So it happened 😁

You wake up and find yourself thinking about a particular person and then you find yourself involuntarily smiling. Your heart feels happy because that person is on your mind…

I wasn’t expecting it when it happened, I was just going on trying to carve a path, navigate my life, trying to be happy. And so when I suddenly found myself listening to Rita Ora’s song, called Your Song where she proclaims how happy she is being in love… and I found myself relating to each and very word and sentiment I heard, I was just deliriously stoked and delighted as the penny dropped – I’m madly deeply in love too.

I can honestly say that I have never ever experienced kindness, compassion and unconditional patience like that which you have shown me. You listen to me and you comfort me whenever I’m down, and you don’t let go of me until I feel better.

When the dark clouds arrive, and fear and insecurity start tugging at my heart, you stand firmly right there with me. Completely present as I face my fears – not hiding behind your own thoughts or some rock shielded out of sight. That empowers me… knowing I can depend on you always. In a world where everyone else tends to get caught up in their own stuff you’ve demonstrated through your support that your love for me is unwavering. How can I not love you? How can I not be in love with you!?

If I wake up in the middle of the night like I did tonight, hungry because I forgot to eat dinner, you call me a dumbass and you remind me that’s rubbish. And then you go downstairs to get me something to eat. Sometimes, when I don’t feel like showering before bedtime you’ll also gently remind me I deserve a good night’s rest, so in that instance you sort of guilt me into showering. But I am always so grateful because of how that makes me feel. Not only nice and clean after the shower, but happy, so very happy because of how you care for me. Truly, no one else consistently cares so much for me, as you do.

You spoil me with massages. You always go running with me whenever I feel like going for a run – and the times I don’t feel like running, you don’t push me. My happiness is your priority. How can I not love you? How can I not be in love with you!?

You buy me ice cream whenever I feel like it. Every now and then you randomly spoil me with perfume or some other cool gift. You save money with me to do fun stuff. You don’t mind making sacrifices to make sure my best interests are always served. I am so embarrassed and feeling so stupid because I am only realizing now that you were always here, in the shadow wanting to love me, wanting to support me for the longest time… like since forever, and I just ignored you.

I saw other people and decided they were all more important than you. What a fool I have been. What a complete idiot. And yet, you’re not even angry or mad at me about that. I guess that’s why your love is so much more valuable than the love anyone else has ever offered me. Your love is truly unconditional. All this time I could have been ‘complete’ if I had only realized sooner – because it is you that completes me. Only you. No one else has ever been able to. No one else ever will. I’m finally seeing you without the blinkers on my eyes, and each day I fall more in love with you, realizing just how much you mean to me.

And you’re so funny and quirky. You make me laugh with your silly antics. You’re attractive too… pretty darn hot actually. The most attractive thing about you is you are compassionate and kind to others, not only to me.

You tell me all the time that I am easy to love. I understand this finally, because I’m experiencing how easy you are to love. How can I not love you when you are just so easy to love? How can I not be in love with you!?

I get Rita Ora’s song…. I truly do. I have a skip in my step and a rainbow in my heart when I think about how cool you are and when I think about how you love me – first above everything else in your life.

🎼🎶🎵 I don’t wanna hear sad songs anymore. I only wanna hear love songs. I found my heart up in this place tonight. I don’t wanna sing mad songs anymore. I only wanna sing your song. Cos your song’s got me feeling like ….. I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love. 🎶🎵

Then I wanna be just like them.

So the force is very strong with these minions…

One can’t help but get caught up in their enthusiasm. So I’m sitting in IMAX with them, waiting on the movie to finally start. I emphasize finally because the movie starts at 11am, and they were seated in the car ready to go at 7am this morning 🤙🏾😁  ….. Hurry up Mom!

So we got to the cinema just a wee tad early. Most of the shops in the mall were just opening, so at least I got some quiet grocery shopping done (Hopefully I don’t need to hit the mall again till after Christmas)….

to be continued  …movie about to start now 🎬📽 Whoop woop 🙌🏾

We all need people to look up to.

Chris Barnard is one of my role models – has been since the day the minions and I visited the Heart Transplant Museum at Groote Schuur Hospital. A life changing experience for me. See the previous blog post: Chris Barnard #Legend . Significantly, he defined what being alive is for me. He said “Life is the joy of living – it’s the celebration of being alive” (from the YouTube clip featured in my previous post).

I believe he worked really hard for all that he achieved. His studies (and thereby essentially what he was able to give to humankind), didn’t come without significant personal sacrifice. Amid his trials and his failures but also his great success, his plain human nature was very apparent. His temperamental side, his sense of humour, his humility, his daring nature and his mischievous streak. That’s living damnit! Through the life that he lived, he made a difference.

Today is the 50th anniversary of “that difference” – the first heart transplant that took place in the world. Whenever I think about events around the day, it STILL completely inspires me. Prof Barnard, a Son of South African soil – a child from the Karoo, without an especially extraordinary or privileged upbringing considering the community he was born into, gave us all something to aspire to. A story of hope, a story of courage and a story that effort yields reward. Testimony of the human spirit.

