Happy Weekend!

Dear lovely readers,

I found this quote floating about on the interweb and really had a good giggle when I read it. So I thought I'd pop it on a photograph of some delicious vanilla almond shortbread I baked earlier this year. I hope it makes you smile.

Happy weekend everyone!

Don't forget about the wonderful {Creative Business} series starting on Monday, where nine lovely South African ladies will share their advice on starting your own creative business!

And of course, if you haven't done so already, make sure get your entries into my stationery competition {CLICK HERE} to win a pretty package of some of these goodies:

Creative Series Launch... Two Weeks of Tips for starting your own {Creative Business}

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own creative business but have had no idea where to even begin???

Starting on the 18th November, 9 of us South African bloggers and creatives we will be launching a  hugely exciting blog collaboration series where we’ll be looking at 9 of the top tips we believe you need to get started with your own creative business.

An introduction to the series: 
Let me introduce you to the lady leading us in all in this awesome series; Caitlyn de Beer. I did a photoshoot for her a little while ago (click here to see photographs of this gorgeous and talented young lady) and redesigned her new blog. Here is what this series is all about, from the lady herself:

"I started my own business just under a year ago and as one does, I have learnt so much along the way. I am so passionate about people stepping out of their comfort zones and actively pursuing their dream job. I have met a number of creative’s through my Coaching as well as my life, many of whom, have BIG dreams of starting amazing photography, jewelry, life coaching, interior design, beauty, writing, art, graphic design, image consulting and fashion, but have no idea where to begin.

In an attempt to spark that dream in your heart again, and to help bring it to life, I have put together a 9-day series called “Tips to starting your own creative business”. I do not claim to be an expert on all the areas I wanted to cover, and so I contacted a number of amazing, creative woman all of whom have started their own creative businesses in the past few years. Over the next 9 days, these women along with myself, will be sharing on topics I feel they have earned a right to be considered ‘experts’ in.
Expect to be challenged, inspired and motivated to get going with creating your dream job!!"

Now, if only I had been able to follow along in a series like this when I first started blogging. I had to learn a lot of things the hard way, so here's to hoping some of these tips help you get started with your creative business!

Here’s the coming weeks line up:

PS - I’d seriously advise subscribing to each of these blogs, so you don’t miss out on any of the awesome posts in this Series. This series of posts are NOT to be missed!! *Click each image to see more about each post

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Lastly, here are 10 reasons why you should follow our series:

1. According to Startup.com, the average age for people to start their own businesses is between ages 35 – 40. Why remain ‘average’?? Make your big move now. Get something going, no matter how small it is and you’ll be 10 steps ahead of the rest of your market when you reach their age.

2. Why live another day with your talent remaining hidden from the world.

3. You can learn from our mistakes and thus save yourself time and money!

4. We even share advice on how it’s possible for you to finance your business & lifestyle, when you don’t have big startup capital available.

5. You will have our details, so if you ever need business advice in future; we will only be an email away.

6. It’s FREE!!!

7. Who knows, this series may one day be a part of your “How I became famous” story J

8. You can stay in contact with the blog collaborators and thus start building your network immediately.

9. If you leave comments on our posts, we may just ask you to write a Guest post on one of our blogs. That way, you’ll get your business out there sooner than you imagined!

10. We’ve taken the plunge and trust us, it’s the BEST decision we ever made. Now…it’s your time to shine!! 

Know someone who could benefit from our series??  Click here to tweet

Autumn in South Korea {Naejang Mountain, Jeungeup, Korea}

Here are some photographs from our trip to one of the most famous mountains to see the Autumn leaves here in Korea; Naejang Mountain. We were told that the weekend we had decided to go was THE weekend to see the leaves, and although you can't really tell from the photographs (I am a bit of an artist at concealing unwanted elements!) the WHOLE of Korea seemed to be with us to see the colourful show of nature.

It was spectacular, we simply have nothing like this back home in South Africa, and I literally had to be dragged away from each and every tree (you can only have so many photographs of leaves I was told).

An{other} update & a GIVEAWAY!

