Thursday, April 21, 2011

Botswana here we come...

Aaaaaahhhh. Extremely excited.

This is little lady and I are taking a little trip across the border to Botswana.

So let me introduce you... This is one of my closest friends, Dawn. Beautiful, crazy, intelligent, hilarious beyond words, a poet in hiding, a music fanatic and a shit hot copywriter. The one person I can proudly say is more dramatic than I am. Love her to bits and looking forward to our little adventure...

And why are we going?

A few reasons actually - we've never been, couldn't imagine staying in Joburg over the Easter holidays and last but not least... To visit this gentleman right here...

This is Ewetse. I've known him for six or seven years and to this day couldn't succinctly describe him, what I can do is tell you how much I love him and can't imagine him not being a part of my life. He has two little bambino's I haven't met and I am so excited to spend some time with them.

Anyway, I know very little about Bots, and hope to change that by the time we return next week. Yippee kah yay.

Joburg you devil...

Sometimes this city can just take your breath away
Forget the trivial, make it what you want and it can do wonders for you...
Everyone who knows me knows that I've never loved this town, and look forward to leaving it at the drop of a hat... but lately, I've been looking at it a little differently.

I haven't changed my mind about never settling here, but I do vow to enjoy every second I have with it.


Joburg sunset captured by brilliant photographer Mpumelelo Macu

Maybe Not...

It is perfectly alright to expect the best
It is perfectly alright to walk away from less than what you deserve
It is perfectly alright to want more...

Source: http://true-2-my-rootz.blogspot.com/

I have bowed out of a couple of these half hearted ships - a week into it, a month, a year or two, however long - but I can say I am very proud of myself for believing in myself and what I deserve. In recent years I've learned how to see the signs, accept the truths and walk away and it has saved me a lot of heart ache

I may expect too much from others, but honestly, it is because I wouldn't hesitate to give that much or have that much expected of me...

Here's to life, love and laughter the way I want it.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

My birfday...

March 26 2011 - Made it safely to my crown year... A whole 26
I certainly had to make special, simple and celebratory because leading up to it all I could think about was how my mother was married and giving birth to me when she was 26, going for her second degree, doing what she loved. I miss her. I would love to hear her laugh again... anyway, I digress.

I took leave from work, spent 4 fantastic days in Cape Town - the city that won't let go of my heart - enjoying the sun and smiles.

Some pics my friend, Rose, took over the weekend... Selection of Camps Bay, Old Biscuit Mill and District 6 Cafe moments
Walking in Camps Bay

Stuffing my face at Old Biscuit Mill. Got the most beautiful leather shoes at the Designer Market...

The ever fabulous Ody and Zwe. Kisses my hearts




Neo partying like a journalist...

I Miss you Neo #PartylikeaJournalist

Don't believe my heart...

There are a million quotes out there that basically tell you that you should just follow the heart....
 Lately though, I've been a little weary of my heart and it's inexplicable instructions.

I want to scream at it and tell it to just shut up for a minute. I love love. I love to love, love to be in it, love to experience it - but sometimes it, while the ache is raw, it just doesn't seem worth it.

Is there anything more misleading, confusing and disorientating as the heart? Then in the same breath, is there anything that makes you feel more sure, secure, happy, and fulfilled than following this petulent being that just wants what it wants?


I don't know what to think, I don't know what to feel, but I'm stuck between ignoring what my heart wants and just throwing caution to the wind and doing exactly what it wants me to do. It's not even exclusive to realtionships, it's about work, play, life.


One day at a time for now...

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Cafe Del Sol...

* Disclaimer: I tried and tried to rotate some of these images - but they are striking against me.*

Last week, my team and I went for a very beautiful lunch and Joburg gem of a restaurant. The purpose of the lunch was to bid farewell to a true Ogilvy heroine, the awesome Miss Kay.

Cafe Del Sol is exquisite, welcoming family run Italian restaurant in the northern suburbs of Jozi. Incredible deco with inspirational quotes plastered on the walls, the floors, printed on cushions and napkins. The staff are friendly and well versed on the menu. It is just perfect - save for the lacking in a smoking section. (They have a comfy couch outside for those of who take part in the terribly satisfying habit)
Sideways view of the bar area.

