Exploring Jozi- Melville's New 27 Boxes

This morning we explored the newly opened 27Boxes in Melville, a unique shopping centre which replaced an old abandoned park with shops made up almost entirely of shipping containers.

If the thought of shipping containers makes you picture dark and dingy, think again, while it is of course very hipster (as expected for the very Bohemian Melville area), this development is also very chic and trendy. It is surprisingly light, airy and colourful inside, contrary to expectations.

The development has a good mix of stores, ranging from designer clothing, jewellery and homeware to flowers, candles and art pieces. Oh and there is food, lots of food, from quirky takeaway stores, deli's and coffee shops to quaint little patisseries and a home-made ice-cream store. This is a foodie's dream. As expected, there are also stores that cater for those seeking food of the organic, green variety.The sweet aroma of coffee, waffles, macaroons, cronuts and cupcakes wafting through the air made me wish that I was not fasting today. 

My two favourite stores were a baby store upstairs, which had very cute little formal outfits for boys (something that is hard to find) and Krag Drag, an eclectic store downstairs with funny t-shirts and all sorts of proudly South African ware. I loved the Marie biscuit scatter cushions and Black Cat peanut butter chairs.

There is an outdoor area with an amphitheater which will apparently be used for live performances. There is also a little play area above the amphitheater, which was a bit on the sad side but looked like they were still busy working on it.

A couple of minor complaints- the centre is not particularly wheelchair or pram friendly, I had to leave the pram behind in the basement parking lot (which is made of brick and concrete by the way) to navigate the steep staircases up to the shopping levels. I am happy to see parking in the area though- we often frequent Bambanani just across the road and I always battled to find parking on the road.

Also, most of the shops are a bit on the pricey side, but I guess this is to be expected given their bespoke offerings.

It seems like work was still being done in some areas so it will be interesting to see what things are like when everything is done. One thing is for sure, this is nothing like your typical Johannesburg shopping center. 

Where to find it: 4th Avenue, Melville (aka the famous '7de Laan').

(Disclaimer: this is NOT a sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with 27Boxes.)

Introducing This Month's Featured Blogger Laverne Vermeulen

Her blog may have only been around for just over a week but this blogging mama is making waves. The astounding number of hits to her page pay tribute to this. Laverne Vermeulen is the mastermind behind Shell Shocked Mummy, a diary documenting her inspirational, no holes barred journey to adopting her precious angel Kennedy Gray. I love her witty but  honest style of writing- I have come across a rare few that have the ability to simultaneously tug at both your heart strings and your funny bone.

Her first post '2 failed adoptions, 1 dimpled baby, 0 regrets' introduces this journey, what led her and her partner Sergio down the adoption route, the tale of two adoptions that were not meant to be and ultimately being united with her dear little princess.

"This may be the most important post I shall ever write. It’s the story of how I reached destination motherhood.

Mine was never destined to be a boy meets girl tale. This I know, because I live a sitcom/dark comedy type of life. It’s just that dramatic! Simple was never going to cut it. God knows I can take a joke. So he sent me on the scenic route."

Mind you, she makes it cleat that you should not feel sorry for her- in contrast, by post two, she (almost)  makes us biological mommies feel jealous.

"There are some things that we can and should celebrate, the things that level the playing field some. The little bonuses that the fertility Gods have granted us. In case you haven’t thought of them. I have ever so kindly listed them for you.

1. I got to drink actual wine at my baby shower. No lame-ass juice for toasting. 1- 0 to the infertilites {new word}
2. No need for stretchy pants and that weird wrapping of my tummy after the birth. What? I have sisters and I have eyes.
3. I will say it again. My boobs are exactly the way they were before Kennedy came. Score!
4. Hormones. This needs no explanation.
5. Weight gain. This is a big one. No pun intended. No need for me to own extra “fat” clothes. I had done this before and it had nothing to do with pregnancy, there is NO way I am going back there.

I could go on and on but I really don’t want to start making fertile woman feel bad about themselves and jealous of me. That fate, my dear, is for a select few only."

If you have ever considered going the adoptive route, Laverne also gives some great insight into the process, how to make a great impression while applying and how the prospective adoptive mommy can get her rightful share of attention while she is 'paper pregnant'.

