Add Some Sparkle

You know when you spot something fabulous but not sure whether you should buy it? Sometimes because it's too expensive or if you're not sure you can pull off the look.

I have had that for the past several months. I was doing my weekly browse on 36Boutiques when I came across this pair of heels. Glitter, platform, fabulous. Some of my favourite words.

As far as price goes, they were not expensive. And they're from G Couture. I've got a pair of heels from them so I know they'd be comfy and durable. But I wasn't sure if I could really rock this heels the way they deserved.

And then the shoe gods smiled down upon me. 36B is celebrating their birthday. With a sale. Ding! Ding! Ding! Jackpot.

Ignore the glam surroundings.

I placed my order last Tuesday and then on Thursday they arrived. Happiness is! I spent last night breaking them in, an absolute must for new heels. And today I debuted them.

This pose is why I'll never make it as a fashion blogger.

 Oh so shiny and fabulous.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Ps. The 36Boutiques Birthday Sale is still on if you want to treat yourself. Or myself :)

The Internet is Hilarious

Of course we all know the interwebs are funny. They keep me out of work daily ;)
But did you know it could be this damn humourous. And it's all thanks to the Skinny Gossip that I'm ROTFL.

 This blog was originally started as a gossip site with a "snarky counter-view to a culture that glorifies excess consumption" according to its owner. So basically she (I'm guessing it's a girl) wanted to provide satire on a subject that is touchy. This would have worked if the site wasn't so shamelessly Pro-Ana, in my opinion anyway.

The blog post that has peeps up in arms - and me dying of laughter - is the one concerning Kate Upton. Want to know what the SG thinks of her? She's fat, y'all. And that's why I giggled.

"She looks thick, vulgar, almost pornographic – and she is a solid 30 lbs too heavy for this outfit.""

"Huge thighs, NO waist, big fat floppy boobs, terrible body definition – she looks like a squishy brick. Is this what American women are “striving” for now? The lazy, lardy look?"

Look at this "fat ass"! Are you kidding me?!

I'm not trying to be a douche here but when you have forums like "Starving Tips of The Day" and headlines such as "Britney Spears Chunks Out Again" and "Barbara Palvin Has Gained Weight" I start to wonder if you are providing social commentary or just being a troll. I have read the posts listed above but haven't read the entire site. The forum above is currently closed because the owner wants to review, edit and possibly rename it. So I cannot say that I know all of what's going on in there. The problem to me is that instead of providing satire and snark alà Dlisted or The Supercial, it comes across as vitirol.

The owner has updated the blog to say it will be changing. And that she too suffered with food issues. As someone who constantly has weight issues and a food obsession, I can understand why she prefers to attack rather than jest. It's easier that way.

If she does continue with her blog, I just hope that there's no more of this nonsense and she actually puts the inspiration into thinspiration.

OKAY, rant over.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Images from here, here and here.

Open Mouth Insert Foot

When I was younger all I wanted to do was meet celebrities. The problem was, when I did meet one or two I'd act like a total spaz. Not starstruck but I look and act like I'm having a stroke. My words get all jumbled and I make weird hand gestures and then I have to shooed away by security.

I resemble these people when chatting to celebs.

These days I have things a lot more in control. That's not say that I don't embarrass myself or say the wrong thing. I just do it in a much more refined manner.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who makes a fool of themselves in the prescence of celebs though. Or who they think is someone famous. I happened to be at media event recently where the champers was flowing and inhibitions seemed to be disappearing. At this event was the lovely Tanya Nefdt, who some of you might recognise as a journalist for E-TV. According to one guest at this launch, she is also CeCe from New Girl.

There is no way to describe the sound of an overly drunk woman shouting out "CeCe" across a room filled with people to ensure readers know just how funny and crazy it all was. But trust me it made many people's nights. And the best thing about it? She wasn't all wrong.

Here is CeCe from New Girl.

Here is Tanya. Mind blown!

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Images from here, here and here.

DIY Fun

For some reason, the office I work in is the worst place for a mug to survive. Seriously, over the past couple of years I've seen mugs of all sizes, colours and with company branding either break or disappear.
I'm not sure what is the reason but this place is where mugs either commit suicide or are put to death.

Now this time, instead of paying a fancy branding company to put our company logo and our names on mugs, we're doing it ourselves. I know that sounds like something awful you'd find on Regretsy but it's a lot more fab than that.

Thanks to Buzzfeed, I found that if you use a magic marker on a mug and then bake for 30 minutes in an oven at 180 degrees, you can personalise your mug. How awesome - and easy - is that.

So armed with all the supplies, the peeps in the office have been busy customizing our mugs.

 

And I couldn't resist.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Red Sofa Cafe

Soooo it's been ages since we've been able to do a Coffee Club meeting. Last Friday, we changed all that. We drove away from our usual Gardens and city centre haunts and made our way to Vredehoek. Not exactly that far away but still a little different.

After hearing about a place that makes and sells a whole plate of bacon. Yes, you read that right. A whole plate of just bacon, we were very intrigued.

Red Sofa Cafe is in Derry Street, Vredehoek. You may recognise the name as Red Sofa is apparently the business when it comes to renting DVDs. I've never tried it personally but I've it's awesome. Now back to the Cafe...It opens early, it serves Deluxe coffee and I don't think I need to mention the bacon plate again. Apparently it's only been open since earlier this year but from the amount of peeps streaming in, you'd think it's been around for ages.

It's big with a nice outside patio section, if it wasn't so nipples cold we probably would have sat out there. It has a large bar and of course, a big ass red sofa.

love this!

