Pink Chucks

can't wait to see you

2012-01-28T05:27:00.000-08:00

it's funny how time changes things.

just over two months ago, i was desperate to get home after a long, drawn-out term that had been both physically and emotionally draining which was topped by, to put it bluntly, an extremely unkind exam timetable that saw me writing five of my eight exams one after the other.

i reached near breaking point on Thanksgiving Day, three exams into my five-exam haul, and ended up writing this rather melancholic post as an outlet for how blah i was feeling, as well as an attempt to see... something good in my days, despite how i was feeling. then i put on my brave face, rolled up my sleeves, ate a couple pounds of chocolate (well, not quite... but close enough!), soldiered through my last two exams, packed my mountainous amount of junk up into boxes and suitcases and hit the road. (figuratively, you understand.)

fast forward 9 weeks.

tomorrow - exactly 63 days since making my way home - my sister and i will clamber aboard an early-bird Kulula flight (6:55AM may just equal death, but i'll get back to you on that one) and make our way back to the borough of GHT.

i know i'll miss home - especially in these last few days, i've experienced things so unique to this town that they made my heart simultaneously swell with love for it and ache to be separated from it - but it's time to go. i'm excited about starting second year - about being reunited with some of the beings i love the most in this world, seeing old friends again, getting to know and love new people, diving into my studies (which may sound weird... but SRSLY, i'm keen!), writing songs and being amazed by the goodness that is my bandmates, being actively involved in the society committees of which i form a part, learning to play tennis (*cue much laughter here, folks*), walking around town, debating and dancing and singing and studying and laughing and living... the list goes on.

something i'm MOST excited about this year is sharing my varsity world with one of the most beautiful girls i know. the wonderful Cathryn - easily one of my best friends in this life - is starting her first year at Rhodes. i found out yesterday that she'll be living in a res that's about five minutes away from my own. i couldn't be more thrilled at the thought of getting to live in the same town as this girl (if you know her, you'll know what i'm talking about) - and not even in the same town, but so close! it fills me up to the absolute brim with joy... careful, i might just overflow with it all right now :)

so, here's to second year...

can't wait to see you, i can't wait to hold you.

i love excuses...

2012-01-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

"why are you all dressed up?"

"why are you acting so precocious?"

"why are you curled up on the couch reading a book instead of doing something exciting?"

"why are you grinning so much?"

"why are you speaking in gibberish?"

"why do you get to decide what's for dinner and where it's at?"
"why are you suddenly wearing an old oversized jersey and rugby shorts now?"

"why is everyone paying you so much attention?"

well, do you want the short answer?...

BECAUSE IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!* :)

i love having an excuse to get dressed up, to act nuts, to feel loved by people, to do things which i love, to make memories that will last. i know that i should be doing this EVERY day... but i appreciate that there's a special day when i get to feel extra-spoilt and loved and accepted and whatnot :)

i have been so blessed when i look at the people God has placed in my life - my family, my friends, everyone - and the way they honestly adore me, despite how stupid i can be sometimes.

so here, have some cake... or at least, a photo of the phenomenal cake which my sister made for me (yes, it's real!)

...and enjoy the rest of my 19th :)

*also because i'm awesome... but hey, that's beside the point.

celebrations

2012-01-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

first off, forgive me for being absent, AGAIN, without notice or reason. the last time i posted was right before my return home; i've now been home a total of 6 weeks, all of which have been wonderful. and i'm sure you can guess why!

besides the sheer niceness of just being home, there have been a couple celebrations... celebrations which i'm sure (or almost sure) you also partook in. so, without further ado....

and...

:) hope you all have had the sweetest season possible!

today also happens to be another momentous occasion in my family, because, it's someone's birthday... and that someone is my big brother, Huw :) this day in 2012 is particularly special because today he turned... wait for it... THIRTY!

how awesome is that? :) i've teased him all day (over the internet... my heart is sad because i can't be in the same place as him today, but i think i've bugged him sufficiently using technological platforms to ensure that he knows how much i adore him ;) ) about turning "old", but i honestly think 30's a pretty cool milestone to reach.

and how about another reason to celebrate? (they don't stop, really...) as of just more than a month ago, Huw is engaged to be married to the beautiful Mary-Elyse! my heart couldn't overflow with more happiness for the two of them. i'm so unbelievably glad that M.E. gets to be with Huw on his day - considering the distance they usually are from one another. [Huw lives in Johannesburg, South Africa; M.E. lives in the US somewhere. you can tell that i haven't done my homework properly, huh? but it's enough to tell that it's FAR!]

here's a little doodle i made for Huw, since i'm on holiday and have nothing much else to do with my time... (and no, i didn't draw the little critters... they're dings :P)

(and yes, that is, in fact, what my hair is beginning to look like. i'll post a photo soon.)

in other good news, i'm back in the land of the blogging, my birthday is in two weeks (!) and i'm on vacation for another three weeks!

how fares everyone else? :)

un/grateful

2011-11-24T13:33:00.001-08:00

just a little pre-show warning: this blog post may not only be just really boring and full of drivel, but also rather gloomy. i'm sorry to be so down on a day when i should be really happy... it's just that this is my first Thanksgiving away from home. which really shouldn't be such a big deal, since i live in South Africa - which means we don't get the days off, and cooking all that food while juggling normal life is a schlep, so my family (which celebrates because my mom is American, in case you're wondering) usually has a smaller, condensed sort of celebration in lieu of a big, bold, extravagant affair.

but it's a celebration nonetheless.

it's just... weird not being home for Thanksgiving. and i'm incredibly homesick as it is - my heart's crying out to be back at home among its green hills. i have two more exams in the next two days and i'm struggling like anything to put my head down and study (which i REALLY need to do, trust me!) when all my mind can think about is getting on a plane on Sunday afternoon and flying back to where i belong.

and yet...

i'm not ungrateful. i've had a really decent day - studying through the morning, having my breath stolen by Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg, joking around with friends at lunch, an incredibly good exam {which, by the way, i had anticipated being really really awful... so its pleasantness was such a blessing}, shopping at Pick'n'Pay and seeing half of Rhodes doing the same (only in this town will you walk into the supermarket and see not only half of the people you just wrote an exam with, but the lecturer for whom you wrote the exam, as well as your faculty's Dean... all doing their grocery shopping. beautiful.), a Snickers bar, Flyleaf, a lift up the hill with Bronnie and Jarrod, dinner and peaches, Chris and baseball and turkey drawings, Kelsey and studying and Cadbury Wholenut chocolate, and long conversations about the things that frustrate and move us about America...

i had a really good day.

and i do love this town an incredible amount; i won't deny that a large part of my heart has come to live here and i'm sure will stay here when i go back to my original home in two days. yes, Grahamstown - this infinitely special little borough - has managed to worm its way into my heart and become a home for me.

i'm just indescribably worn out. and starting to panic about my exam tomorrow. and missing my mom and dad and cat. i guess it's just that time of the year.

i'm going to sleep now, so that i can wake up early in the morning and study my tail off for my first Xhosa exam, which i'm scheduled to write in the afternoon.

but if you're reading this (and i'm really sorry if you are, it's a terribly mopey and rambling blog post)...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

i hope you are all safe and warm and happy and loved.

it's a kind of magic

2011-11-15T06:34:00.000-08:00

i'm having a rather large amount of fun this afternoon. look:

it may not always be so

2011-11-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

it may not always be so;and i say

that if your lips,which i have loved,should touch

another's,and your dear strong fingers clutch

his heart,as mine in time not far away;

if on another's face your sweet hair lay

in such a silence as i know,or such

great writhing words as,uttering overmuch,

stand helplessly before the spirit at bay;

if this should be,i say if this should be-

you of my heart,send me a little word;

that i may go unto him,and take his hands,

saying,Accept all happiness from me.

Then shall i turn my face,and hear one bird

sing terribly afar in the lost lands.

(sweet edward estlin cummings, you are like a dream.)

even you must have a crush on you.

2011-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

hello there, attractive-looking people.

they = The Life of Riley, Grahamstown's favourite band of all time.

they = incredibly talented and funny and stuff.

they = moving to Cape Town.

sad face.

i met Terri - Miss Vocalist - at another musical gig in the town of G... one of those rare times, you know. granted, it was Van Coke Cartel and Zebra & Giraffe, so the vibe was a little less, um, acoustic. with a little more moshing. first thought that passed through my head upon meeting Terri? jeez, this woman is lovely. and at that stage, i didn't even know she was famous and suchlike! which made her loveliness even more incredible when i look back on that night. ha. so nice to little pleb Hannah!

Nick - the guitarist-slash-glockenspielist - has already moved to Cape Town, so i only officially met him on Saturday night (more about that coming up). and since i knew he was famous beforehand, i was Little Miss Shy. aaaaack. but he seems to be rather nice, too :)

for some reason, Terri seems to like the band i'm in... i think it's mostly cause she and le Justin are homies from Welkom days ;) in any case, Terri is leaving Grahamstown at the end of the year and so Nick came down for One Final Show in our little var-city. and this took place on Saturday evening. and since Terri has decided that The Bad Hands are cool, we got to open for them.

um. i responded like the pineapple.

yes! really. aaaah. talk about being nervous. because, hello, these people are brilliant at life, and at what they do. and they make Justin, Clarke and me look like little children messing around on stage. especially me. yikes.

nevertheless, the gig happened. and we played, and *hem hem* we weren't amazing, i won't lie. we were average ;) the sound wasn't on our side for a bit of the time, and i messed up cause it.was.a.new.venue.aaah.why.so.many.eyes.on.meeee, and not as many people laughed at our unplanned, offbeat jokes as usually do. but we had fun, and we laughed, and we felt mighty honoured to be playing before The Life of Riley.

then Dani Bowler played some of her swaggalicious music while i dined on Simba chips and Coca-Cola (yes, i'm healthy - go away.) and then it was finally time for THE LIFE OF RILEY. yaaaah.

firstly, before i talk about how epic they were - and they were, don't you worry - can we mourn the fact that this was my very first Life of Riley gig of all time? they only played one other gig this year, and i heard about it after the fact. (on the night, but after they'd played. unhappy Hannah was unhappy.) and, you know, this being my first year of varsity and all, i kind-of wasn't around for all their gigs prior to this year. sigh. i cannot believe i missed out on so many shows of goodness. but i will look on the bright side and be grateful that i was at THIS show! yeah. so grateful. so so grateful.

because, like i mentioned, they were fantabulous. i did some crazy fan-girl dancing, was right up in front, squealed like a 14-year-old and sang along as loud as i could when i remembered the lyrics to their songs. with lyrics like,

"even you must have a crush on you

cause you know all the things to say and all the right things to do..."

...well, singing along is rather dreamy. i also managed to grab the piece of paper on which was scrawled the lyrics to their New Song when Terri was done singing along to 'em, and so Cats' Eyes (which is what i deem it should be called) now has a position of pride on my cupboard door.

and then, as their last encore (as if life couldn't get any better) they played a cover of Mario's "Let Me Love You". yes, you know the one. the one we all used to jam to in our primary school uniforms. i don't even lie - i remember it well. i'd borrowed the CD from a friend who lived out of town, and i used to bring it to school. another friend would bring her CD Walkman (those things were tight back in the day, yo) and we'd jam to Mario during breaks. (the CD eventually got stolen from my bag, in case you were wondering. fond memories much?) and i'm gonna post the music video here just for kicks... because these moves used to be smooth. and i think that's hilarious.

regardless, The Life of Riley covered this song as their encore to their encore to their encore. (count the encores... THREE.) and i swear, i was 12 years old again. woah now. waaaaay better than the original? you betcha! as if the rest of the set didn't already have me weeping with delight, i was inconsolably happy after that last last song. and if that all sounds remarkably oxymoronic, it probably is, and we're going to move on now.

Dearest Life of Riley... i believe you are rather remarkable. i believe i will sorely miss your presence in beloved Grahamstown. i believe i will have to travel to Cape Town in order to get a fix of LOR-ness. if there's one thing that i still cannot believe, it's that our silly little band opened for you.

i love y'all.

and that is the truth.

let's be happy!

2011-11-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

admittedly, i haven't had a great fourth term.

my res nearly caught fire on my first day back; my rugby team lost the final of the Currie Cup. work didn't ever end. i experienced my first break-up... um, i'm not dating again for a WHILE, thankyouverymuch. (i still love the boy, by the way... but let's save that story for another day, shall we?) we lost Matty and that most certainly hurt.

to top it all off, my final exams start on Monday and i feel like a complete blob - studying just does not agree with me.

but i don't feel like being glum - i really don't! so i'm cranking up the Taylor Swift/Owl City playlist on my laptop and i'm going to talk about all the GOOD things that happened this term - all the things that made me grin like mad :)

how about CHURCH? hi, Frontiers. thank you for being a home to me. i officially joined children's ministry this term, working with the littlies (3-5 year-olds) and i LOVE LOVE LOVE it :) we had a huge, fabulous launch of our new kid's ministry programme, which is called JOG (which stands for Jesus Our God) and i got to be a part of a little skit we put together... aaah, good times :) i feel so blessed to be a part of this family, where the love of God is evident, abundant, overflowing. tomorrow i officially become a member... so unbelievably happy :)

a scene from our skit. epic.

what else has been amazing about this term? well, my band. we're called The Bad Hands and we're pretty awesome, if i say so myself ;) this term has been great in terms of gigs - we played as a part of an acoustic competition and were narrowly beaten in the finals by the beautiful Miss Dani Bowler, and we also played a gig called Singing For Soup, a cool fundraiser type thing. we've been in the paper, we were interviewed on the radio... we've basically had a blast. Justin, Clarke and Mike [our manager] are true homies, and The Bad Hands has definitely been a highlight of this term :) (that sentence sounds so grammatically incorrect... ugh.)

YAYBADHANDS! :)

it's also been a birthday term! my sister Sindi celebrated her 21st late last month, and so we had an incredible picnic to celebrate the fantasticness that is her... i have no photos of that to share with you yet, but trust that it was fun of large proportions :)
then, 2 of my 3 best friends here at varsity had their birthdays - Sarah Bear turned 19 (!), so we had a little bit of fun time...

me, Pam and Sarah

Duncan and Robyn like the music...?

erm...

our side of the table won at coolness. and yes, that's my laptop open in front of me... do NOT judge. (me, Darsha and Duncan)

yep, that was a really great night :)

then Miss Pammy turned 21, so we had to go big! it involved stickers, pink, lunatic faces and crazy fun. observe:

me and the princess at breakfast Part 1

and Part 2...

...and Part 3 :)

Pam and her cake

Tshego, Pam, Janine the Pink Unicorn and Robyn

Robyn, Duncan, moi and Sarah

Sean, Sarah and Pam

Andrew and Tshego... um, yes, ANDREW WAS DANCING! it is a good thing to behold :)

so... all in all, another awesome night out. and that concludes the birthday section of this blog post ;) [stay tuned for Robyn's birthday, though - it's in less than 2 weeks! WOOT :)]

kay, i'm sure there was other cool stuff that happened this term, i really am sure, but i've forgotten all of it - so DON'T JUDGE... ;) there's another especially cool thing that happened just recently, but i'll post about it after i've written this crappy paper on Monday. because it warrants its own blog post, it is really THAT COOL :) mmkay? mmkay.

now i'm going to pretend to study for another hour till i have band practice and then - HEY PRESTO! - another gig which promises to be all kinds of beautiful :) stay lovely, everyone - and STAY TUNED!

heartsore.

