Weekend Learning's

The first weekend of October. Something changes in the air in October in London. Yes the weather, obs! But the menus at the markets have changed. There are now warm apple, pumpkin and cinnamon turnovers and hot spicy mulled wine. There are chimneys billowing white mist into the crisp blue sky. People are wearing burgundy and mustard coloured throws. There is a nip in the air but a warmth in the spirit, an English Autumn is vibrant and idllic! Also, while pottering around London, as one does, one noticed a lot of new things. Christmas decorations? Really? One cannot believe! This year has flown. And what a year it has been. This is what I learned; 

• “Like a wild flower; she spent her days, allowing herself to grow, not many knew of her struggle, but eventually all; knew of her light.” - Nikki Rowe
• I love to read. Sometime back home I would stop reading for long periods of time. I find I struggle to get into books. Now with my trusty iPad and kindle app, I have successfully finished three books since I moved here. I know for big readers a book every two months is not impressive but I am on my fourth book since I moved here and enjoying getting lost in my books more and more. I have been reading such scary books that I sometimes get too scared to go out into the hall, let alone get out of the bed and have to watch an episode of Friends to try and relax before bed… funny! I know I am silly… stop laughing!
• "Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony." - Douglas Coupland, Shampoo Planet. I strongly believe in inner reflection. 
• There are so many health places in London. Honestly, healthy, vegetarian, vegan, lactose-free, animal friendly, green, organic and biodegradable eat-in / eat-out restaurants are the new black… it seems. I have many favourites, I am yet to find a smoothie place where I truly love the menu. Most places do juicing but I think they water a lot of them down and we all know me and a smoothie – a love affair in a plastic sippie cup. I had a great one at Crussh this weekend – The Bliss Blend - Mango, pineapple, peach, bananas, coconut milk, bliss blend booster. (I took out the orange juice and yoghurt you will see on the menu, cannot have those on the The Migraine Diet). Was a little Saturday morning treat! Their branding is terrible though… it pains me. Just saying.
• I finally finished Grey’s Anatomy Season 11. I cried like a blubbering little wet blanket, and I LOVED IT! Really was not the same watching it alone. I used to watch it with my little Sis, at least then we would cry together, and then laugh at each other. Quote I loved the most, Owen’s quote; "We're supposed to feel; we're supposed to love and hate and hurt and grieve and break and be destroyed and rebuild ourselves to be destroyed again. That's human; that's humanity. That's being alive," he told Amelia. "Don't avoid it. Don't extinguish it."
• I think its a joke that peanut butter says “once opened consume within 3 months”. Three months… do people really have that much self control that they can keep a jar of peanut butter for more than three months? Wow. A jar of peanut butter lasts me about eight days, sometimes a little more but three months… never! 
• "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close." - Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets.

I hope you have an incredible Autumn week my fallen leaves. There will be no Weekend Learning’s next week, I am going on an adventure with my favourite sun baby!

Xoxo

PS. "Your flaws are perfect for the heart that is meant to love you."

Leave a Comment Autumn, Book, Crussh, Douglas Coupland, Grey's Anatomy, health, healthy, London, Nikki Rowe, October, Pablo Neruda, peanut butter, quote, quotes, reading, weekend

Weekend Learning's

Coco, on top of the world.

Gosh! But it is cold outside! Autumn is being pretty mean. Or perhaps we skipped Autumn and jumped straight into bed with Winter? I believe this is true! So this is what cold Coco learned this weekend;

• After a whole week of no parents at home, I welcome them back with open arms. Actually I always welcome them back even after one day, I love my family and hate us being apart for too long.
• On that note the one okay thing about a house of no parents is I get to have little sister all to myself… and I kind of love that, like a lot.
• A real woman can do it by herself, but a real man wont let her.
• What is one of the nicest things about living in Johannesburg? No matter what the season you can always sit on the grass in the middle of the day in the sun and enjoy the weather, even in Autumn and Winter… unless it is hailing, then you should go inside.
• “Givers have to set limits because takers rarely do.” – Irma Kurtz
• I really love going to events where I am a little younger than the rest of the crowd (this is quite rare I will have you know!) It is also nice when I don’t know that many people. It makes for an interesting affair.
• “Trendy is the last stage before tacky.” – Karl Lagerfeld.
• Sitting in James and Ethel Grey park on a Sunday – it is lovely. You know how Coco loooooves dogs? (If you don’t then this must be your first post, hello, welcome!) well the park is full to the brim with funny wet nosey four legged , sniffing, curious, cute and ridiculous pups! It is bliss! You should come… sit in the sun.
• “Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.” – Epicurus. This I can believe. As I grow I find a lot more joy in moments and humans than I do in things.
• I took a little visit to my dear old Gran on Sunday too. My Granny is one of the rare and glowing people in my life. I hate that nature is taking her body. But her mind, she is a million times smarter than me, I only hope one day I will grow up to be as wise as her.
• All relationships have one law, never make the one you love feel alone, especially when you’re there.
• I did not sleep at all on Sunday night. No matter how much design work I put out into the universe, each beautiful piece, to me, is like a child. Letting them out into the world is not only frightening, but with the additional brutal front of Social Media one has to face… it is mortifying. Having to monitor peoples responses, not only makes you and your design child feel naked, raw and awkward, but truly at the end of Monday I was so overwhelmed I was in tears, sick to my stomach and felt like I’d been mentally stoned all day. Even though there was a lot more positive than negative, the one-year build up and tension threw me. Don’t ever say being a Designer is easy! Anyway, so my logo is up on the walls for all to see, and I think I am pretty proud of me and the JSE.
• Humble enough to know I’m not better than anybody and wise enough to know that I’m different from the rest.
• So my lovely readers… I am considering making a smoothie section on my blog, I’d like to know your views, would you be interested in this or not? Let me know {here}.

