Auburn and Blue

Why?…. I ask one more time after travelling.

24
Sep

I just returned home from another travelling spree. This time it was London for  a leisure visit – just me and my little one.

And I have all these WHY questions spinning around in my head as we are both trying to get over the jetlag once again !!

WHY? …… I ask myself… WHY, oh WHY….

….do I always pack untill I have a 1 or 2 kg excess that I have to headache about in the last few minutes of packing?!  Why can’t I just stop my shopping 1 kg earlier??

….does my gate always seems to be the LAST outpost at the airport…. the one you have to take a shuttle train to reach? It really takes valuable duty-free shopping time out of the equasion if you have to spend it on completing a marathon to your departure gate !!

….did I agree to bring her “special blanket” on the plane…just because this time I had enough space in my carry-on?…. couldn’t the airline blankets have done the job just like all the other times?? (Try putting a blanket back in the suitcase on the plane when people are all lined up and pushing to get out….?! Not as easy as getting it in at home!!! Oh, how I complicated things with THIS one?!

….do I even bother to take a book on a trip?  Books are heavy and takes up space…. especially if you haven’t read ONE page while being away. I should leave reading for “in 10 year’s time” when I travel to an island on my own !!

…do I take 10 toys on board “just in case my child gets bored and then it is too much trouble to take them out from the overhead….and my child never asks for them anyway.

..do I take ANY toys for that matter on a trip…when these toys suddenly become very boring when eyes are laid on the fantastic things you can find in the toy shops on the other end ???

…do you HAVE to take out computers and i-pads through security? How exactly is that a thread INSIDE your bag? I don’t get it….ANYBODY..help me out here, please?

…and why then did I, after I came up with the clever idea of a bag on my back, only for the computer…ended up overloading it as we moved along…just because it was easier than putting things in the right places….oh, it was KILLING me in the end???

…does my phone’s 3G never work when it is supposed to? It just spins its wheels and never seem to pick up the signals in the other country…come on Apple ??!!!! What’s up? Or is it the stupid airtime service provider? Yes – I would have loved to tweet when I observe the odd peculiarity here and there…or use google maps when the GPS failed me (boy, was that fun?!)

…does my computer always run out of space when I am away, and not at home where I could check what I have backed up somewhere, and what I really can not delete?!

…is it that on the last FOUR flights they had to re-set the inflight entertainment system for the whole aeroplane which resulted in me not being able to finish the movie I was watching?

….and the biggest WHY….why, oh why can’t the men on the aeroplane just at least TRY to aim more precisely in those tiny toilets?? How do you explain to the big line outside the door whom you wish to please by making as quick as possible…that you also had to wipe down seats…watch your step, let your child hang in the air so they don’t step anywhere or touch anything AND get yourself out of there in no time at all??? Please, gentlemen !!!!??

Why, oh why…do I live a life of constant travelling to be with loved ones. No matter how hard I try…I have not yet mastered the art of travelling without being exhausted by the time I finally set foot on or off the plane.

…mmmm….is there such a thing as stress-free travelling ?? Any ideas, welcome !

(photo credit: Andrew Stawarz via flickr)

Ilze

Uberkate

9
Sep

My latest find is something I am putting straight onto my wishlist !

I have loved these for a while, but never knew what it was called.

Well, now I know. And just so you know too… I gladly show you today !

UBERKATE .

 

What is Uberkate?

Quoting from their website:

Each Uberkate piece is made from precious metals that have been hand-crafted into a distinctive design and are then personalised for the individual wearer. 

My personal favourite ……

– the Russian style….., 3 sizes – small, medium and large . Photo credit: Uberkate Facebook page

But I am just putting it out there…. (hoping desperately that my husband and kids will find it here when they next wonder what I could possibly want for a special occassion ! I would love to have the 3 different sizes – with my kids’ names on each of the circles from oldest (on large) to the little one (small)   –  much like the one above. It would be a perfect Mother’s Day gift !

But do yourself a favour and visit their website or their facebook page – Uberkate ….. to see the many, many options and designs to inspire your own, personalised creation !

