Quite enjoyed this ad from the City of Cape Town on how Cape Town would look if we don’t slow down on our endless energy consumption. Turn off something somewhere right now. You’ll be doing good by keeping our city pretty.
So CTG, PD and LA hit up CTG HQ the other night to take part in a Jack Daniel’s Twitter Tasting. If you’re confused, don’t be: basically Jack Daniel’s sent us a bunch of whisky - their Single Barrel, their Gentleman’s Jack and good old Jack Daniel’s No. 7 - and we got to tasting it while tweeting about it.
The thing about twitter tastings is that they don’t take much effort. So we had all this whisky and CTG’s iPod, which is when we remembered that Kei$ha sings about Jack Daniel’s in her song Tik Tok:
“Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy
Grab my glasses, I’m out the door, I’m gonna hit this city
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
‘Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back..”
So we did what any other self-respecting CTGs would do. We decided to dress up like Kei$ha and make a video!!! Uh huh! Please enjoy the ‘tasting notes’ you’ll find spread out amongst the dancing.
Thanks Jack Daniel’s, that was quite fun. Even though we felt NOTHING like P Diddy upon waking up the next morning…
xxCTG, PD & LA
Nah just kidding. Although that would be nice. Ladies, some srs girl talk quickly please gather round gather round. Y’all know that women in this country make 85% of ALL shopping decisions? That includes buying houses, holidays, food, cars and clothing? And did you also know that women bring in half or MORE of the household income in MOST SA homes? And that women control the finances of over half the households in SA?
Why am I telling you this? Because I was telling a friend of mine this the other day and she was like, really????? So women are actually economically more… powerful than… men??? YES. Really, this is a woman’s world. If y’all thought men had the upper hand economically in ANY way you were deluded. Especially if you work in HR and you pay your male employees more than your female employees. Best you rectify that ASAP. Tell them CTG said to whop yo ass and get with the program.
We at CTG are VERY well aware of this and have been ‘living the dream’ for quite some time now. One thing I’ve been sure to take full advantage of are products and programs that reward females for being, you guessed it, female. This is a nifty trick. You can basically save a million trillion rand if you’re smart about using certain female-focused financial products.
Sadly, not all ‘xxx for women’ products offer real benefits other than floral design on the card and a nice pantyliner sample in the post now and again. But I HAVE noted that Standard Bank’s new female-focused credit card – MyCard – seems to offer the standard credit card benefits along with basically a mini insurance policy at no extra charge. I’m talking a whole bunch of the usual value-adds you get with your separate insurance policies (including HANDYMAN services – ja) AND every time you swipe your card you get cashback which you can spend later. Be still our beating hearts.
Basically, cancel half of your twenty billion insurance policies (I keep taking out new ones coz I don’t know that I already have 10 and I just think what the hell, more disability cover can’t hurt right?), and move your credit to the Standard Bank MyCard. I just did. Right. Diamond-shopping anyone? Frances?
Thanks to Priscilla for alerting me to GalPal Adventures – a travel club for just women. While that sounds a little weird at first, it could actually be really awesome. Or I think so. Girl Power Travel Club! Sounds fantastic! In their words:
“GalPal Adventures is a recently formed Social Travel, Leisure & Adventure Club that offers group tours for ladies wanting to share their journeys with other lady-friends. Our tours range from high-speed group adventures to relaxing scenic vacation getaways, even to life-changing cultural immersion travel experiences.”
They do trips across South Africa as well as organising international destinations. Perfect for when you feel like getting away and maybe you don’t have someone to travel with and you don’t want to travel alone. Click here to check it out. CTG hasn’t tried it yet but we think it’s a great idea so watch this space. Please be sure to note the disclaimer at the bottom of their homepage (below) – hilarious!
