March Favorites

I am doing this post a few days early, as the next week is going to be absolutely manic with packing and sorting my life out before heading off to London.

I cannot believe that this will be my last Monthly Favorite post before I set off... the thought gives me shivers up my spine!

So what did I get up to for the month of March? A hell of a lot more than I did in February, I can tell you that much! It feels as though a part of me awakened again after spending February is almost complete isolation. Don't ask me why I did that . . .  I just needed time to mull all my thoughts and emotions over in my head. March is the month where I was finally able to enjoy life as a single woman, with a fantastic blog and amazing friends!

 

(Humble isn't a word that is in my vocab! Haha!)

To kick off the month of March, my folks and I gate-crashed a guest house party at 23h30 to watch a live Bluegrass, Irish / Folk band perform. More on this scandalous tale can be found here:

 

 

http://bohemianmuses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/kicking-off-march.html




Photograph Credit: http://www.knysnaplettherald.com/news.aspx?id=45857&h=Sundowners-Celtic-and-Bluegrass

I read Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks - incredible story and probably one of the best novels I have ever read.

My review on it can be found here:

http://bohemianmuses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/safe-haven-book-review_9.html

Reading Safe Haven at East Heads Cafe with a face in my cappuccino!

 

Then it was the 4th of March and time to celebrate my mum's birthday. As a family, we went out for a meal in town for the first time in what feels like years. My brother and I indulged in platters of delicious sushi. It was a special occasion and it was about time my mum got spoiled. I'd treated her earlier that day to a spa day at my work... letting her have a facial and a massage to truly unwind and relax.



I LOVE shrimp tempura prawns... mmmmm...

On the 7th of March I met (what I thought) were my two closest friends in Knysna, Lucien and Chantelle, out for drinkies.
We'd all hit a bit of a rocky patch and it was nice to rekindle our friendships and put the past behind us. (That didn't last for very long......)

It was then time for my sister-in-laws birthday and she threw a close-knit 'Mad Hatters Tea Party.' I've been having so much more family time than I am used to lately and I really am loving it. I think I distanced myself from my family for so long that all of these little get-togethers' feel a lot more special and I want to brag about them a lot more than a normal person usually would!

I cooked dinner for my best friend Kyle and his friend, Shaheen - I made my first ever pesto sauce that turned out perfectly and created another incredible pasta dish. The recipe can be found below:

 http://bohemianmuses.blogspot.com/2013/03/almond-pesto-pasta-recipe.html

To continue on my culinary creations - I made rosemary-garlic lamb chops a few nights later. It was completely effortless, quick and delicious.
I think my folks finally allowed me back into the kitchen after nearly burning my dads mouth off a few months back when I tried to make them a spicy pasta... hehe.
This marinade only had half a chilli in it, as my dad cannot stomach hot things too well at the moment; but for a normal family one chilli would be perfect!

 

http://bohemianmuses.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/rosemary-garlic-lamb-chops-recipe.html

 

As I am jet-setting off to London now, we had to hire a new front desk girl at the spa. I'd been looking and looking with no luck for what seemed like weeks! Then, one fateful day, an old friend of mine called Sharmon contacted me to say she has someone in mind.

I met up with them later that evening for a drink at Mos to meet them both. My potential new work colleage couldn't have fitted to profile better.

She was everything that we were looking for - so, after prepping her up, she arrived at Pezula Spa the very next day for an interview with management.

They too thought that she had great potential and she started the next day!

 

Her first day was overwhelming, as it would be at any new position... but she got through it and I joined her that evening for a celebratory drink at Tapas in town.

 

She seems like such a cool, down-to-earth person and someone I could see myself forming a lovely friendship with.

 

 

 

My apologies for the awful photo's.... but I am saving my camera batteries (bloody expensive things!!!!) for my travels! So blackberry is snapping away for me in the meantime.

For St. Patrick's Day I was able to grab hold of a slightly better camera phone! A Samsung something-or-another....

The other front office ladies and I had a girls night out during the week - we got up to mischief at a couple of bars as we celebrated a welcoming for Juliet and Renee, a birthday for Chanel and a See-You-Later for me! What a fun night... definitely one for the books.

 

I went to a wedding out in the crags... it was beautiful. I came as my best friend Kyle's date and pretty much rocked the dance floor all night... I also think I embarrassed him to a large degree as he felt the need to dance around the floor with a mop in hand after I swung a bottle straight out of my hand in mid-sway!!!!! 

 

And then.... somehow.... the garter landed on my head:

Yes... the below are 'Hangover' sunglasses.... as you can see, there was no actual sun. Just a hangover.

This was probably my last visit to one of my favorite places in the world: The Beach... until I return to South Africa that is. But that won't be for a long, long, long, long, L-O-N-G time.

I also really liked this shirt:

My blog is going to be taking a whole new turn by the end of April, with all of my travel plans.

By the end of April I will have visited London, Venice, The Swiss Alps, The French Riviera and then heading back into Italy to visit Florence.
 

My first Italian experience will be prior to my Contiki adventures as I'll be spending a weekend in Venice - riding Gondola's, drinking original Italian coffee blends, twirling pasta around on my fork and finally living out one of my oldest dreams of visiting Italy.

Now - I must be off. I need to figure out how the hell I'm going to fit my clothing into one measly suitcase with a weight limit of 23kg's!!!

See you next month!

 

Happy Blogging!

 

Jade