Hello 2011

Happy New Year to everyone out there in the blogosphere! My sincerest best wishes for a prosperous and joyfilled 2011

There are 4 sleeps until Christmas

I totally ADORE the fact that all over the world even we so-called "grown-ups" know exactly what 4 sleeps to Christmas means. There are also: 86 hours, 5180 minutes, 310600 seconds to Christmas, which translates to 3 days, 14 hours, 15 minutes and 20 seconds!

So get your shopping finished!

Christmas mince pie day

Every year my mom and I make Christmas mince pies together. To be honest, my mom makes the pastry and buys the fruit mince (Safari Fruit mince or Woolworths Christmas fruit mince) and I only do the assembly-line, but we do it together and it's a nice tradition for both of us.

The assembly-line during production

We usually make about six dozen which sounds like a large number but they disappear very quickly. I took home about two dozen from last week's production and we've nearly finished them. I think the production line may go into action again this year.

Fridays and Christmases seem to come around faster every time

For those of you who are on holiday, will be going on holiday or wish you were on holiday, here's my quote of the week (photo by my husband):

"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars,
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

Percy Pig comes to SA at last

I've read about these sweets in British Vogue. The staff at Vogue like them so much that they have a stash available on photo shoots. Apparently at one stage, Marks & Spencer withdrew them from their product line and there was such a huge response from fans of the sweet that Marks & Spencer had to re-introduce them. As a result I've been dying to get my hands on a packet to taste them for myself.

And now we can get them here in SA at Woolworths (seen them at McKeurtan Avenue, Durban North and Gateway, Umhlanga). You'll probably notice that the packet I've scanned is empty. That's because the sweets are really fruity and super yummy.

Dynamic photo from Mooi

http://mooi-mooiboutique.blogspot.com/

Wow! I've just seen this pic on Mooi's blog and it just makes me feel so uplifted and inspired. The girl in the blue dress has such natural grace and elegance and looks so relaxed and happy.

The book I've coveted for a while now is mine at last

My husband (who understands my monthly splurge on British Vogue) bought me "The Faces of Fashion Vogue Model" that I've longed for since I first saw it mentioned (I think in Vogue magazine itself).

I've only started to read it but what I've seen so far has been really good. It's not just the models who are currently at the peak of their profession, but rather a who's who of fashion models since the concept of using live models to, ahem, "model" clothes was started. These women were initially known as "mannequins" which seems to me to dehumanize them, but looking at the photos (excellent reproduction by the way) of the early models/mannequins with their haughty, sneering looks for the camera, I can see that they were giving expression to an ideal of high fashion and perhaps in that sense the word mannequin is apt.

There isn't a portfolio of pics for each model, sometimes there's only one photo and the accompanying page of text. However, the text is masterfully written and gives real insight into the model as a working woman and an individual with her own interpretation of what the work means.

Saturday's i heart market

Wow! The market was packed with people and stallholders and it was super awesome to be there. I am completely in love with the fact that almost everything is handmade and all so very original. Kudos to Anna and Saki for the concept of the market and for keeping it fresh.

So, I was supposed to be looking for gifts to go into my homemade Christmas crackers, but I ended up buying so much more. I bought:

This bib by Black Sheep for my friend's baby girl.

One of these paper heart chains from Hey Cherry

These beautiful words and phrases magnets from little mud hut designs

This Glad Tidings wood heart from Deidré Curren of Greenhouse Design
to decorate the centre of my Christmas wreath

And these, from iKhaya, are for my Christmas crackers

Wedding floral options

Denise at Freshly Found is sending off some of her beautiful origami flowers for someone's wedding - lucky girl that's having such a stylish wedding. When my florist let me down I went out and bought some fabric roses and made my own bouquet which turned out to be a perfect because they stayed "fresh" and I still have them as a beautiful reminder of the day. 

Stephen Fry 2,000,000 followers on Twitter

Take a look at The New Adventures of Stephen Fry and his open letter to his two millionth follower discussing Twitter.