Category Archives: Partying

Zando launch @ Orphanage

Posted on by
2

On Tue eve I was lucky enough to attend the official media launch for new SA online store, Zando.

Now some of you might remember my post just over a month back about my first Zando shopping experience… (if you missed it, you can check it out here).  In that post I noted all the cool site features that I really loved, but I also noted some things that weren’t so cool.

Something I really appreciated was the fact that they actually took the time to read my post and then gave me the following feedback:

Hi Karisa,

I am the Customer Service Manager at Zando. I really appreciate your feedback, we are going to use it to improve and make our customer experience super amazing.

All departments have seen your post and are working at warp speed to make sure this does not happen again.

I hope that we do see you again, we value every customer:-)

Love and Happiness,

Liz.

How great is that?  From my experience there are very few companies that would respond this well to a bit of criticism and then even turn it into a massive positive thing.  Love it.

The chic venue for the big event was new Cape Town hot spot, Orphanage which is situated on the corner of Bree & Orphan st.  I’ve actually been dying to check this spot out because everyone’s been raving about the insane cocktails.  So that sweetened the deal even more.

First I just have to blab a bit about the venue & the drinks, then we’ll get back to what’s been cooking at Zando. :)

Orphanage has the most amazing chandelier feature that stretches the entire length of the ceiling:

I was thinking… Now how would I fit something like that into my apartment? Hmmmm…

And the bar is an elegant dark wood beauty with a lot of swagger…

As for these killer cocktails people have been raving about, I must say their menu is no run of the mill “so boring I want to stick a fork in my eye” type of menu.  It has been carefully planned out by professional mixologists to take your taste buds on a journey they’ll never forget.

The first one I tried was the “More tea, vicar?” which contains vanilla vodka, rooibos, cranberry & lemon and it served in a regte egte tea cup and saucer:

It was seriously good. And the best part is that R15 from each of these babies is donated to a Cape Town children’s home. How cool is that?

The next cocktail which tempted me with promises of cucumber sandwiches on the side was the Orphanage Martini with gin, cucumber, elderflower & mint:

Yes… you’re not seeing things… that’s real cucumber sandwiches on the side!

OK OK, enough gushing about how awesome this venue is.  You guys will just have to go check it out for yourselves and then let me know which cocktail’s your favourite.  Just two last tips: I hear the Brimstone & Fire is another “hot” little number and I also really loved their truffle fries with wasabi aioli which is from their “sharing food” (as they call it) menu.

Right, back to Zando.  Now only 3 months old, they’ve grown from offering just a handful of brands to about 200 at present!  AND they still have plans for more to come and also for them to expand their offerings from the current shoes, clothing & accessories categories to anything lifestyle related, like homeware products for example.

MD and co-founder, Eugen Petersen, was there to talk to us about the Zando brand, their commitment to kick ass service and how they want to change the way South African’s shop by taking online shopping “to the next level”.

After the formalities were done, I got to chat to their fashion editor, Megan Pascall, who turns out is a Love Affair with Cape Town reader (yay!).  Being a fashion editor naturally Megan was oozing style and I wondered immediately what beautiful things she might have hiding away in her wardrobe.

We seemed to have been psychically connected when selecting our looks for the evening… both donning a monochrome look with a sheer white blouse…

Other fabulous people on the scene were Elrico Bellingan from Luxo blog and his always fabulous from head to toe girlfriend, Ritza:
And one of my Gansbaai adventure weekend buddies, eNews reporter Tanya Nefdt:

How stunning is this lady?

Other SA celebs in attendance included Top Billing’s Jo-Anne Strauss, soccer hottie Ryan Botha, Goldfish’s Dom Peters, model Lisa Cowley, TV personality Liezel van der Westhuizen, and Dirty Skirts front man Jeremy de Tolly.

From left to right: Megan Pascall (Zando), Eugen Petersen (Zando), Liza Cowley & Jeremy de Tolly.  ** Photo by the talented Denzil Jacobs – be sure to check out his blog:  http://justforthenostalgia.wordpress.com

On our way out we were totally spoilt with goodie bags filled with treats to keep you warm during winter (mostly thanks to the extra layer of fat you’ll be sporting. hehe).

