Deadlines shmeadlines

It’s been another crazy week in CLEO world, signing off our April issue while trying to meet our May copy deadline (yes, we do work that far an advance, and yes, it does mess with my internal calendar), hence the delayed reaction of this week’s post.

And what better way to deal with the knots in my back (and stomach) than a relaxing yoga class? Or so says our health and beauty ed Pippa. It seemed like a great idea at the time (the time, being Tuesday evening) so off I went with Pips to Living Yoga in Craighall Park (Livingyoga.co.za). I’ve been doing yoga off and on for the past six years (more off than on), so didn’t really give much thought to whether I could hack it or not. Big mistake. Huge!

As soon as I walked into the cozy studio with mirrors on one wall and a Buddha on the other, I knew I’d been too hasty. Just a few of the thoughts racing through my head: “How could I possibly be sweating before doing an ohm or downward facing dog?” “Why is it warmer than a desert bonfire in here?” and when the breathing exercises started, “Is this studio really a front for a Darth Vader convention?”

With a gentle American twang our instructor Alana guided us through a vigorous sequence of sun salutations, explaining that this particular class of “Jiva Flow” is all about the yin and yang – the first half of the class being the strenuous, ball-busting part and the second being the calmer, stretchy part. An hour into it, I was tasting my own sweat as it dripped up my neck (I was curled into a ball you see) and feeling rivulets flow down my back (and other places). Savassna (the relaxation portion of the class) could not have come soon enough and as we all lay there in the dark like corpses in a zombie movie I suddenly felt rejuvenated, happy and ready to conquer my deadlines.

Of course, I couldn’t move my arms for the next two days (power steering sure would be great) but decided to go back on Thursday night for the beginner’s class with James, a chilled guy with a subtle wit that made me giggle when I should have been exhaling. He took us through the moves slowly, focusing on postures and breathing and trying to persuade me to stand on my head. Whatever. Either way, I will be back.

Another way the CLEO team’s planning on celebrating making another deadline is by heading to The Hat (Manhattan in Rivonia) for the CK One – The One party tomorrow night (Saturday 27th, 9pm), where the winner of our competition will be announced. All top 15 finalists are fresh-faced beauties, so naturally I will avoid standing next to them for the sake of my own self-confidence. If you don’t have plans, come and join us for a party. Hope to see you there!

xOxO

Feel like a kid again…

I’m a 20-something woman who constantly has to remind herself to wear high heels, throw dinner parties and write shopping lists (does anyone ever remember dish washing liquid?). It’s not that I don’t like being a grown up; I’m just not ready to give up things that remind me of the good ol’ days.

Saturday was spent in the blistering heat with a bunch of friends in the park. Other adults might have been put off by the party around the corner filled with screaming kids and a jumping castle. Not us. Mostly because our jumping castle was bigger, and our music louder than their joyful cries. They may have had a better sweet selection, but we had alcohol, The Offspring and WWE tag teams.

Our recovery time was obviously longer than the children’s, but I got a definite spring back in my step upon the arrival of a brand-spanking new pair of bubblegum pink, high- top Converse sneakers on Monday afternoon. I don’t get nearly as much free stuff as you might imagine, but when I do, it makes me feel like a kid at Christmas. Looks like those high heels are going to stay in their box for a little bit longer. A huge thank you to Jerry from Converse for my new best friends. I shall call them Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and love them forever.

The pink twins aren’t the only things that have awakened the child in me this week. Yesterday, my inbox beeped with the arrival of an invite to the Kelly Clarkson press conference in March. The cool kids may mock me for my love of the first American Idol winner, but I don’t care. Not many people bring such range and emotion to a tune while seeming like someone I could be friends with. I’m pee-in-my-pants excited to be in the same room as Kelly, and just hope that I don’t burst into a blubbering mess like a tween at a Jonas Brothers concert.

Other music rotating on my playlist, this week, includes new arrivals from Biffy Clyro,
Corinne Bailey Rae, Mayer Hawthorne, Kesha, Vampire Weekend, Louise Carver, The Lost Prophets, Train and Bertie Blackman. I know it sounds like I’m making some stuff up, but I swear I’m not, and will review the worthy stuff in upcoming issues.

In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend and if you find a moment to wear pigtails, skip down the road or eat something bubblegum-flavoured, do it. You don’t have to be childish to feel child-like.

