The #DBNbloggermeet event.

In January 2014, I was asked about arranging an event for Durban lady bloggers. Having worked on Cookie Swap last year, I do know how much of time, work and effort goes into an event. I sat on the fence until I approached Michelle and Nicola to come on board as part of the team. It was a constant arrival of emails, tweets, whatsapps on a daily basis and now that the event is over I miss it 😦

As soon as we tweeted about the possibility of an event did we get the Durban ladies saying yes and how excited they were. Our next point of business was picking a date and a venue (read about Hashtag).

The team pooled our contacts together and started working on sponsors. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would have so many generous and amazing sponsors come on board for our event. It was only when we got to Michelle’s house to pack did we realise how much stuff we actually had. And yes it was like an Oprah moment creating 25 bags of treats/gems for our bloggers.

The status quo is that Durban and Durban bloggers are not considered for product launches BUT after this event this weekend I am sure its going to change!  The hashtag #DBNbloggermeet trended in South Africa as well as #LoveYourLenovo.

 

The much anticipated day arrived and Durban pulled out all stops in terms of fab weather. Joining us for the event were 3 of our sponsors and Mandy from Kitten Action the charity we decided to support. Our venue hosts, Hashtag were so generous that we were not charged anything for our food and drinks and it was then we decided to support Kitten Action by donating kitten food and R50 per blogger to her charity.

Prior to the event Uber ran a twitter competition and gave away a luxury VIP pick up and drop off to the event. This got all the ladies tweeting and wanting to be spoilt. Little did the ladies know how much spoils they were in for. At the start of event, Mandy told us about the charity we were supporting and how our contributions would help. This was very touching and thank you to all our lovely ladies for supporting especially Shirley who was very generous.

Then Carly and Monique from Lenovo who had flown in especially from JHB to join us chatted to us. Carly explained to us about the amazing giveaway they were going to run at the event and give away their new Yoga Tablet. We were asked to tweet what would we do to win. For once it was not considered anti social as we all were glued to our phones. I will be reviewing the Yoga Tablet soon, so I won’t be sharing any info on the product now. The response and tweets were amazing that Lenovo surprised us by giving away not 1 BUT 2 Tablets.

Brett from Frys Foods joined us telling us about their products and importance of meat free Mondays.

Karen from Philospica Botanic spoke to us about their products and soon to be opening Spa in Durban.

Then it was time for food, laughs and lots more talking and tweeting. Throughout the morning, giveaways were taking place and every lady went away with a gift. And then the most anticipated moment our hidden huge LeCreuset bright orange goodie bags were brought out.

 

It was heartwarming to see how excited the ladies were and their squeals of joy discovering LeCreuset goodies. The #DBNbloggermeet was a great event meeting new and old blogging friends.

A big thank you to all our generous sponsors and finally a bigger than big THANK to Michelle and Nicola my Dream Team for all your hardwork and support in making this event a success and a great day for all much love and gratitude.

Ciao xxx

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#HashtagDBN

Us Durban bloggers were rather spoiled when Michelle found us this rather quirky and amazing venue #Hashtag. I was invited to the launch of Hashtag but due to work commitments I couldn’t attend. BUT I knew I would be there for the #DBNbloggermeet. I kept seeing the tweets about Hashtag and couldn’t wait to visit.

Having spoken to Brendan, one of the owners on the phone prior to the event, my interest in Hashtag was even more heightened.

Brendan told me about the concept of designing your own pizzas and burgers using …wait for it – A Tablet. This instantly appealed to the gadget girl geek within me. So on Saturday morning I found myself outside this gorgeous blue building as we started unpacking and getting ready for our #DBNbloggermeet with Michelle and Nicola.

The staff were amazingly helpful and helped us lift, carry, move and hide the enormous bright orange goodie bags. Hashtag was kind enough to give us the exclusive use of their venue. I loved the quirky signs found in Hashtag especially #SelfieZone.

Check out the pics.

Our kind hosts Nasrin, Brendan and Trushin sponsored all our food, drinks and amazing coffees.

Ronaldo the very talented chef came out and spoke to the ladies about the menu and we all were told to order any pizza we wanted off the menu!!! WOW free choice of the pizzas on menu or design your own. Most events I attend one is just given finger food and not to pick our own choice.

A friend of mine, a vegetarian had visited Hashtag a few weeks ago and raved on about the amazing vegetable pizza he had, and trust me he is a very fussy eater. So I defo knew I was in for a yummy treat. After consulting Nasrin on the popular pizzas Michelle, Nicola and myself opted for the Lamb Mint. I got my cousin Maheshree to get the Chicken and mushroom so we could swap (greedy me). Our divine pizzas created by Ronaldo arrive on these gorgeous boards with the cutest lil blackboard pegs with which pizza it was.

