Durban Street Food Festival

I did some adventuring today, venturing to the old Rivertown Beerhall to eat some yummy food at the Street Food Festival. Unfortunately, I didn't choose the right time to go as it wasn't as buzzing as it would have been in the evenings and not so cleverly went after lunch so there were plenty of burgers and full meals available to buy which I didn't have the appetite to savour.  Nonetheless, the music was festive and we ate some delicious deep-fried oreos and melt-in-your-mouth macaroons. The last day is tomorrow and it's going on tonight till late, as well.

summer wishlist

Although we are already full swing into the summer heat, it's never be too late to post a few items that I want for my closet this summer.

1. Hooded Poncho
A poncho is great to throw over whatever you're wearing in the evening if it gets slightly chilly, which is generally not the case here in Durban but is definitely a useful item for breezy Cape Town evenings. It's effortlessly chic & minimal which I love.

2. Halterneck Pleat Dress
I love love love this halter neck dress. The pleats make it so pretty and whimsical - perfect for twirling around. Paired with some wedges and statement earrings, it's my favourite kind of summer chic that can be worn either day or night.

3. White fringed dress
This dress is just one of those cute, casual dresses that can be worn on any kind of summer day. I love dresses like this that are not too tight as it's much more comfortable to wear as you're not pulling and tugging at it all day ensuring you're not exposed.

4. Denim dungarees
Whether you call them dungarees or overalls, this is a want that is at the absolute top of my list. Dungarees are the most versatile pieces of clothing that can essentially be worn all year around. For summer, my ideal would either be wearing a crop top or a printed tee underneath it.

5. Striped jumpsuit
Jumpsuits are another piece of summer clothing that are so fun & easy to wear because it can usually be worn by itself but you can always pair this jumpsuit with a statement bangle and some heels for a dressier look.

6. Slim White Jeans
I would normally not touch any pair of jeans in this heat but for some reason white jeans are so summery and appealing in this weather. For me, they're extremely dangerous as I know by the end of the day they will not be clean. Nevertheless, I am willing to risk it paired with a loosely fitted white shirt and a pop of colour in either my make-up or jewellery.

I realised that the colour scheme of my wishlist is very neutral but all these items I would definitely pair with some brighter colours so that it's not all a washout - bright and chic are two adjectives that can be synonymous right? 

Glitterati

I'm a firm believer in all things glittery and sparkly, especially in make-up or on nails. It's the easiest and most effective way to add some fun to your wardrobe. So to add some festive fun this month I went for this gold glitter nail polish which I absolutely love - I'm that person who gets distracted by their painted nails and this is my favourite distraction so far.

There are so many other ways to add glitter or sparkle to your wardrobe, especially in your make-up look. Byrdie posted a wonderful article on how to incorporate glitter into your make-up.  Below are some of my favourite looks from the article & from Pintrest that I'm waiting for an occasion to try out. Most of the glitter is in the eye make-up but sparkle can very easily be included in your wardrobe in the form of sequinned or embellished wonders. Glam never quite goes out of style. 

nails: Morgan Taylor Glitter and Gold
images: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

December in Durban

Having the whole summer holiday ahead of you in your hometown can seem dauntingly boring, however, I am determined to explore more of this city. I say determined because I know more often then not my sloth tendencies take over and hours of afternoons can pass by potato-ing on the couch. I like to think my saying this on the Internet will force me to be less sloth.

I digress, here's my list of things I'd like to do/explore/see this summer:


Promenade Bike Rides:
For as long as the revamped promenade has been around, I haven't cycled along it. This time it shall  happen. Bike rides can always be so whimsical.

Indoor ice-rink:
Hot weather calls for cool places and floating on ice always provides some entertainment.

Markets:
From the iHeart Market to the Shongweni's Farmer Market, Saturday mornings are made for markets and yummy food (if not for sleeping in)

Mini-Town:
Only because I like to feel tall once in a while and heels aren't always as fun.

Beaches:
Basically Durban at it's best - need I say more?

Exploring new & different dining and coffee spots:
Tea (& food in general) is always the best idea.

Beachfront amusement park:
Merry-go-rounds & fun rides never get old.

Yoga by the beach:
It just sounds very movie-like but will probably prove to be hot & sticky in this humidity.


Seeing the city in a different way:
As cliched as it sounds, seeing the city through the eyes of a tourist can be refreshing.

 So this is my mini-list of things I may or may not do this December. I plan to update the blog with all the adventures if the bustling holiday crowds don't test my patience.

