zombies & leopards & geishas. oh my!



poppy the pumkin



 this past saturday, tanika and i co-hosted our first ever halloween party. it really was such fun. tanika and i had been planning the night for about a month or so, going through what we would need for the party. We made about a million lists and refined our ideas for the food, drinks and decorations from ideas we got online and through some of the blogs that we follow as well. I have to say my favourite part was making up the signature cocktails that we had for the night.

we decided that we would have 2 signature drinks for the night, both with a halloween theme attached. the first cocktail we came up with was the bloody cocktail. it was so simple!



leopard tanika & evil angel



 we threw some ice, strawberries, malibu, midori, canadian club and some lemonade into a blender and whizzed it together and viola- a bloody cocktail :) our second drink was simply champayne with a peach slice and peach syrup. quite sweet, but a good way to start the night.

wrecked

our menu consisted of a lot of finger food, such as home made pizza and sausage rolls. The normal 'party' food was also a must, with crisps and dips in abundance, snake lollies and chocolate pastry also around. We also did a platter with finger vegetables & dip so we could pretend we were being healthy :) Such a fun night, with everyone dressing up and best dressed going to the geisha and woody from toy strory. cant wait for our next one :)



photo backdrop w urkel & a hobo



jasmine & dorothy



  

life acccording to the iphone

sugar rush

cute and uncomfortabe wedges

messy early morning work hair



kinder surprise kids



safari

tanika and i spent yesterday shopping for our jointly hosted halloween party. on our 8 hour journey through 2 shopping centre's, tanika came across one of the little revlon mini packs. such cute little bottles of vibrant colours. she was spoilt for choice and ended up going with a pack that contained a khaki, bright pink and a coral. she was intent on using her new purchase and so, home we went, and the nail prep began. i played beauty therapist to the former beauty therapist, as we talked about my up coming travels, which brings us to the inspiration for this post. tanika has been wanting to find a khaki nail polish for a while now, so i guess she was itching to get that colour on her nails.

for this super simple mani, we used a base coat (so important- we dont want stained nails), chop- sticking to my story by opi (from the shrek collection maybe?) and moss by revlon and some tape. we also wanted to use the nail art pen that i bought, but its came out terrible on the nail, so i painted over it. ill just have to practice a bit more with that one.

i dont even think i need to give instructions for this manicure, its that simple, but basically its as follows.

1. base coat.  **dry time**
2. double coat of chop-sticking to my story. **complete dry time**
3. halve the tape and cover the top half of the nail. or the bottom half, whatever takes your fancy :)
4. double coat the uncovered half with moss. ** complete dry time**
5. remove tape- gently! and only once the second colour is 100% dry!!

it might seem like a silly thing to emphasise, but seriously, only try to remove the tape once the second colour is totally dry. if its even a tiny bit tacky, the polish will rip and the effect will be ruined.

and TA- DA, safari themed nails. kinda :)



x

south of the border

two months to go until the trip of the year!!! i have started making a list of things to pack, getting more and more excited about christmas and nye, trying to make a list of places to go/ things to do/ people to see. it’s all so exciting for me, even more so as it is the first international trip that the boy and i will be taking together. if it can get even more exciting on top of that, its also the first time we will be meeting each other's extended family. exciting. and maybe a little daunting. but mostly exciting :)

so far, i have made a mental list of the things i want to take. from nail polish (perfect holiday manicures are a must) to the two bikinis i have bought (so far) as well as which heels i will be taking. mentally i have been putting outfits together for a while, so i think my packing process is a little refined already. i do tend to physically put outfits together and cull from there so im not too stressed. i think im a pretty organised kinda girl anyways, but when it comes to travel, i become this monster, who has to have a list for everything. and you better believe that im checkin' it twice. maybe even thrice. seriously.

its going to be  super-hot and humid when we are down in africa, so i will most likely be living in shorts, rompers, skirts and maxi's. to go with this type of weather, i will probably be rocking flats,sandles and havaiana's a whole lot. and papaw. alot of lucas' papaw ointment. i use that stuff for everything. it is amazing.

