Monday Morning Inspiration: Speedo Fastskin

Feeling a bit sorry for yourself this morning? Not up to suiting up and diving into the pool after work? I'm sure this will get you going. It's the promo video/epic short film for the Speedo Fastskin range. One day when I'm big I'm going to buy all of it. And I won't even care when people argue "but you're not a professional athlete" because I'll look like one and that's pretty much half of what counts anyway.

I know, you want to call in a sickie today so that you can go swimming training and start your journey toward a professional swimming career instead, don't you? That video is so awesome. And don't even get me started on the Fastskin range. 

You can find Speedo SA on Facebook here. 

Love Your Home: Entrepo

Nash and I have been in serious nesting mode since we moved into our new home in July. It could be because of the wintery weather, or the fact that we just really, really love the home we're in right now, but we have been spending quite a bit of time making it nice. Nash even made us this fantastic little succulent feature which I am in awe of. He's pretty awesome.

Since we moved, I've spent more time lusting over stuff for our home than stuff for my body ie shoes and clothes. Or anything else, for that matter. So just imagine my love for Entrepo? I've spent some time in their V&A store, which stocks the most amazing, gorgeous, lust-worthy range of home stuff. Here are some of my favourites:

Muuto Same Same But Different glasses in Blue Grey

Normann Copenhagen Wine Stoppers

Revol Cuppuccino Crumpled Tumbler

Royal VKB French Carafe

You can spend the next two hours of your life looking at beautiful stuff on their website. I'll just be saving my pennies in a cat piggy bank so that I can go splurge at the store.

Keep your eyes open cause there might be a little Entrepo competition coming up on this here bloggy in the near future.

Entrepo on Facebook. 

Daydrinking Friday: WIN! With Durbanville Wine

I am pretty big on wine. And when I say "pretty big" I mean "very much obsessed with". There are very few things I love more than wine-filled activities. Wine farm visits, wine courses, wine tastings, wine festivals... So I am super stoked that the Season of Sauvignon festival is just around the corner.

There's nothing like sipping on a cold glass of Sauv on a boiling hot summer's day. Whether you drink it with or without ice, I don't judge- as long as you're drinking it!

Every year the good people of the Durbanville Wine Valley take it upon themselves to celebrate this popular and delicious varietal at their Season of Sauvignon festival. Capetonians might argue this, but Durbanville is just 20 minutes out of Cape Town and boast 11 truly fantastic farms. 

If you don't have any sober friends (I can relate) and would prefer to stay at one farm for the day, you can get involved with the "Ward in a box" tasting offered at all the farms. You'll get to sample Sauvs from each farm while remaining safely out of harms way and off the road.

Of course, the absolute cherry on top of my pie is the Base 4 Heli Hopper which travels between De Grendel, Durbanville Hills and Meerendal on Saturday. I know, I know! Sounds too amazing! You'll get dropped at each farm for a tasting and have a Simonsberg picnic on your last farm. Did I mention that this offer is going for just R750 per person and includes your tastings? If you've ever Googled "helicopter flips Cape Town" you'll know that this is a pretty special offer.

The other participating farms are: Nitida, Diemersdal, Bloemendal, D’Aria, Hillcrest, Groot Phesantekraal and Klein Roosboom. To see what they have on offer visit the website and book directly with the farms.

WIN With Altydgedacht

Join the 300 year old Altydgedacht farm for a vineyard tour with joint-owner and viticulturist John

Parker, in an open top vehicle, with live music playing as you sip on their Sauvignon Blanc and dig into

their slow food.

WIN

6 bottles of wine from the Durbanville Wine Valley, a vineyard tour through the Altydgedacht vineyards (at 12pm, or 2pm), as well as a picnic platter for 4 on the farm.

