as it.

9.It is entirely possible that the people you interact with on blogs can become your friends, they get to see a side of you that some people in your "real" life never do.

10. A lot of people outside of South Africa are shocked to hear that I am from South Africa.

11. Modern technology can maintain and develop frienships

Remember Juls and Oli who I studied with in 2009 and finally visited them in Germany

Jamie and Brian who I met during a random night out in Dublin in 2010 - we got to go for lunch almost three years later

12. Keeping with Number 11, if someone wants to be a part of your life - they will if they aren't it is because they don't want it enough.

13. Sometimes fortunate accidents (serendipity) occurs but sometimes, you shouldn't look into a deeper meaning when all it is, is God showing you the possibility of what could come.

What are some the lessons you learnt this year?

Travel Post : Ireland ~ the final edition of EuroTrip 2013

I have been intentionally dragging on doing this post because this post, the last installment of this trip means it is officially over!

If you have been reading my posts you will know that I LOVE Ireland! On my previous trip, my friend, Alicia and I only went to Dublin and we did all the touristy things there and I left Dublin with a heavy heart. For the past 2 and a half years I have been holding a candle to it so it was obviously risky going back, I mean the way I looked at there would one of two scenarios:

1. I would be completely dissaappointed by it. I would think I was caught in the romance of my first trip and that the people and the place actually wasn't that great.

2. I would love it as much as I thought I did the first time round and would hate leaving it.

Well there is a third option which I hadn't anticipated, it would exceed my expectations by far and I would fall more in love with the place and the people. This is what actually happened.

When I got off the plane from Belgium, I was almost overwhelmed to be surrounded by such nice people, people who spoke English!!

On this trip I decided to go to Galway for a night so I could see the Cliffs of Moher however when I arrived the last tour bus for the day had left so I had the afternoon to relax in Galway.. this is when I met Aimee and Keeley, they were staying in the same Hostel as me. By the way this hostel was awesome :)

 

I sort of forced my way into lunch with my two new American friends and once we sat down we actually got along really well! Keeley had been to Galway before and loved it and she love's traditional Irish music which as you know.. I do :)

We decided we were going out that night and to say it wa EPIC would be an understatement.

The next day we were off to the Cliffs of Moher which were breath-taking to say the least. The entire tour was unbelievable...

Saturday night we went back to Dublin for another night out. While not as epic as Galway it was loads of fun!

Sunday I got to catch up with two friends I had made on my previous trip (Thank you Facebook!). If I am honest, I was scared that it was going to be strained or awkward but it was so easy and time just went way too quickly. They gave me an unorthodox one of a kind tour showing me things you would only know after living in a city and I loved it!

That evening I didn't have anyone to go with me to listen to some traditional Irish music so I decided, " Who Cares?! I'll go alone!" It was truly one of the most scary and liberating things to do. I went to O'Neill's in Suffolk Street.

The next day I spent the day just taking in Dublin City because I had previously been to Dublin I didn't have any tourist things to do I just got to enjoy the culture.

I saw this sign while walking around Dublin City

 

In the evening I managed to get all but one of the ladies from my room (Room 17) to go back to O'Neill's that evening and it was so much fun.

Ireland was once again incredibly kind to me and I am definitely going back - sooner rather than later! I think it's wonderful to feel at home in a place which is clearly not your home. The Irish are so warm and made me feel very welcome, once again.

Have you been to anywhere in Ireland?

New Month ~ New Mindset

Last month was intense.

Last month this time, I was in Dublin, listening to live traditional Irish Folk music... this month, I am in in Johannesburg, tired from a busy day at work and once again contemplating my life choices.

However, I have decided for now, to give into the warm weather and just stop sweating the small stuff. I am SUPER excited that one of my besties is visiting Joburg this week and we get to spend some quality time with one another! * happy dance *

I have been trying to catch up the blog posts I missed while travelling and I can officially say I have less than 50 more to go. I have been doing a lot of reading but something I have noticed, a lot of my fellow bloggers have been battling to find time or inspiration to blog which is sort of how I have been feeling. Which made me think that perhaps it's the change in season that evokes this need to assess our lives or move us to challenge our current complacency.

So, in the spirit of lists, new beginnings and prevention of procrastination - I want to address the following aspects of my life:

1.Start learning Spanish - I have had the recordings but I never seem to get past one third of the first disc

2. I want to incorporate physical activity at least 4 times a week.

3. Book another trip, even if it's a local trip - I want to go somewhere new

4. Decide on my blog design (have you noticed, I keep making changes?)

I guess my list is not very extensive but perhaps that means I can actually accomplish them?!
Have you set any goals for October?

A cultural experience... Mendhi is not just for henna tattoos

So as I have been saying in my previous posts I went on a road trip this past weekend.  The road trip was for a childhood friend's wedding but I must say that it was most definitely a cultural experience for me as I can count the amount of Hindu weddings I have attended.

As promised in my twitter post, here is more details about the Mendhi. On Wednesday evening the bride had her Mendhi night but I missed it so my cousin, Charne, and I went and got ours done at a salon in Springfield Park. I wasn't really sure what pattern I wanted but we discussed it and eventually we came up with this...

This is the progressive pictures:

And then Charne had her turn:

This is how the Mendhi looked when she was done and then we had to sit and wait for it to dry and take to our hands.

When we rinsed it off, this is what it looked like and I must be honest I forgot that the Mendhi gets darker the next day.

This is Day Two:

This is Day Three:

We were applying Eucalyptys oil and Vaseline to get it darker more quickly. Now it's days later and the Mendhi is starting to fade but a lot of people at work have noticed it.

FYI: Mendhi aka Henna is used for the bride and the groom but apparently the
popular beliefs that are associated with this tradition:

• The darkness of the mehendi colour on a bride’s hand represents the deep love between the would-be-couple.
• The mehendi colour also shows the love and understanding between the bride and her mother-in-law.
• The longer the mehendi retains its colour, the more auspicious it is for the newlyweds.
• Mehendi is also deemed to be a symbolic representation of fertility. 

Have you ever applied Mendhi? Would you ever apply it?