so, pretty much, im in super planning mode. and i love it.

pretty pretty

came across the extremely talented australian illustrator sarah hankinson and i am in love with her fashion illustrations. how gorgeous! head over to her tumblr and browse the beauty :)

xx

beautiful curves ahead

i recently came across a few pictures of the absolutely stunning tara lynn who has had a spread in elle france 2010 (as well as vogue italia, glamour and v magazine) and was completely blown away by her. i trawled the internets and googled her loads and even went as far as saving a few of her pictures to my desktop. she is just so stunning. so, because i am so lovley, i'm sharing the love below :) feel free to fall in love.



Tara Lynn



Se7en

i was inspired a long while ago by Chloe to do this post...so here it is. finally.

Places you would like to visit

o   Paris (specifically the Louvre)

o   Cape Town (the countdown is on)

o   Brazil (Soccer World Cup 2014- yes please!!)

o   London

o   New York

o   Spain

o   Greek Islands

o   Macaroons…I have tried and failed. Dismally.

o   Red velvet cupcakes  like this.

o   Decorative pieces for my home. Mostly paintings or jewelled frames.

o   A patch work quilt in gorgeous pastel colours.

o   My own avocado and olive oil hair masks and face masks. I always say I will…and I never do.

o   Chunky bead/ jewelled neck pieces similar to these.

o   Cheese soufflé…or any soufflé really. 

People you would like to meet- dead or alive

o   My paternal grandfather. He died way before I was even thought of.

o   Angelina Jolie- I adore her. Besides all the Team Aniston/ Jolie drama, a dozen kids and counting and the humanitarian stuff. I just think she is beautiful.

o   Michelle and Barack Obama. I just think they would be cool to hang out with.

o   Coco Chanel. I’d thank her for her wonderful advice. “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off."

o   Leonardo Da Vinci. I am a massive art nerd. I adore the Renaissance period.

o   Jesus.  For obvious reasons.

o   Nelson Mandela. Inspirational.

Things you would like to own

o   A puppy.

o   A Chanel 2.55 handbag

o   A room in my home, filled with all my books.  This room will have a fireplace and a few original Monet’s. Ofcourse.

o   A pool

o   A pair of Charlotte Olympia’s, Brian Atwood’s or Christian Louboutin. Or five. Thanks.

o   A Vera Wang wedding dress. Or Marchesa. Or Monique Lhuiller. I’m not fussy. Really.

o   A baby. I love babies, and toddlers. It’s weird.

Things that annoy you

o   Attention seeking people/ people that constantly try to gain sympathy

o   Having to repeat myself. If you didn’t hear it the first time, you don’t deserve to hear it. Seriously.

o   Girls who wear foundation that is way too light/ dark for them. Ever heard of a mirror? Use it. This applies to fake tanning.

o   This goes a bit further than ‘annoy’- but domestic violence. Or violence in general.

o   Chapped lips and chipped nail polish.

o   Jealousy

o   Two faced people

Films that you love

o   The Notebook

o   The Lion King

o   Bambi

o   Titanic

o   E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

o   Blue Valentine

o   Pretty Woman

Things that delight

o   A warm bubble bath/ hot shower

o   Macaroni and cheese

o   Hugs from the boy/ Mum/ BFFL

o   Trashy reality TV

o   Fashion/ Beauty/ Wedding blogs

o   Speaking to my Ouma in Africa

o   desert

Favourite songs

o   Dream Lover- Mariah Carey

o   September- Earth Wind and Fire

o   Someone Like You- Adele

o   Talking to the Moon- Bruno Mars

o   Billie Jean- Michael Jackson

o   I Will Always Love You- Whitney Houston

o   Make You Feel My Love- Adele

Funny Words

o   Guarantee

o    Soufflé

o   Umpteen

o   Thesaurus

o    Metacarpal

o   Geriatric

o   Adjective