HOW TO ENTER

Tweet and tell me your favourite place to sip on a glass of Sauvignon, using #dvillesauvfest @NatalieRoos & @durbanvillewine something like this: 

My favourite place to sip a glass of Sauv is xxx @NatalieRoos @durbanvillewine #dvillesauvfest

*Competition only open to people living in the Western Cape
*Competition closes on Friday, 5 October

Virgin Active Wellness Wednesday: Sleek Geek

I'm a couple of months into my healthy lifestyle changes now. From swimming and exercising three times a week, to including green smoothies into my diet I am definitely well on the way to some kind of routine. Slowly but surely I can see some weight dropping off...only to be put back on over the weekend. I start every Monday wracked with guilt over my weekend indulgences, belly swollen for my wheat eating sins. Does this happen to anyone else?

Anyway, since I'm currently entrenched in my 14 week Summer Transformation, I've decided to kick things up a level. Have you heard about Sleek Geek?

Founded by Digital Media exec Elan Lohmann, Sleek Geek started as a passion project and has flourished into a transformation revolution that Elan now runs full time! Read the full story of Sleek Geek here and the story of why Elan quit his successful corporate career to take it up full time here.

" We approach health and fitness from a genuinely unique angle - we don’t dictate how to eat or train, but we do assist and support you anyway we can. If you are looking for a way to achieve and stay committed to your health and fitness goals – what ever they may be – then the Sleekgeek revolution will do wonders for you! "

I've signed up for the Sleek Geek Summer Challenge. This is how it works:

•  Signup for our 8-week challenge and “activate” your healthy lifestyle. You select a category that you wish to compete in: Men’s Weight-loss, Women’s Weight-loss, Men’s Toning and Women’s Toning. Choose the one that suits you best.

•  Create your strategy to success and achieving your healthy lifestyle goals. Our philosophy is that there is no specific program that you should follow. Choose your own, or take a look at our resources and past winner’s strategies.

• Get the support, motivation and accountability via real life meetups and social media. We provide everything you need to never fall of track or stray far from the path to success.

• WIN! Anyone who improves their lifestyle and helps promote healthy living is automatically a winner in their own way, but just to make things interesting we have R80,000.00 in cash up for grabs! Each category winner receives R20,000.00 and we also have a whole host of other prizes for runners-up and inspirational members who took part

Did you see that? R20 000 cash prize! If that's not motivation then I don't know what is. Imagine, finally feeling comfortable on the beach AND having R20 000 to spend in Thailand? 

I was going to start this past Monday, but since it was a public holiday I was rolling around in carbs and champagne. So, this coming Monday, 1 October (could there be a more perfect date? The 1st of the month, falling on a Monday!) I will be weighing, measuring and submitting and on the way to "bikini comfortable".

Here's how I'm going to do it:

- Swimming training with a coach twice a week at Virgin Active

- Training with a Flexi-Sport trainer once a week

- One run a week (I hate running so this is going to be a real challenge for me)

- One green smoothie a day

- Follow (mostly) the Paleo way of eating

- Drink endless liters of water

- Try to drink less alcohol (so hard!)

- STAY AWAY FROM WHEAT (I'm allergic to wheat but I find it almost impossible to stay away

  from it)

- Move as much as I can: take the stairs, go for walks on the weekend, go for a swim when I have 

  extra time

                           Sign up to Sleek Geek here. Sign up to Virgin Active here.

Virgin Active on Facebook and Twitter. Sleek Geek on Facebook and Twitter.

What's A Childless Gurl To Buy?

Even though I'm only 24 years old (a child in my own eyes), I've been alarmed to find myself invited to several wedding- and baby showers over the past couple of months- a sure sign that not only are my friends now what is conventionally perceived as "grown ups", but more than likely, so am I. And while I love shopping for- and gifting people, I have been feeling the pressure in terms of finding appropriate gifts recently. Shopping for myself is hard enough, now I need to shop for pregnant, hormonal women, with their unborn babies' best interests at heart? Terrifying.

Cue PetiteBox. I've been doing some Social Media work for this brand recently and I'll admit, I've gotten caught up in the hype. The premise is simple- sign up for 3/6/12 months and get a box of baby products delivered to your doorstep ("you" being the pregnant woman), curated according to your baby's age and gender, every month.

Or, if you're a loving and childless friend, sign your preggo ladyfriend up and give her the gift that keeps on giving. Of course you could also choose from their Pregnancy Gift Box (a box full of various trial-sized products for a newly preggo mom-to-be to trail before blowing her shoe money on), Baby Shower Gift Box (a box full of baby items that every expectant mom apparently needs) and Hospital Gift Box (a box of hospital essentials that will get post-birth mommy looking camera ready in her hospital bed) too.