Thanks to Elrico for letting me “borrow” this piccie from his stack. xxx

A HUGE thanks to Zando & Red Carpet concepts (the PR agency who put this little shindig together).  It was a really fun evening out and a nice way to ease myself back into Cape Town life after my holiday.

Oh and just in case you were thinking “So what… just because they invited you to a fancy pants party, liquored you up and fed you, you’ve totally forgotten about all the not so cool points you hightlighted in your last post?”   Well no…  I’m not that easy… most of the time. ;)   I did some looking around on their site again and these are my findings:

  • The cart & checkout process now clearly shows your selected size at all times.  No more stress about whether you selected the right thing or not.
  • The clothing selection is way better now, with lots more options and some really nice brands.  Far from the “snooze fest” I called it last time round.

And as for the delivery drama from last time… well in my goodie bag I also got a 25% off voucher, so I’ll be putting them through their paces again soon to confirm that one.  Just have to save up some casheesh and put aside some free time to browse through all their new goodies.

xxx

Playboy celebrates 1 year in SA

Posted on by
4

Last Thu eve (after the comedy) I headed over to Trinity Night Club in Green Point for the Playboy SA 1 year anniversary party.

I was actually at the very first launch party last year as well and had a great time, so I figured this would be great for a bit of nostalgia.

Upon entering we were greeted by the lovely cover of the very first edition, featuring gorgeous model Tracy McGregor.   Then of course you had to do the obligatory pic in front of the playboy signage:

The party was pretty busy by the time we got there, but my problem with this venue (always) is that it is soooooo huge, even if you do pull a decent crowd, the place feels somewhat empty.

Of course, true to the US Playboy parties, there were also a few “bunnies” on the scene (but I thought they could’ve done with more – they were too far spread to really make an impact):

I also want a bunny outfit!

After a walkabout, we got really entranced by the impressive lasers all over the place.  So we decided to do an impromptu shoot.  Love how the pics turned out.  ;)

First up we have Joe...

Then Bjorn...

And lastly... me!

After getting our pose on, we ventured into the main dance arena.  There we were entertained by “queen of the night”, Princess Pop:

Rockin' leopard print leggings like it's nobody's business...

I’ve actually seen her perform once before at Beefcakes – love her work.  Then the boys were lucky enough to oogle over some hot burlesque dancers:

I have those exact panties... hehe

I must admit, I was totally pooped, so it did not end up being too much of a crazy late night (or I should say early morning) party for me.  I left at the very respectable hour of 1:30am.  BUT, on my way out I did pick up some great bedtime reading. :)

The BF still sticks by the old "I want to read it for the articles" story... ja whatever... haha

Boys love looking at hot naked girls – I totally get it.  Nothing to feel ashamed about guys, just enjoy it I say!

xxx

Let’s take it outside… with Converse

Posted on by
Reply

Last Fri night I attended my 2nd Converse party.  And get this, it was for FREE. :)   The first party was back in December of last year and it was a block party in and around Assembly.  You can check out my post about that one here – it was one awesome event.  For that party I also scored free tickets via Webtickets.  So this time round, I was lucky enough to get a heads up email from Webtickets again which told me that I needed to hurry up to get my hands on only 3500 free tickets to their “Let’s take it outside” event.  I wasted no time to insure I wasn’t going to miss out on another incredible night.

The action went down in Founders Garden which is kinda behind the Artscape in town and where the Zip Zap circus is based.  This space was totally transformed for the evening to make it a weird and wonderful playground for the lucky few who snapped up tickets…

As we entered, the first thing we walked into was this awesome chilll spot scattered with vintage looking lamp shades of all things.  It was really cool.  The idea was that you’d just pull up a spot on the grass under a lamp shade and catch up with a mate for a bit.  Luv it.

Then we moved on to check out the 3 stages.  The main stage was home to some top local bands, like Holiday Murray, Beatenberg and Desmond & the Tutus – who totally killed it on stage.

