Cape Town Living

It has almost been three months that I have been living in the beautiful city that is Cape Town.  Time has gone by so quickly. For a dream that seemed to take forever to become a reality, it's strange that I catch myself wishing time would go slower now. I spent my first month settling into my new home. I'm living with such a wonderful family and they have really embraced me as a daughter and I feel super comfortable living with them. My dad came down to visit me for a week which was amazing! We did all the touristy things like climb Table Mountain, swim with the penguins at Boulders Bay, visit Kalk Bay, Kommetjie and more. Was a really special time with him.

Then, in February, I began my third and final year of studies at Vega. The Cape Town Vega in situated in Adderley Street. It takes me thirty minutes to travel by bus from the Table View Station to the Civic Centre Station. This took me some getting used to initially as it used to take me ten minutes to get to the Vega in Durban. But I'm really enjoying the change. It's so much cheaper to travel on the bus, I get to read my book and just take in the beautiful scenery around me. Vega is situated in amongst the hustle and bustle of the city. It's so creatively stimulating and inspiring to be surrounded by so many ornate historic buildings and diverse cultures. People from all social groups are walking on the streets, business men grabbing a coffee before work, students buying lunch, people trying to advertise 'Cash for Gold' and dissalusioned hobos begging for change or singing loudly to the sky. The lecturers are incredible. The students are super creative and friendly. It's just a really cool place to study.

One thing that is especially cool about living in Cape Town is that Tyler and I no longer have to do long distance. It's honestly been such a treat living in the same city as him and I can truly say I love and value him more and more each day. He is absolutely incredible!

I have been missing my friends from Durban. No one can replace them but I have been embracing the people around me and seeing the importance of cultivating deep friendships where ever you are. Life Changers is such a beautiful community and I am absolutely loving serving in the youth and doing design work for the church. We recently launched a new name for the youth, "VOX", it was really well embraced and we're having lots of fun seeing Jesus transform high schoolers lives. It means "voice" in Latin and was inspired by a prophetic word that the youth would be a powerful voice in Cape Town. The youth leaders are such an incredible bunch of legends.

I have discovered some of the coolest coffee shops around town; Bread, Milk and Honey, Motherland Coffee Co, Charley's Bakery, Truth, Origin, The Creamery and Bread and Butter, just to name a few. I absolutely love the culture of coffee shops here in Cape Town. There is a new one to discover every day.

I went to Silvermine Nature Reserve with mates for the time today and simultaneously rock climbed a rock face for the first time. What a thrilling experience it was!

At the beginning of the year, just before I moved, I felt God say he was going to do three pivotal things in me this year. 1. Learn to trust Him with the unknown 2. Growth and 3. New Horizons. I can honestly say I have never felt more stoked to be alive, excited about life and stretched before. I've already learnt so much and God has done such a beautiful work in my heart since I've moved here. Humbled and overjoyed that he has placed me here for such a time as this.

So that's just a short summary of the last three months of my life here in Cape Town. I am so excited for what next is in store. Thanks for reading. Below are some photographs capturing some of my adventures so far.

Sunday Afternoon Date

Today was a good day. Why? Because today I went on a date with my best friend. I absolutely love quality time and so I prioritise it with the ones I love. Today my boyfriend and I went to Arnolds in Kloof Street. We both had their famous Breakfast Burger Special. It comprises of a Beef patty burger topped with bacon and a fried egg with sweet potato fries on the side. It was only R49! They brand the bread roll with an "a" which I thought was really cool.

After that we went to the V & A Waterfront. There is a market at Noble Square daily. I have been dying to try ice cream from a stall there called The Creamery. Today I finally got to try it. I sampled a few flavours before choosing to have a sugar cone with their coffee flavour. It was yummy! My boyfriend had their chocolate ice cream which he ended up swopping with me as I enjoyed it more than him :)

After ice creams we shared a Bubble Tea, which we tried for the first time. It was delicious! We got a rooibos, strawberry and passionfruit flavoured one. We then wandered toward the waters edge and watched a seal sleeping on a jetty in the sun. He was so cute! He kept nearly falling off and then would catch himself. It's so beautiful at the waterfront. What a fun afternoon!

Hello January!

So it's a brand new month of a brand new year and boy am I excited. Not only is there the smell of newness in the air because of the date but because I am moving to Cape Town... tomorrow!

This has been a dream of mine which has been brewing over the past two years and I can't believe I'm about to watch it unfold before my eyes. I'm pinching myself as it's so surreal. I have made the most amazing friends in this city over these past two years and started dating the most incredible guy and now we don't have to live off short visits but permanent residence. I aim to be more active on this blog this year and want to start my own photography blog too as I started shooting weddings recently. I will post some of the most recent wedding's photos up soon. I'm excited to be studying at Vega Cape Town as well this year, doing my third and final year. What more of a better place could you want to study a creative degree in but Cape Town. There are so many opportunities and possibilities, I'll be sure not to miss.

I found these really cool calendar printables that I have printed out to use in my new room this year. Be sure to check them out and other cool design resources here:  http://misstiina.com/blog/free/2014-planner-printables/

Here's to a fantastic 2014!

Expressing Love Old School Style

This morning I woke up to a delightful surprise; a postcard in the mail from my boyfriend. How my heart leapt with joy and excitment as I opened this large envelope in my hands and revealed a cute little postcard which had the famous photo, "Lunch atop a Skyscraper", on it. Hand written in pencil were the words of a man's heart filled with love for me. What a wonderful way to start off the day. I do love receiving things in the post especially from my favourite person in the world. We are making the most of our long distance relationship by expressing love old school style.

Cape Town Through Film

                    

                   

                  

                  

                    

                    

Molly Gran

Today I had tea with my lovely granny, Molly Hayward. She is one of the most incredible women I know. Her wit and sense of humour matched with her intelligence and ability to concentrate make it hard to believe she is in her 80's. I took some photos of her while we enjoyed eachothers company and made them into a collage which is below.