Cake cake cake

Tis the theme of my 26th birthday, I reveled in cup cakes for the whole week, every where I went I was confronted by this delectable treat, I had cup cakes for breakfast, it was great!

I dragged Alex to Patisserie in Illovo last Sunday, go there! Its wonderful!

So many options...I have to go back and sample some more...

Hmm cheese cake...my favorite!

I went with the granadilla cheese cake, it did not disappoint! The best cheese cake I've had. I was happy because their cakes are frozen and then thawed, which made me skeptical, but the cheese cake was good in both consistency and taste. Alex ordered the cookies and cream cake and that was unfortunately a bit dry, but I must eat more cakes from there to make a proper judgement :D

What's this? My boss' wife made me cupcakes for my birthday! What a treat ^_^ and she blinged it up with all these sprinkles and edible glitter! They know me so well.

A cupcake smorgasboard! Tarryn also gave me cupcakes, these awesome rich chocolate and mint ones with  a gooey caramel centers omnomnonmnom... I also made cupcakes (the yellow one in the back) they are lemon poppy seed with cream cheese icing. My first time! I think they came out nicely, and the recipe (here) was quick and easy. Personally I would use less sugar next time and maybe more lemon zest, because I like a super intense lemon flavour. I used a standard cream cheese icing, but I think I will try the icing with the recipe next time (it uses lemon juice! More lemony-ness! raaa!)

Colour!

Not really one for self photography...I'm still waiting for my inner chinese photomaniac to blossom...But look at my Sunday outfit! There's a trend of all colours of the rainbow shorts right now (ahh I can't help myself! I should get a pair to match every nail polish colour I have!) I'll be a smartie box :D

Sweater: Center point Muscat, tshirt: Mr Price, awesome fanta grape shorts: Jay Jays, lumo green nail polish: Hatfield flea market, lumo orange nail polish: Kangol

Signs of maturity...

I bought a vacuum! And expressing my joy for the acquisition of this most house wifey device in the most childishly enthusiastic way :D

Potjiekos is deeeelicious!

I may have just had the most relaxing Sunday ever. We made potjie and pot brood (bread made in a flat bottomed potjie pot) which I had never done before. It was wonderful! I loved it, not only did it turn out great (slow cooked for an hour and a half, the meat was falling apart), it was just nice hanging out with friends while you do a worthwhile activity together where alcohol wasn't the main focus (we did drink still, but we took it easy :D ).

Bonsai

Alex and I went to the Safari garden centre this past weekend, it is a gigantic rain forest plant paradise! Complete with a parrot ^_^ I got really excited and started doing my skipping thing! Wee they have a wonderful bonsai section. Some on the trees there were as old as me...and look at how insane those root structures are! I especially liked the forest one, it was like a miniature glade (3rd pic). With the bonsai craze every flippin' supermarket has little trees in pots, it irritates me because after reading up on bonsai, I've seen many that have been badly cut, like their whole trunk lobbed off just so they appear small, and the scar covered up with foliage-bad bad bonsai -ing!)

And lookit! I got to pick my very own bonsai to take home! Alex bought one for me as an extended birthday present (my birthday was in April). AAAAAAAH I am so happy! I will take awesome care if it. It is a Natal wild fig (yay for indigenous plants!), which the internet tells me makes a great beginner's bonsai and is very hardy. You and I little friend, we'll spend many long years together ^_^

Spring/Summer is here!

Where I stay has a garden that by some miraculous chance escaped habitation by a large dog and also receives the attentions of a wonderful old lady.

Dikhololo lessons : How to have a beer slushy

Left your beer in the freezer over night because you were impatient to make them cold but then got too drunk (after the first 2) to take the rest out? Never fear, as you have just created beer slushy!

Note: Beer slushies foam A LOT and never attempt to drink the foam as it has ice bits in it that you have to chew and its kind of gross - as Alex found out.

 Here's how to make your frozen beer edible and even enjoyable :

Step 1: Cut beer can open with a knife, try not to get can tin filings in it...

Step 2: Pour beer ice into a glass - preferably a non glass glass so you are covered should your motor functions be impaired later on because you are drinking in the sun...

Step 3: Find a tea spoon (normal spoons are too big, and the slushy will freeze your mouth off) and ingest!

The most expensive beer in SA...

What's that, R18? Ok, I graciously hand over a R50 and smile - No, R80! EIGHT ZERO! Oh my soul....ok, it was for 2 beers, but still, R40 a beer?! But I love this beer so much (just had the good fortune to have other people pay for me up until now...) Eek! So of course we had to take the bottles as mementos, and now they are also the most expensive bottles I own....I shall squeeze every last drop of use out of them to make up! I found out last night that they are sold at a bottle store for like R18 each by where Stuart (My roomie Tarryn's bf) works - curses! But now I can look forward to comming home to a 6 pack of these babies :)

I'm in an exhibition nahnahnahnah....

Last Friday was opening night for a photo exhibition at Wolves (that place is so pretty I want to live there, plus they have cake and beer - two of my most favorite things). Look it is sooo pretty! Aaaaah! It was an exhibition open for public submission (film photos) and one of my submissions got picked - its the black and white pic with a black frame in the last photo (click to see bigger).

OPPIKOPPI!!!!

Woohahahaha I'm super excited for the Oppikoppi festival (a music festival in the African bush veld) this weekend. We are leaving tomorrow for 3 days of dust, camping, porta loos (not looking forward to that, but I did make lots of friends there last time because I had wet wipes) and awesome live bands/SA rock scene.

Out with the old, in with the awesome!

I went to check out the Capitec bank swapping mall initiative last Saturday with unused posessions in hand and returned with a bountiful booty! From left to right: red woolly poncho, pink and turquoise skirt, peacock feather cusion, white beret, vintagey coasters, cupcake timer, and an awesome organizer box thing!