In honour of International Glass Week this week - Consol have given me a R500 gift voucher to give away which can be spent on lovely glass things like glass jars, candle holders, decor and other glass goodies (in the Stellenbosch and Woodmead stores).
If anyone follows my pinterest boards - (just fight your way through all the wedding stuff - yeah, i don't know how that got in there) and you will see a whole bunch of cool glass inspired DIYs and tutorials for making your life more beautiful :) like this gorgeous party decor from Sweet Designs Blog:
And some of my other favourite tutorials include a really cool DIY for putting old photographs inside different glass jars to make an interesting-vintage/apothecary-type shelf display (as found on Yankee Magazine.)
so pretty.
If you'd like to win a R500 Consol voucher (to be couriered to you - CT or JHB) then leave a comment below telling me your favourite thing to put in glass. (yes, you can use the cartoon above for inspiration.)
What if you had to pack up your entire life for the past three and a half years into a tiny box to be shipped home?
(yes. this is my room. it looks just like this.)
this is me.
I'm leaving SoKo at the end of the year. (loud sobbing). And because I have accumulated so much stuff "precious gems" in the three or so years I've been here, I've decided to start shipping some stuff home.
Currently my house is like a giant amusement park.
but minus the rides and fun stuff.
actually, it's just amusing.
(i wanted to make a new What if Wednesday? header to match the new blog look, but i was too busy procrastinating. see yesterday's post. It will have to wait for it for next week.)
I have come to the realisation that there is a directly proportional relationship between the amount of things that you need to do versus the amount of procrastination that you can procure.
yip, it's like that. science: pure and simple.
(and yes, this picture of extreme time-wasting was completed whilst i have several-hundred more "important" things to deal with. I'm a really effective procrastinator.)
Gift wrap for my friend's first baby - a little girl called Phoebe. I bought a pink rose and made a gift tag with a punched hole and threaded it through with some rafia. et voila.
A change is as good as a holiday. (Hence new blog look. Do we like?).
(*also, side note: I used to use this phrase on my brother all the time when I was younger to get what I wanted. Brother: Che, I always sit in the middle - Why do we have to switch now? Che: Change is as good as a holiday. Move over.)
So we decided to embark on the MASTER CLEANSE. We changed the name to the MAPLE SYRUP CLEANSE. Because it's more friendly that way.
Then we went shopping for our supplies for the next ten days. SIDE NOTE: grocery shopping for the next ten days when you are only buying bulk maple syrup, cayenne pepper and salt is not that fun.
Next step: perfect your concoction -
it really looked like that.
remember, there is no food.
(Also, you will notice that our expressions have not changed - conserve energy. vital.)
This sounds very simple.
- just give it a go.
This is like the OCEAN. in your mouth. THE OCEAN.
Me: You're kidding. Kristi: We gotta do it. Me: why? Kristi: Because we can't chug the salt. Me: but why do we need the salt?! why?! Kristi: Because there isn't anything to get the rotten food out. We need something to force it out. so that we can be CLEANSED you know. That's the whole point. Me: I don't want to. Kristi:Beyonce did it. (silence) Me: ok fine then.
Don't worry we practiced the mime for constipation very thoroughly before we arrived at the chemist.
and then, in perfect American English:
yes, the onlookers were on-looking.
Using our limited combined Korean vocab, we were actually able to ask literally for the "master-of-poo-tea" and indeed we got it. Salt water can FLUSH MY ASS.
After getting our lovely laxative tea - we continued on the MAPLE SYRUP CLEANSE for the next 6 days. During which time, we experienced migraines, faintness, blurred vision, sensitive teeth due to maple syrup, constricted throats due to lemon juice, perhaps some strange poop, if you even poop at all. oh, and the hunger... did i mention that? At some point during the cleanse slow death, food begins to talk to you in a faint whisper, telling you how wonderful it is. Non-food objects become wildly appealing.
(this really happened)
You will think things such as, "i know I'm not allowed to have any extra food... but what if i just nibble on that piece of paper.....kristi?... would that be ok?". Your friends will tell you that you are insane. You will think they are trying to SABOTAGE you. (they are not. they really just think you are insane).
Eventually you reach DAY 10:
At the end of the ten days, you will most likely have lost half a head of hair, developed toxin-induced skin rashes, cayenne-pepper stomach ulcers and lost about 4 kilograms. it's not pretty.
but, on the other hand, you will always be able to say:
*The end*
only read if you are interested in the maple syrup cleanse:
* * * * * * MAPLE SYRUP CLEANSE * * * * * *
What I learnt doing the Maple Syrup (Master) Cleanse:
(Disclaimer: I actually steered off the Maple Syrup Cleanse after day 8 and starting drinking orange juice instead of the maple syrup concoction - see why below.)
There are drastic and "quick" (if you consider "quick" being ten days) ways of losing a bunch of weight. In my opinion (which is not professional) you will lose weight. (Let me remind you though that TEN days with no food, does not go "QUICK"). You will also put it back on very quickly.
Eating is extremely social and if you are not acutely aware of this already - then you will really become aware of it when you have to turn down dinner dates and get togethers because there is no point in spending your entire evening at a restaurant or friends house just smelling the air around you. It will make you hungry, miserable and unsociable.
Without food, you will be grouchy. Even if you are usually Little Miss Sunshine. There is no way around this.
There is some critical point that when you pass it, you will feel like it's not really that bad and that you could do it for a while and be content. I think this day came around day 4 or day 5 for me.
You will become very aware of how many (excess) calories people consume around you and how little calories are actually needed for basic survival. This is actually very liberating and probably the most beneficial thing I got out of the cleanse.
You will be SICK of the taste of Maple syrup and Lemon juice. Because we live in a world were there are so many diverse flavours and tastes and rich food experiences, You will see how quickly your body becomes sick of one flavour. Hence the switch to orange juice - day 8.
Your teeth will become sensitive. You will definitely experience headaches at some point.
You will feel some warped sense of accomplishment.
If you are usually a very active person, you will feel frustrated at having to lower your activity levels.
Your general perception towards food will change.
I am not going to put a link to any maple syrup cleanses because I don't believe or advocate it as a healthy dieting/cleansing option. If you want to try it, you can google it, you will find it. Let me know how it goes for you :) Don't die.