How cute is this in the kids’ range…

Let me know if you love them….and visit their facebook page and tell Kate if you like them ! I don’t know her personally, but from her personal connection with her clients on her  facebook page, I can tell that she is a lovely designer to deal with !

Have fun dreaming with me !

 

Ilze

Coffee Morning

30
Aug

Today we had a coffee morning to welcome the new moms (and a dad ! ) of our little ones who just started Reception!

It was a lovely morning meeting all of the parents whose kids you hear about at the dinner table.

It was not at my house, but I did a table to set the scene for our meeting and had the opportunity to get some input on Party Planning Ideas I have.  We had a nice discussion following.

Nicole has big windows opening up to her beautiful garden … bringing the inside in…. so I used that as my inspiration to decide on which theme to go with for today’s table.

Country flowers and red gingham had mainly set the tone as the rest of the colours were more subtle – pale blue and soft yellow with a little bit of Mother Earth brought in via some chocolate brownies and cut grass.

 

My friend gave me a recipe for this dip that you serve with freshly cut, crispy, cold apples…. so I share:

 

 

There was no time making cake pops this time, so my daughter just prepared a few lollipops that the moms could take home for their kids !

Perfection was not really the objective here, but they still looked very festive!

No one really feels like cooking dinner after you have had a morning full of treats and nibbles…and did I mention that I never stopped eating the caramel -peanut apple dip?!

So, I called  “CHICKEN GUY”…. have no idea what his name is…but he sells rotisserie chickens and delivers them at home with his scooter.

And he has been my hero a few times when I had to call him from the car to make sure dinner is on the table on time !

If you live in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul… I share with you his number. It is perfect for those days you are in no mood for cooking – 02-7669192.

You just call him… ask “is this chicken guy”…he says “yes”… you say ” i want chicken”… he says “okay…you say “address…..”…. he says “6.pm” or whatever – (that would be the time he would be at your house)….you hang up… you wait…6 pm the doorbell rings… chicken guy is at the door…and you have a lovely dinner if you just throw in the vegetables or simply add a French baguette.  Have your 11 ooo won per chicken ready – I usually order two, they are not big.

Try him next time – it works wonders for a weary mom who can not order too many things over the phone with her non-existent Korean language skills !

Best times  to call is around 5pm, and he will deliver the freshest chicken as soon as ready. Tonight I called 6 pm and had delivery 6.40 pm.

Well, I hope you had a lovely day too. I am off to bed now.

 

Ilze

Whatever..

22
Aug

Beginning of the year is a difficult time.

Well, for me it is!

You are not in a fixed routine yet, kids’ activities have not yet started and basically you have to carve out your new daily schedule during the first few weeks as the new school year takes form. Kids are all a year “older” now with new teachers and especially changing the little one from daycare to big school presented a whole different routine in the mornings.

I am at that place right now. Just got settled in back home after the long summer break where there was no routine whatsoever and things are starting to happen but not yet at full pace. Every morning is kind of….. okay…what now?

Not sure exactly what to do next and changing my mind constantly on what is more important and very indecisive on what I would do for the day.

That’s where blogging comes in and why I love doing it ! Gives me time to do something while I decide what to do..

Just need time to get out of holiday mood and into busy-busy mode again where I operate best….but it is sort of just not happening yet?!

Last week I had just about every other activities’ date wrong, for the FEW things that were already happening.

That’s why I loved this billboard so much.

 

It’s the new Taste Twist gum from Stimorol. Try it – it’s fun !
And check out their ad… so silly..

I feel for this guy – that’s so ME right now !

If you are at that same place as I am…and you happen to read this…Shout out….so that I know I am not alone?!

Every year it  still confuses me (who comes from the southern hemisphere), to have a “beginning of the year” in the “middle of the year” …

That is perhaps why I get so confused and indecisive this time of the year !

But, I am wondering….. am I the only one??

 

Ilze

I am back HOME….from HOME!

19
Aug

I just returned home from my 2 month holiday in South Africa.