Nat

xOxO

Feel the love…

Without getting too serious in your lovely faces, this week’s post cannot go without mentioning the fact that today marks the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. You’d think that after 27 years behind bars, the man would have booked a one-way ticket to Mauritius and taken a well-deserved holiday - spa treatments and cocktails included.

But no, Madiba stuck to his peace-loving guns and transformed our country into something we can be proud of. So it’s only fair that at the age of 91, he is allowed some R&R away from the public eye. A huge thank you to the nation’s grandfather for everything he’s done for us and here’s wishing him a wonderful day surrounded by the people he loves.

Speaking of love, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner (Sunday for those of you living in denial) and whether you’re single or coupled up, make sure you do something fun. As for me, I’m heading to the movies with some friends and colleagues to watch the star-studded Valentine’s Day tomorrow after work. Who can say no to Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner? Not me, clearly.

The rest of the weekend is quickly filling up with too many awesome alternative parties to attend at once. The Bohemian in Richmond is hosting the Bo Janglers’ tribute to New Wave and New Romanticism on Saturday (R30 gets you in. Find them on Facebook for more info). The Alexander Theatre in Braamfontein is celebrating love with another Scream party featuring Desmond and the Tutus, City Bowl Mizers and Spoek Mathambo (R40 before 10pm and again, Facebook will tell you more) and the super dodgy but always fun vampire hangout Red Room in Honeydew is giving props to Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, screening Wild at Heart at 8pm and opening up the dance floor afterwards (entrance is usually about R30 and you know where to click for more info).

It probably sounds like my job is one big party, and mostly it is. I won’t bore you with my work week, suffice to say it’s been a long one. I did however gate crash a YSL launch with our beauty ed Pippa last night at Circa gallery in Rosebank. If you haven’t yet checked out the architectural wonder, visit the contemporary art showcase at 2 Jellicoe Avenue. The current exhibition is apparently the work of local artist Angus Taylor whose masculine sculptures and giant straw heads are all kinds of intimidating, interesting and thought provoking. More than that, I’m not nearly qualified enough to say…

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. If you can’t be with one you love, love the one you’re with…

Nat
XoXo

Original music for original people…

After days of solid downpour, the sun miraculously came out on Saturday for The Campus Invasion: Bandemic Tour at Emmarentia. But we weren’t going to take any chances and armed ourselves with umbrellas and wellies, my friends and I headed down to the park, only to realise the only thing we should have brought was sun-tan lotion! In between keeping ourselves hydrated with our vodka, lime and water mix, we managed to snap just a few of the super-stylish music fans as they enjoyed a lekker lekker dans to the sounds of Tidal Waves, aKing, Gang of Instrumentals and DJ Kenzero. Love Bubu Masina’s chilled festival vibes in her harem pants, electric blue sneakers from Edgars and vest (we’ll overlook the fact that it’s Ed Hardy ‘cause she’s so cute). For more musical moments check out our Fashion Stakeout in our April issue.

After that, it was off to Real Sushi in Greenside, where I grabbed a plate of salmon maki, including this too cute heart-shaped piece – super-cutey Japanese! Yes, I ate it, and yes it tasted delicious. I see it as my reward for all the hard-earned cash I’ve dropped on the rotating table of Asian goodness.

Speaking of Greenside, I’ll be back there tomorrow (Saturday 6 Feb) for Deerhunter’s junk sale: Greenway Road, 10am to 4pm. The secondhand store’s a treasure chest of vintage goodies and it’ll take some major restraint on my part not to walk out with a trolley full of cute stuff I probably don’t need (and will totally negate my recent Feng shui decluttering exercise).

The rest of this week passed in a blur of meetings, heavy lifting (operation office Feng Shui is now complete) and late nights of attempting to meet yet another deadline (I’m still scrambling!). There was, however, some relief in the launch of Swatch’s new range of retro timekeepers that reflects a simpler time of ’80s tracksuits, sugar straws, snap bangles, jawbreakers and the Care Bears. Ah the good ol’ days…

Thursday afternoon was also unexpectedly fun as I was persuaded to join People Magazine’s “drink for charity” drive in the entertainment room of building. Who can say no to R5 drinks, triangle sandwiches and the chance to meet cute boys from the newspaper building?

