A night at the Panto

For me the launch of the annual pantomime heralds the start of the festive season. It is the night when colleagues and friends forget about the chaos that comes with this season and gather for an evening of risqué giggles and saucy silliness.

This year’s panto was Romeo and Juliet – an East Coast Story.

Having a ton to do at work didn’t leave me much time to get ready. So I opted to jazz up the outfit I had been wearing that day before dashing out the door.

 

I swopped my huge carry all bag for this metallic bronze clutch. I find it uncomfortable writing and typing with bracelets and bangles hanging around my wrists and since I spennd most of my working day immersed in these activities, my wrists usually go bare. So when I'm not on the job, I pile them on.  

 

 Metallic heals and a statement neck piece finished the look.

 

Ribbons, bows and feathers for Eid

This year, I used shimmery, printed paper, organza ribbons, tulle, beads, rhinestones and feathers in my Eid gifting. It was all about texture and layering!

I started off by making gifts tags - these give packages the last finishing touch and pull the look together. While I had initially decided to go with one packaging look for all the Eid gifts this year, the contents of the gifts dictated otherwise. 

These shabby chic canisters, filled with home made cake pops and marshmallows nestled in tissue paper, made super cute hostess gifts and were also presented to friends and neighbours. 

Eidee is that much more special when wrapped around a slab of chocolate.

Breakfast at midnight dinner party

Weeks and weeks before my sister was due to return home to South Africa after spending 18 months in South Korea, I asked her the same question; what do you miss most about home and more specifically, what foods do you miss most. What she missed most was going to be the theme I planned her home coming party around. 

Her answers were always the same, "besides family, there is nothing else I miss." When pressed about what food she missed most, her reply was always, "scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, flap jacks with maple syrup and carrot cake with real cream cheese icing."

This left me in a bit of a dillema. She was landing in SA at about 5.30pm on Friday evening. Knowing that my family would all be at my home that evening to see her, I didn't want to postpone her homecoming party to the next day so it would accomadate a breakfast menu. So I decided to do a fun, quirky, breakfast inspired dinner party.

Guests were asked to come along in their pjs, and most did!



We wanted to do a fun, cheerful, laid back, shabby chic type setting. Polka dots (on the boxes, banner and serviettes) added a playful touch. We filled Moroccan tea tumblers with slightly distressed roses and dotted them around the table. Boxes added dimension to the table and also introduced pops of colour.



We needed to make sure that the menu was both breakfast inspired but filling enough for dinner. We served Chicken Waffle Sliders, Salmon and Avo Bruchetta, Fritata Cups, Pepperdew Muffins, Chops and Spinach and Feta Parcels.

To drink we made iced teas; strawberry/basil, pomegranate/orange, lemon/lime. We also flavoured water with herbs and fruit.

 
We set up a waffle/flapjack station with toppings like chocolate sauce, cream, caramel, nuts, sweets, chocolate and fruit. We also had fruity frozen yogurt cups (mango, cherry, strawberry and passion fruit), fruit skewers, my aunt's famous chocolate cake and of course, carrot cake slices for dessert.