People

Now as I may or may not have mentioned before, I am at a critical stage in my career as a wine broker – finding clients. I go on a daily quest to seek out wine drinking, money spending, life living individuals, for me, this means cold calling and turning on the charm and using my genuine love for our products to entice people into my world.

My excitement and love for our wine is not hard to miss and that has proven to be a huge drawing point for most. I mean if this wine is the best thing that I have ever put my lips to the glass for then certainly you need to try it right? Well for some yes, for some it takes a little more persuasion.

The thing is though, that by speaking to an uncountable number of people on a daily basis I am learning a lot about the different types of people out there.

1. The closed-minded Mr. Routine:
This guy knows what he likes and likes what he knows. He is very happy buying his el- cheapo wine from the little guy at the little wine shop down the street. No, the guy behind the counter probably doesn’t know red from white but hell, if he says it’s good it must be. For this guy, no matter how good I make my wine sound he is just not going to budge, even though I know I can get him better juice at a better price.

2. The Mr. I think I know it All:
I kind of like these people because they put up a bit of a fight. They think they know what they like and more importantly what is good. Here’s a tip to you – just because the restaurants charge you $150 per bottle does not mean it’s the best wine in the world. It just means that the restaurant knows that you can afford that price and don’t know any better to rather bring your own wine and pay $50 corkage.

3. The Mrs. I really want to buy but need to ask my husband:
Come on ladies, get it together! Do you ask your husband every time you want to buy a new pair of shoes? A gorgeous handbag? A new dress? I mean how many times do you call him from the mall when on a shopping spree? I’m gonna take a guess…none? You know that you can afford the wine and you know that he’s gonna drink the wine. So why do you need approval to buy the wine? Besides, did he ask your permission when he bought that Mercedes?

4. Mr. I know what I like, Like what I know but am also open to suggestion:
Now these are my favorites. These people know their stuff, they know what they like and where to get it. But they are also willing to try new things. They are always looking for new avenues to get their hands on the juice and they are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. They will listen to you and trust your recommendations as long as you talk their language.

5. Mr. I don’t know what you’re saying but I like the way it sounds:
I love this guy. He loves wine; he just doesn’t know anything about it. This scares him but excites him when you call because he has not found a way to learn and he knows that by trusting you he will get the good stuff that he is going to love. He has the money to try new things and is not afraid to jump in the deep end with you.

6. Mr. I don’t really know what you’re saying but I think I like the way it sounds, I’m just not sure:
This guy is similar to the one prior. He doesn’t know what you’re saying but he likes the way it sounds. He knows he wants to jump in the deep end but he’s a little bit scared. By having the initial conversation you have coaxed him into putting his toe in the water. I like dealing with these people because a little bit of hesitation is always good. After all, if you can hold his hand and lead him into the wonderful world of wine then he will follow you for like and trust your judgment. He just needs some guidance and a soft little push in the right direction.

Of course I just scratched the tip of the ice berg here and there are copious amounts of all sorts of personalities out there. This also doesn’t only apply to my job but to so many out there. Think of the people that you deal with on a daily basis, no matter in what capacity.

The trick with all these people is letting your personality shine through. No one is that set in their ways that a little smile and friendliness cannot bring them out of the darkness and into the light of your world. You need to make them love you and then they will fall in love with what you have to offer.

Life as a Wine Broker

So this is long over due and I’m sorry!

I am finally able to give myself the hard earned title of personal wine consultant! I started my new job about a month ago and have been trying to build my client file and find people who love and appreciate amazing wines.

All the while doing this I have been experiencing the beautiful juice I have been tasked with selling – yes tough job I know.

So the thing about being a wine broker is about loving what you are getting to your clients, and also making sure that you recommend something that you know your client is going to love! And that’s not really hard when you are working with the quality of wines that I am.

I am able to sell (and drink) the top 5% of hand crafted boutique wines in the world. All of our wines are 500 case production or less and have absolutely no extra crap added to them – so that means no more headaches! I am so happy to report that I can officially drink white wine again! Well some at least the ones that come from our wineries as they have no added sulphar! Yay!

The hard part however is getting people to trust you and trust your judgment. It is a daunting thing, buying wine over the phone. Especially when you don’t really know that much about wine. But that is the beauty of working with someone like me. I take the guess work out of wine buying for people. I am literally putting my liver on the line to make sure that I recommend the perfect wines for m clients – again, tough job I know.

So that folks is my first post abut my new life as a wine broker… I hope to update again soon with more happenings and maybe some wine nerd knowledge.

Cheers!

Another Step on the Path to Greatness

So on Monday I start my new career as a wine broker. Is this the path I want to be on for a long time (a fast track route to alcoholism) no not really. Without really knowing too much, I don’t think that this is going to be creative enough for me. I do however think that it is something I can do, without trying too hard. I have always prided myself in being a people person and believe that I can pretty much talk to anyone, so I think that this skill will come in handy with this new job. I hope to be able to sell the socks off these people and make a statement.

I also however am not closing the other doors behind me as this new one opens. I am still focusing my attention on getting myself to where I believe I should be. In the creative world – doing magical things. So I see this simply as a stepping stone – something to fund the path of the future.

I also hope to use this as a tool to meet people and hopefully extend my somewhat male dominated social circle. Adding some estrogen to the situation may be scary but may also quite refreshing.

I read an article the other day that said that, “Even though you need to get connected with others, WHO you choose to connect with can either make or break you.”

So although I don’t yet know my future colleagues I hope that they will be the kind of people that will help keep me on my desired path.

I hope to learn from these new people in my life and grow in a personal and professional capacity. I believe that you learn from everything in life and I see this as yet another learning platform along my way to greatness. I will take whatever I can away from this position and these people. I will take their ideas and their methods and hopefully out them to use in my own way. It takes a certain type of person to excel at sales and assuming my future colleagues are good at what they do, I hope to learn from them.

It is said, you are the sum of the 5 people you hang around with the most. I hope to extend my 5 and differentiate, making me a complex and interesting person. I hope to surround myself with people who share the same values and excitement levels as I do. They may not be excited as the same things as I am but who cares. Excitement feeds of excitement.

I feel that my 5 back home were amazing and made me who I am so I guess I hope to find another 5 who will keep me on that path. I had a little bit of crazy, a little bit of class, a lot of professionalism, mounds of creative genius, so much passion, more than enough love, sometimes too much fun but above all I was constantly surrounded by amazing people who had so much to do with everything that I am.

I need other people around me to inspire me to be hugely successful no matter what I do. And although this new job was not something I saw on my path, it has been put there and I plan to excel. It’s a job – it’s not a life sentence, and everything only builds on what you already have right?

Stand Strong South Africa

With the 2010 Soccer World Cup drawing to a very exciting close, we cannot help but applaud South Africa for putting on a wonderful show. OK so I was not actually there, but for a South African being away from home I have never felt so proud.

I have heard nothing but fantastic reports from locals and visitors - when in all honesty I was expecting otherwise. I will be the first to say that I was skeptical. I wasn't sure whether we could pull it off. I was one of those people thinking that logistically we could not cope with that amount of people. But I am glad to say that I was wrong.

After many years of planning, South Africa finally got their public transport system in order and succeeded to move hundreds of thousands of people within the cities without fail.

The Fan Parks and Fan walks were genius and served their purpose of reducing traffic and congestion and of course brining people together, giving them the opportunity to celebrate as one. After seeing the photo's and hearing the noise of these Fan Walk nights I can only wish that I could have been there to experience it. Never in my life would I have thought of walking from the middle of Town to Sea Point late at night - but it has been done, and safely.

It is so nice to think that so many people will be returning home (potentially with broken hearts due to a loss) with so many great stories and memories of their trip to South Africa.

One has to however ask the question - what is going to happen when the teams and tourists leave and the stadium lights switch off? I pray that things stay exactly the way they are. I hope that South African will remember how it feels to be a country united and happy. With everyone living and celebrating life together. No divides, no sadness, no crime.

South Africa you have shown that you can accomplish so much - the biggest thing - change. Lets keep it this way. It has brought such a smile to my face to see the photo's and the videos and hear the songs of happy people. Happy South Africans. Proud South Africans. South Africans waving flags and holding hands. Singing and dancing in the street. Showing the world what an amazing country we have and what amazing people we share it with.

