Life lately - 16 March 2015

Time sure does fly when you're having fun...or when you are just crazy busy!!

Since we last caught up I had my first full pay cheque, and that only means one thing...shopping!! 30 kg's worth of clothing/personal belongings really isn't that much when you unpack it.

We ventured down Oxford Street 2 weeks ago and wandered in and out of the hundreds of shops that line the street, Primark was the most fruitful destination on that day! We went back to Oxford Street on Saturday afternoon, this time for Riaan (ok, mostly for Riaan - I couldn't resist a new handbag from Aldo, mine saw its ass this week!!)

We located the ONLY Steers in London and embarked on an adventure along the South Bank with our eye on the prize - a juicy King Steer Burger!! We ended up walking all the way to Steers (12 miles), which really isn't that bad when you're just strolling along taking in the beauty of the River Thames. It's on adventures like these that we find awesome places...like this craft beer boat!!

We have both got our NI numbers and I'm waiting for my residence card from Home Office, hopefully we get it before the end of April...we need our passports back because we want to go to the Netherlands for our second wedding anniversary, continuing the tradition (or starting the tradition? It can't be a tradition after only doing it once right?? Hmmmm food for thought!!) of going to a new place for every anniversary. *Awwww*

I started my weekend lectures for ACCA the weekend before last, which is why I've been so busy. I spent the week in Oxford, and I'm spending this week there aswell, it's such a pretty little town. Emphasis on the little!

On Saturday we went to Camden Market! It is awesome and I highly recommend this, if you have a open Saturday with nothing to do, head down to Camden Market! Take a few hours and just browse the stalls, there is literally something for everyone there! Art, antiques, food, clothing, home decor and random gadgets. I found a 60's style pin up dress that I love...I see another shopping mission in the near future!

My favourite face!!

Yummy!!!

After Camden we went to Oxford Street and after all the shopping we were ravenous! We roamed the streets of Soho and in true Riaan and Simone style it took us over an hour to decide where to eat! We eventually settled on a lovely little Italian Restaurant we found called Stefs. We had champs to celebrate Riaan's new job... he starts tomorrow!! Oh and some delicious italian food , creamy mussels, calamari, and linguine with salmon and spinach, accompanied by a smooth red of course!

Somewhere in Soho

Our plans for the next few weekends include the Portobello Road Market, lectures, Brighton for our birthdays and some random wandering adventures!

If you have any suggestions about where we should go or places you'd like to go to that we can test out for you, let me know in the comments below!!

Shrove Tuesday AKA Pancake Day

Since tomorrow is it's almost Shrove Tuesday AKA Pancake day here in London, I am going to share 2 recipes with you...

1 - The healthy banana pancake recipe I plan on trying for breakfast tomorrow morning (follow me on Instagram if you want to see how it turns out).

So since I started Kayla Itsines again today after a few months of being WAAAY to inactive, I decided to try healthy pancakes for Pancake day tomorrow!

I found the recipe for 4 ingredient choc chip pancakes here, but I'll be adapting it a little...

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of ripe mashed banana
A pinch of baking powder

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Heat your pan and coat it with spray and cook.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan and spread it into a circle.

Let it cook until it's light brown, flip it over when the edges are dry and the bottom is pretty golden.  Cook it for about a minute on the other side.

Put the pancake in a plate to one side.

Continue making pancakes until all the batter is used up.

I'll be having my pancakes topped with peanut butter and apple, don't judge...just try it!!

2 - The recipe for the French crepes I made for Valentine's Breakfast this weekend.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of flour - sifted
250ml water
300ml milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Butter/spray and cook to coat the pan

Method:

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together, except the butter.

Make sure there are no lumps and the batter is well combined.

Set the batter aside for about an hour is better, or overnight in the fridge if possible.

Heat the pan over medium-high heat, melt a little bit of butter, just enough to lightly coat the pan, or coat it with spray and cook.