The pizza was a feast for the senses it smelled divine, looked divine and yes you guessed it tasted divine. I am not a pizza fan but loved the thin crust pizza with lots of toppings of lamb , mint and cheese. My senses were in a total tizz and loved every bite of my pizza and Maheshree’s chicken one.

As the day was rather warm the staff kept us all hydrated all the time with glasses of iced cold fizzy drinks. I didn’t stay for dessert which I believe was all sorts of yumminess in the form of chocolate, chilli and bananas.

Will I be returning to Hashtag most definately for my birthday on the 20th to treat my senses to more of Ronaldo’s divine creations including desserts this time.

The atmosphere, vibe and service is great at Hashtag, and I know its going to be a place my friends are sure to enjoy for my birthday.

Michelle and I joked with Nasrin about taking Ronaldo home with us actually Nasrin, Michelle and I were serious 😉

See you guys on the 20th Hashtag and once again a big thank you for playing a huge part in making the #DBNbloggermeet a success.

For more info on Hashtag checkout their site and follow them on Twitter.

Ciao or should I say Bon Appetite xxx

Girls Night Out…

Last night I won tickets to the Lux Girls Night out at the movies. I invited my friend Megan to join me. With my crazy work times and since Megan got married last year, we haven’t spent much time together.

We have a lot in common and can chat for ages. So it made perfect sense. We arrived early and chatted non stop on our way there.

Soon as we arrived, we popped into the new Filo Frozen Yoghurt shop and tried out their delicious offerings.

 

Then it was off to get checked in to the event – champagne and orange juice awaited us. We were treated to Lux goodie bags and had a dress up photo booth.

I, the typical poser had to do those pics. It was at this point we both realised we didn’t even know what movie we were going to watch. Typical us chatting – up a storm. We both were unsure about the movie “The Divergent” but were rather surprised and loved it.

The soundtrack is amazing with great eye candy and amazing ink work. Before the movie while sitting there stuffing our faces with popcorn, we recalled dramas and craziness from other movies that we had watched and were hysterical.

I totally loved my evening spent with Megan. It reminded me about friendships and several lessons :

1. Just because I don’t see/speak to you often doesn’t mean you are special to me.
2. Friends will always have your back regardless.
3. Only friends will fight to pay.
4. Friends are memorykeepers .
5. Friends care regardless situations.
6. Laughing and crying at the same time over crazy moments with friends.

Dearest Megan, I thank you for your friendship, care and advice. Strange that we gelled instantly at work with so much common ground.

Though we don’t see each other much I appreciate the time we do spend together.

Here’s to more days out with fun, laughter and crazy stories…

Hugs and Kisses V…

 

ciao xxx

Love Guru…

Well, as all of you know, I am a hopeless romantic and also not very lucky in the department of love. So I was quite taken aback last weekend when a male friend asked my help on Dating advice. Yikes here’s me who completely read the retard in shining tinfoil incorrectly but oh well let’s see. The 1st question I was asked was my thoughts on Dating Sites..

Well been there done that got the Tshirt but its not for me, I did suggest to the friend to sign up on one of them and give it a try, I mean you never know. So the friend tried this but was not to impressed with the sites. And then came question two: How attractive am I ? (From a ladies point of view) and what can I do to improve myself ??

Before I continue, here is a lil background on the friend. He is well educated, easy to get along with, able to hold conversations, dresses well, enjoys good food and wine. I mean, he has a lot going on but for me I think its his self confidence.

So my mission for March is going to help my friend boost his confidence and hopefully find a gf 🙂

Wish me luck!

Ciao xxx

15 Things that make me a unique Indian Girl…

Last week I came across this rather funny but very true post on Buzzfeed. I decided to share my top 15 of the List :

1. You spend a significant amount of your time and money on hair removal, in various forms.

Yes all forms of torture waxing , threading , sugaring , plucking and bleaching

2. You regularly receive Facebook friend requests from middle-aged men in suburban India with whom you have zero mutual friends.

Or Pakistan

3. You were raised to fear the sun because your grandmother would disown you if your skin got darker.

Or you wouldn’t get married as milky tea coloured skin was more desirable in a girl

4. Of course, at the end of the day, you’re free to marry whomever you want… Except the extensive list of races, religions, and nationalities your mom has vetoed.

