Where's December rushing off to??

I blinked and December was upon us, I was so excited because I was done with work for the year and I was going to have so much free time to get things done!

I blinked again and December's already half-way through!! How did that happen?? What is going on?? I have hardly even touched on the endless list of things to do!

I did manage to get all our Christmas shopping done and wrapped, by the 3rd already! I also took Arya in for a little snip, her stitches come out tomorrow. Since then it's been a whirlwind of selling a ton of our stuff, studying for exams, freaking out over not covering all my content due to not having power for 15 hours straight last week, a three hour long exam on Wednesday and a plethora of farewells since then. Finally I have a little free time to sit down at my laptop and get you all up to speed.

We had our year-end work function on Thursday and our year-end team building at Sun City on Friday. The weather was perfect and we had a blast!

Girls at Thursday lunch

View from the Cascades Hotel, Sun City

Arena in the Valley of the Waves, Sun City

Roman Baths at the Valley of the Waves, Sun City

Sunset over Hartebeespoort Dam

We still have quite a bit to get done as well as alot of packing to do before the 28th when our tenants move into our little house.

I'm getting so excited, this morning I worked out our Itinerary for Paris and it's going to be an amazing holiday! I can't wait to get all snap happy in France (with our newest toy) and share what is sure to be an incredible holiday with you all!

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram to see what we get up to, as it happens!

 *All photos on this post are either mine or courtesy of Roanne Sookdhoo, our tourist!

A week away

Good morning everybody!

I have not fallen off the face of the planet, just incase you were wondering...

Blogging for 31 days in a row was quite a challenge, in the beginning I really didn't think it would be that difficult but we all know that blogging does take a bit of time so that ended up being my biggest challenge because October is always a busy month for me. This October was extra busy - I baked my first 3 tier wedding cake! It was delicious!

Last weekend we went to Sun City for a mini-break and on Sunday I was off to Durban for the week, I've been here since and although it has been quite overcast it's hot and humid as always! I'll be going home tomorrow and I can't wait, I'm missing my better half like crazy!!

So that's just a little catch up for now, I haven't had a chance to edit any pictures and to be honest with you I haven't really taken too many pictures. There are a few snaps up on my Instagram account if you want to see what I've been up to.

On Sunday I'll be posting my first sponsored product review so stay tuned for that, I was quite excited when approached because it's a first for me!

My Halloween Costume...#Blogtober14 Day 31

So it's officially the last day of #Blogtober14, I have enjoyed this challenge so much and I loved linking up with other new bloggers, it was awesome!! Having said that, I can't wait to start a weekly series or two and get back to posting recipes, and lifestyle goodies.

As I mentioned over here, Halloween isn't really a thing in South Africa, and our group of friends have not planned anything this year, so no real dress up costume from me. I learnt an interesting fact today though, in the Southern Hemisphere it is actually Beltane (beginning of summer) today, it's kind of the opposite of Halloween which is also known as Samhain (beginning of winter) in the Northern Hemisphere.

According to this source, Beltane is a holiday of Union - both between the Goddess and the God and between man and woman. Handfastings (Pagan marriages) are traditional at this time. It is a time of fertility and harvest, the time for reaping the wealth from the seeds that we have sown. Celebrations include braiding of one's hair (to honour the union of man and woman and Goddess and God), circling the Maypole for fertility and jumping the Beltane fire for luck. They also say that Samhain (Halloween) is the Wiccan New Year. This is the time of year when the veil between the world of the dead and the world of the living is said to be it's thinnest. Spirits and souls of loved ones are said to have more power and ability to visit us. This is the time of year for remembering and honouring our dead, and many people will leave a plate of food and a glass of wine out for wandering sprits.

I found this really interesting, I didn't know that Halloween was actually a Wiccan celebration. Happy halloween to everyone celebrating!

If I were dressing up for Halloween this year, I would go full on Katy Perry!!

But instead, Riaan and I will be spending the weekend lounging alongside the pool at Sun City, soaking up some vitamin D, so the only costume I'll be putting on will be my bikini!!

What will you be getting up to this weekend??