my tattoo...

 

Since cupcake days I have yearned for a retro-style whisk tattoo.  I have no tattoos, not that I have any fundamental issues with it- I worry that I will get bored, disappointed or regret my design of choice or where on my body it is. I would die if I had that gecko tattoo I wanted when I was 18.  But for 2 years now I have dreamt of a whisk tattoo. And it doesn't help that there is a tattoo parlour directly across the road from our house.  And then there is the issue is how will it go down, as the minister's wife?  But surely a whisk would be safe?

And it seems I am not alone out there.  I went all bubbly inside when I saw this range of temporary tattoos in the exact retro line drawing I want (bottom row, left).  Maybe I could just order a lifetimes worth and rub a new one on every morning.

And I really like those measuring spoons.... check out even more cute temporary tattoo designs; ice lollies, bunting, cupcakes and more at baker and maker.

Now to find a ball of wool...

nearly my birthday

so I am nearer to my mid thirties than not.  sunday being the official day.  and have to consider the fact that I may entering the cusp of adulthood.  does this mean I need to get a real job?  I think martin may be nodding enthusiastically. 

my father has been telling me at every age that when I am his age I will gain wisdom, and knowledge, see this world for what it actually is, reaching a deeper understanding.  When he told me this again the other day in a haze of smoke, a cigarette dangling from his fingers before his lips, I pointed out that he had been telling me that since he was the age I am now.  So please bring it on!  or maybe I should partake in some different extramural activities to gain all this profoundness.  wink-wink-nudge-nudge.

all I know is that the only profound change in the last couple of weeks is that  I have had to demarcate time to a morning make-up ritual... most mornings.  Not the hour paste-on-mask type, just a little here and there. And my mother who has always told I have complexion that needn't be burdened with makeup, has been slipping me her lipstick and gifting me bits of skincare products.  This may be a sign?

when I take my spectacles off, the world becomes a misty blur.  which can be quite handy when you want to pretend your aren't where you are.  but not when you are trying to apply makeup. 

whip out pick-a-mix make up kit.  you know the one.  that first makeup kit you got for Christmas, with all the samples of colours and everything you need.  don't worry I haven't had it for a hundred years.... its pretty fancy stuff and my mom gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago.

I start with the eye stuff.  apply with ring finger, or so some makeup person once told me if you misplace those nifty brushes.  then some mascara. slip my specs on my nose which have been on my head.  Misty.  just washed hair from the shower.  clean specs.  look again.  half the mascara is on my face.  wipe off smudges with makeup remover (thanks mom).   some cheek stuff and lips.  wow.

Anybody want to sponsor me a makeup course at mac?

tank cake, yes sir!

When Mari-louis Guy asks you to bake her son's birthday cake, you have a moment of heart failure.  This is Mari-Louis of Cakebread,  a cake queen.  Ahhhh!  

But make it I must, and being surrounded by girls and all things pink and flowery a tank cake would be a great distraction out of our fluffy comfort zone..  And thank goodness for Martin, who has actually driven a tank, and who helped get the colours right and make sure that the shape worked.  I think he was just so excited it wasn't something pink!

Fashion Party Shoot

I recently had the incredible opportunity to moonlight as a decor stylist on a shoot with fashion stylist Nicky van Eck and photographer Romi Stern.  They have both worked on some pretty big brands, both  international and local, so I was super excited and incredibly nervous when they asked me to collaborate with them on this project.

It was a bit surreal at the start of the day when at home (the set), all on my own I baked and iced the cake and cupcakes and I set up.  Feeling as though maybe I gone a little dilly and imagined the whole thing.  

Reality came home when by the afternoon there where kids and mums, make-up and hair stylists, photography equipment and assistants tripping over one another trying to catch the last rays of sun as rain clouds threatened to spoil our fun.

I adore this images, they are so whimsical, captured moments from a fairytale. Well done to out little models who braved the chill and still had a good time!

365 days of Sea Point

I count my lucky stars for the day that I moved to Sea Point.  It was a fluke.  Martin got a post here, so we relocated.  Little did I realise that this would be one of the best things that would happen to me.... except maybe for the fact that I eventually closed Cupcake, the distance creating too much discourse in our family life as well as shop life.., being a little poorer financially, and having a morning job that I can't mention and so unlike me- though mostly still enjoy and also happen to be the 'Dominee-se-vrou'.

Other than that it is awesome.  The quirky and beautiful people, the promenade, the ocean, the pools, the retro restaurants, the mixture of cultures, the dives and the divas.  I walk or cycle or take the mini bus taxi.

You can be in the hustle and bustle of Main Road, take a side street down and enjoy the tranquillity of the sea front: from sunny clear calm days to a raging ocean, wave crashing into the promenade wall, splashing unsuspecting strollers or a creeping mist; the fog horn resonating in the distance.

People smile and say hello, from young skater kids to grannys hunched over walking sticks or David leaning against a postbox, trying to score a few pennies. I love my neighbourhood. It has style. Sea Point allows you to be you. It has made me a better person.  Does that make sense? 

Catherine Boyd also loves her hood, and with her photos brings us an image every day to remind us why we love it so much.  And for those of you that don't live here, you get to share snippets of our crazy, beautiful and inspiring part of the city:  The people, the sunsets, the architecture, activities, the things we no longer notice or never knew where there.

View more images and follow her page on facebook for your daily hit of Sea Point.  And more of her work at Catherine Boyd Photography.

For another 23 reasons to love Sea Point, read Darrel Bristow-Brovey 'In Praise of Sea Point'  which had me swooning.