dream house

During the holidays we went to visit someone in Stellenboch and on entering the house, where they were staying in at the time, I absolutely fell in love. I wish I had some more info on this beautiful estate situated in the heart of Stellenbosch, but I just can't seem to find any. The farm-style homesteads are set on it's their own very large plot of land and the estate that has something like 13 houses. Each has it's own dam in front of the house and is surrounded by olive groves and vineyards. The houses themselves are big open plan affairs with lost of light and abundant space. I'm not one to go gaga over a house, but this one would really be my ultimate dream... if they weren't sooooo extremely expensive. One can only dream.

The architects are Slee and any one of their designs would suit me down to the ground. We're talking Top Billing stuff here people :)

large mahogany constellation bangle

So pretty! Go check it out at LastPrize on Etsy.

doggie photos

I love taking photos of my doggies and I have hundreds of them. But I really wish I was half a talented as Sarah so I could also get such beautiful photos of my precious pups. Go and check our more pics of Sarah, and her friends, pooches on her flickr site.

5 years together!

Yesterday was Rudi and my 5 year dating anniversary. After getting married we haven't really celebrated this date much, but half a decade together felt very specially and we just had to do something. We agreed that we would get each other presents, but would combine our dating and wedding anniversary into one so that we could get something a little more pricey, but not spend a big amount on each anniversary. And so you see above what we got each other. Once again fossil was the place to go. I really am obsessed with them! I bought Rudi a stunning watch and he got me a beautiful bracelet and a leather iPad case which I'm now using as a clutch.

After a relaxing breakfast in bed and opening pressies we headed off to Steenburg wine estate for lunch at Sixteen82.


It was spectacular! The food was amazing, the setting was gorgeous and it was such a great treat. I had their  Sauteed Potato Gnocchi with Basil Anglaise, Puglia mozzarella and panzanella and Rudi had the Port Neck Steak with Fondant potato, fennel puree, roast onions and green peppercorn sauce. We rounded it off with Morello Black Forrest Plate. It was a little bit pricey, but not as much as we thought it was going to be and totally worth it. They'll be seeing us again soon.

The rest of the day was just spent driving around Constantia, looking at some of the wine farms, and then lazing around at home.

So, I'm going to get a bit soppy now 'cause I know my wonderfully hubby reads my blog religiously.

I love you so much and couldn't wish for someone else better suited to me. You make my world a wonderful place to live in and I love being able to share this special journey with you. Thanks for an amazing 5 years and here's to another 50 (and more...) xxx

re-purposed wood table

From Magneticgrain on Etsy

cupcake love

*

funky nails

After seeing some great inspiration on pinterest regarding glittery nails, I jumped at the opportunity to buy some glittery nail polish when I say the new essence range. I first painted my nails with Essie mint candy apple and then put a top coat of Essence make it gold on top of that. It turned out great (and just like the pics on pinterest). Something I'm not ever without when painting my nails is Essie's Quick-E quick drying fluid. It's a bit expensive, but it dries your nails almost instantly and, for someone who hates waiting to be able to use her hands again and usually ends up smudging her newly painted nails, I love this.

just another beautiful place to relax

world of birds

Over the weekend Rudi and I went to walk around the World of Birds in Hout Bay. I've been there once, when I was very small, but I still remember the joy of walking around in the aviaries with the birds just a few steps from me. It was no less magical for me as a grown up. I love that you can get so closed to the birds. The owls are my favourites. If you've got a couple of hours to kill one day I definitely recommend checking it out.

cause your beautiful my love

Maybe you remember the above photo from one of my previous posts. Well I had someone asking where I'd gotten that "cause your beautiful my love" print and so I decided to make it available as a free download.

Get it here. Hope you like it :)

stellar prints from yumalum

Any one of Yamalum's prints would look amazing in our house. How to choose though?!? Check them all out here.

cute alert :)

hot as ...

Did you also feel like doing this last week? Too cute and I'm sure it helps the heat.

neon

I'm loving these neon prints. I would love to do something similar for our office, but I can't decide whether I should cut the shapes out of neon paper or paint them onto cardboard. Letterpress would be best, but that's out of my reach so...

secret garden

I wish I had a setup like this in our back garden. Imagine what wonderful times you could have around that fire pit with cocktails and good friends.

i love sushi

And I love these sushi post-its. So delicious :)

Get them here (if you can figure out the Japanese)

valentines ideas?

I had to laugh yesterday when I saw Woolies already has their valentines day goodies on display. It's a bit early isn't it? But then I found this cute cupcake recipe and I couldn't resist posting it as a VERY early valentines day idea. I'm definitely going to try these.

And dreamed of para-para-paradise

Only a week back and I already dreaming of being somewhere like this *sigh*

if only i journalled...

I'd use these rainbow hued notebooks.

soft aqua & pink

 I want to eat this gorgeous cake, while wearing...

 

 ...this beautiful dress.

These colours are very close to my heart at the moment and hopefully soon I'll be able to show you why ;)

jasper and george

My lovely brother and sister in-law have just gone into business for themselves making the most stunning furniture. I'm sure you've seen on my blog that I've been drooling over a pallet coffee table for quite a while and I now finally have one thanks to Ina and Heinrich. Go check out some of their other work on their blog or contact them if you have something specific in mind.

inglot eye shadow

I'm a sucker for make-up and after seeing the new Inglot store in Canal Walk I was dying to go in there and check it out. So I finally go the chance and walked away with these beautiful eye shadows. I love them and they work so well. I also love that you can replace a single shadow when it's finished instead of having to buy the others as well. I'm sure they will be seeing a lot more of me.

confetti wall art

I really love these two simple diy pieces of wall art. There were plans to do the bottom on (I've even cut out all the little dots), but then I discovered that they boards I was going to use for it doesn't really work. So until I get the right size canvas this is on hold, but hopefully not for too long as this is so simple to do. Check it out here.

just some random cuteness

all that glitters

{design within reach} 

I've never been a bit fan of gold, but suddenly I'm finding myself more and more drawn to it. I'm especially loving all these beautiful gold home décor items.

 

{etsy} 

 

{olive and cocoa} 

 

{oh joy for hygge and west} 

 

{kate spade} 

designer showcase: zach johnsen

Names: Zach Johnsen
Claim to fame: Illustration
Location: Portland, OR
Website: http://www.zachjohnsen.com

beautiful table

 More from This is Colossal... These tables are just stunning! I'm very tempted to try this myself, but can you imagine the time that goes into knocking in each of those nails?!?

diy chocolate :)

 This made me smile. I am a complete chocoholic so I love these modular chocolates that you can add your own ingredients to. Brilliant. Check it out here. Also, check out the rest of this site as it features super cool art, design and illustration.

Ok, so the above statement (which I laughed my head off at because it's so apt) is how I felt for most of November and December. Way tooo much work and not enough downtime turned me into a brainless little thing, and subsequently, nothing but work got done in my house, hence no blog posts. I'm determined to make up for that so hopefully I can create some balance in my life (my new years resolution!) and focus on more things that make me happy. One of which is my blog. So hopefully you'll be seeing more regular posts again. 

Ok, so you'll also probably see a few posted dated blog posts popping up. These were a few things that I wanted to document, but never got around to, so I'm just going to stick them where they belong in the time line :), so forgive the confusion.

Happy 2012!

I'm back (finally) and wishing you all a wonderful and prosperous 2012

Typography from here