Champagne, shopping and Coco Chanel - What a week it's been

It has been a busy week! No wonder I am happy to be at home on a Saturday evening in my slippers, face mask and oversized Beatles tee; glass of wine in hand and updating my beloved little blog. It was a week of functions and late nights, here's me and my louboutins out on the town...

The Coco Avant Chanel Movie Premiere

Wednesday was the Glamour Magazine Coco Avant Chanel Premiere at Rosebank Mall. With copious amounts of sushi, Piper Hiedsick champagne and La Motte wines, Jill Grogor outdid herself as usual. Pnina Venster, Glamour Editor in chief and all round icon looked incredible in vintage YSL and there were gorgeous women with luscious red lips as far as the eye could see.

The movie left me with an overwhelming sense of sadness for the loss that Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel experienced. Empires come at a cost, but Tatou's eyes in the closing shot seem to portray that for  Madamoiselle Chanel, too high a price was paid.

The movie has however made me want to put a few more classic pieces in my wardrobe that are simple and timeless. After all, "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."

Shopping at Melrose Arch

Thursday evening was a shoppers dream at the Melrose Arch Piazza and I spied too many beautiful outfits in Tiger of Sweden to count! Thankfully the rain only lasted 20 minutes, but it did ensure that guests stepped away from the bar and into the shops to have a look at this season's latest trends.

Fundudzi sale at the Hyatt

The champagne started flowing early on Friday at Craig Jacobs' Fundudzi sale where I caught Ms Su doing some shopping on her 15 minute break from Summit TV. She bought a gorgeous dress and suit. I didn't do too badly either (two tops, a dress and a trench)

FTV Girls Night Out

Dinner with the girls (and Thulane), hosted by Grant and Anele was loads of fun, especially the impromptu dance show to Beyonce's "all the single ladies" performed by Anele and Thulane - check it out below! 

The food was yummy, the company was great and the prizes were mind blowing - think True Religion jeans, Givenchy sunglasses and gym membership to Planet Fitness. A big thanks to Lorinda Voges and FTV. Can't wait for the next one on October 2nd...

'Ye Old' DVD review - Dazed and Confused

It's the last day of school at a high school in a small town in Texas in 1976. The seniors are hazing the incoming freshmen, and everyone is trying to get stoned, drunk, or laid. It's a time they'd never forget... if only they could remember.

This Cult classic is on my 'must own list' and this week I am not only suggesting you watch it, I'm insisting. If only to see a fat Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey with a handlebar moustache. Other stars include Parker Posey, Jason London, Rory Cochrane, Joey Lauren Adams and Milla Jovovich. Interestingly, Vince Vaughn was originally cast as Benny, but was replaced by Cole Hauser after the director decided that he and Ben Affleck resembled each other too closely. Renee Zellweger actually auditioned for a larger role as one of the senior girls but was given the uncredited non-speaking role of Nesi White. Reportedly one-sixth of the film's budget was spent on acquiring the rights to 1970s pop hits on the soundtrack and the word "man" is said 203 times total in the movie.

With memorable quotes like:

Simone: Now fry like bacon, you little freshman piggies. Fry!

Pink: It’s best to get it all at once. After the first 10 licks your ass gets so numb you don't feel it.

O'Bannion: You are an embarrassment to the game of pool and should be glad I even let you play at my table.

Slater: Didja ever look at a dollar bill, man? There's some spooky shit goin' on there. And it's green too.

Get your munchies ready and let's roll it (the film not the spliff)...

ARISE CAPE TOWN FASHION WEEK

There are so many reasons to love African Fashion International's Arise Cape Town Fashion week, not least of which are the delicious models in the Craig Port show.

Dax martin showcased fabulous swimwear, some with a deliciously naughty S&M feel. Fabiani showcased fabulous men's linen pants for summer and gorgeous three-piece suits complete with 'Avenger' style bowler hats. Blue was the  colour for many designers this year (great for me, it's my favorite) as well as painted toes for the guys (not sure about this one.)

