New York Times loves Cape Town!

Great article in the New York Times today about biking, drinking and eating in the Constantia area, just outside of Cape Town. So if you're heading that way, any time soon, here are some great ideas...

Click here.

Weekend Plans

So Boston has another foot of snow coming its way. It's my birthday tomorrow and I have plans to chill, and dinner with good friends on Sunday, after the storm has passed. It's going to be cozy...  but I can't help but dream of warmer climes... who's with me? Let's head to the Mussel Bar in Camps Bay. Yes please!

 Design by Fanakalo, pics from here.

Pinning France in South Africa

I was kind of surprised the other day to see this image pinned on Pinterest.

I was only surprised because I recognized it from a House & Leisure magazine from three years ago! I suppose I have fallen in the rut of only expecting to see South African stuff from South Africans. Which is just silly! But anyway, this compelled me to go back and take another look at the house - its a French inspired home near the Drakensburg. It's not all my taste but it has some beautiful parts to it.

The garden (and the view!) 

This bathroom.... I can't stop looking at it!

The vignettes around the house

The feeling in the kitchen (maybe its just the plant?) and the gorgeous outside eating area... sigh.

 Well, I guess there are now five more images to pin!

Clean Kitchen

The new House & Leisure magazine is out, and I love, love, love the feel of this kitchen - the wood wrapping over the edge, and the subway tile on the wall...

If you like what you see, and don't live in South Africa, you can get House & Leisure digitally here.

Babylonstoren

One place I am absolutely kicking myself for not visiting a year ago when I was in Cape Town, is Babylonstoren - technically 45 minutes outside of Cape Town but it should have been on my itinerary! Although I think I would've needed to double the length of my holiday so I could spend days and days there.

A Cape Dutch home and farm found in the Drakenstein valley, Babylonstoren is a working farm where you can stay, eat and relax in luxury. It's also eco-friendly. Jeepers, sounds like it was built with me (and probably you!) in mind...  

(click on the wide view, its so worth it)

Babylonstoren has a farm store, with a restaurant...

And the food is as local as it gets - from the grounds!

With beautiful gardens

and a beautiful place to stay

And a spa!

I love the greenhouse with the tea room attached

Plus they make their own wine (I suppose what else do you do when you are in the thick of the South African wine-making country?)

Sigh. Like this image on their website says, I'll see you there....

Snowstorms, Skyfall and Bottega Veneta

Well, if you've seen the news lately, you'll know there's a wicked bad storm (as we locals in Boston like to say) heading towards Boston! I'm at home, the office is shut, and working on some illustrations for a project I have. Later, we're planning to finally watch Skyfall, because we missed it in theatres and its now on-demand through cable. Yay! Hopefully the anticipated hurricane force winds won't bring down any trees near us so we don't lose power... I've bought us some French macarons to enjoy after some indulgent pizza. Its going to be a lovely night!

Meanwhile here's a little something I've been oohing and aahing over - a dress from Bottega Veneta.

Of course it looks phenomenal on models on the back of InStyle magazine and on the runway, but what about a real person? You know, an every day person like 007's wife? Almost everyday... Rachel looks gorgeous, now if only I could afford the dress!

Beauty from Above

Somehow (on Facebook? Pinterest?) I came across these amazing images from NASA. Yes, NASA.

 

All of these places are in Africa - Bombetoka Bay (Madagascar),  Brandberg Massif (Namibia), the Kalahari Desert (southern Africa - the red dot, which you can see if you click to enlarge, is a farm), Mount Elgon (Kenya and Uganda), the Namib Desert (Namibia), the Okovango Delta (Botswana), Namibian Desert (Namibia), and the Southern Sahara. Naturally. 

You can see more of these images here.

Green Fashion Design from Liberia

I have fallen in love...

With a green fashion line from Liberia. Run by two sisters, Chara Itoka Cooper and Phyllis Itoka, and named after a lake in Liberia, the Piso Collection harnesses the abundance of local cotton, they have launched a line of women's, men's and little girls' dresses, with accessories to boot.

Heavens, I love these dresses... and here are the girls' dresses and the bags!

Honestly, I just love all of it.  I'll also go out on a limb and say I see a kindred spirit in Chara, who I have learned grew up in the Boston area! Here's a pic of chic Chara and her husband, from here. So inspiring. 

Piso has been developed as a company that aspires to be "textiles for social and economic change", by hiring works at higher wages and with job security. The line is also sustainable. Can't wait to see what's next.