Remember this feeling South Africa. Remember it and treasure it.

I am Proudly South African.

Lunch Is For Wimps

was recently asked to do a little bit of writing as part of an application for a job and I thought I would put that piece of writing to good use and hopefully by putting it further out into the universe it will bring me closer to the job. It's worth a try right?

Anyway - here it is.


A phrase made famous my Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas), Lunch is for Wimps, has sparked many thoughts and debates around the illusive lunch hour.

Back in the day a lunch hour was just that – a full hour where employees were given the chance to have a leisurely lunch, catch up with colleagues and simply relax. The logic behind lunch hours being that workers would happily return to work rejuvenated and ready to push themselves for the rest of the day.

Times are however changing and a lunch hour is commonly more like a lunch half-an-hour. In fact, studies show that 55% of workers are taking less than 30 minutes for lunch each day.

Many people wrongly think that this deteriorating lunch hour is due to mean employers forcing their workers to sit at their desks and starve, when in fact studies have shown that a shorter lunch hour is often at the hands of the hungry employees themselves.

Employees are beginning to see lunch hour as a dispensable luxury – by skipping lunch they are giving themselves more time to work and produce results. They feel that they are proving their loyalty to their employer, and in today’s world where everyone is doing whatever needs to be done to fight their way up the corporate ladder, this is just one more way of getting ahead.

But is desk-top dining really improving productivity? Just because you are physically sitting at your desk for 9 hours a day does that mean that you are working to your full potential for those 9 hours?

To give my two cents worth and as a “lunch at my desk” culprit, I can say that those extra sentences typed between mouthfuls can be crucial but it has also been proven that sunlight and fresh air are healthy additives to any work day. Standing up from your desk every now and then, if not to keep the blood flowing, might delay an email response for a few minutes but I’m sure employers would rather have healthy workers instead of emaciated corpses with bad circulation.


Victoria Maltby
Thursday, July 08, 2010

Follow Up - Adin is Reaching out to Oprah!

As a follow up to a previous blog, I wanted to update you on my very special friend, Adin – The No Money Guy.

Adin has had a forever dream to host his own TV show and by doing so, inspire people by recognizing inspiring people. He was therefore very excited to learn about a project the Oprah (you may have heard of her) and Mark Burnett are doing to give someone their very own TV show.

Adin went ahead and submitted his entry only to learn that he was inelligible due to the small fact that he was not a US resident and can therefore not legally work in the United States.

Our argument is that Adin does not want to work – well he wants to work towards his cause but he CANNOT and WILL NOT accept a salary as that would go against everything the No Money Guy Project aspires to. I have told him that I would gladly accept the salary on his behalf but that’s another story for another day.

The point is that we are hoping that if enough people see this video and follow Adin’s story that maybe it will land in the right hands – Oprah has eyes everywhere!

So again, all I ask is that you take a few mintues to watch the video– see for yourself. If you agree with me then please share the link anyway you can.

Watch Adin's entry HERE

Here's how you can help:

1. Become a fan of Your OWN Show and the The Oprah Winfrey Show
2. Share this video (or the Youtube version) and tag them in your post. You can do that by typing the @ sign then typing the name of those pages, they will appear in a drop down menu
3. Like it
4. Comment on it
5. Email or inbox it to your friends
6. Email this video to Oprah at Oprah.com
7. Or anything else you can think of!

DC Wedding 1 – The Ritz Nog Al

I am happy to report that I am slowly wiggling my way into the DC events industry. Yay Me! So that means two things – 1, I will hopefully be earning a salary soon doing something that I love and 2, I can now continue to write about weddings, weddings and all things weddings!

Now many of you know that I am mildly obsessed with this tradition of combining two separate lives. Not only because it is a blessed occasion where these two separate souls are joined together, forming one complete family unit but also because it gives us a fabulous occasion to celebrate beyond our means and do everything fabulous that us as little girls have dreamt of for many many years.

Now even though I have been dreaming of my day as a princess for as long as I can remember, I have to admit that the wedding industry has somewhat opened my eyes to the extravagance of it all. Now people I’m not saying that we should not recreate our dreams when it comes to weddings; I’m just saying that some people take it a little far.

I was asked to assist at a wedding this past weekend where you could smell the money for a mile away. Clue number 1 – it was held at the Ritz Carlton. Now I have to say that this is a magnificent venue and the staff are absolutely fantastic. I should also say that when receiving such friendly, thorough and amazing service, I would not even mind paying those prices.

So although I was not lucky enough to see the final picture I do know that the day and night was a dazzling affair. Complete with a 6 tier cake, crystal favors and midnight party snacks.



Things I took Home from this wedding (no, no crystal unfortunately):
• When you have guests coming in from out of town it is essential to arrange transport for them and have someone specifically designated to make sure they get to where they need to be.
• Give the Bride space – If she needs a moment away from her 6 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, 2 flower girls and the mothers – please, give her a moment.
• Even though the Brides dress is the most important the bridesmaid’s dresses should not go overlooked as they will have to be remembered for years to come too. They will be in all your photographs and in the memories of everyone. No one will ever say bad thing about a wedding dress but people are very quick to comment on bad bridesmaids dresses. Make sure that they fit and are flattering. Make your ladies work with the designer and go for fittings – you do not want to hear them complaining about bad dresses for the rest of your life.

Adin The No Money Guy - We can all do something

The topic of this blog came to me today when I was doing my daily Facebook monitoring of all the happenings of back home, I suddenly came across something that alerted me to the fact that I wasn't really paying attention and I realized that one of my wonderful people back home in South Africa is doing something wonderful for the country.

I first this person at a consciousness coaching workshop a few years back and although we all took what we could out of the experience, little did we know that he was going through an emotional and spiritual breakthrough and was about to embark on the personal journey of a lifetime.

I would hereby like to introduce Adin - The No Money Guy.

Adin is undergoing a project to live without money for 5 years (and Abundance Experiment). Now to me, the thought of that is petrifying. But to Adin, it is an opportunity to achieve something greater than himself. He sees that by embarking on this project he will be able to give back to the community in such an exponential way.

This is all part of a bigger dream all for the benefit of that beautiful place we call home.

Basically, Adin hopes that by living without money for 5 years he will be able to make an extremely large amount of money to give away. So all he asks from us mere mortals is to support him in his quest and help wherever possible.

He, like everyone has needs, so he will trade his valuable skills in return for things he needs. These are things required for daily survival or things for the furtherance of the project. Of course there are financial needs, the only difference is that if any money is donated - Adin will not spend it but give it away. Any and All money that is made during this project will be given to people, projects and organisations who are seen to be making a difference in South Africa. Adins ultimate goal - to give away R555 555 555.55 by the 5th of May 2014!

But my ramblings don't do Adin's work any justice so all I ask is that you please take the time and let Adin explain for himself what he is up to, how you can get involved and how he can ask you in return. Please go to http://hubpages.com/hub/The-No-Money-Guy-We-can-all-do-something and take a few minutes to qatch the videos and see for yourself what Adin is all about.

AS an update already - I am officially now part of the project as Adin's first member of the helperazzi - a community of bloggers who help the project by sharing the news and putting Adin's story into our own words. If you are interested in getting involved please contact either me or The No Money Guy himself.

World Cup Fever

Being a foreigner to any country and I think more so in America, you generally get asked random questions apon sharing the information of your home country. For me, the question has recently changed from, "what are you doing in America?" to "Are you excited about the World Cup?"

Now I've been a little unsure of how to answer this - well no, not really because I'm not there. Or No, not really, I know how chaos its going to be. Or no, not really I don't think the country can support the influx of people.

But as it draws closer to kick off, I find myself a little jealous that i'm not going to be in the glorious city of Cape Town to join in the festivities. This is a once in a lifetime chance for South Africa and I really do hope that we can pull it off and in a small way I wish I could be there to witness it.

But now, even as my excitement builds from far away, I find myself slightly concerned, especially when I open the newspaper in Washington DC and see reports of stampedes at stadiums because of people trying to get free tickets. I mean what is that about? That's just a little embarrassing, Come on people, the cup has not even started yet and there are already incidents like this going on? All I can say is that it doesn't make me optimistic.

And while I'm on the subject I simply have to bring up the vuvuzela. Now for those who have not been tormented by the sound of these in the recent past, this is an "instrument" which has become a fan favorite at any SA soccer match.

