Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone! It's Friday, yay! (Is it a good thing that I'm always glad when Friday comes around or does that mean something bad?) Next week is my last week of work before we move to the US (crazy!), so this weekend, I'm starting to get things organized and packed. What do you have planned this weekend? I have to say, I am getting so excited to travel into summer! Here are a few links from the web this week and a few photos from my week.


The photo above was of my hubby and Rolo trying to fix something. Rolo is so extremely helpful around the house.

This blog is fantastic! Dessert recipes that only make enough for two people - JUST what I need!

So in love with this shower curtain! (Already thinking ahead for when we get a house in the States:)

I thought the story of this woman in Sudan is very inspiring! Almost a real life martyr.

Along with being excited for summer, I'm getting excited to be able to shop at Target again! Can't wait to get some summer sandals like these.

And this week, the traffic has just been disastrous! This picture was what I stared at for about 25 minutes one morning:

I seriously dislike South African taxis (that's what the bus looking things are). Beautiful sunrise though.:)

Have a great weekend!

A weekend in Hluhluwe / my last bush post for a while?

A while back, we went with a group of friends to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal for a long weekend. You may be thinking, "No, not more safari pictures." Sorry, yes, these are more safari pictures BUT: a) this was not a normal safari experience and b) we're moving in less than three weeks. Miami won't provide us with any African safaris, so I have to take advantage of this while I can.

We camped (like, proper tents with poles and zips) in the game reserve, in a little sectioned that was quarantined with some light fencing. That was it. Just beyond the fence could have been a lion, an elephant, or a zebra (which we did see right outside our camp) at any point. And the camp was next to a river that was home to a number of hippos which we did see. It was so very cool to be that "in nature"...and a little scary.

This was our view at the camp site. 

Our tents.

Our kitchen and "dining room".

The bathroom.

Our shower. And here's how it worked...

This thing is called a donkey. The red barrel is filled with water and a fire is started underneath the barrel to heat the water. Turn the tap and fill a bucket with the heated water.

Then take the bucket with heated water, lower the bucket in the above picture, and fill said bucket with heated water. Raise the above bucket back up to the top of the "shower" and turn the tap. Enjoy!

Despite the less than usual living conditions, we had such a fun weekend hanging out, seeing the wildlife, listening to stories from the park's lead conservationist (including the one where they found leopard tracks in their garden), and relaxing in the bush. Here a few more of some of my favourite photos, if you'd like to see.

I'm sure going to miss South Africa.

xo,
Ellie

The Bioscope: Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg

Last weekend, the hubs, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I ventured into downtown Johannesburg to check out a specific movie theatre. The location of this evening adventure is notable because most people (including me) avoid going into the city because it is dirty, crowded, and sometimes dangerous. But small sections of Johannesburg CBD are being revived and are actually extremely cool. This place and this are examples of this. 

And The Bioscope is another one of these places. Located in Maboneng Precinct, this small, independent movie theatre features chalkboards, pizzas, indie films, and so much style. The four of us went on a Sunday evening to watch Blackfish. (Have you seen it? It's totally fascinating, especially since I wanted to be a killer whale trainer for about half my life.)

The film started at 7pm, so we arrived at about six and grabbed a pizza and some drinks at The Chalkboard - the adjoining cafe. The walls have actual chalkboards all around; just ask for some chalk at the counter and doodle away.

None of those are our drawings...except for my sister-in-law, none of us are that good. It was so fun seeing what other people drew.

Shout out to the blog:)

The theatre itself (which I unfortunately did not take any pictures of) holds about 60 people and all the seats are car seats (like drivers seats). They were really comfortable and just fun to sit in. (Especially when the hubby discovered that you could adjust the height and move the seat up and down.) We took our pizza in and ate while we watched. It was such a wonderful evening!

Blurry but cute.

If you are in Joburg, I highly recommend making your way down to The Bioscope and enjoying some urban, South African culture. (Oh and the Maboneng Precinct is very safe. Like all big cities, you need to be aware of your surroundings and be smart, but you can park your car on the street [across from the theatre] and be at ease. :)

PS - If you want to go to the precinct for a meal before the movie, I suggest Mama Mexicana. It's just a few store fronts down from The Bioscope and is one of the few Mexican restaurants in Johannesburg. Delicious!

Monday

Would love to be here right now!

Hi all,

How was your weekend? Do anything fun? I spent a large majority of mine doing some calligraphy for my job...it was highly stressful but super satisfying once I finished. You can see a sample below.

Between that and moving to-do's (visiting with people, selling furniture, etc.), life seems a bit of a blur and slightly exhausting. Every weekend, I've been wanting to do a "practice pack" and every weekend something a lot comes up that forces me to push the packing to the next weekend. I'm undoubtedly planning to do it this coming weekend, but we'll see what happens.
But despite all the seemingly craziness, we are still so excited and so looking forward to starting our new life in the US.

Lots of Joburg things coming to the blog this week. :)

xo,
Ellie

Emotions of moving

Last night, hubby and I had our last dinner outside in our little garden. The reason it's the last is because someone is buying our patio furniture set and it's being collected today. With our big move being just around the corner, it is so weird what things trigger my heart and start making me emotional. Saying goodbye to this furniture set is one of them.

Before we got married, but after we decided that we would move into the place we still currently live, hubby secretly began working on the garden. It was previously so covered in trees and overgrown plants that virtually zero sunlight came into the house. As a massive natural light lover, this was a big deal to me. So, hubby started clearing out all the weeds and overgrown-ness, and actually built the roof-thing with twinkle lights that you see below and had the furniture set designed with a professional metal-worker. The whole things was such a wonderful surprise, but little did I realize just how much it would mean to me to have our own little area to sit outdoors.

 Laser eyes.

We've had many dinners as just the two of us out there, lots of "braais" (South African bbq), and numerous times just sitting out there reading, praying, and meditating. It gets me emotional to start saying goodbye to our life here (even if it's just from a silly furniture set). But our little garden has been such a blessing. and I can't wait to see what other blessings lie ahead in our big adventure.

xo.

PS - We also said goodbye to our little, white car, Nemo. Despite his various problems, he has chugged along for a while. I'm not quite as emotional to say goodbye to him; as you may or may not be able to see, some bumpers may or may not be coming off. And as the hubs said, "He's now out in the big blue."

News Flash: Paperless Post & J.Crew!

OMG. Seriously, best news of the day:

Paperless Post - which has been a long time favourite of mine for stationary (both print and online) - has collaborated with J.Crew to create a whole slew of greeting cards and invitations. They are just divine! Check them out here. There are so many fabulous options for a summer soiree, a save-the-date, or just an opportunity to say 'thank you'.

They had me at the ellie. :)


That probably wasn't quite the news flash you were expecting to see, but it was imperative I share the news. :)

xo,
Ellie