The little things that make life wonderful

Over the last few days whenever I have thought/come across something that I really love I have written it down. The list is random and mainly made up of sweet, tasty things. I have a terribly sweet tooth and am most likely to be the person playing with the sugar at the table.

Things that I love:

Auctions

Health stores

The combination of white sand and blue sea

Antique jewellery

Ice cream

Cute pictures of baby animals

Bran muffins

Strawberry Daiquiri

The smell of lemon grass

Chinese dumplings

Pearls

Phad Thai

Lemon meringue pie

Travelling to a new place

Sleep over parties
Shetland ponies

Goats cheese

Halva

Apple mac products

Not the sound of one hand clapping but many.

Graduating was a truly memorable experience, perhaps that sounds cliché but it’s absolutely true! The atmosphere in the packed multi-purpose hall at CPUT was a mixture of positivity and excitement. The buzz of chatter filled the hall to the brim, the black and red clothed graduates sat with smiles on their faces. As I came closer to the stage to receive my national diploma I became extremely nervous but after my name was read out and the applause that followed my nervousness was replaced with elation. This was a day to look back at the years of studying that had transpired and celebrate making it through.  

The Special special

A spontaneous mid week dinner at Polana turned out to be one of the best yet of 2011 . The Polana restaurant is situated literally on the rocks of the Kalk Bay Harbour and with the glass doors that slide back the sea is almost at your feet. 


Polana has a great mix of seating options which allows you to move around the restaurant depending on your mood. We started off with a glass of beautiful white wine sitting on the cushion ledge looking over the rocks we then moved to the couches, when the sun went down and sidled over to our candle light table when our dinner arrived.


Polana has the most fantastic special on until the end of April. The R50 special consists of 300G steak, mushroom sauce, rocket, avo and parmasan salad and chips. The steak was 'blimmin' brillant and the portions were very generous. What's great about Polana is that it is a beautiful restaurant,the recipe for a lovely, romantic dining experience and with a special like that students like me can get to enjoy it!

Starlings Coffee Shop - Top Class

I tried something different today, woke up early and went for breakfast and cappuccino at Starlings Coffee Shop with the aim being to get some work done in a vibey environment. Starlings is easily the best coffee/deli shop in the Southern Suburbs.  Starling is situated in a old Victorian cottage and it oozes classic, tea shop charm the moment you walk in. The service is always great and the environment is beautiful with glass doors leading out into a 'secret garden'.

The menu is relatively small but seems to grown whenever I get a chance to go back. The small menu definitely doesn't make it easier to choose! Fluffy scrambled eggs for breakfast, or the fig and camembert croissant, all fresh and buttery? Freshly baked quiches are on offer daily as well as gourmet sandwiches. All fresh and delicious.

Did I get work done? Yes, their free wi-fi and top class flat whites made it a very productive visit, except for the occasional distraction from the mouth watering cake stand in front of me.

I'm yet to be unimpressed with this gem! 

'Not all who wander are lost'

This statement better be true because I think that a considerable amount of life is spent wandering. Life may be made up of significant events but they are linked by phases of wandering. 


When I was doing some research on the topic of wandering I came across two quotes that I enjoyed, 'By experience we find out a short way by a long wandering.' - Roger Ascham and
'Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.' - Anatole France.

How to step from a 10 foot pole - Um, Eina!

I'm not sure how and why I would be stepping off a 10 foot pole. This is a blog topic which brings nothing but random things to mind, school camp obstacles courses, flag poles, horse jumping competitions and the May Pole Festival at Waldorf school.

Perhaps I've never had to step off a 10 foot pole but I've got to climb across one, hold one, fly over one and wrap ribbons around one. Seems like I have shared some good times with a 10 foot pole, never would have thought.  

The Realisation

It has been a long struggle in my life to realise that (a) I'm worth something and (b) nobody's perfect.

I use to have this strange idea that I was 'different' in a negative sense where as now I see myself as simply being unique, in a postive way. It's so freshing to look back at the good old school days and see how the things you stressed about so much really don't faze you anymore. 

I really love this quote by Norman Vincent Peale, I think it's such a frank reminder of who our 'life long friend' really is and why it's so important to accept yourself. ' It is practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.'