Friday, October 5, 2012

Potter tribute

It is no small fact that I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I read it the first time at 11 (I read the Prisoner of Azkaban first) and was hooked from then. JK Rowling is, without a doubt, the finest writer of our times. 

Here is some pics to let you know how crazy I am about Harry Potter! I am lucky to share my Potter mania with my little sister, Melissa, and one of my best friends, Zoë (she blogs at http://zuts.wordpress.com ) This is for you, ladies!



 I want this for Christmas!!








 I want the above and below too, please ;)


I will never get over Harry Potter!
Hope you enjoyed my nerdiness!

Natasha

FRIDAY!

Happy Friday all!

Wow - my first week of blogging is nearly finished. I really can't believe how the time has flown. So far, I am loving it!

The weather is scorching here in Johannesburg. I am mostly happy about this - who knows, maybe I will get a bit of a tan this weekend? Not likely, but I can hope.

I updated my blog template (again). I am happy with how it looks now, but knowing myself, I will probably have the urge to change it again by Monday. I will refrain, however. It will stay this way for a while.

I hope you all have a fab weekend! I am going to listen to some Pink now, and hopefully get some work done as well.

What are your plans for the weekend?


I saw these shoes on Pinterest yesterday and could't find a source where to find them - aren't they just lovely?

Have a happy day!
Natasha

Thursday, October 4, 2012

ME


The time has come. To tell all. To reveal… who I am…

This may not be news to the people who read my blog AND know who I am. But if you stumble across my blog and have a sudden urge to know me, here is a little information that will help you on your way.

My name is Natasha Stander and I live in Johannesburg, South-Africa. We live a fast paced life here, and can be exhausting at times. If you are a foreigner, come visit! Johannesburg is the city with the most trees in the WORLD. That is truth and fact. If you look out of a window, you will see trees, trees and more trees.  We have negative things too, just so you know. Like crime. And please, let me not start in about the traffic. We have taxi’s (they are actually mini-buses in other countries) that are privately owned and are the largest bullies on the road. They are a daily trial to my patience, happiness and attitude. So I won’t say anything further about them (I may vent from time to time though)

I work as a Laboratory Technician at a research company based in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. I enjoy my work here very much, and I am really lucky to work with people I get along with. It is rather an interesting story how I came to work (and study) in this field, and maybe someday I will share it on here – when I get the words to accurately tell you.

I speak two languages – Afrikaans and English. Afrikaans is my first language, so if I make any grammatical errors on here, you now know why. I must confess that I am indeed a grammar Nazi, so I will take extreme caution, and use the spell checker, before I post. Spelling mistakes, TyPiNg LiKe ThIs, bad grammar, and using SMS language are all pet peeves of mine.  I really want to learn to speak Zulu and German.

I am an animal lover. I have two dogs (a pavement special and a Jack Russel) and four cats (at the moment they are seven, but I am hoping to either give the babies away or sell them to good homes) I am very passionate about the prevention of animal abuse, Rhino poaching, or any action that defies kindness towards animals. I simply do not tolerate it.

My hobbies include reading, writing, exercising, and playing hockey, listening to music, eating, having good times with friends and learning new things.

At the moment, I am a single lady. I am not feeling all that pressured to enter into a new relationship, since I am newly single.

My greatest wishes are: Having my licence before the end of 2012, and finishing my degree in Microbiology at 2015. Keep those fingers crossed!

I hope this gave you a better insight into who I am, but if you have any more questions, drop a comment or email me!

PS: you can follow me on twitter on @iamtashastander 

N

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

October

Happy October!

For some reason, I only realised today that it is already October. Where has the year gone?! This means very sunny weather for us in South-Africa - here in Joburg we are all wearing summer outfits already.

Are you loving my Paint skills? I am suitably impressed with myself :D

In other news, it seems I am going to go check out the gay parade in Johannesburg this weekend. I am really excited! I have always supported this cause - I mean, everybody should love who they want to love right?!