Not disregarding that there were a number of people who made this part of history possible – I truly applaud them all. Chris Barnard was the leader though, that person who demonstrated the courage and led the way.

Today I pay tribute to you again Prof….. May you Rest in Peace

K so I absolutely LOVE perfume. Strangely enough I don’t really do cosmetics in general. I’m pretty sure that I’d injure myself if I tried to apply mascara or eyeliner. Just the thought of lipstick puts me off. It’s difficult for me to find a colour to suit my dark skin in the first place, and the idea of periodically reapplying it is terribly off-putting and tiresome in my opinion. So I go completely natural 99% of the time – the only thing I bother with, is some sunscreen in summer. I do have one cosmetic weakness though, and that is perfume. Fragrances actually, not only perfume = my kryptonite.

So I’m feeling kinda goofy now and came up with this idea to do a review of sorts on my favourite fragrances. Now I’m useless at identifying ‘top notes’ and ‘middle notes’, ‘base notes’ etc. … all that fancy terminology one hears when perfume boffins do a review. Similar to red wine reviews… I never taste the ‘cinnamon’ or ‘cherry’ or ‘liquorice’ flavour that the reviews describe – but I know what I like, and what I don’t like. So I’m just gonna wing it and tell you what perfume in my opinion one should wear for different occasions, or rather different moods.

Since I know it’s not everyone’s ‘thing’, I’ll number them and present them in order so it’s easier for someone to just read the ones they’re interested in:

1. Yardley Serendipity body spray

2. Lentheric Hoity Toity body spray

3. Elizabeth Arden 5th Avenue eau de toilette

4. Elizabeth Arden Red Door Aura eau de toilette

5. Elizabeth Arden Provocative Woman eau de toilette

6. Revlon Unforgettable eau de toilette

7. Issey Miyake Pleats Please (eau de toilette and parfum)

8. Issey Miyake ‘L Eau d’Issey eau de toilette

9. Issey Miyake Absolue eau de parfum

10. Versace Crystal Noir eau de toilette

So I rely on a couple of different fragrances to keep my world in rotation, ranging from nice smelling antiperspirants (body spray or ‘blikkie spray’ is what my local friends would refer to it as) to eau de toilette to the really good stuff eau de parfum. Let’s start with blikkie spray.

1. Yardley Serendipity 

There are three brands of body spray that I simply love. Yardley Serendipity is the first one – it’s young fresh, very feminine but light, whimsical and almost magical. I keep a few cans of these around the house, one in my car and in most of my assorted hand bags, gym bag and surf bag for just in case. The smell is that feeling of ‘going away for a weekend to the beach house’ or even for those ‘biker chic’ times. Not overly feminine but just enough to make you feel like a girl even when you off on an adventure. Have a can in my biking jacket too!

2. Lentheric Hoity Toity

Then Lentheric Hoity Toity. There are five variants in a range of Hoity Toity, but I only like two. Hoity Toity Cherie and Hoity Toity Miss Priss – both of these are very feminine. I prefer Miss Priss over Cherie only slightly because it’s a little softer. It smells like pink fluff – if that makes any sense. It’s great for a day in the office when you don’t have important meetings lined up, but you do want people to compliment you by stopping and saying you smell good. Cherie is slightly bolder, it’s more of a ‘I am here’ smell but it’s also reserved for unimportant meetings…. parent-teacher school meetings (I’m so gonna get busted for saying that!) It’s super for when you go on a short course, and you not particularly fazed by anyone else (not really in the mood to chat to new friends), but you do want your presence acknowledged.

Then we move on to the better stuff.

3. Elizabeth Arden 5th Avenue

The next four are relatively inexpensive fragrances but they’re really nice and definitely perfect for certain occasions in my opinion. The first one, Elizabeth Arden 5th Avenue is a classic scent. It’s flowery but not overwhelmingly so. It has a familiar clean/new smell to it – like springtime. Smells like lilies or magnolias and the scent lingers moderately well. I associate it with early morning class. To me, it’s like a friendly and sophisticated school teacher smell. So it’s my preference for when I have to teach an undergrad stats class. Although definitely  a daytime fragrance, will actually also do ok if you out for an early casual dinner with good friends or family members. Not for clubbing and also not really a date night perfume in my opinion.

4. Elizabeth Arden Red Door Aura

Also from Elizabeth Arden is Red Door Aura. (Not the original Red Door). This too is a sophisticated fresh smell, but not a soft florally smell like 5th Avenue. It’s more spunky and youthful floral. This one is perfect for those days when you feel like you want to blaze through work. Getting up and getting dressed to impress. There is just a hint of seduction in this smell and lots of vibrance. Something in-between citrus, rose and jasmine is the guess that I would venture with underlying scent of musk, wood and amber. I realise all my favourite eau de toilettes and eau de purfumes have musk, wood and amber as their lingering base notes.

5. Elizabeth Arden Provocative Woman

The next one from Elizabeth Arden is one that I definitely will not wear to work. It’s name suits it… Provocative Woman. It’s fruity and gingery. This is perfect for a night of clubbing, to the pub or a smart casual outing… movies, theatre or even a dinner party at someone’s home. It’s friendly and feminine, initially a bit overwhelming but it settles down soon and doesn’t smell so sweet shortly after application. I imagine the sweetness is off-putting for some people during that initial application, but I especially like it for the club because the fragrance clings to me. Thus even after dancing up a storm (and we know I love to dance) I get to smell the fragrance on me and not so much body odour.