Dear readers,
Is inevitable that when starting your own business there will be many bumps and hiccups along the way. I have had lots of computer trouble lately (and not the small kind either, I'm talking the hundreds of dollars or thousands of rands kind of trouble) and I am still without my glorious machine.
And, I have run into a few issues with the South African postal service too.
BUT I am still determined to get my site and shop launched soon, so please do bear with me. I want it to be perfect :)

So, to say thank you for your patience, I am hosting a giveaway! Yippee!

But, this giveaway is going to a surprise of sorts, think of me as your Secret Santa (not so secret as you do know who I am, but secret as you don't know exactly what I am going to be giving).

I WILL tell that you that it will be filled with {pretty-ness} and could contain any of the below:

To enter  simply use the fabulously easy entering system below.
The winner will be drawn on the Friday 22nd November. This giveaway is open to international entries too!

Christmas Styled Shoot

A little peek into a lovely styled shoot I did this weekend...and a shot of behind the scenes (it is winter here so please excuse the oversized pj's!) to give you an idea of what goes into a photoshoot like this one.

Happy Tuesday everyone, Christmas is just around the corner!
x

CGS Online Stationery Store {An Update}

Dear readers,

I have mentioned on various social media platforms that I will soon be launching my new website, and my new stationery store. I have had a few hiccups along the way, the main one being the postal system in South Africa. I want to make sure that I have an absolute sure way of getting you your lovely goodies before I launch.

Please bear with me while I do my best to figure out all the nitty gritty logistics on this exciting new venture.

In the mean time, I am leaving you with some images to get you excited for what is to come soon.

P.S As a thank you for being so patient, I will soon be hosting a giveaway next week of some of these delightful goodies! So keep your eyes peeled!

x

Life After the Dress {Episode 2}...Chelsea Diamond

I am so excited to introuduce you all to the second lovely lady in my new series {Life After the Dress}. I started this series last month with Natalie Hutton (click here to read her story), and in it I will be interviewing ladies of all ages and asking them about their lives, after their big day. It is my hope that you feel inspired, and leave my blog feeling hopeful and happy, with renewed energy for your relationship, or excitement for what the future may hold for you.

For a lot of woman, it is too easy to get caught up in the fluff and glitter of the actual wedding day, and very little time and thought is spent on preparing for what comes after. Marriage is such a wonderful journey, and once the cake has been cut and the guest have left, it's just you and your new husband, and the rest of your lives.

I hope you enjoy reading Chelsea's story, I so looking forward to meeting this bundle of energy (her travel blog is just such a rich source of information, and she has wonderful advice for traveling with your hubby, and tips on keeping in your budget too!). You can pop on over to her blog here.

Enjoy!

x

Q1: Please introduce yourself (age, of both yourself and your husband, where do you live, what do you do & how long have you been married for?)

Hi everyone! I’m Chelsea and I blog over at Lost in Travels. A blog to spark your wanderlust, encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and explore, all while staying on budget! My husband and I were married three years ago when I was 22 and he was 27 (I’ll let you do the math ; ) Scared by the thought of ‘settling down’ after we got married, we packed our lives into two suitcases and headed half way around the world to South Korea to teach English. We’ve been here almost three years now and haven’t looked back!

Q2: Which Disney character do you feel sums you up to a ‘T’?

I had to think about this one since it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the movies! I would have to say Ariel based on her sense of adventure and curiosity of the unknown!

Q3: How did you and your hubby meet?

My husband and I have a little bit of a different story. Long story short, I saw him through friends in common on Facebook and added him on a whim. After two months of talking, he got up the nerve to fly to Chicago from Tulsa where he was living and visit me for the first time. So the first time we actually met was in the domestic terminal of the O’hare airport! If you want more of the ooey gooey details you can read the whole story here.

Q4: Was your wedding everything you hoped it would be? Would you go back and change anything? Do you have any advice for brides-to-be?

I wish I could say that my wedding day went smooth but as with any big event, there are always bumps in the road. But with all that being said, nothing horrible happened and I still remember the day for the most important part, saying goodbye to dating and hello to life living with a boy!

