First Fashion Blog – The International Collection

So this will be my first ‘fashion blog’ on WordPress. I am very excited but nervous so hopefully it goes down well but please remember I am still learning here.

Indian (hipster) ring and hand-made watch

Okay so today we went out for lunch so my sister and her friends could tell us about their trip to India. It was great. I wanted to dress nicely but not over the top as it was quite casual. So I went with jeans as a place to start. It is cold in South Africa at the moment so I needed layers and of course boots. The best thing about living in a house with other women is that you can beg, borrow and steal clothes from each other so the white jersey is my sisters and the shirt is my mothers.

I’ve called the outfit International collection because it just so happened that some of the clothes were from overseas. The ring was something my sister bought cheaply in India, The watch was hand-made and sent to me from a cousin in Japan. The pink button-up top is from Gap which my dad bought for my mom also from Japan. The jacket is from Cotton On which is Australian. The boots I ordered online so they could theoretically be from anywhere and well jeans are jeans I guess.

I really loved the pop of colour that the shirt gave as I am a sucker for just a little bit of colour plus I am really digging the whole collared shirt peeking out from under a jersey vibe at the moment.

What do you think?

Little Sister

I have a little sister. She is 15 years old (almost 3 years my junior), her name is Cara and I love her dearly. She is my only sibling and although we can fight over anything and everything we are still what I would term close. When I say close though I don’t mean physically because for the last five weeks the closest I’ve been to my sister is hearing her voice over the phone because she has been on a grand adventure in India!

At my school we have various exchanges to schools all over the world and one is to a school in a town called Shimla which is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. When I was 15 I went there and it was incredible. I loved it and it helped me grow as a person (for future reference I am planning to do a blog about India with my sister so watch this space!). It inspired me and it is one of the most interesting exchanges that my school offers so my sister decided to apply for it and five weeks ago she and two other girls set off on the trip of a life time. They saw Delhi and Agra and more… and have been attending Auckland House School in Shimla for just over a month now.
Tomorrow she comes home and I can’t explain what I feel.
I am ecstatic and excited to see her and have her explain every detail but I’m also slightly sad because to see someone you love experience something so amazing is incredible and I don’t want the journey to end for her. Obviously it has to so I’m mostly focussing on the excitement I feel!

But not having her here combined with the eagerness at getting her back has really made me think about having a little sister. I’ve always loved writing but I often find that I cannot express the depth of emotion which exists and this includes what I feel for my sister. It is impossible for me in words to explain what she means to me. My sister is my best friend, she is the one I ask (and trust) for fashion advice, the one who never puts my movies back in place, the one who cooks for me because I can’t, she is the one that talks to me in awkward moments, and she is the person who has stood with me, for me (occasional against me) looking out for my best interests in everything I do and I owe her big! But I have missed her and I do love her and she most definitely deserves an entire blog just for her (maybe she deserves a few more)!

Cara has this endless energy. She bounces about and talks nonsense and I promise you it is practically impossible to be in a bad mood around that. She was nicknamed the Duracell Bunny for her excessive energy when no one else had any. She is witty. I wish I was funny and could make clever come backs but I have given up the hope of that being me my little sister on the other hand is quickly getting the hang of it. She is a fast thinker and always has something sharp and unusual to say which will put everybody in stitches. Cara doesn’t fear anything, Ok I’m lying she is not one for horror movies, however she can and always has tried to climb up anything. I hated climbing but Cara would rather be a monkey that stay down on the ground with the rest of the world. She has brilliant taste in clothing (I think this may have something to do with my influence or at least I hope so). She is creative as anything. Her art and photographer are incredible and much better than mine were at that age (even at this age). She has this incredible perseverance and can-do attitude. You know when you come up with an idea that great and if your like me its going to remain a great idea because you and I never actually do them. Cara does them. If she wants to paint? She’ll paint! If she wants to run? She’ll run! My sister is also kind which I find is hard to do now days. People can often be selfish and Cara hasn’t grown that. She tries to be caring and helpful and all she wants to do is make sure that the world is ok and everybody is alright.