Ok, well… it has been a week already, but you don’t start counting untill your jetlag has worn off..and mine is still very far from being forgotten ?!

I did not keep to any promises of blogging… simply did not have the internet capacity to pull that off !

That is frustrating at times and there are other little obstacles in living this kind of expat life.

But there are wonderful things that I DO appreciate when I go “home” to my “other house”.

There is a lot to say for keeping a house in your home country where familiar things await you when you go on a visit…to make you feel “at home” again … not just being a visitor…but belonging there !

So, I share some with you today.

…like how I love to open up my stationery box with real pencils inside….no digital for a while !

…or the deco shoes on my dressing table in my bedroom…

 

Chic old shoes made rusty with roses on them. Love them.

…or my paper box where I keep my special documents, magazine clippings and other keepsakes.

I buy sooooo many magazines when I am on holiday !

 

……the beautiful mosaic cross I see every night before I go to bed…

….from a South African Artist who works magic with mosaic tiles !

……the old familiar clock that was on 10 to 9 the WHOLE holiday because time matters so little there that nobody bothered to reset it…

…….and I loved the new chairs I found on a sale.

I bought four ! Sooooo comfy for sitting… and certainly will inspire some re-decorating of the family room next holiday !

 

….I also got a new frame and decided to put an old photo in there that I still had from Russia.

It is a reminder of the old babushkas I came across there who survived cruel years and times where that “gleb (Bread)” in her handbag was like a bar of gold !

For the first time I started to bring in some elements from my “other life” into my local home there.

It doesn’t really match the photo on the other wall – of the local scenes….but who cares…. that’s us – a little missmatched worlds every now and then !

Another feast to my eyes when I enter my house over there – is this 3-in-1 ensemble…

Let me explain:

1. The beautiful pewter tray I got last year as a birthday gift.

2. The water decanter I bought this holiday, in my favourite colour – again not a real match to the rest, but Loved it !

3. The Amarula that sneeked into this picture. A real South African treat – after dinner liquor – a product from South Africa, and one that our American friends begged us to bring back to the US when we lived over there! Yes, it’s yummy !

 

I love it that the kids can be free and run barefeet…

….and get sunshine on their bodies even though it’s mid winter..

And what I loved even MORE was the teamwork the older two had to come up with, when they bought a new “toy” that does not simply get connected with a wire to a plug in the wall !!

But in the end there was success and many hours of ping-pong fun and table tennis challenges.

How fun that you could buy a motorbike from the little Antique shop in town?!

And yes – these are the times when we ARE thankful for technology where we can send Dad a MMS to get the go ahead to buy the bike .

This purchase made them jump for joy !! And it was so worth it….they had HOURS of driving pleasure.

(wonder if anyone will get on the quad bike again? )

Other people’s toys crept into the scene a little more discreet…and I found evidence everywhere that I live with a “little person” …whom I love, I may add!

So, I don’t really mind her “little people” messing up my deco…

But while the kids kept themselves busy with their own toys, I always seem to come up with something to create my own kind of busy !

I have to do early morning runs for picking up the workers in town and there are luckily the beautiful sunrises and sunsets to watch when I do these daily runs early morning and early evenings. With the camera phones, there is always a camera on hand !!

One morning I woke up from a huge flutter against the window ……and look who was RIGHT outside it?! …

I don’t know if me or ms Owl was more surprised when we looked each other in the eyes…  but I could not turn my neck all the way around like she did?!  Gosh – it was amazing and only in Africa !

. 

Cold winters mean putting on the gas heaters in the morning to help me get out of bed and then picking up wood again every afternoon to keep the fireplace going for the whole night! No underfloor heating or fancy heating systems like we have in our overseas homes.

I might add another thing that is maybe also “only in Africa”….and that is this “taxi service” that seems to be allowed while you get your learner’s driving license training?!

But when I get in and out of my gate at home, I can forget about these crazy drivers on the roads, and meet my friends at our house on the dirt road! They at least seem to still get out of the way when you drive up !