The 2nd stage was called the Star Chevron stage and here you could shake your body to some crazy drum & base, Rugga, Ska or BreakBeat beats.  OK – I dunno what most of that means – all I know is that I really liked it! ;)

Stage number 3 was the Jack Purcell stage where you could enjoy some funky hip-hop & kwaito…

So they seriously had everybody’s music tastes all covered.  Then if you needed to take a break from the music for a bit, you had lots of options like sumo wrestling:

And mechanical bull riding:

And if you happened to get hungry, they had you covered with the tastiest boerie rolls with all the trimmings and some of the freshest, bestest popcorn I’ve had in ages.  Yum!

Really to me this felt like a mini music festival, kinda like a one night only Rocking the Daisies or something – but without the long drive and camping mission.  Seriously, very very cool indeed.

A huge thanks to Converse for putting together yet another kick ass event.  I’m really looking forward to the next one.  Here’s hoping they make this a regular thing.  And remember guys, keep an eye out for those free tickets.  My tip would be to make sure you’re registered on Webtickets.

xxx

Dunkley square adventures

Posted on by
2

Last Friday eve I headed over to good old Dunkley Square, between Barnet & Wandel St in Gardens, for a surprise birthday party for an old friend (and nooooooo, that’s not a dig at his age… although it would’ve been a good one ;) ).

The first stop for the evening was lovely Greek eatery, Maria’s.  Now Maria’s has actually been around for yonks, in fact I vaguely remember going there for dinner once during my early Cape Town years.  I recall it being not much to look at, but the food was well priced & tasty.  I now hear that it was closed for about a two year period and then re-opened with a new, fresh look towards the beginning of 2011.

I must say, I absolutely love the new look.  Beautiful fairy lights in the trees outside.  Very cosy inside.  An easy, welcoming space with large windows and neutral, yet warm colours.  It kinda felt like we had stepped out of Cape Town and into a little European street cafe.

I loved the fact that they serve your wine in pretty glass tumblers – apparently that’s just the way they would do it over in Greece.  And then these LED candles had me totally fascinated:

So kitch it's cool or a major decor no-no? Not really sure to be honest... but I kinda liked them, just a little.

Now the birthday boy is one of those people who already has everything.  So buying for him is a tough job.  Thank goodness for Big Blue – your one-stop shop for anything cool, weird & fun.  Part of his gift was this “Maybe you touched your genitals” hand sanitiser which had everyone practically in tears:

Well... maybe you did? :)

Could you imagine whipping that out at the office with a straight face and asking your colleagues whether they maybe wanted to clean their hands?  Awkward…

After the big S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!!!, which was a very successful one btw thanks to his girlfriend’s amazing planning skills, we got stuck into some mezes.  Items like fried halloumi, tiropitakia, spanakopita, keftethes served with tzatziki and more:

All so incredibly yum! I was really blown away by these mezes. Especially that fried halloumi. Mmmmmm.

For mains we got to choose from a selection of seafood & lamb dishes.  I went for the patagonian calamari, while the folks around me went for the beer battered hake & slow roasted Karoo lamb:

Apologies, I didn't really take note of prices as we had all paid a set price per person which covered you for food & drinks.

I’m not gonna lie, after those amazing mezes I was a bit underwhelmed by the mains.  It wasn’t bad by any means, I just expected the flavours to pop more.  It might have been partly due to us being such a big group – we filled the entire place, so trying to get that much food out at the same time can be quite challenging.

But you know, there’s really a lot to be said for a place that manages to create such a warm, welcoming atmosphere ensuring that everyone’s having an absolute blast.  The food to me was a bit of a sideline cause I was having such a great time…

How do you like my new super cheese collage feature huh? Impressed much? ;)

Theeeeen, the grand finale…dessert time!  And what does every birthday boy want?  A car cake of course!

Ta da bitches...

Gillian, our party planner, told me that dealing with Maria’s to put this party together was a really pleasant experience.  She says the owners were lovely and very accommodating and I can personally vouch for their friendly service.  So if you are looking for a venue for a party or private function, give them a call on 021 461 3333.

When Maria’s started closing up, we walked a solid 10 meters to Roxy’s Cafe, which is situated on the same side as Maria’s, but on the other end of the square.  It’s quite an interesting little spot with comic books all over the walls, an toy boxes (of all things) on the ceiling…

Hmmmm.... OK OK, it's weird.... but I think I like it...

