Listen-worthy: Eliza Doolittle

British singer/songwriter Eliza Doolittle has been around for a little while already, but I only recently discovered her great voice and catchy lyrics for myself. 

Her debut self-titled album, Eliza Doolittle was released in July 2010. My favourite songs on the album are definitely 'Pack up' and 'Skinny Genes'. I am also really enjoying this acoustic, live version of 'Skinny Genes' (below):

For more info on Eliza you can visit her official website here

10 things I've learnt recently

1. The NAP living store, in the Cape Quarter shopping centre, sells so many pretty and awesome things (I took the above photo inside the store).
2.  According to physicists, it's unlikely that 'Star Trek'-stye teleportation will ever be possible  - read the whole article HERE (I will continue live in hope).
3. Google Plus confuses me - trying to figure out what exactly the point of it is. 
4. 'Bat Cat' lives in my apartment block - HERE is the proof (I know, I was expecting him to be wearing a cape too.  I must have caught him off duty )   
5. One little, unexpected conversation can have a big impact on so much.
6. Apparently every new Instagram user should read THESE 11 tips.
7. I can fit into jeans I bought 6 years ago (ok- it is possible that the jeans are kinda stretched out, but I like to think it's cause I've slimmed down a tiny bit )
8. My fluffy headphones double as ear warmers (I posted a pic of them HERE )
9. I have become ridiculously dependent on my smartphone.
10. There are just so many people doing what they think they should do, instead of what they want to do. I desperately don't want to be one of those people anymore.

What have you learnt recently?

Erdem Resort 2013

Really liking Erdem's Resort 2013 Collection. Yes, the floral prints and unique patterns are a bit "busy" looking, but I still think it's a very pretty and ladylike collection.  I am particularly smitten with the floral shoes in the collection.

To see more from ths collection trot over here

Happy weekend!

Hope you have a really cool Friday and a weekend full of awesome :) 

image found via Tumblr. words added by me

Organic beauty giveaway

Today I am happy to announce the start of a lovely giveaway sponsored by South African, natural retailer Harmless House

The winner will receive a Sanctum Body Polish and Body Balm (perfect for winter).

A bit about Sanctum: This Australian brand was started in 1992. All Sanctum products are Certified Organic and contain 100% Naturally Derived ingredients. To find out more about Sanctum, you can visit their website here

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Visit Harmless House and tell me, below, which product you'd like to try.

2. For an extra entry you can either:  "Like" the Harmless House Facebook page and leave a comment on the wall mentioning this competition  OR tweet about this giveaway and include @beingbrazen and @Harmlesshouse in your tweet.

Giveaway notes: *This giveaway is open to SA residents only * the winner will be chosen randomly * This giveaway will end on Wednesday, 27 June and the winner will be announced on twitter & FB on Thursday, 28 June. Good luck, darlings.

 -- GIVEAWAY CLOSED: Winner @Taniar2 --

Celeb style: Emma Stone

 images from instyle

Ever since her awesome role in Easy A, I have been a fan of Emma Stone. Not only is she a good actress, but she also has great style. 

At the moment she has been very busy promoting her latest film, The Amazing Spider-Man (which I can't wait to see), and has been looking stunning while doing it.  The actress recently wore these four fabulous outfits:

1. Looking chic and sexy in a belted Elie Saab jumpsuit and black pumps. 
2. Wearing floral Lanvin dress and patent leather peep-toes.
3. Keeping it classy in a pastel blue Emilio Pucci cocktail dress, matching clutch, nude Louboutins and subtle make-up.
4. Rocking a black Gucci gown, leather pumps and dark, vampy lips.

Which Emma outfit is your favourite? ( I'm torn between 1 & 4)

It's for you...

image found here

I thought today would be a great time for a little 'It's for you' post, so here goes...

How it always works (in case you forgot): I will answer the below random questions - then you answer the questions as a comment. Why? cause sharing is caring *winks*

1. Today I feel... like I may be getting flu

2. This week... is not nearly as good as last week was.

3. Last night... Ate pie, watched a new episode of True Blood and stayed up too late.

4. Song currently stuck on repeat in your head? "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen (mainly because I watched THIS silly music video this week) 

5. Beauty product you can't live without right now?  Chanel Rouge Coco lipstick in 'Mademoiselle' - it's definitely my most favourite lip colour ever.