My biggest advice to brides is to not sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day, it won’t matter anyway. I remember my mom rushing into the bridal suite hours before the wedding, stressed that the rental company had delivered one less tablecloth than we needed. Expecting me to be equally stressed by this I simply told her that we would have one less table then. I had gotten to the point that I didn’t care about the small details anymore, what did that matter when all I really wanted was to have fun that night and get to the honeymoon!

Q5: Has ‘life after the dress’ been as you imagined it would be?

Yes and no. Which I think every married woman can relate to. I was never one of those people with rose colored glasses on who thought that marriage was going to be love notes and snuggles in bed every day (even though I wish!) Marriage is challenging in new ways everyday. It stretches a person, makes them realize how much work a successful relationship really takes. Sacrifices must be made, feelings must be cared for and communication is key. I say all this but at the same time, it’s the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had. When we look back at our relationship when we were first married, we thought is was so great. But we had no idea how much better it would get with time. But it takes all of that hard work and all of those trials to go through to get us to where we are today. Especially living abroad together we have learned to heavily rely on each other, to be each other’s biggest support system. Something I think would be possible if we never left the states but not in the magnitude that it is now.

Q6: What have you learnt about yourself since being married?

I need to RELAX! I’ll be honest, I married a daredevil. The more dangerous the activity, the more my husband wants to do it. When we were first married I was so uptight! Always telling him to be careful, telling him not to do certain things because they were dangerous. After a year of this I learned that he’s a big boy and he loves me and therefore would never do anything that he knew was beyond his limits (duh). Too bad I didn’t learn that sooner!

Q7: If you could describe your marriage in 3 words, what would they be?

Adventurous, spontaneous, comfortable

Q8: Do you have any pearls of wisdom you would like to share with my readers about being married? Perhaps something some wise person once told you, or something you’ve learnt the hard way?

Always be in pursuit of your love. After being married, it can become all too easy to get too comfortable in marriage and as a result stop trying. I encourage everyone to continue to date his or her spouse throughout your marriage.

You can find Chelsea at the following places:

• Blog: lostintravelsblog.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lost_in_travels
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LostInTravels

I hope you enjoyed reading the second post in my new blog series, if you did, leave me a note in the comments. I love hearing from you! x

If you would like be featured here on my blog, drop me an email (citygirlsearching-at-gmail-dot-com).

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

x

October through Instagram

And so another month has come and gone. We are enjoying the beautiful Autumn colours and falling leaves here in South Korea (we don't get anything like the colours here back home in South Africa) and so have been going a little nuts over the reds and the yellow hues. But, it means winter is fast approaching, and apparently our little town of Buan gets a ton of snow. Brrrrr!

But, at least the snow makes pretty pictures (trying to look on the bright side here!) and it also means a new, big and fluffy feather duvet is a completely justified purchase, right??

Heres to a new month full of opportunity. Happy November everyone.

x

Photography Styling Challenge {Bedroom}

Today marks the second month of Redesigned by M's wonderful photography styling challenge. Each month we are given a new theme, and we have until the first Monday of the next month to post our photographs. The photographs must be unedited, and must have been taken since the start of the challenge in June this year. Click here to see my photographs from last months theme {Morning}.

Some of my thoughts behind my shoot:

These photographs are of my friend Cassandra's room here in South Korea. Here in Korea, as part of our contracts with our schools, we are provided with housing. Now housing is a pretty strong word for most of our accommodation. For the majority of us, we are given a single, one room apartment (one room meaning that that one room is your bedroom, kitchen, lounge, study and entertainment area). We eat in our 'rooms', we get ready in them, we relax in them, we sleep in them. Thank you to the lovely Cassandra for all her idea's, and for putting up with me climbing all over her pretty room.