Really it is a plastic tube about 1 meter long which when blown sounds more like a fog horn or an impaled elephant calling for help.

Needless to say that there has been much controversy about this "instrument of torture" and whether it should be allowed in the stadiums during cup games. Bafana Bafana are of course used to the racket and fully support them being used but the lesser accustomed teams have said that it can be a distraction. Experts have also advised that it poses a potentail risk to damage peoples hearing...

As a Cape Townian, I have hated this thing for a very long time but still the sound of it haunts me. Again, I open a Washington DC newspaper and read reports about this blasted instrument being kept in the game.

All in all I do wish I could be there, if not to just bitch and complain about the tourists with my people. I also wish everyone well and hope that we can prove all the sceptics (including myself) wrong.

But most of all, when it's all over with I hope that we can maintain whatever momentum was gathered by the cup. I hope that not too many people loose their jobs ad that this world cup can bring about some changes and promising things for our beautiful country.

To see pics, watch videos, hear sound effects, meet Zakumi and vote in my Poll click here ... please

The Balloon of Love

So I have to admit that I borrowed this question from a fellow hubber but it inspired something in me and you know what they say – a writer has to take advantage of inspiration – well I don’t know who said that but that’s what I think.

So, the question was asked - If love was truly a balloon, which part would you consider yourself to be:

A. The thin skin easily damaged but able to carry you to great heights?
B. The nipple, all tied in knots from a fresh set of lips that filled it with bliss?
C. The he-lium/she-lium rise of passion which gives your voice those lilting soprano highs?
D. The string which hangs on refusing to let go of love no matter where it takes you?
E. The shriveled, broken remnants of what was far too often a colorful and glorious flight?
F. All of the above?
G. Some aspect of a balloon of love that I have failed to touch upon?

I think that we all have a little of each component but this question got me thinking about which part I was.
A. The thin skin easily damaged but able to carry you to great heights?
Maybe…I am pretty sensitive, maybe too much sometimes. We need to learn to nurture this skin. To make it stronger so that it can carry you to great places.
B. The nipple, all tied in knots from a fresh set of lips that filled it with bliss?
I hope that we each experience this feeling everyday. That feeling of truly connecting with someone. That excitement and giddiness. That true happiness – I think that’s what we all deserve.
C. The he-lium/she-lium rise of passion which gives your voice those lilting soprano highs?
In any relationship things fade and I think that this is maybe what fades too quickly. I personally think that this is what we should all strive to keep burning. After all – put a flame to helium and you have an explosion. So if you feel like the helium in your balloon may be seeping out – do something to light a match and ignite the passion again.
D. The string which hangs on refusing to let go of love no matter where it takes you?
I think this is where I fit in most. I am a fighter – I’m not a quitter. If I know I have something worth hanging onto I will hang on for all I have. I will let the balloon of love carry me to faraway places and I won’t let go.
E. The shriveled, broken remnants of what was far too often a colorful and glorious flight?
I think we’ve all been this part at some stage of our lives. When things have seemed so great and colorful and all of a sudden you hit something sharp and POP – it all vanishes is a second. I think we’ve all experienced that broken down feeling at least once. I know I have. But then I’ve also experienced that amazing feeling of being put back together and filled once again with that intoxicating helium.

I think it’s true that we are the complete balloon as a whole. We have all gone through the stages of being built up and broken down in love. What I want to urge is get to the place where you are the string. Where you hang on with all your might. Let the balloon of love take you on fantastic adventures. May it never tie you down. Keep flying. Keep that helium filled to the brim and let it lift you to greater heights than you’ve ever dreamed of.

It's All About The Service!

“Thank you for waiting, your patience is appreciated” – I’m loosing my patience very quickly!

I’m writing this blog whilst I’m on hold with Verizon. This seems to be something I do pretty often.

Why is it so hard to get things done these days? A simple task like querying something on your bill should not require 4 phone calls and about 2 hours of my time!

I’ll tell you why things have got so much harder – for one, they have gotten rid of all the hard working employees and we are now made to sound like idiots and try to communicate with a computer system who can never bloody well get us through to the right person and when you do actually get to speak to someone they generally don’t know how to help you either so they try and transfer you and get it horribly wrong and disconnect you and you have to start all over again!

But to me, the biggest problem is that these companies do not really care about us as customers. They say they do, “you business is important to us”, But what a load of BS. With the millions of other customers out there, your business is not as important to them as it should be. You would think that with so many similar companies offering the same services they would be fighting for your business and making sure that they kept you, the customer happy. Not kept you fighting with them every step of the way?

What has happened to good customer service? There is nothing that makes me angrier than incompetence. When I am paying for a service I expect to have that service, without fail, at all times. And when I have a problem, I would like to speak to a human being! With so many people unemployed and willing to work, should we not be creating jobs and not destroying them along with your customer base?

To me, it’s all about customer service and this should start with the person answering the phone, or the front desk receptionist, the face of the industry. But why is it that so often these people are on some little power trip and end up being completely useless and often rude.

These people should be able to help; if they cant they should be able to put you through to someone who can. I’m all very willing to give a tip and give credit where credit is due but to me, if you work in the customer service industry – which so many of us do – it should be able the customer and only the customer. You need to want my service and want to keep my service. Without sounding like a spoilt brat – it should be about me – the customer!

So I’ve just written this whole blog and published it and done few other things and guess what … I’m still on frikken hold!!!

For The Girls

So a little known secret about me is my love for country music. It all started way back when when I was introduced by the queen of country (ok in my opinion) Shania Twain. I still dream that one day I will sing From This Moment at my wedding (don’t worry wedding guests – it will never actually happen).

But the point is that country music has meaning. So many pop songs are written by song writers and sold to somewhat talented artisits, then put through a mixer in the studio and come out sounding thankfully nothing like the raw version and somewhat decent.

Country music however is written with soul, with purpose and with meaning. Country artists can actually sing, play instruments and make you feel what they are singing. The reason for this is that many of them actually feel their own music.

One song that I need to share with people is For The Girls by Martina McBride. I think the main reason for this is that I am a woman and I know that so many women have experienced everything in this song. And mainly because I know that my girls have gone through this or are currently going through this. This song explains womanhood and everything that comes with it – it is what truly makes a woman. Maybe I just wanna dedicate this song to my girls – you know who you are. This one’s for you. To Listen click HERE

This is for all you girls about 13
High school can be so rough, can be so mean
Hold on to, on to your innocence
Stand your ground when everybody's givin' in

This one's for the girls

This is for all you girls about 25
In little apartments, just tryin' to get by
Livin' on, on dreams and spaghettios
Wonderin' where your life is gonna go

CHORUS
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holdin' back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This One's for the girls
(This one's for all the girls) - 1st time only

This is for all you girls about 42
Tossin' pennies into the fountain of youth
Every laugh, laugh line on your face
Made you who you are today

REPEAT CHORUS

Yeah, we're all the same inside (same inside)
From 1 to 99

REPEAT CHORUS

(This one's for all the girls)
Yeah, this one's for the girls
(This one's for all the girls)

Friends in Faraway Places

friend

–noun

1.a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2.a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter:
3.a person who is on good terms with another;

To me these definitions do not even describe the word friend and what it really means to me.

To me, a friend is so much more than words. To me a friend is someone who knows you maybe even better than you know yourself. Someone who knows your thoughts when it's too painful to say them out loud. A friend is someone who you don't have to ask to be there. They know when you need help, guidance or space. To me a friend is someone who you create an unbreakable bond with.

A friend is so much more than that person you went to high school with. A true friend is - your person.

To me, the most important thing about your Person, is that even when you are worlds apart they are still there for you. No borders can keep a friend away, they will always be there, with words, with kindness and with support.

The most important thing is friendship. Family can be friends, friends can become lovers, the point is that the root of anything should be friendship. A friendship that is unbreakable is a solid foundation for anything.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my People. You are my rocks and mean more to me than you know. There is so much in this life that I could not have done without your love, support and most of all friendship.

