Lazing at Liberty

above pics taken from here

Tucked behind the awesome Couch+Interiors on Windermere Rd, hides At Liberty, a cafe with an ambiance so welcoming that a girlfriend and I went for a quick coffee and ended up staying for lunch, lazing the day away in this quirky cool little gem.

Opened in June this year by owners Jamie and Chris, At Liberty is a getaway from the hustle and bustle of daily life, offering fantastic coffees and delicious light meals. 

At Liberty is currently only open during the day but is also available for hire for birthday parties and any celebrations, including hens parties. (I hear from a reliable source that Chris and Jamie make a concerted effort to make any night memorable – but I didn't tell you that.)

If you are in the Durban area do yourself a favour and pop by. Who knows, you may also end up staying far longer than planned...

Find At Liberty on 415 Windermere Rd (Lilian Ngoyi Rd) and on Facebook.

The walls are lined with quotes from John Lennon to Dr Seuss

I am so in love with these strelitzia cushions.

Sweet and Simple Sugar Cookies

These cookies are really easy to make and the kind of simple treats that are so nice to just have in jars at home, to nibble on with tea or at night after dinner (better for the waistline than the delectable rolo cookies...)

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup  unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
Add the egg and vanilla and beat another minute or so.
Add the flour mixture slowly.  (Be careful not to add too much at a time or the flour will go flying!)
Blend until all of the flour is incorporated and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a piece of parchment paper.
Using your hands, knead the dough a few times.

Place the dough in a large plastic (ziplock type) bag (I just used plastic wrap) and refrigerate for about 2 hours.  If you want to speed up the chilling process, place the bag of dough in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Just don’t forget it in the freezer, or it will become too firm to work with (and then you’ll have to wait for it to thaw)

When it’s almost time to remove the dough from the refrigerator (or freezer), preheat the oven to 180 degrees (C)
When the dough has chilled and is firm, take out about half of the dough, leaving the rest in the refrigerator, until you're ready to work with it.

Flour the surface slightly and roll out your dough, then cut out shapes of your choice.

Place cookies on a baking tray covered with wax wrap and bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until they are just starting to get golden. They will continue to cook while in the tray so be sure to remove them after about a minute.

I opted to ice my cookies with a very basic royal icing. Mine was a bit thicker as opposed to the liquid royal icing. 

Royal Icing
To make royal icing beat two egg whites until fluffy. Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence and then slowly beat in 4 cups of icing sugar. I also added a few drops of colouring to give it a prettier colour...

And enjoy...

Recipe taken from here

Hardcore Honey

I am so excited! The Boyfriend and I have officially booked and paid our deposit for a snowboarding trip to Livigno, Italy next January. But here's the thing... being a Durban girl I have never really been in snow, let along know how to snowboard!

So, recently I got a talk from The Boyfriend. As we are going snowboarding I am going to need to boy up a bit and embrace my inner tomboy. Snowboarding is not for sissies. 

No problem I say!

So here is my first step in the right direction.
 1 x pretty hardcore Fred Tsuya skull bracelet!

Happy Weekend!

Shirt - Mr Price, Skirt - Betty Scott, Belt - Mr Price, Shoes - Rage

True love is like a pair of socks: You gotta have two and they've gotta match - Erich Fromm

Mucho Moustache

May your Mo' be Manly and Marvellous!


1 November marks the start of Movember, the month when men the world over, grow, trim and maintain the greatest moustache they can, all in an effort to build awareness about mens' health and specifically prostate cancer.


So, to all the ladies out there who will have to deal with prickly kisses and food filled top lips, keep strong and know it is all for  good cause and that come 1 December, that nasty caterpillar on your mans lip will be gone!