Guest post: gift list for the new parents

As you can imagine I am completely obsessed with the twins. I want to see them everyday, all day. I pop around to Bailey's home as often as I can - I am so lucky to not need invites, I even have a key. Of course, like an sister to a new mama and aunt to new babies I never like to arrive empty handed. So here is my list of (what I think are) cool deliveries for new parents.

Tubs of Haagen Dazs ice cream. I know Bailey's favourite is double chocolate, of course! And this is a super easy gift as not only is the Haagen Dazs store at Hyde Park shopping center but they also sell the cups at the Petrol station on the corner of Jan Smuts and Jellico.

A comfy top for mama. I like this one, how cute is the deer. But I found a lovely one at Woolworths. I often think the mama must get tired of her wardrobe but obviously not in the mood for something fancy... a new comfort top is almost like a luxury!

Nappies! Not exciting but definitely a necessity! (Make sure you find out the mama's brand choice first).

Obviously some little things for the babe are a must. Etsy has the most lust-worthy onsies and baby leggings around, but I also love Cotton On's selection.

Nail polish and willingness to paint! Baby asleep let the new mama relax and paint her nails for her.

A mantra for a new mama. Like "you're awesome" or "you rule the world"

Comfort food in the form of frozen meals. I recently dropped off two frozen meals for a new mama and she told me it was the best gift she received since having her babe!

Fresh flowers. Say no more! Woolies is importing Peonies at the moment which are just the most delicious flower around!

Some new tiny distractions for the tinies... think of car rides or pram walks. I love this little guy. 

Fresh lemonade. YUM! Or a stock up on coffee.

Guest post: Winter get away fantasies

The husband is going out of town for two months for work. I feel slightly sorry for myself just thinking about it. Last year he did the same thing but I had the wedding as a distraction so instead of nights cuddling or dinner dates I stayed up late doing wedding craft or visualizing my dress! This year there is not wedding but by the time he goes there will definitely be the tiny twins ready for pampering and aunt love so once again I have a distraction.

Before he goes we want to go away for a weekend so I am on the hunt for a cosy winter get away, any suggestions?

I am dreaming of visiting one of the many hide away cabins featured on Au Lait... don't they look magical?

Let's go sailing

It's no secret that we heart stripes at B&D (see stripe-inspired posts here and here). And now that the end of winter is around the corner, I'm getting that let's-go-sailing feeling.

Reality check - I realise lazing on a deck on sparkly blue waters is the last thing I will be doing as it doesn't quite fit in with brand new twin babies... However, we can all day dream.

Here are some nautical-inspired pics to get you in the mood for sailors and G&Ts.

Row 1: 1, 2, 3; Row 2: 1, 2, 3; Row 3: 1, 2, 3

guest post: happy weekend

Oh how happy am I that it is Friday. It means casual clothes, lovely breakfasts and of course time with my three beautiful nieces. I cannot believe the tiny twins are already 1 week old: stop growing!

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10 links from around the web:

OMG, one hundred and eight ice cream recipes. It's a pleasure!

This is how I would like to be remembered. 

9 Crowd pleaser party dips, don't they sound delicious? 

The most bizarre pics - Google Street View snapped the weirdest images by chance.

Imagine going to an interview with Anna Wintour!? Eeek, I get nervous just thinking about it. Here is what 13 people wore to their interview with fashion's most terrifying woman. 

36 rules of social media. 

This is one way to travel... take your pick change your body, expand your mind or rediscover your soul. 

This is funny, as wedding season is only a couple months away, here is who you will know if you are at a hipster wedding. 

I'm obsessed with Maggie Gyllenhaal for Miu Miu.

Which would you rather?  

guest post: beauty product love

I never thought of myself as a beauty product obsessive but my job allows me to experiment with some awesome products. Although I use many more products, these are my everyday must-haves:

Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara: when I started using this mascara my mum thought I had eye lash extensions. Reason enough? I think so.

Toni & Guy's dry hair shampoo: We unfortunately can't get this here but whenever anyone I know goes to London I get them to bring me a can home. It's so convenient. I learnt about this product when I was interning in the fashion industry in London and everyone above me had a can of this in their work drawer... life saver!


Dermalogica's Clearing Skin Wash: I have used Dermalogica since I was a zitty teenager and love it! I have always used the Special Cleansing Gel but recently I was recommended the Clearing Skin Wash which I am finding fantastic. It has a bit of a clinical smell which I find refreshing.


Clinique Chubby Sticks: Not quite lipstick, not just gloss. These babies are fab and so easy, somehow they are easier to apply than lipstick and they do all sorts of moisurising along the way!

Essie nail polish in ChinChilly: This is the perfect grey. I love grey on my nails, perfectly neutral but not too ordinary and since we are mid winter it goes with all my outfits. Every now and then I go Gellish on my nails in which case I use Temptation which is a really similar colour.

Nivea moisturiser: Best tub ever!

Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream: I know this is a popular choice but I could never live without a tube of this in my bag, next to my bed, in my make up bag, car, bathroom... blah blah blah.

The perfect red lipstick. My fav: MAC's Russian Red. It's matt and it's fab. A red lip really transforms an outfit.

I couldn't live without cuticle oil, especially in our Jo'burg dry winters. OPI's Avoplux Cuticle Oil On the Go is so easy. 

guest post: plate love

How do you feel about plates on walls? I am obsessed. It has taken 8 months to convinced my husband not only that plates on walls are lovely but that we will have a plate wall in our house! Bailey has the most delightful plate/interest wall in her apartment (see pics here) - every time I am about to hang my plates I have plate wall envy and am too afraid, incase mine doesn't look as great. Of course once one has jumped on the wall plate collecting band wagon there are such amazing ones out there. Here are a few of the ones that are on my wish list.

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The spirit is too blunt an instrument

 Florence, 2 days old

The spirit is too blunt an instrument
to have made this baby.
Nothing so unskilful as human passions
could have managed the intricate
exacting particulars: the tiny
blind bones with their manipulating tendons,
the knee and the knucklebones, the resilient
fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae,
the chain of the difficult spine.

Observe the distinct eyelashes and sharp crescent
fingernails, the shell-like complexity
of the ear, with its firm involutions
concentric in miniature to minute
ossicles. Imagine the
infinitesimal capillaries, the flawless connections
of the lungs, the invisible neural filaments
through which the completed body
already answers to the brain.

Then name any passion or sentiment
possessed of the simplest accuracy.
No, no desire or affection could have done
with practice what habit
has done perfectly, indifferently,
through the body's ignorant precision.
It is left to the vagaries of the mind to invent
love and despair and anxiety
and their pain.

by Anne Stevenson