… so much better than rush hour traffic cars in the city where I live!

My daily trips to town does mean time to make a little stop to look around in the local shops.

Our little town, Parys, has the cutest little shops and I always love going home and just browsing through them one by one throughout the holiday!

Finally – There is nothing I love more than having family and friends around and so I loved getting our friends over for a visit!

They brought over some salt bread and we added the fig jam…

That used to be my mother’s little treat that she pulled out of her magic hat when we visited South Africa!

We missed her so much this year as our first mid-year break without her….

But if I have to start now on South African foods and the comfort THAT provides when we are there, this blog post may NEVER end !!!

And as with any other good time, the time at home needs to end when the time comes to return home.

And coming home to these on my desk re-assured me that no place can be called home in the long term if our family is not all in one place.

A very happy husband welcomed me and the children home after our summer (winter for us ) break.

And the whole house still smells of the lovely flowers !

Loved coming home too….

If you are an expat, you surely have a “HOME” somewhere away from your home where you live and I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to hear what it is that you miss or love when you go home. Please tell me in the comments below.

Now, to get back into routine, over the jetlag and focusing on the happy, healthy home I wish to keep this year !

Take care,

Ilze

Road Trip – Packing the car

1
Jul

We are going on a Road Trip tomorrow. Ten of us (two families) in one vehicle. Whoo-hoo !!! Can only be fun…..

I packed all the bags for our family…. so I know exactly what is inside each one and who is going to need which bags on the first night’s sleepover…which is really just a pit-stop which does not require every single bag to be off loaded late night and re loaded in the morning.

But I am not the one packing the car (or should I say the trailer behind the 10-seater).

So, I thought I would be nice to the packers and make their lifes’ a little bit easier, by labelling the bags.

I think they will love me for that tomorrow… not having to unzip and question in what sort of priority these bags will be required once on the road !

Yes. I think they are going to love me for this.

Take care everyone – I hope to write something about this trip we are going to undertake to Namibia….going through the borders of Botswana tomorrow night.

What have you been doing that is exciting during this summer break?
Would love to know !

Ilze

Arthur or Martha??

14
Jun

I had a colleague at my office who used the Australian colloquialism of being in a state of confusion on an almost daily basis.

I still hear her …“I am so confused today, I don’t know if I am Arthur or Martha ?!”.

Tomorrow I will be leaving with my kids on summer break for a 2 month period.

I will be going to my home country of South Africa.

Living an expat life requires you to have a house and a home.

Both of those need to be YOU, but some days when I travel between where I live and where I come from, I am not sure if I am Arthur or Martha.

It requires a lot of adaptation to change your whole outlook on life and how you live it, on a semi-annual basis (most years we go to SA twice a year).

Some countries just couldn’t be more different..

 

In Korea they have a level of attention to detail to the n’th degree.

Yes, in the parking lot of the mall, they paint a zone on the floor to mark the safest place for a family to walk, taking into account the car flow in the parkade. We live very protected here.

 

In Africa, some desperately needed signs are often missing. You are left to your own devices for safety and security. We rough it up when there and have to face our fears going about our daily lives.

 

But we love our beloved country and the rainbow nation of people that awaits us there.

I live currently in the city that has the fastest internet speed in the whole wide world.  Followed by 11 cities in Korea before the next country even pitches. The US only ranks 16^{th .}

In the town where I will be, I am lucky when the internet signal holds me out. And the connection is so slow I could go for a coffee break between loading pages.

I am going to try my best to keep on blogging…using every opportunity I get to share some thoughts and ideas that might pop into my head.

But in case I go quiet, my internet might just be down….

..or I may have fallen into a pothole – low and behold !

Now the big question remains – which one do I call my house and which one my home?

To a great summer…..sorry –  WINTER-  break for us, that lies ahead !!

Safe travels to all my friends who will be doing the same.

To take us away…who else than Arthur and Martha !  Enjoy.

Ilze

Stripemania

12
Jun

Here I am. Joining the party for STRIPEMANIA!!

Wonder what it is about?