Since it was Friday and we were in no rush to get to work, we ordered some breakfast. Despite the whole plate of bacon being the sexiest thing I've heard we opted for other breakfast items like the bacon, cheese and rocket roll and bacon and scrambled eggs on toast. Both tasty, both filling and both relatively cheap. The coffee was delicious and came in red mugs. Who doesn't love a red mug. 

Red Sofa Cafe
Corner Exner and Derry Street
07h00 to 19h00

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

The World Is Spinning

Ever feel like it’s all too much and there’s a whole bunch of things going on that the things you really want to do and enjoy doing – like blogging – are put on the backburner.

Well that’s what I feel like at the moment. Some of the stuff has been good. Some has been really exciting. Some could mean amazing things for the future and some is just so crap that it makes me rush home, dive under the covers, switch the electric blanket on and ignore the world.

Since I care very much about my readership I won’t bore you with tales of what has been happening the past couple of weeks. What I will fill you in on is all the stuff that has been helping me get through it all.

Mindy Kaling

I recently got Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) as a present from my brother. I love Mindy Kaling, particularly as Kelly Kapoor on The Office.  I’ve always thought there’s a bit of Kelly in every girl. She knows her pop culture, she watches Glee, loves shopping and has real relationship problems. Also bitch is batshit. Mindy has stated that Kelly is an exaggerated version of her. So reading this book was awesome.

Flying Saucers

As a self-confessed fat kid I love my candy. I recently professed my love for flying saucers, a sherbet-filled wafer sweet made by angels but not readily available in SA. Luckily for me I have really nice co-workers, particularly ones who don’t mind bringing back presents from overseas. This is me with 500 flying saucers. Cut to a few days after the picture and that container is empty. For reals. I would like to say that I shared the majority of them but I didn’t.

Parks and Recreation

 

 

I’ve been catching up on my stories and I have to say Parks and Recreation is definitely one of my all-time favourite shows. I love Lesley Knope played by Amy Poehler. She is adorable, funny and events things like “Galentine’s Day” for female friends to celebrate their love. Also she is a big dork which makes the rest of us dorks feel awesome. 

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Images from here. 

Get Ready Monsters

Gaga is coming to South Africa! My gays and I are about to go cray!

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Image from here.

Hello Lover

So love at first sight...something I've always believed in. Whether it's a pair of shoes, a cupcake, a fat Asian baby or some dark-haired, blue-eyed boy I fall and I fall hard.

Last week I was doing my thang at the Press Room Summer Preview, you know chatting with the girls, lusting after the shoes the fashion editors were wearing, drinking some champers when it happened. I turned my head and I knew it was real. The heavens opened, birds chirped and violins played.

There proudly displayed was my new obsession: the Dolce and Gabbana Gold Edition sunglasses.

The collection comprises of prescription and sunglasses with an 18 carat gold-plated frame. I was particularly  enamoured with the sunglasses as you can see below.

But as all love affairs, it had to end sometime. For me, it was around the time I heard the price of these sunnies R6490. Sorry but homie don't play that.

Alas, it was good while it lasted.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Why I Blog...

I recently read a blog post that has been causing a whole bunch of furor about bloggers charging. I agreed with the bit about bloggers getting paid if they are called on to promote or advertise a product or brand. Writing isn’t that easy, y’all. It takes work to make a press release sound faboosh. I also feel it’s up to those bloggers who want to make money off their blogs. Some of us are doing it for different reasons. And I think that’s where the post can be misconstrued. It was clearly written for those who need to pay them bills.

I’m not gonna lie if I was offered moolah to advertise a product I’d do it. Those heels are not gonna pay for themselves. I would disclose it though. At the same time, as a baby blogger compared to the really fabulous ones out there, I have also done my fair share of free posts. I feel that it’s all part of paying my dues, getting some exposure and all that nonsense. Also I have a hard time saying no.

Now well I believe in getting paid to blog I also believe that for some stuff you don’t need to get paid to write a gushing post. I have received stuff to review, been invited to launches and got goodie bags. And honestly it was AH-MAZING! And that’s probably why I write about them. They give me the same happy feeling in my stomach I usually get from cupcakes. If it didn’t it probably wouldn’t appear on the blog. Which is probably why some PR peeps don’t like me.

Now all that stuff is lovely but that’s not the only reason I blog. Since 2009 I have documented many personal things including my love for magic knickers and food. A lot of food. I’ve put my work and colleague frustration online. I’ve managed to secure a fashion column from my blog. I openly declared my girl crush on Robyn Cooke and I know she feels the same way. I’ve started a list of Dos and Don’ts my Future Boyfriend *will* adhere to. I've got to hang out with Bryan Boy (one of my favourite things in the world). I've been invited to celebrate Singleton Awareness Day (aka stupid Valentine's Day). I got to paint my name in the Poetry store window. Managed to turn a Coffee Club meeting into a fabulous event that got out-of-this coverage over here, here, here, here, here, and here.





And that's why I blog :)

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

And The Winner Is...

Firstly thank you to everyone that entered my competition with Champagne Taittinger SA. My inbox was flooded with peeps all dying for some fancy champers.

Now in all honesty, ever since this competition started I have been trying to find ways of keeping this prize to myself. They included creating a fake blogger profile, getting my friends and family to enter with promises of going halfsies or just running away with the prize and never blogging again ;)

Alas my Catholic guilt got the better of me and it was with a heavy heart I put all the entries into a spreadsheet and with the help of Random.org the following person will be popping bottles in the ice like a blizzard...

Karisa from My Love Affair with Cape Town

Snaps for you! I'll be sending you a mail shortly. And shout if you need a drinking buddy.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!