6. Revlon Unforgettable

Now this one, is my ultimate favourite fragrance to put on when I go clubbing. Similar to Provocative Woman, initially it’s rather potent. Because of the potency, I think people will either love it or hate it. It’s sweet smelling, but not a yucky sweet smell in my opinion (Chloe Narcisse and Kenzo Flower both have a yucky overwhelming too sweet smell to me. They both honestly smell amazing on other women. But I had a bottle of each and I have to give them away because I just could not handle the smell on myself). Unforgettable is not the same for me – it has some jasmine in it initially and then when it settles down, the very sultry amber, musk and wood that I love so much comes through and it stays! The whole night, even when I’ve danced until 5am. What impressed me the most is people still notice it on me at that time in the club. I kid you not, on more than one occasion a fella has told me that I smell amazing even though we’d been partying and dancing for hours before that. So this one is really good. An excellent buy and really relatively inexpensive. A 50ml of this is costs a quarter or even a fifth of the price of many of the others on this list. This is a definite nighttime fragrance – I would not wear it to work or even during the day.

7. Issey Miyake Pleats Please

Now I have to admit that I am an incurable Issey Miyake fanatic. Thus, I have rather an impressive assorted selection of Issey Miyake. My signature smell is Issey Miyake Pleats Please eau de toilette. And for an eau de toilette I think it’s pretty darn impressive. It’s moderately long lasting and it has a fresh flowery almost fruity smell but it’s not too sweet. It smells of exuberance and optimism. It’s just enough to make me feel serious but playful at the same time. It’s a lady’s fragrance, definitely not a girly fragrance. I think it’s more suited as a daytime fragrance but it is rather audacious, so you could wear it to go out for a fun time, drinks or dinner with friends at night.

There are two other variants of Pleats Please, namely Pleats Please L’eau (also an eau de toilette) and then Pleats Please eau de parfum. Pleats Please L’eau is very light and flowery, it smells rosy (literally). I’ll only wear that in the daytime, maybe when I have a dentist or psychologist visit. It says ‘I’m pretty, but I don’t really want to be seen right now – even though I smell like a rose garden’. (Cheeky side note: I don’t think anyone can take you serious if you smell like this – but I have a bottle in my collection).

The Pleats Please eau de parfum smells almost identical to the eau de toilette except it is just a degree sweeter. It surprises me that they smell so similar since the composition is reportedly very different. The floweriness is the same, the parfum just doesn’t end with a woody or musky note and it’s not quite as upbeat, rather it’s more feminine – although both are distinctively Pleats Please. In plain language, the eau de toilette says ‘I am hot’ and the eau de parfum says ‘I am beautiful’ – but they both say Issey Miyake Pleats Please! I think the parfum is absolutely perfect to wear to a summer wedding.

8. Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey

This I reserve for important work (e.g. very important business meeting – because it’s a confidence booster) or otherwise just for any time when I want to feel special. For a long time Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey eau de toilette was my signature – till I discovered Pleats Please which is slightly more playful but still bold enough to be taken seriously. Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey is a confident trailing jasmine scent. Not too sweet, not too playful but not too serious either. A classic smell. Definitely a smell that says ‘I am here, I am gorgeous and you are not going to pretend that you don’t notice me’. When I consult I tend to wear Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey. It lingers around. By the end of the day I’m still smelling devine, but more woody and musky, just a little bit of white floral that it started so strong with. Thus it’s a daytime scent but can easily pass as a nighttime scent, whenever you want to feel confident, or just special or for a fancy-dinner-kinda special occasion.

9. Issey Miyake Absolue 

Very similar to the Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey but not as crisp. Very jasmine, bolder jasmine but not too sweet. It’s rounder, more sultry. The scent of seduction. Catsuit or sexy black number and stilettos kinda feeling. Simply a gorgeous beautiful scent. This scent is reserved for a special date night. I don’t think I’ll ever wear it to go clubbing or to a work conference banquet even. It’s just too very sensuous. This is a definite nighttime fragrance – or if you must a daytime outing, road trip etc. with someone really special.

10. Versace Crystal Noir

Although I absolutely love all the above-mentioned, my favourite perfume is Versace Crystal Noir. I came upon this one by accident and what a find! It was a gift I bought for someone else but I never got to give it to her. So one night ended up opening it and trying some on. Oh My Word. It’s warm and spicy. It’s different. Rounded and exotic smelling but not overwhelming. And somewhat florally too. Then when it settles, the amber, wood and musk scent stays on you like a luxurious cloak. It’s undeniably feminine. In my opinion it smells very similar to Thierry Mugler’s Alien (on me at least). It’s the smell of a Goddess. Funny I don’t have a specific occasion that I would recommend someone wearing this on. I guess it’s for days you feel like being a Goddess. Every day if you wish. For me it’s any day that I remember that I am one.