Chilli Poppers... Yum!

It was a Sunday morning and M and I, together with bestest friend Mia, set of to Rafiki's. She said we should try the chili poppers, 'dis die beste'. I was sceptical, as I don't like chilli's much.

But we had it, loved it, and ever since then (it's been more than 2 years) I have always ordered chili poppers if it was on the menu.

Today I stumbled on this blog entry. 2 girls setting of to find the best chili poppers in Cape Town. Of the 5 placed on their list, I've only had the chili poppers of 2 of these establishments. Have to agree - Neighbourhood in Long street have great chili poppers. The variety is fantastic!

On Sunday M and I popped into Cafe Sofia (Rondebosch) for a cuppa, and ended having the stuffed chilli's. Very good! It's got me thinking that chili poppers are a bit like scrambled eggs and bacon - you have to try really hard to stuff it up.

Do you have a favourite spot to go for the poppers? Let me know!

Best of the catalogues

I love retail therapy. And I love buying things for my home. My teeny apartment that is now overflowing with 'stuff'.

Right now I'm on the lookout for a new sofa. I've kinda set my mind on a corner unit in dark grey, but because the dark grey is such a leap for me, I'm postponing the purchase every month! But I think this weekend will be the deadline. I've already painted the walls, got new curtains up, so really, no more excuses.

I always get a teeny bit giddy when retailers bring out new home ware catalogues. It gives me time to shop without the danger of actually having (or being seduced into) spending money.

My favourite chain stores for home ware are Woolies, @home and Mr Price. In the last say 5 years these stores really have upped the anty and actually sell good design. @home stocks design classic knock-offs at good prices (let's not start that debate) and Mr Price is great for bargain finds. Woolies just have the best towels at the nicest price (their bale packs) and always have great glasses and crockery.

Below are some of my faves from the current catalogues.

@home, ceramic flower votive holder R39 (love the purple and green combo!)

@home, in love with this pic with the grey purple wall, lots of white, timber floors. Gotta say the couch sucks. The cushions are from @home, felt cushions from R129. Oh, and the aluminium bokkie it R590 - I want!


It surprises me that @home have quite a good range of posters and artwork. I always expect chain stores to have the same old framed landscape in water colours. But @home have some darn good posters. I bought myself a green "Keep Calm and Carry On" (which by the way has quite a history - will tell you about it). And they really are not badly priced.

Woolies, R 25. A steal at that price.

Woolies, R599. Again, I want. The perfect secy desk lamp!

I feel like hitting the shops this weekend (hey, it was payday!) and buying that sofa. Will let you know how it turns out!

x a

How many shoes are 'enough'?

M keeps on asking me this question, or many like it. Like "How many bags do you really need?" He's answer is 2: a black one and a brown one. Huh?

And then whenever I go shoe shopping (and drag him behind me) I get "How many more shoes do you need?" Love, it's never been a question about need.

Well, I do believe I need the black leather boots I am wearing now. It's winter, I live in Cape Town and I hate getting wet around my ankles. But I suppose I didn't have to pay almost R1000 for these lovelies, but that is where 'want' steps in.

Remember those utterly gorgeous blue wedge lovelies I blogged about a while ago? Well, I thought they were not meant to be for me when I missioned into Woolies and they were all sold out. Not even the size 4's were left. (And I think I might have tried to squeeze my feet into them if there were)

But. Yes. Then I walked into the Waterfront branch yesterday on my mission to find black boots (why do all the stores have ugly boots? They are either full of fake fur, biker buckles and zips, or so damn high I would never live longer than 1 hour in them), I turned the corner and there they were. IN MY SIZE!!! Not on sale, as I had hoped for 5 seconds later after seeing them, but they were there. And they are beautiful and comfy (bonus!) and they have a little blue satin bow on the front and I just love them.

I feel a little guilty after buying 3 pairs of shoes yesterday (I found the perfect black leather boots, by blue lovelies and a cute pair of silver pumps), but my buying frenzy does not compare to this girl. Go read her note on how she stumbled upon this collection of vintage shoes at an estate sale. Every girl's dream!

x a

*sigh*

Look at these beautiful ceramic goodies available from Cecile & Boyd here in the Mother city. I've seen some of these also at The Space in Cavendish.

