Lovely South Africa

South Africa is a country that is jam packed full of stunning things. The arts are a integral part of their culture, displayed beautifully on both the stage and every street corner. Almost every trinket is made by hand, which makes it that much more special and awe inspiring, and the flea markets in this country are truly awesome. I have vivid memories of those flea market family excursions and remember loving them as much as a child as I do as an adult. I'll admit that more than anything else, I remember the food and the smells...the rolled up pancakes coated with cinnamon and sugar, the mango icee pouches we preferred to consume in multiples, the vetkoek (an Afrikaans classic made of a fried dough filled with a beef mixture or a jam), or the Indian samosas that we craved. But on my last trip to South Africa I was accompanied by Phil and Parker James, then 20 months old, and I loved the kid's collectibles most of all. I have several objects that are my favorites, both from my life there and trips back to visit, and these little odds and ends add lots of color to our home. Occasionally I'll even find one of these items sold at a boutique or store here in the US for huge amounts of money. Actually, the bracelet that I'm wearing in the picture above (taken in front of Table Mountain) was purchased at the Cape Town store of SA jewelry designer, Philipa Green. We went there to custom design my best friend Raschika's engagement ring, a awesome ring she'd dreamed up with a very rock vibe (perhaps even a heart or flame engraved into the ring, if I remember correctly). Well, she eventually made a more "traditional" ring decision, though traditional really does not describe anything about her at all much less her final ring decision, and I left with a gorgeous engraved resin cuff. I spied that cuff in an In Style mag about a year or two later. The exact replica! Wild!

Bottles with beaded coverings. Stunning! Imagine the time and precision that goes in to this. And they're made with little effort, it seems.

A dream catcher that I made with Raschika in my teens (a stage of our lives that was ruled by fairies and any enchantment) which has a matching counterpart still over there in her cupboard somewhere, I hope. We decided to start by stringing our favorite sweets, Wicks bubble gum...which we chewed every single day of our lives for as long as we can remember. Then added among other things, a message in a bottle...not to be read until a predetermined date, beaded butterfly from Grahamstown festival...a very hippie and memorable week for us (my first experience at a rave; quite cooky), a feather from the back yard... she lived on a property bordered by the Botanical Gardens, film container from film using days with recent photo booth pics, and finally, our favorite jelly tots (a candy that later became part of a little love song for my kids) and licorice allsorts (tropical, I think) covered in clear nail varnish for lastibility :). Yum!

From the Cape Town flea market (Green Market Square, is it?). A painting that was so ridiculously cheap that I wish I had bought many more of M. Peter Mukendi's works of art. Lots of vibrant colors and a great images telling of the culture and heritage of the people of Cape Town.

From The Rooftop market in Joburg. I go on and on about my beaded fish all the time and I obsess over all the other animals I saw at this store and could never fit into my luggage. They were unbelievably gorgeous and ranged from tiny to life size; every animal you could want. I recently found them at the Animal Kingdom in Disney World and an elephant of the same size cost about $80-$100. Mine were about $15-20. I can't wait to get some more of these one day (a whole safari's worth!) but it seems that I may have to take several empty suitcases along.

My mom brought these home for me from her trip to SA about 5 years ago. They're also from The Rooftop, and so perfectly sweet. A kid sized dish set made out of tin and hand painted (and not to be eaten off of). Also, found them at Anthropologie's website last year!

Finally, the bathroom wall of a really lovely restaurant that Chika and Jurgen took Phil, Parker and I to. I believe it was owned by Jurgen's high school art teacher and she had decorated every single room of an actual house as well as a very beautiful garden, with every kind of whimsy you could wish for. There are so many restaurants in Joburg that resemble this. It's such a joy to eat out. Mmmm...they make the best toasted sandwiches, of all things. I took the picture with the intention of replicating this mosaic in my own home one day. Yet to happen...

There is no end to these sorts of beauties in South Africa. They're every where you eat, or shop, or stay. The people that live there have imaginations that know no limit and inspire me to no end. I wish I could live in a place that can move me and encourage my own creative ability every day. What a gift!