2011-10-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

{ i guess we're all one phone call from our knees }

i'm bone-tired, soul-tired tonight, but i cannot sleep. i know i haven't posted in a while and i wish i could write a witty post to break the silence... but i can't. instead, i have to spew half-angry, half-heartbroken, entirely painful and wondering words. this is catharsis in its truest form, so if you don't feel like seeing my guts spilled out on this site, i would advise you to stop reading now.

we lost dear Matty yesterday. and suicide is sickening.

in some deluded, hurtful moments in my past, i've wondered what it would feel like to lose someone this way. the pain would be nothing short of incredible, i imagined. the plaguing doubt. the constant wish to go back, to take things back, to change something - anything.

all true.

i wasn't Matty's closest friend by a long shot, but i knew him. of our four BA subjects, we shared three; he lived in one of my brother resses and we would joke around when we ran into one another, which happened fairly regularly.

i remember "it's the beard, isn't it?" and the wisecracks that followed that comment.

i remember that the last thing he ever said to me was,

"INTERVISITING! YOU'RE GOING TO GET HOURS!"

and i will always remember the feeling of falling when i heard. like gravity had gone crazy. like the earth had spun off its axis and was hurtling wildly into the universe.

and i wasn't even that close to him.

i feel physically sick inside when i try to comprehend how his boys, his family, his friends, his Jess must be right now. i hurt so deeply for them. because if i feel like this, and i wasn't even that close to him, then the pain they are feeling must be worse than i could have ever imagined. unbearable, even.

there is another part of me that is just downright furious. with us, with him. with whatever triggered this, with the build-up, the breakdown, the final straw. i am unbelievably angry that this happened, frustrated and desperate for it not to be true. it is too terrible to be real. it could not have really happened...

but it did.

and i can't change that.

and it makes me sick.

please... if you're feeling alone or hopeless - you aren't. there is always a better answer, a new page. this has put a lot of... well... for lack of a better word, stuff in perspective for me. something that it's affirmed is that it is important to surround yourself with people who love you. i'm not saying Matty wasn't - i know that his friends were his brothers, i know that they were close and that they are now hurting like hell. but they have each other. and i know that i have people i can fall back on. i've learnt that it's vital to tell people you love them. it's infinitely important that they know this. love is a shock of air for weary lungs. it is breath. i will venture so far as to say that love is LIFE. i have found that it is okay to hurt. but it is also so necessary for you to share that hurt, not to carry it yourself and let it compound and build up inside you until you can't take it any more. i don't know if that's what happened to Matty, but i know that living that way must be absolute hell. i can imagine how death would seem like a viable escape from the build-up of so much inside. hurting is something we do, but we were never meant to carry it alone. and - i'm going to get preachy, prepare yourselves - even if there aren't people around you to help you bear your burdens (and there always are), we have a Father who is desperate to hold us, to help us, to carry us - a Father who cries, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

i don't know how to end this; i have no meaningful conclusion, no neat ribbon to tie up all the loose ends, to make my package prettier. but suffice it to say that i love you, Matt, and i'm feeling the hurt you couldn't share alive. you were gone far too young; a brilliant soul like yours should have outlasted the lot of us.

[ i thought of you and where you'd gone, and let the world spin madly on ]

winning.

2011-09-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

this has got to be one of the fastest posts of all time, since i have to get some sleep ASAP (i have a dawnie lecture at 7:45 tomorrow morning for which i'll need to resurrect myself), but i don't want to neglect this here blog... so how about i share a little about how awesome i feel round about now?

hi there, everyone... my name is Hannah and i'm a happy bunny :)

this song kind-of embodies that... so give it a listen and feel happy of yourself. just do it!

later, lovelies!

a kid with a bullet soul.

2011-09-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

i've always been sort-of... different. i didn't really click with most kids at school; i had friends, and they were fantastic, but i didn't completely fit in. and i honestly didn't mind. i've always liked being a little off-centre, just a tad left of frame.

and then i started university.

coming to Rhodes was like being confronted with a million other "me"s. everyone is so different! everyone has opinions! everyone LIKES being original; everyone LIKES being "separate". but here's the funny thing: we still want to be united in our separateness. we still want to be accepted, loved. we still want to belong. we're just a little more demanding than the mainstream crowd.

don't get me wrong, there are hordes of mainstreamers at Rhodes, too. and they're some of the most legendary people i've ever met. this isn't a post about exclusivity and how much cooler all the "tweaked" kids are... it's a post about how, ultimately, we have a heck of a lot in common with each other. we just don't like admitting it, that's all.

aaaaanyway... i was thinking about Switchfoot's song Bullet Soul today (thinking about it instead of listening to it, because i don't have it on my iPod. laaaame.) and just loving it more and more as i thought about the lyrics, got to what i think is the heart of them.

we rise and fall together

our hearts still beat below

you can't stand by forever

you're a kid with a bullet soul!

who is this song directed to? the "friction makers". the "sparks". and i think that's us; all of us. we're not here just to take a back seat. we're not here just to stand to one side. it's time for us to seriously stand up, launch a couple grenades of faith, fight with the bullet souls we've been given.

so what do you say?

are you ready to go?

oh, and hi there :)

it's (kiss me now) spring!

2011-09-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

"as to me, I know of nothing else but miracles."

- Walt Whitman

spring has sprung in Grahamstown. joy abounds in my heart! :) with the 1st of September being the Southern hemisphere's "official" first day of spring, i decided to wear my brightest, most flowery dress. the weather obliged - it was beautifully sunny and warm today, which made me sing - both literally and, um, metaphorically. (can one sing metaphorically? i mean, can one? ah well, who knows...)

e.e. cummings is one of my favourite poets of all time, and i love his fervour for springtime. although he hailed from the Northern hemisphere, which meant that his spring began in April, i still love his spring poetry and the joy it instills! here's my absolute favourite spring poem by the man:

when faces called flowers float out of the ground

and breathing is wishing and wishing is having-

but keeping is downward and doubting and never

-it's april(yes,april;my darling)it's spring!

yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly

yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be

(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound

and wishing is having and having is giving-

but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense

-alive;we're alive,dear:it's(kiss me now)spring!

now the pretty birds hover so she and so he

now the little fish quiver so you and so i

(now the mountains are dancing,the mountains)

when more than was lost has been found has been found

and having is giving and giving is living-

but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing

-it's spring(all our night becomes day)o,it's spring!

all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky

all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea

(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

how beautiful and lovely is that? it makes my heart grin :) i love the concept of spring - the newness that is born out of the dead ground, the life; the smell of jasmine invading the air around me as i walk around campus; bird songs and mellow evenings. the promise of warmth to a world that has known such bitter coldness. the miracle of it all. it leaves me in awe :)

happy spring if you live in the Southern hemisphere, lovelies, and if you're up Northern way, hope you stay warm!

happiness is...

2011-08-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

beautiful weather
a boyfriend with a kind heart and a nice car
an amazing package in the post from a girl i adore
great music
rainbows!
Top Deck chocolate
environmental fashion shows
my band's first gig
lovely friends
fun hair

aaaah... today is a good day :)

Happy Women's Day

2011-08-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

today being the 9th of August - our national Women's Day here in the RSA - i'd like to take a minute or five to salute the amazing creatures who have made an impact on this world and have influenced me, as well as a (very) few of the beauties who have made themselves present in my life. cool? cool.

i thought it was particularly apt that on this day of all days, the res in which i live here at Rhodes - which is still presently nameless and goes by the provisional title "New Res 2" - had its final cast of votes for a permanent name. among a long list of inspirational people, three women's names got the most votes, and they were Fatima Meer, Rosa Parks and Miriam Makeba. (for the record, i voted for Fatima Meer. i want to be a Meer Cat, yo!) all three of these ladies did amazing amazing things. what a tribute, that we'd honour them today!

now, on a more personal note... here are a small number of the women i love, who have given me roots and wings. (aaaah, the cliches abound...)

my Gran, Jessica. Granny Jess. the bravest, most beautiful woman! i love love love her, and always will. it's been over two years since she died, but her strength and joy and faith are still such huge parts of my life; i'm so very grateful to have known her, loved her and learnt from her. thank you, Jesus, for Granny Jess :)

then i think i definitely need to honour my dear dear mom, Loreen. (and hello, this photo is the awesomeness!)

wow. i'm sorry if you think your mom is the coolest, because you're quite obviously mistaken. i couldn't have asked for a more amazing woman in my life - so full of love and strength and joy! she's one of my best friends and definitely one of my favourite people around. she is so incredible and filled with passion and enthusiasm and just... love. it flows over. what an absolute blessing in my life :)

and then... my sister, Sindi! oh, how i love this girl. is she not breathtakingly beautiful, first of all? secondly, can we discuss how she is patient, generous, passionate and wonderful? she is a role model, someone i look up to and admire; another of my very best friends; she gives amazing hugs and listens and loves. i basically adore her.

then, let's talk about these women... my homegirls, my honorary sisters. first off: Sarah Bear (farthest on the left) is such a blessing in my life :) she's strong and assertive, funny as heck, unconditionally caring and just totally beautiful in every single way. i don't think she knows how much i appreciate her, but it's A LOT - i can talk to her about pretty much anything, and i know that she'll listen and lovingly give advice or reason into whatever i'm going through.

and then - Robyn! (next to Sarah) or, as she likes to be known, Batman ;) what an absolute legend. i'm talking about creative, hilarious, extraordinary everything when i say Robyn. i love her passion about life and everything she embraces in her life. i love that she questions things, that she is loyal and beautiful and downright kicks ass. i love HER, basically, and i'm overjoyed to know her - DBZ junkie and Beatles fanatic and incredible woman that she is.

and last but not least... my Pamalam! the absolute beauty :) she's practically my sister; there is not a person in this world whom she can't make smile. i love her exuberance, her laughter, her happiness and listening and hugs. i love that she loves life, tackles it head on, sings and carries on. she's an absolute joy to be around; she exudes love and warmth.

there are so many other women whose praises i could sing; women whom i love, who have loved me and grown me and shaped me into this woman i am today, and the woman i am still becoming. but, um, i have no time... i should be working right now, truthfully, and i need to get back to the accumulating stack of things that need to be done. so, let it be known that to every woman out there who has made an impact on me -

i love you.

i cherish you and the contribution you've made in my life.

i am grateful for your existence, your fight, your heart.

thank you.

and happy Women's Day :)

next to me

2011-08-07T02:56:00.000-07:00

hi, everybody... my name is Hannah, and i'm hopelessly enamoured of a certain someone. a certain someone named Chris.

he makes my heart do little somersaults of happiness.

he feeds me toffees.

he gives big, incredible hugs and likes to hold my hand.

he has eyes that pour forth kindness.

he doesn't mind when i leave hot tear stains all over his jersey during the sad parts of movies.

he loves my Jesus, too.

he is, in a word, wonderful.

and yes... i'm totally lovesick. bear with me, why don't you? here's a happy clappy romantic song for all of us! yay!

Next to Me by Sleeping At Last by sleepingatlast

...and now i'll go away with all my giddiness ;)

August awesomeness

2011-08-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

hi there, everybody! :)

this is a random post to say... August is AMAZING so far. (and yes, i know it's only the 1st... and it's only just gone 1pm... but bear with me.)

i have quite honestly had the most beautiful day i've had in a long time, and it only promises to get better! so far:

the sun is shining BEAUTIFULLY all around me (the weather has been kind of bratty lately, so sunshine is welcome and wonderful!) here's the view from out my window:

there are lovely yellow daisies which have sprung up overnight all over the grass up on the hill, and they make me smile
we had Prof Walters, only the most fabulous English lecturer, this morning for a lecture on The Great Gatsby... he played us period music, showed us cars of the age, showed us some of his incredible artistic talent and alluded to 1980s airline commercials. i was the only one who got the joke. SO COOL :)
i sat with Michelle and had fun moaning about the Journ readings and remembering how good but sickening The Crucible is
i met with Le Sister for some delicious hot chocolate (she had a cappuccino, but whatevs) from HomeGround, and we sat around and shared secrets and giggles and happiness
we saw Mike and Laura and there was a pretty rainbow made of wires on the fun computerish thing Mike was carrying around! (wow, i sound pathetic. just ignore that whole point, please...)
i saw a LOT of Natal registration plates on the cars parked around campus! which, um, made me happy. don't ask why. can't explain.
the councillor for our area totally greeted me this morning. from his car. he comes to my church. i believe this is awesome.
CHICKEN PIES for lunch! hi, best meal that the dining hall serves. i am so pleased to eat you. YES.
Mr Hattingh sat at our table, and Robyn went off on tangents, and lunch was brilliant :)

and why is the rest of the day going to be beautiful? well, i'm off to book Harry Potter Tickets in just over an hour, and then i'll do some work... (admittedly NOT that fun, but hey...) and THEN, after dinner, i'm going to go listen to a former NASA guy talk about his coolness, and THEN, after that talk, we're all going down to watch HARRY POTTER! woot :)

how are you, lovelies? i hope the sun is shining down on you, too! and here's to the rest of August - let it be just as magnificent :)

why weddings win

2011-07-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

'sup, homies?

i'm back at varsity now, getting into the swing of things and loving life. but i realised i never gave you an update on the wedding that we went to nearly two weeks ago... and it was a wedding to remember, so i thought i'd share it with you :)

my family has this very cool guy that is our collective friend. he used to live in Lil' Hometown and worked with my dad; he was a part of our church and a part of our lives. dear Neville :) he moved away three or four years ago, and sometime last year he met the beautiful Joanne. hi, soulmates! we had never met her before the wedding, but it was evident from the moment we saw the two of them together that this was something incredibly special.

i didn't get many photos, because i was too busy oohing and aahing at all the specialness... but i've hijacked some of my friend Sakkie's photos and pimped them up (ie. put them through Poladroid...) and i will now display them here for you to see :) ready?

for the ceremony, i sat with friend John. we intended to have all four of the "kids" - my sister, me, John and his brother Joe - all sitting together, but things got out of whack and John and i ended up being the only kids....

...and apparently for good cause ;) i love how absolutely ridiculous we both look in these photos. love it.

and then...

here's the moment i was talking about. what a stunning thing to see :)

the rest of the ceremony was just as gorgeous, just as moving. and then... it was RECEPTION TIME ;)

all the Eshowe people were put at one table - i like to think of it as Nev's "Eshowe family".

the cake... and many delicious cupcakes! yes!

we decided to have a "photoshoot" outside, and these are the results:

and there you have it... a taste of the wonderful wedding that was!

i think marriage is such a beautiful, powerful thing; i pray that Nev and Jo are amazingly blessed in their new life together...

and i pray, too, for the man i will someday marry.

♥♥♥

wantness.

2011-07-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

"you don't need most of what you have. you don't need more."