Hello parents its 2014 not 1820 but then saying that I am kinda off Indian guys at the moment

5. No matter how old you get, you have to give your parents a detailed itinerary every time you leave home.

Gee whizz I feel like I am 5 ! How am I meant to meet a nice boy?

6. Nothing cheers you up like rocking out to your Bollywood jams.

Good old Bollywood tracks always get me bopping.

7. If you ever got sick, you were forced to eat ginger and drink honey, regardless of the ailment.

Force fed home remedies let’s not forget Castor Oil yukkkkk

8. Your standards for romance are unreasonably high.

Thank you Bollywood for this rose tinted glasses. Sorry, current and future boyfriends.

9. You have some serious swearing abilities and you aren’t afraid to use them.

True story the first words I learn in any language are the swear words so don’t make me angry cause I will go all foreign on you.

10. Your other special talent: bargaining.

In my case always a bargain hunter, hate paying full price

11. In your vocabulary, chai = gossip.

Isn’t it a universal language

12. You never had sex ed at school, so you learned about sex from questionable sources.

Defo no Birds and the bees chat with the parents.

13. But you know that there’s nothing in the world more flattering than a sari and some confidence.

Hell yes very sexy, all men love a woman in a sari.

14.You have aunties all over the world, none of whom you are related to.

Yes Oz, New Zealand, Canada, California, Mauritius.

15. And you wouldn’t trade your loud, chaotic, and colorful life for all the samosas in the world.

Totally love my colourful culture, religion and history.

Am sure many of you reading this post are nodding and saying yes true story lol.

I love who and what I am and totally proud to be Indian.

I am leaving you with a video of one of my fav Bollywood Tracks that always gets my entire family young and old on the dance floor:  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bILcP_SmqVY

Ciaoxxx

Weddings

In June my amazing friend M married her beloved M is a beautiful ceremony that was so touching. I even caught the bouquet so guess that means I am next.

So this got me thinking about weddings, marriage , traditions and culture.In an Indian wedding its always a large event that occurs over a period of 2 weeks, lots of feasting, songs, dancing and colourfulclothing.Ithinks this takes away the signifance. Every wedding that occurs now is bigger and better than the last with wedding co ordinators and programme directors all these things cost a large amount of money and is over so quickly.

Some marriages are based on love while others are arranged . This process of arranged marriage is not often done these days but there is a history of this especially in the Indian culture.They say you can learn to love someone …. not sure about this but on the flipside of the coin your family find you a suitable partner .

A wedding is the joining of two people who have decided to walk down the same path together , it is also a joining of their families and friends. Every culture has their own traditions which is always interesting to see how different people celebrate weddings.As much as it is a joyous celebration it is also sad for the to be leaving her family and starting a new life.

My take on marriage ……. Marriage is when two souls unite and become one to share their life journeys together through rocky roads and rainbows. Every religion of the world holds marriage as a very important aspect of life, I do believe in marriage but I dont beleive in the vast amounts of money spent on this day as the true meaning of this celebration gets lost. Though my heart has been broken and is almost like a patchwork quilt I still believe in love and marriage and yes I do want to get married someday not an arranged marriage tho but with someone I love and someone who does complete me …..

ciao
xxx

Welcoming Winter….

Winter is my favourite season. I love this season as it brings images of fireplaces, hot chocolate and snow.

I dont like extreme heat so hence Winter is for me.Since experiencing a proper change of seasons and Winter I fell more in love with this season. I love the fact that you can actually dress up, full make up, hair done and not worry about the heat damaging your hardwork.
Winter clothing is so playful and fab colours all the deep rich tones. Boots, scarves, hats and coats ooh such choices.

Winter brings yummy food treats in every home from cakes, pies, stews, spicy crab curry, samoosas and lots of warm drinks. Generally one tends to put on a little more weight during these months.We tend to snack more and look for comfort food.

My favourite winter moments where in London waking up to snowflakes falling and the sky so light. Walking to work as there were no buses running and then seeing the paw prints of foxes and birds in the snow totally breathtaking. I recall fondly standing at the window with a dear friend Travis watching snowflakes fall, just silence between us while sipping piping hot cups of tea to warm us. Such a blissful moment taking in the beauty around us. Later on that day, I had my first snow fight with my friends it was awesome, we instantly became kids running around throwing snowballs at each other and making snow angels.

For me winter also has a romantic notion of cuddling by the fireplace, in a log cabin sipping Mulled wine. Winter is associated in my mind with Christmas.

I love Winter no doubt about that……. Mother Nature, I waited with bated breath to welcome Winter with open arms and recall all my wonderful memories…..

