Guest post: Happy Weekend

This Friday could not have come sooner. I wish you all a lovely weekend. What are you up to? The husband and I are going dinner and a movie tonight (I am hoping to see Great Gasby as I still have no seen it) and tomorrow morning I am taking my niece to see Disney on Ice. I have such memories of going to the show with my granny as a child so we are headed to the dome tomorrow for the show. I hope she loves it. Sunday we are having a great girls versus boys 30 Second championship at my parents.

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Here are some links from around the web:

I have been a little obsessed with YouTube this week: firstly this video about Mandela and the 1995 World Cup made me weep at my desk while this Channing Tatum one made me laugh out loud.

I bought this book from Amazon this week. Talk about a Martha Stewart want to be but I think one day my niece and the twins will thank me.

Fresh Strawberry Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Sunflower Seeds and Lemon Vinaigrette salad... oh yum.

I have never thought to tie a scarf backwards but doesn't it look fantastic.

Salt City Emporium is my latest Etsy discovery. I wish I could buy the entire collection of leggings for the twins.

Oh my goodness a cork board map - I am so getting this my the husband's study (aka man cave).

I have curly hair. I wish my curly hair looked like this. My curly hair certainly doesn't.

And finally, my Airedale, Ernest, has grown but I am still obsessed. 

Black&White

Since knocking down three walls in our apartment, our space to hang pictures has almost all been used up. As such, the pinboard above my desk, and our fridge, act as two extra canvases for nice things I don't want to just file away. Up until now they have pretty much been the home for an ad hoc collection of photos, magazine tear outs, post cards, menus and other what nots. However, since our entire apartment is open, they are on display and I think I need to take a more focused appraoch to their curation.

I am inspired by these black and white prints and the impact the simplicity can have on a space. I am going to start with my fridge - I shall post some pics when I'm done.

happy friday*

Hello lovely readers. And hello Friday! I have been hit by the flu which is doubly not fun when combined with being 32 weeks pregnant and a giant belly. But luckily weekend means I can get lots of rest and looking after (plus a good excuse to sleep, read and drink hot water and lemon all day).

It's the shortest day of the year today. Or the longest. Depending on where you are reading from. Either way, let's make it count. 

Doesn't this green tea coconut ice-cream look delicious? You can get the recipe from here

Speaking of delicious, this one pot wonder looks tasty, easy to make and the perfect winter meal

Classical Greek statues dressed as hipsters

Blazer + shorts

My kind of home office

A built-in-beard - would you wear it?

I am going to make this for the twinlets' nursery (just need to add an 's' on the end ;) )

The sweetest mobile

Weekend shoes

xoxo

My little cublets

 The twinlet bump at 32 weeks

Hello 32 weeks. Hello third trimester. Hello giant belly that seems to grow bigger each day. Hello little cublets which collectively weigh more than 3kg. Hello tiny kicks and squirms which make my stomache move like an ocean storm. Hello time flying by so quickly that my heart has started beating a little quicker...

With only (about) six to seven weeks to go, my female army is in full swing with helping me make lists, setting up the nursery, sorting clothes, washing clothes, deciding on nappies... Not to mention the non-baby related to do list that I need to get through - you know those things that sit on your list for ages that require some trigger to actually get done. I have resigned from my job and have two weeks left of work which requires a whole lot of work in itself.

So I am hoping these little beasts stay in long enough to give me some time out to put my weary feet and bump to rest before they arrive.

From this to that

 (via here)

I have resigned from my job.

By day, I am a consultant to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, on matters of strategy, business and general effectiveness. My passion is solving problems and on the whole, I enjoy my job - the challenges, the highs, the lows, the people, and the industry (in South Africa and Africa healthcare is a dynamic, growing industry in which I have become increasingly interested). Our consulting team is small. So it has also been exciting building it up over the last 18 months and learning the business from the inside. 

I have two weeks left of work and the thought fulls me with different emotions. I am driven, committed and ambitious and thrive on working hard, working well and succeeding. But I am about to become a mom to two tinies who are tiny for such a short while I want to be there. One hundred percent be there.