BBQ Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas

Well I think I can finally say that I'm getting pretty good at this whole cooking thing. once I've decided what I actually gonna make for dinner then it's smooth sailing and things seem to go pretty well. It's the decision part that still gets me. I am so grateful for all the sugestions and recipes - please keep sending as they do make my life slightly less complicated. Also big ups must go to Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman who is a huge inspiration and her recipes are not only delicious but fool proof. And her writing makes cooking fun which helps a whole bunch too! But don't take my word for it - see for yourself - http://thepioneerwoman.com/

So last weekend I even went so far as to create a menu for the whole of next week. I then made sure that I had all the ingredients and even had a shopping list and everything. Well I can officially report that I cooked nothing off that entire list this week.

But it's last nights dinner that I want to brag about. With much help from PW and a little modifying my side (I don't have a grill ot a grill pan) I'd say it was a huge success. The Other Half even said he may share his lunch left-overs with his work people!

So here go's:

What you’ll need:

Flour Tortillas
Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mozzarella will work too)
Pineapple
Chicken Breasts
Barbecue Sauce (or any kind of chicken marinade I guess)

First you’ll need to chop up the pineapple. This can be a task and again I say you will get nowhere without a good knife set! Chop the pineapple into cubes or triangles or whatever works (for chopping help see PW’s recipe at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/05/grilled-chicken-pineapple-quesadillas/ )

Now this is when the changes come in because I’m still trying to furnish my house and kitchen and therefore don’t always have the necessary tools. So I fried the pineapple for a little bit, really just to heat it through and get the juices going – so delicious!

Next you’ll need to pound the chicken with the soft side of a mallet or do like I did at PW’s recommendation – use a big can of tomatoes – a mallet is another thing missing from my kitchen…

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and fry. While it’s cooking add some BBQ sauce or marinade and let cook.

When it’s done remove from pan and cut into slices.

Now comes the fun part – heat tortilla’s – I just pop them in the oven for a few minutes. Then it’s time to assemble. Of course there are many ways of doing this – this is how I did it…

Sprinkle grated cheese over half the tortilla; arrange the chicken evenly over the top. Throw on some pineapple slices and you can add some other goodies too like mushrooms or red pepper. Next add some more BBQ sauce and fold tortilla in half to form a semi-circle. Press them down a bit so they stay closed.

Heat oven to around 350°F (180 C). Place stuffed half moon tortillas onto baking tray and bake for 8 minutes. Turn and bake for an additional 3 minutes or until crisp.

When they come out, cut into triangles and serve!

Washington DC - Things to Do

So I’ve decided to add yet another angle to my writing portfolio – Washington D.C – things to do. I figure that since I am new to the area and learning all there is to do here I might as well share what I learn as I go along so that if any of you plan to visit here in the future then maybe I can give you some hints or tips of what to see and how to see it.

So my first little outing was to some of the Smithsonian buildings. Now to break it down for you – I was a little confused at this – the Smithsonian is not just one museum but a plethora of things to do.

Founder of this world renowned cultural education, James Smithson was an English scientist who devoted his life to research in chemistry, mineralogy and geology. The funny thing is that even though he never visited the USA, he bequeathed his estate of around 15 million dollars to establish the Smithsonian Institute, what he said to be an institution for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge”.

The first Smithsonian building, The Castle is actually today nothing more than an information centre with an over priced cafeteria. But still worth a visit to explore the garden and see the Castle Exterior which is pretty regal – and you can nab some free brochures.

For some pics click HERE


So, next on the Smithsonian list was the Free Gallery of Art. Now don’t get me wrong, I do have culture and do love to do Cultural things, but there are some things that are not really very high on my list of things to do. I love art museums when I find the art interesting. I love ancient relics when they have an interesting story behind them. But there are times when to me a piece of broken porcelain, is simply just a piece of broken porcelain.

Never the less, I gave it a try and to my pleasant surprise actually learned a few things.

The Freer Gallery of Art actually boasts an internationally renowned collection of Asian Art and is home to the world’s largest holdings of works by American artist, James McNeil Whistler.

Now the one room which did actually draw my attention was the Peacock Room. The story behind it is that in 1876, a wealthy ship owner asked James Whistler to advise his architect on a color for his dining room shutters and doors. The architect had actually designed the room around a painting by Whistler, The Princess from the land of Porcelain”. Whistler proceeded to cover the ceiling with Dutch metal or imitation gold leaf, over which he painted a lush pattern of peacock feathers. He then gilded the walnut shelving and embellished the wooded shutters with images of four plumed peacocks.

For Pics click HERE

Baked (supposed to be crispy) Potato Wedges

Well folks we'll call this one a success. For me, the potatoes could have been crispier but The Other Half really liked it so that's what we'll judge it on right.

So here go's:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions
What You'll Need:

* 3 to 4 large potatoes
* seasoned salt
* olive oil
* a baking sheet

Step 1 - wash the potatoes under running water

Step 2 – cut the potatoes into wedges (and with this I cannot stress how important I have found it to have really good kitchen knives!)

Step 3 – lightly grease a baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil and place wedges neatly onto it

Step 4 – sprinkle more olive oil over wedges

Step 5 – sprinkle both sides of wedges with seasoned salt

Step 6 - bake in oven at 400 degrees (approx 220 Celsius) for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Half way through the cooking time, flip the potato wedges over to ensure the most crispy and golden potato wedges.

Food!

So in my quest to become a Domestic Goddess I have decided to add a little of my kind of creativity to it and start blogging about my daily meals and menu finds in the hope that a) people will know that I'm learning and my mom will be proud of me and b) maybe I will be able to help others as so many have helped me.

So I start tonight - not today, unless you want to know how to make left over spaghetti with cheese and ketchup for lunch? No, tonight I will be making BBQ chicken with crispy potato wedges. The BBQ chicken should be easy enough, it's the potatoes I'm worried about as the "Crispy" part is pretty essential, otherwise they're just potato's aren't they, and what's so Goddess about that?

The idea is that if this is a success and I find it pretty simple and stress free to accomplish - and of course if it gets the approval from The Other Half, then I will share the recipe with you lovely people tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Domestic Goddess - Help Needed!

So I consider myself very lucky that for the past couple of months (or forever) I’ve been very spoilt with home cooked meals and planned menus. I now find myself in the dilemma of being the one having to plan the menu’s and cook the meals. Now I have to say that I do consider myself a good cook when it comes to complex gourmet type dishes and dinner parties, but the whole cooking for two thing – everyday - does not come easily for me. I am uninspired to think of something different to cook every day and I am also terrible at planning ahead. I therefore suck at doing the whole monthly shopping thing and therefore always find that I never have what I need in order to cook what I want.

The Other Half realizes this about me and so sweetly offered to go to the grocery store on his way home from work and do a big shop. So I now find myself with heaps of frozen chicken, frozen fish and a few other things in bulk – like chips and salsa…

So I thought I might as well make the most of it and I tried to do a fish dish the other night. Now for those that know me, you may recall that I don’t do very well with stinky food stuffs, let alone cooking stinky fish. And I have to say that this frozen fish was pretty stinky. But I pushed along and I have to say that it all actually looked pretty good. I couldn’t actually eat it but hey – at least it looked good. The Other Half ate it and said he liked it – but bless his heart, he probably just didn’t want to hurt my feelings – at least he didn’t die of food poisoning!

So the point of this blog is to enlist some help from my darling readers.
Please post or send me one or two of your favorite recipes. Now please people, keep them simple. I’m looking for things that I can make as everyday dinner kind of things. But also, feel free to throw in something exotic or exciting – we love trying new things.

Looking forward to trying everything out – and I promise to let you know how it goes!

The Ikea Experience

So we have moved into our new house, much of our furniture was unable to actually make it into the house, and we now need to furnish the apartment – on a budget!

Off to Ikea we go. Now I’ve heard that this place is and experience, but really, I had no idea!

We arrive with a vague idea of what we want but with no idea of how many options we would have!

To paint the picture – Ikea is a super huge store that offers absolutely everything you can think of when it comes to furnishing your house or putting on the finishing touches. I mean everything!

It is laid out with various rooms on display to give you ideas as to how you want to do your rooms and then there is every possible option to make it your own. You look around for hours and get ideas and then when you’ve made your decisions you simply write down the product code and other info and move onto the next step.

The next step is actually getting your stuff. Now when you are writing down the info of the furniture you write down the isle number and bin number. I was not entirely sure what this meant when I was doing it but I was soon to find out.

Basically you make your way into this HUGE warehouse, with countless numbers of Isles and Bins where you – yes you – find your items. Everything is flat packed and it is up to you to put it onto a cart and go checkout.