I liked the chilled vibe at Roxy’s.  It’s a cool spot to have a few drinks and a laugh without having to deal with long queues to get in, scary bouncers and being squeezed in like sardines.  That definitely gets bonus points in my book.

They also have this cute old typewriter on display, which actually still works.  We decided to do a “This is Karisa on tik” photo…

OK I'll admit... it was way funnier at the time... you have to get the Afrikaans connection and all... but hey, everyone knows wine fuelled ideas always sound way more brilliant in the moment. haha.

Best thing of all, Dunkey Square is almost right on my doorstep.  So when I ran out of steam (yes, that sometimes happens, just sometimes) my tipsy butt was only like 5min away from my comfy bed.  Fantastic!

All ‘n all it was a very successful night out & about with some great friends.  And that’s exactly what Friday nights should be all about. :)

xxx

Killer cocktails at Alexander bar

Posted on by
2

Last Fri eve I was invited by Nicholas Spagnoletti from new spot, Alexander Bar, at 76 Strand St to come and enjoy some cocktails.  Leigh, my trusty partner in crime, came along for the ride.

They’ve only been open since December last year, but I can tell you that people are already talking about it.  Just a few days before I got the invite from Nicholas, someone had actually asked me about “this new bar in Strand St” and I thought to myself “Hmmm… I’d better go investigate…”.

As you step inside from bustling Strand St, you’re transported to a world from way back when.  With quirky detailing, gorgeous furnishings, dark rich colours and fabulous vintage finds.  Let me show you what I mean:

I was totally lusting after every single piece of furniture in there.  But my absolute favourite piece was this old school record player:

I don’t know why, but I get a huge lump in my throat whenever I hear an old record play.  That sound, with the slightly scratchy background, is just so incredibly beautiful.  I guess I’m just a total sap when it comes to things like that… would love to one day have my very own record player.

Now Nicholas owns & runs the place with his partner Edward van Kuik. Edward happens to be a software engineer (an IT nerd like me!) and has cleverly developed a system which allows people at different tables to converse with each other with these super cute old phones they have placed all over.  Well that is if you still remember how to dial on one of those babies.  It took me a few minutes, not gonna lie. :)

Having a giggle at the voice that says "ring ring" as you dial the table number you wish to chat to.

To drink, Leigh opted for the fancy pants French 74 – Vodka, lime juice, a dash of sugar and champagne.  Nice choice I thought.  And I opted to try their Cucumber Martini which is actually a little gem that’s not on the menu.

French 74 on the left & my Cucumber Martini on the right.

I must say both cocktails were amazing.  And I especially liked the fact that their drinks menu offers some new options, things you wouldn’t really see elsewhere.  If I have to see one more flippen fruit daiquiri filled cocktail menu, I’m going to scream. ;)

Food wise the’ve got some “great classics”, like the Waldorf salad and The Great Gatsby – which is a Bratwurst sausage with pickled cucumber salad, tomato chutney and wholegrain mustard served on a bread roll.  Meat on a roll – one of my absolute favourite things in the world.  Another favourite?  Cheese platters!  They’ve got you covered on that front as well.

Other important things to know:

  • They are open Mon – Sat from 11am to 1am.
  • Their kitchen only closes at midnight!  Woohoo.
  • They run R40 dinner specials each Mon.
  • Tue nights are “games nights”.  Bring either your own game or select one from their collection and let your competitive spirit come out.
  • It’s also a great spot for birthday parties or special functions.  Check out the canape menu on their site.  It’s only a R100 for a platter of 13 items.

Leigh, Nicholas & me

A huge thanks to Nicholas for giving me a reason to pop in.  Next time I’ll be bringing the troops. :)

xxx

Girls night out

Posted on by
Reply

So as I told you guys in my previous post – I was put in charge or organising my friend Lucy’s bachelorette celebrations.

After the success of part 1 (the pamper party), we had a short break to line our stomachs.  For this there is obviously only one option – Steers!  Gawd I love Steers.  You’ll often find me in my car basically inhaling a packet of their chips – it’s my favourite guilty pleasure.  Add a cheese burger & a Cream Soda and you also have the perfect hangover fix.  Trust me on this one.