My little sister is a hundred more things and can do even more than that. She is incredible and she inspires me everyday. I Love you baby sister! I really do!

Teenagers know everything.

Contrary to what the title suggests I don’t actually believe that teenagers know everything. It may be hard to believe me considering that I am a teenager and it is rare to hear us admit this but it is true. I understand that I am opinionated but I love learning from others both young and old and exploring new knowledge that is exposed to me. What I do think (and I think I’d go as far as to say know) is that adults love to say that teenagers think they know everything. It is the generalisation of our era. And you know that I really hate it because often its used as an excuse. See I have often participated in discussions and debates with adults and when I throw them a curveball, something they don’t expect, can’t explain or challenges the way they think they dismiss me because its that easy. All they have to say is that I only think I know what I am talking about because I am a teenager and thats what we do and then obviously they laugh in a slightly nervous manner. What can I say? If I call their bluff and say they are wrong I fall straight into their hands and they along with their buddies can laugh at me. That technique is as futile as a baby’s fits against its mother. And if I ask them to simply try look at it from my point of view its out with the “you have no experience of the real world because you are just a child” excuse. A child! I’d like to think that the world in which a child lives counts for something otherwise the last 18 years of my life have been a complete waste of my time and as for the “child” comeback. Although I admit I am a child when it is said in this context it is not intended merely as an observation but more a low blow through which these adults can be patronising.

Please understand I am not trying to generalise here I have also had some brilliant debates with my elders in which they have taught and learned from me new things and where mutual respect exists. I believe fully that it is possible to have intellectual and positive discussions between people of varying ages. What I am trying to achieve in this blog is not to have a good old rant because I’m in the mood but rather to ask that as an adult if you (and I) ever have the urge to disregard someone younger than yours opinion PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t do so. Even if they are wrong try and teach them this rather then aiming to bring their self-esteem down. I owe my success not to those who mocked me but rather to those who helped me and I also hold those of a more positive outlook in higher respect to those who have dismissed me.

Slab in a cup

Have you ever had a slab (of chocolate) in a cup? Well I have… when I went out to Vovo Telo for a late breakfast one day. Vovo Telo is a cute chain of restaurants which are filled with the smells and sights of baking bread. I had a brilliant breakfast and then a friend and I decided to treat ourselves. We ordered ‘hot chocolate – slab in a cup’. It was literally a mug of melted chocolate. We ate it with a spoon rather than drank it. It was delicious although I did think I would vomit by the end of it. I suggest that when you are feeling down you run to your nearest Vovo Telo(because you will need some kind of exercise to have this) and if you order a slab in a cup it will turn your day around. Plus I am in love with the presentation!

Macaroni and cheese is easy?

I’d like to think that I have a few talents. I am a reasonable artist, I have my lucky academic moments and you can decide whether my writing abilities are worth mentioning but one thing I still struggle with is cooking. Needless to say sometimes one must face ones demons. Okay I suppose not being able to always make food edible is not really a demon but whatever it is I had to face it. My mother has gone away for a couple of days and my sister is on exchange so it’s just me and dad. I felt like macaroni and cheese, and my dad had to work late so I invited a friend over to help me cook it. I wanted company and I thought how hard can Macaroni and cheese be? Dear reader I laugh to myself as write that because with foresight I know the answer.
I found a recipe online. It was easy enough with only 5 ingredients. You may think that a recipe so simple is impossible to screw up… ha ha hadidy da (that’s my rendition of a sarcastic laugh) because we thought the same thing and we failed.

First we had to cook the pasta and according to the recipe the instructions would be on the pasta packet. I can say that they might have been there but I couldn’t tell because it was all in Italian but luckily we aren’t that useless so we put in boiling water with some salt and this part of the recipe worked like a charm except we made too much pasta.

