Monday's Mantra

Dreaming of Summer

This week I need to de-clutter my life.
I believe in the healing powers of hot chocolate.
I’m addicted to sleeping; just can’t get enough.
I wish it was summer.
It’s sucky when you have less than R100 in your bank acount.
Soundtrack/Mantra for the Week You gotta have faith faith faith!

Image from here.

Pity Party for One

So lately I have been in a very weird, feeling-sorry-for-myself mood.

However as I am naturally a happy person I refuse to let the ennui take hold of me. Instead I've come up with a list of things that have made me happy lately and plan on repeating them.

Please send through some suggestions and also please have a go at one of the below. You'd be surprised at how much better you'll feel.

There’s nothing better than…

…dancing to old boyband music with your roommate.

…having a hot chocolate from Vida when you’re feeling fugly. (ladies, if you buy the new Cosmo you can get a free hot chocolate coupon).

…watching House in your pajamas with a bowl of prawn chips.

…having a cocktail in the sun.

…playing Alicia Key’s “No One” really loud and singing along in the car.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Monday's Mantra

This week I plan to eat healthier.
I believe in the healing power of hot chocolate and House.
I’m addicted to gossiping with the neighbours.
I wish I could go on a spa holiday.
I’m jealous of people who can switch 0ff work-mode for the weekend.
Soundtrack/Mantra for the week You Can't Hurry Love

Image from here.

Things That I ♥ and Things That Bug Me

Things That I ♥:

I love dramatic makeup. I love smokey eyes even more. Unfortunately I have the sort of eyelids that cause my eyeliner to smudge and the eyeshadow to disappear into the crease. Very disappointing when I’m working a full day and want to show off my smokey purple look. Now I don’t have to worry about it. I recently purchased MAC’s Liquid Eye Liner in Boot Black and I have fallen in love. I can do thick or thin lines and neither smudge or rub off. I can even do winged tips and get them right on the first time. No more cotton buds and makeup remover for me.

Buying new underwear. I know I shouldn’t be spending unnecessary money. I should be trying to save for a fabulous holiday next year but sometimes I cannot resist. And considering that I went through the whole of the recent sale season without buying a thing, I need to charge me some happiness. Luckily I was still able to enjoy the last dregs of some sales. I went to one of those fancy shops in the Waterfront’s Millionaire Mile. Something I have not been able to do in a while due to my lack of funding. Halfway through the month I may not be able to go out but at least my knickers will look good.

The rainy weather. Gives me an excuse to wear a fabulous black knit over a LBD with some black boots (with eye liner of course). And also means I can have hot chocolate tonight with a marshmallow and not feel guilty. I mean, look at the weather. It’s hot chocolate weather.

Things That Bug Me:

Why does it seem like every second girl in Cape Town has a blunt fringe and bangs? And these are also the girls were think that wearing tights as pants is acceptable. It. Is. Not. Tights are not pants not matter how bitchin’ they look. And I’m serious on the last part, wet look tights are to die for. If you can afford the chopped layers and fringe lop surely you can afford a longer top to cover your tights ass seam. Or maybe a skirt. Better yet get some skinny jeans and they will have the same effect. And they will actually be pants.

Skinny Bitches watch a lot of TV. We’re those types of girls. We cannot afford satellite and our parents are being evil and will not buy it for us either. So we decided the next best thing was signing up for PushPlay. I think it’s the equivalent of the Netflix except you get them delivered to your home or office. Now PushPlay have this fabulous free week trial where you can have, at any time, three DVDs in your possession. Sounds awesome. Except we have signed up looking forward to watch some rom-coms over the weekend and nothing has arrived. What a let-down. In case anyone who works there is reading this, we will still use your service, mostly because your range of TV series is unrivaled. But please, be a love and send us some DVDs.

The rainy weather may be nice for my outfit of the day but it also makes my hair frizz. Also I want to stop wearing scarves and remembering to carry my umbrella. I want to see the sun and be warm and get a tan. And I want to buy fabulous pairs of gold and silver sandals.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

I Hope I'm Old Before Die

When we were younger, the gay best friend and I always had a disadvantage. Not only we were short but we could never pass for 18. Even when we turned 18. Therefore in the years before being legal, we used to hang around coffee shops instead of outside clubs begging to be let in. Our favourite coffee shops were the ones which were adjacent to book shops. As you can imagine, Friday nights sipping lattes and reading were rocking J. I remember we always used to go through that book 101 Things To Do Before You Die. At one point we wanted to write down all the items in the book. I should mention we were not freaks just dead poor. And as it turns out, lazy. We didn’t write out the list instead we would both open it on a random page and resolve to do that one thing. We did this a couple of times and both ended up with a list of things we wanted to achieve. I cannot remember what was on my list, I do remember his list telling him to have a threesome. As a good catholic girl, I was both shocked, intrigued and jealous ;).