On that note, here are my submissions for the theme {bedroom}:

If you'd like to find out more or even join us in this wonderful challenge,click here

Make sure to pop on over to see the other members of our challenge:

Redesigned By M

redlovinpixie

At The Corner Of Happy And Harried

My Food Tapestry

Inge Kathleen Photography

Pies And Puggles

A Woven Life

City Girl Searching

The Delicious World Of Chefette Spicy

I Live Under A Rock

A Tree Grows in the Bayou

Fun & Flirty Photoshoot...Laura Whang

Last weekend I took some photographs for a new friend. Readers, meet Laura. Laura is a newlywed, she is married to Rich who is Korean American, and they have just landed on South Korean soil for the start of what will {hopefully be} a long stay. 

I am helping Laura re-brand her blog, which at the moment is housed over here. She writes hilariously about her adventures here in Korea (she is a whole lot more funny than me, and she writes so well). If you'd like to get more of a feel of life here in Korea and the odd things that happen to us on a daily basis, pop ob over to her blog and say hello. I will let you all know when her new site is up and running, and you can get a little feel for the other creative things I have been keeping myself busy with (blog re-branding). 

A weekend in Pohang, South Korea

This past weekend Farmboy and I headed to the city of Pohang which is on the eastern side of South Korea. We met up with some new friends, Laura and Richard (who are just the nicest and coolest people ever...they both lived and worked in Hollywood...and have loads of stories about all the celebrities that ate in the restaurants they worked at. How cool is that?!). I am going to be sharing some gorgeous photographs I took of them soon! Laura also writes a hilarious blog about life here in Korea...click here to visit her blog.

Here are a few Instagram snaps of our whirlwind weekend (it was a 5 hour bus journey to get to them from us here in little ol' Buan, and so many a nap was taken, and the evidence is below. I became a cushion for Farmboy, I'm sure that should have been the other way around?). We ate lots of delicious (that does not include the bug larvae!) food and had a wonderful weekend away. We also spent our first night in a Love Motel (but thats a post for another day).

Enjoy!

x

Trust

Most of the time life is just peachy here in Korea for the Huttons. I often get lovely emails from readers who tell me that they really love reading my blog, and that it looks as though we live the perfect lives. I am always thrilled to get such lovely messages from strangers, and most of the time, the reason everything seems to be so peachy is because I consider myself an incredibly positive person, who tries her best to make the most of every situation. And I believe this is really important. Life isn't perfect for us, its really, really good and we have lots to be thankful for, but at the same time, we try our absolute best to make the most of each and every difficult situation we find ourselves in. Like the time we booked an incredible trip to Mongolia (flights and all), and were told a week before that we had to cancel it due to our leave not being approved. Or the time that Farmboy was stranded on an Island for the best part of 2 days because of a storm. Or the fact that we miss our families a lot of the time and are scared that we may not see some of them ever again.

Though all of this, and the crazy situations we find ourselves in daily here in Korea, I try to think about how God is using the situation for his good. Often, I'm left feeling frustrated, and crying out about the unfairness of it all (one of the reasons that made leaving South Africa easy this year was that I was unable to find a job. Even with my degree, even with my postgraduate degrees, even with my skills in photography and design and social media, I was unable to find a job). But then God reminds me just how much I have to be thankful for. Despite my inner turmoil and feelings of inadequacy, He reminds me just how much I have accomplished, and how much I am still going to do. 

The past few days have been incredibly stressful in our little household. My computer has been freaking out, and as I use my computer for just aboutEVERYTHING I do, this has been a pretty bad thing. I have a Macbook Pro, an awesomely powerful machine which has been excellent for all of the design and photography I have been up to lately, but, being such a powerful machine, it's going to be extremely expensive to repair. Apple don't ever repair faults, they replace. So, even if it's a small part that has given up the ghost, they will be replacing my mainboard. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, and I will be finding out later this week.

In the meantime, I have loads of projects I am working on, client photographs to edit, my new website and online store to finalise and launch, and I have no computer. Needless to say I have been very grouchy and feeling a bit like the world is going to end. I have been taking on too much, and something as small as my computer going on the brink should not be having such a devastating effect on me. 