After getting all spruced up back at mine, we hopped into a taxi and headed over to Camps Bay for stop nr 1 for the evening: Sapphire Coctail Bar.

So pretty...

Sapphire was one of only a few places that didn’t require a crazy minimum bar spend or a food order to book a table.  And for only R450, there was a bottle of Vodka with various mixers waiting for us on our table. These guys were so helpful & friendly and for that I will definitely support them again.

Some of the gals: Tatum, Sabeen, Lucy (the bride to be) and moi

Now obviously what happens on a hen’s night stays top secret… kinda like that “what happens on tour, stays on tour” saying.  So I can’t divulge too much for the fear of being “taken out”.  But what I can say is that the caramel vodka shots flowed…

Blegh... just looking at this pic make me feel ill all over again! hehe

And we got Lucy to work those beautiful blue eyes of hers to collect money to fund the rest of our evening out. :)

That R20 was only the beginnning... she did VERY well, even scoring a $20 note as part of her money stash.

At around 11pm we moved upstairs to St Yves.  I had emailed them beforehand and they were awesome enough to put us all on the guest list.  That meant we saved on the entrance fee.  Sweet!

The VIP bar area. Don't be fooled by the emptiness in this shot, by midnight the place was packed. Capetonians are known for arriving fabulously late of course...

Here we decided to mix things up with some new shots (well half newish, it still contained that damn caramel vodka stuff):

Apparently this is called a Bar-One: half chocolate vodka and half caramel vodka. And yes, it does taste as sickeningly sweet as it sounds... eerggghh.

I was fascinated by some of the images on the walls.  I kept joking that this girl below on the right is exactly what I look like when I wake up in the morning:

Of course, that's like totally me at 8am... it could happen... in some alternate universe or something...

More money collecting continued and we did quite well as the place was packed with foreigners, including some very friendly Canadians and also a group of fun Austrians who were in town to shoot some big fancy ad.  A  huge thanks to all of them for letting us invade their space for the evening.  They were great sports.

There’s only one more picture that’s safe enough to share, cause I had the sense to take one more shot of Dani & I looking “fresh” before our imminent downward spiral…

Ah, we look so innocent... Mwhahahahaha

The rest of the pictures will be kept in a safe place… never to be seen by our significant others… never to be tagged on Facebook… and never to be spoken about ever again. ;)

Oh btw – Lucy’s tiara, pink “bride to be” tie and “bad girl” garter (not seen above for obvious reasons) are all from King Cake in Gardens – my # 1 stop for any party & dress up related needs.  I also got these super cheesy (but fun nonetheless) “dare cards” which had a pretty good entertainment value.

All ‘n all, it was an awesome night out with my girls.  Yes, we suffered the next day, BIG TIME.  But dammit, it was worth it.   Evenings like these are good for the soul.

xxx

A hot Fri night at the V&A

Posted on by
2

The V&A Waterfront is one of my favourite places in Cape Town. It’s got the best shops, there are lots of awesome food options and most importantly it’s filled with tourists all year round which kinda makes you feel like you’re in a different country.  Being a restless soul who gets quite depressed if I don’t get to explore abroad regularly, being surrounded by foreigners gives me a certain level of calm.  I know, I’m weird.  At night though, it gets even better.  The lights switch on and it gets quite a magical feel… Love it.

This past Friday eve I headed over there to celebrate my darling Dani turning one year older (and wiser and hotter and more successful – seriously, this chick is starting to annoy me ;) ).

She chose the Alba Lounge for the celebration, but before ending up there, I got distracted by all the lights on route from the parking garage and had to stop to take some piccies first:

So damn pretty!

The Alba Lounge was the spot for bday celebrations when it first opened.  But for some reason it’s popularity fizzled out after a while.  Don’t know why really – probably just because Capetonians are mostly quite fickle and always on the search for the “next big thing”…  I personally blame that culture on all the gawd damn hipsters! hehe

But I’m glad Dani decided to take us back there, because I had forgotten what a cool venue it actually is.

The main bar & seating area.

Room typically used for private functions - to your left as you come in.