Pour the batter into center of pan, jug, cup or ladle. 

Spread with the ladle/swirl the batter until you've made a circle.

Cook for 2 minutes or until the edges start browning and bubbles form in the batter.

Flip (with the mad skills that I know you possess) and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Place the crepe in a plate to one side, continue making crepes until all the batter has been used up.

Re-grease the pan every few crepes.

Once all the batter has been used up, you can add all kinds of awesomeness to the crepes.

We melted nutella in and folded them over French style, and then served them with fresh dark red cherries and blueberries.

Note - I added a little extra milk to make batter and crepes thinner. You can play around according to your preference.

I was going to share Aunty Annies awesome pancake recipe with you but I need to find the additional notes to it, so keep an eye out for our recipe for awesome pancakes.

For a yummy savoury filling in your pancake/crepe try filling it with some cheese, a sprinkle of aromat and a few drops of tabasco, then pop it in the microwave until the cheese melts...AMAZEBALLS!!

What will you be making for pancake day? Traditional pancakes or something a little different?

Fall fashion...or not! #Blogtober14 Day 16

It isn't Fall here...BUT you already know that!

I don't even think it's Spring, I think we skipped Spring and went straight into Summer!!
It's 27 degrees right now and I'm kinda melting away on my stationary bike as I type this!!

Either way, today's prompt is Fall fashion so I went off to Polyvore and threw together my kind of Fall outfit.

I LOVE the tan boots and the chunky knit sweater, this outfit looks so warm and snugly!

Here's something a little more fitting to my weather though.

Gorgeous white wedges, high waisted denim shorts, and a striped crop top (because strips are always in and my ity bity abs are coming along nicely - Thank you #Kayla_Itsines BBG!!)

So that's it for today, short and sweet! I'm contemplating going to jump in the pool now!
Let me know what you think of my outfits!

My Best/Worst Vacation...#Blogtober14 Day7

I really don't think it is possible to have a bad holiday - the fact that you're not at home doing the same old thing is reason enough to smile. Bonus points if you're in another town/city and double points if you're in another country!! Unless some natural disaster strikes or you end up re-living the likes of "Taken" and "The Impossible", then you're having a really bad holiday!

I, however, am lucky enough not to have re-lived said movies, and in South Africa besides the occasional flash-flood we don't have natural disasters, we do have unnatural disasters though (The government, The SAPS, Parliament...I could continue but I'm sure you get the point).

I have had many wonderful breakaways and holidays, some involved sleeping in tents at music festivals, others involved fancy hotels and lounging about by the pool - from one extreme to the next - you cannot compare!!

Anyway, my absolute best vacation (so far) was our Honeymoon, it was awesome! We spent it in Cape Town and behaved like tourists in our own country. We bought souvenirs, saw almost all of the main attractions, ate way too much, drank great wine and enjoyed a sunset on the beach overlooking Table Mountain almost every afternoon. It was absolutely perfect in every way.

Beautiful sunset from The Ambassador Hotel

On top of Table Mountain

Wine tasting at Groot Constantia

Relaxing on Clifton Beach

 

Boat ride from Hout Bay to Seal Island

At the Cape Point National Park

Bloubergstrand with a view of Table Mountain! Oh my soul the water is cold!!

Wine tasting at Constantia Glen

The view at Cape Point

The lighthouse at Cape Point

Kayaking in Sea Point

Kayaking in Sea Point

When I think about leaving South Africa and the things I will miss, Cape Town is definitely one of those things. Every time I have gone there I come back to Johannesburg with a heavy heart, I love it there!! There is a place for everyone in Cape Town, it's diversity is what I love most! If you haven't been, you need to add it to you travel agenda!!

So I'd like to know have you been to Cape Town? And what is your favourite thing to do there? If you live in Cape Town feel free to share with us some local tips and hot spots!