- roanck

truer words might never have been spoken. i'm trying desperately not to spend money unnecessarily lately; i can be such a ridiculously careless spender if i don't watch myself.

but a small dose of ModCloth wishing never hurt anyone, right? ;)

i figure i'll never actually work up the nerve to actually purchase anything from ModCloth, since i'm terrified of online shopping. not to mention that what i order will probably never make it to me. *cue scathing rant about South Africa's postal service, which isn't actually half as bad as everyone makes it out to be* also, ModCloth's prices verge on the ridiculous. so i will keep dreaming... and i will share all the glorious goodness i have stumbled across recently with you :)

yes, ModCloth... i love you.

in other news, i'm safely back in Lil' Varsity Hometown, catching up with life and some things which must be done before term begins on Monday.

stay tuned for updates on my life, including my family's epic cross-province roadtrip (which we undertook during a petrol strike, heightening the stakes and making life fun) and the really incredible wedding of dear friend Neville to his beautiful Joanne :)

until next time, dear readers, keep well...

and just in case you didn't know -

edited to add:

i've been hanging out with Sindi and her computer whizz friends this afternoon, making me feel incredibly inadequate (no... really.) so i decided to be, um, as geeky as i CAN... and i created a new button for this here blog :) here she is:

pretty, no? i am a leetle bit proud :) if you want one to stick on your blog or page or whatever, just grab the link in the little text box over to the right and *VOILA!* ...she is yours.

KBYE!

so long, farewell...

2011-07-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

happy July, everybody!

i haven't been posting for a variety of reasons, the major two being that:

a) i've been working for the local newspaper and doing a fair amount of running around;

b) i've been reading or baking or doing other holiday-type stuff.

it's been lovely, but sorry for my absence :)

TODAY, i'm here to tell ya that that absence is just about to get longer. you see, today, my entire family (...of 4) is climbing into our car and driving away from home on an ADVENTURE. we have a dear friend who is getting married in exactly a week in East London, which is miles and miles and MILES away from Lil' Hometown. so we decided to take a bit of a road trip on our way there, staying in cool little accommodations and having a good time. hopefully we will not freeze along the way (remember how i said i HATE the cold? oh dear...)

my sister and i still have a week of vac left after the wedding, but East London is a couple hours away from Lil' Varsity Hometown, and it's an enormous waste of money to travel all the way back home for 4 or 5 more days just to travel all the way back to varsity. so we'll be hanging out in the EL for the last few days of our vac.

all this being said, i doubt i'm gonna be near internet for at least the next week, so posts are unlikely to go down. i apologise profusely from the bottom of my heart... but you'll forgive me, right? especially when i share this photo with you...

yeah, i thought so! ;) keep well and warm (or cool, if you're summering), lovelies!

dear world...

2011-06-27T06:20:00.001-07:00

FOR REAL.

i've never been fond of winter, let me tell ya! some people love the crisp air, dragon breath, curling up under mountains of blankets with books and movies and hot tea/hot chocolate and junk food. okay, yes, i love those things too... but still.

i was born in January, which (in South Africa, at least) is nice, sweaty weather, right when summer begins to heat up. i partially blame this for my fetish with balmy weather. i love the summer months so much that i even wrote a series of haikus for them. no, really. i'm OBSESSED.

conversely, i dislike winter A LOT a lot. i was blessed to grow up in the province that i did - easily the warmest of all nine in our country. our winters aren't harsh at all. we-ell... compared to other places, at least. like Grahamstown, for instance. something i was dreading the most about moving halfway across the country this year was... *drumroll*... the bitterly cold winter weather Grahamstown is known for. and let's not joke around - it got C-C-COLD. but i was, once again, blessed. not only was the winter milder than usual (this was affirmed by my sister, who has experienced the past two winters and can attest to their coldness) but my res room is the size of a matchbox, which meant that my body heat combined with the (blissful) heater got the job done easily, and my room was actually rather toasty. who knew i'd be grateful for having such a tiny room, right? ;)

now that i'm home (WOOP!) i'm happy to be back in a relatively mellow clime. that being said, my room at home is (gasp!) bigger than my res room, and more open; there is no heater; and on top of it all, our house is pretty much famous for being a refrigerator in winter. so i am still shivering away!

all i can say is this....

COME, SPRING, COME.

first semester: BOOM.

2011-06-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

it's honestly amazing how fast time flies.

i remember my first day of Grade 1, walking up those steep black stairs, sitting on the carpet next to my friend Natasha and proudly proclaiming, "i'm still five!". i remember my awful handwriting, "Charlotte's Web", writing collective stories as a class.

i remember the escapades of Grade 2 - creating masterpieces in the Minor Hall, Annabelle "losing" her pencil after putting it behind her ear, and having the world's greatest desire to be a dolphin trainer.

i remember Grade 3's dramas - storytelling for the Speech and Drama Festival, viciously yanking lantana from the fence which ran between our playground and the forest, and rolling our "table" - a big concrete slab - from the far end of the field to our corner beneath the banana trees.

and so each year goes - another grade, another volley of memories. i started at a new school; i finished there. i began high school - lost some friends, made new ones, grew taller, grew older, grew up. i finished high school. and just the other day, i could swear i began varsity.

i clearly remember it: all the ferocious packing, the bare room, the long car ride. i remember the knot that made itself at home in my gut while i stood in line, bedraggled from a ten-hour trip; sat for fingerprints, made nervous jokes, got my photo taken. i remember being terrified to talk to people, closing myself up in my res room when i heard voices down the corridor; subsequently meeting my beautiful neighbour, and then meeting the other girls that would wind up being some of my very best friends.

okay, so maybe i'm exaggerating. it hasn't really been THAT long. it's the end of June now; i began university in the first week of February. a total of five months have gone by. but i still can't believe that a whole semester is over; i still can't get that half of my first year has already passed.

so what did i do in the first half of my first year, i hear you ask? well, i:

a) made some amazing friends

no, but srsly. see these beauts? legends, each and every one :)

in particular...

me and my Pamalam...

...me and my Robyn (aka Batman)...

...and me and my Sarah Bear :)

b) went on my first date

...of which i have no photos but some very precious memories. and we can leave it at that.

c) fell in love with John Keats

i don't have any photos with him, either. SAD FACE! but for real... please go read "Ode To A Nightingale" if you haven't already. and then go read all of the letters he ever wrote to his love Fanny Brawne. and tell me that you do not love him, too, after doing that.

d) read several phenomenal books

...the three main ones of which were:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

um, hello. why have i never read this book before? oh, the shame! i am hiding my head under a rock. anyway, Jane Eyre was our prescribed novel for English I this semester, and so i picked it up and read, not really knowing what to expect. love love loved every bit of it. love Jane, love Mr Rochester; love Helen Burns, and Diana and Mary, and even St John and Adele, in their own special ways.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

once again, a book i should've read before and that was recommended to me ages ago (by the lovely Lauren, if you don't already know her) has FINALLY been read! and wow, Ender's Game is some serious stuff. it made me think, question, laugh, cry, shout, facepalm... really. if you could choose any book in the world right now that you'd want to read, it should be this one :)

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

i started this book just under a year ago, when i picked it up in San Francisco at a little shop called Forest Books. with one thing and another, i never got around to reading past the 7th chapter, and finally i decided to pick it back up again about a month ago. what a phenomenal read! i simply love Maya Angelou's turn of phrase and her beautiful way of describing everything she recalls from her childhood. please please please humour me if you haven't read it before, and give it a shot. you won't be disappointed :)

e) shaved my hair off (we've discussed this before, i'm sure of it... ;) )

f) discovered some incredible new music

...such as The Civil Wars and Sleeping At Last. go listen to "To Whom It May Concern", "Poison & Wine", "My Father's Father", "Side By Side" and "Pacific Blues". just do it. then report back. okay? GO!

g) bonded with Steers

...since dining hall food can be slightly off-putting at times :)

oh chicken burger, how do i love thee? let me count the ways...

h) learnt to adore Grahamstown

...which i now honestly believe is one of the most beautiful places in South Africa. never before have i seen skies like Grahamstown's! they make up for the moody weather, i'd say ;) this was from outside my res.

i) was visited by my beautiful friend Rachel

...who came all the way from Canada just to see me! and this is the only photo we took together while she was here. epic fail.

j) found home at Frontiers

...which is the church i worship at each Sunday. i am so blessed by and grateful for this new family i have found :)

k) was adopted by a cat

...whom i have named Honey. (she has named me "Slave", in case you were wondering.) i actually haven't seen her in ages - she lives around a particular spot on campus, but the last few times i've been down around that area, she's been AWOL. sad face! i love me some Honey :)

l) read with the lovely Amanda

...as a part of the Paired Reading Programme which i'm involved with through the Inkwenkwezi Society at Rhodes, which basically aims to help underprivileged kids with their education. my Amanda, with whom i read, is a sweetheart of note... i love her to pieces and miss her greatly.

m) came to understand the importance of junk food

...that is, if you consider peanut butter to be a form of junk food. (i won't contest NikNaks and condensed milk. those are undisputedly in the "junk food" category.) yes... these treats are totally what i snack on when i'm hungry. i'm such a health boffin ;)

n) took part in a couple protests

...both of which protested sexual violence and rape (one protesting this type of treatment against women, the other protesting the same thing against men), both of which were powerful and affirming and showed me just how far we still have to go as a society.

o) adored each and every one of my classes

...which are, in case you're interested, Journalism, Drama, English and Xhosa. yes, they're tons of work... but they are fantastic and engaging and full of open-minded students who question and debate and are generally awesome :)

and that has been my year so far! i honestly still can't believe that it's already the 25th of June (SIX MONTHS TILL CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!) ... oh, how time flies :) what have YOU been up to in the last five months, lovelies?

homeward bound.

2011-06-20T00:50:00.001-07:00

in three days, i'll be sitting at the PE airport, waiting to fly home! kannie waggie.

now, just to get through this Journ work... sigh.

the hair story.

2011-06-16T05:15:00.000-07:00

once upon a time, there was a maiden who had long golden locks. her name was Hannah. (not Rapunzel... that's a different story. go watch Tangled. kbye.)

Hannah lived in the magical land of Grahamstown, along with her beautiful sister Sindi and ±7000 other university students. Sindi, too, had long tresses, only hers were a rich shade of chestnut brown.

one day, late in the month of March, the two sisters heard word of an event which would be taking place that very week. at that event, volunteers would pay to have their hair either sprayed a variety of different colours, or shaved off. after some deliberation, the sisters decided to attend the event. and thus, on the night of the 30th of March 2011, Sindi and Hannah made their way to the hall in which the event was being held, and proceeded to cut their braids off...

and then have their heads shaved.

wait, what?

i can see your facial expressions in my mind... amazing :) yes, this story is my own, as well as my sister's. but it's a little more complicated than just that.

see, the full story starts about nine months ago, when a similar event was held in Grahamstown, before i lived here. (since our school year runs from February to November instead of September to June, i was still in the midst of my senior year of high school last year in September.) it's a pretty well-known occurrence, named a "Shavathon". the idea was coined by CANSA - the Cancer Association of South Africa - and the aims of the exercise are to raise money for cancer survivors, to raise awareness about cancer and to show solidarity with cancer fighters and survivors.

in any case, at the Shavathon held last September in Grahamstown, Sindi had her hair sprayed multiple colours and her boyfriend, Alan, had his hair shaved off. a few days later, i was speaking to her on the phone and she said, "you know, i'm thinking of shaving my head next time there's a Shavathon." i responded by laughing. no WAY would i ever do that! ha! i LOVED my hair... it was going nowhere.

and still this little thought nibbled in the back of my mind. and the little thought was saying, "what is it you'd lose by shaving your head? your dignity? your pride? your soul?" that little voice bothered me because it made me ponder what it was that i considered to be really important. was i really vain enough to justify not shaving my head just because i thought i'd look weird? was i defined by my hair, or did my value come from something more? and if i honestly didn't place my value in my appearance but in something greater, then why was the idea of shaving my head so repulsive to me?

let me clarify - this event means a lot to me. my beautiful grandmother battled several different forms of cancer over the course of her life, and she eventually died close to two years ago because of an aggressive type of bone cancer. she was still one of the most beautiful, loving souls i've ever encountered; despite the pain she endured and the hell she went through, she had a smile of sunshine and cared so deeply about other people. my little cousin, who is now 6 years old, was diagnosed with cancer when he was only a few months. he's now in first grade; he has no vision in one eye and very limited vision in the other, and it's very likely that he'll soon lose his vision completely because of the cancer. blind before he turns ten. and yet, in spite of the battles he's already had to fight at such a young age, he is positive and full of energy and joy and love. these two people - Jessica and Erynn - are two of my heroes in this life, courageous and gorgeous and wonderful.

but SHAVE MY HAIR OFF? REALLY?!

really. a week or two later, i sent Sindi a text message saying, "yeah, let's shave our heads together next year." it bothered me that i was so tied to my hair. it didn't define me; i wouldn't let it. in the words of India Arie, "i am not my hair". and what about Granny Jess and Erynn? they hadn't even had a choice in the matter. they were the real heroes. this was a salute to them. we were resolved and determined.

that being said, we didn't know when exactly the Shavathon would be held, so we expected it to be in September, as it had been the year before. i moved to Grahamstown at the beginning of February, started attending classes and making incredible friends, familiarising myself with and coming to love this place and the people that inhabit it. there were essays to write and books to read, societies to join, decisions to make and dining hall meals to complain about.

and then on the night of the 27th of March, i happened to be down campus and saw a poster advertising a Shavathon. on the 30th of March. which was... that Wednesday.

scary.

but we bit the bullet. we went along that night, after i'd written a test (we write our subject tests at night... fuuuun!), we paid our money, we waited around. Sindi had plaited her hair; i did the same. then we chopped one another's plaits off. and then i sat down in a chair and got shorn; Sindi followed me.

it's been just over 11 weeks now, and i can say this:

shaving my head was easily one of the best experiences of my life.

i have quite honestly never felt so liberated as i did that night! people's reactions have been so absolutely cool. when i spoke about what i planned to do beforehand, most people raised their eyebrows or exclaimed, "no - don't do that!", expressions of concern lodged on their faces. because of this, i expected the majority of people with whom i interact to react with shock and horror after i'd shaved my head; instead, most people told me how cool i looked, saying that they wished they had the guts to do the same. but i laughed when they called me brave. i didn't feel brave... i felt free.

and you know what? i still do. i miss my long hair sometimes, sure... but not half as frequently as i thought i might. i love how easy it is to wash and dry my hair; i love the little ducktail i now have; i love twirling the hair at the nape of my neck around with my finger when i'm thinking. i love telling people what the Shavathon's all about, telling them the stories of Granny Jess and Erynn - the bravehearts, the resolutes. a reminder that there are countless others out there who are fighting similar battles with just as much courage and chutzpah, a lesson in humility and an incredible affirmation that my value is found in nothing less than Christ alone.

...and that, my friends, is the full story :)

P.S. in case you're interested, here's a little then and now:

ciao!

stopping by to say hi...

