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.