Sunday, January 29, 2012

J&B Met

Naaaaaay!!!



Fascinaters. Giant hats. High heels. Horses. Booze. Sunshine. Sunburns. Betting. Shawarmas.


What a day at the J&B Met.

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of attending this glamorous event (thanks to the Georgiou family :)  ) where everyone was certainly dressed to impress. Each year this horse race has a "theme" to encourage race goers to perhaps step our of their comfort zones and get their creative juices flowing. While I didn't have the proper prep time to create such a costume, this year's theme was "Made Different", and oh boy were people different. There were dresses made from coke cans, a demon chick with red contacts (YIKES), men dressed in sexy nurse costumes, and thousands of prom dresses. The Met takes place at Kenilworth Race Track in Cape Town and it's history dates back to the 19th century when Lord Charles Somerset was governor of the Cape.


 


First horse race = great success :)

*Engagement*

Bonjour :)


Since I never made a formal announcement to the blog world I've decided to let you all in on something amazing... Jorg & I have gotten engaged!! For those of you who know us I know that this is yesterday's news, but it is only fair to mention it to all of my loyal randoms who read this blog.

<3

In honor of our engagement we had a wonderful party with our South African nearest & dearest. It was a stressful week of preparation but it was more than worth it in the end.


Green dress + good friends+ cupcakes + Mr. Spitbraai 
+ fiance + nice weather = happy heart



Of course I wish that my family and American friends could have been there, but my South African family made it just about perfect. I have such an amazing family at home and just when I thought life couldn't get any better I gained another amazing family here in SA.






 Thank you so much to everyone who could be part of our celebration <3

I'm really going to miss this place.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Kirstenbosch Concerts

Hi everyone!

First of all I would like to apologize for not posting as much, it has just been too nice outside to sit in and fiddle on the computer. Today is the first break in the heat wave and it is a big foggy outside so I can put up a nice post for all of you :).

So far I've been able to go to Kirstenbosch twice this summer for their summer concert series. Kirstenbosch is such an amazing atmosphere (for all of my Berkshirerite readers, it is like a younger version of Tanglewood). Everyone brings their blankets, sandwiches, wine, and snacks and claims their spot on the lawn. The venue is at the botanical garden so it is a perfect spot for an evening of music. The first concert we went to was Zebra & Giraffe. It was fun, but I didn't know any of their music and they didn't dress up like animals like I was hoping. The second concert was Plush, which was wonderful!





<3

Monday, January 9, 2012

Somebody looks GORGEous!

In an effort (which failed) to not renew my ridiculously expensive membership at Virgin Active I took to the Helderberg for some cardiovascular fun. Hiking up the gorge was one of the highlights of my trip in January so I was more than keen to go on up there again. After I was here in January the mountain caught fire, so it was quite interesting to see all of the new plant regrowth. It is amazing how life continues even after literally being burnt to the ground.

Jorg & I at the gorge a year ago!

Round One:
Gorge-ing with Georgious & Co

Jorg & I one year later <3




Apparently a vuvuzela is necessary on hikes
Round 2: Gorge-ing with AlMorgs

Winning
In the two trips I only tripped twice (what a clever statement!) , and nearly fell to my doom once. :) Still no leopards (thank goodness gracious). Next time we're going all the way up the mountain... dun dun dunnn.


Thursday, January 5, 2012

A Merry Little Christmas

Hello World!

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy & Healthy 2012! May everyone have a wonderful 2012, I know I'm in for some adventure this year :).

I had a wonderful holiday season here with my second family in South Africa. While I missed my American family & friends so much, my heart was happy because I was surrounded with wonderful people who made me feel right at home.

I was feeling a bit let down by the South African holiday effort. Sure there was Christmas songs playing here and there, and psycho shoppers at the mall, but it was just really lacking that holiday coziness that comes with the dropping temperatures in New England. Then we grabbed some wine and a few blankets and spent a lovely little evening at Carols by Candlelight on the Vergelegen wine estate. Good friends, chipper carols, and pretty candles made for one beautiful evening.





On the 24th of December I celebrated my first German Christmas, because Germans apparently go against the grain and celebrate on the 24th (?). It was quite odd opening Santa's presents on Christmas Eve and waking up Christmas morning slightly disappointed by the lack of excitement, nonetheless it was a wonderful German Christmas.


Christmas Day was spent just a little differently than how I have normally spent Christmas with nothing other than a Christmas pool party of course!



I simply had a wonderful Christmas time. :)