For now,  here's some Mindy.

 

What are some of your fav summer activities? xo

mindy

Happy Friday!

It's the weekend at last, this week feels like it dragged fooo' sure. This week was mildly uneventful although yesterday was October 3rd and the Mean Girls world imploded and it was a very grand day quoting Mean Girls (not that I don't do that on a daily basis anyway - totes relatable, I mean "get in loser we're going shopping" who doesn't use that in everyday life??)

I digress. Looking forward to another chilled weekend and procrastinating hopefully getting myself organised for the upcoming exams and what not. I am also loving getting back in the blogging groove.

Have a suuuper fab weekend all. xx

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C'est une citation.

We all have those days where we would rather just hide under the duvet for the day and so this is just a little motivation quote for those days because sometimes you just got to fake it till you make it.

What do you think? xo

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Tutu.

A while back I found a DIY article on Rookie on how to make a tutu. It didn't look that complicated and I've been itching to do a DIY project for a while. So I decided to give it a bash (LOL, how English of me next thing you know I'll be starting posts with top of the morning to you). 

So here's a simplifed version of how you do it and me being the organised person that I am - I didn't take any "during"/"process" photos so your imagination is important here. But I did capture some photos of me prancing around it, selfies etc. Usual tutu behaviour. 

Stuff to make tutu:

• roughly 9m of 140cm wide tulle, depending on the amount of poof you want in your tutu. I opted for a harder sort of tulle almost like net. 

• a piece of fabric about 13cm wide and the length of your waist, this acts as "skirt".

• piece of ribbon - a little longer than your waist. 

• scissors

• measuring tape

• sewing pins

• needle and thread

The method was simply laying out the fabric on a flat surface. Then cutting even strips of the fabric and then folding each strip of fabric in half and looping it and tying it around your ribbon. I then hand sewed a piece of white fabric underneath the tutu which acted as a skirt. Please do check out the full article up on Rookie for more detailed explanations and methods.

I hope this inspired some of you to release your creative side. Trust me, it isn't that hard - if I can do it, you can (me who can barely sew a button, don't tell my mom that). I haven't really had a chance to frolic in it yet, waiting on that perfect summer's day. I really did enjoy making my tutu and have definitely caught the DIY-bug so I will be trying out more DIY things as I come across them on Pintrest. Stay stylish, lovelies! 

Sunday Songs

I've only done this post once before. I guess it's not often that I find a song that I madly enjoy and want to share it. This particular song is another french song called Je Veux by Zaz. It has quite a jazzy vibe to it. It's just really fun and makes you want to dance and sing a long. I put the french and english translation below as well so you can follow along. I hope it brightens up your Sunday, enjoy!
(please excuse the corresponding lyrics not matching up exactly, the OCD in me tried very hard to get them to align but alas it refused to budge)

Je Veux

I want

Donnez-moi une suite au Ritz, je n’en veux pas Des bijoux de chez Chanel, je n’en veux pas Donnez-moi une limousine, j’en ferais quoi? Offrez-moi du personnel, j’en ferais quoi? Un manoir à Neufchatel, ce n’est pas pour moi! Offrez-moi la Tour Eiffel, j’en ferais quoi? Je veux de l’amour, de la joie, de la bonne humeur Ce n’est pas votre argent qui fera mon bonheur Moi je veux crever la main sur le coeur Allons ensemble, découvrir ma liberté Oubliez donc tous vos clichés Bienvenue dans ma réalité! J’en ai marre de vos bonnes manières, c’est trop pour moi Moi je mange avec les mains et je suis comme ça Je parle fort et je suis franche, excusez-moi! Finie l’hypocrisie, moi je me casse de là J’en ai marre des langues de bois Regardez-moi, de toute manière je vous  en veux pas Et je suis comme ça! Je veux de l’amour, de la joie, de la bonne humeur Ce n’est pas votre argent qui fera mon bonheur Moi je veux crever la main sur le Coeur Allons ensemble, découvrir ma liberté Oubliez donc tous vos clichés Bienvenue dans ma réalité!

Give me a suite at the Ritz, I don’t want that Jewellery by Channel, I don’t want that Give me a limo, what would I do with it? Give me staff, what would I do with them? A mansion in Neufchatel, it’s not for me! Offer me the Eiffel tower, what would I do with it? I want love, joy, good spirit It’s not your money that will make me happy I  want to die with my hand on my heart Let’s go together, discover my freedom Therefore, forget all your prejudices Welcome to my reality! I’m fed up with your good manners, it’s too much for me I eat with my hands, it’s just who I am I speak loud and I’m direct, excuse me No more hypocrisy, I’m done with it I’m fed up with double talk! Look at me, I’m not even angry with you! It’s just who I am! I want love, joy, good spirit It’s not your money that will make me happy I want to die with my hand on my heart Let’s go together, discover my freedom Forget all your prejudice Welcome to my reality!