Picture from www.shellshockedmummy.com

What are you waiting for? Go check out her site!

Learning to Juggle... Work and Play

It's that time again, school/ creche holidays. That means I have both Noodle and Squish home with me all day. I love spending time with my kids, but I have a couple of extra challenges this time around. I recently had to let go of my domestic worker/ nanny (don't ask) and have not found a suitable replacement. This means no help with the kids (which I don't mind, except when I have screaming kids in the background while on business calls) and lots of extra cleaning, washing and ironing (my least favourite chore) on top of WAHM'ing (and blogging). We are also still fasting, so my energy takes a major dip by the end of the day.

I have learned to get the bulk of my work done in the mornings while Noodle is at school. Working around one child- challenging but doable. Working around two (one of whom asks questions non-stop) not as easy!

If you have read my previous blog posts, you will know that I enjoy doing activities with my kids (and Noodle has come to expect this over holidays). So I feel like I have been short-changing them a little bit and allowing them watch more television than they should, due to a lack of time on my part. 

Here is one very quick activity we have managed to get up to:

I let Noodle and Squish make their own banana lollies. Noodle proudly did it all by herself (see messy picture below) while Squish got a little help from me.

This is the 'recipe' we followed from one of the Dora the Explorer recipe books. Noodle used to be obsessed with Dora. This wore off for a little while, but after the Dora show at Nickfest, both Noodle and Squish are Dora obsessed now.

We replaced the ice-cream sticks with cinnamon sticks (mostly because I did not have ice-cream stick but I also think it will add a bit of flavour). I also let them add some colourful sprinkles as a special treat.

I have also gotten lots of colouring books and Lego blocks for both kids and jigsaw puzzles out to keep Noodle busy (except Squish keeps breaking her puzzles while she is busy, so I have to intervene).

 Hopefully I will find time for more fun activities soon. For now, on with the juggling.

The Work From Home Series- Getting Paid!

I haven't done a 'Work From Home" post for a while and though one is overdue.

Today I am going to discuss what might be the most crucial part of running any business, whether from home or anywhere else- actually getting your clients to pay you. After all your blood, sweat and tears in starting up a business, you do actually want to be paid for your work. 

If you do the work, obviously you will get paid for it, right? Wrong. Bad debt is one of the factors that is most likely to sink a small business. If your business is new, you might be slightly lenient with credit terms, hoping that this will help you build goodwill with clients. Unfortunately, when it comes to paying up, there are too many out there that are inclined to take advantage and this is one area that you can't afford to always play the nice guy- like that (slightly annoying) LunchMoney Lewis song goes... I've got bills I've got to pay... I've got mouths I've got to feed.

Here are some suggestions for making sure that you get your money in when you need it:

FROM THE WORD GO

The best way to ensure that you get paid is to make sure that expectations in terms of payment are made clear from the very beginning to avoid misunderstandings later on.

• Make sure you keep careful accounting records and that clients are invoiced straight away.
• Make sure that you are clear about any terms of supply of credit.
•  Do a credit check before providing credit to anyone- or at the very least for any big deals. 
• You can consider investing in debt collecting software.

WHEN A CLIENT FAILS TO PAY

You may have sneaky clients who try to withhold paying bills as long as they can so that they can benefit from interest derived. Perhaps they simply forgot to pay, payment was overlooked or there is some minor problem that can quickly be ironed over. Here are some steps that you can take while there is still room for giving your client the benefit of the doubt:

• You may want to start by sending a friendly e-mail reminding them that that payment is still outstanding and reattach your invoice and banking details for ease of reference.
• If they still don't pay, you may want to give them a phone call or even a visit for large sums outstanding. At my first job after university, we had a lot of bad debtors (which happened to be large corporate clients with plenty of money). My boss used to have me physically drive over to the clients for a courtesy visit, engage in chit chat, hand over some promotional material and then slip in a pile of invoices before leaving- sneaky but effective.
• If a client admits to having trouble paying due to financial reasons, you may want to work with the customer to come up with a mutually agreed payment plan- rather that than not getting paid at all!

