Tails’ Blography

On the Friday night before my wedding, my sister (MOH), organised a room at a guest house for my BM and I (MOH had to be home to feed her cat etc) so we stayed the night did final things like drawing on the chalkboards, writing speeches (BM lol) and sorting out how the BM and MOH were going to tie their infinity dresses (sister spent most of the night and then went home when we went to bed). We went to bed at around midnight (eep!) but lay awake giggling until about 1am or so.
We woke at 7am for breakfast downstairs at 7:30. I had a nice English breakfast of 1 egg, some bacon, fried tomoto, fried mushrooms, fruit salad and yogurt, and my BM had a vegetarian schnitzel and everything else that I had except the bacon.

Then off to the shops to get some snacks for lunchtime at our wedding venue for while we’re getting ready. Once that was done, I sent the stuff for the groom and his men with my dad and then my mom, MOH, BM and I went off to the venue. My DH was there already getting the reception set up with all our DIY decor!

Meanwhile we were getting ready, slower than what I should have been, so we were running behind. We kept getting calls from my dad and MOH’s bf asking where the venue was etc and they only arrived to get dressed at 15h00! Ceremony at 15h30! by 15h15 I still wasnt in my dress so they laced me in, the photographer took pics of my ladies, then a few of myself, we attached my veil and dashed out the door. However, while they were lacing me up, it dawned on my that the moment was near, I’d be walking down the aisle soon and I had a bit of a breakdown, desperately trying to signal for a tissue so I didnt ruin my makeup. The photographer got pics of that so I’m sure those will be interesting to see haha!

I arrived, 15 minutes “fashionably late”, and only found out today that my dad had strode down the aisle and said “thanks everyone for coming but C has changed her mind” haha what a joker! The music started up and my ladies were joined by the men and they walked down the aisle in line as practised and I, with both my mom and dad, followed shortly after on my cue.

I think we might have walked down too quickly haha but who knows (or even who cares, at this point, right!) When I got to the carpet runner, the minister was supposed to signal DH to turn around to watch me walk down the aisle to him but he forgot, so I stopped and tried to signal that DH must turn around, and eventually after much gesticulating, he turned around haha cant wait to see that on the video. I made my way up the aisle, kissed my mom and dad and stepped up to my man, who was smiling from ear to ear, despite his nerves!
As we stood throughout the ceremony, I couldn’t help but be thankful that it was blue skies and lovely! Considering rain was forecast, it couldnt have been a better day, and in fact the sun was so bright I had to put my hand up to shield my eyes while I tried to look into DH’s eyes whilst saying our vows haha!
Poor DH was so nervous and stood taking deep breathes to calm himself, eventually I leaned over and whispered, “its ok, love, you can relax now” hehe
Finally we were pronouced husband and wife and got to kiss, which we did (politely, no tongue, but with gusto!) and made our way down the aisle to sign the register as husband and wife.

When we came out, everyone was lined up ready to throw the coloured rice we made and gosh did we not think it through when we made it!! Being pelted with 4kgs of rice STUNG haha! (according to my MOH, some people really had fun pelting us with the rice) And the rice went straight down my dress haha and kept falling out throughout the night lol, even onto the honeymoon suite floor where we took the dress off!

We did family photos (which left us no time to sample a canape boohoo) and then bridal party photos and then DH and I went off for pics. The sun was out, and we had a cool time with the pics (so excited to see them!) climbing around the grassy bush area, and then had to come back and do our first dance! EEEP! We were so nervous, and I was visably shaking haha (apparently no one noticed).

We timed it properly and it went off perfectly except for 1 step which DH did too soon, so I continued on with the correct timing, he caught up and we finished the dance with a nice dip, JUST as the song ended! It was perfect!

After that, starters were served. Butternut Tart – gosh this was delicious!!!! Everyone raved about it! The buffet everyone also enjoyed, esp the lamb, omnomnom that was divine!

For me, I just wanted to relax and enjoy but my mind was on all different things, and I remember thinking at some point that I just want all the fomalities to be done so I could relax! Haha!

I didnt see my reception before I arrived, so I was so suprised and amazed when I saw everything set up, the DIY bunting hung up in the trees, the table seating plan hung up, the bunting on the rail as you walked in, etc! Neither myself nor DH had seen the cheese stack yet as my gran, aunt and MOH set it up during photos, so when we got in and saw it we were gobsmacked! It was perfect! It was exactly what I wanted, and better than I could have done myself!