Now we were most happy to discover that most of our items actually fitted into the boot (trunk) of the car! Ok I have to admit that even though I will never admit to liking the Camry due to the lack of excitement it offers, I am becoming increasingly impressed with what it has to offer – in this case – boot space. We only had to have a few longer items delivered which was also a pretty painless experience.

So all that was left was to get everything home and built – which was my job. Yes I was partly dreading it but pretty excited as I’ve always considered myself a bit of a handy-girl. So borrowing a tool kit from The Neighbor, I got to work.

I have to tell you that even though the tasks were pretty simple considering, it was still exhausted! It took me a full two days to put everything together.

I have to give credit to Ikea in that their stuff is good, the experience was great and thankfully, the instructions were simple! I have plans to go back this weekend and maybe get a couple of extra’s.

The U-Haul Experience

Ok to paint the picture – we are moving up to DC with more than a little stuff, most inherited. We have a Toyota Camry (yes I know – boring!). So needless to say we needed help. So to U-Haul we turn…



We picked up a rather large truck and a full flat bed trailer and have every intention of doing this all ourselves. We manage to pack the truck and load the car onto the trailer and off we go!




About 3 hours into the drive we realize that the gas is going down faster than we anticipated and we now have the mammoth task of getting this rig through a gas station – thank goodness for Americans and their Truck stops.



14 hours later and about 4 more tanks of gas we find ourselves almost into the city. Now comes the thought that even with “The Other Half’s” amazing truck driving skills, there is no way we are firstly going to be able to maneuver this all through the downtown DC streets, and secondly if we do, there is no ways we are going to find space to offload the car off the trailer.

So an abandoned parking lot we find and proceed to offload the car there. We then drive the final few minutes in separate vehicles. (I will not get into the fact that I got caught at a red light and left behind with an almost dead phone and no idea where I’m going – I got there eventually).

We finally arrive at our destination (a few minutes apart because of my detours). We are very happy to discover that there is a barely used alley behind our house where we can park and offload the truck – which we proceed to do.

So as we are unloading we discover that the majority of our inherited furniture does not actually fit through the door of the apartment and we are forced to leave it in the truck and find something to do with it the next day. (I’m gonna take this opportunity to throw in an “I told you so”).

Next day arrives and we are up bright and early to find a furniture store to buy the furniture and then return the truck and trailer. All I’m gonna say is that the odds were against us on this particular morning and the furniture now sits in the U-Haul storage facility (minus half a glass table cause I broke it).

The bottom line is that I am still in two minds as to whether I will ever use U-Haul again due to some complications. The final moral of the story is that I hope to not have to move again or a very long time!

The Big Move - It's Happened!

Ok so it’s been a little while since I’ve written and a lot has happened. I think I’m gonna document all my little experiences as a part by part series so expect a lot of posts coming up!

So the biggest news of all is that we are now safe and settled in Washington DC. For the details of the trip see (The U-Haul Experience).

As you know I was more than a little nervous as to what I was getting myself into as I was moving to a city that I had visited for a mere few hours and moving into a basement apartment which I had not seen.

Well I hereby consider myself pleasantly surprised. Our new home is adorable. I find adorable a fitting word as yes it is pretty small but for us it is perfect. It’s a one bedroom basement but with lots of light and just enough space. For more details on the décor see (The Ikea Experience).

Although I have not yet fully explored the neighborhood, from what I can judge it is fantastic. I have sampled two of the local little restaurants which were excellent and our street is so quaint and actually very similar to London – except the sun has been shining constantly since we moved in.

So as you can see I am a very happy puppy right now and all that is left to do is find a job! Our next furniture purchase is also gonna be a sleeper couch so please come visit!

The Big Move – It all begins!

So as many or most of you may know, the time has finally come for us to part with Sweet Home Alabama and head to the nation’s capital – Washington DC. With “The Other Half” highly anticipating himself getting the job after he went to the interview, we’ve been partially packed for a few weeks now but I still find that as we draw nearer to the Estimated Time of Departure there is just so much to do.

I had all good intentions of working as close as possible up to the date we leave in order to maybe pay for the gas (petrol) for our 12 hour drive to our new home. But now for those of you who have had the pleasure of hearing me talk about my job, you probably knew that was not going to happen. But I did work Monday and was glad to say that I consider that an achievement in itself. But here I sit on Tuesday blissfully unemployed.

So today we tackled some last minute packing, some urgent admin and the essential task of trying to find somewhere to live! Ok before you all panic, we have a place, we are just trying to tie down all the loose ends and handle all the boring and stressful official stuff. Now I will take this opportunity to advise against embarking on a long distance house hunt in the future. Although I fully trust our dear friend who has checked the place for us I still find myself rather anxious at what we may find. Of course my stress levels are increasing as I think about the fact that I truly don’t know how much closet space we have, how big is the shower and will I be able to suitably entertain in my new place.

But I promise to keep you all updated with the progress of the move and I promise to let you know as soon as I know what I have gotten myself into! Now that I am a lady of leisure once again I guess I have no more excuses for not writing.

Love you all
XX

Hyperhidrosis – a condition not many know about

Many people today suffer from excess sweating; and it was not until a few years ago that I stopped becoming embarrassed about it and sought out to do something about it.
Little did I know that this embarrassing problem was actually a medical condition.

Hyperhidrosis is a condition characterized by an abnormally increased amount of perspiration which is in most cases is in excess of the amount required for the regulation of body temperature. In my case it was not about heat, I would perspire in the coldest weather.

The cause of hyperhidrosis is mostly unknown, although there are various opinions. Some say that Anxiety can exacerbate the situation for many sufferers which I think may be one of my contributing factors. Other things which could play a role include certain foods and drinks, nicotine and caffeine. One big thing for me is different fabrics. If I put something on which doesn’t agree with me I can tell instantly that it’s going to be a problem.

Many people who suffer from this condition do not even realize that it exists and most certainly do not realize that something can be done. This is why I am writing this today. I suffered for so many years, only able to wear black or white clothing as the sweat was least likely to show on those colors.

This condition can affect various areas of the body, including hands, feet, the groin area and armpits. Other parts of the body can be affected but it is most common to the areas with the highest amount of sweat glands.

The news that I was very happy to learn is that Hyperhidrosis can be treated and managed. If you suffer from this problem I only encourage you to look into treatment, it changed my life and can change yours.

Many people, like I did, simply resort to using increased amounts of antiperspirants but don’t realize that hyperhidrosis needs a significantly higher concentration of the Aluminium chloride ingredient to effectively treat excessive sweating. There are antiperspirants which contain these high doses but they normally take between three to five days to see any results and they can cause irritation.

Another thing that people do not realize is that Botox not only used to get rid of wrinkles but can also be used to disable sweat glands. Now I have actually tired and tested this procedure and this is the basis of what I want to talk about today.
Yes this procedure can be painful and yes it certainly is expensive but for the short 9 months that it lasts, it is a blessing in the form of 50 needles.

Now to let you know, I freak out going to the dentist so making a conscious decision to put myself through this (twice) must have been for a good reason. After some research I decided that anything was worth trying if it meant that I could live a somewhat normal life. I found an amazing doctor who was qualified and practiced in this procedure and she talked me through everything.

So first the doc did this neat little trick with some powder stuff and some liquid stuff which showed exactly where I was experiencing excessive sweating. Then after using a blue marker to make a cute little grid like thing in my armpit she calmly told me that I would need around 50 shots…per armpit!

So I guess it was too late to change my mind and the bare thought that this could actually work got me through it. Now I’m not going to lie – it hurt. It was not unbearable but for someone who does not like needles it was not fun. But I can honestly and truly say it worked. The effects did not last for as long a time as I had hoped, but for me it was enough to make me do it again.

If you are thinking that you would like to go the surgical route there are options for that too. Let me know if you want the gory details…

Acupuncture - Just a little scared to try

For the longest time I can remember my dad going for regular acupuncture treatments for his shoulder. I can’t remember at what stage I found out that acupuncture included getting lots of tiny needles pushed into your muscles until they relive the pressure and tension, but I know that from the beginning this did not sit well with me.

Me and needles simply do not go together. I scream blue murder having my finger pricked for a blood sugar test or when the dentist needs to give me a filling. I have the chills just writing about it now!

