Trinket DIY…

So, I decided to get busy with some cute DIY items for the French themed engagement party… after a mammoth bunting session on Sunday with Joey & Annie, I have decorated some mason jars and covered every available surface in chalk board paint.

I also found these sweet love birds on Saturday – they have found a new home in my grey bird cage….

My new favourite way to spend these chilly winter evenings is definitely accompanied by a big glass of red wine and some rewarding crafts… who knew? 

PS Champagne, I have not deserted you, I am saving you for the 9th ;) 

French Theme - Image: Pinterest

Pretty Mason Jar - Image: My own

Caged Love Birds - Image: My own

LOVE LOVE LOVE Chalk board paint! - Image: My Own

Its pre-pay-day, what is a girl to do?

Bake! Well that’s what I decided to fill my please-let-me-get-that-midnight-sms evening with.

There is something special about the hours before you get paid. I, being overly cautious when it comes to debt, don’t like to dip into next month’s money when it isn’t quite mine yet. So I decided that tonight, I would occupy myself in my kitchen, instead of out on the town. And the timing could not have been better – inspired after a delicious Mount Nelson High Tea yesterday, and armed with a red velvet cupcake recipe from one of my most talented friends, as well as always dreaming of making my own sumptuous crimson petit fours – all the stars were aligned.  

I popped out during lunch to get all the ingredients, including a new mixer (ok, so I know I said I am pre-pay-day, but a new mixer is an investment, especially if I stick to my guns and become a serious baker). The ingredients room-temperaturised themselves in my boot while my afternoon of emails, powerpoint and excel flew by, and when I arrived home at 5:30pm, the adventure began.

I, for the first time in my entire life, followed the recipe like a bomb instruction manual, not leaving anything to chance. I already had my bad baking luck and temperamental oven to contend with, why make matters worse? As my eggs came straight from the fridge (apparently a baking no-no), they required some downtime on my kitchen counter, so I started on the icing. After consuming enough of it to send most people into a diabetic coma, I refrigerated the rest, thoroughly cleaned all the utensils, and started on the cake mix.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Thanks Phil Dunphy.

Resting..... Image: My Own

In the end, after giving the fiancé the bowel, the mixing thingies (what is the real name?) and every red velvet dipped utensil to lick, I watched as my pretties rose in the oven. They say a watched cake never rises. Bullshit! I watched those mofo’s like they were my babies on their first date. And they made me proud!

And when the say the proof of the pudding is in the eating, they were not kidding!

There were 24, 19 still remain! I fully plan to be on single digits by tomorrow (with help from a dinner at my good friend, Lo).

All in all, a great pre-pay-day tradition - Bake something sumptuous, devour as much as you can, and wake up with (hopefully) a new month’s salary in your account. I can so do this 12 times a year!

Auto-bots, Assemble! My Army of Awesome!
Image: My Own 

If you would like to give these puppies a try, visit this amazing blog Little Kitchen for the recipe. Thanks Carey! x 

Face masks can be fabulous.

All this planning has given me the most annoying case of insomnia. Every morning this week, I have woken up at precisely 2am, my mind racing with several simultaneous thoughts. I am generally awake till just after 5am, which, coincidentally is an hour before I should be getting up for gym. I stress “should” because it has been unsuccessful!

Finally, on this, the 4^th morning in a row of requiring 3 cups of coffee to wake up, I decided I am going to treat myself to a Jamie-night. Hot bubble bath, red wine, take-out, my book and all the Pinterest possibilities that a few hours can bring… it’s safe it use your iPad in the bath, right? if my next post is about “never using you iPad in the bath”, then assume I was wrong ;)

Must-have - Source: Pinterest

Soon to be Bon Voyage.

tasty treats = inspiration. source: pinterest

Having just returned from high tea at the Mount Nelson (Thanks BBC) and feeling suitably inspired, I thought I would post some more reasons to smile. There is something about eating the tiniest versions of the tastiest treats, while sipping on some bubbles, that inspires creativity.  

Engagement party plans are underway, thanks to the amazing talents of my closest friends… and the date is set. The best part about the planning is that I have something to keep my mind off our impending trip to Europe – if I wasn’t planning a party, I would be pinning bikinis and white sandy beaches...