2011-06-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

oh, hi there! it's been another two months! i'm just really terrible at this blogging thing, it appears ;) maybe i'm spreading myself too thin over the internet - i now have:

a tumblr account of general awesomeness
a wordpress blog about design and inspiration
a posterous blog about music
a twitter account
a protagonize account
a facebook account

...and this here blog :) sheesh! i'm in the midst of university exams at the moment, however, so most of those blogs are being neglected. (this one not the least...) so this is a check-in, a "hi! how're you doing?", a "don't disappear, i'll come back!". as soon as i'm done with my impending isiXhosa exam which takes place tomorrow afternoon (gulp!) i plan to do a post on my hair and how awesome it is at the moment... so stick around. i'll be back - i promise ;)

two months

2011-04-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

...of absence from this blog! and after kicking this year off so well, too... *shakes head* ah well, we'll just have to pick up the pieces, i guess :)

so what might i have been doing instead of blogging my life away for the past eight weeks, you ask? hmmm. where do i begin? maybe with this word:

UNIVERSITY.

also known as one of the best experiences of my life so far. honestly, university is So Much Better Than High School! on so many levels :)

now, i don't have time (read: energy) to blog in-depth about everything that i've done over the past few months... but i've pulled over a whole bunch of photos from facebook which will basically give you a good idea of what my life has been like. ie, AWESOME. i'm not gonna make comments about each one, either, but they involve a RIDICULOUSLY amazing bunch of friends whom i miss dearly (i'm on vacation till Sunday, in case that was unclear), going to the movies, welcome dinners, random posings, dressing up in silly clothing and fun hats, wreath-gifting, getting a photo i took published in one of the local papers, going out on the town, and the coolest thing i've ever done in my life, which appears right at the end of the (endless) photo reel :) *there are a couple photos in there from vac, too, with my family and my sister! aaiee.* have fun perusing! :)

oh, and PSBTW... there are some other things i do at varsity that are pretty cool, too... like lectures. and tutorials. and things. they're also kind-of awesome. but i don't take photos of them, so you lucked out there.

until next time, lovelies! (and let's not make this the last post for April, shall we?)

hallelujah

2011-02-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

i have been struggling recently. moving away from home is hard; i have to decide all of my courses for the year by... well, this morning; my little cousin is sick and i just want her to be okay. there have been two songs that have resonated so deeply with me in the midst of all this confusion and chaos; on my quest for peace of mind ;) they're both by the beautiful Bethany Dillon; one is entitled Imagination, and the other Hallelujah. i've bolded the lyrics that are particularly significant to me right now :)

here are the lyrics from Imagination - i couldn't find it on YouTube, lame!

i need to be reminded of who i was

when i took that first step out the door

all i said now follows me around

i'm reminded i'm not like that anymore

i uprooted and miles behind me

are the faces and the home i love

you've brought to my attention

how i'm slowly changing

and becoming what i wanted to stop

and isn't that just like a finite mind?

setting out with such righteous indignation

but now i'm at Your feet

could You look at me with some imagination?

the bush before me; i slip my sandals off

i only stopped to look

in the depths of the sea

in the midst of a great storm

i run, i run from You

oh and isn't that just like a finite mind?

setting out with such righteous indignation

but now i'm at Your feet

could you look at me with some imagination?

so remind me why You woke me up

and why You wake me every morn

the staff in my hand; held in by Your love

just stay close, just stay close

cause i know my mind; i know my own mind

i set out with righteous indignation

but when i'm at Your feet

please, please look at me

with some imagination

beautiful, huh? and here are the lyrics to Hallelujah:

who can hold the stars

and my weary heart?

who can see everything?

i've fallen so hard

sometimes i feel so far

but not beyond Your reach

i could climb a mountain, swim the ocean

or do anything

but it's when You hold me

that i start unfolding

and all that i can say is

hallelujah, hallelujah

whatever's in front of me

help me to sing hallelujah

hallelujah, hallelujah

whatever's in front of me

i choose to sing hallelujah.

the same sun that rises over castles

and welcomes the day

spills over buildings,

into the streets where orphans play

and only You can see the good

in broken things

You took my heart of stone

and You made it home

and set this prisoner free

hallelujah, hallelujah

whatever's in front of me

help me to sing hallelujah

hallelujah, hallelujah

whatever's in front of me

i choose to sing hallelujah

these are things that i need to remind myself every minute of every day. although i feel so confused and lost... i am loved. i am held. i am not alone. even though i may feel broken and unusable, God has a purpose for me. and i choose to sing hallelujah.

praying for Addi

2011-02-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

dear, dear friends

on Monday, my cousin Hailey, who was expecting her first child, went into labour and gave birth to the beautiful Addisyn Day. they soon noticed that baby Addi was having difficulties and, after running some tests, discovered that her heart valves were all messed up. along with that, she had water on her lungs and her kidneys weren't working the way they should.

she was scheduled for a bypass and open heart surgery on Wednesday, to do repair work on her heart. the procedure went down yesterday, seemingly without a problem, and we were all hoping and praying that this would be the beginning of the end.

it's not. i don't have the details, but i've just found out that she's in critical condition and is basically fighting for her life. so i'd just like to plead with all of you to keep baby Addi - as well as her mom, Hailey, and her dad, Nick, and all of their families in your thoughts and prayers.

i know bargaining with God isn't right; it isn't where i should be. but i've found myself pleading in the last half hour, begging. i can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be so close but so far from your child. i can't comprehend having to let go of someone so precious, so dear, without even getting the chance to get to know them.

i want to meet Addi. please, please, PLEASE... join me in praying for her.

thank you.

wishlist wednesday: modcloth edition

2011-02-02T06:36:00.000-08:00

if you are a girl, you must love ModCloth. it's something of a prerequisite to being female... just so you know.

when i decided to post a Wishlist Wednesday, i wasn't really surprised that all of the things i've been pining for lately have a common origin: ModCloth. (this was mostly a result of perusing the site for what must have been hours, and having a ModCloth post-off with dear Judy, as we showed one another all the cool things we'd found on the site. man, was that fun!)

so why not make it an official ModCloth edition? all the items on my wishlist this week come directly from the ModCloth shop online, and each photo will link back to its original page. enjoy! :)

what are you wishing for today, lovelies?

xx.

oh, go take a hike.

2011-01-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

who wants to hear about an adventure i had yesterday? yes? yes :) let me begin at the beginning, then...

the itsy bitsy town in which i have lived for my whole life has very little street cred. growing up, i would sometimes taunt it; there is so little to do here that seems fun to a tweenager. but i have grown to love it... and yesterday solidified exactly how much. (and how much is A LOT.) you see, our town is built around a forest. this means that we are surrounded by a plethora of trees. many, many trees. life is very green where i live. my dad is an avid bird-watcher, so we've visited the forest itself frequently, and i'm incredibly grateful for its existence. i'm now aware of how unique it makes our town, and how beautiful the forest actually is.

but that's not all our town has. oh, no. on the outskirts of town, if you're willing to go for a bit of a hike, you'll find - no lie - a WATERFALL. and here is where i duck my head in shame and wait for you to scold me soundly... yesterday was the first time in my entire life visiting said waterfall. when some friends of ours announced that they'd be trekking down to see it with a small group of people and invited anyone who wanted to join them to come along, i was such an eager beaver! and my enthusiasm didn't waver... despite the steep inclines and slippery slopes and hot weather. i was scratched by thorny bushes (clever Hannah wore knee-high pants!) and sweaty and sticky and aching by the time we got to the bottom. but oh my friekin' goodness, it was worth it. if you want photographic evidence of why, scroll down to the end of the post; otherwise, stick around for some preliminary photos of the journey down :)

i loved the signs that we came across, pointing us in the right direction :) (the idea of a picnic site is a fallacy... the picnic sight is completely useless and overgrown. however, the idea of having an actual picnic down there... well, THAT, my friends, appeals to me!)

how cool are these trees? they make me think of arms reaching heavenward.

one of the things i adore most about our town is how spacious the sky is. there are no tall buildings to interfere with its space; it stretches out, like a great big yawn, comfortable and vast.

at the beginning of the hike; my dad is on the right, and our friend Bill is on the left. luckily, we weren't exercise-hiking, so i could keep up most of the time ;)

up at the top of the waterfall; this is the stream which precedes the drop. it's been raining TONS here, so it was flowing fast.

and here begins the waterfall! *excited face*

this is... lantana. *boo! hiss!* i took a photo of it cause it made me laugh and remember when i was 8 years old and at my mom's school. this plant isn't indigenous, so we'd scowl whenever we saw it growing along the fence at school and pull it up. now it just makes me grin.

this tree stump is ENORMOUS! as in, two of me could have sat inside it with room to spare. if it was hollow. which it wasn't ;)

a bag of one of our fellow hikers... too much cuteness!

the leafy greenness was all around us - on our left and right, and above us! remember how i mentioned that everything is green in our town? ;)

this was our first view of the waterfall after travelling a little downwards from its top. i almost didn't make it down here because the climb down was steep and crazy. and i don't like steep and crazy, no sirree! thank goodness for sturdy branches and my dad's help :)

funny story. we eventually got down to the very bottom of the waterfall, after an incredibly tedious climb, and found our view obscured. my dad sighed in major disappointment. he's a photographer guy, so he was really looking forward to getting a shot of the waterfall. but he decided he wouldn't let this little dilemma deter him! oh no. instead, he took off his boots and socks and left me as their guardian while he gingerly wandered upstream in search of a good view of the waterfall. turns out if we'd turned right a little sooner down the path, we'd come to a spot where the waterfall was in full view, with no wading required. (my dad discovered this after wading, of course...) anyway, after he returned, we went around and this view awaited us:

HELLO, BEAUTIFUL! my breath was taken away. and i'm not just sayin' that :)

and then the obligatory pose with the waterfall in the background... because, let's all admit it, when you've climbed that much and are dreading the enormous climb that awaits you, you want EVIDENCE that you've actually made it all the way down to the bottom. somehow, it makes it all a little more worthwhile ;) [photo courtesy of my dad]

and i chose to end off with this photo because for the longest time, i saw these gorgeous little daisy-like flowers growing all along the path down and up from the waterfall, and yet i continually failed to get a decent photo of them. this is the best result, my sort-of triumph... and i am proud of it :)

in any case, after this trip, i don't think i'm gonna be able to hold myself back from the waterfall for very long. such a miraculously glorious example of God's infinite coolness should be experienced a little more often, don't you think? ;)

what's the most breath-taking thing you've ever seen? i want to hear all about it!

a poladroid birthday: episode 3

2011-01-30T10:08:00.000-08:00

hi there, dears!

it is time. time for my last birthday post. *look of solemnity* here's what transpired on my birthday weekend - technically not on my actual birthday, but close enough to be considered birthday celebrations ;)

first off, we went to Gateway on Saturday. Gateway, for those of you who have no idea what i'm talking about, is a mall on steroids that lives about an hour and a half from my town. my family and i go down there fairly often... cause we are legit like that. anyway, the plan was to see Tangled, but - sadly for us - the movie posters up in the mall got it wrong. they said it was being released on my bee-day... but it really only released a week later. sadness.

so, instead, we did some crazy shopping. as a belated Christmas present, my parents bought me the most beautiful address book known to man, which i will now show you.

she's beautiful, isn't she? send me your postal addresses and they can prettify her insides, too!

...but seriously. i'm on a campaign to write anyone and everyone letters this year. so SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES! kay, done.

after we did a whole lot more shopping, we decided that as a birthday treat... we'd sit down at Cacao. hello, most decadent chocolate bar i have ever encountered. thank you for making sure everything you make is simply smothered in the most amazingly rich, sumptuous chocolate.

and thank you for having roses on all of your tables! so classy.

no, really... this stuff is heavenly. i love that it comes in a "love mug" - aka a mug without any handles. except i call it a "cuddle mug". *shrugs* seems cuter.

i can't even talk about this. just look at the picture and salivate for yourselves. i know i am... AGAIN.

and just for the record, who'd have thought that banana dipped in chocolate would actually be SO delicious? i was skeptical. and then i was proven wrong.

forgive my face. but i was excited.

and that concluded the celebrations on Saturday. on Sunday evening, however, i decided to take advantage of my birthday weekend sway, and convinced my mama and sister to partake in a game of...

SCRABBLE!

(i love fooling around with the Scrabble letters.)

while we were at it, i decided to eat my birthday cupcakes. but before i did that, i lit my beeg "18" candles and watched them die.

Sindi's game companion was her awesome teddy bear, Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear. (if you get the pun in his name, i am mentally high-fiving you right about now.)

my game companion was quite obviously Squishy Darren the penguin... he has no pun in his name, but he makes up for it in sheer fantasticness.

i just simply heart Scrabble.

and, as it turns out, i had some birthday luck and managed to win the game! woohoo :)

please appreciate the way i score... writing down the word/s that each player plays in each round. you know you think it's amazing.

and then my birthday weekend ended... and life returned to normal ;)

a poladroid birthday: episode 2

2011-01-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

welcome, friends, to the second edition of my birthday posts :)

in case you missed the first edition, last Friday - the 21st - was my birthday! yay for birthdays :) after all the morning happiness that went down, i had a fairly normal time. we went to my mom's school for the day, and i got to hang out with some of the coolest kids on the planet. we ate cupcakes with the Grade 3s - my mom's class - and i got a couple super-cute cards from them.

after school, i invited a whole bunch of friends over for an informal tea-and-cake fun time. i decided a couple days before my birthday that i ought to have SOME kind of celebration, and since i hadn't planned a party, i thought a tea party would do just as well. here follows a few photos of the tea celebrations - unfortunately, i didn't get a lot of shots of my friends that came over, but this'll do!

first off, how cool are these cupcakes? my sister can claim full responsibility for their awesomeness - she baked them and decorated them. i only stuck the candles into them. but hey.

i was a little concerned that some peeps who hadn't been over to my house in a while might try to come in through the front door. that would be logical, right? but our new main entrance is to the side of our building, through the kitchen. so i decided to make a poster showing people exactly where to go. don't mind the fact that the arrow is really REALLY dysfunctional.

aren't my mom and my sister the cutest?

...and once again, Sindi can boast full responsibility for the amazing decoration of my cake. i baked the two layers... but they looked less than half this gorgeous before she took over, icing and melting chocolate and placing M&Ms... in rainbow order and everything. *shakes head in amazement*

this is Mpilo (aka Lilo). we have been BFF for over five years, and i love her, and i will always love her. she brought me Lindt chocolate... and balloons. i nearly died.

remember how super-awesome those cupcakes looked up at the top of this post? betcha didn't think the candles on them were just as, if not more, legit! i'm a pyromaniac, so relighting candles are right up my alley. every time i'd blow one out only for it to relight, i would give a half-crazed giggle and grin in a neurotic way. i'm sure it was something to behold.

...just in case you were interested, this is what i wore for most of my birthday. and yes, that's my floral fiesta dress! it's happifying, isn't it?

of course, i had to try on my new tee, and then i decided to pose with some cupcakes.

and then, i didn't take any more photos. but we ate ribs and chips and watched How To Train Your Dragon and i fell in love with: a) Hiccup; and b) Toothless. such a precious movie!

and that concludes my ACTUAL birthday festivities... but just you wait till you see what celebrations occurred during the weekend :) in other words -

stay tuned for episode 3!

a poladroid birthday: episode 1

2011-01-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

get excited...

i'm eighteen!