BUT, after the tears and the shouting (my poor husband has had to deal with a bit of a monster the last week) I have finally got the point of it all. I know that God is trying to teach me something (I am not 100% of what it is yet) but I know that I have been spending far too much time caught up in the online world, and my blog, and I have been missing out on a lot of 'real' life. I have been missing out on small moments that I should be enjoying with my husband. Instead I have been huddled up in bed, intensely focused on my blog and Facebook and twitter and Instagram and and and. Looking up only vaguely to grunt a thank you for the copious cups of tea being handed to me.

And just when I thought I might hit breaking point yesterday, I saw the above quote. It has helped put things into perspective for me, and I hope it does the same for you. 

Here's to a new week, seven new days full of promise and hope, and life and laughter. And chocolate, there's always chocolate!

x

Traditional Hanbok Wedding Shoot...James & Minhee

Last weekend I went off on a little adventure without my hubby side kick, to the traditional South Korean Hanok Village in Jeonju. It was there that I met up and photographed a delightful couple, James & Minhee.

Mr & Mrs Urban got married in July this year, and as a way of celebrating Minhee's South Korean heritage, they wanted to have some photographs of themselves in the traditional Korean Hanbok (wedding dress) to show James' family back in America. I was thrilled that they chose me to be their photographer, as this is the first shoot of this kind that I have done (and I hope to do many more!). 

James and Minheem you two were a delight to photograph (Minhee was just as easy as sunshine to capture, and her natural beauty just shines though...no editing needed!). 

I wish the two of you have a lifetime of happiness and joy, wherever your futures may lead you.

{Minhee...I hope you enjoy these photographs, the rest of them will be on their way to you soon!}

Life After the Dress {Episode 1}...Natalie Hutton

I am very excited to introduce you to the first lovely lady in my new blog series entitled "Life After the Dress". In this series I am going to be interviewing lots of different women from all walks of life, and asking them about their lives after all the fluff and excitement of their big day. I hope that their stories and words of wisdom will inspire you, and that you enjoy following along in this series as much as I have loved putting it together. 

I also hope that those of my readers who may not be in a relationship or who may not be anywhere near ready for marriage, may feel inspired by these wonderful and very different stories. There is no cookie cutter for the perfect relationship. Life is about learning and growing, and trying to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be. If you are able to be that person with someone else, how wonderful. But that is not always the case. Be happy and content with where you are right now, you never know what {or who} may be waiting around the corner.

I am very happy to now leave you in the hands of Natalie (who is actually my very own sister-in-law!). 

Welcome Nats! It's so special for me to have you here.

Enjoy!

x

Q1: Please introduce yourself (age, of both yourself and your husband, where do you live, what do you do & how long have you been married for?)
Hi there. My name is Natalie and I am married to a dashing Hutton called John. Our birthdays are 72 days apart (not sure why we know that!), making us both 29 years old at present and we are coming up to our fifth wedding anniversary in December! We live in our newly bought first home in a little village in the Midlands called Hilton, in South Africa. John is the best English teacher in the land, and I am currently loving children through remedial teaching at a local primary school. I'll be going back to university next year though to finish my studies towards becoming an Educational Psychologist.

Q2: Which Disney character do you feel sums you up to a ‘T’?
I think I would have to say Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.” Ariel is clumsy, I have no shortage of that! She is also a bit whimsical and shy, and she gets insecure about her decisions– but she is daring enough to hold fast to her dreams (especially when it comes to her prince). 

