List Love

Tomorrow my room mates and I are welcoming in the fall season by throwing a "Pumpkins, Pies & Spicy Chais" party at our house. I've made it my mission this year to really clothe myself in the holiday spirit and celebrate all the USA festivities as a true 'Merican would. So, on that note, today we went shopping for fall-themed decorations and all the most delish seasonal foods. I'm going to be making caramel apples and pumpkin cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting. I can't wait to get my apron on tomorrow and fill the kitchen with the odors of fall. When our friends arrive we will be carving pumpkins and gorging on all things pumpkin flavored whilst sipping on hot cider. The good life.

Here is the rest of my fall bucket list:

On being organized

Secretly, I've always wanted to be the that girl that floats around with chopsticks in her hair and paint stains on her hands that tell tales of late nights in her loft-apartment-turned-art-studio. You know, that girl that always looks oddly beautiful in her weird thrift store ensamble compromised of colours and fabrics that should never be within a 5 mile radius of each other. She's far too obscure to hold to a schedule of any sort, but blows where the wind does (or doesn't), she's never tied down, she walks to the rhythm of her own drum. 
Well, I'm the kind of girl that dances more on the edge of OCD than flower child. My brain functions in assembly-line format and even my thoughts are colour-coded (not really, but kind of). I do schedules, I do daily planners, I do time-management. I even plan for spontaneity. I'm that girl. And do you know what? I'm fine with that. I'm learning to love how I've been wired, even if at times I freak myself out. We can't all be the cool girl that wakes up one day and decides to buy a one way ticket to some Asian country that we've never heard the name of. Some of us are the girls that like to "get 'er done;" you know, the movers, the doers, the ones that have a black belt in checking off to-do lists. The ones that live their lives where no minute goes unaccounted for. Are we intense? Are we extreme? Yes. But that's why we're wonderful and we're saving the world one productive task at a time. 
Some wise guy who's name Google doesn't seem to know once said "Time management is self-management," and there you have it, the method to my madness.

Ps: If you read this and know you're on the nerd-girl team with me, check out Frankie Magazine's new journal for 2013, it will solve all your organizational issues one list at a time. Isn't it gorgeous?

{Buy online here. All Images courtesy of Frankie.com.au}

Weekend musings

On a scale of one to couch potato, my weekend has ranked scarily high on the unproductively scale. I've scarcely left the house, actually, if we're going with honesty here I've scarcely left my bed as I've succumbed to your standard change-of-season 'my body hurts, I'm tired and my sinuses need an exorcism' kind of common cold. I've spent the most part of my weekend horizontal, with a cup of tea in hand, book in the other and my bedside table looking like a chemist. Sometimes though, you've just got to let your body do what it's begging you to do; rest. And that's okay. One of my most thrilling activities of the weekend was finding some indie engagement photographs. I think it's actually ironic how 'hipster' was once a niche and now it teeters more on the edge of cliche. Whatever. There's always room in this world for another bearded bloke, right?

{Images found at Sincerely, Kinsey}

I Love It - October

Tree-lined streets. Days were no morning alarm needs to be set. Sincerity. Cuff jewelry. Costume Parties. Morning breeze on the back of my neck. Laughing ourselves to sleep. Compliments. Father of Lights. The smell and feel of clean laundry. Helping a friend in need. People who treat everyone of equal importance. Watching freedom take place. Grabbing hold of a forgotten memory. Sitting at the feet of wisdom. Scented candles. Trying a new recipe. Eggplant and Ricotta stacks. Trader Joes' food samples. Dry humor. Being needed. New jeans. Hipster wedding invitations. Midnight patio picnics. Pumpkin flavoured greek yoghurt. Succulents. Thrift store jumpers. Distressed wood. Design done right. Bow ties. Hummingbirds. Smells of the forest. Mixed media art projects. International calls. Positivity. New book purchases. Frosting layer cakes. Solving puzzles. Being cared for. Black and gold. Studded collars. Sales. Fall decorating. Piles of lifeless leaves. Pumpkin carving parties. Being personally responsible for giving children sugar highs on Halloween. Sleeping with the windows open. Black tea. Victorious Mindsets. Using South African slang in America. Finding forgotten money in last week's pockets. Spontaneous trips down the I-5, San Francisco bound. Revisiting the 90's: Clueless, Blink 182 and Dawson's Creek. Men in boots. Kids with manners. People that have embraced individuality in some form. The Castle. A clean bathroom. Lengthly afternoon naps. The different shades of the sky at dusk. Watching Ben Howard caress his guitar. Flinging off my shoes after a day of productivity. Lone walks to nowhere. Losing myself in an infinity scarf. 