:) :) :)

my birthday was on Friday last week, and i had the funnest day. i took a ton of photos... and so i'm splitting my birthday up into several posts, so as not to completely overwhelm you with the obscene amount of pictures goin' down.

this post is gonna revolve around my presents. because we all know half the fun of a birthday is the presents you get. okay with you? cool.

every year, whenever it's someone's birthday in our family, we wake up super-early (i'm talking about 5AM here, folks) and gather in my parents' room - more specifically, we pile onto their bed - to sing "Happy Birthday" in a merry fashion and then...

OPEN PRESENTS! *cue evil laughter*

this year, my family had the funnest idea. they bought a big, beautiful box and filled it with 17 gifts of assorted value and size. with the box itself counted as one of the gifts, they ended up getting me 18 awesome presents! i loved it :) so, without further ado, here they are: my birthday gifts!

by the way, how gorgeous is the box they picked out for me? i love it!

just three words: om nom nom.

this gift cracked me up... but they're extremely useful, especially when you're as uncoordinated as i am ;)

it reads: "Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known."

who gets this cultural reference? i'll give you a clue... it involves Topher Grace :)

the single most useful things on the planet when you want to wear sneakers "without" socks. they're so sneaky!

the pun is so appreciated. i can't wait to give someone a FootNote! who wants one?

yeah, i'm only a little obsessed with Softlips. i can't get my favourite favourite Softlips in SA - the pomegranate one - but i love ALL their "flavours" - tasty and good for lips, too :)

i should explain... i don't want to cut up the magazine cause i hate it. it's a decentish magazine... not my favourite, but it'll do. but i LOVE cutting up magazines! i cut out cute pictures and fun fonts and use them when i write letters or make collages. so fun and relaxing! (yeah, i'm weird... i know.)

oh, hi there, loveliness. it's a wonder i don't eat you, you smell so good. and you make me smell good. and you make me feel good. wow.

E.L. Konigsburg rocks. she writes such cool literature for young people! and i know that now that i've "come of age" (psssh, whatever) i should be reading more high-minded stuff... but i say "phooey" to that. and return to my Young Adult Lit :)

is this not the most beautiful thing your eyes have ever beheld? is it not? i cannot stand its greatness. that is all.

just in case you didn't already know, my favourite animals are penguins. hands down, no competition. if i could have a pet penguin... i would. as it is, i'll settle for having an enormous stuffed penguin, a penguin pendant, a little metal-crafted penguin who sits on my window sill, two pairs of penguin earrings, a penguin on my keychain, a penguin brooch... are you getting the idea? thus, this present basically made me squee with sheer delight. now when it is dark, i can reach for my darling little penguin torch! how much funner will this make my life? lots, i say... lots.

i love roses. and i love hair clips... but most of the time, they do not look awesome in my hair. just a thing. not this one though - not only is it beautiful by itself, but it looks really lovely clipped in my hair! this is such good news, friends. i wore it in my hair on my birthday and it made me feel wonderful :)

okay, i love all of the gifts i received. but i love this one ESPECIALLY. for the longest time, i've been looking for a James Dean poster - one with his classic quote, "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." the amount of trouble my sister went into to get me this poster just makes it that much more special - she purchased what was supposedly the last poster in stock, only to find out that it was actually a New Moon poster that had been mislabeled. so she returned to the shop, explained what happened and asked them to trade. turns out the only one they had left was the one in the display case - and she got them to take it out of the case and give it to her! how cool is she?!

these are too cool for school. because who doesn't want to wear cute cartoony elephants as ear art? they just make me feel happy inside :)

um, hello. best thing ever? i think so. it comes with little cupcake cases, an icing piping kit and a whole bunch of other really cute baking implements! it rocks!

my last gift is really beautiful - a little heart made of stone (i think...). i adore it!

and then, of course...

the obligatory snuggle that closes off the gift-opening ceremony ;)

doesn't my family rock?

full moon; full heart. awoooo

2011-01-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

tonight there's a full moon blooming in the sky! oh how i wish i had the capability to photograph it... because it truly is magnificent. but i guess you'll see it too, if you take the time to look up. look up and be amazed by its beauty.

(this photo comes from here; isn't it amazing?)

sometimes i get very hung up in what's going on in my life and all the petty things that are making me sad or angry or afraid; sometimes i get this way about things that aren't even happening to me or anyone i know. sometimes, on nights like tonight, i forget my purpose, or i feel like i'm without purpose, or i question my purpose. i feel little and forgotten and insignificant.

and then i look up.

and i see this full moon; i see this orb of light hanging in the sky, a giant ball of luminescence and wonder. and i still feel little, but i am in awe. i am not forgotten. and i know that God has a purpose for me out there. and i feel like nothing else on earth should matter. nothing else in my life could ever compare to Him and what He's doing - in my life and in others'.

i was reading Kimmy Kim's blog and what she said was so true to how i've been feeling recently and it made me cry (don't judge!) so i'm gonna quote her:

"there are days when my love is silent and i am a mess. all i want is a "do-over". but i long to be in the place where i can say - "take it all, there's nothing left here on this earth i love but Jesus who will never let me go." that's where i want to be."

and i have a full heart again; a heart full of love and gratitude and amazement. so look at the full moon tonight, won't you?

that's all.

floral frivolity

2011-01-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

i have a confession... are you ready? i have started another blog.

on WordPress.

but wait up! don't hurl rotten tomatoes at me just yet ;) my blog over at WordPress - DearDeer - is strictly about design and stuff that inspires me, and not so much about my personal life, like Pink Chucks is. the truth is, Blogger irritates me a little, but i don't have the heart to get rid of Pink Chucks, so i'm sitting on the fence.

sometimes, though, i expect things i feature on DearDeer to intersect with Pink Chucks, and this was the case a couple days ago. i decided - on a whim - to post about how much i love floral patterns, focussing on the aesthetic beauty of these designs and how they inspired me. when i was finished with the post though, i read through it and thought it'd make a fun post on Pink Chucks, too! so without further ado, i give you all the floral frivolity i was able to scrounge up around me (mostly from my wardrobe). are ya ready? :)

1. the "sunshiney day" waistcoat

this cute little thing was made for me by my mom when i was 2. i wish i could find the actual photo of me wearing it... but how precious and happy is it?! i heart sunflowers :)

2. the "rosey posey" dress

oh my... i adore this dress. it was my first floral dress of many, and it was a gift from my dear dear sister Sindi. it was on display in the window of a shop at our fave mall, and when i saw it i was speechless. Sindi forced me to try it on... and when i confessed that i didn't have enough money for it, she bought it for me. amazing, right? i always get compliments when i wear this dress, and i couldn't love it enough.

3. the "floral fiesta" dress

this dress took my breath away the first time i saw it! a girl at school wore it for one of our Civvies Days (if you don't know what that means, head here) and i couldn't resist. i sneakily snuck up to her and asked her where she had got it from and how much it had cost. (yeah, i really asked that... cause i'm a cheapskate.) after i found it, tried it on, loved it and bought it myself, i discovered that this was seriously an AMAZING bargain, and i'll tell you why. converted into dollars, this dress only cost me around $13. about six months later, i was perusing ModCloth (which will one day be the death of me) and i stumbled across... this very dress. for $63.99. don't believe me? here it is on ModCloth. they are practically identical. say whaaaat?!

4. the "roses are forever" dress

when we were in the States last June/July, we stayed with my gramma... and this means obligatory thrifting. (my gramma, in case you weren't sure, is a thrift hound. she's amazing.) so, on one of our trips down to Thrift Town - yes, the store is called that - i was studying the jeans aisle when my mom, who was near by, came up to me bearing this dress. it is simply GORGEOUS: 30% silk, light to the touch, and with a cute, unobtrusive bow capping each sleeve. i'm desperate for an opportunity to wear it out.

5. the "kei kei aloha" dress

on another occasion during our time in the USA last year, we were out shopping with my aunt Kym and cousin Zoey when we stumbled across a phenomenal collection of summer dresses in Abercrombie & Fitch. Zoey fell in love with one of the dresses, and i couldn't get enough of this one, and so the ever-gracious Kym bought them for us! isn't she fantastic? this dress is so cool - it's classy, but friendly. i've worn it everywhere and i just can't get enough of it :)

6. the "blooming brilliant" dress

everyone say "hi" to my latest floral acquisition - this simply delightful cartoonish dress which rocks my world! it's light and fun and brightens up my day whenever i wear it, which makes it my best friend right now in this summer weather. i love the stripes, too - yay for stripes!

7. the "hope garden" bag

this absolutely adorable bag, which i've written about on Pink Chucks before, was also a gift, this time from dear friend Jenne. it's a Vera Bradley, which, by default, makes it a beautiful and extremely high-quality product. the pattern used on the bag is called "Hope Garden"; the actual design of the bag is called... Hannah :)

ja, ja! so there you are, folks - the floral collection of one Miss Hannah Mac :) do you love any particular print? do you collect any certain pattern? let me know!

good things that happened today.

2011-01-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

"oh, what a day it's been."

i'm listening to Dear Reader (if you haven't heard of them, i'm scolding you soundly in my head right now!) and Cheri just sang that line from "Great White Bear" to me through my computer's speakers. and it was so apt to how i'm feeling right now. hah!

sometimes there are just those days when everything just seems bad bad bad. today wasn't really one of those, but it puttered along in that direction. i've mostly been stressing because i have good friends in Brisbane and the flash flood business going on there is scary. i also read the speech that Obama gave at the memorial service for those who died in Tucson... which was amazing, but put me in a bit of a melancholic mood. and just... other lame stuff.

so, in an effort to rally myself back to a happy place (!) i've decided to draw up a little list of all the GOOD things i witnessed and took part in and enjoyed today :) here goes:

* making birthday plans! i have a week to go before the Big Day, and so far i've deduced that i'm making what sounds -and looks - like the most amazing chocolate cake in history, and plonking magic re-lighting candles and happy "18" candles on it. aaaah, i'm already salivating! recipe here, courtesy of the amazing Judy.

i'm also planning fun things to do, like going to the beach and playing Apples To Apples and Scrabble while eating at The Fat Cat. and then going to watch Tangled the next day. sounds good, huh? i'm excited :)

* really, really good music to sing along to at my mom's school

* reading and finishing The Horse and His Boy - i love C.S. Lewis, and i'm happy that i'm finally making progress through the Narnia series!

*this quote from the book:

"But of course," he thought. "I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time."

i love it. it feels so true to many situations in my life, where i look back in shock and amazement that i've made it through something which seemed insurmountable, only to realise that my Guy was with me the whole time, keeping me from so many pitfalls and heartbreaks, so many cliff edges.

*watching Big Bang Theory with my mom and sister :)

*hearing from my Tee... which basically means that she's safe. now i'm only worried about Shaw. (these are my Brisbane peeps, in case you're wondering.)

*chicken nuggets for dinner. oh yes.

*cell group, and Joe & i for pwning everyone else at Trivial Pursuit. our end percentage was 81%... impressive, huh?

aaaand...

*reading Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Like, which kills me.

so there you have it! and now i must sleep.

best blogs in the business

2010-12-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

let's have a minute's silence for my fantastic use of alliteration in the title of this post....

*silence*

cool, now we can continue :)

so i've been thinking about it and although i'm really not a super blogger (ie. i only blog once every blue moon and sometimes my posts are boring or ridiculous) i really really love blogs - cruisin' them and getting inspiration and a few laughs and smiles. and there are some blogs that i hou van especially, created by girls that i look up to and just generally think are awesome. so surely i should show the inventors of these blogs how much i appreciate them, and also expose them to one another? the answer to that rhetorical question is yes... yes i should.

thus without further ado, i present to you.... *drumroll*

THE BEST BLOGS IN THE BUSINESS!

how about first we talk about Busy Bee Lauren? yes? YES.

Lauren Bee is a beautiful soul whom i first stumbled across when we were both going fan-girl crazy over Twilight *hides face in shame* on the internets something like three years ago. Lauren lives in AZ with her hubby Ted and their babies, Gizmo and Leo. (they are pets... not actual babies. in case you were wondering.) her blog, Busy Bee Lauren, has been going strong for four years now, and it's pretty much amazingspice... just like the lady. she talks fashion, food, family, design, travel, books and daily life stuff; she has class, wit and beauty galore and i love her. oh, and she loves owls... so you pretty much have to adore her.

then we must discuss My Sweet Old Etcetera.

this a-MAY-zing blog is run by the gorgeous Miss Ana Cristina, who is totally bomb. besides being one of my favourite bloggers of all time, Annie is a high school English teacher in FL. her passion for literature and creative writing have oftentimes left me wishing that she were MY English teacher! she writes beautifully and blogs about the funnest things; i love that her blog is so personal and heartfelt. Annie loves a lot of the same stuff i do, so i'm inclined to say she has really good taste... but truth be told, i really value her opinion and her blog is often an inspiration for me. she makes me smile and i really can't sing her praises enough. (if you would like to read some of her creative writing, you can access it here!)

i'm also absolutely in love with EmmaJaneNation.

friend-of-friends Emma Jane runs this fantaaaastic blog where she posts the most creative stuff - be it fashion, food, design or just life in general. i simply adore her style and her originality. Emma got engaged to Dylan earlier this year, so she's also recently been blogging - very subtly - about prep for their wedding which is happening in January! i love the little hints at the plans they're making and can't wait for the actual wedding to roll around so i can get a peek at their beee-you-tiful day!

thanks to Emma's blog, i stumbled across Lucky Pony... and hello, it blows my mind.

pretty pretty Angie is in charge over at the lucky blog; she is: a) amazing; b) the wife of the awesome Shane Durrant of Desmond & The Tutus fame; c) in charge of Wolves Cafe up in Joziville - Wolves, i have decided, is where i shall work/live some day (because it is RIDICULOUS) and d) very very inspirational. because she blogs every day.... and i have failed to find a single post of hers that i don't adore. she is funny and fantastic and finds very very lovely stuff all over the internets, which often makes me drool and/or gasp in amazement. she is so tasteful and wow! and yes... i just used "wow" to describe her. the words failed. moving on...

i'm also a beeg beeg fan of Kismet and Kate, and i'll tell you why.

Kate is BFFs with Lauren of BBL fame... and that is how i stumbled across her blog, which makes me do my happy dance. the fact that she's tight with the Busy Bee already makes her sa-WEET, but that's not the main reason i love her. seriously, her blog holds its own in the Blog Kingdom... which speaks for her marvellousness. she's in the midst of a year-long stay in Spain, where she's teaching little ones, and i adore reading about her experiences. she also blogs about her family, and how much she loves and misses them; i really appreciate this part of her blog cause it reminds me about how important MY family is, and how i ought to cherish them.

and on the subject of girls workin' overseas, teaching younguns... i must bring up +27.

the fabulous Kim is in charge of this gem; i only stumbled across this blog a couple months ago, but i'm already a huge fan. Kim is currently working in the United Arab Emirates, teaching 6- and 7-year-olds... i love reading her stories about everyday life in Abu Dhabi, about the little ones she works with and her perspective and faith which shines through each post. i love that she regularly posts about all the things she is thankful for as the days go past; i love that she is so open and honest and positive. i love that she's my sister in Christ and i love her in general!

i'm nearly done, but i still have one more blog i desperately need to talk about and it's called A Bite Of Allison.

it's not too difficult to guess the name of the wonderful chica in charge over at this blog - that's right, Allison! and my oh my, do i love her. first of all, she's a Jim Halpert fan... umm, epic WIN. any girl who thinks Jim Halpert is the perfect man already has 100% in my book. also, she's like me in that she has a slight obsession with weddings - if nothing else, check out this post of hers that left me gasping. (yep, i'm totally the same... bookmark the wedding sites and ooh and aah at the pictures of people that i don't even know, the whole nine yards.) but to top THAT off, she's smart, funny and really gosh-darn amazing, not to mention that she has impeccable taste when it comes to music. don't believe me? check her blog out on a Monday, when she usually showcases some Music Monday tunes. i've yet to listen to one of her recommendations without smiling and/or singing along by the end of the song. and that just leads me to my conclusion... she's fantastic, no doubt about it.

so there you have it, folks... the best of the best :)

aren't these ladies just fantastic?