Keep Calm

Often life throws are curve balls and we find it pretty hard to cope with. A few weeks ago I was going through a very trying patch with the people in my life.My dearest friend M sent me this Keep Calm pic and I loved it. From the colour to the words it was meant for me. Sometimes its the little things tha make our heart happy. I often use my blogging as a platform to vent. Thanks M 🙂

True Self

Sometimes we all need an outlet to vent , some use Twitter while others use Facebook and then there are those of us who use Blogging.
A friend and I been having these really interesting conversations on people which prompted my blog on “Ordinary People”. I have been nagging at him to start blogging but he is a little shy, so I offered my blog for him to do his debut…. The following is his blog please feel free to leave any comments…

True Self

In childhood, an older friend of mine once introduced me to the works of Ursula K Le Guin, a fantasy and sci-fi author. Through the years, I’ve seen real world analogues between the situations and characters in her work and those of real life.

The analog that I’ve seen most recently is to the short story, “The Rule Of Names”. | http://amzn.to/13pREoz

In the fictional world of magic and dragons that it is set in, all objects have two names. There is the True Name and the Common use name, which is exactly as it sounds. The True Name holds power over an objects identity and is only to be shared with a trusted person. Knowledge of an object’s True Name forces the object to reveal its True Self.

In the story, the wizard Mr Underhill serves the people of an island. Many years pass until a stranger comes along and calls out the wizard to be the dragon with the True Name “Yevaud”. Once the dragon’s disguise is exposed, there is no reason for him to pretend to be a soft avuncular old man any longer and he lays waste to the island, eating up villagers that he once befriended.

Some people in the real world are just dragons in disguise.

They create a false external identity and charm you, causing you to trust them and allow them into your life. They will share their lives with you, but soon you notice that its less than reciprocal. They seem to need you when they’re in trouble, but wont be there when you need a helping hand. Their successes are magnified, and yours dont bear notice.

If the person drops their defences and shares a secret shame or weakness, consider this the beginning of the end of your interaction. They have just shown you the route to their True Self, the path of thorns that they must cross every day. Now that you know their True Name, they become suspicious and paranoid, waiting for you to expose them to the world. Driven by emotional projection, they expect you to do unto them, as they would do unto others. They will seize any opportunity to drive you away. They have a penchant for inventing falsehoods, and deliberately misconstruing things that are not there in your words and actions. In short, the Devil starts interpreting scripture. Playing the blameless victim and painting you as an aggressor is typical at this stage.

Because they have a conflicted identity between their outer False self, and secretive True Self, they easily create a cognitive dissonance where they rationalise their behaviours, and selectively disburse what passes for emotions. They are quite happy to pick out faults in others, but a little bit of introspection will leave them paralysed with fear.

While this is happening, you begin to analyse the behaviour. Like most normal people do, you start with yourself and search for the trigger event. Save yourself the trouble. Your only mistake was helping someone who needed help, and like the old story about the scorpion and the swan, it bit you in the ass because it had a limited behavioural range.

Dragons need professional help. Don’t expect them to come to you for forgiveness, trying to raise the dead. Unless you’re a trained psychiatrist, you are not capable of playing Jesus, to the lepers in their head.

Dust your feet, leave with the lesson, and move along.

Cut off from the world……. Technology Detox

All those who know me know I am obsessed with technology in all forms and on all platforms. From Twitter to Facebook to BBM….

So on Friday I got to work only to find my Blackberry frozen , I been a techno gadgety girl decided to fix it but alas the phone would not come on at all. Such horror for me cut off from the world..Luckily for me I had my Samsung Tablet on me as I was stuck at work with everyone gone and no way of getting in touch with my brother .Then the genius in me decided to email him and my friend M who rescued me by calling my mum.

Even my 2 fully charged batteries didnt help me this time. So since Friday I have been with a phone and connection to my Techno world. Went into the Service provider yesterday only to find out that my phone needed a software upgrade but alas the guy who normally does it was away till Monday.But while there I found out valuable info on BB BIS and how it would affect me as well as that I am due for an upgrade next month yipeee.

I must admit I feel very out of the loop not constantly been in the loop but its a kind of Techno detox. Last night I was able to catch up watching several series and even got to watch a documentary which was fab.So maybe I needed this Detox….. However mum has given me an old Nokia phone with very limiting features just sms and calling actually feels strange and weird having this phone.

Hopefully tomorow I will have my phone and be in the loop again… To all my fellow bloggers and tweeting community I have missed you guys.. Hope you missed me too…..