Mr P Denim

TUESDAY 5 MARCH, 2013 / COMMENTS [3]

Mr Price sent me and a few other fashion bloggers a studded denim jacket to style up in a few different ways. You can check out and shop up everybody's looks here.

Here's a little peak into the other looks I put together. I know I don't usually do a lot of fashion posts (I prefer to be on the other side of the camera), but I'm thinking of doing more : )

L'Écume des Jours

WEDNESDAY 27 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [1]

I'm pretty excited for the release of Mood Indigo (or L'Ecume des Jours - the French title) featuring the loveliest Audrey Tautou. I think she is the prettiest French actress, and she always plays the most interesting characters (Amelie, Coco Chanel). This movie is no different. She plays Chloe, a woman who on her honeymoon develops an illness that can only be treated by surrounding her with flowers. It looks beautiful, bizarre and tragic, and it's all in french.

Croft & co

MONDAY 25 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [2]

Previously a men's luxury gift shop, Croft & co has become a wonderful cosy coffee shop to spend a morning in. They have delicious Lavazza cappuccinos, a nice selection of breakfasts and sandwiches, and free Wifi. They also still keep stock of a few nice gifts for men such as cigars, knives and wine.

It's also a great place to have a G & T or glass of wine on friday afternoon, they're open at 6:30 am for breakfast and lunches but stay open a bit later on friday evening (when they serve Prego rolls).

Find them at:

66 Tyrone Avenue, Parkview, Johannesburg.

Orla Kiely AW 2013

TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [2]

Oh to be at London Fashion week. All cosy in boots and coats, attending beautifully presented shows. I know Nadia is over there at the moment and I couldn't be more jealous! I saw some sneak peeks on her instagram of this Orla Kiely presentation and then I saw Kris Atomic was there and captured it beautifully! These pictures make me so excited for Autumn and Winter! To wear little jersey dresses and tights, and to experiment with some elegant upstyles. I was definitely born in the wrong era. I could have been a stylish typist ; )

Valentines Eve

FRIDAY 15 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [3]

This year Dylan and I decided to do Valentines at home and have a nice picnic in our new garden. I was expecting a chilled night but it ended up being a pretty magical. Everything just came together, Dyl built this amazing tent with some string, wood and one of our backdrops. I got us some sweet treats from the Patisserie and we opened a special bottle of Italian wine we bought at Food.Wine.Design. To top it all off we rented Roman Holiday which is the most wonderful Audrey Hepburn movie out. If you haven't seen it yet you have to rent it out this weekend ; ).

How was your Valentines? : )

Italian pop up lunch!

MONDAY 4 MARCH, 2013 / COMMENTS [0]

There is an awesome (pretty new) Italian lunch spot that has recently started popping up every Tuesday at the Rosebank fire station from 12 - 2. I went last week around 12:30 and it was PACKED! You pay R45 for a take away box and then you get to fill it with all sorts of delicious Italian dishes from their harvest table.

We tried almost everything, but while we were there they kept on bringing out more and more dishes!

It is run by a couple of authentic Italian families and they all make a dish or two of something delicious. It's also a great place to learn a few Italian phrases (which will come in handy for our Italy trip in July!).

If you're bored of your usual lunch/take away and work near Rosebank it's definitely worth the visit - parking is a bit of nightmare so come on your vespa or car pool!

Bistro Lights DIY

TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [5]

What you'll need

Illumination Cable (expect to pay about R12 per metre)
Quick Fit Lamp Holders for Illumination cable (about R15-R25 each)
Golf Ball Globes (R15 each)
Plug point (or wire it into a light switch).
Pliers, Screw driver and Insulation tape.
Drill, §§§§§Fisher plugs / Screw Eyes may be needed for more permanent installations.

Let's go!

Step 1:

Plan out your layout, you may want to string them between walls, or fit the globes onto the walls (Most lamp holders have 2 screw holes to allow you to easily fix them directly to a wall / roof / rafter). You could also try making up patterns or words / letters in lights by experimenting with different patterns. We opted for 3 lines of about 5 globes each strung up over our garden. Each globe is about 1m apart.

Step 2: String up the cable. Depending on what you are planning to do, this may require some drilling, nailing or tying up. Make sure the cable is not too tight, and secure enough to take its own weight (plus a little more). You could also choose to secure the lamp holders later instead of the cable if they are going up against a wall or truss. Try not to twist the cable too much.

Step 3: Fit the lamp holders. These are quite nifty. They have 2 small, pointy conductors that pierce into the cable once the lamp holder is tightened. Its quite important to make sure that you have the cable flat and flush with the lamp holder back when tightening it. The holder is designed to push the cable onto the sharp conductors evenly, lining them up perfectly to allow current to flow. The pointy conductors are offset from the centre, so one pierces into the red core and the other pierces into the black core. Tighten these nice and tight.

Step 3: Insulate the far cable end.

Using insulation tape, tape up the red core. Then tape up the black core. Then tape them together. The 2 cores should never touch; if they do, you're gonna make smoke. You could also use an insulation block or something similar.

Step 4: Wire up the circuit.

You could just use a plug (bottom 2 terminals get wired in, the top "earth" terminal gets left empty) or get an electrician to wire it into a switch. This costs a bit of bucks, but if it ends up being a permanent fixture like ours, then it could be worth doing!

Step 5: Turn on the lights and throw a party!

If your cable got a bit twisted, you may have lights pointing in all sorts of directions. Try rotate them around and make them all point in the direction that you want.

Depending on where you purchase your supplies from, and the quantity that you purchase, you may be able to get it for cheaper than the above prices. We used Lido Electrical in Strijdom Park. They're friendly, helpful and do give discounts when you're nice to them. :)

Good luck and if you try it out send me some pictures!

Cat ears

FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [2]

I've spotted these cat ear head bands all over the place for a while and finally got myself one at Mr Price. Yes / no?

I just need the proper occasion now to wear them out now.

N + D wedding shots

TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [0]

We shot the most lovely wedding on Saturday and I was reminded again how much I love love and how much I love what I do. I never dreamed I'd be doing this almost pretty much full time and enjoying it as much as I am, it's like a really awesome surprise.

I won't lie the transition stage has definitely had it's challenges - getting set up, overcoming obstacles and making scary decisions.. but it's definitely been worth it. I don't regret anything at all (so far at least). ; )

If you're thinking about making a jump from having a boss to going freelance consider this as a sign and a push of encouragement. You can do it, and in the small chance it doesn't work out there will always be a desk job with your name on it.

"Fortune favours the brave"

By the way.. Lad & Lass was featured on The Pretty Blog yesterday!

If you want to see more of our work go look here.

Vday card printables

WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY, 2013 / COMMENTS [1]

Valentimes is tomorrow! You freak out because you haven't planned a thing or a bought a card, and when you go to the shops to look for a card they're all lame and don't exactly bring across the message you'd like to. I'm here to help, or rather Mini Eco is here to help. This lady is kind of a paper creation genius and has generously shared a few non-cheesey Valentines printables (and they're free!). I really like the pixel hearts, and think I will attempt to make a few for tomorrow : ). Dylan and I are planning a little picnic in our backyard under the party lights, so i'm really hoping the weather plays along!