A few weeks ago I had the honour of being shot by photographer Andrew Brauteseth for his Portrait of a Nation project. Mildly intimidating since the subject before me was Helen Zille. Even further intimidating because Andrew was on this ‘extreme natural’ trip and wouldn’t let me put on makeup (I did manage to get away with a little eyeshadow). Despite this I went ahead bravely. Am hardcore like that. Makeup, No makeup, whatevs. I think the shots came out really nicely, the one below being the final selection for the project (click to see).
Some of the other shots we quite liked:
There are some very funny shots which I’ve not included here because they just open up too many strange questions, but I will state categorically that this was one of the funnier shoots I’ve been on. Thanks Andrew! Good times!
Click here to view the Portrait of a Nation site.
Click here to read an interview with photographer Andrew Brauteseth.
CTG was invited to go out to Elgin to experience the Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park Hotel, cousin to the Grand Daddy Hotel on Long Street, prior to its opening. This was a wild experience, let me tell you. Firstly, CTG and PD took their sweet time heading out into the country, getting our makeup done at Estee Lauder first, dawdling around Vida and then, only then hitting the N2 out to Elgin. We were then informed that we were holding up the boat ride. Oh Lord! Only us. So we then spent 4 billion hours driving around trying to find the rest of the boating party, which we eventually did, which eventually made it worth it.
You can get a boatride at nearby Mofam farm for only R70 - very serene and lovely.
Sunset from the boat.
After the boat ride we then drove another 4 billion kms back to the hotel, which is designed like an enormous barn, with overturned buckets as lights, and all the staff wear Old McDonald checker shirts! Ah, it’s lovely to look at.
Barn vibes in the main dining room
But the driving left us feeling like this, I won’t lie. As did the denial of my request for a cappuccino:
Taken right after it was revealed to CTG that Old Mac Daddy does not serve cappuccinos, or any filter coffee of any kind at all. Bleak.
I mean, what kind of a hotel doesn't serve FILTER COFFEE? An unfinished one apparently. We were assured that cappuccino machines were arriving the very next day.Which we have chosen to believe.
The food was at least delicious. We were served bobotie with banana, custard, coriander, basmati, almonds, green beans and chutney, which perked us up bigtime. Compliments to Siya the chef – he really did outdo himself. I could have eaten 2 servings, to deal with the emotional trauma of being denied cappuccino.
We then retired to our room – the specially requested Dirkie Sanchez Suite, whose development I have been following over at this blog since they started building the Old Mac Daddy. And this is when our evening really started. So inspired were we by this incredible take on hotel decor – the whole room is them Mexican Luchadore with the bed being a wrestling ring! - that PD and I decided to make a video, and spent the rest of the night doing just that. Please enjoy the fruits of our ass-shaking to our get-up-and-dance track of the moment, Beyonce’s Girl Anthem Why Don’t You Love Me:
The making of this was too much fun. We even took a break at midnight, and, starving, ventured down to the hotel to see if we could get a snack. Not only did we get a snack, but owner Jody totally went completely out of his way and opened his kitchen to make up toasted sandwiches, tea, rusks, milk tart and koeksisters. Unreal! That more than made up for the cappuccino debacle. So thanks for that Jody. And thanks for having us! Guys, Elgin is beautiful, and the Dirkie Sanchez Suite has a view of the whole valley. Go spend a night there. They should have cappuccino machines by now. And take a camera.
BUT WAIT. Hidden in the back cupboard of the Dirkie Sanchez Suite is a pair of luchadore costumes. You know, Mexican Wrestler Nacho Libre vibe. We discovered these as we were leaving so took a few quick snaps but why don’t you use them in your video?
xxCTG & PD
PS video footnotes: CTG & PD wear sundresses R80,00 each by Mr Price, shades Roberto Cavalli, Ray Ban and Armani by Sunglass Hut, POA, makeup by Estee Lauder POA. Contact CTG for more specifics editor@capetowngirl.com
Had a good and lovely little mini break! And the weather played summer-summer too! Glorious. Think drinking Vida and swinging with the kiddies on the promenade
Trying on engagement rings with BFF (bridesmaid duties! so much fun!)