Q3: How did you and your hubby meet?
I used to joke that I was going to university to find a husband....and I did haha! John and I were in the same church at Rhodes University and we were both involved in similar things – he was a youth leader, I was involved with the kids church; we went to the same camps; we had the same friends; we took the same subjects...there were lots of places that we saw each other but we didn't really know one another. He was known as Twitch back then – he was one of the popular gentlemen amongst our greater circle of friends at Rhodes University. All the girls loved him! I, on the other hand, was a super-nerd and hardly had a social life. My nickname was Fishalie (my maiden name is Sturgeon which is a type of fish; Natalie+fish=Fishalie). I was shy and worked a lot! I remember the first time I hung out with Twitch in 2006. A group of us were in his res room and we sat chatting and cracking pecan nuts from his farm for hours. He was a third year then and I was a second year. He had long hair and really wasn't my type. Then Twitch started doing sweet things for me: he'd leave cryptic notes on my windscreen wipers; walk me home across campus with an umbrella on rainy evenings; wash my dusty car; plan his route home via my res in the hope that he'd 'bump' into me...And then for the 6 days leading up to my birthday in 2007, he left me a birthday present every single day – either on my car or on my res doorstep – and this just blew me away. He was so romantic about this friendship pursuit! However, I was terribly cautious and 'ran' in the opposite direction until one night. John arrived at my res one , unannounced. I was studying (surprise surprise!) We still hardly knew each other then but he asked if he could have some Rooibos with me. To this day he mocks me that I had no sugar or milk for him and assumed he drank it black and bland like I did. I brought it out to him and to my surprise, I walked with him to the garden outside my res where we sat for hours chatting, watching the moon and looking at the stars. If you'd known me back then, you'd know how uncharacteristic this was. It was all terribly romantic and I have been lost in him ever since....It was only months later that I visited him on his farm in Creighton and he took me for a walk which lead to a picnic laid out for us amongst hay bales, where he read me a hand-written poem and asked me to be his girlfriend! 

Q4: Was your wedding everything you hoped it would be? Would you go back and change anything? Do you have any advice for brides-to-be?
Our wedding day was a beautiful start to our marriage. At about midnight the night before our wedding, there was a humongous electric storm. It made me panic a bit, but I also believe that God knows every inch of our souls, and it almost felt like a gift because we both adore thunder storms. The weather played nicely for the actual day and it was cloudy for our photographs which allowed for gorgeous photos by our now world famous photographers – Jon and Tina Reid (based in London). Also, a good friend composed our wedding march, and two others wrote and performed a song for us. We were surrounded by love and beauty on the day. It really was a wonderful way to begin our precious journey together! 

If I could go back now, there are little details I would change, but it will always be like that because you grow up, fashions change, your relationships change and you get to know yourself better in time. All these things are unknowns on the days leading up to your wedding though. Your wedding reflects who you are on the day you say “I do,”and that is what is important.

For all you beautiful brides-to-be: 

Do pre-marriage counseling and ask those hard questions so that you are on the same page on the day you walk down that aisle to your prince!

Get someone to video your wedding. After 5 years, I find myself watching our video more and more - it is perhaps my biggest wedding treasure (and it is such a tear jerker!).

Enjoy your engagement season – it only happens once. Your wedding isn't the event, your marriage is. So build that friendship and enjoy that wedding day!

And finally, decide now not to worry about anything that goes wrong on your wedding day – your bridal party will take care of it!

Q5: Has ‘life after the dress’ been as you imagined it would be?
It has, by far, been the richest 5 years of my life. I feel like it has been unique for us in that we spent the first 3 years of our marriage in Japan which was completely removed from everything familiar and comfortable. So we became each other's comfort and companions and that was a treasured start to our 
marriage. We have had the opportunity to travel to fun places like Thailand, Philippines and China, and at times it felt like we were having a three year honeymoon. Marriage has been much more fun than I expected.

Q6: What have you learnt about yourself since being married?
I am a control freak and I am a lot more sensitive than I thought. I am not always right. God made John to complete my life and this has restored some broken areas in my life. Marriage has been a personal journey for me in getting to know my true self and that has been so exciting and wonderful! I have also discovered the hidden geek in me; that house work isn't my favourite hobby; and that I love 
TV series and desserts more than I ever knew I did (it is so nice to share with someone.)

Q7: If you could describe your marriage in 3 words, what would they be?
Speck. Tack. Cooler. (aka spectacular)
Real answer:
Friendship. Beautiful. Fire. 

 Q8: Do you have any pearls of wisdom you would like to share with my readers about being married? Perhaps something some wise person once told you, or something you’ve learnt the hard way?