Vintage...love

I thought I'd share a pic of a few of my favorite vintage pieces of jewelry. I love, love, love gold and seem to wear it more often than silver, but am not convinced that I'm a "gold person" (what's it called again girls? having your seasons read?). Regardless, the most cherished and sweet pieces are, from left to right... bangles from grandmother and mother (which each sister has), earrings from Deco to Disco in Tulsa, belt bangle from Banana (a vintage wannabe), great grand mother's signet ring "Aletta Jonk" (favorite item), blue stone cocktail ring from downtown GB antique mall (the greatest place for jewels anywhere!), and my own tiny signet bracelet and charm bracelet from younger years. So presh! Can you tell we have a jewelry crazy momma? She started the madness at a young age. Oh, I need a pic of my niece Adorlee right here. Definitely following suit (already the proud owner of diamond stud earrings minus the holes in her ears!).

A vintage corner of the house brought to you by Goodwill, JoAnnes, Target and Cape Town.

The view above my toilet. :)

Craftie of the week

I have plans for my craftie of the week, though it's not yet completed. I'm getting the boy's room ready for it's grand reopening (or night when my little guys begin sharing a space). I'm making it kind of a big deal for them, in the hopes that the excitement and anticipation will build in their minds and that when the day arrives, they are beyond themselves. We're doing a makeover to ensure this reaction, adding a big bed tent (or canopy really) over the bunk beds and then some other little additions. The start to this project will be the flags that I found from a site called hipfromholland.com. That's them pictured above, though the girl version. Here are the swatches of fabric I'll use, with a bit of the khaki muslin that my mom will construct the canopy from. Final outcome will hopefully be posted later this week. :)

I'm a batik freak!

A good week...

There's really not much to gush about this week. It was just a lovely one, simple and fairly quiet. I'm exhausted, all the time, and so I'm not writing as much as I'd like to, but I'll try to catch up a little today. I had a lovely trip over the weekend to a little store named "Sweet Pea", joining the other scavenging moms at an attempt to find a few leftovers that were still treasure enough at the greatest kid's boutique sale of the year. 75% off everything you see and it's the extra fancy labels such as Tea, Jack and Lily, and Knuckleheads to name a few. I bought a few Tea clothing items at the sale last year and Parker has worn them to the ground, yet they remain cool and intact. So the baby made out like a bandit, while Monty scored one matching-ish outfit. Ironically, Parker's the one who needs clothes. Here's a photo of the booty.

Favorite outfit of the month!

This little get up made me feel particularly fun and happy on Sunday, so I thought I'd share. These are rarer moments when I'm pregnant, so it might just be an "outfit of the month" addition to the blog as I'm not sure I could pull of an "outfit of the week"! Taken from a bird's eye view (okay...exaggeration) it makes my lower half seem like the point of a spinning top but it also makes my tummy look almost non-existent which is a pretty stinking good accomplishment. Thank you little bird for your sweet photography skills.

Girl's Night!

It's about time that I mentioned girl's night, our favorite night of all. It happens every Monday and it's delicious, both in respect to food and entertainment. We began our night at the beginning of the year with 3 of us sneaking around and hush, hushing about our very tawdry purpose, "The Bachelor". But we found that there were others out there just like us and the group (though with a consistent 5) has had about 8 come through our rotating doors. And of course now we've moved on to "The Bachelorette" (a woman that is a rare and bewildering species and a man that I picked as my favorite right out of the limo but who gave us a very, very bizarre evening last night). So all this to say, our group has expanded again and we now have 2 babies joining the indulgence, though mostly sleeping through it. Rodney (boy) - 6 weeks and Ashdyn (girl) - 1 week. So girl's night continues (as we fight for normalcy) and sweetens almost monthly as all the babes arrive (2 more on the way). Also, and almost as important, last night's dessert was unbelievably great (thank you Lisa!). A homemade peach and blueberry pie a la mode. I had 2 huge slices! Who says a exhausted new again mom can't find time to bake...especially when it's for such an important cause. Yum!!!