The speeches were done and everyone got all teary eyed, like they do during speeches, and then it was my DH’s turn. His speech was so heartfelt and he got all choked up and I couldnt have imagined a better speech :heart: Then it was my turn and I read mine from my phone (I had it on Dropbox haha), as well as played a little surprise video clip of Buddy from Cake Boss saying “Congralutions on your wedding, Michael and Courtnay!” when I met him in Cape Town

Then it was dessert and we cut our cake, threw the bouquet to “Hollaback Girl” and the garter to “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mixalot hahaha everyone loved that!

Then there was drinking and dancing and at midnight everyone left, we cleared the hall of the things we wanted to keep and disappeared to the honeymoon suite, where we were greeted with rose petals outside on the mat outside leading inside on the floor and some on the bed, with a bottle of champagne, some more cheese and crackers, and chocolate.

We opened the balcony door and overlooked the view over the winelands and then I just had to get the dress off hahaha needless to say there was a lot of rice left on the floor when it came off haha

The next morning we all met for breakfast at 9:30ish (14 of us who stayed over), and that breakfast was AMAZING!!!!!!!! Then we had our complimentary wine-tasting and went home (only to go out again with the inlaws for dinner, and then wine tasting again on Monday with DH family who were in town for the wedding – great fun but sheesh I’m exhausted!)

You can see a storybook here:

I’m married for over almost two months, and I’m just back from honeymoon!

I got married on the 30 March 2013 at Zevenwacht (I’ll post pics of that soon), and we went on honeymoon on the 9th May to the 5 star Shandrani Hotel & Spa in Mauritius! Best. Holiday. Ever!

The honeymoon was amazing! The weather was gorgeous, the food was AMAZING! and the snorkeling was beyond awesome!!

The Fully-Inclusive was even better – literally, everything is inlcuded. Premium brands of drinks (ie Johnny Walker Black, whatever you wanted – no extra charge!), the boat hire, waterskiiing (which we didnt get to lol), to all the cocktails you can think of! The only thing we paid for was a shirt for hubby and a few momentos we bought, that was it!

We were at breakfast by 8am most mornings, sometimes 8:30am, and had fun every morning at the buffet variety which changed all the time. After that we went to the boat house to book our snorkeling or glass-bottom boat rides.
  After that, back to our room to brush teeth, apply sunscreen (should have taken 1 bottle of factor 15 each, but we took one factor 30 like we’d use here in SA – totally didnt need such a high factor there, much to my surprise!). Only applied it once a day and never burnt!

Then we were off to the pool, as by now it was 10am or just after, and of course thats when the bar opens, so we lay by the pool drinking cocktails until lunchtime, where we either dined at the restaurant (if we were lying by the pool) or we used the golf cart that delivers food around the resort if we were at the beach.

After lunch we did snorkeling (we bought a snorkel set each here in SA and took it over with us, cos we felt gross using someone else’s snorkel equipment, even though it was cleaned and disinfected after each use), either from the bay or from the glass bottom boat, both of which was awesome.
  If we were on the beach, we left our stuff (phones, Kindle, etc) on our lounger with our towels and went off snorkeling in the bay for an hour, come back, order cocktail, lounge around and tan some more until 4:30pm-5pm, then we went off to shower and get ready for dinner at 7.

Once showered, we made our way to the bar for, yes, more cocktails (and for me, unlimited French champagne, cos hubby doesnt drink champagne lol) and canapes while we wait for dinner time.
  Then we dined in a different restaurant each night. First Porto Vecchio (Italian), then Le Sirius, then the main buffet for two nights in a row (new food options every night), and then back to Le Sirius for “Mauritian Night” with a special menu that included weird but wonderful items like Palm Heart! (which was yummy!)

They also dont like serving wine by the glass and bring you the whole bottle instead (again, all inclusive!). If you ever can try Château Mazetier, do it! Esp if you’re eating desserts! They also brought you a bottle of sparkling or still ice water for the table each time you dined which was nice.

After dinner (it was weird just getting up and walking away, no having to pay/tip/etc lol!), we usually went for a walk around the resort at night.
  I tried sitting out one night on the balcony, but the mosquitos bit me a few times and they’re now still big, red welts on my leg haha! Crazy! The room had a mozzie plug thing with mats, but we didnt need it inside.