But the shows are only half of it, and the real fun is had at the myriad of after parties, most notably Gavin Rajah's at Nobu where I had a ball with Jennifer Su and Bjorn Steinbach, AFI's official after party at HQ and of course Craig Port's party at the Table Bay Hotel, organized by Jill Grogor and sponsored by GQ and Glamour magazine. Fundudzi designer, Craig Jacobs had his birthday bash at 91 complete with an outstanding midnight fashion show. After all these parties, this fashionista has swopped her heels for Havaianas for a few days. My sincerest apologies feet, but no-one ever said that fashion was easy!

GUY CANDY OF THE MONTH - Bjorn Steinbach

My first 'Guy Candy' shout out goes to a remarkable local actor by the name of Bjorn Steinbach.

The man has the body of a God, the soul of an artist and a heart of gold. 

He's graced the World's screens in Generation Kill and Natalee Holloway, and most recently spent time acting on the set of Clint Eastwood's new film, Invictus. 

'One to watch' would be an understatement here, this man is going places! All of this is the absolute truth girls, I happen to know this one personally.

mmmm, now that I'm thinking, I should auction off his phone number. I could make a killing....

You can also vote for Bjorn for the new face of Police sunglasses at www.faceofpolice.co.za

BOMBS OVER BAGHDAD

Now I’ve never been one to preach that violent films desensitize our youth, but watching CNN last night I was struck by my own inability to truly empathize with the man on screen being interviewed about his desperate search to find his missing brother after a bomb blast in Baghdad.

Has the war been going on for so long that it has become a mere faded backdrop upon which I continue to live my life on the other end of the world? Or have I seen all to often Hollywood’s protagonist searching against insurmountable odds only to find him at the last second wounded but still able to disarm a secret nuclear bomb with only 2.3 seconds to go?

At what point did the reality and suffering of others become a mere plot point in the next blockbuster we want to see. Is this our way of coping with the unspeakable that we know happens every day – our way of rationalizing and romanticizing these atrocities so that we can sleep at night?

Because as I type on my Mac Book from my comfortable bed with the sound of the ocean and the knowledge that I can speak my mind and live my life as I see fit, I can’t help but think of the innocent people who’s lives are filled with mortar bombs and indoctrination, fear and persecution. Maybe we shouldn’t go to bed tonight ready to sleep easy, maybe we should all feel a little more for our fellow man – especially those who are furthest from ourselves in beliefs and traditions. After all, we would all search for our missing brother or mother or child with the same pain and hope in our hearts.

Maybe if we all thought a little more along those lines, the next bombs would not be dropped as easily…

10 quick tips to a more glamorous you

Stepping out onto the red carpet looking like a movie star is not as easy as one might expect, contrary to popular belief, we don't wake up that way. Except for Megan Fox, she does, but I am also almost certain that she’s an alien sent from Planet Perfection to make us mere mortals feel eternally bad about ourselves.

For the rest of us, it is a lengthy process that requires a team of stylists, make-up artists and hair gurus before we look like the genetically enhanced ‘superbeings’ that modern society expects to see.

Unfortunately, not having time to get ready is often a problem, as rushing from set to get to a function doesn’t leave you with hours to get everything perfect. So after much experience and some great advice from those more knowledgeable than I, here are some very handy ways to go from grim to goddess in a flash:

1) Use a primer under your foundation, it helps make pores invisible which goes a long way to helping achieve that perfect Hollywood complexion.

2) I actually apply my eyeliner before my foundation, that way if I make a mistake, I can quickly neaten it up with a cotton bud and make-up remover without worrying about having to touch up my foundation too.

3) Eyeliner is a great way to frame your eyes and means that you don’t have to wear as much eyeshadow. Eyepencil is the easiest to apply, but a great alternative for a more dramatic evening eye is cake eyeliner, which you apply with a damp liner brush.

4) Apply mascara in layers for well-separated, longer lashes. Fake lashes take practice, but once you get the hang of applying them, they are a very easy way to give a glamorous finish to your look.

5) I find a neutral lip to be a lot easier to apply and keep up through the night. Dark shades tend to bleed and you have to keep reapplying all night. You also need to worry that you don’t have lipstick on your teeth. For your best neutral shade, match the colour to the inside of your bottom lip.

6) Use eyebrow shadow and a brush to fill in and shape your brows, but don’t make them too dark or you’ll look like you have two fat black worms chilling above your eyes.