I always thought it was a cliche - the dilemma women face with work and staying at home when they become mothers. But when you are in the situation, it is a very real dilemma. I don't think there is a correct answer or a right way to do things. And it is not an easy decision. You think about the financial implications of not working. About what effect babies will have on your commitment to work. About how you will be fulfilled and stimulated by giving up your job... But I feel I have made the right decision for the four of us right now. And I am excited about the career path that lies ahead in the future.

That said, resigning is an identity shift. The first concrete change in my life towards becoming a mama (and I realise many more life changes are to follow!). Wish me luck!

Winter things

Winter arrived in Jo'burg this week. Icy cold days, deceivingly filled with a bright sun. Lucky me - I am carrying around two little hot water bottles everywhere I go. And cold weather is the perfect excuse to indulge in comforts  that warm you up from head to toe. Taking a day off work was a great winter comfort today - it meant I didn't have to jump out of bed before the sun woke up. Here some others:

Textured accessories like this gorgeous striped scarf
Stockings and tights - yes please
Furry forest creatures
A whole new basket of in-season produce - I live on avos in winter
Cuddling up with a good book, a husband, a pet, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a sister...
Stealing your man's sweater
Great sweaters
A perfect excuse to buy new accessories for your gadgets (because felt+leather work so well in the cold)
Piles of blankets on your bed, couch, chairs... pretty much any surface

Keep warm snugglets xoxo

The naming of names

{image by Lad and Lass, 26 weeks}

Since we are not finding out whether are babes are boys or girls or a boy and a girl, we have to come up with a plethora of names. At a minimum we need two boy names and two girl names, but I would like to have a few extras in case we meet the babes and the chosen names don't fit them.

Choosing a name is a big responsibility. Not least because I believe that one's name has an impact on who you are. A name has to sound right for an entire lifetime - it can't just be cute for a kid but strange as an adult. Added to that, I come from from a family of unusual names, my sisters and I are Hugolyne Alex, Bailey Jane and Cheska Kim. I love having a somewhat unusual name so would like our children to also have less popular names, but I don't want to fall into the trap of gimmicky names that could dictate the path that our child follows (could a Lion really grow up and be a lawyer?).

And of course, there are two of us choosing the names. I don't want one of us to have to convince the other on a name. Which means we have to find at least four names that we both love. Although, that said, I do believe names can grow on you. So although some names are outright off the list, others seem to stay on my mind and come back to me when I imagine these little babies.While we are doing well with boy names, girl names are proving to be a bit more difficult. We each seem to associate names with different people (I don't want us to choose a name that reminds the husband of some one he doesn't like), or different "vibes," more specifically into which category a name falls - classic, trendy, flighty... the list could go on.

Then there are some added things with names that you don't think about unless you are having twins. The two names have to suit each other in style but I don't want them to be similar in their sound or initial and definitely cannot rhyme. If we have two boys or two girls, how do we decide which babe to give which name when they are born? And we don't want to select our favourite combo of a boy and girl name beforehand, because if it is two of the same sex, we don't want to have chosen a favourite between two girl or two boy names.

One thing for certain is that we are keeping the names a secret until the babes are born. The last thing I want is people commenting on our choices while we are still choosing. In fact, I don't even want to hear what other people are naming their babes right now in case something gets stuck in my mind.

This all sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? I'm actually enjoying the process of deciding upon names for our babes. It makes them feel real to me, that they will actually become little babies with names and not just my cublets in my belly. 

On being eating slowly and breathing deeply

One of my yoga classes last week was about restoration. We are so busy rushing around in our lives that taking time out to breathe in everything around us is a rare luxury. I don't believe you have to achieve a meditative state of calm to fully restore ourselves, it can be in the simple act of being present in whatever it is we are doing - present to the conversations we are having without checking our phones, present to the work we are involved with without multi tasking, present to our loved ones without being distracted by work, present to the food we eat without gobbling down each bite in time for the next meeting...