My spring bucket list...#Blogtober14 Day 5

So I missed Day 4 - My favourite photo I've posted on Instagram, its only because we had an awesome bachelorette weekend for a friend of mine. As it goes with bachelorettes, we had very little sleep and tons of fun, it started on Friday night at 7:30pm and ended this morning at about 11!! I'm finished, but it was great and well worth it!!

This is my favourite instapic, it's of our gorgeous kitty, Arya, we got her in May and this photo was taken about a month after we got her, she has such character and is so cute! We love her to bits!! You can follow me in Instagram here.

Moving along, since "Fall" has already come and gone in SA, I have decided to do a Spring bucket list, I'm keeping it short and realistic because Spring is already 1 third gone and I'm a busy lady!

So here it is:
1. Plant flowers in our garden - our plants had a rough winter!
2. Have a picnic that doesn't consist of only Woolies foods.
3. Make and fly a kite - I haven't flown a kite in years!
4. Take the Hartebeespoort Cableway.
5. Hike in the Magaliesburg/Drakensburg mountains.
6. Complete the Honeydew A-maze-ing mazes.
7. Go to a Drive-in movie @ Menlyn Park - Grease style!
8. Kiss in the rain.
9. Rent some bicycles and find a park to ride around in.
10. Pick flowers and fill a vase with them.

I will keep you guys up to date as I cross off the items on the Spring bucket list! It's definitely going to be a busy season!! What is your Fall/Spring bucket list??

One thing I cannot live without...#Blogtober14 Day 3

When I think about it, and I mean, really think about it there are a few things that I can't live without...I can't, and I mean seriously, CAN'T narrow it down to just one thing. I can easily narrow it down to 5...But I'm going to cut it to my top two...and that's pushing it!!

So I had to think long and hard about this, the one thing I can't live without...It would have to be music. Music is a part of my everyday life, I sing in the shower, in the car, I even burst out into spontaneous song mid-conversation, luckily Riaan does it too, so it never gets annoying, we usually end up joining in on the other persons solo and finish off with a good giggle. Music is very much a part of our relationship as well, Riaan played in a few bands over the past few years (he plays guitar, bass and keyboard), he studied at a music college and he taught me the basics of how to play guitar. Music inspires me, it expresses so many emotions and it connects me with so many memories. I listen to music when I'm happy, sad, angry, confused or in the mood to let go, there's just always a song that's lyrics can apply to what is going on in your life. My favourite part of our wedding day was the first dance, we chose the song together and it was so sweet and special, it has so much meaning to me now and I get butterflies everytime I hear our song.

Back in 2008 - Riaan playing the guitar at a kuier.

The second is completely random but I seriously need it in my life. My water bottle - not a special bottle in specific, any bottle will do really, as long as it has a twist cap! I've heard that the one's with a pull/push top give you wrinkles around the mouth, and that makes sense if you think about it. Think of an old lady that smokes, her lips are most likely surrounded by a ton of wrinkles, sucking on that bottle does pretty much the same thing!! So give me a twist cap bottle and I'm happy. Why a water bottle you ask? Well, I just can't seem to get my 8 glasses a day in if they are in a glass, I drink so much more water if I have a bottle, it goes almost everywhere with me, in my handbag!

I'm sorry for my unplanned hiatus

I am sorry! No, really, I am!!
I know I've been a bad little blogger for the past few days, 9 days without posting...it's getting on my nerves, but I just haven't had a break! It's been crazy! What with work and family commitments. Since it was so busy I have quite a bit to say so this post might end up being a bit of a long one...I'll try my best to keep it short and sweet!

Last week was hectically busy!

On Sunday we spent the whole day on set shooting a car advertisment, we were supposed to be background people but Riaan ended up being put front and centre which is pretty cool! It's all pretty top secret because the car hasn't been released yet, so we couldn't take pictures, but it was so interesting! I was fascinated and in awe, by the time we left I was convinced that I could totes have an on-screen day job!!