Another squint view - main restaurant area

There's a sweet little corner with this beautiful couch

Oscar Wilde

Two of my colleagues - Shannon and Sethabile. We arrived a little early - no complaints

This fountain makes the most calming sound through the restaurant

Cushions with quotes










They have the most incredible tea collection - this was the chamomile

Look at all the flavours - less than R20

Predictably I had the Vanilla Bean - my favourite scent and taste


skew team

I completely forgot what this was - think it was the wrapped chicken

Squid heads

I had the stuffed calamari - delicious
Will certainly go back. Considering it is around the corner from my house. Super Bonus - they serve Diemersfontein Pinotage.

Cafe Del Sol - 011 704 6493

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Le Crush...

I have a crush. Yes, butterflies, blushing, imagining...
I don't like having this crush because too many factors say no
I'm overthinking the whole thing. Does he like me? Is there a next step? Will it work? Should we?
I like him. He's adorable and complex and simple
If I kiss him, does he stop being a crush?
Argh
Life used to be so simple

Amazing Lerato from CT has this beautiful ink on her arm...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Dear Good Men...

Dear Good Men

Thank you. Thank you for being there for us - your friends, your girlfriends, your wives, your sisters, your daughters, your mothers, your partners. Thank you for protecting us, thank you for sharing with us for helping us realise our potential, for making us see our own beauty and worth, for empowering us, for being our strength and our weakness. Thank you for the love, thank you for the appreciation and Thank You for knowing when to say I'm Sorry. Thank you for knowing that we can do it on our own and letting us know that we don't have to.

Thank you Siphiwe Mpye for showing us we are heard...
Click and read

Monday, April 11, 2011

Inspiration...

Love these earrings that Jess is wearing and I.just.cannot.stop.thinking.about.them!!

Entertaining responses to RED...

As we all know, unless you've been safely tucked in a cave, is that one of our cellular service providers has taken the colour red as its new outfit. I won't go into the intrinsics of the campaign to paint the country red, but will show you some tactical responses that caught my attention...

Virgin Active...
Virgin went a simple and almost 'stick our tongue out' route which isn't all that impressive because a lot of brands could claim the same stake - but I guess they also 'said' it first.

Dulux...
This I thought was very clever and tongue in cheek. Bonus point for keeping to their "any colour you can think of" pay off line. Well done Dulux
 I wonder who is getting more attention though - Vodacom (Baby Vodafone) or the brands taking a jibe at the cellular network?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

State of mind....

Blue - Leather /  Silver - Metal  / Brown - Straw
I got myself three pairs of earrings a couple weeks ago and for the past few days have been wondering why, in one day, I picked the same coiled shape.
Yes, they each have their differences, but the essence is the same. Straw, leather and metal spirals.
Is my state of mind hinting at the possibility of my life spiraling out of control? I wonder... I wonder....

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Lion Matches Ring...

I am in love with Beverley Price. She takes everyday South African brands like Surf, Five Roses tea, Black Cat peanut butter packaging / branding and other popular images and makes the most interesting and cool accessories. He jewelery is unique, fun, striking and light.

Recently bought myself this gorgeous ring from Journey store on Long Street, Cape Town where she stocks her creations.
Lion Matches

As you will see from this picture of my 16 favourite earrings, Bev Price’s stuff features more than once. Love love love.

Now to stalk her and have her make me super exclusive gorgeousness. Best part is that I don’t have to go all the way to Cape Town to get her jewelery as she’s right here in Joburg.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Fly me away....

For my 26th birthday just over a week ago, I decided to spend the weekend in Cape Town for sun, sea, food, friends and cocktails, oh and of course the Cape Town International Jazz festival which was especially co-ordinated to coincide with my crown birthday celebrations (Thanks ESPAfrika). Anyway, I flew the green low cost airline with the mispronounced name both ways and this is who my letter is directed to.

We all know that these supposed ‘open letters’ have a format – preamble, praise, complaint, diplomatic conclusion or something along those lines. So here goes....

Dear Kulula

After much debating, I elected you as my preferred mode of transport from Johannesburg to Cape Town for an epic weekend away to celebrate my born day weekend towards the end of March 2011.  You won my patronage by having the lowest cost, the fact that I could depart and land at Lanseria airport,  which is thankfully only 20minutes from my house, and finally because I can use my Discovery Vitality for a small but significant discount. You also surprised me by giving me R50 moola when I signed up to be a Jetsetter, which went towards the total discount for my return trip. For all that, I thank you. 