Just FYI – the outside deck area also has a pretty kick ass view and it’s a really nice spot to chill during the day while enjoying some yummy tapas and a killer cocktail.

One of the peeps I got to catch up with was my friend Brent.  He’s been living in Singapore for the past few years, but is back in town for the moment.  I had this strange “OMG, you look just like Robert Downey Jr!!” moment.  That’s something I never picked up on before.  But then again, I get criticized A LOT for not noticing things.  For example – standing at the water cooler, discussing why a certain colleague hadn’t made it into work… Me: “Why?”  Other guy:  “Well because he lives in Vredehoek, right up against the mountain and they were evacuated last night due to the fire.”  Me:  “OMG, there was a fire on Table Mountain last night!?!”  Other guy:  “DUH, isn’t your bloody flat like straight on mountain facing!?!”   Me: “Um… no…” Other guy: “You’ve shown me pictures of your view dammit!”  Me: **looks at watch** “Oh crap, I’m late for a meeting…”  **exits swiftly**

Anyways, I digress…  Just check out the resemblance:

Brent's like a younger version of Robert Downey JR! I'm likely going to be stalking him from now on...

The birthday girl was looking hot in a grey and black number picked out by her husband who also happens to be her stylist and personal shopper.  Love that boy!

Moi, the birthday girl and lovely Louise

I also got to catch up with my “neighbour”, Kim – she & her hubby moved into the other side of my building towards the end of last year.  We live on the same floor, YET we never bloody see each other!  What’s up with that biatch!?

Giving Kim the cold shoulder here... until I get an invite to dinner ** hint hint **

I’m clearly I’m in the wrong as well.  But I don’t ever have food at my place (cause I can’t cook and I basically live on junk), therefore my place isn’t quite “guest friendly”.  Kim on the other hand is an amazing cook…  I do however have lots of wine & hard liquor at my place (in case of emergencies), so I think the only way to resolve this is to have pre-drinks at mine and then starters, main & dessert at theirs.  Sounds totally fair.  Right? ;)

By 11pm Alba Lounge was packed and the dance floor was definitely were it was at…

As the shooters flowed, the dancing became quite “interesting” to say the least.  I saw some things that can NEVER be unseen and my friends are lucky I love them to bits and decided not to take photos.  Or maybe I did… and now I’m just keeping it as blackmail… only time will tell.  I had a big day the next day, so that meant for once I wasn’t the one doing stuff that would end up as good blackmail material… ha losers!  It’s quite fun to be in the power seat.  Mwhahahahaha…

Thanks to Dani for an awesome night.  And Alba Lounge:  Good to see you guys again.

xxx

Veuve Clicquot Masters: The Recap

Posted on by
3

This past Saturday was just one of those days that couldn’t possibly have turned out any better.   I must hand it to the Vivid Luxury team, they sure know how to put together one hell of an event…

My dress for the event was from a little shop in Canal Walk called Daisy Island (which is now closed sadly) – it’s that dress that you can wrap and twist into like 20 different styles, it’s pretty awesome.  And then I was rocking another lovely fascinator by Carrie B, check it out:

The venue for the event was the Val de Vie estate just outside Paarl.  The absolute gorgeousness of this place actually can’t be explained in words.  So I’m going to let the following images set the scene:

Bjorn was lucky enough to score two VVIP tickets, which according to Google stands for “Very Very Important Person” – and boy did they go out of their way to make you feel like one.  Of course, being a Veuve Clicquot event one major perk was fabulous French champagne flowing all day long!

Oh yeah... come to mama...

Food wise we also got seriously spoilt, with dashing young gentlemen working their way through the crowd.  Each time passing with something even more enticing than before:

You can just leave the tray, thx!

As (let’s face it) a polo event is really more about the fashion than the horseback action, the entertainment kicked off with a fashion show where Jenni Button and Viyella presented some gorgeous gowns & menswear from their latest collections.

You just can't beat that backdrop...

But don’t worry, there were horsies too – I can prove it. :)

As I know absolutely nothing about the game of polo, I'm just going to leave it at that...