The room had aircon of course, and we had free wifi access so in the evenings we caught up on FB, Instagram, etc. Then to bed at around 11pm and rinse and repeat lol

Extra awesomeness of our honeymoon were the free massages (1 for staying more than 4 nights and 1 for our honeymoon). We used the sauna and wellness splash-pool on our last day and it was super relaxing.
   We also got a free gift in the Boutique each, a t-shirt for the guy and a sarong (pareo ) for me.
  You could also pre-order coconuts to drink, and you would collect them the next day and enjoy them by the beach or pool.
  The mini-bar was customisable so we tailored it to our taste and of course, again, it was all included in the cost. I actually miss having sparkling water freely available on hand now haha
  The weather was amazing, around 27 degrees during the day, and at night around 23 degrees (no jersey was needed). It rained twice while we were there, once overnight so it didnt affect us, and a second time at around 11am but only for 20 min if that. Still hot, no wind, the only reason we moved out from under it was because we had cellphones, etc which we didnt want to get wet. The GoPro cam was waterproof, so we almost always had it in the water with us lol

My tip: if you ever go to a Mauritius resort (any of them), look for one that offers All-Inclusive and dont even second guess yourself! It’s the only way to go! Not all will have the extras we had (mini-bar, premium brands, access to all restaurants) but still enough to have an amazing time without worrying about costs during your stay. Oh, and take 1 bottle of sunscreen per person (we were nervous we’d run out and didnt feel like spending money to buy more there since it was only Clarins brand and quite pricey). Oh, and an underwater camera and snorkel stuff.

You can see a collection of our photos by clicking the thumbnail below:

For CANNOLI’S!!

Yup, the Community Chest Carnival is back again this year (their 62nd I believe). It opened last night and I’m visiting it tonight with my fiance, sister and some friends.

We dont usually go there to drink (anymore, highschool was a different story), but I hope tonight we can park off at a stall and have a drink of few. Usually its the only place I drink Grolsch beer (Irish tent FTW), and sometimes there are oysters (mom and I usually indulge here).

This year, I think I’m going to seek out the cheese stand (Switzerland, I think) to try find the cheeses we chose for our wedding cheese stack! I’m dying to try those cheeses again cos they’re omnomnom!

My sister loves the rides, so she usually spends some time on those, and we take pics and video for them of her and her bf on the rides. Fairground rides give me the heebs so I dont ride them though. If there is a Ferris Wheel this year, I might attempt it, though it scares the shiz out of me (afraid of heights)! My thing is the book tent!

But, as I said, the main thing I’m looking forward to is the Cannoli! I make a beeline for it as soon as I arrive (and usually I buy two!)

Or is it?

Who here, dear readers, owns a crock pot? Otherwise known (if I’m not mistaken) a slow cooker.

This has been in my thoughts for a while, and I’m sure I’ve hinted before at the fact I love appliances – ice cream maker, ice maker, soup cooker, donut maker, coffee machine, and even a pizza maker are all things I’d luuurve to own. I’m sure though that some are unnecessary as for example, the slow cooker could make soup as well, but the idea of a dedicated soup appliances (and it can even blend the soup to puree so you dont have to use a hand held chopper or use a blender cup by cup so it doesnt explode from the heat!) appeals to me quite a lot.

Anyway, so, back to the question. Who owns a crock pot/slow cooker, and bonus question, but equally important, are you ok leaving it on all day while you’re at work?

The thought of doing that makes me a little nervous, but I understand this is what slow cookers are for, right? I’d never leave my oven on all day, of course, but maybe a slow cooker is ok for that….

Help!

PS: Extra bonus question, which slow cooker do you own and what do you think of it?

Also new poll added in the sidebar –>

Wow its been a long time since I’ve posted, hasnt it? *checks date* Wow last post was Dec 12th. Hmm and I havent yet seen one of those movies lol!

Anyway, what’s been happening? The wedding planning is still goign ahead, dress alterations are booked for next month, but there is still a lot to be done. The venue is giving me grief but thats another story for another day, hopefully with a stiff drink in hand.

Nothing else much to report, but I thought I’d pop in and let you all know I’m still around. Hope your Christmas and New Years was a great one!