7) If you apply too much blush – it’s easier to do than we think – take a clean brush and dust off the excess. If it’s still too much, dust some translucent powder over for a quick fix.

8) For a glamorous day look, a great pair of shades are a must.

9) Your shoes and handbag are a quick way to glam up a plain outfit and make you look effortlessly cool.

10) No doubt when you are getting dressed in a hurry, you will end up with deodorant stains on your outfit. Have no fear, Wetwipes work wonders to remove these pesky white marks quickly and effectively.

'Ye Old' DVD review - Can't Hardly Wait

New releases are great, but sometimes there's nothing like getting out an old favorite for an evening in with popcorn and a trip down memory lane.

That's why this month's 'oldy but a goody' movie review goes to a little film called Can't Hardly Wait. Yes, the 1998 teen comedy with Seth Green and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The cast also included Ethan Embry, Jaime Presley, Selma Blair and Peter Facinelli. Jason Segel from How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall even has his screen debut here as 'Watermelon guy.'

Its high school graduation, and like all seniors they want to party. In the meantime a boy wants to get a girl he's loved for years and as luck, or the forces of Barry Manilow would have it,  she just broke up with her boyfriend. There's also a nerdy head-case that wants revenge on a lifelong bully and a hip hop weirdo that is trying to lose his virginity and gain some respect. So the party comes, things develop. People have sex, drink, and go along with most of the guidelines of a high school graduation party.

With great lines like:

Denise: There's a mirror right there. Take a look, you're white. 

Stoner Guy: You know who else I like that didn't get much play? Velma from Scooby-Doo. She was cool. She was a hip, hip lady. 

William: I can't feel my legs, I HAVE NO LEGS! 

William: Nobody drink the beer, the beer has gone bad! 

Kenny Fisher: Let's go, boys. Time is honey. 

Kenny Fisher: Those shoes! 

Denise: What? 

Kenny Fisher: Do they serve an orthopedic function? 

This is most definitely worth the trip to the DVD store, even if only to relive your own high school embarrassments.

Quick tips for a fashionably 'evergreen' lifestyle

Gone are the days when environmentalists were Tie-dye wearing hippies and hairy tree-hugging potheads that thought D&G was a deodorant and Karl Lagerfeld was a type of beer.

With so many celebs jumping on the Enivronmental band wagon (hybrid of course) it seems that the trendsetting elite of the world agrees; Green is the new black. 

We've seen many of the world's biggest stars trade in their Hummers for Hybrids, but before you go and blow all your cash on solar panelling in the midst of a world recession, think about starting small with some everyday changes that would make Cameron Diaz and Leonardo di Caprio proud.

Here are some really easy changes you can make to your every day life:

1) Set your aircon one degree higher and heater one degree lower - u won't be able to tell the difference but you will definitely save energy.

2) When you run a bath, put the plug in before you start, it won't make a difference to the overall heat but it will save water.

3) Instead of using a lighter for your cigarette, opt for matches, preferably from matchbooks with cardboard matches. If all smokers used these instead, 5.5 million trees would be spared every year. (The Green book)

4) Don't take a stack of paper napkins when you get takeout - just take one or two as needed. We are not neanderthals, we invented knives and forks and have the coordination to get food neatly into our mouthes.

5) Drink tap water. The carbon footprint on bottled water is ridiculously high - especially the imported stuff. It's water for crying out loud!

6) Activate e-statements and e-accounts, it will really cut down on paper usage and it also means you can get your bills wherever you are and save your credit rating from being crushed if you are away for an extended period.

7) unplug appliances and chargers that aren't being used - they sap electricity when plugged into the wall.

8) Use both sides of every piece of paper. It sounds simple, but so many people don't do it.

9) Buy eyeliner pencils that are encased in wood as opposed to plastic - wood is biodegradable, duh... 

10) Don't put the washing machine on hot, rather use warm or cold. It will save energy and your clothes too. Also, rather hang your clothes out to dry - any fashionista will tell you that the dryer is to clothes what sandpaper is to your car's paint job (hybrid of course) ;-p

DECONSTRUCTING WOMEN - Bonnie Tyler had a point

‘Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods? Where’s the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?’