I'm sure I've made it known before that I love collections. Different types. Right now I am building on my 'white' collection, all manner of white ceramic goodies (all exceptionally pretty on their own). I've grouped them all together on my aunt's dark timber coffee table and love it!

My favourite on this table is most definitely the big protea head. I have a little obsession with proteas, so these lovelies are just the thing to add to my collection! (Bokkie, hint hint)

x a

Green Kitchens

The colour! Not necessarily eco-friendly, but that's also on the cards.

I'm helping both my future sister-in-laws with their respective homes, and I'm enjoying the fact both have very different styles. P is a little more colour daring, and during Mother's Day brunch this morning, which turned into lunch but it was good all round as now one was really watching the clock anyhow (expect maybe M, as he missioned into the kitchen not able to wait an longer and munched on toast and peanut butter) P asked me what I thought of green for the kitchen.

Well, I love it. I've always thought that the kitchen is one of the spaces in a home that one can get away with painting a brighter colour, especially when people are not to sure about painting a 'colour' in the living areas and tend to stick to neutrals. Here are some of my favourite green kitchens.

Now the only trick is to get the Dom out of the house for long enough to make the transformation. He's a little anti-change right now, but I can promise once it is done he will thank me!

x a

Image 2: Daisy Green Magazine

Image 4: Country Living

Cape Town is having a rainy day...

...so I'm heading off home to make a big pot of soup!

During winter, I normally make about 4 big pots of 'boere sop', you know the kind. Meat, carrots, potato, tomato, onion, beans, anything you can find in the cupboard really, plus the crucial '4-in-1 soup mix'. The pot lasts for days, and I always end up freezing an ice cream container or 2 for later on.

But tonight I feel like creamy hot steaming delicious butternut soup. I think everyone loves butternut soup, and everyone has their own recipe. I don't really have a recipe, as with most things I make in the kitchen it really is hit or miss! My butternut soup though always starts with a chopped onion, butternut and potato chunks. I chuck it all in the pot, add a little butter and let the veggies 'sweat' a little. Oh, and at this point I sometimes remember to add some curry powder, some cinnamon and a little ginger. And sometimes I forget.....

Then I add about 1,5 litres chicken or vegetable stock and let it all party in the pot until the butternut is soft and squishy. Then I get out the blender stick thingy and whizz it all smooth (I hate chunky soup). Oh, I scoop out most of the stock. Then after all the butternut, onion and potato is pureed, I add the stock back bit by bit so that I can control the thickness of the soup. If you want, now you can add cream, (yum - but not good if you're on a diet) or some low fat milk (my option).

An extra sprinkle of cinnamon is always good!

Tonight I might just try this recipe from Martha Stewart. She uses ginger, garlic, cloves and orange juice, an no potato. Either which way, I'll have soup!

Have a lovely rainy evening with lots of bowls of soup and fresh bread and cosy duvets and hot water bottles and lots of cuddles!

x a

Shopping find

A client asked me the other day where could she find a beautiful glass desk? Now @home have a Eames knock-off, very simple and totally elegant. Then Weylandts also have one, but theirs is a glass top on a trestle leg on the one side and a little drawer unit on the other side. Also quite beautiful, but a little lop sided if you ask me, I like symmetry.

But then I found this this stunning piece of furniture at Block and Chisel. I am mad about the chrome legs (which are fully adjustable) and the way the chrome and glass just work so beautifully together.

Yes, glass desks are not the most practical of desks. But minor problems such as constant cleaning and storage for nick knacks can be resolved with a pack of glass cleaning wipes from Clicks and some clever storage boxes. The sheer elegance and beauty of this beautiful desk scores higher on the cards than practicality!

Pretty Pretty from Vitra

That's it, it's just pretty.

From the rug (a little Paul Smith-ish) to the white couch and colourful cushions and throw right down to the 'love' cushion (I love anything with the word 'love' on it). Oh, and the owl in the corner.

I'm a huge Eames fan, so the Lounge Chairs in cow hide round this off for me. In the back is the Wiggle Stool, designed by Frank Gehry in 1972. Made entirely of corrugated cardboard, it shows that good design does not need to be expensive!

I'm especially fascinated with the fabric on the ottoman. It looks like a doodle of a building that just grew and grew and became a city!

