I camped....

... in luxury....

Recently Tee & I took advantage of the long weekend and went away to Dullstroom (a sleepy little tourist town about 3-4 hours drive from us) for 4 days.

For 2 girls who are usually so well planned and organised, we both surprised ourselves. We booked the accommodation (a place called Valley of the Rainbow) and hardly researched anything about it.
All we knew was that we had to get away and the "luxury tent" blurb on the website sold it for us.

The drive there was relatively painless, until we stopped for a quick slowest lunch break of our life.

2 hours later we eventually managed to drag the bill out of our waiter so that we could arrive at our destination with some daylight to spare.

Little did we know that the seemingly endless gravel road was determined to get the better of my little car. It took us a lot longer than we expected, but we all made it in 1 piece.

Our tent was cozy, complete with comfortable beds, down duvets and electric blankets. Luxury might be stretching the truth somewhat, but comfortable for sure.

This was our view when we awoke the next morning:

Gorgeous lake from the deck

We managed to spend a day shopping in the little town and visited the cutest little Christmas shop.

We ended up spending more money on Sweets - which we then proceeded to eat for an entire day. Junk food day was awesome.
Tee chatted to a guy about the best way to brew coffee and picked us a nice blend.

I think coffee time was my favourite part of the day. Having just woken up at your own pace, nowhere to be, dressed in  PJS, wrapped up in the down duvet, hair a-mess, no make-up, sipping coffee. mmmhhhhh

It was exactly what we needed.

Around late afternoon, we decided to walk off some of the junk and take a walk around the area and visit the stunning trout dams.

The area we stayed at had no cell reception - after the 1st day of mild panic that I wouldn't be able to access Facebook or Twitter - I overcame it and just relaxed.
The property boasts a very old Water Mill which will soon be restored and the area will be converted into a little coffee shop.
They also plan to upgrade the tents to true luxury - when that is complete I can definitely foresee an influx of business.

We needed the rest and even though it we didn't get to see a rainbow (or the pot of gold), I think it definitely saved a few stupid people at the office. I managed to not bite their heads off!

30 days and counting!!

So what do all these images have in common?

Thailand Baby!

These are the hotels that I will be staying in over our holiday!

With only 1 month to go I am becoming super excited. (Even if I have only shed 1 whole kilogram)

My gym routine has been constant and I have been so good.
1kg is very demotivationg and I have been at it for 2 months now.

I have 4 swimsuits and only 1 barely still fits. Dammit.

My brother has now forbidden me to drink as he says that the alcohol affects your metabolism negatively. I didn't think it would be this hard to give it up. I do love me a glass of a good merlot.

I have been preparing for the trip in other ways too.

Pretty nails and bikini waxes forming part of it.

I better shed a whole bunch of weight this last month!

I must admit, I am feeling better and my muscle tone is improving.

I am really looking forward to the break away from work as well as sharing Tee's birthday with her. She is my best friend & I just couldn't think of any better person to share this trip with!

Thailand & Malaysia, here we come!

The Real Face of Me

Tee & I have been friends for a couple of years now - having met through my original blog (which wasn't a secret blog)
We share a common interest in Hot Men, cats, sparkles and Hot Men (oh wait did I repeat that? - Yes we love Hot Men that much!)
We have shared many adventures together - Thailand coming up is going to be another one.


We have perfected the art of self portraits and the other day having finally sorted out all my photos onto my pink external hardrive (birthday present from my brother) I was reminded again by just how much fun we really do have when we are together.

