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| top from forever 21; shorts from edgars; mac lipstick |
is it vain to have a blog post consisting only of photos of yourself (taken by yourself… and therefore selfies?) oh well. all in the name of art.
i shot these a week or so ago after helping my sister pack and discovering her purple mac lipstick evolved into a bindi-donning photoshoot.
hope you like them, i do 🙂
in my overly pedantic ways, i am often the kind of person who will put off doing something because a little detail isn’t right. i won’t start making my toast until i’ve started making my bacon so they both finish on time, i won’t put on a bikini until i’ve finally toned up, i won’t apply for a job until i know i have a means to get there, and more specifically, i won’t update my blog until it looks exactly how i want it too. hence why it is the 14th of january and only now am i wishing you a happy new year – begrudgingly at that, because i still didn’t buy my .com but i decided that i won’t put off blogging until i have.
like i mentioned a few posts ago, 2014 will have dearsolo seeing a few changes, and if you’re on a laptop, you’ll notice i’ve changed the layout/colour scheme for the new year and knowing myself, i’ll probably change it again. to quote sean kingston, “she’s indecisive – she cant decide.” but in the year 2014, my final year of high school before i embark on one of the most life altering journeys yet (being an adult), i want to challenge myself to a few things.
in my new years 2013 post, i spoke about not making new years resolutions and just changing my outlook on life and whatnot, but because 2013 was relatively kak, i decided that maybe i should go back to the drawing board. new years resolutions are not a list to be made on the 1st of january – they’re something i keep adding to and holding myself accountable for. and this blog has inspired me to add another one: “procrastinate less“. not only in terms of my school work (which is very important), but in life, in blogging, in everything.
what am i waiting for? if i want to keep waiting until the stars align before i do anything, i will be waiting forever and essentially do nothing. life is not perfect, and attempting to make it so before i start to live instead of living while i make it so is completely counter intuitive.
this year i aim to embody nike’s slogan “just do it.” self love now, apply now, eat my toast now, blog now – life is too short to spend it waiting. thank you for bearing with me and i hope to keep myself accountable (especially to my ‘blog now’ resolution).
p.s., as i came on to blogger to write this little post, i saw this and nearly screamed. 10 000 views in a big deal (to me) and i thank every single person who has read my blog and stayed with me in my existential crises and incessant changing of things :)))))
in what i think is the last post in the trilogy of dearsolo goes to cape town, my family and i went to the famous groot constantia wine estate in cape town for a wine tour, cellar tour and wine tasting (along with this really nice canadian couple, eh). my sisters, who both live in cape town, have been to a lot of the wine farms in both cape town and stellenbosch before, and i have always dreamed of learning more about wine.
rephrase, i have always dreamed about learning more about wine so that the really pretentious things i say about wine actually make sense, lol. it was a real learning experience and believe me when i say i can’t wait to do it again, maybe next time in stellenbosch.
in the next installment of dearsolo goes to cape town, here’s just the breakdown of what i wore on that day. it may not have been my day, but i at least wanted to try to look nice – and what’s nice than all black everything?
i also got to (finally) wear my mr price heels in public! i’ve worn them to the movies and things, but this was their official debut. i absolutely love my shoes – not only are they on trend with their black leather + cut outs, they’re so soft, light and incredibly comfortable! i literally wore them all day and the only reason my feet were sore was because of uct’s stoned pavements. besides, i got one helluva calve work out!
what i wore:
if you follow me on twitter or tumblr, you’ll know that i spent this past week in the absolutely beautiful city of cape town for my sister’s graduation from UCT. it was a short trip with a very long drive (we drove down on tuesday, drove up on saturday, suffice to say i am sick of being in a car for fourteen hours at a time), but there are certain things that make it worth it.
i encourage everybody to drive down to cape town at least once in their lives – you get to go through a lot of beautiful and historical places, like the infamous karoo desert and beaufort west. even more so, once you actually reach the western cape, you are literally driving on/in mountains and overlooking the most beautiful vineyards until you actually reach cape town.
but, i digress. the reason i went was for my sister’s graduation and it was truly amazing – not only do you finally get to see the culmination of people’s years upon years of study, the university, which has graça machel (the widow of the recently deceased former president of south africa, nelson mandela) as the chancellor, also made the effort to pay tribute to the first democratically elected president of my country.
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| nelson mandela tributes in and outside of jameson hall |
december 5th, it was about 11pm, my sister came into my bedroom and told me news that i knew was inevitable, but was stunned all the same when the words about the death of former president nelson mandela came from her lips. from then until about 3am, we sat in the lounge and watched cnn, bbc, enca, aljazera – all the news channels that could give us more insight into his death. the people of all races and social classes that flocked to his houghton home was truly incredible – seeing all those people sing for him truly exemplified that this was the south africa he fought for. this was the south africa he went to jail and was willing to die for. it was one of the proudest south african moments of my life, next to the 2010 fifa world cup. and even though the masses were distraught, i… was happy. this man who had lived such a strenuous life, fought not only oppression but various diseases, was finally at rest. his long walk to freedom had concluded in him finally being free. he was at peace. and that’s what i take solace in. without him, i would be able to live in my suburb, go to my school and have the friends i do today, and for that, i am eternally grateful. but his death wasn’t about me. i wasn’t going to be selfish and wish he could live longer simply for my comfort – he has been battling illnesses for the majority of the year, and to see that he no longer has to fight brings me such joy. hamba kahle tata, ngiyabonga. your legacy will never be forgotten. you exemplified beyonce’s song i was here, and i am so thankful. go in peace.
i (sadly) wasn’t able to attend his memorial at the fnb stadium because i was in a car driving to cape town, but where available, we listened to it on the radio.
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| singing tribute to nelson mandela |