Mmmmm pretty sparkly stones
Lots of running, offset by eating LOTS AND LOTS of macarons! These ones are from Cassis. Vanilla and Pistachio are my two favourite flavours by far.
Eating LOTS AND LOTS of sushi. Frances pictured here at Sevruga
Picked up a pair of very unique Roberto Cavalli’s from Sunglass Hut at the Waterfront. Because WHAT is summer without a pair of statement shades? It’s a joke, that’s what.
Listened to David Bowie vinyls… on repeat…
“Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show..”
Went to watch Farryl Purkiss at &Union. Super chilled, super prego rolls.
Got a Flash for my Diana camera and took lots and lots of photos, still to be developed. This pic is taken using my iPhone and the Diana flash - you can literally track the flash as it moves. Quite a mission to take pics like this but still lots of fun, especially with all those pretty colour gels.
We got our makeup done by the lovely ladies at Estee Lauder. Ladies, have you tried the Advanced Repair Eye Cream? This is not a gratuitous product punt. As a girl who loves her eye makeup (like, if I’m going to lounge around in bed in lingerie all day, I’ll get up, put on makeup, and then get back into bed and lounge), I can honestly say that the Lauder eye cream product is amazing. I feel a whole lot less bad plastering on panda paint now that eyes are receiving some form of moisturising redemption.
We also spent a night at the Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park in Elgin, but that’s a whole other post, soon to follow…
Miss u holiday. You were awesome.
Photo by Dave Southwood - click the image to see more
LOVE being on holiday because it allows you to do things like meander around the inner city and stroll into the National Gallery if the fancy takes you. I did such a thing at some point last week and discovered a really great exhibition called From Pierneef to Gugulective and it’s such a great spread of work – please please please go take a look, it’ll be a worthy hour or so.
Lisa Brice - one of CTG's fav SA artists
Can't remember the artist here but this bro appears in my dreams from time to time.
How beautiful is this packaging? Got a sample of this new rooibos iced tea called BOS (love the name) created by the same guys who did Afro Coffee (also love their packaging). As a big fan of rooibos I had high hopes and have not been let down – it’s honestly good. Had a taste of the Slim version because teal is one of my favourite colours and it’s actually really good.
Stunning.
Also really like the Energy variant as it’s lightly sparkling. Definitely going to be picking these up for summer – the perfect beach accessory! They also came in a beach bag!
Love the localness too. Wonder how they’d mix as cocktails… Look out for them in shops in these gorgeous fridges:
Bronx Ladies SA is running an Blogger Search where you can win a WHOLE YEAR’S SUPPLY OF SHOES. Just take a moment to process that. An ENTIRE YEAR’S SUPPLY OF SHOES. The thought of it sets CTG’s heart aflutter. Just think – you could wear a different pair of shoes EVERY DAY and still be spoilt for choice. It’s actually almost too much to cope with…
Back to the point, Bronx is looking for a gorgeous, sexy girl-about-town who leads a fun, fashion-and-party-filled lifestyle, who would write about everything from what’s hot on the catwalks to what’s hot in their wardrobes right now. Basically, a totally fun, awesome chick blogger who is, dare I say it, a bit like CTG. Except CTG cannot enter because CTG will be judging the competition, along with the super glam Dimi Ingle, editor of StyleScoop.
How to enter:
1. Write a 300-word post on a topic of your choice. It could be a cool outfit you spotted, or your opinion on a new trend, or whatever really. Post it on your blog or send it to write4shoes@gmail.com.
2. Tell us in 200 words or less why you think you should write for Bronx Ladies SA.
3. Answer the simple questions you’ll find on the How To Enter page here.
Closing date for entries is 28 August 2010, so get your entries in quick quick! You might want to read CTG’s ‘What Does It Take To Be A Chick Blogger’ for some inspiration ;P
xxCTG