Tee understands me, she accepts me and she totally gets me. She is there for me when I need her without having to tell her that I need her. She has never let me down & has made me laugh on many occasions. We have some really happy memories & here are just some of the reasons why I love her dearly:

• Wine in a sippy cup as we rush off to the movies
• Playing damsels in distress by being rescued by a cutie who changed our flat tyre
• Searching for Chipniks when that's all I craved after my operation
• Sharing my addiction to Hot nice Men
• Sharing the fun of Eden concerts together
• Moving house every year
• Sharing my love of bubbles
• Nights at Manhattans
• Anticipating my needs by making me food / buying me cute gifts / bringing me delicious fruit from Hoedspruit
• Pink Champagne
• Tim Tams
• Understands & shares my obsession for Vampire Diaries and Supernatural
• Commiserates when a man is an idiot
• Knows when I need a solution to a problem, or just a bitch session
• Road trip to Hoedspruit
• Share the same taste in movies and books - no matter how shallow they might be
• Endless hours (and I do mean hours) of chitter chatter on our Blackberry
• Knows what jewellery I will love
• She knows how to cheer me up when I am grumpy
• And she ALWAYS brings me coffee in bed (refer to previous point)
• She knows all of me and accepts me. Even Gloria.

So in the spirit of friendship and the huge occasion of breaking my anonymity, I hereby introduce you to the real face of me!


Check out how good we are at self-portraits.  (I am the brunette - in all the pictures - Tee's hair changes often!)

Trip to Hoedspruit 2009

Tee going skydiving 2009

Tee's Birthday - watching CATS 2009

Eden show 2010

Trip to Cape Town 2010

Last Eden show 2011

Eden show 2009

Manhattans 2009

Her sisters wedding 2011

Friends

I love my friends - all of them - because they are hand-picked by me to be in my life.


I am especially loving my girls who have recently been there for me without even knowing it.


This past long weekend we have seen alot of each other & it really has been fun.


My weekend went something like this:

My obsession: Johan

• Went to the last ever performance of Eden - was bittersweet. Was awesome when Jay saw me in the crowd & excitedly waved at me and the entire audience turned as one to see Who on earth ? he was waving at. Tee & I have had many fun evenings watching Our Boys & we have tons of self-portraits to show for it
• Watched Limitless - what an awesome movie.  Bradley Cooper is a hottie, but I enjoyed the way he portrayed his character. Lunch at Fego Cafe and shopping at Woolies afterwards.I have a long list of things I need for the house: Blind for bathroom, storage for bath towels, new duvet cover, new lampshade
• Watched The Back up Plan & 17 Again because Tee twisted my rubber arm & I do so like me a bit of Zac....
• Went through to a school friend's wedding (this was the dilemma on an outfit to wear) I ended up wearing a Ginger Mary dress I had just bought for work as the weather was cold. It was perfect & I got some nice compliments. (After trying the Big Blue skirt on, my fat hips made it look frumpy - however as per my original promise, I did say the person to help me most would receive a photo and see who the real Flirty30 is - winner: keep an eye out!)
• Caught up after the wedding with dinner with some friends & slept at my parents house
• Noah came to visit & spent the entire day playing with him. Afterwards, mom cut my hair into the new style which I am loving
• Shopping at Melrose Arch with some delicious milkshakes at the Protea Fire & Ice
• Had sushi dinner at YuMe - their Dim Sum and Salmon Roses are to die for
• Got together at Design Quarter & did some serious shopping. I found a lampshade, duvet cover, bathroom blind & basket for bath towels.

• To reward ourselves we went to 1 of my favourite places: Buddha Ta. They have a specialty Mojito called a Candy Mojito. I can't even tell you how divine it is. You get a martini glass of Candy Floss and the mojito gets poured on top of it and the candyfloss melts. It is such a treat & just Too Divine
• Ended it off with more sushi at CTFM with my friend T - her & her husband are going through the process of adoption as they are unable to have children of their own. They have asked me to help them create a profile for when they are picked as a possible match. The natural mother reads all their profiles and picks them that way. So I want to design a storybook written as kiddies story: Once upon a time there was a girl named T.... she met G and they fell in love..... I think that will be fun.
• Throughout the weekend I laughed so hard with my girls. I am so blessed to have them in my life & to be able to share everything with them - the good & the bad.
• I have booked a table at my favourite restaurant in Parys: Ruby's.(Another one of my birthday traditions) We'll be donning our feather boas and having a girls day out - Mom, Tee, AC, Li & myself.

