Sunday Stories.

On Thursday, after a pretty inspirational talk from a friend (you know who you are), I sat down at my computer and attempted to write a blogpost about how I was feeling. I ended up with a paragraph which included the word "stuff" three times. Clearly, am not as good with the words as I am with the pictures.


Even though it took me more than several minutes to come up with "the stuff paragraph" I decided to keep on plugging away at the keyboard because there were some things that (mainly for myself), I just needed to put out there. "Don't worry" I told myself - "I'll just write this post and publish it on Sunday when nobody is looking"

"Silent Ninja blog posting that hopefully no one will read it" 

- It's not really what they recommend at The Blogcademy.

Apart from this type of "wordy" post being slightly more uncommon for indieBerries, I've decided to publish it in the Sunday afternoon nap-hour because, in a way, human nature has made us believe that we shouldn't be overly excited, enthusiastic or proud of our own successes. We should be humble and modest and defer whatever praise comes our way onto anything other than ourselves. Example:

"Wow, that skirt looks really good on you!"
"Thank you, I bought it at this market last weekend."

"Wow, that skirt looks really good on you!"
"Thank you, I think it really suits my body shape!"

I digress.

In the past 2 weeks some amazing people have come into my life. Some of them are new friends, some are old friends that have 'resurfaced' and some are friends I have known who have recently become better friends. Over the last week or so I have been inspired, motivated and creatively fueled beyond belief. I have met new bloggers, new friends, new creatives, new people with big dreams, big ideas and big plans for themselves and their lives. I have mixed with people who are at the forefront of their game, I have mixed with people who are establishing themselves as vibrant new players in their game. I went to my first yoga class, I cooked a vegetarian quiche (!?), I spent the whole of Saturday doing nothing on the couch and trying not to feel guilty about it. I've been formulating new ideas, new plans, new directions for my blog, my business-"things" and my life.

Over the past several years I have put so much time, love and energy into projects, crafts, ideas and designs. Over the years I've designed scrapbook papers, digital clipart, printable artworks, posters, invitations, greeting cards, quirky vouchers, random printables, gift wrap bits, stationery ephemera and printed doodle books - most of which have never left my computer hard drive or craft room shelves.

Coming into contact with so many inspiring and creative people - people who are leaders of the blogging game, people who are carving their way in the blogging world, creatives who are establishing themselves and freelancers who are just doing it has given me the courage, excitement and the resolution, (for the first time in a long time) to put myself out there and make a go of it.

Last week, I sent the design and layout of my new website to my web coder with this illustration


to show just how excited I'm feeling about making a shift and turning indieBerries into something that will hopefully give me back as much as I have given it.

There is a still a lot of work to be done: websites to be coded, new designs to be created, cartoons to be drawn, stationery to be printed, products to be photographed, things to be organised, pages to be mocked-up, images to be uploaded, finances to be checked and processes to be streamlined. But I am excited, enthusiastic and so ready for things to be more awesome.

And, at the risk of shunning "human nature" -
it will be.

Namaste.

x

{wedding} Le mini-freakout.

So, Wedding count down is ON.

Exactly 13 days to go. 

THiRRRRTEEEN.

that's 13.

three days more than ten.

which is exactly one day more than single digits.

I am not sure how this is happening but it seems as though every time I cross something off my to do list, there are three other things that I need to put on it (what?). One of the things that I have been panicking over thinking about in the last week or so -

PICTURES.

When I say "PICTURES", I am not referring to our photographer and his skills - we have hired an awesome photographer with some uber skills and I can't wait to tell you more about him (in good time). 

Rather, when I say "PICTURES" this is completely my issue:

I take pictures. I take a lot of pictures. With my iPhone. With Instagram. With Aviary Cam. With Hipstamatic. With all the Cams. Of everything. I take pictures of my shoes, of my computer screen, of flying creatures that have landed up in my room, of new pimples that have landed on my face (to send to Warren, obvs), of every single coffee I drink and every little blossom-flower I see and of course, I take pictures of pretty much everything I eat. I document everything. EV.er.RY.THING.

In fact this condition of mine is so acute that it has infected Warren-the-fiance - just last Friday he was sitting at a very fancy hotel, with his very fancy colleagues, at a very fancy corporate event and he was sending me pictures of his very fancy meal under the table. High Five Fiance.

I have been thinking about "my condition" very seriously in the last week. My mother has said she is taking my phone away from me on wedding day and I honestly do not know how I am going to be able to cope without taking a few of my own snaps - to document everything. From me. From my view. On my phone. For this isn't just "oh-we-decided-to-go-out-to-Spur-at-the-last-minute-and-here-is-a-picture-of-my-chicken-wings" this. is. my. WEDDING. HOW can I not document my wedding?! HOW?

"But Ché, there will be so many people taking pictures! And you have an awesome photographer!"

"But guys! You don't understand."

This problem has infiltrated my mind so badly that as a back-up plan, I have installed a geo-location app onto my phone. So, I will be bringing my Macbook down to the reception (in my backpack) and hooking that shit up so that I can track down where my mother has hidden my phone. I have also been fashioning a Lara Croft type leg-belt to strap my iPhone to the inside of my thigh when I find it.

Then when people tell me, "Hey, you look like Lara Croft!"

I'll be all like Yeah.... 

