Hi Friday*

Hello lovely readers. The end of another week and we find ourselves in the latter half of February. It was a tough week at work for me (and is not over yet!) - which involved, among other things, a trip to Roodepooort (oh gosh!), damage control, and 4 big business proposals. So I am pretty pleased it's Friday. This weekend I am spending time with family and friends and getting my hair done (long over due!) and taking time to be thankful for all the blessings around me.

{Via here}

Here are some good links from around the web if you feel like a bit of browsing:

Cheska's beautiful wedding invitations featured on Seven Swans blog today

Live feed of tweets around the world. Fascinating to watch (but exhausting)

How the languages we speak change the way we think.Something to keep in mind in this melting pot we live in.  

I am a sucker for old fashioned romance

Foods you should never eat (and which are pretty easy to avoid)

Hair inspiration (since I am long overdue for some expert help (hence my weekend activity), I find braiding a great solution)

I need to cook some fresh new things

Now that two babes are on the way, babe things have found themselves onto my wish list - how lovely are these clothes (the French really know how to dress kids)

Back to adult stuff - I heart Marc Jacobs

xoxo

A sister thing

 {source}

"A sister smiles when one tells one's stories - for she knows where the decoration has been added." ~Chris Montaigne

Guest post: Because I am a aunt-of-twins-to-be

{source}

On love

{print available from here} 

"You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known—and even that is an understatement." F. Scott Fitzgerald

Wow. The man knew how to say it...

Two tiny bits of news

{via here}

Tiny bit of news1: Three and a bit months of keeping this wonderful little secret, I can finally tell you that I am pregnant.

Tiny bit of news 2: With twins.

!!!

For over two months I thought it was just one, but then we went for our first scan...

I had tears in my eyes as we heard the heart beat for the first time and saw this tiny creature (I think it was a little lime at that stage) - it is very moving hearing that sound. Of life inside of you.

Dr: "So there's the heart beat"

Me: Teary eyed staring wistfully at this hard-to-make-for-anyone-but-the-parents-blob

Dr: "And whose heart beat do we have here?"

Me: Thinking "Oh that must be mine"

Dr: "There's a second heart beat"

Husband: "Are you joking?" (Thinking "He probably does this to everyone on their first visit")

Me: " Doctors don't joke"

...And the rest is kind of a blur. A sudden new wave of excitement and fear and emotion. It is quite overwhelming to find out your simple family of two will become four in six months.

I phoned my mom as soon as we left the doctors room to tell her she was getting two more grand babies. Silence followed. And then elation. However I was still on the phone with her when we were trying to exit the parking and counting out loose change to make out R5. My mother, upon hearing me say to the husband "I have three" thought for a moment it was triplets. So more silence ensued until I reassured her it was two heart beats but I had three rand. 

And that was pretty much the start of my journey, as far as I was aware, with these two little tiny blessings.

Have a glorious weekend

The sun is shining outside and it's Friday. Pretty good start to a day. And weekend. What are you up to this weekend? I have a rather busy one full of celebrations - baby showers and birthdays. Fun.

On a not so fun note, the news of Oscar Pistorius has really saddened me - what a tragedy. It makes me take a step back and be grateful for all the beautiful fragile beings that are in my life.

{via here}

Here are some little links from around the web:

Some lovely inspiration

This pouch

Perfect weekend breakfast

I am long over due for a hair appointment so this has become my staple

10 travel websites worth bookmarking

An online shop full of pretty things

Create your own terrarium

xoxo

happy birthday to my love

"If you knew you were going to meet the love of your life in one year, how different would that year be?"

Would you want to know?

I think I knew that I was going to meet the love of my life the year that I met him. I didn't know who, I just had a feeling the stars were aligned. Although that could be the romantic memory of retrospect....

The husband (then the boyfriend) in 2008, date #3