 {Jacques Henri Lartigue. Jeanine Lhemann. Royan, 1926}

These words by William Saroyan express this idea beautifully - that being present to what we do is what being wholly alive is about.

"Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

happy weekend

Hello lovely readers. I took the day off work on Thursday which, believe it or not, makes it slightly harder to go to work on a Friday! This weekend I am hoping to catch up on some sleep - my giant 30 week (!) bump certainly makes for a weary body at the end of the week.

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Here some links for your Friday afternoon...

Whatever you are doing, make sure you fit in some of this this weekend

IBM’s latest campaign makes your typical billboards into useful, functional urban furnishings

People are amazing - how three musicians are changing lives

Awesome shop in the Moboneng Precinct

Cool street art

Kids on being brave

Blast from the past - a tumblr of old loves

OCD much? These sticker walls are unreal

Be good.

xoxo

Karl on high heels

In a Harper's Bazaar interview with Karl Lagerfeld:

HB: I would love to sport a pair of extra-high sandals to a party, but will I be able to walk in them after a couple of drinks? Some of the models on the runways couldn't stay on their feet!

KL: Please, your question is childish. Don't drink when you wear stilettos. I can't advise you to get drunk at home to find out if you would be able to walk in them at a party. Plus, you aren't on the runway. Life should not be a fashion show. Only the girls in the shows have to wear unfinished prototypes. What you see later in the shops are safe — or safer. Naomi Campbell became a showstopper when she fell in her Vivienne Westwood platforms during a show. You don't have to go that high. If you're short, you can look out of proportion. Very high heels actually look better on tall girls, but men hate to walk around with giants who make them feel like midgets.

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Guest post: Shopping list for the twins

Bunny mobile | Soft Toy | Cloud Blanket | Forest masks | Bunny mary-janes (if it's a girl) | Wooden toys | Kids car  | Bug onsie

33.33% chance of being right

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When guessing the sex of a baby in your tum you usually have a fifty percent chance of being right - it is either a girl, or a boy. With fraternal twins, you suddenly have three options: two girls, two boys, or a girl and a boy.

The husband and I have not found out the sex of the twinlets. You would think it would be hard not to know, or to resist asking the doctor, but I am so excited about the two little surprises that await us I would actually be upset if I were to find out.

I have never wanted to find out the sex of my babe, so when I fell pregnant it was natural that we wouldn't. However, just after we were told we were having twins, we were driving back to work and my mind was rushing with a million thoughts and questions and fears and joys and I almost changed my mind. But the mind was not to be trusted in that state.

Call me old fashioned, but I like not knowing. I love thinking of my two babes as little beings just as they are, without assigning them a gender or an identity. I will dress my newborns in white either way and certainly wouldn't find out to help decorating decisions.

Of course I can't help but wonder if there are two girls inside me, or two boys, or one of each and I go through stages of "feelings." When I found out I was pregnant I was certain it was a boy. So initially I had very strong 2-boy feelings. Then I swung to one of each. I even had a few weeks of strong 2-girl feelings.

The husband is certain it's one of each. If I had to say I would say two boys (perhaps this is just to balance out the all-girl family I come from). My mom thought it was two girls at first, and definitely thinks they will be the same sex. So who knows!

Did you, or would you, find out the sex of your babe?

Breakfast at Wythe Hotel

The Wythe Hotel oozes cool. In typical Williamsburg waterfront character, it was originally an old factory built at the turn of the 20th century and the industrial feel has been maintained and incorporated into the decor (think exposed rick and screed floors).

While we didn't stay there (the rooms looks awesome by the way) we went to Reynard, the hotel restaurant, for breakfast. The coffee was good, the food yummy and the service top notch. In true NY style we were brought complimentary tasty things to apologise for waiting so long for our food when we hadn't even noticed we had been waiting. The clientele was fascinating and we saw one of the best beards I have ever seen (which is saying a lot in that part of town) - think thick, full, luscious colour and perfectly groomed.