Instead, I’m going to move on to some “happy snaps”.  Here’s me with Bjorn, who was looking very suave:

We got to mingle with TV personality & actress, Kelly Parkhurst (who is sooooo sweet) and her equally lovely fiancé, Grant, who was rocking some very brave only-real-men-wear-pink shorts.  Loved it.

Then of course also my two partners in crime for the day: Leigh & Clouds there on the right. Mwah! Love you girls.

Then the obligatory ladylike piccie before we totally overindulged in the champers and started looking um… “not so fresh”.

Gorgeous gals: Leigh, Kelly & Clouds.

But even if that DID in fact happen (never to me of course, cause I’m an absolute angel), they totally had you covered with the Elizabeth Arden pamper area where you could have your hair & make-up done:

AND as if that wasn’t enough, you could walk out there with your handbag filled with free Elizabeth Arden goodies including their famous 8 Hour cream and some Ceramide Lash Extending Treatment Mascara.  I was cursing the fact that I only brought a tiny clutch bag.  Stupid, stupid girl…

Check out Leigh - she has that crazy eye thing going on. The girl just loooves free beauty treats.

While there I bumped into darling Sarah Martin who was wearing some seriously lust-worthy killer heels:

Amazing right?

Dominiek and Kerry from The Little Hattery were also there offering up some fabulous hat & fascinator options, which in case you didn’t know is a total must for any horse related event:

These were some of my favourite pieces:

Being the total divas we are, we couldn’t resist a quick pose-off session on the red carpet:

That guy in the background was laughing his head off at us...

Back at VVIP city, we were given yet more food.  My favourite, being an Afrikaanse meisie, was the steak & chips – but a fancy version of this old classic:

Then the grand finale to blow everyone’s hair back – hot pink macaroons served on super cute individual serving trays:

Ta da!

Some fabulous people on the scene included fashion blogger, Jasna Zellerhoff aka Fashionjazz and celebrity blogger, Clayton Morar.

Lookin' good guys

Top Billing presenter, Jo-Ann Strauss was without a doubt my best dressed lady of the day.  Her look was put together by local designer Elbeth Gillis and she was a real show-stopper:

Then the beautiful Jeannie D sparkled in a sexy Jenni Button number:

And sports hotties, Ryan Botha & Ryk Neethling were there to ensure there was some eye candy for the ladies as well:

Clouds was in this photo as well... but I totally cropped her out! Bhahahahahaha. Sorry babe! I just wanted them all to myself...

All the while my very own piece of eye candy had been collecting various Veuve inspired accessories to complete his look:

Fabulous daaahling

I think it was to help him get into the zone for the big boules tournament…

Just look at that concentration. You can do it!!!

I had the VERY tough job of supporting him from my sun lounger, champers in hand…

Ah... what a tough life...

After the sun had set, me moved over to the Equus Lounge for the big after party.  Here people could let there hair down on a chandelier framed dance floor:

While being entertained by The Swing Tings:

Love this lady - gorgeous girl with an amazing voice

And who was busting out some killer moves right next to me on that dance floor?  None other than that Fresca dude, Hakeeem Kae-Kazim!  You remember those ads from the 90s – “cause nothing tastes like Fresca!!!”  Of course he’s moved on to much bigger and better things since then, including roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Shame, not the most flattering shot for either of us. But too good a celebrity moment to pass up.

I finished off the evening chillin’ in style on a gorgeous Victorian couch with my two US buds, David & Jon Jon:

Also giving my feet a much needed rest... sjoe

Now THAT’S what you call a successful day out.  I am very impressed that I managed to last all the way through, I must be getting really party fit – which in my book is far more useful than being gym fit. ;)

This event is definitely something to look out for again next year.

xxx

Friday night bday fun

Posted on by
3

On Fri eve we celebrated the birthday of a gorgeous lady by the name of Kim.  To kick off the festivities we lined our stomachs with some Mexican food at El Burro.  Here I finally sampled the much talked about Cerviche starter:

FINELY DICED FRESH LINE FISH MARINATED IN LIME JUICE, SERRANO CHILLIES, GINGER & CORIANDER (R56)

If you are a regular reader, you might now that I have visited El Burro before and wasn’t really blown away by the food (you can check out that post here), but I loved the spot otherwise because of it’s fun vibe.  After that first visit everyone was like “Ja, but it’s because you didn’t have the bloody cherviche dumbass!” – so needless to say there was no way I wasn’t going to leave there this time round without giving it a bash.