In 3 weeks, the fiancé and I, and four fab friends will be jetting off to the Netherlands and Spain. Having seen France and Italy in 2010, we decided it was high time to spend a few weeks in Spain over their summer. Two years of planning and saving, and off we go… If I come back with a tan, while everyone is covered from neck to toe in warm winter attire, it will be the first time I have ever been a shade darker than almost everyone I know.

The flights and accommodation are booked, and we had a final “meeting” last night to discuss the (very important) details - what to pack, and what to get done before D-day.

Needless to say - thoroughly excited! 

You’re gorgeous, can I pin you?

Wow! Getting engaged is crazy! So many people are so wonderfully excited. I cannot begin to thank everyone enough for all the well-wishes, bottles of bubbly (you know me so well), and genuine support! We are truly blessed!

Wedding plans have begun in a flurry! Don’t want to overwhelm the fiancé, but venues, fabrics, flowers and photographers have sprinted to the top of my favourite pinterest searches! (If you are reading this and you have some pearls of wisdom, please share, I will be eternally grateful)

The search has only just begun – it has now become my life’s mission to create a memorable wedding on a less-than-fabulous budget. Challenge accepted.

“Have you set a date?” Almost everyone asks…  Well, realistically, towards the end of next year. There are some fantastic plans for 2012 that require my attention, my heart, and the dollar dollar bill… so 2013 it is! More time to plan, and more time to save. Sometimes being fabulous equals delayed gratification, or so I tell myself…

But in an attempt to give myself something to plan (planning is to Jamie what crack was to Whitney .. *sorry*) we shall host an engagement soirée.  French patisserie-themed with enough macarons to last a lifetime (Thanks Jo)… in just about 3 weeks, my mother’s house in the burbs will be overtaken by coral & white polka dot navy bunting, croissants, carpaccio, and cupcakes. I’m keeping my mind off the wedding with engagement party planning! It’s perfect!
PS no jeans! ;)

Soon-to-be-bunting. Image, my own. 

She said yes, of course.

It’s Monday… what an amazing weekend… but before I get to that, my first few posts need to be fairly retrospective. As I said, so many fabulous things happened last week, I need to get them down so that I can move into real time.

Last weekend, I spent a fairy-tale weekend in Franschhoek, my favourite weekend getaway spot. My man and I were invited to a 5-star escape, with all the spoiling’s. A gorgeous hotel room at Mont Rochelle, and just about all the food and bubbly two people can consume in a lifetime. After a 4-course meal at Reuben’s on Friday and a sumptuous cheese soufflé at Mange Tout for brekkie on Saturday, we headed to the Country Kitchen for a wine tasting. This was followed by a stroll down to the “love tree” (a name we gave the large tree at the Mont Rochelle picnic site a few years back on our first weekend in Franschhoek). Overlooking the gorgeous dam, my man popped the question…perfect place, perfect moment, perfect man. so in love!

engagement ring - image, my own

its my first time, will it hurt?

There is something daunting about writing your first blog post ever (and I am sure half of the blogs ever written started off with that same sentence… so originality may be an issue here… hmmm…) But I registered this blog title more than a week ago and so many fabulous things have already happened, if I don’t start now, I fear I will miss out on documenting them. And that was the aim of starting a blog in the first place. So here goes…

I wanted mychampagneproblems to be about all of the things that make life such a treat! An ode to the lack of real problems most of us actually face, when compared to the truly scary things (in an attempt to keep this light-hearted, insert your own worst fears, and tragic stories here). Sure, we are stressed, busy, time-starved workaholics, and we are all trying to loose 5kg’s and would love it if that little crease in the forehead wasn’t so glaringly obvious. But those are not problems.

In truth, I feel genuinely blessed and a little spoilt, almost daily. I have the most amazing man in my life, the best friends, a delightful family, amazing career and gorgeous (albeit tiny) home… I have so many reasons to celebrate. And celebrate I do, almost every day ;)

To be honest, I also just love love love champagne. It’s the tastiest treat and always inspires fabulousness… and as I once told a close friend, Life is too short not to be fabulous!

I will try to keep things light-hearted and lovely, always. And I hope that at the end of every post, I am reminded of how fortunate I am! And if anyone ever reads this, I hope it does the same for you.

Love,

Jamie x