Lyrics

Rainbow Splash.

This past weekend was the Festival of Chariots held on the beachfront. We went a couple of times over the weekend. It started on Friday with the pulling of the chariots (which is exactly as it sounds - the giant chariots were pulled by ropes by people along the promenade).

Yesterday was the Rainbow Splash, essentially like the celebration of Holi. Holi is the Hindu festival where it celebrates the beginning of Spring and a time to say farewell to winter and commemorates times of good harvests and fertile land. The event is celebrated by throwing coloured powder at each other.

So that's what we did yesterday on the beach. The Festival of Chariots held the Rainbow Splash event and was basically a 2-hour event of throwing coloured powder at each other whilst a DJ (Deon-G) entertained us. Every half an hour or so, there would a mass throwing of colour in the air where we would throw a certain colour up in the air. The whole event was heaps of fun and we all looked like we swam in a rainbow by the end of it.

Just a tip to all those going to next week's Colour Fest, don't talk that much otherwise you gonna get some of the colour in your mouth and that stuff stains. Also being short doesn't really help because people just dump a whole lot of colour on top of you hence my face is the most colourful. But it's still loads of fun so enjoy chickens! 

Stay stylish! 

Image 1

Rainbow Cake.

Yes so today Paige and I decided to bake a rainbow cake. It was a very time-consuming process but so worth it in the end. The method for the cake-baking is pretty straight-forward.

We used the following recipe for the cakes:

Ingredients:

• 290g flour
• 75g salted butter and 75ml oil 
• Alternatively use 150g Stork 
• 250g castor sugar 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 3 large eggs
• 100ml milk
• 50ml water
• 5ml vanilla essence 

The method is simple. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. You sieve all the dry ingredients in a bowl. You then mix in all the wet ingredients and beat it until well mixed. This makes 2, 20cm, cakes. 

We doubled the recipe and made it twice so that we got 8, 20cm, cakes. To colour the different layers we split the batter and coloured it in a bowl using food colouring then poured it into the greased 20cm baking pan. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean. 

We trimmed the cakes so that they were all flat and even then layered the cakes in the order (from the bottom) green, blue, purple, green, yellow, pink, orange and red and used butter cream icing in between each layer and around the giant cake. Oh and we added sprinkles to the top because what is a cake without sprinkles? What is anything without those tiny colourful baubles?

My oh my, why are you so tall?

Lol, so it didn't go as smooth as that. We ended up with two green layers because we tried to make the one turquoise and that was a fail. We almost forgot to add the butter and oil to the first batch and in between all of this we were videoing our whole baker day on Paige's laptop (yes we are going to be the next youtube sensation). All in all, it turned out really cool (and indie). So without further introductions here is our holi (rainbow) cake!

Talk about a mouthful. 

Stay stylish! xo

Unleash your inner animal.

Last week Wednesday we had a grade bonding evening with the prefects! It was a lot of fun despite majority of the grade not pitching up... The theme was "Unleash your inner animal". I didn't have many animalistic clothing so I unleashed my inner guinea fowl in the form of my earrings. What a cool cat, I know (more like cool guinea fowl). We played various games and one of my favourites were where we put into groups of about six and given characters and we had to make plays/sketches out of them. We had an elephant, drunk pilot, teacher, druggie, taxi driver and my character had a broken leg. My group won best play/sketch thing (not that I'm bragging or anything). Here are a few photos a few of my Facebook friends posted (I didn't bring my camera, so these photos aren't my own).

Notice my animal earrings.  

The group.

The play. 

Have a stylish weekend, happy Friday y'all!

Quack Quack.

So for a few years now, I have had this thing where I wanted a duck as a pet. Odd, I know. Alas we don't live on a farm so it wasn't really going to work out. However, we have had a pair of duck doorstoppers in our house for a while and they recently found a home in my room. You can imagine I was mad excited about that and they even look pretty life-like (one of my friends thought they were real like I would have real ducks in my room, how crazy do you think I am?)

Here they are, Barney and Betty:

My sister's chalk masterpiece. Note the pink bow. 

Have a stylish Monday, y'all!