On Tuesday we had team building, we went for breakfast in Hyde Park and then we went to Acrobranch in Melrose! Acrobranch is an outdoor sort of obstacle course up in the trees, it starts off about a meter above the ground, and gradually gets higher and higher. About half way through you find yourself at least four meters off the ground standing on a ledge, hooking your zip line mechanism to a cable spanning about 10 metres across the grass to another tree, silently convincing yourself to jump of the ledge and zip over the grass to the other side, there is after all no other way down!! With walk ways, chain bridges, cargo rope nets and zip lines to name a few, linking you from tree to tree, it takes about an hour and a half to complete the entire course. At one point I found myself feeling like Jane of the Jungle, I had to take hold of a really think rope and swing from one ledge to a rope net spanned between two trees *insert Tarzan-like yowling sound here*, after grabbing hold of the net I had to climb it to get to the next ledge about 1.5m above. They also have a 200m zip line across a field of grass, it's super fun and quite fast!! This course was a great upper body workout, and we had great fun but if you're afraid of heights and not able to do physical activity for at least two hours then I don't recommend this. If you're an adrenaline junkie and up for a challenge, DO IT!!

Wednesday was National Heritage Day over here in Sunny SA, and the traditional thing to do on NHD is BRAAI of course!! Haha, this year we did not follow tradition, the original plan was to head down to Hartebeesport Dam, ride the cable cars up the mountain and enjoy a late brunch, unfortunately the cable cars were down for maintenance. Oh well, next time right! So we ended up going shopping and after that we met with Riaan's Mom and her sisters, for a catch-up session complete with tea and scones. It was unplanned but a great way to spend a day off!

During the week I also managed to whip up some delicious diet friendly "Ice Cream" which I will post the recipe for tomorrow, I found it on The Londoner's blog, its really delicious but I have altered the recipe a teensy little bit, just to make it easier.

On Friday morning I was up bright and early to catch a flight to the Mother City, although I was going for work, I was excited because I love Cape Town! It's easily my most favourite place in SA!! On arrival we were met with grey skies and a drizzle, but by the afternoon it cleared up and we went for dinner at Shimmy Beach. It's an awesome hot-spot with the locals and the food is divine, not to mention the vast selection of local wines, which is right up my alley!!

On Saturday morning we woke up the most pathetic drizzle, it was fine but the wind was blowing and everything was wet, resulting in our plans to hike Table Mountain being foiled! Luckily in Cape Town we are spoiled for choice when it comes to activities, so off we went to The Old Biscuit Mill, for a morning of Gourmet food, Craft beers, lots of people watching and browsing the dozens of stalls of unique hand made goodies.

Craft Beers

Fresh Oysters

Shrooooms!!

Colourful and very busy dining area

Fresh fruit juices

Delicious Fritata with Smoked Salmon, Poached Egg and Hollandaise Sauce!!

American Style Crepes with Banana and lots of Nutella - These were so so good!!

More Craft Beers

Seafood Paella

Vintage style swimwear

Wooden Jewelry

Pretty Necklaces

Wooden Sunnies and Watches - Pretty Funky!!

Afterwards we went to watch the rugby, SA vs Aus, Rugby isn't really my thing but there is nothing quite as special for me, as a nation that can come together to support their sportsmen the way South Africa does. It literally gave me chills!

On Sunday morning I was off again, back to Jo'burg, Riaan and I had a delicious breakfast at Nice, it's a rustic cafe in Parkhurst 4th Avenue. Their food is fresh, bursting with flavour and well presented.
As you can see we had a hard time making up our minds on what to order!!

We couldn't decide, so we shared!

Open croissant with scrambled egg, avocado and smoked salmon

Left: Toast basket with a poached egg, crispy bacon and tomato relish
Right: Crumpets with crispy bacon, mascarpone cheese and strawberries drizzled with syrup

I promise not to be so quite this week, I am thinking of starting a weekly blog topic, I have a few ideas but if you have any ideas or anything you'd like me to write about, please let me know in the comments!!