Now this is where the magic happens ;)

We have recently returned from our 5 day adventure at Disney World in Orlando. It was better than I ever imagined it would be and the kids were amazing. Seeing this familiar place through new and astonished eyes was so beautiful. There's nothing like it.

I want to wear these...everyday

These hair pieces are sold at shopbando.com and are to die for! Each has it's own lovely name, all vintage embellishments, and a handwritten haiku. What's sweeter than that?

The top one is known as "Burst of summer glory" and the next "Walking softly through the meadow". Then the stunning blue has the cutest name "She just ate a bag of skittles" and last but not least, my favorite, "She collects pretty things". I'm completely in love!

He's out of town...

I think it's really cute when my man texts "LOL" to me. Especially since I can never get a laugh out loud when he's right in front of me, even when it's the funniest thing I've ever heard.

The loveliest bedroom of all

If I did not have to share a bedroom with a man, this is what my room would look like. Bursting with flowers, books, upholstered vintage chairs, hand made quilts, cupcakes, tea sets, cherry blossom trees, and meringues. Sweetness! Thank you Anthropologie for such gorgeous everythings (click photo to enlarge for well-worth-it details).

"Crafties" of the week

Monty's birthday party was over the weekend and the bomb! It's hard to mess up a summer party simply because there are so many more fun options, while I sort of dread the middle of Winter shindig for Parker. Especially as he and his gaggle of friends grow! Regrettably, we may have to move it out of the house next time, something that I don't really want to do cause I find it to be missing the magic somehow.

For both of their 2nd birthdays I have made a rice crispie treat cake. Tastes better, everyone takes a slice, and hypoallergenic. I also attempted the carousel which I found in the July issue of "Parents" mag. It was easy to follow and not too hard to accomplish with 2 hands, though the pentagon they urged me to create with 5 triangles was a bit of a feat. Not too easy to put them together just perfectly, which resulted in some overlaps and not perfect lines... but we camouflaged it well. Oh, and my horses I tried to free hand so they were all gigantic. But only the true artists would care.

And then we had a little shower for Bri and Ashdyn, her 2nd little lady to join the family. The girls have decided that no baby should be forgotten, not even if it's the fourth to arrive, and so we have a shower for each. Dining, desserts, presents and newborns in tow (4 out of the 8 of us are or were pregnant; one just had a little man). So all I really "made" here was the piggy bank bottle. I found a gorgeous butterfly which I attached with the help of my glue gun. Easy and cute. Girl's night original dessert treat "M n M's" were inside the party favors and I came across this really sweet brag book at "Hey Daisy", all hand embroidered and divine.

This is not me, but...

I'm 25 weeks pregnant (probably not quite as far along as this sexy mamma) and this picture was somewhat "fitting". So, this is going to be one of those TMI kinda posts for some, but perfect for others :). My darling little sister, the fancy and very important labor and delivery nurse, apparently gets a good chuckle along with her fancy friends, over the varied states of women's crotches (please remember she is in labor and delivery everyone!). So I myself got a good giggle out of the story, but was mostly HORRIFIED! So off to the bikini waxer I go. Alas, it's not the 60 - something, belly dancer, has her own line of nail polish, stuffs the chair with pillows and offers us some peach schnapps kinda waxer I'm used to. Instead, it's a good friend. Crazy you say? Hmmm.....perhaps. Now the question remains, to brazilian or not to brazilian? :)

Last week I tried another recipe from "Real Simple" Mag. Chicken with grilled peaches and arugula. It was unbelievably good and Phil liked it too. Lot and lots of flavor. I used a garlic, butter marinade and fresh romaine instead of the arugula, cause that's what I had. Really yummy stuff. It took under 20 minutes cause all you'll have to do is grill the chicken, red onions, and peaches and then toss the lettuce with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then top with bleu cheese at the end. Delish!