*SNAP*

{Sunday} 7 things

7 things I've done this week

1. Flown across the world (London > South Africa) in preparation of the one month count-down to THE BIG DAY. And of course I have a plane story. I always have a plane story. 
2. Went out to dinner with the family - one of the last times as a Miss Kershaw.
3. Been to the dentist - one of my favourite activities of all time.
4. Finalised our wedding seating chart. No. No we haven't done that. (Ahem Warren). Also ahem to those who haven't RSVP'd yet.... are you IN or are you OUT? Make a choice, people.
5. Have been re-acquainted with Futurelife - oh you are so delicious. 
6. Have had many in-depth conversations regarding our fallen hero Oscar.
7. Have been awake since 4:30 this morning - staring at the ceiling. This wedding biznizz is no joke, people. No. Joke. 

Sunday Stories

They say that getting married is one of the biggest events in your life. They also say that a milestone birthday such as, oh say, a 30th is a pretty big event in your life. And they also say that not only is moving house one of the biggest events in your life - but it is also right up there as one of the top thirty biggest life stressors. Now, let's say you were us and you were dealing with all three of these in the same week. 

Ok,

I exaggerate. They aren't all exactly happening in the same week - but as it stands:

ONE
The lovely Man celebrates his 30th birthday tomorrow - and we have spent the whole of last week planning epic birthday parties and things to do with his family who arrived last Monday to celebrate.

TWO
I am leaving London on Wednesday to head back to South Africa for one final month before THE BIG DAY - so there is plenty of "wedding-related" stuff that The Warr and I need to sort out while we are still on the same continent. (ie: Seating plans, order of reception proceedings, church programs, trying on wedding bands and have you ever tried to practice your first wedding dance via skype? No, that won't work). It's all been a bit of a mad-rush fiasco.

THREE
A few weeks after I leave, Warren will be moving house - where to yet - we have no idea. We like to live on the edge like that. Being a bit of a junk collector crafter, I have accumulated a fair amount of "treasures" which Warren will have to transport to our new home (which, might I add, is currently under the local bridge). In order to make the move easier for him when I am gone, we have been trying to pack up all our "things" this week - which of course is generally a nightmare.

So Basically, I wasn't lying - everything is happening all in the same week

and there you have it - how to achieve life meltdown in three easy steps.

Give it a bash and then let me know what tranquilisers you have found most effective.

Thanks.

x

{Sunday}

7 Random things to think about

1. Under all advanced city centres there is an entire network of people, commuters, buskers, cafes and coffee shops all bustling under your feet.
2. What if it was as hipster to wear hearing aids as it was to wear glasses.
3. How many Friday night conversations in South Africa started with "Yoh, this Oscar story hey..."
4. All the reasons other than functionality that we eat for. Boredom, celebration, taste, excitement, nerves, socially, experience.
5. Change rooms that have no bench or chair or table for you to put your stuff on. What is up with that?
6. Pho is one of the most delicious dishes that basically improves and changes taste as you go along.
7. Fancy cosmetic shops which don't display the prices of their products up front make it much more difficult for you not to make a purchase especially after you have enquired about the price. Do you find that too?

Happy Sunday ya'll

x

Sunday Stories

So, The Man and I have started looking at houses to buy. 

How very grown up of us, I know.

Let me just start by telling you one other thing that I know - 

Houses: They aren't cheap. Houses in London: They especially aren't cheap. 

So anyway, being the grown up that I am, I went onto a few of the UK estate agent websites and then emailed all the links to my dad. Because you see - when I "look at houses online" I don't really see mortages/bonds, % interest rates, deposits, monthly repayments (or interest only repayments), investment, the differences between leaseholds, freeholds and wadda wadda. I see "oooooh! look at that shitty old wall! Don't you think it would look amazing in navy!" (Yes. Yes it would) and "Wow this house is basically falling apart - those floors are revolting and that bathroom looks like it's growing it's own cheese plantation - WHAT A FUN DIY PROJECT FOR THE WEEKENDS!!! HEY WARR!!! HEY!! HEY?!". I found a few "gems" online  - and by "gems" I mean "dirty-carbon-fossils" that need to be fashioned into diamonds over a lot of time. I emailed The Man some of the houses that I found and started most of my emails off with a 

"Don't cry when I show you this, but I found the one house that we can afford..."

and

"Ooooh! I found the perfect house for us! It's so lovely and quaint!* And it's in a Shrubbery Road! That's basically straight out of Harry Potter. And, WHO doesn't want to live in Harry Potter? Exactly"

Warr: Ok cool! Send me the link!

Me: um. No.... I'm gonna need to.. um... talk you through this one.... it needs a bit of modernisation*

___________________________________

*quaint: Estate agent jargon for it's a shoebox size, but if you both go on a severe diet, you may be able to live in it reasonably "comfortably".

*needs modernisation: Estate agent jargon for hahaha ha suckers.

____________________________________

So, I'm just gonna put it out there, if anyone has a free house they are would like to donate to us

you can just inbox me.

Thanks,

My contacts details are above.

x

7 things

7 things I've done this week

1. Flew to London to visit my very handsome Fiance. (Woooop!)
2. Sat next to a creep on the plane. (Story of my life) Cartoon to follow.
3. Went out together with The Warr to start our wedding registry in central London - fun.
4. Finally got to see one of the "things" that I had made and ordered and delivered to London, for our wedding - can't elaborate too much on it now, but - it's awesome :) (Warren concurs).
5. Thought about buying a razor to shave my legs, but I forgot. (Warren does not concur).
6. Ate some delicious Moroccan Chicken and fiery tomato soup and some amazing seared tuna. Also - drank some delicious red wine and 
7. Pre-registered to some upcoming festivals for the year.
   
   
   London, it's good to be back,
   Now how's about a little more snow?