All posts filed under: Top Post

Cape Town’s top five beaches

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So, you’re off to Cape Town! Excellent news! You’ll have a long list of things to do, see, hear and eat and if you’re looking for the top 5 beaches to visit – then you’ve come to the right place. The best time of year to visit Cape Town is November through to March – it’s hot and sunny and also a superb time to escape the northern hemisphere too, which is exactly what we did this year! Check this out for packing tips! While there are other beautiful beaches around the world, many of them are private, overly crowded with sun-gazers or cultivated for tourists. Cape Town’s beaches are public beaches of natural beauty and rarely over-crowded – and anyway, you can always elbow yourself a spot without too many glares. All the beaches are accessible by road, although a few you’ll have to do a workout of stairs before reaching the bottom – but I promise, it’s totally worth it, and you’re calves will thank you later! Camps Bay Beach This is one of the …

5 reasons to go on a yoga retreat

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Even if you have never stepped foot onto a yoga mat before, there are lots of reasons to pack a bag and immerse yourself in the ancient practice of poses, breathing and meditation for a few days with no other distractions. I did just that at the end of last year – I packed a weekend bag filled with stretchy sweat pants (thanks LuluLemon!), a re-usable water bottle, some body-fitting comfy tops, a yoga mat, a swimsuit for good measure and headed for Chiang Mai in Thailand. This particular yoga retreat was organised by The Yoga Room, an intimate yoga studio in Hong Kong, and taught by the gorgeous, stretchy yogini Nora Lim. It was a four day retreat held at  The Pavana Resort  – a holistic resort with great vegetarian food and spa (very important!) Here are my top five reasons why everyone should find a retreat, make the time to go and indulge in yoga, meditation, pranayama and yourself : You practice yoga every single day – sometimes a few times a day. If …

Love, Loss, Letting go and life in Lagos : Nicole Mansour

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In South Africa she’s known as Nicole Fox, however, 7 years ago the vivacious and much-loved radio presenter and ‘it’ girl left her home country and everything she knew to followed her heart further north on the African continent to Lagos. Now wife to Ramzi and mom to Deen, Nicole Mansour explains how giving it all up has helped define who she really is. If you met Nicole 7 years ago she was a self-confessed career woman firmly entrenched in her (very successful) profession as a journalist in entertainment media. As with many of us, she was defined by what she did, juggling a full-time radio presenting career as well as freelance television presenting, voice over artist gigs, corporate MC-ing and Club DJ-ing. She describes her past job as incredible and says she loved every second of her career. She was able to travel the world interviewing movie stars and traveled her home country a few times over doing work in a field that she was absolutely passionate about, and giving her the opportunity to meet so many …

A career in Motherhood

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I do love seeing all the recognition that moms get on International Mother’s day. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are flooded with status updates and photographs of hardworking awesome women who receive their annual high-five from their kids, siblings, parents and other halves. It makes me think of all the skills and talent that mothers need to fulfill this always busy, sometimes annoying, super exhausting, frequently rewarding and always unconditional job. To me motherhood is when I’m assured that my kid isn’t going to end up a complete troll even during those moments of supermarket breakdowns and just-before-bedtime tantrums. Motherhood It’s a good mix of joy, irritation, love and fear and a lifetime commitment to one career. So in the spirit of my lifelong career here’s how my current CV reads … I’m an excellent Fast Food chef. In fact, I make 3-Michelin starred chefs look like amateurs. I don’t see them whipping up 4 different meals in ½ an hour in order to please the head-shaking, famished but fussy customer yelling “No, I don’t like that” – …

On the Lust-have List ❤ The Bucket Bag!

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A few years back I bought this adorable nude coloured bucket bag from Topshop on Oxford street. I was obsessed with it – until the pretty nude colour became more of a desperate-for-a-wash hue and that when I decided we needed to part ways. Lucky for me, this season brings the bucket bag to the forefront of must-have bag shapes which means, you guessed it, I’ll be adopting another favourite I’m sure! Perhaps the hugely successful Mansur Gavriel drawstring bucket bag has inspired the resurgence of this bag shape. Launched in 2013 by female duo Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel, these handbags have become a phenomenon due to their non-descript, moderately-priced, un-labeled and simple design. The result? Waiting lists of almost-Birkin-bag proportions! If Mansur Gavriel’s overtly modest design is not attention-grabbing enough for you, it’s good to know that other designers such as Phillip Lim 3.1 and Moschino have gone for wilder textures and prints, and at the same time you’ll also be able to find more subtle detailing at Michael Kors and Gucci. It’s the slouchy-ness of the …

D&G love the mamas!

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The plus belle crush of all is the love I have for my kids and Dolce & Gabbana mirrored this mom/baby bond with their awesome Autumn Winter 2015 collection at Milan Fashion week! Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are known to show the whole famille with multiple generations in their campaigns but today’s collection, “Viva La Mamma”, was an ode to mamas everywhere. Not only did the designers show their wearable creations with scrawled slogans such as “Je t’aime maman” (I love you mom) but the show was a celebration of motherhood. Toddlers in matching gear to the moms, bambino’s perched on hips and perfectly posed children strutted alongside their gorgeous mothers. The invitation featured children drawings and wobbly handwriting with messages like ‘ti amo mama‘ (I love you, mom). The kiddie’s writing and pictures reminding me that the Italian duo did create a spectacular wedding dress for the ultimate Hollywood mama, Angelina Jolie, that had her brood’s drawings embroidered on her gown. Along with Dolce & Gabbana’s signature roses and lace details emblazoned on feminine dresses, models were accessorised with jewel …

Blogging, babies and boxes of memories : Nirit Sumeruk

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Fashion blogger and full-time mom, Nirit Sumeruk can’t help preserving each memory and experience she has through her love of photographs. She talks about her life in Paris, recounts her first Michelin-starred restaurant experience and why she started her much-loved blog. You can’t help but not like Nirit Sumeruk. When she opens the door to her apartment in a chic Parisian suburb her smile is warm and welcoming. I’m instantly attracted to her fun, un-intimidating and friendly personality and she has a way of immediately disarming you. Her energy is infectious and easy-going which probably has much to do with her very global upbringing. Born to Argentinian parents and one of 4 children, she was brought up in Cape Town, South Africa. After her final year at university she moved to London to do a gap year, followed by a few years in Tel Aviv where she worked for MTV which is what eventually brought her to Paris for a four-day job – where serendipitously she met her French husband. After a long distance romance, Nirit moved …

Elle’s touching tribute

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When I was 21 years old I worked for Elle South Africa. I always knew I wanted to work for a magazine and from a young age I’ve had an interest in fashion so it was serendipitous that I was first hired as the magazine’s designer. I loved working for ELLE, I had amazing role models in women who were (and still are) intelligent, hard working, passionate and not only thought fashion was fabulous but that it was important to publish thought provoking articles on the world around us. It makes me extra proud that when I picked up the French edition of this week’s ELLE I can say that I was once part of this family. Their beautifully illustrated cover, by well-known Soledad, that conveys the sentiment of what we all want – peace. The magazine has run 13 pages on last week’s killings in a very profound and sensitive way. They list the names of all the people who were killed, commissioned young cartoonists to draw, published opinion pieces and articles from well-known actors and writers as well as quotes …