Instagram from Korea...

We have been in South Korea for a week now, and are s-l-o-w-l-y starting to settle into our little town. We have met a great bunch of foreigners (thats what we tend to call ourselves here) and they have shown us just how many treasures are to be found here. It has been a bit of an adjustment, life in South Africa was cushy to say the least, especially after being newly weds and all the wonderful wedding prezzies we were still enjoying.  But life is good here too in many other ways, and we are really settling into small town life (the 100% humidity does get to one though!).  Here are a few Instagram snaps of pretty things and places.  You can follow along if you'd like @roxypearce and Farmboy can be found here @tincabin. xxx

 

Pretty in Pink {Pinspiration}

Some pretty pinks for you today. These images take me back to afternoons filled with tea parties and dress-ups, secret games in the garden...fairies and ballerinas. 
Sourced from Jenny's Pink board on Pinterest.
Enjoy x

Live Music...{Flint, Meet Spark} {Shout Hey} {Dave van Vuuren}

A few Friday evenings ago (while still on South African soil) Farmboy and I (joined by a few other family members) set off to support my cousin who is one of the lead singers in local SA band Shout Hey!. What an awesome night filled with such incredible local talent, it was wonderful to be a part of it and see first hand that South Africa has it going on when it comes to musical talent.

First up was Pretoria based Flint, meet Spark whose laid back tunes and soulful voices really gave me goosebumps. Adele, you have one incredible voice!

Then Shout Hey! took to the stage and rocked! I'm so looking forward to seeing more of these guys and I know that the future looks bright for these kids.

Lastly, Dave van Vuuren took up his guitar, looked deep into our hearts and souls (at least it sure felt like it at the time) and began his set. Wow. Raw talent. The audience was hushed, and we all sat entranced as we were led on an emotional and yet hauntingly beautiful journey.

All in all, an awesome evening. Good luck to all of you.

Here are a few iPhone snaps of the evening...

Dave van Vuuren:

Me with the ultimate groupie fan below...we even had on matching stripes:

{Huttons in HongKong}

On route to South Korea, Farmboy and I had a two night stop over in Hong Kong. We were super excited to see this city as we plan on teaching there in a few years time.  To be honest, we felt quite disappointed by the end of our stay. We're not sure if it was the jet lag, the intense humidity, the impending excitement of finally reaching South Korean soil or the insanely huge number of people, everywhere ALL THE TIME.  Even with the above grumbling, we had a great time. In between long midday and afternoon snoozes, we explored a lot of this incredibly overwhelming city, and still feel that there was a lot we didn't see. 

We stayed at a wonderful hostel called Homy Inn in Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST as its fondly referred to). Surrounded by boutique stores, markets, restaurants and bars there is something happening all day every day. Homy Inn was clean and easy to find, and the staff there were so friendly! The rooms are small, but with a little strategic packing there is more than enough room to be comfy. For both of us it cost us a total of HK$1320, which worked out to about R300 per person per night (free wifi was such a bonus!), very reasonable. In total we spent about HK$4000 for our 2 night stay, which included all food, bus and train tickets to and from the airport, sightseeing and one or two little souvenirs and accomodation. It was well worth it.

We are very sad to have missed the Light Show that happens at the harbor every evening at 8pm, but we did arrive in the middle of a monsoon/tsunami (it sounds way more hardcore than it actually was) but it did mean heavy rains and thick grey clouds. But the light show is apparently a must see. We did book tickets on the Big Bus Tour which was super cool! A great way to learn more about the history of the city, while getting around everywhere quickly and with great views from high above on the top of the bus. Included in the Big Bus Tour are tickets to Victoria Peak, which has incredible views of the famous skyscrapers and the surrounding lush green vegetation, it was breathtaking! What was also breathtaking was the 45 minute queue for the tram that takes you to the top, so go early in the morning to avoid the crowds!  Here are a few 'proper' photographs (I find that now that I have an iPhone, my poor camera stays hidden in its bag...must fix that!). So here are those photographs taken with my Nikon...

Have you been to Hong Kong before? What did you think of the place? I'd love to hear your thoughts. x

Happy Birthday to my Farmboy!

The day after we landed in Korea, my handsome hubby turned 27. In all the hustle and bustle of our move, I wasn't able to plan anything special for him (what a bad wife I am! I promise to make it up to you soon love!). We spent our first 2 days in Korea with our lovely fiends Claire and Andrew in Dajeon. Here are a few snaps before we bussed out to the province of Jeonbuk to meet our new schools and apartment.

The birthday girl and boy (who knew we would meet someone with the same birthday as Farmboy. Happy Birthday to you too Siobhan!

I love you dearly my Farmboy, this HUGE move across the oceans to Asian land would not have been possible without you. Thank you for inspiring me everyday, for challenging me, for saying no (even though it makes me mad!) for being the incredibly loving and encouraging man that you are. I love you infinity xxx

Tomorrow I'm going to do a post on our first day in our new home! Pop by again for that.

Have a lovely day readers!

xxx

{Hong Kong} we have landing!

