Showing posts with label girly things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label girly things. Show all posts

Monday, February 3, 2014

The Prosecco Diaries

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A few weekends ago, Sarah from The Prosecco Diaries invited me to a Prosecco Tasting event. She had me at "Prosecco Tasting" but for good measure she decided to throw nail painting, girly-blogger chatting, tasty treats, hair styling and amazing goodie bags. Um. Let's just say I cancelled all my previous plans on the spot.

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The event was held at The Painted Lady in Shoreditch - which is an awesome quirky retro salon and I LOVED all the epic decor including fairy lights, vintage posters, old school record players (that were actually playing) and shelves that looked like they have been gathered together by lush Magpies. Definitely pop in for a treat if you are in Shoreditch. And if you're not in Shoreditch, You should go to Shoreditch.

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On arrival we were served Sarah's "Signature Cocktail" and sat around chatting at leisure, sipping cocktails, until we were individually called to have our hair styled. (Like real freakin princesses I tell you).  photo hiar_zpsef19a2aa.jpg
I opted for a boho-braided style - which was a braid around the crown of my head and ended in a long fishtail plait down the one side. I don't know how those beauty-you-tubers do it, but I would never be able to pull off something like this myself with out the help of several extra pairs of arms, and some kind of Harry Potter "eyes-through-the-back-of-your-head-glasses". The staff at The Painted Lady were all so awesome and were so helpful in recommending styles that would match with our outfits -
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After hair styling it was off for nails - SO MANY COLOURS TO CHOOSE FROM:
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....And from all the colours in the rainbow - I went for charcoal grey. lol.

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(Above left: Nicole from A life less beige - with her fancy do! Right: Some of the awesome products at The Painted Lady)

 photo processo11_zps13d71990.jpg Then, onto the treats of the evening - cheeses of all variety, cupcakes of all deliciousness and Prosecco FOR ALL! (out of dainty vintage tea cups, as you do.)

 photo processo10_zps09d3d926.jpg Sarah had organised us our own scoring sheets and we took notes on all the Prosecco on offer rating them out of ten, and giving them scores based on dryness, fizz, fruitiness and any other flavours.
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I was quite partial to the Marks & Spencer Zardetto NV - (but to be fair after the first round of Prosecco teacup tastings, My ability to describe each one went from "Mmm... Yes, Dry, fruity, peach finish, quite bubbly, good nose...." to "This one is colder the last one"

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At some point in the evening The Resident Fox came out. But don't worry, it was tame.  
And it made for fabulous picture taking opportunity.

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Sarah completely spoilt us with the incredible goodie bags that she organised for us all! There is no way I could do justice by describing all the goodies - so here are some snaps and links for you to see for yourself! (All these goodies are currently sitting beside me as I type, and I'm part drooling over them and part trying to not knock my tea all over them).

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Inkwear || Gorgeous packaging || Lipcote
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And loads of other awesome discount codes and vouchers for a whole host of fun competitions - (Lipcote are actually running a win-a-lipstick-a-week on their Facebook page right now!)

AMAZING goodies bags...
Am I right or am I RIGHT?!?!
So lucky!
I had organised with the husband to come and meet me after the event so that we could "go out on the town" with mah-hair-do and fancy nails - When he arrived outside the salon, I got up to leave, when suddenly all the girls ushered him in and handed him Prosecco. So there he sat, in amidst hair-styled, prosecco-guzzling, fancy nailed girly-girls listening to blogger talk. 


What a trooper. 

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Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the fun (probably I was more sad to leave than the husband) to go have some dinner in Shoreditch. The longer I kept my boho-braid in, the longer it grew on me and the more attached I got to it - So I totally milked it for all it was worth, slept the whole night in it and only took it out at about 5pm the next day. (Thanks Painted Lady - i loved it!)

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And THIS is what your hair looks like when you sleep in Boho braids.

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A huge massive thanks to Sarah for organising such a fab event! To the hosts at The Painted Lady and also to all the awesome sponsors who supplied delicious treats and goodie bag gems!

You can pop over to Sarah's blog to get a full run down of all the Prosecco we devoured and also a bit more detail about all the epic sponsors!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

it's cool to be a girl

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In life, it is quite cool to be a girl. For several very wonderful reasons.

#1. You can hide almost any problem with "magical-cosmetical" products:
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(coincidentally these "problems" usually occur around very IN-opportune occasions).

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NO PROBLEM! just use your est ala-magic! et voila!

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Boys. do not try this. it is not cute.

#2. Freedom to blame almost ANYTHING on PMS.

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choccies. yeah, eat as much as you want.

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NO! minion boy! what are you doing here?!?
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oh snap! no other excuse is necessary.

likewise:

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oh little man-friend, you are so afraid.
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yeah that's it, "pms".
and oh look! now we are happy again!
smart boys do not ask questions.

boys, be smart. 

#3. Authorised to decide the validity of inanimate objects:

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why are boys looking always so afraid?!
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sometimes this little devil-device tells the truth. 
and sometimes, it LIES.
you decide.

#4. Girls have well-honed in-built justification mechanisms:

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yip, one in every colour.

* * * *

go get a mani, pedi, 
cupcake, coffee-date, 
smash a shoe-sale, 
smash a bathroom-scale
use the PMS excuse 
to have a wail
(boys not invited)
woop.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

bag lady

Last week or so Natalie Roos posted a blog post titled "what's in your bag?" and tagged some people on twitter to get involved mainly to have a nosy little peek into other girls bags...