Cut to me now at 22 still dead poor and still without my list. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the things I want to do and decided to make my own list. I was also inspired by Rachel’s 101 items in 1001 days list. It sounds amazing. But I’m not sure how well I’ll respond to a deadline. Also money is a huge problem. Mainly I cannot save to er, save my life. For some reason as soon as I get money, I need to spend it. Until I marry a trust fund baby, many of the items will take awhile to complete. But I really like making lists so I thought I’d start on some stuff.

10 Places I Want To Visit:

The Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen

-Juliet’s Balcony in Verona

-Auschwitz

-Hever Castle (Childhood home of Anne Boleyn)

-Loch Ness (I’m convinced Nessie exists)

-Disney Land

-New Orleans (Around the time of Mardi Gras)

-New York (For the Sex and the City Tour)

-New Zealand (For the Lord of the Rings Tour)

-Pompeii

10 Random Things I Want To Accomplish

-Write and publish a book

-Get married

-Learn another language

-Have breakfast outside Tiffanys flagship store

-Buy a Mini Cooper (by myself, no help from my dad or brothers)

-Have a holiday villa in Spain

-Zorbing

-Sit front row at a fashion show (preferably next to Anna Wintour but I can settle)

-Kissing the Blarney Stone

-Be completely debt-free

10 Things I Want To Try

-Manhattan cocktails in Manhattan

-Champagne in Champagne

-Haute Couture in Paris

-Coffee at Starbucks

-Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity II

-Sushi at Nobu

-Skiing in the Alps

-Be an intern at Vogue

-Chorizos in Spain

-Picking Tulips in the Netherlands

Looking at them now, some don’t seem so hard to do. Some I can accomplish together. Some I’m not sure if I ever will be able to accomplish. But there’s no point in getting negative. Instead I’ll keep the faith and wait anxiously for items to cross off.

If you have anything you think I absolutely have to try, let me know.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!

Things That Are Bugging Me Today

Today didn't start as well as I wanted.

For a start, I woke up later than I was supposed to. Then I got to the gym much later than I had planned. And when I got there, the TVs were not displaying last night's repeat of the Ellen show but rather the Discovery channel. So at least I learnt some things while I attempted the stairmaster.

Fueled with endorphins, I got all excited to wear one of my new dresses to work today. I bought it cos it resembles Roland Mouret's Galaxy dress and it was too pretty not to buy it.


I have a problem with discipline, can you tell?! It was also a size too small for me but I was already swiping my card. Now in one of those never-happen-before moments, the item which I had always hoped I'd be able to fit into, I actually do! With the help of magic knickers of course. This was the redeeming factor for the bad start.

Then I got to work.

I work with a lot of techy people so for the fact for so many of them to notice the dress was amazing. I've gotten so many compliments. Someone even said I looked like I stepped out of The Devil Wears Prada. Result! But that wasn't the bad part.

The bad part is that Cartman who I cannot handle has now moved opposite me. For a year I was fine with no one sitting opposite me. I had people to my left and right and the Hot Mama and the Social Butterfly were always close by. Now I have to deal with his business all up in my business. He also insists on swearing constantly. Now I have no problem with swearing. In my job I have to otherwise, I'd never get through the day. But can't he just go and do it in the bathroom or in his head like a normal person? Every five minutes the most obscene language is splayed over from his desk to mine. My poor little desk figurines have even started to cover their ears. I've even hidden my YSL Touché Éclat cos no one says the C word in front of YSL.

The other guy bugging me is the one recovering from a cold. I would feel bad for him. But he has decided, "To hell with it! I'm not going to go to the bathroom to clear the phelm from my throat. I'll do it right here in the middle of the office. Where my co-workers can hear and then plot death against me." Jeez Louise! I'm so close to throwing my box of tissues at him.

The last thing bugging me today are my magic knickers. I love them. I owe many a great night to them. But damn, when they roll down and expose my work-in-progress tummy I have some issues. So unlike Coughy McCoughson over there I am going to the bathroom a lot.

But c'est la vie. At least I fit into my new dress. And in approximately 20 minutes i get to leave to meet a friend for a much-needed Vida hot chocolate.

Ex-Oh! Ex-Oh!