Sitting at his computer looking at photos of his mate’s weekend debauchery on facebook whilst IMing another friend about where to go for this week’s boy’s night out. That’s where he is. As if there really is that much difference between the food at The Grand (Joburg not Cape Town) and the buffet at the nearest Teasers stripclub. Modern technology has made men lazy.

With the advent of facebook, twitter, flickr and the like, where is the effort? Have we devolved so much that a facebook event invitation is how you ask someone out? What happened to the personal touch?

Social networking and cellular telephones have taken all the fear and angst out of courtship. The fear of phoning the home line and having to deal with the father (or even worse the husband) has long since past. You don’t have to justify your virtues as a potential mate to the family patriarch or spend months romancing the lady in the company of the court. In modern society, most of the time you have the audacity to tell us to meet you out.

Now, as a point of clarity, you can rest assured that we are not asking for much. We don’t need a man to defend our honour (after all, that’s why God invented Boxercise) and we don’t need a man to perennially pick up the tab for all our dinner dates as well as our living expenses. But yes, opening the car door would be a nice touch. Sadly, I think we’ve all had so many shockingly bad experiences that our expectations have been adjusted accordingly. WHY?

If anything, I have accomplished more, worked harder and have held myself to a higher set of standards than past generations. So why should I suddenly be satisfied with a mere suggestion of the man that YOU can be?

Wake up men!

‘I’m holding out for a hero, it’s gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet.’

Fine, maybe not Superman per se, but at the very least you can make the effort to open your car door, get out of said car and walk the ten steps to ring our doorbell instead of texting us that you are outside. You can look us in the eye when you talk to us and actually listen when we talk back. You’ll be surprised what you can learn from concentrating on the conversation instead of the cleavage. Also, putting your hand on the small of our back as you pull out the chair for us never slowed down the process of getting us between the sheets either.

 Just a thought…

 

SEX AND THE MOTHER CITY -- Searching for Mr Right (In stealth mode)

Have you ever found yourself sitting on a plane and trying to hide the heading of the article you're reading?

Actually bending the top corner of the page so the guy in the isle behind you can't see that you are doing tabloid research on how to find 'Mr Right.'

WTF??

When did being an independent, successful woman equate to having to deny looking for a loving relationship? When did the following become our auto-response? "Me, looking for a relationship?Are you freakin' kidding me?"

This is fast becoming the female mantra. When did shrill and bitchy become our tagline? And more importantly, how many of us actually believe this when we hear it coming out of our own mouths at a dinner party? we've made isolating the opposite sex a multi-national past time over the last few years.

Let's take a chill pill girls; Wanting something is not the same as waving the white flag of surrender. In fact, feminine charm is a far deadlier weapon in the war of the sexes.

But let's put our weapons down for now, put that shoe on the other foot and ask ourselves "How would we feel if the men suddenly burned their boxers and claimed that they no longer had any use for us?"

Not so invigorating when the Louboutin is cradling some other toes?

Saying that you want someone, or even need someone should not be a show of weakness. It's a show of courage and being secure in who you are. Stand up; say what you wanna say.

If he reacts badly, that's his problem... (you can always send out the female distress call and we'll all go nuclear on his ass)

XO

From City to Safari...

Last Thursday saw me putting my Louboutins in the cupboard and my Uggs in my suitcase for a trip to the game farm to get some way overdue R&R. 

There's nothing like swopping your blackberry for a few black rhino and your email account for a herd of elephant. Until of course your life is really put in danger by an elephant charging your vehicle. Bible! Thank god for wine and Savannah, nothing calms the nerves like a nip of alcohol after a near death experience. 

Yes, I am the silly blonde in the video that puts her head up just in time to be charged. For peeps that have yet to come to SA for safari, this may look like a chilled lil' Ellie jogging, but I can assure you that 'chilled' is exactly how they look just before they flip your vehicle and ram their tusks through the door and your leg.

The rest of the trip was filled with rare sightings, including 3 Black Rhino (endangered species), a pride of 21 lions, Wild dogs and their six young pups (also endangered species) and a very rare lion kill where two male lions killed a fully grown female rhino.

Good game viewing, great friends and loads of food & wine. No wonder we were all so depressed on the drive home.