Just a quick post to let you all know that we have just touched down in Hong Kong where we spend the next 2 days before our final flight to South Korea.

It was 34 degrees when we landed, with a humidity of 75% and typhoon warnings all over the city...eek! But no one seems to be too worried so we shall continue with our day!

Here are just a few snaps of what it's been like here (you can follow us on Instagam too if you'd like to see more...@roxypeare and @tincabin)

Enjoy the weekend friends!

Life though Instagram...

A few snaps of our last few days here in South Africa through Instagram (@roxypearce). We leave tomorrow for a few nights in Hong Kong before arriving in South Korea to begin our new lives as English Teachers. Stay tuned for lots more on that :) xxx

Joining in: {Wine Circle}

Farmboy and I have been staying on the farm to enjoy family time with his family before heading to Joburg to see mine. On Thursday we leave South Africa, so we are lapping up as much farm/family/sun/food/wine as we can. Here are a few snaps from wine circle, which happens once a month or so with a lovely group of local Creighton ladies and gents. Im so mad at myself that the last group photo came out blurred...I am blaming all the wine (thats my excuse and I am sticking with it!) In between lots of laughter and good conversation, we got to sip a load few different wines and enjoy a wonderful evening with a lot of fun locals.  Thanks for having us Creighton!

Good Luck Cafe {Illovo}

Farmboy and I had lunch yesterday in Illovo at The Good Luck Club. This funky noodle bar is right next door to Wolves Cafe (click here for my post on that lovely coffee/tea/cake/red-velvet cupcake chill spot). It's usually pretty packed in this cozy cafe styled restaurant, but luckily being there for lunch we missed the crowds. Definitely worth a stop to fill up on their dim sum, and then end off with a red velvet cupcake from Wolves next door. Owner, and half of the team behind the Good Luck Club/Wolves/Father Coffee, Angie, also has an awesome blog you should pop over and see.  Click here to find The Good Luck Club on Facebook. 

Getting {Korea} ready...

In one week, Farmboy and I will be heading off on a 3 year adventure, starting with a year or two in South Korea. As our departure date draws nearer, we are both filled with more excitment and butterflies  at the new life that lies before us. We have been to Korea before (we taught in the city of Daejeon back in 2010) and are now heading back there as a married couple. We don't know which town we are going to (we will only find out when we land and meet our Provincial Office of Education) but we do know that we are going rural. Rice paddy rural. And to the province of Jenbuk. Here's a little map to put South Korea into perspective for you:

We are in the midst of heavy packing, and trying to decide what exactly the word 'essentials' means to both of us. Here is a little idea of what we have stocked up and has to fit into our two suitcases (along with clothes, toiletries, makeup, shoes, scarves, jackets, ski goggles, travel pillows, cameras, laptops and the list goes on) to last us for three years:

Anything else you think we should include? If you would like to follow our adventures in Korea pop on over to our blog FarmboyandCityGirl.  This blog will most definitely continue even though I'll be half way across the globe, so expect lots of interesting posts on life in Asia, the incredible fashion and style over there, and most importantly; the makeup and stationery! 

{K is for kitty}

I did a post a little while ago on Kia, the gorgeous Burmese in my complex. Here are a few of her neighbors (and one or two shots of her too!)

Flat White Concepts {Magazine}

I was so excited to get in touch with Christine from Flat White Concepts about being involved in one of her online magazine editions. After some creative email brainstorming, Farmboy and I decided to write up our recent road trip from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg and include a bunch of Instagram pics. If you'd like to read the full article, then head on over to Flat White Concepts to read their free online magazine (we are in the June edition).

Christine, thanks so much for including me in your wonderful magazine! I look forward to hopefully contributing more (even if it will be from Asia!).

xxx

Chocolate Brownies {recipe}

I made these delicious chocolate brownies again, and every time I do I am (or rather my tummy is!) thrilled with what comes out of the oven.

125g butter

45g cocoa powder

2 large eggs

200g castor sugar

150 self raising flour

60g chopped dark chocolate

makes 12 brownies

**I doubled the recipe and ended up making about 35 delicious, melt-in-your-mouth brownies**

1. Melt the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa. 

2. Beat the eggs until light, add the sugar and beat well. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Sift in the flour, and fold in along with the chocolate.

3. Pour into a greased and lined 20cm square tin. Bake in a pre-heated oven  for 25 mins or until cooked through but still moist. 

Don't forget to store them in an unusual looking tin for safe keeping!

{A Beautiful Mess} app

{A Beautiful Mess}

I love following the American lifestyle blog A Beautiful Mess which follows the lives of the lovely Elsie & Emma. These creatives recently launched an amazing photo app for download on the Itunes store. The app comes with fourteen cute photo border options, lots of sweet doodles and phrases and a stack of fonts to customize your photographs. Its such a steal at 99c. That covers a lot of the goodies in the app, but to get more options, you need to pay a little extra for each extra set of fonts/borders/doodles.

Here are some of my creations, using original photographs as well as Instagram snaps...I love it! So easy to use and super quick to create gorgeous customized images. 