YER A WIZARD, HARRY!

2010-11-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

guess who's decided to re-read the Harry Potter series?

yes, indeed, friends... you have guessed correctly. it is i.

i've been meaning to do so for a while now, but being a matric student has hampered these efforts of mine substantially. (and what's up with the crazy vocab? hampered? substantially? yech... i'm scaring myself!) i know, i know - you're thinking, "c'mon, Hannah. it doesn't take THAT much effort to pick up a book and read a couple chapters a day, or even a week, does it?!" but maybe you'll understand a bit better when i describe to you my reading style.

i flatten books. provided it's written well, has a good story line and endurable characters, i am hooked and you will not see me until i'm done - or at least, a substantial way through the book. this sort of reading poses serious threats during school-time. threats which include unfinished homework and/or lack of adequate preparation for tests or exams. not really the best idea, i'd say. so, sad as it might seem, i try to avoid books which might captivate me when i'm particularly busy - which i certainly have been for the last while.

but now? now i am FREE! for a whole TWO MONTHS! and, with all the talk of Harry Potter 7.1's release in cinemas, i simply couldn't resist. i marched over to the bookshelf yesterday afternoon, pulled the first book from the shelf, dusted it off and made myself comfortable.

and flattened it.

the same thing happened with Book The Second today.

i am ADORING the magical world of Harry Potter... and am wishing more than ever that i could attend Hogwarts. even though i'm past eligible age - how depressing is THAT?! nevertheless, i'm enthralled and loving it just as much as i did when i was 8 and we read the first two books as a family, with me curled up in bed, hanging onto every word which slipped out of my mom's mouth.

please love the cool British cover illustrations our books have. they pwn the American cartoon-style illustrations, in my opinion.

oh, and by the way... it's called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. not Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

and that's final!

(rant over.)

FINITO.

2010-11-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

hey y'all!

my post isn't going to be more than a few short sentences... but guess what?!

i'm done with high school.

forever!

i wrote my last final paper today (and boy, does that sound repetitive or what?!) which is definitely bittersweet. i've been so anxious to be out of high school - and believe me, i'm over the moon that i'm finally here - but there are such beautiful friends and memories that i don't want to ever let go of. it all seems really surreal - that five years of my life (heck, TWELVE years of my life!) have flown by so fast, and i'm definitely still getting used to the idea of being "officially unemployed", as my dear friend Kelsey so tactfully put it :)

but here's to the future!

The Final Countdown

2010-10-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

*dun dun dunnnnn*

hello, everybody! d'you want to hear something scary? yes? kay, well hold on... -clears throat-

i have exactly 10 more normal school days left. of my entire life.

yeah, i told you it was scary! i have only two more 5-day-weeks of school left before i bid farewell to my high school and begin to engage in the dreaded final exams. although they'll be written at school - so technically i'll still be at school, and i'll have to wear uniform and that sort of thing - i found (when we wrote our trial exams about a month ago - hah!) that it's really not the same as a normal school day.

to start things off, you come in later than usual. plus, you only come in when you're writing - so half of your friends aren't there, unless you're writing a common paper, like English or Maths. you sit in the hall for ±3 hours, most of which you spend writing frantically... so, basically, you aren't paying attention to the fact that you're at school. and after those ±3 hours are up, you leave. no lunch breaks... no milling around the hallways between lessons... no wisecracks during Afrikaans or doodling on books during Biology. none of that.

now, i must confess... ever since my darling sister Sindi went off to uni two years ago, i've been dying to set out after her in hot pursuit. i've always been a little mature for my age - which i think comes from having a sister who's a couple years older - and so even at the beginning of Grade 11, i was itching to leave high school behind and start with uni.

being in matric (South African speak for Grade 12, in case you were wondering ;) ) hasn't really helped much. although a lot of my older friends told me that matric was their favourite year of high school, it's been a bit of a let-down for me in some respects, and i really think i enjoyed my Grade 11 year more. which isn't to say that i haven't done absolutely marvellous things this year... on the whole, i've just felt that last year, although demanding in its own way, was more enjoyable than this year. i've been planning to go off to Rhodes University since i was in 9th Grade, and i sent off my application forms at the end of August. i got my acceptance letter about a month later and just the other day was confirmed as a Rhodes student for 2011.

yes, that's right... twist and shout!

needless to say, i've been itching to get out of high school. until now.

it recently hit me how CRAZY it is that i'll probably never see some of my high school friends again after i'm done with this year. people that i've spent 5+ years of my life with, commiserating and fighting and laughing and crying and hugging... and i'll never see them again.

weird.

don't get me wrong... there are definitely things i won't miss. *ahem* like Maths. and Accounting. but there are other things, and people, mostly, that i'll really have a hard time saying goodbye to.

sigh. it's a really odd, uncomfortable feeling.

like being in limbo.

all of that said...

TOO EXCITED FOR 2011!

and watch out, Rhodes...

here i come!

wishlist wednesday

2010-09-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

and now, ladies and gents, ranging from the absurd to the ridiculous...

Hanny's Wishlist.

what are you wishing for today?

also, who wants to hear a joke?

Justin Bieber's in South Africa right now.

*bahahahaha!*

kbye.

j'aime...

2010-09-17T03:24:00.000-07:00

*waves frantically*

helloooo there!

taking a note out of Annie's book, here's a list of things and people i'm presently in love with.

first on my list is MODCLOTH DRESSES...

but then again, when am i NOT in complete adoration of ModCloth? blast. they are fantastico.

sticking to the clothing theme, i have to tell you about how overwhelmingly in love i am with SHIRT.WOOT right now. i will not say anymore... i will simply demonstrate. here are my two favey designs...

for real.

thirdly, i am crazy about the beautiful DAISY LOVE. ohaai. this is Daisy.

she's 6 and has cancer... and she is the best. i stumbled over her tumblr one day and started keeping up with how she's doing - the best news is that they've removed her tumor, which shrank from the size of a large grapefruit to the size of a shrivelled tangerine segment. she's so full of joy and happiness and i simply love her to pieces. join me in continued prayer for her, won't you?

i'm also pretty excited about THE WHEATFIELD, which is pretty much a beautiful collection of artwork and illustrations done by the super talented Katie Daisy. zurks! i discovered her etsy shop yesterday. and i want all of her prints now!

they are phenomenal, are they not? ...yup.

and now, onward and upward, to literature. THE BFG could easily be the best book of all time.

Roald Dahl is pretty much my literary hero, and if you haven't read The BFG, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Danny, Champion of the World, or The Twits... ah, man. i feel sorry for you. while perusing the bookstore at the airport a couple weeks ago, after bidding my sister a fond farewell, my mom told me to pick out a book... and d'you want to know what i chose? well, SNOZZCUMBERS! ...heh.

and speaking of books...

i think i bought FLIPPED by Wendelin van Draanen when i was in Grade 8. and i still love it, and it is still legit. (plus, my book has a blue cover... which just makes it all the more awesome, trust me.) and now i hear that it has been made into a movie! and directed by the same man who directed The Princess Bride!! ...yeah, i got a little excited. sort of like this.

no biggie.

so anyway, if you haven't read it, please find yourself a copy and get to reading... pronto.

in other news, ALEX PETTYFER has been making me grin foolishly lately.

...and don't tell me i'm just following trends. i have loved him long time, since Alex Rider days! with that amazing British accent and that fantastic smile and, um, you know, his general perfect-ness... how can anyone NOT love him? *swoons* (funnily enough, the muy attractive photo of Alex i found online tonight simply refuses to upload. i hold that Blogger just can't deal with his gorgeousness, but hey... we'll just have to live with one photo.)

and last, but most definitely not least, may i introduce to you the man who was been soothing my weary eardrums... Mr JOSHUA RADIN.

i can't say enough good stuff about him. please go listen to When You Find Me and Someone Else's Life, which both featured on the soundtrack of Adam. oh, and if you haven't watched Adam... well. you simply must. Josh is also the man behind Paperweight... aka the best best thing about Dear John. (kay, it tied with Channing Tatum.) he sings with Schuyler Fisk on that song, and it's pretty much perfection. *sigh of bliss*

there you have it, friendlies! and now?

exit, pursued by a bear!

xx.

a little somethin' you must see

2010-09-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

when i say a fail of epic proportions.... i'm obviously talking about the fact that i haven't blogged for over three months. yes, i will allow you to look at me with pure shock. yes, i will allow gaping mouths and raised eyebrows.

and now we will all move on. okay? okay :)

America was fun, and coming back home was fun, too. i'll post in more detail about the wedding and In-N-Out and Atlanta in a future post... but for now, i shall leave you with one photo and these words:

YES... I FULFILLED MY DREAM. AND IT WAS AWESOME.

look at the title of my blog and then my feet in the photo if you have absolutely no idea what i'm talking about and all should be revealed.

kbye.

the alphabet of Hanny

2010-06-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

hi, folks! so... tomorrow morning, we are driving (for 6,5 hours!) up to Johannesburg. we fetch my sister from the Jozi airport tomorrow evening, and then on Monday evening we fly out of Jozi airport.

and the adventure begins.

the past couple weeks have been a blur of crazy running around, trying to get ready, buying gifts and packing bags and collecting holiday homework (gah) and i thort doing an alphabet of all the stuff that i've been doing recently would be the awesome. don't you agree? no? ah well... too bad for you ;) here goes!

A is for.... AIRPLANES

and when i say Airplanes, i'm talking about both the song by B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams (aka heroine), which i absolutely ADORE, and the aircrafts which fly people over the ocean to cool places around the world. since i will be on one on Monday... BOOYAH! (i adore airplanes. srsly.) on our way to San Francisco, and on our way back to Jozi, we'll be flying through...

Atlanta, where we're going to visit with a super dear friend of ours, Jenne! so inexplicably excited to see her... and to explore Atlanta. it promises to be hot and marvellous, and i already know that we'll be going to see She & Him - Zooey Deschanel's band - play live. how cool??! if i could, i would ricochet off the walls :)

B is for... Bafana Bafana

which is what South Africa's national soccer team is called. you know how the Italians are the Azzuri? (love love love...) yeah, the South Africans are Bafana Bafana... which basically means, "the boys". and i'm pretty proud of our boys - they've been fairing quite well in all of the friendlies over the course of the past few weeks, and didn't do too badly in the Confed Cup last year. i'm taking my football jersey overseas, and you can betcha that i'll be shouting for them from Cali! :)

C is for... C-c-c-cold...

i mean... HONESTLY. living in the Southern hemisphere means that from May onwards, temperatures begin to drop... and they sure have dropped this year! i'm really not a huge winter fan, and every time it rolls around i groan inwardly - and outwardly - because i hate the cold. luckily for me, i'll be spending SA's winter in...

...California, which promises to be beautiful and warm and gorgeous! i've been to the States during the summer, as far as i'm aware of, and i'm ridiculously excited that this could happen. so if you happen to run into a girl singin' "California Girls", grinning from ear to ear and dancing like a hooligan, chances are that it's me ;)

D is for... Dresses!

yup, that's correct - our bridesmaids dresses are all tailored up and packed in a bag! there're a few minor things that need to be sorted out, but all in all they look beautiful! matric dance is also on its way over - 30th of July, baby! - and i have a dress for that sorted out, but i still plan to do some dress shopping when i'm state-side :)

E is for... Etsy

because i am obsessed. it's a heckuva good thing that i don't have my own credit card, because if i did, it'd be maxed out on all the amazingspice stuff going down at Etsy! my new favourite is Dressing On The Side, which combines the two loves of my life - food and slogan tees. WAAAANT!

E is also for... Eleventyseven

whom, you must understand, rock my socks off. if you aren't aware of the craziness that is 11T7, they're an electro-pop band whose album Galactic Conquest must have been the cheapest CD purchase i've ever made, at R20. ($2.50) not to mention that it has some of the most thought-provoking dance tracks in existence. you ought to listen to their coolness today :)

F is for... Fynn

also known as the most precious baby E.V.E.R. two and a half weeks old, and adorable. in case you're wondering, he's the second son of my friends Kerry and Jeremy - their firstborn, Scott, is also one of my favourite kids around. Fynn is about the length of my forearm... aaah!

G is for... Goodbyes

which i utterly hate. i'm missing the last three days of school for this term, and so today i spent my time saying goodbye to all of my fabulous friends. so weird to think that i won't see them for another 5 weeks! *tear* but, never fear, because...

H is for... HELLOES!

i am more psyched than you'd believe to see mah sister tomorrow! WOOT! not to mention that i'll be seeing all of my ridiculously fabulous Cali peeps in under 3 days - EEK!!

H is also for... The Help

which is quite honestly, one of the best books i've ever read. i'm only halfway through, but i'm absolutely loving it and can't wait for tomorrow's long car drive so i can keep reading! if you haven't read it, you should most DEFINITELY do so... now!!

I is for... In-flight Movies!

...purty much my favourite thing about long flights. last time, i watched The Dark Knight... and shuddered at how brilliant Heath Ledger was in that movie. i didn't actually get to watch a great deal more than that, so i'm hoping that this time round, i'll be able to rectify that and watch TONS of movies! :)

J is for... Jozi

of course, we're going up to Jozi tomorrow.... but when i mention Jozi in my alphabetness, it's more because of the new movie by that title. ummm - haai. it is GREATNESS SAUCE! the lead actor is Carl Beukes, and he cracks me up. also, the whole style of the film is a little off-centre, which i utterly adored. and it had such a great, uplifting story behind all the not-so-kiff stuff that might happen when you live in a big city like Johannesburg. oh, and Brenda is my new role model. just sayin'.

K is for.... Keaton and Andrea!

who're the nearly-weds :) i laaaahv them.... i truly do. can't begin to explain how perfect they are for eachother. what more is there to say?!

L is for... Lilo

also known as my best friend from EHS :) she was in the grade above me at school, so now she's off studying. which sucks, because i miss her in a muchos manner. but she's home for the holidays! and i got to see her on Thursday! and we spent the entire afternoon TALKING and LAUGHING and EATING and it was pretty phenomenal. aren't friends such a blessing? :)

M is for Maths

...which i suck at. grrrrr. exams which were written a couple weeks ago, all went well, with an exception for Maths 1 and Accounting. luckily, my sister is a Maths boffin... so you can guess what we'll be doing during our down time this holiday! :P aaaah well... whatever it takes to get a decent mark, i guess ;)

M is also for... MASHED TATERS.

okay, this was a last-minute edition. but it is uh-MAY-zin'. click HERE and you'll know exactly what i'm talking about... especially if you're a fan of potatoes and Sam Gamgee :)

N is for Nommy Food

...of which i have been having a LOT. ohaai there, chocolate cupcakes from Wednesday night... you sure are dangerously delicious. so delicious, in fact, that i would eat you all over again tonight if the rest of the cell group hadn't eaten you, too. and yes... i am proud of Mama and i for making you. because you were off the yumtastic hook. true story.

