Yoga-Gaga!

I may have mentioned it before, but I recently started practising yoga. Bikram and Power yoga that is - and I've fallen completely in love! Don't get me wrong, I've never thought myself to be the type of girl who does yoga: I'm certainly not a hippie, I'm completely carnivorous and Zen-like tranquility has never held any appeal to me.

Ok, so it's a discovery that has most fortuitously coincided with my stopping smoking and a couple of other little life shifts (Saturn's Return anyone?) but I really can't emphasise what a life-changing experience this new practice has been to me. So much so that I have decided to spend some time in India next winter (that's the South African winter which runs from May to August) and stay at a yoga ashram. I'm going to have to do some serious saving for the first time in my life, but I think I can manage it. I'm on a serious mission to make it materialise!

In all my Googling research I've stumbled across some great articles, beautiful pictures and a few very inspirational blogs. Thanks to this very amusing article on the Nat Geo Traveller website, I've got my heart set on the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala.

Meditation on the banks of the Neyyar Dam. The wildlife sanctuary opposite means that the sounds of lions waking greets you with the sunrise.

I have to wonder if my own sense of beauty and taste may change after a month in India...

I also stumbled across this beautiful blog, Gipsy Girl's Guide, and the blogger reflects on her time spent at the same ashram.

Now I fear that you'll all be left with the impression of me as a yoga mat-toting, incense-burning, barefoot, health fanatic... And although I'd like to be able to tell you that you couldn't be further from the truth, I can't. Whereas I certainly don't fit perfectly into that description, I guess I can describe myself as a down-to-earth princess. My boyfriend would completely disagree. With the down-to-earth part. But hey...

Anyhow, seeing as I have now digressed completely from my point, let me tell you about a spa in Thailand that a producer that I work with highly recommends. Now when I say spa, one immediately sees $$$ (or in our case here in S.A - RRR) but this little gem is unbelievably inexpensive! I'm hoping that if I budget correctly, save enough money and stop shopping for stuff I really don't need then perhaps I can manage a stopover seeing as I will be in South-East Asia anyway...

Wow, my little heart is pumping custard just at the thought!! Have a look and a read about the detoxification process, spa treatments and other offerings here - Samui Spa Resorts.

Ok, well, that's it from me today... Will be dreaming and planning and plotting and not shopping!!! See you tomorrow...

Xxxx
The Girl Belle

Great-Shape Saturday

With summer just around the corner here in the Southern Hemisphere, my quest for fitness, weight-loss and a really nice bum continues...

Would KILL for a figure like this Victoria's Secret girl!!

So, yoga first thing this morning, and then the girls and I are heading up Table Mountain for a hike in an hour. Should hopefully burn off all that shortbread I ate last night!

Table Mountain

Heading up from Kirstenbosch Gardens - can't wait to see the spring Fynbos in full bloom! 

It'll actually be the first time I've ever hiked up Table Mountain, despite living in Cape Town for 7 years now. I guess when I was younger weekend days were more about sleeping off Friday and Saturday nights than waking up early and doing something healthy just for me:)

Anyhow, to balance all this talk of health & exercise (and just to reassure you that I haven't completely lost my mind), I feel I must just share this picture that I found on the Betty Crocker website, which I discovered last night in my search for the perfect chicken and broccoli bake recipe...

Yummy! Delicious, delicious, DEEEELICIOUS!! 

Xxxx
Belle

A bit of summer in France for winter in Cape Town...

I've recently discovered the wonderful American online interior store, One Kings Lane and so far have fallen in love with what I've been seeing! The store basically features regular sales on normally pretty expensive items from upcoming designers, decorators and retailers. It's also loaded with gorgeous pictures and it's full of inspiration!

I particularly liked the feature on Kathryn Ireland's new book, Summers in France. This sort of home just makes me melt... I would give anything for an old villa in the South of France, to fix it up, to decorate it, to cultivate the vineyard and maybe even grow some olives. Anyone seen A Good Year? Without a doubt, 1 of my favourite movies - just for the cinematography and the location!

Age-old stone walls and blue shutters, wrought iron furniture plush with soft cushions, big oak trees and afternoon naps...