Have any of you tried this app before?

xxx

Essence BB Cream {review}

BB creams (or beauty balms as their full name) are all the rage right now as they offer loads more benefits than traditional foundations. BB creams prime, hydrate, protect & perfect skin while providing a range of coverage. They also contain SPF to protect your skin from harmful UV rays. Originating in Japan and South Korea (where I was at first very wary of trying them out while we were living there back in 2010), they can be worn alone as a tinted moisturizer, over serum and moisturizer as a regular foundation, or under powder, depending on the desired amount of coverage.

Revlon & Garnier have been the first that I have seen to introduce their versions, but I have been a little wary of forking out too much to try out something that seems very gimmicky. Which is why when I saw this one from Essence at Dischem for R54.95 I thought I'd give it a bash. 

It's light and blends seamlessly into skin with very little effort. Providing light to medium coverage depending on how much you build up the product. It leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturized, and so far has lasted the whole day without leaving me looking oily. As you can see from my slightly cheesy and ID look a like photo's below, the coverage is light, but definitely evens out my complexion, and does a decent job of covering up my pigmentation without looking cakey. 

My only concern is that currently there are only 3 shades, so if you don't fit into the light/medium or dark category you are kinda stuck. But, its very easily to blend with a concealer for added coverage or colour options.

If you have tried and liked any other BB creams on the market please feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments section below :)

Bye Bye Pietermaritzburg!

Today was our last official day in our little flat here in Pietermaritzburg. Tomorrow we head out to the farm, where we will spend the next 10 days with Farmboy's family, before heading to Joburg to see mine. Then, on the 20th June we will be leaving South Africa for lots of adventures in Asia!

Even though we stay in a {tiny} 1 bedroom flat, the amount of stuff that keeps materializing and needing to be packed is frightening. I would never have guessed we would need 4 x cars, 2 x trailers, 15 x 160l HUGE black plastic boxes, and 10 x suitcases to pack up our life here. It's a little sad (especially saying goodbye to all our wonderful friends here) but at the same time, we are both so looking forward to this new season in our lives.

I do hope you will continue to follow along here on my blog, you can expect lots of great makeup posts (the makeup in Korea is incredible), stationary is gorgeous (see here) and lots of travel pics from the places we see along the way.

Thank you to each and everyone of my readers, for the comments, the likes on Facebook & the tweets. The support for CityGirlSearching means so much to me.

Expect some lovely photographs of our last few weeks in sunny South Africa, some cute creatures wandering around our complex, as well as a few last minute makeup reviews to come on the blog.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

x

Dove Deep Repair Treatment Mask {review}

Winter always leaves me feeling like I've been left out in a desert for days, and it's not just my skin that takes a beating. My hair feels (and looks!) dry and ill cared for, and I'm often to be found patrolling the aisles of Dischem looking for the latest hair care offering.  I picked up this little beauty in Pick n Pay (I know, most people would never admit that publicly!) and thought I'd share my thoughts...

I have really been loving this treatment hair mask from Dove's Nourishing Oil Care range of hair products. Not only does it smell heavenly, but it leaves my tresses silky soft, and without the tell tale oiliness of most hair masks. 

The packing looks great, but is a bit of a pain to travel with, as it doesn't really 'fit' well with the other goodies in my toiletry bag. Nonetheless, a small price to pay really for such a great product. 

Once applied, the creamy textures glided on smoothly and easily right through to the ends of my hair. My hair is really long, and tends to get very knotty at the ends. Once applied, my hair felt velvety soft, and my comb slid right through without a pull or a tug in sight.

After a quick rinse, my hair was left feeling clean and fresh (I am currently using L'oreal Elvive Re-Nutrition Shampoo) and silky soft. The fragrance is light and lasts even after blow drying. I use it 3 times a week, in place of my regular L'oreal Elvive Re-Nutrition conditioner.

All in all, I am very happy with this new addition to my beauty regime. Get your hands it at most Clicks/Dischems/Checkers/Pick n Pay's from -+R53.

Crystal Waters, Drakensberg

This past weekend was spent with my hubby's family in the Drakensberg at a little piece of heaven called Crystal Waters. Nestled away between lush green trees and open fields of golden grass lies 3 stone cottages and a trout dam. Electricity was limited to a few 110 V light bulbs, while gas provided us with hot water and a place to cook yummy meals.

This was one of our last weekends spent in South Africa, before we jet setted off to Asia on the 20th June 2013. 

I hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and are ready for the week ahead! 

Happy Monday everyone!

xxx

{Golden Hour}

A few photographs with my new camera of our drive to the farm last weekend. With this kind of late afternoon wintery light, how can one resist not pulling over and snapping away...

Taking a MINI out for a spin!

A few weeks ago a Chloe (of DearChloePhotography) and I attended a very cool meet up with other local photographers in the KZN area. We headed out to MINI in Umhalanga to test drive some very snazzy cars, and learn a thing or two about photographing cars from one of Top Gear SA's very own local photographers. Such fun!

Below are some snaps of the day.

xxx