O is for Owl City

...obvi. i'm only in love with Ocean Eyes, which must be one of the funkiest CDs EVAH. there isn't a song on the entire album that i don't adore. and that, my friends, is no small feat. just sayin'. disappointed that Mr Young won't be touring Cali-way in June/July, cause i could think of almost nothing better than an Owl City show! for now, i will just have to live with recorded awesomeness :) ....oh, and adoring all the incredible Owl City merch. that too.

P is for... Packing

i think i am a packaphobe. seriously. packing is heckuva hard for me! i'm also paranoid when it comes to checked baggage... because i have this ridiculous fear that they're going to send my bag to Puerto Rico and i'll never get it back. so i try to shove as much as i can into my carry-on... and that just doesn't work. thank GOODNESS i'm done with all of my packing! it took forever... but it got done. *wipes sweat off brow*

Q is for... Qetzl

yeah. i had nothing for Q. moving swiftly along...

R is for... The Ranks

who are this ridiculous band based in Pietermaritzburg. they do crazy things like make video blogs comprising of utter nonsense. you can watch them here.... my favourite is #2, but i laughed for about 15 minutes (at least) at #3.... because it makes no sense whatsoever. in any case, they're awesome... oh, and the band makes kiff music too. in case you were wondering.

S is for... School Sports

which is why, in case you were wondering, i was at school today. spent the day shouting for our hockey girls - particularly for Tasha love - and watching the rugby with John, ticking people off for merits, teasing Tee, taking people's money at the tuckshop and eating a wors roll for free. it was fabulous.

S is also for... Sky Sailing

aka Adam Young's side project :) i won't write much about it, except that the music is enthralling and beautiful and i'm desperate for the CD, which (ironically) is being released on the day i get back home :/ siiiigh. do give 'im a listen here - you won't be sorry!

T is for... Tee and Tinkerbell

let me explain. Tee is Thandeka, my gorgeous friend. Tinkerbell is a butterfly i found standing in the middle of the pathway, whom i captured and gave to Tee as a present. it was love at first sight... wouldn't you agree?

love 'em.

U is for... Uniform

as is so beautifully displayed by Tee in the above photograph. and which i no longer have to wear for 5 weeks! *airpunch* uniform can be such a pain in the rear end. but no more of it! from here on in, it'll be jeans and t-shirts, baby! :)

V is for... Vuvuzelas

which are going to make an ENORMOUS appearance at the Soccer World Cup... *laughs* these things are just the funniest. they crack me up. we're taking three overseas with us... can't wait to see how our relatives are going to react to them! bahaha...

W is for... WEDDING!!

which is, of course, the whole purpose of the trip :) i couldn't be more excited if i tried... it's going to be the most beautiful wedding of all time. not to mention that there will be a nacho bar afterwards, followed by ice cream and candy for dessert. i nearly DIED when i heard that... they are practically having MY future wedding menu. *squeals*

X is for... X-cited

....as if you couldn't tell ;)

Y is for... Yorkie and Young

...my two favey men of the moment! Yorkie is, of course, Taylor York, rhythm guitarist of Paramore. i simply love him, because he rocks the party and has this weird way of talkin' that slays me. and he loves gnomes. and his red beanie. and he has an awesome talking voice. plus he did this.... which he will never live down, in my book. laugh just thinking about it. Young is - guess it! - Adam Young, aka Mr Owl City. for reasons why i love him, i will refer you back to letters O and S, as well as saying that his tweets are some of the best ever and he likes Finding Nemo and writes beautiful lyrics. so.

and Z is for.... ZZZZZZZ!

nighty night, blogland :)

fun fact of the week

2010-05-14T08:03:00.000-07:00

whew! just managed to squeeze this one in this week!

isn't that awesome? and by awesome, i mean...

awesome |ˈôsəm|

adjectiveextremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear.
it makes ME feel dizzy just thinking about it!

(top ten) dresses from modcloth

2010-05-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

hey y'all! HAPPY FRIDAY! *does happy dance* hope you're all fabulous.

for the past week, my lovely Lauren (whom you should follow... just sayin') has been posting different "top tens" of hers. i absolutely adored this idea, but didn't have a great deal of time to do something that required massive thought. and then i was browsing through all of the delightful dresses on ModCloth and was thinking about how amazing they all were, and, lightbulb! i had it. i'd do a ModCloth dress top ten! and all would be right in the world!...

well, no. all wouldn't be right in the world. but still.

so, here you have it - my MODCLOTH DRESS TOP TEN!

(by the way... they aren't ranked. i could only barely choose a top ten, so ranking them would just make me cry. yes.)

10. the valerie june dress doesn't this dress just make you want to get up and dance with delight? i simply love polka dots. and it's in black and white. and it's classy, yet cute at the same time. aaah!

9. the posie a question dress i can't get over how incredibly adorable this dress is. i know i said that i couldn't rank these dresses any further than selecting a top 10, but if i was absolutely FORCED to choose?... this'd probably be my number 1 :)

8. the loch lomond dress ohaai there, Scottish awesomeness. this dress made me squeal when i first laid eyes upon it! i heart tartan like nobody's business, and the fact that i'm 5/8ths Scottish (i think...?) makes it very appropriate culturally ;)

7. the hyperrealism dress i love me some roses! of the three dresses that i own (i know, i know...), 100% of them are covered in flowers, and two of the three are covered in ROSES. they just manage to look so beautiful on dresses and in general.

6. the a little indie rock dress initially, this dress wasn't on my top 10. i had another really incredible dress picked out for this post, but when i went back to ModCloth to save the picture of it... ALAS! ALACK! it had disappeared. sad day. of course, it just meant replacing that dress with another... and this one made the cut. because it is cute - don't you agree? it's so vintage and funky. so, yay for indie rock!

5. the haute house dress

remember how i said i love dresses with flowers all over them? well, it's true. from the moment i laid eyes on this picture, i was taken in - i think it has something to do with the combination of colour and flowers. in any case, i just can't get enough of this dress!

4. the contender dress ah! i can't get over how adorable this dress is! it makes me think of lazy, happy days, picnics, reading in the park, strolling somewhere with a slight breeze blowing and the sun shining and everything right in the world.

3. the blues sisters dressthis dress is the epitome of cool, calm and collected. and gorgeous, too! it makes me think of one of the dresses Zooey Deschanel wears in (500) Days of Summer (which is, coincidentally, one of my favourite movies of all time. you know.) so that makes the dress even more marvellous! anyone else see the similarities?

2. the band of buttons dress every time i see this dress, i can't help but grin. honestly, it's one of the cutest things i've ever seen... and i've fallen head over heels for it. it makes me think of the Beatles, and Coldplay, and the Ranks - three of the coolest bands to ever walk this earth. and that is the truth :)

1. the balloon ride dress...and here's the last dress. i know some people would find it garish and terrifying - who knows, you might even think so! but i simply can't get over its funky pattern and bright colours. the design is simply the best and i KNOW that wearing it would make me happy!

so, there you have it - my top ten dresses from ModCloth :) what do YOU think? tell me which ModCloth dresses you love, if any!

fun fact of the week

2010-05-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

one of my favourite bloggy people ever is Ana Cristina. (i talk about her a lot - have you noticed?) every week, Annie posts a lolcat photo on her blog... and i love it. i've thought many a time that i'd love to do something similar, but i could never think of what to post. and then...

i discovered a website called Learn Something Everyday. and i adore their stuff. not only do you learn something completely arbitrary and awesome, but they have such fabulous illustrations to go with their facts!

so, i decided that i'll be posting a "Did You Know?" fact once a week. and here's the starter... and it's pink! :)

if my heart was a house

2010-04-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

well, hi there :)

i discovered this meme on Annie's blog and couldn't help but join in - it's the most beautiful thing ever! check out her answers here - they're probably a lot more poetic than mine.

If I was a month, I'd be January, my birth-month - the height of summer and all things glorious.

If I was a day of the week, I’d be Saturday, a day for adventure, exploration and laughter.

If I was a time of day, I’d be 11:11, when all things are possible if you just believe...

If I was a planet, I’d be Pluto, because I often feel like I don't belong.

If I was a sea animal, I'd be a penguin, because they are faithful and funny and gorgeous.

If I was a direction, I’d be South-East, where the sun shines stronger and the winds blow harder and the storms make you feel more alive than ever.

If I was a piece of furniture, I'd be a bean bag chair.

If I was a liquid, I'd be Snapple.

If I was a gemstone, I’d be a garnet.

If I was a tree, I’d be a yellow-wood.

If I was a flower, I’d be a tulip.

If I was a kind of weather, I’d be clear and sunny, with only the vague idea of a breeze...

If I was a musical instrument, I’d be a trumpet.

If I was a colour, I’d be indigo.

If I was an emotion, I’d be anticipation. (i simply love the definition Wikipedia gives it.)

If I was a fruit, I’d be a pomegranate.

If I was a sound, I’d be a crackle.

If I was an element, I’d be fire.

If I was a car, I’d be an ancient Beetle, or a Mini Cooper.

If I was a food, I'd be curry, because I can be dangerous if you aren't cautious!

If I was a place, I’d be the library. (couldn't help but agree with Ana on that one...)

If I was a material, I’d be cashmere.

If I was a taste, I’d be tangy.

If I was a scent, I’d be cocoa.

(and if my heart was a compass, you'd be North)

♥

we are attractive people.

2010-04-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

pretty polaroid

2009-12-14T11:32:00.001-08:00

i am here. and it is awesome.

but let us not focus on that awesomeness, and instead turn our attention to another kind of awesomeness completely. something that is rated 11 out of 10 on the Awesometer.

i am talking about... the wonder that is POLAROID PHOTOGRAPHY. is it amazing? yes. do i love it? yes. is Polaroid film no longer manufactured? yes, and i weep because of it. but do not fear! i have discovered the answer to all problems!

POLADROID.

*crickets chirp*

...don't give me that blank look! what was that? oh, you don't know what Poladroid is?! well, Poladroid is a radical application that can be downloaded free of charge riiiight here. basically, once the application is downloaded, you can turn any photo on your computer into a polaroid lookalike! be amazed, be very amazed. here are some of MY results:

the cutest puppy you ever did see... whose name i have forgotten. just how i roll.

a rainbow out the window of my sister's room at university.

my sister and her friends'... feet. good times.

a flower. dohspice.

and me.... even more dohspice. with an orange lolly. YUM.

so, there you have it, friends! Poladroid. hit it up and be old-school fabulous TODAY!

*kbye*

uhmmm.

2009-08-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

dear blogosphere,

it's been a while, hasn't it? don't worry - i understand that you might be angry at me. after all, it's not cool to abandon you for over a month without an explanation. but so much has happened over that month and a bit, so i hope you don't mind me telling you a bit of it....

1. my USA gran and sister came home ...and we had vacation. which was fun, until it ended... if you catch my drift.

2. i went on camp ...which totally rocked the party.

3. i did community service for 10 hours at the Old Age Home in town for a school project. it was a LOT of work, but rewarding in the end.

4. my beautiful Granny Jess passed away. and i miss her very very much.

5. my school held its annual Matric Dance... the Elevensies (Grade 11s) were in charge and i was on the committee. i think we did a fantabulous job. and it was uh-MAY-zing. and my best friend looked beautiful (of course!). and i reallyreallyreally wanted to slow-dance... sucks for me!

6. i got a Tumblr account... and i'm secretly in love with my webpage. go there and tell me you aren't too...

7. i gots noo gadjits. gadjits which i LOVE. one is a purple 8GB iPod nano named melanzana. (which means "eggplant" in Italian, in case you were wondering.) the other is a black-and-orange Sony Ericsson W350i named tangerine. (when i'm feeling South African, i call it naartjie... which means the same as tangerine, but sounds way cooler.) these two gadjits are the love of my life... along with the Nikon camera i got a few months back, which i have named grapefruit for lack of other ideas :) yeah, Hanny likes her gadgets!

8. i went crazy. well, no - not really, yet. but i do have an audition for the role of a girl with MPD for a play that may or may not occur, so i don't know... sounds pretty crazy to me! not to mention the fact that i'm hurtling fast towards the end of Grade 11 and i'm terrified of the idea of next year - being in matric (Gr12) and all. yeek! on Friday this week, i have an interview with the headmaster, some teachers and some current prefects among other people regarding why i want to be a prefect next year, so that should be interesting to say the least!

how are you, blogosphere? keeping well? i hope you didn't mind my AWOL-ness too terribly much. now... i'm back.

i know my ABC's!

2009-06-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

so... here is something for ya! i saw this on Ana's blog and had to steal it. because Alphabet-ness is the description of awesome.

fact.

*pssst! pay attention. there'll be a quiz later. in a remote area with no internet connection whatsoever.*

A is for Age: 16

B is for Bed size: single

C is for Chore you hate: washing the dishes. furr realz.

D is for Dessert you love: chocolate mousse, of course!

E is for Essential to start your day: a shower and some good music.

F is for Favourite flower: lilies, tulips, gerber daisies, roses, irises... i could keep going!

G is for Gold or Silver: definitely silver.

H is for Height: taller than your mom... or maybe not.

I is for Instruments you play(ed): piano. it's the shizz, even though i'm amateurish :)

J is for Job you had in high school: uhmm. i don't have a job. and yes, i fully expect pointed fingers and cries of "slacker!" from all of you. but seriously, doesn't high school itself constitute as a job?

K is for Kid(s): zilch! pretty sure i only want them in 10 years. at least. see A.

L is for Lunch spots: Kauai is bomb. then come Mugg&Bean and Sam Brown's *which closed at Gateway - noooo!*and, uhmm, home. (i live in a miniscule town, don't judge!)

M is for Mom's name: Loreen

N is for Newest item bought: POWER SOUR JELLY TOTS ForTheWin. just sayin'.

O is for Overnight hospital stay: i guess when i had just got born (as Su-Chin would say) ... otherwise, i haven't really done the hospital thing.

P is for Pet Peeve: laziness. and yes, it's a common trait of mine. go figure.

Q is for Quote from a movie: gah! i have a million zillon favourite quotes from movies. i guess i'll go with this one, because it makes me laugh.

Daniel: Sorry, I have a syndrome. I don't really have a filter. I don't pick up on social cues.

Holly: You mean you're rude?

Daniel: Yeah, but now it's a disease I can take medication for.

Holly: They have pills for rudeness?

Daniel: I know...and they can't figure out the Middle East. Go figure.

i heart P.S. I Love You. srsly. you should watch it if you haven't.

R is for Right or left handed: lefty loosy!

S is for Siblings: an older half-brother and an older sister.

T is for Time you wake up: usually about 5:30 AM on school days. early mornings make me want to weep.