I decided to do a triple whammy of bags -
1. the everyday lady bag.
2. the laptop bag.
3. the camera bag. 


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I bought this bag in Ilsan, South Korea - I also bought the two similar bags as gifts for my Mom and Aunt in South Africa. This bag is the perfect size for me and the colour goes with everything. During the purchasing of this bag - Me and two friends were asked to be filmed for some Korean TV show about being a foreigner in Korea. (It's not an unusual occurrence.)
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The Contents:
  1. Notebook - sent in a package from my friend Angie from Canada
  2. Korean bank card
  3. Big heart ring
  4. Gum. (essential.)
  5. Book - What is the what? - by Dave Eggars
  6. Disposable travel cards that I keep meaning to refund. But then i forget.
  7. T-money card - used for all buses and subways around Seoul.
  8. Leather and gold chain wrist-wrap bracelet.
  9. Labello lip-ice and Lancome juicy tube. (I always lose lip-ice)
  10. Coffee sachet. (funny story... we actually bought coffee sachets from a 24 hour convenience store in Seoul because we wanted the paper cups that they come with. Just so that we could drink the "fancy" bottle of "Family Mart" red wine whilst sitting on the plastic chairs and tables outside the store. yip.)
  11. Gorgeous leather pen holder from my friend Laura - stocked with multiple pens and pencils.
  12. Turquoise headband.
  13. Eggshell shimmer stick from Skinfood. Works so beautifully as a highlighter and as a bronzy/creamy eyeshadow.
  14. Hairband. (not too good with wearing my hair down. [in the literal sense i mean. Figuratively - i'm ok. see #10] )
  15. Pair of black sunglasses that I bought on the streets of Seoul. (purchase may or may not have had something to do with aforementioned bottle of wine.)
  16. Pair of sunglasses I was previously wearing that day.
  17. Receipts and Korean money
  18. Camera keychain I bought
  19. Mini bottle of perfume
  20. Tomatoes and almonds. For snacking purposes.
  21. Mini Polaroid pic of the girls out for lunch.
  22. Travel stickers and stationery I bought
  23. Starbucks cup holder - which I hoard collect to use when I make "up-cycled" books and things.
  24. Random spoon. (?)
  25. Emirates flight menu. (used as a bookmark)
  26. Cereal hand moisturising cream.
  27. Starbucks card.
  28. Nintendo Game boy. Just kidding, that's my iPhone. i know.
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Let me just state the obvious and say that this bag is awesome. It has some kind of giant alien lumo green eye and the words say "DON'T GLARE AT MY LAPTOP BAG." (Definitely made in Korea).
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The Contents:
  1. Portable hard-drive
  2. Hard drive cover.
  3. Apple care box
  4. Employee leave form. (I'm planning on being "sick" soon. ahem.)
  5. Pretty writing paper
  6. Adapter plug
  7. Scribbles and layout ideas for a Wedding Stationery Set I am currently working on.
  8. Lonely planet book on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos - busy planning an epic trip there for 5 weeks in December/January. (WOOPLA!)
  9. The account details and money amounts that I had to transfer to the travel agent and Airlines. (UN-WOOPLA!)
  10. Laptop bag. Did you miss it?
  11. Earrings given to me by a co-teacher.
  12. Purse - so that I can buy snacks when i have to take my laptop with me to the office.
  13. Pens. (always gotta have them pens.)
  14. Bracelets. (I can't draw my cartoons with my bracelets on. It messes with my mojo.)
  15. Wacom drawing tablet and pen that I use to make my cartoons.
  16. My precious.
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This bag is amazeballs. But really. I got mine for my birthday from my lovely mom and dad.
And now you can get them in South Africa from Camera Couture.  They stock a range of beautiful ladies (and men's) designer handbags that are actually camera bags with padding and support for expensive camera equipment. And you can adjust the padding inside to fit your needs. They are awesome because instead of packing your big ugly black camera bag and lugging it around with you - you can pack it all into a really pretty "handbag" and not look like the Italian Mafia every time you want to take your camera's out for a ride.
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(pic taken with iPhone -because the real camera is in the picture.)

Contents
  1. 50mm f/1.8 Canon Lens
  2. Lomography film 400 ISO
  3. Korean wons
  4. Random camera instructions
  5. Instax mini polaroid refills
  6. Lomography bag with Diana F+ adapter pieces
  7. Small sketchbook
  8. Canon 60D Camera
  9. Diana F+ flash
  10. Spool
  11. SD card in case
  12. OH LABELLO! THERE YOU ARE!! TWO OF YOU!!!
  13.  Diana F+ adapter back (to convert 120mm film to 35mm film)
  14. Diana F+
  15. Super Slim Wide Angle Film Camera given to me by Dominique
  16. Silica gel -DO NOT EAT.
  17. Matches from Zebrano - a bar/club in London
  18. Camera Case
  19. Instax camera case
  20. indieBerries business cards that i had printed from Moo cards
  21. Instax instant camera
  22. Battery
  23. Action Sampler Camera. (Takes four pictures in one)
  24. Canvas bag with cellophane papers to put over the Diana Flash to give it a colour pop.
Wow and that all fits in that lovely turquoise joy! haha Seriously though - really awesome for anyone who has camera equipment and there are a whole bunch of styles and colours too.

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You can check more of the bags at Camera Couture.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far and for poking around in my bags. haha. (today I have bags under my EYES for staying up to finish this post. lol i crack myself up.)

(labels and graphic elements from Pugly Pixel.)