With some art on the walls, I could live here...
:)
x a

Image via Vitra

Up and Down

I'm pretty sure that each and every design blog has done a post on stripes. Well, here's mine.

Because stripes can be very traditional, extremely contemporary, funky and fun or sassy and sophisticated.

I don't think the colour matters, the fact that you've painted or papered any area in stripes means that you have balls and don't mind that what you are doing is not 'safe'.

Who likes to be classified as 'safe' anyhow? Ga. Sies.

OK, so maybe you don't want to do an entire wall. Baby steps are good. Cushions, chairs, books (cover some books in stripe paper, place on your coffee table, it will look good, promise!) are a good way to start.

x a

Image 1 via Collette Ward Interiors

Image 2 via Made by Girl

Image 4 via House & Gardens

All other images from the files, source unknown

Every girl has to own a tiara (even if it's plastic)

I've been working with a really super fantastic girl who really knows how to string sentences together (on a project I can only reveal a little later, so keep on coming back here). Her blog is a great find, and I'm realy happy to share it with you, so go and read Tiara - musings of a princess.

She shares everyday happenings and mishaps, including how she gave away her boss's rugby season tickets (Ouch girl!) and her thoughts on buying French cars (never a good idea).

Promise, you'll love it.

x a

I ♥

Not the dress. The cupboard. (And the whole room, it is serene and calm and I can imagine not having any worries in this room)

A new life for old bottles

For the past couple of days I have been clearing out drawers, cupboards, boxes, baskets and every little corner in my small apartment. I'm a hoarder, I know it. I love open spaces and no clutter, but I like collecting and gathering things even more.

The end result of course, is that I don't know where anything is when I need it and I end up having no cupboard space for my towels!

But collecting does not need to be a bad thing. This collection has over 40 old bottles, but it's neatly displayed and there is a sense of organisation. I am so in love with these pics (sorry, forgot where I found them) it's given me new hope for my chaos!

I suppose that's what I need to do: organise my clutter.

Net vir 'n baie spesiale vriendin, op haar verjaarsdag

Inspired by the cutest, most adorable, sweetest (and probably the movie with the saddest first 10 minutes) animated movie, Up. But the real thing is just so much better, isn't it?

Lekker verjaar vriendin! Drome word waar!

x a

Winter woolies

I'm sure it's because Cape Town had it's first rainy and kinda cold day on Friday, but I am suddenly very inspired to start knitting again! I love sitting under a blanket in winter, knitting away. The unfortunate thing is that I do not have the patience to knit jerseys or complicated tea cosies or anything that takes longer than one or 2 evenings to complete! So, I tend to focus my efforts on scarves. Easy, quick, useful scarves.

I found these wonderful knits on Etsy and just love the reinvention of the scarf! I'll definitely try my hand at these, and if all else fails, there's always the option to buy from these lovely crafters! ;)

The top one is from Phydeaux's shop and the second from Homelab. I'm also totally smitten by their choice of colour! I'm loving all things grey at the moment.

Inspiration from Tim Burton's Wonderland

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about how incredible Alice in Wonderland is. (OK, but it is.)

If you have seen the movie, you have to agree with me that the colours in this film have a way of grabbing at you and pulling you into this imaginary world. I found myself completely mesmerized by the beautiful and interesting mix of colours.

Throughout the entire movie, I was transfixed by Alice's blue grey with a hint of purple dress. The mushrooms in pink and blue and purple and orange and every other colour you can imagine! And then there are the flowers, in the most vibrant (and at the same time kinda smokey) hues of orange and pink and red.

And I found myself looking at the silk sash around the Mad Hatter's hat all the time, that lvoely salmon pink creation.

These colours would create the most amazing and evocative interiors. The funny thing is is that for my own place I have been leaning towards these colours for some time now. Seeing it all together like this though makes we really want to get stuck in and paint all the walls of my tiny apartment! (again...)

Is this the Easter Bunny?

Well, maybe not. But it's still cute as a button!!

Have a wonderful Easter, and travel safely!

Image via Flickr

If I were Alice in Wonderland...

... my shoes would me blue with pretty bows. Like these.

I love...

Oh, what is not to love about these gorgeously beautiful glass bell jars!

My birthday is coming up soon (OK, it's another 3 months, but I'm hinting hard here) and if my dearest love needs any help in deciding on a pressie, please go to The Space in Cavendish.