U is for Underarm deodorant: hummm.... Lady Speed Stick. i think. why?

V is for Very surprising fact: i'm hooked on reality competitions like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. don't hate.

W is for Ways you run late: i get lost - as in, utterly and hopelessly lost. i wasn't born with a sense of direction. sad but true fact.

X is for X-rays you've had: nothing, although i really wanted to get some done on my throat a few months ago. i don't know if that's even possible, but i was really excited - and nothing came of it. boo.

Y is for Yummy food you make: microwave popcorn, of course! i make some pretty yummy mashed potatoes, though... and i learned how to cook pasta on the stove last month. no lie.

Z is for Zoo animal: i can only choose ONE? not gonna happen. let me give ya a list instead!

- Giant pandas. black and white and loved all over.

- Polar bears. they are the shizz.

- Snow leopards.

- Bengal tigers. love love love me some cats!

...and penguins, of course, zoo-permitting.

and there you have it - all about me with ABC! :)

♥

cool things.

2009-06-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

first off - i was totally watching Catch That Kid while composing this post. it made me laugh big time. i had no idea Max Thieriot and Corbin Bleu were in it! plus, can i mention that Kristen Stewart was always awkward?

srsly.

High School Musical, Twilight and The Pacifier, all in one movie! wonder what Edward would think of the two punks hitting on his true wuv? I'd personally choose Max over Rob any day...

now, onto the cool things!

ZAC FARRO and BIRTHDAYNESS.
last Thursday, the 4th, just so happened to be my fake-fiance Zac Farro's BIRTHDAY! he is all of nineteen years old now.

yes......Zac eats garden gnomes for breakfast.

Happy Birthday for Thursday the 4th, dearest Zachary!
with love and kisses, Hanny.

...and now i move along.

HAYLEY FREAKIN' WILLIAMS.
when i was looking through the images on Google for photos of the abovementioned young man for my last blog post, i came across this darling photo. it made me want to scream because of its fabulosity. don't argue.

am i the only one in the world who wishes to be Hayley Williams?

i mean, am i?

SPRINGLEAP.
here is another cool thing.
Springleap is an idea that was started by some awesome peeps in South Africa in an attempt to recreate the way artists in this country and around the world gain recognition. the basic premise is that anyone with creative ideas can submit them as a t-shirt design; all of these designs are then voted on by the public through the website. *to find out more about this fantastic venture, go here*

this is a t-shirt design called Ice Cream Factory, by cmatos... and i love it. because it combines two of the best things in life: ice creams and penguins. i want this shirt like an emu wants ostrich feathers. yeah, i am willing to beat that sucker ostrich up if it so much as comes near me flaunting those feathers... in other words, if you own the shirt, stay FAR away. srsly. i've been training...

ETSY DRESSES.
yes - i am in love with Etsy. do you want to see why?

this is honestly one of the most beautiful dresses i have EVER seen. and yes - it's one dress. that is reversible. and that i think rocks the party. it's designed and made by audreyandgrace.

here are a few other dresses i fell for.

these two tea dresses were designed and made by Louise Hedley, and i basically adore them.

this blue tulip dress, designed and made by Jacqui Cheng, also caught my eye. i love wearing things that are blue, and i heart the design of this dress, so it was basically love at first sight :)

NEW CLOTHES...and a bag

it's true - everyone loves getting new things. don't lie to me and say you don't... or i will laugh at you. unless you mean new underwear from your gramma. then i will understand. anyway, in the past month, i have not gotten any underwear from my gramma, but i HAVE gotten 4 specifically fantasmagorical things, 3 of which where clothing items. are ya ready? :)

1st: remember how, a few posts ago, i mentioned i was desperate for a pair of red skinny jeans? well, on the 11th of May, i got out from school really late and phoned my mom to fetch me. when she arrived at the school, i opened the passenger door and nearly sat on a package. my mind right then was thinking something along the lines of WHAT.THE.FREAK? i examined the package. it had my name on it. *squee!* and it was from my sister. *double-squee!* i tore it open. the most beautiful pair of red skinny jeans lay on my lap. i swear, i came close to dying of happiness.

looky!

just more evidence that i have the best sister in the whole entire world.

2nd: a week ago, some really close friends of my family from Atlanta, Georgia came out for a visit. (they are basically the shizz nizz. true story.) with them, they brought:

- A PRINCETON HOODIE

Stephen - the son in the equation - goes to Princeton. he is awesome, and so he brought 2 Princeton hoodies - one for me, and one for Sinderella.

i'm down with being Ivy League Ghetto, yo. you should be scurred. fo' shizzle.

- A VERA BRADLEY BAG

yesss... i said "Vera Bradley". as in, only the most uh-MAY-zin' bags in the world. check out the cuteness! each design of bag has a different girl's name. d'you want to guess what mine is called?

well, of course it's the Hannah bag :)

3rd: this past Sunday was my dad's birthday. (Happy birthday, Dad!) so, to celebrate in style, we went drove 2 hours to Gateway, the Mecca of Shopping in these-here parts. and what did i spot there, but the most ridiculously fabulous hat of all time. take a look for yourself:

naturally, i had to get it. guess who shall have warm ears this winter?!

you want to know something else that is beyond cool? YOU are, if you're reading this :) kthanxbye!

my husbands.

2009-05-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

hello! i have been sad lately. so, i thort for my return blogpost, i would post about something fun and silly. hence i reveal to you, dear readers...

MY HUSBANDS!

*TAAADAAA!*

Husband the 1st: David Cook.

hello, Mr Smouldering Gaze... of course i am in love with you.

this man will always be my first husband.

A.L.W.A.Y.S.

he is the reason i am known as Pancake... *i will tell you that story one day*
he is the reason i love American Idol.
he is the reason i twist my apple core around 4 times - for "D".

he is the reason i like pirate movies. and jokes.

he is... THE BEST. and i love him.

i am sad for him and his family right now - i hope you guys will be praying for them. hard times.

Husband the 2nd: Jamie Tworkowski.

here is a man, friends... an amazing, amazing man. someone with faith, someone with hope, and most definitely someone with love. i think you are sick of me talking about Jamie... so suffice it to say that i think he is wonderful. and the woman whom he gives his heart to will be unbelievably lucky. too bad he is 13 years older than me. dumbspice.

Husband the 3rd: Deon Rexroat.

well, hello. reasons Deon Rexroat is Husband #3:

1. the expression on his face in this photo.

2. the shirt he is wearing in this photo. (go here if you don't know what i mean.)

3. he is only the bassist for Anberlin. and bass guitars are only the coolest instruments in the history of instruments. and Anberlin is only one of my very favourite bands of all time. hence, he is basically a cool cat.

he is also very good-looking... but i don't care about that! *ahem*

Husband the 4th: Alex Pettyfer.

yessss. i love him for his face. and his body. and his accent. i'll admit it openly! he will always be my Jasper... and i think he pulls off sunglasses BETTER than the Pattz. judge for yourself!

*that's definitely me in the photo, by the way. definitely.*

and introducing... soon-to-be Husband, Zac Farro.

i am getting married to Zachary soon, thanks to Lar. she totally told him that i was in love with him when she saw Paramore the other day. he told her that he wanted to propose. *score!*

REASONS I LOVE HIM:

he's only 2 and a half years older than me.

he has an awesome eyeball. (no, really. one of his pupils looks like it's bleeding into his iris. it's fabulous.)

he's a fruitcake.

he's the first bandmember that Hayley would eat if stuck on a deserted island. i don't know why that makes him cool, but it does. and he burns his marshmallows - the way i always do.

and, he has exactly the same shirt as Deon does, only in reverse!

as though he weren't amazing enough, his name rhymes with *Captain* Jack Sparrow. i came close to dying when i discovered that.

now it's your turn! who're your fake husbands? and what did you learn about me from mine? *grins*

oh, uhmmm... before i go. i though i should mention that i am also in love with this fictional character named Walter Brownley. just sayin'.

love it.

2009-04-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

so, when i was around 11, we went to the States for Christmas, much like our most recent trip this past December. while there, i was exposed to the wonderfulness that are otherwise known as daily comics.

WE DON'T GET DAILY COMICS IN SOUTH AFRICA. NEVER. EVER.

it is one of the saddest facts of my life.

but back on subject. seeing as it was Christmas-time, most of the comics were related to this joyous time of the year. as i devoured them *with my eyes* on the 21st of December, i came across the.best.cartoon.strip.ever. no lie. it is called Mutts and it basically rules the world... or my world, anyway.

it is about a dog named Earl and a cat named Mooch, and their best-friendship. it is funny and ridiculous and beautiful. oftentimes, their central themes are of love, animal welfare and the protection of our environment, which i think are amazing messages - plus, the strip itself is still hilarious. and as though it wasn't cool enough... the cartoonist, Patrick McDonnell, did a whole series of Twilight-themed cartoon strips. they made me want to cry.. they were that funny. i will put them here for your enjoyment, friends.

Moochie talksh like thish a lot. love him long time.

bwahaha! i also love the portrayal of Edward and Bella. classic.

i would be, too.

i think this one is my unofficial favourite. just sayin'.

and no wonder... he's Edward freaking Bat-Cullen!

aren't they just the awesomest?

after going back to the States in December, i decided i couldn't live without my Mutts. i now subscribe online and get them sent to me *two weeks late* by email. and now? i get a Mutts comic a day, and i couldn't be happier!

here is another one of my *million* favourites:

Moochie tells time like me :)

in other news, happy weekend!

My Life Of Late

2009-04-08T03:21:00.000-07:00

guess what? for much of yesterday, my room had a massive gaping hole in the side of it. and it was totally intentional. here's the story: we decided sometime last year that the room was stinky-dark. the lack of light combined with the rotting of our beds (yes, there were wood borers in our lovely beds. hah.) was making the room into a mould nest. it didn't smell nice and it was very stuffy. so we decided to be rid of the beds, and put a ha-yoooge window in the side of the room. WOOT! it has finally happened, friends. there is a lovely window now in the wall.. i will even give you evidence that i am not lying.

what it looked like before...

...what it looks like now, on the inside...

...and what it looks like now on the outside!

in other news, last week was basically the best of my entire life... or this year, at least. it was the last week of term, which is always awesome, but even awesomer was the fact that i, along with 8 of my friends from school, got to go to the most incredible performance art festival in the history of the world (that i have been to). it was run by the Grahamstown Foundation - Grahamstown is where Sindi goes to school now, by the way, and it is pretty much the performing arts capital of South Africa, if not Africa. the KZN Schools Festival was part of a series of festivals for Grade 11 students all over the country; it was held at Hilton College, a beautiful school about 3 hours away from our abode... and it was, quite frankly, life-changing. we not only got to witness some of SA's most under-appreciated and enormously talented performers take to the stage, but we actually got to work alongside them in workshops that challenged, inspired and humiliated *ahem* grew us, both as artists and as people. if i'm sounding a little repetitive and boring at the moment, i'm sorry - but all that i've said is true. and then there was this man named Liam Magner... yah. i am basically in love with him. you would be, too, if you witnessed what i did... but we'll leave it there.

this is the main hall at Hilton, which housed the theatre. it was tea time... hence all the students on the lawns :)

this is the Eshowe gang! except for that random girl 3rd from the left in the back... i don't even know where she's from. *shrugs* no matter.

another lovely thing about the festival is i got to hang out with my cupcake, Tayla! she was my class companion, but she moved away earlier this year... i miss her :(

by far the best workshop... my one with Liam Magner, in which i was an addict, a RoboChair, a dog, an escapee, a drunk and a Zulu warrior, among other things.

Mr Magner (pictured below) is part of a comedic duo named The Neon Anthems. they performed last at the Festival, doing a stellar job in a hilarious show they wrote called "TOKOLOSHE COME AND GO". at this particular part of the stage, Liam stood right in front of me. i thought to myself, "Hanny, you must capture this man's amazingness on film, no matter how blurry the photo may turn out!" so out came my camera, and just as i was about to take the photo, Liam looked right at me and said, "Oh! You're taking a photo! Please Facebook that." pssshhh... i have never been more proud of being spoken to in my life. this was the photo that ensued, and i have not only faithfully uploaded it to Facebook... now it's on Blogger, too!

uhmmm. this is Liam playing dead while performing in "TOKOLOSHE COME AND GO". i hope you are starting to understand why i love him.

i got home from the Festival of Coolness on Thursday night, at around 9 PM. on Friday, an hour after school, i was on my way to Durban, to hang out with my bff Cathryn and her family for the weekend. it was uh-MAY-zin', let me tell you! on Friday, i went with Cathy and her sister Roanne to their youth, where we did ridiculous renditions of David and Goliath and the feeding of the 5000. after that we hung out at their house and listened to Jimmy Needham *who rocks my socks* and Relient K... yes, only the coolest band in the world. see, it was already fabulous. Saturday was Roanne's birthday, so we got to do all SORTS of cool stuff! we went to the I ♥ Market, which is a genius little market that is run the first Saturday of each month. it is beautiful... i ♥ the I ♥ Market.

we got to eat these amazing designer cupcakes, and mine had a raspberry on it (have i mentioned that i am a fan of raspberries? oh, yes. raspberries FTW. just sayin'...)

plus, Cathy and i purchased a 100-year-old dictionary of total superduperness. it has some of the funniest words and definitions EVAH.

we also went to the NSA and Bean Bag Bohemia and looked at incredible artworkses!

this was at Bean Bag Bohemia... i loved it there.

we watched Enchanted back at their house and then had a mini-party for Rosie, complete with relatives, cake, ice cream, singing, tasty food and general loveliness. YAY for parties! when everyone had departed, we watched Hairspray... and then slept. i got to go to church TWICE on Sunday - i love church! - and in between, we ate amazing food and watched Just Like Heaven. (we were going to make pancakes but there were no eggs! *sob*) my parents came to the evening service and we hung out - Cathy and her family go to this amazing church called Victory Faith that serves FOOD after evening service, can you believe?! they also have this phenomenal hot chocolate... i am seriously thinking of doing YOYL just to hang out there and drink hot chocolate all day. and to grow as a child of God... yah, that too.

Cathy, Rosie and me... i love these girls SO SO much!

later on that evening, my sister came back from university! she's hanging out with us for this and next week... siiiick.

now i am on vacation till next week Wednesday, and i've been watching movies. Lord Of The Rings movies, to be precise. when they came out, my godmother sent us all the movies - and not just the ordinary movies, but the Special Extended Editions. we watched them all yesterday and today. they are still the coolest. by the way, i am Éowyn.. which makes this hunk my husband.

yesssss... i know. i scored beeg time.

look, we are so happy! aaah... warm fuzziness descends.

i found this online today, and it made me smile. (all credit to Anke Eissmann)

"He [Faramir] looked at her [Éowyn], and being a man whom pity deeply stirred, it seemed to him that her loveliness amid her grief would pierce his heart. And she looked at him and saw the grave tenderness in his eyes, and yet knew, for she was bred among men of war, that here was on whom no Rider of the Mark would outmatch in battle."

"And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell."

(go here for the rest of the images)

yes, i adore the love story of these two. it makes me want to cry... thanks for that, Mr Tolkien.

and that is what i have been doing lately! now? i shall go sleep :)