I have of course grown up (a little) since then and now know that acupuncture is not a barbaric act but rather a form of oriental medicine which uses very fine needles inserted into various points on the body to release tight muscles, increase circulation and to balance energy within the body. This is of course all done by a professional who has a qualification. Does this make me feel better yes – will I try it – no.

I don’t know what it is about this practice that makes me so squeamish. I mean I love other forms of traditional Chinese medicine and know that the after effects are fantastic. I just cannot get past the needles. Even when I was going through extremely painful treatments for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on my shoulder and my physio kept trying to tell me that acupuncture would be far less sore and traumatic and would leave far fewer bruises I still could not do it. Even my dad tried to persuade me into it – and I trust that my dad would never put me in a situation which is not good for me – still not luck.

According to ehow.com, I should follow these steps:
1. Step 1
Go to the doctor/tattoo parlor/acupuncturist – any place that has needles – Ok I’ve been to these places but do I have to undergo the treatments? Well actually I have – I have a tattoo and I was able to sit in the chair for the full twenty minutes and only started to feel faint once the guy was done.

2. Step 2
Take deep breathes, do not look at the needles, do not look at the bottles containing the medicine, in fact, do not look at anything if possible. I’ve tried this one too but still knew what was coming and I cannot trick my mind.

3. Step 3
Request the best shot giver in the house. If other patients have completed their appointment and are waiting to check out, ask them how their needle work went. Was their nurse/tattoo artist/acupuncturist amazing or is their arm bruised to the high heavens?

4. Step 4
When it comes time to get pricked take deep breaths, take yourself to your happy place, close your eyes and keep breathing.

To me, although these sound like obvious solutions to my problem I don’t see them helping - maybe this is more of a problem that I know, after all “Needle phobia is a defined* medical condition that affects more than 10 percent of the population to an extent that it causes them to avoid needed medical care.” Should I be seeking professional help?

Whatever my problem I hope I get over it because I know that acupuncture has helped my father and I hope that it will be able to help me one day – that’s if the therapist can get me to lie still!


Additional reading:
http://www.futurescience.com/needles.html

Weddings - SA vs USA

So it has been a busy couple of weeks over here with wedding season. As many of you know I am mildly obsessed with weddings and all things involved in any opportunity to get all dressed up and celebrate in style.

So I have recently been to a couple of weddings and all the other fun occasions involved in the leading up to weddings and I thought I'd share because there are a few differences between what we do back home and what they do over here.

Firstly, we all do the pre-wedding celebrations but the people of the South over here really know how to make the wedding couple feel special - and decorate three houses at the same time. Now I know at home we do hen parties but over here it's lingerie parties, bridal teas, pampered chef parties, tool parties for the boys and so much more. All of these things (whilst putting a strain on all the guests wallets) give the lucky couple a chance to build a full house full of lovely stuff.

Now for the actual wedding celebrations. There's not too much difference here, you know the whole concept is the same. In terms of the ceremony, in America they put a lot more emphasis and focus on the parents which I find really nice. There are some really sweet traditions which I've seen like the sand ceremony which symbolizes the coming together of two families.

Now to the fun part - the reception. Now this is where I've seen the most differences. Now I'm not saying that either one is better, I guess its just a matter of personal taste and where you want to put your focus and of course money.

So firstly, at any South African wedding there are a few close family friends that are never left off the guest list - those are of course Mr Jack Daniels, Mr Smirnoff and lovely Aunt Bubbles. So far on this side of the world I've only seen Bubbles make one appearance and I seemed to be the only person who embraced her.

Another difference is that we seem to place a lot of emphasis on the celebration and the traditions like cutting of the cake and the first dance. South African wedding celebrations are all about good food, good wine and great company. Over here the company is probably the biggest thing which is never a bad thing. Also in SA we focus a lot on decor and service, paying maybe too much attention to the small things in order to portray the perfect look and image and to make sure that every wedding is better than the last persons.

Maybe in SA it is more of an industry and over here its really each to their own. Over here the families put in a lot of the work decorating and cooking and making center pieces. In SA there would be a lot of people out of business if we had to do things that way.

So again I"m not saying that one is better than the other but there is definitely a few differences. So bottom line being that for my day I hope to take a little from each side and make something fantastic! And don't worry Uncle Jack, Mr Smirnoff and Auntie Bubbles - you will definitely be receiving an invitation.

Update continued - The Tea

Ok so the continuation of the update took a little longer than planned and I'm sorry again...

But to continue on the trend of Southern Wedding Traditions I have a few little experiences to add.

So a weekend or two ago I attended my first Bridal tea. It was a nice get together of ladies with yummy snacks and punch (alcohol free). We visited with the bride to be and oogled at all the great things she received. Teas are a pretty short thing if you are a guest as you generally only stay a couple of minutes because the invite clearly states from 2 - 3.30. But all in all I was glad I got a chance to go because guess what - mine was next!

So cue the nerves, decisions of the most stylish yet appropriate thing to wear and smile practice sessions in the bathroom mirror. So I know that all of you (well at least Thunder and Crazii are asking the inevitable question of what did I decide to wear) Well - I was the picture of a stepford wife - although I felt more like a desperate housewife...I donned a pretty black and white dress - strapless so I threw on a little cardi to cover up. Feeling a little 1940's I had to add some killer heels and then to complete the look I added some pearls.

So all dressed up with approval from the other half we headed off. Now we did throw a little unconventional-ism into the mix (how I can do anything the way it should be done?)Normally teas are a ladies only affair but since the lady in this family doesn't actually know very many of the 140 ladies invited we dragged the men into the picture to do the talking.

Now a tea is a pretty formal affair with the "people of the hour" all standing at the entrance forming a kind of receiving line - we greet all the guests as they come in over the hour and a half. We have people who receive our gifts, open them for us then display them nicely for everyone to see. We also served yummy food and alcohol free punch and luckily had lots of cake left over at the end of the day.

So for my first and second tea experiences I can say that this is a great tradition and we were very spoiled and now have some great stuff to start our home when we eventually get to do so.

So to send this tradition home I would of course have to "Capetonianise" it cue bubbles, sushi and a longer day.

I'm Sorry! But I have good news

To all my loyal and loving followers I want to say I'm sorry. I have been dismal at keeping you all updated with my life. It seems that while I had all the time in the world but nothing interesting to share I now have so much to tell you but no time to tell it!

So to start off I will tell you the best news (well with the pro's and con's of course). I have a JOB! Yes I can actually say it and spell it... J.O.B . My official title is distributor - not that I actually know what that means but anyway - So I'm working for a marketing firm which sounds very cool but the catch is that I'm in sales. But wait there's more - I'm in B2B sales - but wait it gets better - I go door to door (well business to business) and sell stuff. FUN (please note a slight hint of sarcasm right there).

OK the PRO'S:
1. The money is OK
2. There is a fast promotion rate (I've been there a week and may get promoted to account manager this week)
3. The people I work with are awesome.

CON's
1. The money is commission only
2. The promotion to account manager gets you nothing but more responsibility
3. The hours are ridiculous! (7.30 - 6pm and on Saturday 9 - 4)

So as you can see they kinda weigh out but I think I did it that way to make myself feel better...

But the people really are great and are seriously helping me achieve my goals.

So that's that for now I think. I'm tired and very hungry but I promise to update more asap.

Love you all
Tx

Southern Wedding Traditions

So I am constantly learning the way of The South and this seems to be a big time for weddings. This weekend I was invited to a Pampered Chef party for a bride-to-be which was great fun.

The idea is the same as that of a Tupperware party – the rep comes along with a bunch of their kitchen goodies and demonstrates and talks you through everything. The difference with having it as a pre-wedding party is that they will make the bride-to-be demonstrate the cooking of a dish or two making use of all the Pampered Chef products, which include pots and pans and all your general kitchen items.

After that we all eat the prepared food and other snacks and have good ol girly pre-wedding chats. Then you would all fill in your order forms, including things for the bride-to-be off her pre-registered request list.

All in all it was a great day and I was one more tradition down on the list of pre-wedding parties involved in a Southern Wedding. Next weekend – I attend my first bridal tea.

Yet Another Administrative Nightmare

What is it with people being completely stupid whenever you need to get anything done? Why cant S&^%t just be simple?