And don't even get me started on the markets... The French actually have 365 nationally recognised cheeses - 1 for every day of the year, not to mention the countless others that are locally produced and not formally recognised. It's a cheese-lovers paradise! Scrap that - it's a culinary dream in every regard!

Pity my birthday isn't in the summer (it's actually next week people!)... Would love to hold a luncheon like this. With all the goods I'd have bought from the market in the nearest village:)

Yes, I know, I'm a total Francophone... But there's something about French architecture, design, food, wine and yes - even the people that I just adore.


Je l'adore! Mais bien sur:)

Haas [Part II]

I've been promising the second installment of my Haas exploration, and here it is...

I will, however, be keeping it short as I've just acquired a new camera - and a proper one! (Thank you Mom!) Am about to head off into the rain in my new pink floral Wellies for Experiment Number 1 with New Professional Camera! To be honest, I've only really used to the ole 'happy snaps', point-and-shoot types, so this is pretty new to me - despite my the fact that my day job is film production... But there's a HUGE difference between motion picture production and taking a decent stills photograph! ;)

The Wellies! We love 'em! 

Ok - back to Haas...

So I mentioned previously that I'd been there for a coffee. And good coffee it was, but it was more the setting ad the shop itself that blew me away than the actual coffee. (I'm not the biggest fan of strong coffee, I'm more the "single skinny latte type"). Regardless, attached to that beauteous coffee boutique is the actual shop - part of the Haas Collective, I believe. Take a peak here for more information - http://www.haascollective.com/. While not everything they offer will find its way into my home, there is definitely a market for what they offer. The Haas Collective has some truly unique pieces which I can admire from a distance and appreciate for both their eccentricity and their originality.

I just adore this triptych - this is one piece I definitely could do with above my mantle!

Close-up of the 3rd in the series - I just LOVE the shoes and the old-world charm. It screams Latin American Glamour!

There are a couple of artworks that I really just adored in the store - 3-Dimensional butterflies cut out from pages of an antique book set in recessed glass, framed book covers with pages entwined and shaped to form patterns, a simple wooden flying heart... It inspires me to see this kind of work coming out of South Africa - such talent, such creativity... I'm quite envious really! :)

Not sure about the rodent skulls above it, but hey! Each to their own...

And their jewelery collections - love it! Totally affordable and too cute for words...

One or two very unusual old-world turned avant-garde pieces of furniture - lovely to look at, althouth they would quite fit in my home. But hey, definitely worth admiring for its beauty...

And lastly,let me make this clear as I have no doubt you will be seeing much more of this in the future - I'm having a little love affair with basket work. Not the usual crafty-stuff we see so much of in SA, but unique, artistic pieces that I just LOVE and want... Like this one...

That's all for now - I'm off to splash in the mud with my Wellies and see what pics I can get from this whole new adventure...

Xxxx

Today's unexpected surprise...

Haas [Part 1]

Rose Street, Bo Kaap. 

As a devoted fan of the Vida Empire, I can’t tell you what a pleasant surprise it was to make the little discovery that I made today…

Now don’t get me wrong, these coffee shops are in 2 completely different leagues – Vida is more for the quick cuppa on the run, and Haas is somewhere you would want to sit. And stay. For a long, long time. Preferably in the antique wingbacks on the pavement...

The barristers and waiting staff were friendly, dapper and charming – I love the Top Hats! Quite funny guys too. I really enjoy establishments where the staff seem to have a sense of pride and where they’re shown enough respect to allow them to just be themselves. It shows.

The coffee is roasted on-site – from the raw, green beans to the final ground product. All done through this gorgeous old-world roasting machine in the front shop.

What I love most about Haas the Coffee Shop - its fresh, original decor and styling. Something different for Cape Town, full of Old World Charm but still making a cheeky nod towards its South African heritage. I simply love the putty-grey, silver and gold colour-scheme.

And, although I'm not normally a fan of this sort of thing, the metallic skull & horns on the wall next to the vintage mirrors just work so well.

And I was immensely impressed to see Lady Bonin's tea for sale behind the counter! Lady Bonin has even made a special blend of tea just for Haas.

Most important to note: Haas consists of both a coffee shop as well as a shop selling home collectibles, art and jewelry (See Haas [Part 2]). Fantastic gifts for the self and others, this shop is definitely going to be one of my first stops.