I love the delicate nature of the fine glass art with birds and butterflies.

x a

Special Breakfast

(I think I'm sharing this because I watched Julie & Julia last night, go watch it if you have not already!)


If you feel like spoiling someone (or yourself), try to make the yummy flap jacks! Perfect for a lazy Saturday, after sleeping a little later than normal...

Flap Jacks, stacked with bacon, fresh rocket (I prefer the wild rocket - can get it at Pick 'n Pay) and lastly drizzled with Maple Syrup.

Make sure you make enough, because you will definitely want seconds!!

My Mom's recipe for flap jacks
1 cup self raising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oil
pinch of salt

Break the eggs into a cup, add water until it's at 3/4 cup mark. Whisk together.
Add the dry ingredients, but don't whisk too much, it will make it sticky if you do.
Put a little margarine in a hot pan, spoon small amounts of batter in the pan (normally about 3 or 4 flap jacks will fit in the pan in one go).
Once bubbles appear on the top, you need to flip it over.

Enjoy!

Take flight

At the recent Design Indaba (I really should blog about it) Li Edelkoort made some style forecasts. And let's face it, she's never been wrong in like 2 decades, so who am I not to listen?

One of her predictions was the "taking flight" concept. Anything linked to birds and flying would become fashionable and coveted. Think nests, feathers, birds..and I want to add to that: Butterflies. What's not to love? Sure, sometimes it's a little kitsch, but when done correctly, it can be the most beautiful thing you've seen!

This wall of butterflies is the work of Paul Villinski, I'll try and share more if his work soon.
Image via Apartment Therapy

I blogged about this book shelf a while ago, and I still love it!

Now I wouldn't want to hide such a pretty trivet by actually placing a pot on it!

I'll be away for the long weekend, and I really hope I spot a pretty butterfly on my travels. I spotted one the other day at the nursery, it was hovering in fornt of me for quite a while, made my day!

Happy long weekend everyone!

x a

I love...

Whenever someone says "I love.." then we wait to hear what they love.

I love sunshine.
I love my fiance.
I love cocoa on a cold day.
I love tomatoes.
I love painting.
I love paintings.
I love sleeping in.

But how about just "I love." Full stop. Isn't that worth something?

Today, I love.

x a

Too hot to do anything

Seriously, this heat is insane. The air conditioning in my office can't cope, I want to go home and sit in front of my old fashioned fan with blue blades with the old Pick 'n Pay logo in the middle.

And it makes me cranky.

Image Via Flickr

5 Things I want to do this weekend

(The reason for this weekly list is simple. At the office I am fairly organised. There are files and systems and I generally know where to find something. At home, this is a different story. So, I've embarked on a mission to sort out my life (well, mostly my flat). And by making list (not only in your head) it's so much easier to tackle these things head on! So here goes...)

1. Finish the rug I started making. Painting is done, just some stitching to do (The image above was the inspiration for my rug - you will have to wait and see!)
2. Start laying out the pattern of the bits of fabric for the quilt (yip, still adamant on making one)
3. Restock the cleaning cupboard (I was so sure I bought Handy Andy the other day?)
4. Throw out all the pieces of paper that I have not looked at, have not used, or don't know what they are. Seriously, I have piles of the stuff all over the place
5. Find that bottle of Paul Smith Evian water. Dammit.

What are you up to this weekend?

Happy weekend!

I'vbe started noticing posters all over the show. I love these from Made by Girl.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

x a

Seriously, how sexy is this lounger?

Haldane Martin (check out his home in this previous post here) launched his new Baba Papa Lounger at the Design Indaba Expo this weekend.


Oh. My. Goodness.

Inspired by water-worn pebbles, the lounger is made from 80% recycled stainless steel wire loops (recycling was BIG at the expo - no surprise there).

I gotta have one.

(sorry, my phone acting up a little this Monday morning, so can't post pics from the expo yet)

OK, so I got some of it done

1. I did go the Indaba (will tell you all about it, promise)
2. I did not go to the film festival (although I see my two top choices are showing tonight and tomorrow night)
3. Withnail bit me
4. I did cut up all the fabric bits for the quilt in progress
5. And most upsetting of all: I did not find the Paul Smith Evian bottle. Anybody out there know who stocks it? Let me know, please!