The issue of the day is Social Security - this is a number that anyone living in America needs to get anything done. Without a social security number (SSN) I cannot open a bank account, I cannot get a drivers license and I basically cannot do much.

So a month ago I went down to the SSN office and filled out their mounds of paperwork, showed them my birth certificate, passport, greencard and multiple other things to prove I am who I say I am. They said I would receive confirmation and ultimately my SS card in the mail. A month later - what do you know - nothing!

So today I venture all the way down there again to find out what is taking so long. Of course before this I tried to phone and go online but that obviously didn't work - why has every company fired all their employees and are resorting to stupid automated tele systems. Anyway back to the point - I spent another hour of my life today waiting to be seen by somebody who has better thing to do than issue my card.

When I finally got to speak to someone, guess what, I had to do it all again!
Apparently after I've filed everything for the second time I should get a response whithin the next 2 weeks - we'll see about that and I'll keep you posted.

Rugby, Rugby Players and Writing

So finally my writing has led me to write about something close to my heart …Rugby, but more specifically NZ rugby! OK South Africa friends and family before you all have nervous breakdowns, these All Blacks have also played for the Crusaders and no one can argue against their brilliance and on field (and social) personalities.

Everyone knows that rugby is special to me being a Saffa and all and I have to say a heart felt sorry to my dear sport for being such a poor supporter over the past year. I promise that even though sadly most of my time is now spent on American Football, rugby is still my first love.

So I hope that I am on my way to redeeming myself with the sport by taking on the task of writing about two fantastic Crusader (All Black) players. Maybe soon someone will pay me to write about South African rugby then I can prove my loyalty there too.

But for now, if you would like to read about Dan Carter or Richie McCaw please feel free. I hope to have more profiles to add to this collection soon.

Turning over a new Leaf

In the recent past years I have gone from being a once a week Pilates rehab patient to being a twice a week advanced Pilates student to an avid gym bunny but no more Pilates and recently to a reluctant gym go-er with no motivation.

Feeling fat, inflexible and lazy I decided that it was time to make some changes and get my A back into G.

So my new regime started today. I went online and purchased some DIY at home Pilates DVD’s and have made an unbreakable pact with myself that every morning will begin with a Pilates workout. Nothing too crazy, just some simple exercises to get my metabolism started and my muscles thinking about doing something.

I really hope that with my morning Pilates and afternoon gym we will be seeing some differences – mental and physical.

I have to say though – I have missed Pilates, it really is amazing and makes me feel great! OK its not completely the same without my instructor Sandy pushing me that little bit further and making me realize that I actually can bend my body like a pretzel, but its better than nothing.

So I hope to have regular updates of my progress and my experience – for now however . . . wish me luck!

A day out in Birmingham

So I have to just tell you about my day. To avoid another boding day inside, Mom-To-Be and Dad-To-Be dragged The Other Half and I out into the sunshine for a full day of things to do, see, taste and experience.

Our first experience was Yogurt Mountain. Now if I can even try and explain the joy of this place it would not do justice. So I will describe every step… you walk in, pick up a rather large tub and proceed to the frozen yogurt wall. Yes wall. With a choice of probably ten or more flavors from chocolate and vanilla to cheesecake, peanut butter, cookies and cream, cake batter and so much more you help yourself to as much as you like of anything you like. You mix and pick and choose to your hearts delight.

But it does not stop there, you then move to the toppings wall – yes another wall – this time filled with every ice cream topping you can think of. From chopped up chocolates to M&M’s, Reece’s, cereal, fruit and ht fudge. Again – take as much as you want of whatever you want. The outcome is a bowl full of goodness exactly as you like it. You pay by weight but that’s beside the point, you can still create your own ice cream masterpiece. And the best part – the frozen yogurt is fat free!

From there we proceeded to drive around Birmingham, looking at houses that we hope to one day be able to afford and some that we know we will never be able to afford but its good to dream. We found mansions on top of hills and castles in the trees.

We ended the day with more great food at Full Moon barbecue where we could not possibly eat all the delicious onion rings.

Full of fun, full of laughs and adventure, truly a great day. It just shows that you don’t have to venture too far to discover new things – most of the time you do not even know what is in your own town.

Bridal Teas and Gift Registry's

So, to bring everyone up to speed there is a tradition in the South called a Bridal Tea. Basically it is what we would do at home to the magnitude of ten! We are inviting over 100 people and it is going to be a big event.

So even though the big event between The Other Half and me is still two years away, the tea is being held sooner for a number of reasons.

Today we embarked on the mammoth task of setting up a gift registry. Now we are planning on doing this at 3 or 4 stores and today we made it half way through one!

Who knew that trying to make every decision relating to furnishing a house you do not have could be so exhausting!

So with The Other Half armed with the scanning thing and I with a clip board and lists we set off through Bed, Bath and Beyond trying to think of absolutely everything we may need in the future.

We were advised to over scan so that there was enough choice on our lists and more of a chance that we get what we need, so we did – our list now consists of around 4 chopping boards and 5 whisks (did anyone even know that whisks came in different sizes?)

One store pretty much done and at least two more to go, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Thank goodness for the online resource where we can go back and see exactly what we have on there – I have already been on and noticed a few things that I did not select – like 4 whisks (lets just remember who was carrying the scanner!)

For pics click here

Snow!

Ok so first to explain why this is so exciting to me. I come from Cape Town where the extent of cold is blissfully nothing to brag about.

We Capetonians hate the cold and as soon as the temperatures drop below 20 C (68 F) we go into hibernation mode and don’t come out for much. Our days are shorter and our weekends quieter. The cocktail on the beach are substituted for red wine by the fire and this generally occurs in our own houses because God forbid we get wet walking to the car.

So now I find myself in Alabama, I was told it doesn’t’ get cold here – they lied! It is FREEZING, and I mean literally – there are tiny thing slivers of ice falling from the sky! OK it has only happened like three times but still this is not what I’m used to.

But all things aside, I love the snow! Besides the freezing coldness, I think there is nothing more beautiful that snow on the ground, treetops and roves of houses. It makes everything look clean and it glistens (yes you know how I love shiny things).

Maybe it’s the sense of reminiscing – it makes me think of childhood when the first sighting of snow on the Ceres mountains meant dad would pack the whole family in the car and together with the rest of the Cape Town plebs, we would embark on the journey all wrapped up with flasks of hot chocolate in hand. Ok granted when we got there we were faced with muddy slush because of the droves of people who got there before us but that’s beside the point.

The point is I still hate the cold but I love the snow. Click here to see pics.

Flick the Switch

So have you ever just wished that you could turn your brain off in order to get a good night’s sleep? That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. As soon as I close my eyes the thoughts start coming at a rapid pace and the more I try to clear my mind the more I am thinking about not thinking.

And the strangest thing is that I seem to be in a sort of half sleep. Like I’m sleeping but I’m thinking about how my thoughts are disrupting my sleep – it’s all very strange.

So how does one clear your mind before bed in order to actually sleep? According to Wiki, these things may help:

1. Write down your thoughts before you go to bed to clear your mind
I’ve tried keeping a notebook next to my bed so that when I think of something
I can write it down rather than thinking that I really need to remember this
thought in the morning – but that didn’t work for me as I’m simply too lazy to
open my eyes to write it down. So maybe I should try writing things down before I
actually get into bed, maybe that will help

2. Counting sheep
Apparently this is the most traditional way of dealing with an over-active mind
late at night. The logic behind this approach is that you will bore yourself to
sleep. But for me, I feel that I will probably find myself thinking about how
boring and stupid this is.

3. Focus on one, boring thing, with the purpose of stopping your mind from running
so fast
Focus on something that is far away from your head, such as the tiniest toe on
your left foot. Try to feel your toe, and think only about the toe. If you slip
up, return to the toe. To me, this just sounds like more things to think about.

4. Imagine you've won a million dollars, and then imagine you're spending it
Calculating how much you'd need to get that boat, dream house, new wardrobe. OK
now this will keep me up all night thinking about how many pairs of Jimmy Choo’s
I can buy with a million dollars.

5. Try to calm down your mind before going to sleep
Doing a crossword puzzle, sudoku, or reading a little may calm your mind down so
that you fall easily asleep. This will probably leave me pondering about the
answers I could not get.