Keep warm my tiny stalagmites!

Xoxo

PS. You grabbed me in your sleep one morning and whispered ‘mine’ in my ear. And I kept that memory on my windowsill, and feed it music, water and light.

I love her when she drinks her morning coffee,
and drinks me. And I love her more when she assures me
that she’ll take over the world, and take over me. - Nizar-qabbani

Leave a Comment Autumn, design, dog, Epicurus, family, Gran, happy, Irma Kurtz, James and Ethel Grey Park, JSE, nizar-qabbani, quotes, sister, smoothie, weekend

Weekend Learning's

"I know nothing with any certainty but the
sight of stars makes me dream." - Vincent van Gogh

Hello you. I could not make it to my blog last week with all the mountains I was trying to travel though. When I got to the other side the only thing I regretted was that I didn't record some of the thoughts I had while I was plotting those many hills. I do like a tough work week though. Why? You ask. Because it makes rewards that much sweeter. Even something as simple as a moment looking to the skies and noticing how luminescent the stars looked on Friday night. They were so much sparklier than any other night, through that crevice in the clouds. For at that moment I stopped, for the first time all week, I paused with my two pups to notice the beauty in the sky and it was blissful. This is what I learned;

• It is already April, this scares me, was it not Christmas yesterday? 
• Life is full of give and take. Give thanks and take nothing for granted.
• Le Soufflé is a rather interesting little French Brasserie in Pineslopes. They concentrate on the delicious French bistro food and great service. So do not be alarmed when you feel like you jumped into a casual restaurant in the seventies in France! In my opinion if the food and the service is good I will return. Yum, soufflés! 
• The only people I owe my loyalty are those who never made me question theirs. 
• "A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him..." - Orhan Pamuk
• Do you even know how expensive petrol is? Well it is very expensive to fill my vroom-vroom. So on Saturday I decided to walk if I needed to go somewhere. I had a package to collect from the post office and I also needed milk. As one does when one drinks copious amounts of tea and coffee like I do living on my lonesome. So I walked. I walked to the post office. Then I started walking home and realized I should get milk and turned and went back. Free exercise and fresh air and a hello from the funny toothless local hobo versus the latter; moth wallet and bad car radio experience and wasting gold petrol… Coco likes it. 
• "When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears." - Anthony Robbins
• It doesn't matter how old I get, when my parents go away and I am home alone and there is a creep at the gate… I get scared. It's my past of break-ins and attacks and horror stories on loved ones. This country has scarred me to the point that I can't feel safe in my own home and I hate that. 
• "Perhaps strength doesn't reside in never having been broken but in the courage to grow strong in the broken places"
• Do not get me wrong I love Autumn. I am a designer and I am obsessed with nature and plants and colour changing leaves… it is like Mother Nature is giving me a kaleidoscope show. But my love affair with Summer this year was too short. I have been smitten with the few lengthy sunny days that I received that I want to be selfish and demand more! I Feel robbed for some reason… Am I the only one who would like to exchange just one Autumn weekend for just one more Summers night? Sob.
• “The true mark of maturity is when somebody hurts you and you try to understand their situation instead of trying to hurt them back.” - Anon

Happy week my sparrows. Fly high and brave!

Xoxo

PS. "Attract what you expect, reflect what you desire, become what you respect, mirror what you admire."

I am just loving spending time with my pups.
"Until one has loved an animal a part of one's
soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

Leave a Comment Anatole France, Anthony Robbins, Autumn, dog, Le Souffle, Orhan Pamuk, Pekingese, quotes, sky, stars, Vincent Van Gogh, weekend

Weekend Learning's

The palette of Autumn I love;
white, cotton, touch, breath, feathers and amber.

The last weekend before I jet off on my London / New York trip. Yay! So glad! It was a lovely weekend though making sure I crammed in all my loved ones who I will miss. This is what I learned.

• The sun is up the sky is blue it's beautiful and so are you!
• You know how much Coco loves feathers? Well Feather Head People is my new favourite, blog you could call them. They create headpieces, dream catches, earrings even pieces for your favourite four legged friend! Too cute.
• Of course I talk to myself, sometimes I need expert advice.
• That awkward moment when someone is wearing more makeup than clothes… oops.
• You just can't go wrong with red nails. Sexy.
• Life is too short to spend another day at war with yourself, or anyone else for that matter.
• “Sometimes I miss you, the way someone drowning, remembers the air.” - Tim Seibles. I feel this is going to ring quite strongly during my trip... sad face.
• I am loving the Autumn colours (as above). The oranges, yellows and browns. The leaves falling and the nip in the air, it's fantastic!
• Woolworth's Porcini mushroom pasta is one of my favourite quick meals at the moment. It is just so delicious. Woody mushrooms, fresh filled pasta and it cooks so quickly, instant delicious on demand! See {here} for instant yum!
• "She’s a rare breed, matter fact, she’s an endangered species. Her heart’s been broken and just like mine it remains in pieces. But everytime we’re near each other; smile is all we can do, our shattered souls intertwine. I know I’ve felt the same kind of agonizing pain she’s been through and I find comfort in her grasp so I reach out with both arms"

Have a fantastic week my little filet mignons! You won't hear from me for a while as I globe trot in the snow and shop and explore and eat and and and… Don't forget me! Ill be back before you know it.

xoxo

PS. Move me.

It has to be said, Happy Anniversary Baby,
you are in my nature now, forever. x

 

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