TIME TO GET NASTY

• If the above does not work, you may need to hand the client over to a debt collection agency or an attorney. 
• In a worst case scenario, you may need to litigate to  get your money in. This will destroy any relationship with the client, but at this point they are obviously not the type of client that you want anyway. However, this should be a last case scenario as it can be time consuming and you will incur legal costs along the way.

Five Fun Things to Do with Old Broken Crayons

We recently found ourselves with the remains of many crayons from times gone by and went looking for ideas for things to do with all the stumpy remnants. 

Here are some ideas. For all of these, you will have to peel the paper off the outside of the crayon first.

1) With Eskom loadshedding you can never have too many candles. Our attempt at this was a bit of an aesthetic fail but Noodle loves her new candle. 

Peel the paper, divide into different colours and then melt down individual colours to make candles by pouring one colour at a time into an old jar (we used an old mayonnaise jar). Be sure to melt one colour at a time and let it cool as our colours mixed to make a giant pool of brown.

This is what it should look like (this is not what mine looked like): 

Picture courtesy of: http://adventures-in-making.com/diy-crayon-candles/

2) Heat up some rocks in the oven and then draw on the crayon (be careful with young children that this is hot enough to melt the crayon but not burn them). I have not done this one yet with my kids, but have gathered some rocks and hope to post the results when done.

See how here:

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/26914/melted-crayon-art-using-hot-rocks

3)  Melt the crayons and place into silicone moulds to create fun, shaped crayons- like our little stars below.

4) Shave bits of crayon, pres between two sheets of paper and iron to create an abstract masterpiece. 

5) Tape a row of crayons to your canvas. Hold upright and heat with a hairdryer until it melts to create a beautiful creation. Example here (also on our to-do list):

http://blog.admissions.ucla.edu/tag/crayon-art/

Noodle Says Part 4... And Stuff Squish Says Too!

I have not done one of these posts in a while, but my little ones have had plenty to say.


Noodle Says:

(On holiday) : Why did they put the ocean so close to the road?

(Noodle loses her shoe). Maybe the prince will find my missing shoe and send it for all the little girls in the land to fit on.

Me: Pay attention.
Noodle: I don't know if I have enough money. How much does it cost?
Noodle (later on):  Daddy, listen to me! It doesn't cost any money to pay attention!

No, my clothes are not getting smaller, I am getting bigger. 

Unfortunately, four year old's are sometimes a bit too blunt and honest. Like this:

Me: I can't remember where I put it.

Noodle: Sigh. Mommy, that's because you're not as smart as I am.

And this:

Noodle: My best friend is ... (names child in her creche class).
Family member: Why is she your best friend?
Noodle: Because she is so pretty.
Me: You are supposed to pick friends because they are nice people, not because they are pretty.
Noodle: But she is NOT a nice person!

 So there is Mother's Day and Father's Day. When is Childrens Day?

Squish says:

My little man, at 17 months, has become a regular parrot and repeats pretty much any word we tell him to. His sister tests this theory by making him repeat very random things, like 'octopus' or 'vegetarian'.

He can now name his body parts, a few colours and a few letters of the alphabet. He now knows the names of extended family members and has decided that it is hilarious to call me by my first name. He knows the names of lots of food items (he loves food!).

He has extensive telephone conversations on a toy phone (but says very little on a real phone, opting to smile and wave instead).

He has also learnt to sing... he now sings bits of Old Mc Donald, bits of the A, B, C song and (sadly) the chorus to the theme songs from Frozen and Doc McStuffins (you can see his sister's influence here) and the chorus to an Arabic lullaby. I still love this early language phase!

What new things have your precious little ones said lately? Please share!

Inside Jozi WAHMs Kitchen- Easy Sehri (pre-sunrise meal)

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we have just started the month of Ramadaan. I will not be doing lots of Ramadaan posts, but I thought I would share my favourite sehri/ suhoor recipe (this is the light meal traditionally consumed before sunrise during the month of Ramadaan. This is my Ramadaan secret gem as it is quick, easy on the stomach and keeps you full for a long time. Even if you are not fasting, this is a tasty and nutrient -dense breakfast.