A spicy treat. Hmmmm.

I’m glad I did, because it is pretty damn tasty.  I especially liked the fact that it didn’t taste “fishy” in any way.  As for the mains, I stil feel the menu is very hit-or-miss.  The quesadillas for example are good, but the build your own chicken tacos is incredibly bland.  I like my Mexican food to pack a punch.  Make me sweat a little people – I like it. ;)

After dinner activities included doing unmentionable things to this little guy:

So so sorry little buddy...

And then I can’t really explain this pic, but it makes me smile, so of course it had to be included in the mix:

Then we headed over to Blakes Bar for a bit of dancin’ and general naughtiness. DJ extraordinaire, Sean Westcott, was churning out some slick old school tunes – I love that, much easier to get your dance on. :)

Some seriously slick moves... well OK, maybe not so much...

Love this one: Move back people, Fabes is feelin' the beat in the City of Sin

The bday girl!

An all girl club sandwich, yeah baby.

** Party piccies courtesy of Kim’s hubbie, Emile **

It was an awesome summer’s evening in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with some amazing people.  The perfect way to kick off your weekend.   Here’s hoping everyone else had a great Fri eve too!

xxx

L’Ormarins Queens Plate Madness

Posted on by
6

So even though we only had pleb tickets to the L’Ormarins Queens Plate this year – we had an absolute blast.

Which horse won?  Dunno.  Who won best dressed and best hat?  Dunno.  How was the concert line-up?  Hmmmm… vaguely remember there being music. hehe. (But the line-up did include: Tumi & the Volume, Spoek Mathambo & and the KONGOS)  What exactly do I know then?  Well that is was a damn great day out with some really awesome friends. :)

We all started out looking all elegant and shiny in our finest blue & white outfits, but as the day developed and the champers flowed, things took a wild & messy turn…

My look consisted of my new dress from Lovelee (39 Kloof St), some nude wedges from Woolies (forget the heels ladies – wedges are your best friend here), a “fascinator” in my hair which I got from this little cheap accessories store back in good ol’ PE and only cost me R20 and lastly a turquoise stone ring which I got in Italy for like 5 euros or something.  Score!  Then I tried to have a bit of fun with my make up by rocking a Maybeline Super Stay 24 Color lip colour in Burgundy Bordeaux Infini.

Now I’m going to do one of those “let the pictures do the talking” things again. So here goes:

With the fabulous Leigh (aka @Lipglossgirl) who was rocking a sexy number from YDE.

Bjorn... showing off his fancy "VIP Stud Club" band (we were all secretly hating him. hehe)

My ladies looking lovely: Lucy, Carmen, Leila, Tess & Clouds (from www.anlollipops.com)

Some of the scenery...

Hanging with Dax from www.relax-with-dax.co.za

Taken very early on while still looking all neat & tidy

Strike a pose daaahhhling...

Some handsome boys

Horsies!!!

Siv trying to "out pose" me... oh phulease, I'm a professional!

Trying to steal my shine...pfft...

I get "tagged" by the blue & white crew

Lucy gets tagged...

The evil tagger celebrates

But I get revenge in my own way. Mwhahahahahahaha... Good luck washing that off buddy!

These peeps might have arrived late, but they sure made up for it! Mwah.

Oopsy... things start to get messy...

But lucky for me I have the fake angelic face down to a T. NEVER trust that face people.

Then I’ll leave you guys with this little gem taken from Lucy’s photo stack… it pretty much sums up the rest of the evening:

Note to self: Get all cameras confiscated by 8pm at the latest from now on. (covers hand over face in embarrasment)

A big thank you to Leigh for gifting me her spare free ticket.  And an even BIGGER thank you to my amazing man, Bjorn, for being the only responsible adult there and driving us all home. (trust me – this was a difficult and painful task as we were all obnoxiously drunk & extremely loud.  He deserves a bloody medal!)

So… who’s keen to start planning for next year! :)

xxx