Cupcake Cases

How's this for a pretty idea? Found it here. Happy Friday, gang. x

My twinkling tree

I love reading beside twinkly lights every night. x

 

The "Christmas Cheer" Jol!

On Saturday, I invited this nice gang around for mince pies, Thirty Seconds and general Christmas cheer! Along the way, we made some Zombie videos (as you do), danced to our fave 90's songs and then I ended up....very ill. I would not recommend mixing chocolate champers with wine and mince pies and chocolates. Thank you Candi for looking after me in my hour of need. And thank you Diffy and JP who kindly took it upon themselves to defrost my freezer mid-jol! Extra special thanks to Diff who cleaned up while I was...not well. But all in all, an excellent start to the festive season!

Introducing - Classy Owl!! Taneal gave him to me. He has a bowtie and his head rotates 360 degrees! He was stuffed with real Panda biscuits - how epic! As you can see Jolling Owl got hold of him. When I woke up the next day, the first thing I saw was JO glaring down at me which explains the ghastly state I was in.

And then Candi and Andy arrived with the Panda print they designed for me - he's so cute! 

Looks like he's been properly caught in the act of some naughty Pandacapades.

A birthday letter to my mom

Happy birthday Cat! 

It's my mama's birthday today. She didn't want gifts this year. Rather, she asked for something personal. So Kit-Cat, this is why you rock and why I love ya so. x

• You said you knew I was 'different' from a young age and you let me be me. I know I was a bit of a terror growing up. Attaching dolls heads to my boots. Covering my room with metal posters. But you always accepted me. With green hair. With pink hair. With concerned calls from teachers. You loved me, you loved my friends, you let me study creative stuff and encouraged me every step of the way. 
• You had a pretty rocking taste in music when I was growing up. You raised me on The Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, The Bangles, The Who, The Beatles...so many great bands. I inherited my love for rock from you.
• You took me to see that Yellow Submarine play when I was little. That was awesome.
• You bought me a talking Pikachu when I wrote my final art exam - I loved that thing!
• You cook a pretty mean chocolate pizza cake. Please cook that again sometime soon.
• When I was in hospital that one time as a kid, you always made sure I had notepads and kokis to draw with.
• You have a huge heart for people and know the life stories of various waiters, waitresses, broom-sellers and security guards across Durban! 
• You designed that music fest poster one year and then we road-tripped there, listening to the The Who's "Tommy" album a hundred times over. 
• You came to every art exhibit and dance recital. 
• When I was thirteen, you brought me green hair spray and Nirvana shirts from London - epic!
• You used to throw some pretty crazy parties. I guess I get my love for a good jol from you, eh!
• You and dad paid for my guitar lessons and drove me to them every Saturday for two years.
• You trusted me. I did admittedly get up to a couple of crazy things in highschool but nothing that crazy because I always wanted to honour your trust.
• Whenever I do something that makes you proud, you broadcast it to the whole world. That  kinda embarrasses the life out of me but I appreciate it :)
• You made that sassy, silver Standard Nine dance dress for me. Goal - to get back into that thing!
• We won't talk about the time we called Claire Johnston from Mango Groove. But looking back, that was pretty hilarious.
• You made flapjacks for us when we went camping. 
• When I told you I had been chatting to a guy, you asked me if it was the singer from Seether. Lols! I think you would have read about that in Heat if that were the case. 
• When I collapsed in your couch with a crumpled heart, you watched Hope Floats with me.
• If I'm curious about a certain subject, you're bound to have a book on it.
• You let us get dogs even though you weren't a dog person. And you love those crazy dogs as much as we do. Thank you for looking after them and playing with them every day. 
• Remember when we went to London a month before I moved there? That holiday was epic. But I was gripped with fear for the first few days. I suddenly didn't want to move there anymore because I didn't think I could cope in such a fast-paced city. You brought me coffee and tissues when I got teary in Starbucks. And when I felt too depressed to leave our dorm, you insisted I pull on my boots so we could go to an indie club in Notting Hill. And that night was so much fun, it filled me with excitement to move! And a few nights later, we went to the Electric Ballroom and we rocked out with all these metalheads. And then we went to watch the Breeders. You fell asleep in the back of the club (which is both hilarious and dangerous - thank goodness a bouncer was watching over you) but luckily you fell asleep because you missed me almost being crushed to death and then being crowd-surfed to safety. Then we took the wrong bus home. Mad times!
• I know I can be awkward as heck when it comes to expressing emotion sometimes, but I do love you Kit-Cat. Thanks for being such a great mom. Love La x

Birthday Blossoms

There's nothing like picking flowers for a bouquet :) Chose these for my mom's birthday.
 Think I could happily grow secret gardens and become a florist one day.
Happy Birthday Cat - stay tuned for your birthday post. x

Monday missions with Matt

My friend Matt came to visit! He lives in Norway now so we only see each other about once a year. Matt was the person who inspired me to start taking pictures. He can take a picture of the simplest, everyday thing and make it look magical. So on Monday, he thought he was just coming for pizza and wine but little did he know I'd planned a night of photography lessons and missions - muhahahaha! I've always wanted to know how to do long-exposure shots but I hadn't managed to figure it out on my camera. Well, Matt showed me how to do it in two seconds - epic! He also showed me how to take sparkler-name-writing pics - ahhhhh! I really wanted to do that when I went camping a while back but I couldn't figure it out. Will post those pics soon. And then he loaded film in a couple of my vintage cameras and showed me how to use those bad boys. It's a real pity he lives so far away - he'd be a brilliant photo mission bud. How's those photogenic faces, eh!? : P

Loading film into old cameras is dangerous business!

A cozy escape from the rain

Before our woodlands exploration, Tarryn and I ducked into Bellevue to celebrate the end of her exams for the year. Smartie tarts were a must! Tarryn is eleven years my junior and studying to become a surgeon. I asked her lots of questions about diagnostics because I am tearing through seasons of House at the moment! I also like to say, "When I was your age, blah blah blah." Haha! It's nice to be able to share the lessons of my twenties with someone whose not quite twenty yet! While we were there, we checked out an exhibition of teeny, tiny sculptures and I went to search for some photo clips next door. All in all, it was an excellent Saturday. x