Now I know of older people who have a full on meal of curry and rice at 3-5 a.m. For me, the thought of this is slightly nauseating and we just stick to our normal breakfast of cereal, packed with a bit more extras for sustained energy. In summer, low GI smoothies work really well. However, now in winter, hot oats are my poison of choice. 

This morning's bowl of hot oats

 Oats are high in fibre and apparently help to lower cholesterol and keep your blood sugar levels stable (this aspect is of relevance when fasting as you want sustained energy in order not to feel dizzy and tired later in the day).

METHOD:
 

This is what I do to create a quick and easy breakfast that is light, but will keep you full for a good few hours as it is packed with nutrients and has a low GI:

I prepare a large serving of cooked oats as my children also enjoy oats (you might not want to stand in front of the stove that early, so you can make enough for two or three days in advance and keep in the fridge, just heat up and add the milk when you are ready to serve).
I cook the oats with a dash of salt and a few cinnamon sticks (cinnamon and oats are both known to regulate blood sugar and will help keep your sugar levels from dipping later in the day).

Then I add hot milk and a combination of whichever of the below tickle my fancy on the day in question: 

• dates (which feature in many Ramadaan recipes), 
• nuts, 
• dried cranberries, 
• fruit (always banana as it is so filling and sometimes other fruit too), 
• muesli, 
• dried fruit,
• sometimes a tiny bit of Nutella if I am feeling naughty (because of the nut and oil  content in the Nutella, its glycaemic index is not as high as you might think).
• a little cinnamon powder is added as this really keeps those hunger pangs away.

I would imagine that a protein powder would also help, but I loathe the taste of these.

 

Be sure to drink lots of water too in order to stay hydrated.

That is it. Easy, right?

Ramadaan Mubarak

The blessed month of Ramadaan has arrived.

This year, for South African Muslims, the actual fasting (abstaining from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset) aspect of Ramadaan should be relatively easy. Being mid-winter, the days are cool and short (for example, today's fasting times for Johannesburg are 5.26 a.m. until 5.27 p.m.). To put this in perspective, in Johannesburg, we will be fasting for about twelve hours, compared to parts of Sweden where there is currently only an hour of night time, meaning that they fast for over twenty-three hours. In St Petersburg, Russia, Muslims will be fasting for about twenty-two hours. This shifts by about two weeks each year as the Muslim calendar is slightly shorter than the Gregorian calendar, meaning that at some point we fast for long days in the blistering summer heat while those Swedes fast for only an hour when they have perpetual night time. 

While the actual abstinence is obviously a huge deal, as critical is the spiritual side of Ramadaan, reflecting on ones own character, aspiring and making changes to be a better person and generally doing more good deeds and this applies universally. (For me, there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to this aspect and I have a long list of goals each year.) Muslims aim to pray more, give more charity and abstain from sin during this period, the idea being that if this is done for 29-30 days, this  behaviour will become habit and hopefully carry forward during the rest of the year.

It is a challenging time each year. Besides the food aspect, more prayers are required. Sleep deprivation is worse than usual as we wake up very early for a very light meal before the fast commences (in our family, this is typically just cereal and fruit) and go to bed later due to extra prayers required.

One seemingly minor,  but tiring battle for me is just co-ordinating the evening routine. As we break fast early in winter, food must be on the table much earlier than our usual supper time (and a little extra effort goes into meal preparation). After we break our fast in the evening, hubby, A, like other Muslim men,  is usually at the mosque for extended prayers in the evening, leaving me alone with the bath and bed routine, which is usually a shared task. I have no idea how single mothers do it, but for me, bathing a four year old while trying to stop a one year old (who has just been bathed) from diving back in the bathtub or play in the toilet bowl is the ultimate exercise in patience and self-restraint. Getting both to sleep simultaneously at a reasonable hour, prayers and then doing all the usual evening chores- mission impossible. Character building- that is what this month is all about!

Despite the minor challenges, at the end of the month, we look forward to this month and the sense of peace it brings each year and always feel like our faith has been strengthened and re-affirmed for the year ahead.

Wishing all Muslim readers a blessed, peaceful and enriching Ramadaan.