{Background image: FaveIm}

Things I Know As A 20 Year Old

- Cereal tastes better at night
- Unforgiveness is masochistic in nature. By choosing not to forgive, you're only keeping yourself in prison.
- We are all products of our experiences
- I don't love talking on the phone
- We were made to need attention. The desire to be noticed doesn't shouldn't be swept under the rug of denial.
- It's perfectly okay to say no
- The more we learn, the more teachable we should become.
- Facebook is a black hole that devours time
- I was not made for big city life
- Few things excite me as much as handwritten surprises in the mail
- I'd very much love to fall in love
- It's of vital importance to live passionate and live inspired
- There are times when pajamas all day is not only acceptable but completely necessary
- There's hidden powers inside a smile
- When it comes to making someone's day, it's always about the little things 
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
- The dreams you have, carry with them the ability to be fulfilled
- Time management is self-management
- Every problem is just an opportunity in disguise
- The future belongs to those who believe. In people, in themselves, in their dreams
- The right font can be a matter of life or death
- How fast I run is directly proportional to the greatness of my playlist
- The future is now
- Listen.
- Wisdom is no respecter of persons or age
- I love change as much as I love routine
- Believing is not seeing, it's what takes place right before seeing 
-  Chivalry goes such a long way in my world
- Sometimes, a Venti is exactly what you should order
- There are seasons in nature. There are seasons in life. Embrace them. Dress accordingly 
- Revisit your childhood at least once a week, even if it looks like singing the rap to 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' or finding hidden pictures in the clouds
- Midnight often brings with it all kinds of inspiration. Flow with it
- Rest is of equal importance to productivity and making deadlines
- Surround yourself with relationships that are two-way streets
- Make-up and beauty have nothing in common
- Differences are for celebration not criticism
- Children are great teachers; qualified by their purity and sincerity
- Excellence, good. Perfectionism, bad
- That friend that makes you belly-laugh. Hold onto them
- Control has no place in love
- A good writer is simply a good reader
- The key to knowledge is in asking great questions
- Everyone's life contains lessons from which I can learn

The Best of Fashion Bloggers

I always admire the glamorous women of the world wide web that daily uphold a standard of fashion excellence and religiously document their unique trends in photographic form. These are the modern day trend setters, these are some of the best bloggers of our day (in my opinion), and they inspire me in more ways than one. 

Wish Wish Wish

Late Afternoon

Tuula

Pandora

The Cherry Blossom Girl

Gary Pepper Vintage

Frankie Five-Oh

Congratulations to Frankie Magazine and their brilliant team of creative masterminds on releasing the 50th issue of this divine magazine. Frankie is one of my favorite things about Australia, and what an inspiring, beautiful and brimming-with-goodness mag it really is. A huge congratulations to every person behind the monthly making of Frankie, and thank you for always upholding a standard of creative excellence, the world is a better place for it.
The team has outdone themselves (as always) with this 50th edition that comes with a special crafty embossed cover, and it's contents include "life advice from Beth Ditto, real-life magic tricks, progressive Swedish pronouns, a philosophy of stuff, lots of sarcastic '90s girls, a look at life on the farm, multi-coloured pigeons, famous people who flunked, musings on being 20-something with Tori
Amos and a bumper baking special that'll keep you in the kitchen making cakes well into next year."
If you are lucky enough tot get your hands on a copy, Frankie is best served with a cup of tea and an arm chair. Enjoy. 

Recipes: Tried & Tested (Part 1)

 Every now and then, I actually end up making something that I've seen on Pinterest, sometimes it's a hit, other times a miss, but this recipe I found was a definite winner worth blogging about. These little Hershey Kissi-Pies are not only the cutest little delicacies (I'm all about ascetics when it comes to baking) but they taste divine and area stupidly easy to make. I thought I'd share the recipe that I found at Picky Palate, especially with the holidays coming up, because these are the perfect little holiday treats; they look a lot like Christmas to me. I actually made my second batch of these tonight for a friend's birthday party, and they went down like a dream. 

Instructions:

{Preheat oven to 350F}

1.) Get out your ingredients of pie crusts and your choice of Hershey Kisses (I love the dark ones personally)

2.) Roll out your pie crust onto a surface prepped with flour and space the kisses out evenly

3.) Cut a circular shape around each chocolate (The size of the circle is dependent on how big you want to make them, your choice entirely)

4.) Fold the two opposite sides of the circle together

5.) Fold the remaining two sides together and press firmly until the correct shape is formed.

6.) Paint each kiss-pie with some egg

7.) Drizzle a small amount of sugar onto each 

8.) Space out evenly onto a greased baking tray and bake for plus/minus 20-25 minutes (until golden brown)

9.) Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve warm. Enjoy. 

{All images and recipe from Picky Palate}

Current Status

You know you're an introvert when having the house to yourself on a Friday night is exactly what excites you. Cheers to silent nights and the first fireplace session of the fall. 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

In keeping with my motto for this year of 'spending money on memories not material things,' some friends of mine and I hopped in the car for a some spontaneous San Francisco shenanigans last Saturday, and what a perfect YOLO day it was. Our mission was to see The Lumineers and The Head and the Heart play at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival at the Golden Gate Park, and by the end of the day, our mission was well accomplished. The park was crazy. We estimated maybe twenty thousand people in total between all five stages, and I was claustrophobic for a good portion of the time. It was a great vibe, and all kinds of weird and wonderful folk gathered to watch the bands play. I loved seeing the festival fashion (the good, the bad and the ugly) and the different styles that everyone was rocking whilst the autumn sun came out to play. 