Calling all trendsetters…

There’s nothing like a room full of edgy, beautiful women to make you feel a curious mix of insecure and inspired. That pretty much sums up my experience of Audi Jo’burg Fashion Week, which was held at the Sandton Convention Centre last week. But, unlike fashion editors and other journos, I wasn’t there to scope out the catwalk and the designs of Leigh Schubert and David Tlale but, rather, the looks of the regular, albeit well-dressed girls… Like Shaydie Tsheasane, 23, who managed to stand out from the already show-stopping crowd in her harem pants, cream jacket, vintage sunnies and fresh-faced glow.(picture below)I’m always in awe of girls who can look like a million bucks in Mr Price pieces, simply by the visionary way they throw things together. And to be completely honest, I’d rather take my cues from them than the scantily clad, pouty models. For more hot looks from our Fashion Week stakeout, buy the March issue of CLEO.

January may be on its way out, but I’m still desperately trying to hang onto my positive holiday feelings, while drama and deadlines unfold around me. I’m not the most patient person to begin with, and it’s hard not to lose my cool when things don’t work out and people let me down. All I can do is hold onto the moments when life has made a plan, people have come to my rescue, baked goods have unexpectedly arrived on my desk and the perfect pair of jeans looked as good on my ass as it did in my head.

This Saturday (January 30), weather permitting; I’ll be venturing to Emmarentia to catch the Campus Invasion: Bandamic Tour, to stalk, I mean watch, awesome groups like aKing, New Holland, Gang of Instrumentals and Tidal waves. Naturally, I’ll be on the lookout for awesome outfits for the mag, so bring your fave sunnies, comb your hair and you could be our next trendsetter. Hope to see you there!

Nat
xoxo

Declutter your soul

So, this is 2010. My first impression of the year, so far, is that it’s a lot like 2009, only with more rain. I’m not going to lie, it’s taken me a while to get back into the swing of things, but now that I have, I’m pretty positive about what lies ahead. The key’s to look forward to the small things, like cake Fridays, welfare TV’s new shows, after-work drinks, as well as the big things: Kelly Clarkson’s concert, the World Cup, Sex and the City 2.

Helping our office get motivated for the new year is Feng Shui master Elaine Hosiassohn from Feng Shui Dynamics. She dropped by yesterday morning to assess the situation, and after a few horror-induced speechless moments over the state of our open-plan workspace (an explosion of coffee mugs, boxes, Robert Pattinson posters, magazines, fluffy toys, books and CDs) gave us some insight on how to create a fresh, more positive chi, or energy. For the full story (and some revealing pics) check out our April issue. For now, all I can say is, declutter people!

Also inspiring was The September Issue, which as our ed Tanya mentioned in her blog, we saw as a team on Tuesday (you’re never too old for a “school trip” or to put Astros in your popcorn). The documentary was actually more about Vogue’s creative director Grace Coddington, than it was about ice-queen Anna, and reminded me that you don’t need to be a young hipster to be relevant and creative in fashion, and in life. You just need to remain true to yourself, and put your heart and soul into what you do – something I need to remember when I’m having a bad chi day.

Tomorrow, I’ll be hitting Audi Jo’burg Fashion Week to snap pretty people in trendy threads. For the report back, watch this space.

Nat

xoxo

On Trial: Hair extensions

Features writer Natalie Pool was recently given the opportunity to flaunt long hair for the first time in her life, thanks to extensions from Great Lengths®. www.greatlengths.co.za

To read find out more about the process and Natalie’s hair-raising story, look out for the On Trial section in our April issue, on sale now.

Like the honeymoon phase of a new relationship, the first three months with my new imported hair has flown by. My love for my locks is so that I don’t know where my own hair begins and where the extensions begin. So you can imagine my horror when, one night, while spraying in some leave-in conditioner that smells like cupcakes, two blonde strands fall out in my hands. After hyperventilating into a paper bag for five minutes, I come to my senses and realise that I’m not actually going bald. But I’m not quite ready to let go and keep the strands in a tin next to my bed until I realise how disgusting that is, and throw them away. A week later another strand falls out in the middle of a particularly gruelling detangling session, and I briefly think about tying it back in.

This would be the point where I schedule an appointment with Delia from Great Lengths ® South Africa, who warned me this would happen any time from three to five months into the process and that all it takes is a bit of maintenance to replace the lost locks.

It has however become apparent to me that I am not a high- maintenance kind of gal and that it might just be easier to break up with my imported Indian tresses than to let our relationship drag on until we hate each other.

And so with a heavy heart I drop a line to Delia announcing that it’s time to let go…