Your View on the World

I'm sure you'd agree with me, architectural details can make a home. My apartment has the most amazing glass door knobs, woodwork and radiators. I love them (check them out here and here, if you want to see).

Another South African blogger's home that is very different to mine in style but has interesting detail too, is Ashe's. She lives in Durban, a city on South Africa's warm and tropical East coast that kind of reminds me of Miami in some ways - the art nouveau buildings, and the beaches... there are a line of them on one side of the city (some great surfing!) and then a harbour with a marina and yacht club, accompanied by a pine-treed lined high way. I love and miss Durban.

Anyway, Ashe has bought a flat there, and polished that little jewel so you can actually see its beauty. Here's some befores and afters of her kitchen.

So, my question is - how do you live in a place with such unique and beautiful windows and not make them a feature? Well done, Ashe, for bringing out the beauty. 

You can see more of her place here. 

PS: Plus, she has great taste in chairs! Why do I think so? Hmmm.... click here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas in July

So things have hit planning mode over here big time - with the imminent arrival of not one but two babies later this year, I've been busy making plans. One of the more fun things I have up my sleeve is our babies first Christmas, and we are lucky enough to be spending it with all of their grandparents! I've always wanted to create a cozy, tartaned-up Christmas and this is the perfect excuse... so while everyone else around me in Boston has been celebrating the height of summer Independence day fireworks, I've been dreaming of Christmas.

I have plans for the tablecloth, I've ordered some beautiful black raffia placemats, I have hurricane lamps and bone-handle china for the table. We'll pick up some pine cones for the centrepieces... And guess what arrived the other day? The tablecloth! The joy of planning Christmas in the middle of the year is the great bargains you find! (And it comes in a runner, if you prefer).

It was such a treat to open such beautiful packaging (even if I was in the car with the air conditioning on at full blast!)

Here are some of the images I've found on the web to inspire me (all images and more on my pinterest Christmas Table page, where you can follow them to their sources).

Coffee Addiction

So (doesn't any good story start with so?) my husband and I have lived in the States for ten years. And yes, we have somewhat grown accustomed to the coffee culture. No, you won't find me schlepping an idiotic (sorry to those who love them!) travel mug on my morning commute BUT I do love to make a stop on my errands sometimes and grab a latte from Starbucks. On the go. Gasp. I know. Sacrilegious to not stop and enjoy it but, hey, they have these handy straws and everything.

My husband, on the other hand, will not be caught dead with a Starbucks. He is a Dunkin' Donuts guy, through and through. Dunkin' is a local company and he swears by it. Personally, I can't handle coffee that's too strong, so I only drink lattes, and Dunkin's lattes are nothing to write home about!

So, here we are, accustomed to our American coffee traditions - like ice coffee - and we head home to South Africa. Americans who've visited South Africa may know this - you can't get an ice coffee there,  you get milkshake coffee type things. And other similar fancy drinks but nothing you're used to. My husband, the eternal optimist, ordered various cold coffee drinks while out and about but nothing would scratch that itch. So we were at a restaurant one day and he asked for coffee, ice in a glass and milk, all separately. The waitress brought everything - and instant coffee! In South Africa, filter coffee is not what most people drink, it's instant - so she thought that's what he wanted. So what he did was ask her for a shot of espresso, then poured that over the ice and added the ice. Finally! The itch was scratched.

So (here's another so) it seems like there are some guys who are going to change all that! The Department of Coffee - in Khayelitsha, of all places! I say go boys! I read a lovely article on them in the Jul 2013 House & Leisure magazine, and they say their coffee was really popular in winter but are still convincing people to try ice coffee in the summer. It is just. a. matter. of. time. I know. It didn't take us very long to be addicted!

The guys host events and do tons of fun stuff at their location, so if you're South African or American and find yourself in Cape Town and needing a good (and reasonably priced!) cup of coffee, these are your guys.

Images from here. 

Hertex Fabrics

Hertex Fabrics. Love their ads.

And, have you seen their wallpaper? The City Limits collection is pretty sweet.

Surprise, Surprise

Well, once again a crazy amount of time has passed since my last blog post - but this time I have a couple excellent reasons!

Firstly, the hubby had ligament reconstruction surgery on his ankle. So, for about 4 weeks he was unable to help out around the house. If you read my blog regularly (or should I say used to!) you'll know I work full time and my little blog is my pet project for after hours. Needless to say, blogging wasn't high on my list of to-do's.

And on top of that, I was really, really tired. All the time. Because I have some amazing news! I'm expecting! We were beyond excited to hear we had our own little bubsy on its way, but the timing was a little, uh, cramp in our style! I really could've done with having the 8 week recovery period for the hubby to be first trimester tiredness-free.

And then, a BIG surprise - we discovered at our 12 week ultrasound that there are two babies!

TWO.

It's now 3 weeks later and we still turn to each other every now and then and say twins. Twins! We are so, so excited! We were considering two children for our family (at some point) but now we will have an instant family - we are already planning first baths, first swims, first stand up paddle boards (there are boards for four year olds - woohoo!) and all that fun stuff. I can't wait to meet these little guys. Or girls. Or one of each. We don't know yet.

And, if you're wondering, it was a complete surprise - no maternal (that's me) history of twins, no IVF. The first thing I did after the ultrasound was google how someone like me becomes a mama to twins. Here, you should know this - if you have those first two criteria (history of twins on the woman's side, or medical help) you are more likely to have twins, but also if you are African American (well, to me as a South African, that means black - there are tribes in Nigeria with the highest multiple birth rates in the world), tall (!?), overweight (!?!), or older. According to one website I found, that meant over 30. According to another, it means over 35. I'm 34. I'm also somewhat tall, but not overly so (5'8"). 

So there you have it! The passed few weeks have been focused on getting through the tiredness, and taking care of the foot. I am now catching up on some projects I promised to help friends with, but hopefully soon I can start some fun stuff, like the nursery! I will be sure to share the details, but also any exciting decor and design news from South Africa, like I usually do. 

I hope you are well, and if you're south of the hemisphere I hope your weather is not too cold, and if you are north, I hope your summer is in full swing!

I'll be back soon. Promise.

Strong Muti

I am loving the illustration work from South African design outfit, Studio Muti.

 *Muti means medicine in Zulu.

Piso on Sale!

I end the radio silence to bring important news! Remember the Piso Collection? Its now on sale! 40% off with the code ROBERTSPORT. Click here.

What would I choose? This dress!

And how cute is this dress for a little girl? Aw.