6. At the moment I am enjoying... taking long walks, using the Kindle app on my Samsung tab, discovering new music, great chats with far-away friends, my new winter coat, organic skin products and working from home.

7. If you could live anywhere in the world (besides where you live now) where would you go? New York - It's right in the middle of two of my bff's (one's in London & ones in LA) , it seems like such a cool city and I've always wanted to explore it.  

Vamp love

VAMP is a cool store that stocks a wide range of re-vamped furniture, vintage kitchenalia and collectables (I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it before).

A while ago I signed up for their "Fabulous Friday Furniture" updates and here are just a few of the pretty things that have landed in my inbox this month: 

VAMP is located at 368 Albert Road (Opposite the Old Biscuit Mill), Woodstock in Cape Town. You can follow them on Facebook here or check out their blog here.

Happy weekend!

Hope you all have a lovely Friday and a fabulous weekend :)

Street style inspiration: winter florals

Photos: top from Stockholm Street Style. Middle from The Blonde Salad.  Bottom from The Coveted

Photo from Stockholm Street Style 

I definitely want to add a few more floral print items to my winter wardrobe. They just seem to make any outfit a little more cheerful and feminine.

Do you wear florals in winter?     

Room online giveaway

Today I am happy to announce the start of a lovely giveaway sponsored by South African, online store Roomonline.co.za

The lucky winner will receive a R500 online shopping voucher.

Roomonline.co.za was recently started by Natasha Stone and Anne Bouwer. Both are passionate about everything local and wanted to create an online space to showcase locally-made items. The store sells homewares, decor items, jewellery and stationary. 

 

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Visit Room online and and tell me, below, which item/s you like best.

2. For an extra entry you can either:  "Like" the Room online Facebook page and leave a comment on the wall mentioning this competition  OR tweet about this giveaway and include @beingbrazen and @Roomonline in your tweet.

Giveaway notes: *This giveaway is open to SA residents only * the winner will be chosen randomly * This giveaway will end on Monday, 18 June and the winner will be announced on twitter & FB on Tuesday, 19 June. Good luck, darlings.

 - GIVEAWAY CLOSED: winner @ChereenGibson - 

My new GLCO sunnies

I have been lusting after the Garrett Leight  'Lucille' sunglasses for a little while now (you may remember i mentioned them in this post), so I was totally over the moon when I was recently given a pair of my very own in black.

I absolutely love the classic cat eye shape of the 'Lucille' (apparently this style was inspired by Hollywood starlets of the 1980’s)

I got my sunglasses from Vision View Optometrists in Kloof Lifestyle Centre, Cape Town (I also get my contact lenses and eyes checked there - Danielle, the owner, is very helpful). The glasses retail for about R1800.

A little info on the brand: Garrett Leight, the son of Oliver Peoples founder  Larry Leight, recently started his own brand called: Garrett Leight California Optical (or GLCO). The brand focuses on designing timeless, classic eyewear styles and is strongly influenced by Southern California (past & present). 

- All photos by The boyf and me -

Happy weekend!

 

 Photo found via Tumblr - words added by me.

Movies I want to watch...

Here are four movies that I cannot wait to see. Most of them are only due for release later this year, but all them have trailers out now (click the film title to watch trailer):

From top left, clockwise:  

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower -  This film, which centers around an introverted freshman who  befriends two quirky seniors, is an adaptation of  a novel by Stephen Chbosky (who is also the director the film).  I think it's going to be great. 

2. Ruby Sparks - From by the directors of 'Little Miss Sunshine', this film is about a struggling novelist who falls inlove with the character in his book and somehow wills her into existence. I hope the film is as sweet & romantic as the trailer makes it look.

3. The Great Gatsby - Directed by Baz Luhrmann, this film is based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald ( which was first published in 1925). Judging from the trailer it's set to be full of stunning clothes and Art Deco decadene. 