Holly Becker and Igor Yosif came up with a fun idea.

You can read about the details on Holly’s blog, decor8.

STRIPEMANIA – a photo of yourself wearing stripes…and then submit – purely for fun, joining other bloggers doing the same !!

Today is deadline date. That’s typically me….doing it last minute.

Real reason I waited so long  – I saw it before..didn’t quite know what it was about.

Saw it again last night on my twitter account, tweeted by Holly as a reminder.

Thought it would be fun…. but could not recall having a stripe shirt in my closet and the deadline is today!

Went to bed and what JUMPED out at me in my closet….STRIPES !!!!! Everywhere !!!!

Funny how when somebody points something out…suddenly that is ALL you see????

I guess that was part of their idea.

I had a few options on my side of the closet…

………..

Hubby’s side of the closet. Oh dearie me….. at least another 24 more shirts to choose from for ONE photo??!!!

Where WAS I when the laundry in this house has been done thinking we don’t have stripe shirts??!!

Not to mention all the t-shirts and other items I noticed after that.

This morning, I got up and could not ignore all the stripe shirts !!

So, I decided to join the party….

It reminded me of going to a pajama party as a teenager !!

We got ALL STRIPEY !!! And when my 4 year old heard of the IDEA – there was NO way NOT joining in…

Have you EVER tried to contain the excitement of a 4 year-old??!!…

And she already had stripes on ?!! She went to grab a few more stripey items…and was I not surprised to see a little stripe monster jump at me when I changed her clothes !!

Oh, how I love her excitement in everything we do!

It was FUN. And that was all it needed to be.

Thanks to Holly and Igor.

Have a happy, stripey Sunday everyone !!

 

Ilze

Kay Unger

11
Jun

I love the designs of Kay Unger. Suits my personal taste perfectly.

Recently I spotted the Kay Unger New York store right here in the heart of Itaewon in Seoul, South Korea. How I have not seen that shop before, I don’t know.

It probably is because the shop right next door blinds the eye with their own version of hand-tailored “evening wear” – a lot of glitter and sequence on display outside their shop…..on the sidewalk  – tells you a little bit, doesn’t it ?!

I just had a very unfortunate eperience since I first stepped through the door of the local Kay Unger shop…and a few people know about it …..but it had a happy ending, which I haven’t told many. So I want to tell you about it, because I think it is good to share not only the bad, but also the good.

After my experience, I think this particular shop and Kay Unger deserves the names and status they carry and I want you to keep both designer and store in high esteem.

Here is my story:

I spotted a dress in the window…walked in…turned out to be “not my size” – a VERY COMMON problem in Korea ! People are stick-thin and foreigners tend to have lots of difficulty buying clothes here. Very different body shapes in general. Fact.

But all the dresses in the store were oh, so beautiful. I very soon found another perfect fitting dress – in my size. Unbelievable !

The ladies in the store asked me where I was planning to wear the dress. They very politely told me that this particular dress was already going to that event. I was impressed ! They keep tabs on where every dress goes so that you won’t be buying for a specific gala event and then end up having to avoid one part of the room where your dress is also roaming around. That certainly was a big plus for me at this store – Seoul’s expat community is not all that big and they were in touch with their market and people’s emotions. Well done !

 

On to the next dress – a very unusual dress for me – since I tend to stick to the more traditional colours…but hey – I had just done a pedicure in bright summer colours so I was in the mood for something bright and cheerful !  I liked it instantly, but it was too long. As part of their service, they offer alterations of any dress bought in store, for free. Another well done ! I liked that.

We carefully measured…but I was so afraid to have the dress cut, that I said I would first go on my trip scheduled the next few days and then come back with the right shoes so we can make 100% sure before cutting – see, this dress don’t get a seam, it gets CUT OFF. Since I am very short, and the magic of this dress is its’ “long” look – I wanted to preserve every inch of that elegance.

I even said that I prefer it being a little “too” long to not take away the effect even if it meant I had to lift the dress a little when walking.