Me and my sisters are planning a girls night tonight - just some movies and popcorn. Yummy!! I am excited to see how my baby kittens are doing - they are so adorable. I should really just find them homes now... no.more.pets.for.me

Have a lovely day!






Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Eeek!


Happy Tuesday!

I hope you all are having a lovely day! My day so far has been real good; I think the weather is responsible for my chipper mood.

Confession bear: This is my fourth day of blogging, and I have come back to earth with a thud. Usually when I saw that people had not posted new posts on their blogs, I immediately thought they were lazy. Wow. Welcome to the real world, me. It is difficult! I have deleted the draft about four times now! There are so many questions to consider: 
  • Is it okay to blog about this? (I mean people deserve their privacy), 
  • Am I using the correct English? (I am Afrikaans speaking).
  • Is the topic actually interesting?


Then when you finally have a topic, you need to write it out. So I am now in sympathy with you, fellow bloggers. I admire every single person for sticking it out and continuing. I am in love with writing, but like with all things you love, it takes patience and a great sense of humour to make it actually work.

I had pizza for lunch. Sigh. I really need to get the eating under control. No matter how much I train, it will never work if I continue to eat like a pregnant woman carrying triplets. At least I climbed eleven flights of stairs to get the pizza! I should seriously start eating a larger breakfast. I had a yoghurt and an apple this morning – it really isn't enough for all the running around I do at the office.

How is everyone doing? Drop me a line in the comments box!

N

Monday, October 1, 2012

Office talk

What goes around at office (Typical Monday)

Colleague 1: Is there any milk?

Me: Not yet, it is still locked up.

Colleague 2: Is there any milk?

Me: Not yet, can't get any yet.

Colleague 3: Is there any milk?

Me: No

Colleague 3: Why not?

Me: The cows are all dried up

Colleague 3: Oh...

Colleague 1 (again): Milk?

Me: NO!!!

Colleagues: Why is she so short fused?

You just can't win in this place. Ai tog.

Reconnecting

Friday after work a couple of colleagues and I went to a great restaurant here in the South of Johannesburg to eat some pizza and wind down after a hectic week. We went to Gino’s pizzeria, a privately owned pizza place on Harry Street. Anyone who has lived in the south for some years knows about this place, and everyone agrees that there simply isn't better pizza around. It is DELICIOUS. So freshly made with the best ingredients and the atmosphere in there is just relaxed and allows you to be really sociable. Sadly, so many restaurants play music too loud, but in here it is just there as an enhancement to your evening. You totally get how much I love the place, right? I promise to take some photos the next time I am there. Check them out here: http://www.ginos.co.za

 The most part of the weekend I spent catching up with old friends from school, who remains as close to my heart as since the days we spent together in the dusty hallways of Hoërskool President. I love to see that no matter how we change, we will always be compatible together. This is a priceless gift! So many people I have met later in life had changed to an extent that we simply weren't able to maintain our friendships any more  That saddens me a great deal. But with Anell and Anneke, they just remain two people that I can trust with any secret, which they will never share with anyone. That is simply the way we are made, right ladies? I actually see Anell quite often – we play hockey together and live close enough to see each other regularly. Anneke sadly lives quite a bit from us, and we have to plan really well when we are planning a catch up, for a lot of reasons, with the fact that between the three of us, there is no driver’s licence definitely not being the smallest problems. So when we manage the three of us in the same space, it is obviously crazy, with lots of chatter and laughing and crying (and drinking, duh).

We slept over at Anell’s house, and had a really good time. We shared a lot of secrets (secrets, so don’t even ask!), ate pizza, baked cupcakes* – top deck cupcakes with Treat and jelly babies as decoration. Healthy was not the key word! But it was really delicious.**

Great weekends really prepare me for challenging weeks ahead, so now I am mostly prepared for the gruelling week that lies before me. I have an audit, loads of exercise (I am in a phase) and learning for my upcoming Unisa exams ahead of me.

Thanks Ladies!

*Prepared for jokes regarding women in the kitchen.
** Will post some pictures when I know how!