4. Django Unchained -  The film is about a slave-turned-bounty hunter on  a quest to rescue his wife from a plantation owner. It looks like it will be awesome and very Tarantino.

Are their any upcoming films you can't wait to watch?

From my 'hood

Lately I've been taking a lot more walks around my neighbourhood and it's been great. I enjoy urban walking almost as much as walking on the beach. There is always so many things to see, people to watch and new or different places to discover.

I have lived in the Atlantic Seaboard area of Cape Town for about 6 years now and I really love it. The area is close enough to town to help me avoid traffic and right near the coastline, so I don't ever have to go through "ocean withdrawal syndrome" (I suffered from it once before, it was a dark time *winks* )

Today I thought I'd share a few photos that I recently took in my neighbourhood -

 In the Green Point park - it is really nice and very clean.

 The promenade  - I walk here as often as I can
)

A Seagull (one of hundreds in this area)- They make a lot of noise and freak me

 out when they fly over me. (I always worry they will poop on my head, is that weird?)

The promenande (again) -  Dark clouds rolling in.
I love how dramatic a wintery sky can look, especially over the sea. 
 

 The lighthouse in Mouille Point - I like that it's stripey.


 - All the above photos taken by me, with my phone's camera, using my Instagram -

10 things I've learnt recently

photo by me

1.  Fifty Shades of Grey is not brilliantly written, but it's still an oddly addictive read - Honestly, I didn't think I'd enjoy an erotic fiction novel. May have to try the next book. 

2.  I really love pink 'Nemo' flowers. They are so delicate and pretty. Mine also seem to be lasting for a ridiculous amount of time (that's them above)

3.  'A List' by Essie is a fabulous nail colour - THIS is what it looks like

4.  Snow White and The Huntsman was a very cool film, even though it was a bit slow moving at times - Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

5.  Miss K (in Green Point) makes the yummiest ricotta hotcakes, but their brownies were so disappointing (they tasted like they are uncooked).

6.  I really like the "cat eye" shape of my new GLCO sunglasses (blog post coming). 

7.  I use my Kindle app more than anything else on my Samsung Tab.

8.  Just taking a long walk a few times a week is really increasing my fitness levels

9.  Giving my hair a break from hair colour has been a good decision for me. My natural colour is actually turning out to be a really nice - HERE is a picture of what colour looks like after no dye for about 11 months.

10.  This statement has a lot of truth in it: “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” - C.G. Jung

What have you learnt recently?

Lee jeans giveaway

Today I am happy to announce the start of a cool giveaway sponsored by Lee Jeans South Africa. 
 

The very lucky winner will receive two pairs of Lee Jeans - one ladies and one men's pair  (a great gift for your other half or dad)

Check out the above video for the Lee Jeans 'Own This City' campaign. It was shot in Cape Town by Motion City Flims and produced by the very talented Natalie Roos. The song used is by local Cape Town band Red Huxley.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Tell me, in the comments section below, what you love most about your city?

2. For an extra chance to win, you can either - "Like" the Lee Jeans South Africa facebook page and leave a comment on the wall mentioning this competition OR tweet about this giveaway and include @beingbrazen and @ladyleerider in your tweet.

 Please note: * Giveaway is open to South African residents only * the winner will be chosen randomly *This giveaway will end on Sunday , 10 June and the winner will be announced on FB and Twitter on Monday, 11 June.

* GIVEAWAY CLOSED - WINNER @saturdaygirlsa *

Happy weekend!

 - Photo from tumblr - quote added by me -

Music crush: Fun.

Fun. is an American alternative rock band based in New York City. The band was formed in 2008 and has released two albums so far.

Their latest album, Some Nights, was released in the US in February 2012 and was just released in South Africa last month. I just got my hands on the album and I am really liking it. 

My favourite song on the album is 'We are Young' featuring Janelle Monáe (which had 63 million hits on YouTube the last time I checked) - Random fact: recently the song was used on the Season 5 finale of Gossip Girl - Watch the music video for it below:
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For more band info and music, visit their website HERE