I went back a week later. We measured again….and again…and again…. and the lady took ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD for this ! I was very happy and impressed with their attention and time granted to me as a customer.

Day before the gala event.. I went back to pick up my dress.

DISASTER !!!!!!!!

The dress was CUT OFF – way above my feet in the front, perfect in the back….. but the two sides not equal and the lining of the dress coming out under the scew, shortened fabric. Hard to tell from the picture but still..

 

I had NO words. That is very unusual for me.

The two ladies who experienced the “lengthy” (literally)  measuring process and my concerns which I uttered 5 times before we finally agreed on a “length” were mortified. The gala event was the next day… and I had already paid for this dress ! A lot.

Me – the usual – “I will try to make the situation good even if it was not my fault” – was in NO MOOD to do that. I had paid, I have warned, I was worried and I was in need but I was NOT going to take a beautiful designer dress ruined  by someone else !

A very long conversation in Korean erupted over the phone between the shop and the alteration studio.

I was so ticked off about it that I tweeted straight away while waiting for this 20 minute conversation over the phone of which I could not understand a word, but totally caught the drift ! I don’t really tweet for an audience, but I tweet when I have nothing else to do with my thoughts but to utter it out there in space…

By the time the lady had put down the phone, I told them that I would not take the dress and they immediately agreed to take it back. They did not try to convince me of taking the spoilt dress and that was another “well done ” for that particular shop. They did not argue the point that their shop caused this and they totally accepted responsibility.

But I was in a predicament and they knew it !  Even though they could have left it right there – having agreed to take back the dress and return my money, they knew that they had now put me in a position of no dress for the event. I could have come up with another, but I loved this dress so much  that I was really dissappointed !

Without me asking, they told me that the tailor still had the fabric she had cut off. So, they offered to put it back on and stitch it onto the lining. They would try their best to fix it and I can still return the dress, but that I would have it for at least that evening. Deal.

I picked up the dress the next day – 2 hours before the event and nobody really noticed. I knew, but that was okay.

I can not tell you how surprised I was to get a tweet back directly to me from KAY UNGER (or her staff?) all the way from New York, taking great interest into my situation and trying to help solve the issue. THAT has gone miles and done wonders if you ask me how I feel know about buying another Kay Unger dress !

I did feel kind of sad and bad to return the dress on the Monday, having worn it already…but we had a deal and after careful consideration I decided to stick to it.

This story had a happy ending. I hope that you will keep  on supporting the shop in Itaewon – the lovely ladies there were very professional, friendly and understanding. And I hope you will next time be inspired to be the Kay Unger dress knowing that she is a designer who cares !

I watched this video before this whole episode one day when I wanted to see who Kay Unger was!

So, in case you don’t know – meet her in this short clip. She is lovely. And so are her dresses.

And for more tid bits on Kay Unger you can also a read this post at Saratoga Trunk. or visit the official KAY UNGER website.

Have a lovely weekend everyone !

Ilze

Only when you’re 4!

5
Jun

It is a long weekend here.  It means unusual outings out and about.

Sometimes I wish I still was four….

Like when we waited for the rest of the family to come pick us up across the street instead of going to the parking lot with them.. since my feet was killing me after a few hours of walking around and I figured that would save us from walking to the parking lot!

I was not the only one with tired legs by then.

We waited…

…and waited

and waited….

I begged and bribed her to stay up and stand there waiting with me so people would think we were sort of civilized…

I even made false alarm a few times to trick her into getting up…

but mostly I stood a little distance from her with my i-phone under cover, so people would not immediately identify me as the bad mother of the child on the street…

But I totally felt her pain… as I secretly wished I could go sit there next to her…

SERIOUSLY??…… how long can it take to get the car out of the parking lot???

It got sort of ridiculous…

and the curious on-lookers did not tickle her fancy enough to keep her eyes from falling shut…

Thirty minutes to get the car from the parking lot right across the street ?!!

I still have to wonder if they did not make a few more stops in the mall on their way to the car…??

I wish I was still 4. My feet were killing me !

My bed is calling me now.

Ilze

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