Bow down to you...
You usually have friendly staff members who always have a smile on their faces and this has not changed, at least in my experience with your airline. Your quirky on air exercises are most entertaining, even if a little cheesy. I especially love the cabin crew’s script that takes a funny jab at other airlines and goes something like “remember, mango's are good, but you must have your greens.  We don’t want to see you one time; we want to see you all the time”. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, flying to and from Lanseria is such a breeze because it’s close by. So thanks for making life a little easier and lighter. 

Thorn in my side...
I am not at all a fussy or impatient passenger. I’m a ‘go with the flow’ kind of traveler; which means that very little bothers me, I don’t get irritated easily with the inconveniences of the factors of travel –  i see it all as an experience and as long as I get to where I’m going, I’m okay. So the fact that I am now writing a letter of complaint means you messed up in a big way in my world and I need to address it. 

On Monday 28 March I was booked on the 17:30 flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg on flight MN452 due to arrive at Lanseria Airport at 19:25. I arrived early and checked in using the self check in machine which took all of 30 seconds. While I was purchasing sweet chewy goodies from the confectionary stand I heard over the PA system that the boarding gates had changed, and this change only happened at about 17:10, so in a panicked state i ran to the new boarding gate. 

My boarding pass thingamabob advised that boarding gates would close at 17:20 so it was a little surprising that we had not started boarding at 17:19. There was no information stating any delays or advising us of what was actually halting the process. Finally around 17:25 I saw people standing up from their seats and lining up to have their tickets checked and ushered to the shuttle buses to take us to the green flying machine. At this point, there was still no advisory stating that we were running late even though we all knew there was a glitch. The doors finally closed at 19:45 and the cabin crew welcomed us onto the flight – again, no word on the delay. I think we taxied 5 minutes later and the pilot made some mention that we had been delayed and that we were on our way to Johannesburg. Happy days, but why did it take so long for anyone to say anything? It’s not as though we would have had a riot in the airport because the flight is a few minutes late – but it does help us let the people picking us up on the other side know what’s going on – remember there is no Gautrain at Lanseria!

Yum yum? Not so much...

So as I paged through the hilarious, informative and entertaining copy of your in-flight magazine I noted some heavenly words that had me salivating – “Brought to you by Woolies”. I sent a silent thank you to the heavens and waited patiently for the food cart to come by, ready to have a delicious sarmie from Woolies that I was sure would give my tummy a comforting high five. The cart came by; I parted with my ZA Rands, pulled out my tray table and prepared my mouth for the yumminess coming its way. My first bite enticed a little tear to roll my cheek and I’m pretty sure my tastebuds wanted to have the salty liquid rolling down my face instead of the assault that was happening by way of the Woolies beef and mustard sarmie. Oh my poor heart. Well no, my poor mouth. Well no, my tummy. The travesty that was the soggy mess I bought. 

What a great idea it must have been to offer passengers “quality” food from the superior food supplier but my goodness let’s not forget that whatever crack Woolies pits in their food to keep us happy and loyal customers – it cannot by no means ignore the “fresh” requirement? I don’t even know how old that sammich was but a big bright non-woolies sticker on the packaging claimed it would be great until 30 March. I’m not too sure about that. The bread didn’t have that bouncy softness, the lettuce didn’t even pretend to crunch, the mustard had not only snuggled itself with the bread but it was holding on as if its life depended on it – the mustard might also have been crying because it made the bread its handkerchief. Let’s not even talk about the beef. Basically it looked at me and said “I’m dead, you happy now?” Maybe I shouldn’t have broken the Meat-Free Monday rule. It’s my own fault. A great thing from that though is that the gentleman sitting at the window offered me his window seat to make me feel better. 

Disappointing and heartbreaking. If this Kulula and Woolies marriage is going to last the food better be fresh, otherwise the reasons for divorce will be stated as “defamation of character”. Imagine if that was my first experience of Woolies food? I’d never step into Woolworths Food ever.
As comedic relief at the end of the flight, I got to watch the stairs car thingy get stuck on its way to the front of the airplane and the little guy driving the machine struggle for a few minutes until another staircase machine from nearby zoomed to the rescue. That was funny.
So Kulula, I don’t have a flowery conclusion to this letter so I’m just going to say – get your act together because as your name suggests, it should be “easy” to fly with you. 

Kind regards
Akona

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