6. Instead of focusing on your mind, focus on your body
Doing some yoga right before you go to bed will make your body sleepier. You know
what, I think I may purchase a yoga DVD and try this one before bed. Besides, at
least if it doesn’t help me sleep I may gain some flexibility out of it.

7. Meditation
Meditation calms the mind, and some types of meditation teach you how to clear
your mind completely. To me meditation means thinking about not thinking…

8. Try creating a very detailed story to yourself,
something that interests you, you will fall asleep far before you come to the end
of the story.
Somehow I doubt it.

9. Clear your head of all thoughts and focus on how
good it feels to have your mind completely empty
Well now this is the whole problem!

10.Imagine being able to change anything about you
Again, this would keep me thinking all night

11.Slowly paralyze yourself starting from your toes, working slowly until you are all the way up to your head
Finally I think this one may work – although I’m thinking less about
mentally paralyzing myself and rather more about potential vodka induced
paralysis.

Blue Blue Monday

So I haven't really found myself suffering from Blue Monday Fever for a while now, I thought that was because with no job and no life the days sort of blended together and Monday simply meant the start of another week of nothingness.

Well today I found myself waking up on completely the wrong side of the bed and even after going back to sleep and trying again on the other side, (I have no job so I can do that) I felt no better.

Now I guess I do know the bottom reason of my bad feelings, I have a very amazing friend in a very serious condition and I find that that is all I can think about. She is in my every thought and every prayer and nothing I do can shake my feeling of sadness.

But then I read Crazii's post for the day and see that she too is feeling that sense of Monday doom and then I think well maybe friends are connected and we could be feeding of each others negative energies? Is that possible across continents? I mean I've heard of girls that live together or work together (ie spend too much time together) will eventually come on the same menstrual cycle - maybe that's God's way of keeping the cat fights within one week a month.

So for now I will resort to actually doing some work to earn minimal monies, or rather indulge in some online shopping to try keep my mind on the moment and try rid myself of the not so nice thoughts. On the other hand, maybe I'll just go back to bed and try again...

Feeling Far away

Everyone always asks how I’m coping with being away from home and my answer is always “fine so far”. Well today I realized the worst part of being away from home, that’s when bad things happen to people that you love.

2009 seemed like a year when so much bad was going on in terms of friends being hurt by horrible boys and it sucked when I couldn’t be there to support them in terms of chocolate and movie nights, but it’s a different story when a friend is physically hurt and there is nothing you can do.

To find out on Facebook that an amazing person is in a bad condition really sucks and it’s even worse when you are too far away to do anything about it. This is when the distance really gets to you because you can’t just jump in the car and race to the hospital to be by their side and updates on their condition take a while to get to you.

So if anyone had to ask me now what’s the worst thing about being away from home I would say, “Not being able to be there for the people you love when they need you.”

For now all I can say is Sushi please get better soon, I love you and I’m thinking of you every second.

And for the rest of you , please stay safe and happy.

Nightmare!

So, when you spend pretty much all day every day sitting in front of your computer applying for countless amounts of jobs – some that you really want and some that will just be a time filler to pay the rent, how do you make sure your resume gets to the top of the pile?

I mean when you come across a job that you are so perfectly qualified for in education and experience and know that not only will the job be fantastic but that you will be fantastic in that job, how do you get noticed?

I can’t really phone these people every day and tell them how wonderful I am and that if they do not hire me it will be immediate and irreversible suicide for their company – or can I?

But seriously – recession aside – there are so many jobs out there, and I have applied for every one, well the fantastic ones at least, but why am I getting nothing back? I’ve even taken to wishing on shooting stars! Yup I saw an amazing shooting star last night, haven’t seen one of those in years, maybe it was a sign – but I digress…GIVE ME A JOB!!!!

2010 is supposed to be this amazing year filled with opportunities and exciting things, well maybe it still will be but is surely is off to a slow start. We were so excited about moving to a new city and getting an apartment and sting to actually live our lives but the holdup is finding jobs first.

Come on universe; work your magic…please.

A big announcement

So again I feel the need to apologize for my lack of interesting topics.

The only news for today is that I feel we have finally decided on a country to hold the elusive wedding in! OK I guess that is big news. And the winner is . . . . CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA!

So from not thinking about anything wedding related and not having any idea of what I actually wanted, I find my thoughts and dreams consumed with everything wedding related.

Now don't get me wrong, I too have pictured and planned my big day ever since I was a little girl, but of course, ideals and ideas of pretty can change over time. The strange thing though is that since I entered into the world of event planning I did everything to avoid actually planning an event for myself, and that included thinking about planning an event for myself. So even when I has presented with my big, beautiful diamond(s) I still did not even want to think of planning a wedding. I had no idea of what I wanted but I had lots of very clear ideas of what I didn't want!

1 - I do not want to feel the need to invite people I have not spoken to in years just because I don't want to hurt their feelings
2 - I do not want to spend thousands on a cake that will not get eaten
3 - I do not want to spend fortunes on invitations that get thrown in the bin once the details have been written down
4 - I do not want bridesmaids that look like poorly dressed barbie dolls

But now that we have decided to actually start planning this thing it is all I can think of. Although the only thing we have actually decided on is the city and the year - yes, very broad I know but at least its a start.

The Hunt is On

So the first step for this year is to find a job. Why do we always have to do the hardest things first??

Living in Birmingham Alabama doesn't exactly pour opportunities your way so The Other Half and I have made an executive decision to fly North East to the little town called the Nation's Capital in search of fame and fortune.

Apparently DC is where it happens and as The Other Half has his roots and interest in the government and security and secret James Bond stuff we thought this would be the best place to begin our search.

Now as for me...a little PR "poppie" with a flair for events...we have to pull out all the stops. OK, so in Cape Town I'm pretty good at what I do right - I mean we won awards and stuff! But you think that means anything over here? You think my little Varsity College qualification carries any weight? Probably not right?

So I have to rely on my charm and pretty smile - a little bit of a problem when you have to buy a plane ticket for every interview - assuming I actually get called to any interviews!

So, day after day I resort to online applications, hopes and prayers - and some slightly more colorful words when a letter arrives in my inbox saying the position has been filled.

But for now - wish me luck and if you know of anyone looking for the employee of their dreams in and around DC please give them my name!

Amzing times past and exciting times to come

I’m back!!!

It has been an enormously long time since I’ve written and I feel horrible that I have so badly neglected Pop Tarts Travels! But really, when faced with sun, sand, cocktails, food, family and friends…who wants to sit in front of a computer?!

But I am back and I feel that this is the start of many great and hopefully interesting things to come so that I can attempt to entertain you people who may get tired of staring out of your Cape Town office windows and glaring at that horrible boring view of the sea and mountains.

Last night I landed back on USA soil after what seemed like the shortest three weeks of my life spent in paradise. OK it was only Cape Town but you really do only realize how wonderful it is there after you have left and returned.

I had the most amazing time with my beautiful family and awesome friends. I got to get to know the two most adorable boys on this earth, my munchkin nephews. I got to eat the best food (yes lots of sushi) and sip (or gulp) refreshing cocktails. I got a tan, peeled and lost it and got another one. I drove, I sailed, I slept in the most comfortable bed in the world (OK maybe not but I’ve missed that bed!)

When the dreaded day of departure came I was not only a nervous wreck for the family farewells which I always dread but I was also anticipating a travel nightmare. Now firstly, I have to commend myself on managing to pack 99% of my wardrobe and still be under the baggage weight allowance (darn I could have packed a couple more pairs of shoes!).

The England leg of the trip was a breeze as usual due to my prized UK passport, but the USA leg was the one I was not looking forward to. Expecting insanely increased security due to the kind fellow who thought it would be a great idea to try and blow up another US plane in the name of religion. But I was mistaken. Yes, I could feel that they had upped security levels, but it took no longer than usual and was a pleasure to see that some people actually do do their jobs to ensure my safety.

My next expected nightmare … border control…dun dun duuuuun. This is my first time entering the USA as a permanent resident and for some reason I was petrified! But I was happy to discover that this benefit now allows me to stand in the short line at customs and enter without too many questions!

All in all a pleasant experience and I am safe and sound with all luggage accounted for.

So for 2010 you can expect to read exciting things, hopefully about getting a job, moving house and wedding plans!

But for today I feel I have bored you enough and so with that I sign off.