Bookclub Xmas Dinner

Last night was our annual Bookclub Xmas Dinner.

We had it at Grand Central at Melrose Arch and had the perfect table overlooking the square. Christmas trees everywhere, fairy lights and lovely "shooting star" lights really made the atmosphere lovely.

As usual 3 of us were late and Li was on time. Back to the Desperate Housewives theme: SO fitting.
Li: Brie - on time looking lovely and well put together in her denims and Black top with sparkly butterfly brooch
Tee: Gabby - late because she was out shopping. Sporting a new blonde hairstyle with lovely hairclip and flower necklace as the sparkle.
AC: Lynette - Late because of the husband. Looking gorgeous with her black top and sparkly rhinestones
Me: Susan - Late because I was in a bubble and drove all the way to the wrong venue (yes, I arranged the party) and halfway there sitting in peak hour traffic, suddenly woke up out of my bubble and realised I was on the wrong highway... and here is the irony - I left the house early to be on time! I wore my denims with a sparkly black top and mirror shoes.

It was so nice to spend time with my girls again, took a few fun photos outside by the tree (always my idea and my models always good-naturedly complain)
We had some good laughs and I caught everybody up on what I have been doing - Will share more with you in later posts.

Have an awesome weekend everybody!

Good/Bad News day

The rollercoaster ride continues!

Yesterday I met up with my friend Bebe.

Bebe is a friend who used to know everything about me - we worked together for years but we dont see each other as much since we dont work together anymore.

But we have the type of friendship that when we get together we pick up where we left off and chat for HOURS. (Usually in the parking lot. The colder the weather - the longer the chat)

She filled me in on her happenings which included R4000 being stolen from her practice as well as about 4 or 5 glasses frames.

Tee then called to tell me that she just got home to find her place ransacked. Her burglar bars had been cut and the door broken down.

Her belongings are all gone; cute pink Sony dvd player, TV, all her cds and DVDS (bye bye Twilight and New Moon) her prized coffee machine that cost her a fortune as well as her electric toothbrush!! 

That is just gross!

And for the icing on the cake:

My brother's girlfriend is pregnant!! EEEKKKKK!!!!

My brother is 28 and just recently moved in with his girlfriend - and now we hear the news.

I am still in a state of shock.... they can barely afford to look after themselves let alone a baby!

ANd I can see my parents trying to help them out and making things worse for them. Oh Boy!

I am going to be an Aunty... oh boy!

When friends make mistakes

What do you do when your friend is making a heinous mistake and you just know that she is going to get hurt and make her life very complicated.
Tee dated an absolute loser at the beginning of the year - he suddenly broke up with her without an explanation.
A few months later he tells her is a recovering alcoholic (meanwhile he drinks her wine at the table and rocked up at her house rip roaring drunk)
They have been seeing each other again and they still fight over stupid things.

Yesterday she drops the bombshell that they are buying a house together and moving in together in August - they are back together.
(lift jaw off floor)
WTF???
Is she crazy?

Why on earth BUY a house with anstable person who has a very bad trackrecord in his treatment of you?

I gave her the self respect speech and I have told her she is making a mistake and she should think this through very carefully.

What else can I do??

Heartaches & Breakups & Work all SUCK!

Same shit different day!

I am so not cut out for this working thing!

Anyway - moving on...

My friend Tee has recently broken up with her boyfriend of 2 weeks, a week ago.

And she is handling it so badly.

Crying all day, wanting to call him and beg him to take her back, wanting to cancel our weekend plans because she says she will not be good company.

They have almost been apart as long as they were together!

I am struggling to be a supportive friend.

I check on her every day to see how she is doing and I keep her occupied and I sms her when she is having a weak moment.

But when do I get tough?

I can understand heartache - I have that with MC.

I have been giving him advice on his breakup, and I have a while to go before he gets over the break up.

I hope I don't help him find himself and help him see how amazing he is just in time to meet another woman!

Oh Gees -  that would be my luck!