The boxes themselves are really pretty too and can be kept for storing things like, I don't know...baby stuff that is small and needs storing, I suppose.

Check out their Facebook page where they run awesome monthly competitions or sign up for yourself or a ladyfriend on their website.

Darling Flowers

Last weekend I went up to Darling with a bunch of the gurls. It was the weekend of the Darling Flower Show, but we went up there with a few other intentions ie drinking and wine. "Drink lost of wine, see some flowers" seemed to be the general motto. Friday night was so fantastic. We had a gay old time guzzling bottle after bottle wine, talking, shouting and laughing until around 4am. I remember at some point Tweeting the following gem, uttered by one Miss Helen in a moment of particular wine-induced mirth; "We are pigs of wine!"

On Saturday morning I woke up fully clothed with a head that felt six times its normal size. My eyes were sensitive to the light and the clock read 11:00. I can't imagine what could have caused all this.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the new Darling Brew restaurant/tasting room which is well worth a visit. The service was a little slow, but I think that was due to the sheer volume of visitors to this otherwise peaceful town. This was followed by a leisurely ride on the back of a trailer to view the beautiful flowers that grow wild all over Sarah D's farm. It really was such an amazing sight.

Thank you Angie for the pretty pictures x

#BubblyChallenge Video

A couple of weeks ago, Nash & I flew up to Joburg to take part in a Blogger Challenge to celebrate the launch of the (ridiculously delicious) new Cadbury Bubbly. The weather was trying to sabotage our fun, but we had an awesome time playing with the big kid toys at Jozi X anyway.

 nutritionally balanced breakfast 

Jozi X

There were a series of pretty tough physical challenges (wall climbing, monkey swings, tight rope walking and zorb balling) and we were competing across speed, influence and creativity. I eventually landed in fourth place, behind Nicky, Bearded Wiseman and Follow The Bounce. 

I also took the first step toward realizing my lifelong dream of suddenly becoming talented and running away with the circus when I successfully completed the 5m high tight rope walk!

tightrope gypsy queen

Watch the video to see Nash trying to kill/mate with me in the jousting. Funzies.

Virgin Active Wellness Wednesday: Too Much Protein For These Two Arms

Absolutely devastated by the fact that all my swimming efforts have resulted in a dramatic growth spurt in my arm muscles. DRAMATIC! More specifically, the right arm muscle. This is a direct quote from my boyfriend: "You definitely have the biggest arm muscles of any girl I've dated." As I said, devastated.

me right now. complete with weird stains on top

It would seem though, that the real contributor to this rapid arm muscle growth spurt is not so much the swimming as it is the Evox protein shake that I have been using as a meal replacement. To be fair though, I was sabotaged. The Evox salesman recommended their 100% Whey Protein Shake when I asked for something I could use as a meal replacement early in the morning after training. I told him my main goals were weight loss and then more weight loss. He must have heard "Hulk Arms and a ruined life"

Now I'm by no means suggesting the Evox is not a great product that doesn't show quick results- in facts, I can attest to the fact that it shows pretty rapid results- it's been been showing the wrong results for my personal arms.

I spent over an hour last night Googling "how do I make the muscles in my arms smaller" and found the following answers:

- More cardio and high reps of light weight exercises (am already doing this with Flexi-Sports 

  equipment)

- Less protein in your diet (am thinking of becoming full-on vegetarian)

- Running four to five times a week (!!!) to burn calories (no)

- Reduce your calorie intake (in the process)

- Eat green veggies in their most natural form (hello, green juice?)

I spoke to my friend Claire about what I have labelled Protein Shake-gate and she gave me some really good advice on putting together a natural, low-fat shake for those mornings when I can't stand the thought of real food before/after training or when I'm running around, too busy to sit down to a green salad.

FUTURELIFE

Claire's friend Toni (a dietician) suggests Futurelife for when you need a meal replacement. Furthermore, Claire says she would never suggest a protein shake to a girl, but has suggested the Evox shake in the past... to her male clients looking to bulk up their manly man muscles! 