I am humbled by marriage and it is a beautiful, challenging and constant refiner. I'll never forget these pearls from our pre-marriage counseling: Put God first because a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken; and just be the first one to say sorry.

I hope you enjoyed reading the first post in my new blog series. If you would like be featured here on my blog, drop me an email (citygirlsearching-at-gmail-dot-com). I look forward to hearing from you!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

x

My Girls Middle School {Sports Day}

A little glimpse into my life here in South Korea, teaching English at an all girls middle school. Middle School is the in between stages of Elementary & High School (we don't have such a thing in South Africa, we just have Primary & High School). I am officially qualified as a Foundation Phase Teacher, and so am equipped to deal with the ages of five to nine years. Not sixteen year old girls! But, my girls are just so lovely, and I so enjoy the time I have with them. I think I have been very lucky with my school placement, had I been put into a mixed school, with sixteen year old boys, I think I would have a very different outlook on life.

So here you go, some jump rope, tug of war and volleyball, throw in a healthy mix of peace signs and you have your typical South Korean school...

{South Korea} Pretty Packaging

Everything here in Korea is packaged beautifully. Skin care products, stationery, hair care products, nail care...even the milk! I am going to have to devote a whole blog post to the stationery here (I have done a few before, click here for drool worthy letter sets, notepads and stickers!).  

Don't quit, keep playing.

I stumbled across this delightful story this morning that I want to share with you.

{source} 

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked NO ADMITTANCE.

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy was sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was so mesmerized they couldn't recall what else the great master played. Only the classic "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

That's the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But with the hand of the Master, our life's work truly can be beautiful. Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are there helping you turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces.

Remember, God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called. And He'll always be there to love and guide you on to great things. Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than the things you acquire".

****

I found the above on a wonderful website called " Inspire 21" filled with inspirational messages. The site is the perfect place for those days when you wake up feeling a bit 'blaahh' and need something to remind you of where you are heading in life. Often we feel that we are so incapable or ill equipped to deal with the many challenges life throws at us, but you just gotta' keep playing. You will be given all skills and tools you need need to succeed along the way, but you've got to keep at it in order to get there.

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone.

x

{Life After The Dress}...interviews with brides after their big day

I haven't done many interviews here on the blog, but the few that I have done I have really enjoyed. Now, having been married for just over a year, I've been thinking about the weeks and months leading up to my wedding day. Did I imagine life would be like this? How much did I think being married would change our relationship? Has it been easy? Would all our issues disappear the moment we seal our futures with a kiss?

These were all questions I know I was asking myself before the big day, and so I thought it might be nice (and useful to those ladies out there who are about to get married) that I interview some women who are married and get their perspectives on married life. Being married has been one of the most wonderful adventures I have ever been on. There have been ups and downs, naturally, but it has been a fun-filled roller coaster of self discovery and joy.

I am wanting to interview a whole range of married woman here on my blog; young, old and newlyweds.

If you would like to feature here, I'd love to hear from you. Please do drop me a line here (or use the contact page above).

I look forward to hearing from you!

I hope you enjoy this new series, and if you have any questions, queries or ideas for what to include, I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

I will be introducing you to the first lovely lady next week!

Cafe Alice, Gwangju South Korea

One of our absolute favorite things about Korea has got to be the coffee shops . In every town, on every corner, now matter where you are, there will be at least one coffee shop for you to get your caffeine fix. And more often than not they are beautifully decorated and styled to fit the different personalties of the owners. How sweet is this little Cafe Alice in Gwangju?

Cafe Alice serves the most delicious bacon and cheese grilled bagels and a variety of other 'very Western tasting' sandwiches. Definitely worth a stop even if only to have on of their Paul Gaultier inspired glass bottle Cokes.

It's just around the corner from the Emart in Sangmu.

September through Instagram

 We are in the second week of October already, and it's starting to get very chilly here in South Korea. I miss last months lazy Autumn evenings, wearing pretty dresses with no need for a cardigan. Now its straight into jackets and scarves and hoodies and boots!

So long September.

x