Today I am thankful for....

.... dinner with friends...

(and new friendships made).

p.s. Cocktail hour wasn't to bad either :-)

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Peace is....

..a little fury cat body sleeping on my lap.

(www.pininterest.com)

From Russia, with Love.

I don't know why.....

...but for some reason these cuties make me smile.

(www.weheartit.com)

Today I am thankful for....

...a sunny winters day at a beach house.....

..... a simple meal of fish, bread and salad shared with friends that feels like family....

....some yummy carrot cake for dessert....

...and in keep with the nautical theme, ending the day with one of my favorite movies ever...

..TITANIC.

(all images from www.pininterest.com)

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Today I am thankful for....

Being a huge fan, I recently watched Oprah's last show and except for the fact that I cried my eyes out, her speech really got me thinking....especially the part about how each of us have a calling (and thus opportunity to make a difference) in life. I am really blessed to have found my calling in teaching. I LOVE TEACHING!!!
Finding your calling does not necessarily mean that it will always be a smooth ride. Sometimes teaching is really hard work. There is a lot aspects about teaching that I don't like....most of them involves discipline...like sending naughty kids out of the class etc. Sometimes I am not very proud of myself either ....and by teaching, I realise that I still have a lot to learn about patience, kindness and unconditional love to name but a few.
Luckily God blessed me with an amazing group of girls who are not only my colleagues but also close friends. These girls share the burden, give advice, make me laugh, pour me some staffroom tea when I really need it (to name but a few)....

...and for that I am really thankful

Please excuse my over-eager enthusiasm....

.....but photo booths are not all that common in South-Africa...

....So last night, when we discovered a promotional photo booth in the restaurant where we were celebrating lil sister's birthday, ...

  ....we kinda went crazy!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday SISTA

Eventhough she's two years younger that me.....

...she's been around for as long as I can remember.

Now she is all grown up and pretty ...

but I still can't imagine life without my sister!!!

Happy birthday Mieks!!!!

de la Bastille

As an incurable Francofile, it is only right that I beautify my blog with Parisian inspired pretties today.

Oh, how I love France  ....and ........

this

this

this

this

this

....AND.....

this.

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!!

Fashion Week FUN!!!!

The wonderful thing about having a sister that studies fashion design is that I get tagged along to all the fashion shows. Now, I won't pretend that I am a fashionista BUT I do love fashion shows. Except for the fact that it's the perfect opportunity to get all dressed up, you also get to see the most amazing clothes. Fashion shows are so much fun!!!

Every year the mother city host the annual Cape Town Fashion Week.  CTFW is the largest fashion event of the year and designers from all over take part. This year, some students from my sisters design school also took part in the competition and boy, was it something!!!. Because my sister already got a job (with the main sponsor of this fashion show's rival) she could'tn compete but....

...her best friend did....and WON!!!

Oh, HAPPY DAY...

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This spring....

....I'm getting myself a vintage bicycle!

(images found on www.pininterest.com)

Korean Cravings

Lately I've been having the strangest cravings for my favorite Korean foodies so today, when my lovely cousins (who also came to visit me in Korean) came by for tea, I decided to make us some Hotteok.

Hotteok is a variety of filled Korean pancake, and is a popular street food of South Korea. It is usually eaten during the winter season so it was perfect for a sunny winters day like we had here in South Africa today.

Just before I left for South Africa, my wonderful co-teacher, Miss Kim gave me a ready-made dry Hotteok mix so that I could prepare some of these lovelies for my family BUT it's not hard to make from scratch!!!

All you need is flour, water, milk, sugar, and yeast.

 Handful-sized balls of this stiff dough are then filled with a sweet mixture of brown sugar, honey, chopped nuts, sesame and cinnamon.

The filled dough is then placed on a greased griddle, and pressed flat into a large circle with a special tool that looks like a  stainless steel circle (I just used the back of a glass) and wooden handle as it cooks.

They are so yummy.

Go make some - you can find the recipe

here.

Pic of the week *

(image found on www.weheartit.com)

Today I am thankful for.....

My poor darling sister has a cold (which she got from me) and she really feels dreadful. Luckily both of us are on school vacation right now so today we stayed in bed, drank copious amounts of tea, watched movies, laughed at our own silly jokes and took lots of naps with our cats.

Being sick sucks but with my sister around, it's not that bad!!!!

(image found on www.pininterest.com)

Alcove Agony

I recently moved into a new place.

It's a beautiful, teeny-tiny apartment with wooden floors, stained glass windows and high ceilings!

 I love it so much and it really feels like home!!!

I promise to post pictures soon but first I need your help...

My new beautiful, teeny home has not one but TWO alcoves - one in my bedroom and one in the living room. I love these alcoves and they definitely add to the character of the rooms BUT I'm totally clueless as to how I should use them.

I liked this picture...

...in which the alcove doubles as an office space.

 I have to admit that it would be extremely functional in a small space like mine and I am sort of sold on this idea but....

...I still need a bedroom-alcove-solution!

I have a vintage teacup collection but somehow it doesn't seem like the smartest option with a little kitten around and two bookshelves in one (tiny) apartment just seem a bit unnecessary.

Any ideas?

(picture from www.piniterest.com)

Tretchi LOVE

As a belated birthday surprise, Chris took me to a Tretchikoff exhibition today!!

Tretchi-WHO, you may ask?

Recognise any of these?

Tretchikoff (who also lived in South-Africa for most of his life) is known as the "King of Kitch" and I absolutely adore his work.  Art critics may frown upon this but the "King of Kitch" might just be one of my favorite artists. I guess this mean that I have kitch taste????? I don't care!!!! Tretchikoff's  paintings make me really happy! Double happiness when my best-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world take me to go see my favorite-artist -in-the-whole-wide-world's work which are currently on exhibition here!!!!
(If you happen to live in CPT, please do yourself a favor and go!!! Oh, and take your grandmother with - it will bring back fond memories and she will love it)

But I also have my own special little Tretchi-story to tell.
Before my life as a teacher, I use to work in a wonderful little decor shop in the heart of Cape Town. Tretchikoff passed away three years prior and his grandaugher decided to do an exhibition in memory of her grandfather. I knew about Tretchikoff and always liked his work so I was super excited when his grandaughter chose our decor shop as a venue. For a month we worked tiredlessly as the crowds flocked to our shop to see the wonderful works on display and buy his well-known prints. Secretly I would've loved buying one of my own but a signed copy was a bit more than what I could afford. Still, working so closely with his grandaughter who knew all the interesting bits and background information on each painting, was so interesting and I loved every moment!
Then, on the  last day of the exhibition, as we were saying our goodbye's, Tretchikoff's grandaughter asked me which of the prints was my favorite. "Miss Wong" I answered.  The next day a courier came to deliver a package at the shop.....

....a signed "Miss Wong" print and lovely thank you note.

Lucky girl?!! Thats me!