The Evox shake that I have been drinking contains 36g of protein per 50g serving, while Futurelife only contains 9g of protein per 50g serving- so while boys are likely to be getting fantastic results, I am crying into a bucket between my giant biceps. Although Futurelife contains more carbs, if you're using it as a meal replacement shake (and you are exercising too) it acts as the perfect lunch or after-workout meal- rather than having shakes which contain more protein and help your muscles recover and grow more. 

Futurelife is also packed with vitamins, minerals and probiotics. Most importantly, it has a good balance between carbs, protein and fat.

You can mix the Futurelife with water if you want to cut down on calories. It's best to have it at breakfast or lunch time as it does contain carbs which you want to avoid at night. (Your insulin levels have to rise more at night to process the same amount of carbs....this is never ideal as comes with a range of issues including male fat storage patterns ie. around your stomach). 

EXERCISE ADVICE FROM CLAIRE

I would throw in a run if you are swimming a lot.....like I said look at runners bodies vs swimmers bodies. The running will burn a lot of calories and combined with the Flexi-bar and XCO trainer workouts (you are burning loads of calories while toning your muscles and not lifting heavy weight) will give you toned arms. 

So, I hope this helps those of you who are sitting in front of your computer right now, Googling "how to lose muscle in your arms".

Visit Virgin Active to sign up or check out their Facebook page to keep in touch.

I Knew I Liked This Song: Call Me Maybe

I don't hate the original. Sometimes I even get mildly excited when it comes on the radio and sing along and get it stuck in  my head and hum it softly while I'm creepily close to a stranger's ear in line at Woolies.

But Ben Howard sure does an earth-shatteringly fantastic cover of Carly Ray Jepsen's radio hit phenomenon Call Me Maybe. They've taken this teeny-pop hit and turned it into something really technical, moody, beautiful and incredibly sexy.

What a difference real talent makes.

Thanks @elismaroets

NEUW on 36 Boutiques

A few weeks ago I got introduced to a super exciting new denim brand to launch in SA. They sent over this amazing cropped floral jacket that I have been in love with since I got it, along with a few other gorgeous vintage-inspired pieces that I'm sure I'll be getting endless wear of in summer, like amazing crop tops and vests.

I love the feel of the fabric and the fit of their clothes and very item has a really one-of-a-kind, vintage look. I tend to shop a lot for staple items, and every now and then I'll get a few key statement pieces- really well tailored or vintage- that I'll pair up with everyday items to create an easy new look. For me, fit and comfort is most important. I like understated cool. NEUW's range is right up my fashion alley.

About the brand

VINTAGE /revision

At Neuw we pay homage to the heritage of denim. Our range is carefully crafted and created with respect to traditional garment construction. We adapt these age old techniques to develop modern fits and finishes. Neuw Denim is guided by our founding principle we call Vintage Revision: the concept that traditions of the past can inspire a modern group of people creating contemporary products with substance.

birth of denim culture

Denim culture was born in America in the 1950’s when the influential rebels wore denim as their badge of honour; their symbol of rebellion against the “American Dream”, the sanitised version of the ideal life promoted by the conservative older generation.

This is why we believe that denim is not a fashion item but lifestyle choice. Films like Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and The Wild One (1953) created style icons out of the denim clad characters portrayed by James Dean and Marlon Brando that are still relevant today. The jeans we design are inspired by characters like these.

music

Running a denim brand is like being in a band. The best bands are the ones that have a burning passion for roots music and the rebllious lifestyle connected to it. Those bands that take us to new places by experimenting with original raw sound and rhythm. We aim to create our jeans like our favourite bands create their music.

 Ladies Fit Guide (click to enlarge)

Men's Fit Guide (click to enlarge)

NEUW has just launched on 36Boutiques and 36Man and in store at Prime in Rosebank,

Shesha at The Zone, Melrose, The Glen, Canal Walk, Eastgate, Menlyn and Santon and Astore in Cape Town. Check them out on Facebook here.

The prices are around the same as Country Road and Zara.