We came armed with snacks and picnic blankets, sat on the outskirts of the madness and swayed arm-in-arm whilst we sang along to 'Rivers and Roads.' After the show, we watched the sun go down at the Golden Gate bridge, took all your stock-standard tourist photos, and then walked a portion of the bridge whilst night was starting creep in. The view from up there is unprecedented. 

To end off the night in proper tourist style, we went to the Fisherman's Wharf, had clam chowder bread bowls at the famous Boudin bakery before singing 90's rock songs all way home to Redding like you should do on long car trips. 

I'll only be young once. Making it count. 

An Ode to Autumn

The sound of dried leaves crackling under your boots. Auburn colours splashed here, there and everywhere. Tank tops give way to long sleeves. The air gets it's bite back. Pumpkin everything. 
The USA is the place to be this 'fall.' 

Lad & Lass Wedding Photography

I am loving all things quirky and creative that are coming out of South Africa at the moment, and Lad & Lass Wedding photography well deserves a mention. Emma-Jane (behind the blog Emma-Jane Nation) and her husband Dylan Harbor have recently renamed their photography business to Lad & Lass Photography and along with the name change has come a whole new exciting and innovative brand. As someone who strongly appreciates good and tasteful band conceptualization, I thought I'd share a few of their pics because I know that this business is going to boom. I am not only a huge fan of their brand but their product is excellent too, and I'm archiving them in my memory for when I tie the knot one day. 

 

A Whimsical Wedding

Although I am thousands of kilometers away from South Africa and will be for a little while, my heart still remains will all things 'local and lekker.' An incredibly talented blogger that I follow called Emma-Jane from the blog 'Emma-Jane Nation' has recently renamed her and her husband's photography business to 'Lad and Lass Photography' which used to go by the name 'Hello Harbour.' Anyway, during the time I was back in South Africa between June and August, I met a beautiful young lady called Deb who tied the knot over the holidays, and I just had to share her wedding pictures on my blog because they are all kinds of gorgeous. The photographic mastermind behind these pictures is of course Lad and Lass Photography, and I think they did a phenomenal job at capturing the whimsical essence of Deb and Mike's unforgettable day. I think the reason that I love these pictures so much is that they exude the Durban vibe through and through. Ah, I'm so proud to have been born and bred along these shores. Proudly South African to my core. 

 {All images: Lad and Lass Photography}

Slavery Isn't Over Yet

Have you ever wondered what the rest of the world was doing while thousands of Jewish people were fading away inside the concentration camps that stole their freedom? Or where the helping hands were when slaves were being held captive and abused during the American Civil war? Where were the freedom fighters? Why didn't people help the cause of the ones that were powerless to save themselves?
Surely if we had been alive at such an hour we would have stood for freedom, we would have fought for a cause bigger than ourselves, we would not have been the passive ones pretending it wasn't a reality.
Did you know that today there are 27 million people enslaved in the sex trade globally? This is more than double the amount of Africans slaved during the Trans Atlantic slave trade, and over 100 000 of these slaves are children prostituted right under the nose of US citizens.
It appears that the dilemma of slavery did not go down with history but has been growing with every passing generation. Our predecessors were not the passive ones, we are.

Today I was privileged enough to sit and hear the plight of a powerful woman named Erica Greve who is the founder of a non-profit organization called Unlikely Heroes that is dedicated to the abolition of sex slavery and exploitation in the USA and abroad. Erica has devoted her life to seeing slavery put to death in our generation and with her team and supporters of Unlikely Heroes, they are leaving their thumbprint of freedom on the planet.
As Erica passionately shared with us today, she told stories of a trip Philippines, where her and the team rescued 11 young girls who had been kept in rooms in the back of a grotty bar and forced, night after night to give their bodies to men for as little as $1 per night. In November of 2011, Unlikely Heroes opened their first restoration home for girls previously in the sex trade, and have been changing the lives of once hopeless girls ever since.

This is their vision  "Unlikely Heroes wants to see child sex slavery ended worldwide. Our vision is every boy and girl, who has been sold for sex in America and internationally, to have access to protective shelters and specialized services needed to stop cycles of victimization and to provide them with the therapeutic treatment, education & opportunities they need to move forward into recovery."

Erica took a stand for slavery when nobody else was, but now thanks to her, people like you and I are able to partner with an existing organization in the hope to save lives that would have been doomed without our willingness to intercede. The question always is, how can I help? and I think that the biggest deterrent for people lending a helping hand is the lie that they cannot make a difference. Well, the truth is that you are the key to someone else's freedom and something as simple as donating one dollar could aid in saving a life. Unlikely Heroes is in desperate need of financial support in order to fund their projects and increase the scope of the women and children that they are able to rescue. If you are able to partner with them financially, you'd be making a life changing investment. 
Click here to find out more about how you can help or visit the Unlikely Heroes website here. 
Let us be the generation known for collectively taking a stand for freedom and humbling ourselves enough to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Thank you for your support. 

I was a bit late on the deadmau5 train if I'm honest, but with this song on repeat on my workout playlist, I'm swiftly making up for lost time. Enjoy.