Then it was onto the cheese sauce. It said put a quarter cup of butter and flour into a saucepan. We did this but we didn’t have the right measuring tools so we guessed and well that guess must have been slightly off because there was too much flour for the butter and it clumped up but we thought that if we added the two cups of milk this might sort out our problem. Sigh. It did not. We ended up with milk and clumps of flour. But we had gone too far to turn back and we didn’t have enough milk left to make a second batch so we had to carry on. We added two cups of grated cheese and some salt and pepper (I believe the correct cooking term is ‘a dash’). We stirred all of this and pretended the lumps were cheese rather than flour.

To try and save the meal we or rather I thought we should add bacon. So we fried it up and subsequently burnt it. But there is no point wasting so we mixed together the lumpy sauce, the semi-charred bacon (we left out the completely charred pieces) and mixed it with our pasta. And if you thought it couldn’t get worse, we discovered we had too much pasta or maybe it was too little sauce. Whichever it is the meal was much sadder looking than intended.

My dear father sat through it and ate it as did the two cooks. I would love to say that when putting it into my mouth I discovered that despite its appearance and failings in the making it tasted magical but it lived right up to expectations. It wasn’t inedible but I wouldn’t ever go back to a restaurant if they served me that.

Maybe my next cooking expedition will be better?

And my good friend who helped me cook has started her own blog and I enjoyed her first entry more than I should have so I’m expecting great things. So check it out: http://theycallmelazy.wordpress.com/

I am Malala

I am going to start, where I said I would, with a book review. Now I have read a fair share of books but it made sense to write about the last meaningful book that I have read. This happens to be an incredible semi-autobiographical novel called I Am Malala. It was written by a young woman by the name of Malala Yousafzai with the help of Christina Lamb. Malala is a Pakistani girl who is younger than I am. She is an education activist and was shot by the Taliban in 2012. Her story was remarkable but I don’t think the point of a book review is to summaries the story but rather to portray what the book did to the reader’s soul as their eyes took in the physical words off the pages. I found it strange reading the book. I’ve read stories of similar themes but they were fictional and not set in a time which I live in. It was also disconcerting reading a story written (with help) by someone younger than I am. I’m not naive. I understand that bad things happen in the world every day but it was still uncomfortable for me to be reminded so beautifully and perhaps the word would be ‘peacefully’ of the horror of this girl’s world. Part of me just didn’t want to accept that a human being could shoot a child for wanting to better her education. I don’t say this to put anyone off the book. I intend to do the opposite and encourage that you read it but it was a strange feeling that gripped me while soaking in her story. My mind really had to grapple with the idea of humanity when reading this.

The other thing that really struck me was my ignorance of the situation in Pakistan. I think the rest of the world (or at least what I am exposed to) gets distracted by the terror and American destruction in surrounding areas. The real issues that people in Pakistan and other countries get ignored and glossed over. I was truly shocked at how little I knew about the country and the huge problems it faces. Gosh I didn’t think the Taliban was there. When I heard Malala’s story on the news I thought she was from Afghanistan. I am truly sorry for this error. Another thing, which I have experienced in other similar books, was that Malala taught me about Islam. She speaks with such faith and honour about her religion and even though the Taliban shot her for the very same religion she holds no hate only respect for what she believes in. It’s incredible what this kind of book can teach you about perspective.

On the part of the actual writing style and form of the book I suppose I should say something. It’s not complicated or ground-breakingly poetic but it is honest and understandable. It will make you smile and laugh and cry and shout out of anger. It is so truthful. I have never before felt like I truly understood the author of an autobiography so well. Maybe it is because we are so similar in age but to read a book about a child’s life written by someone so young… there are no words to describe it.

Housekeeping

What is this blog going to be about? You probably want to know what you are getting into, right? The thing is that I am young and still finding out who I am so I have a lot of interests and a lot of things which I want to discuss but I will list a few of my top passions.

Firstly (which you will have gathered from my first blog entry) I love to read so this means that when the moment strikes me and when I have managed to tear my eyes away from a good book I will write about books that I have read, stories I’ve enjoyed, things that just shout to me from the very shelves that they sit on and numerous other things that a good bookworm must know.

I will also write (and this will have accompanying pictures –YAY!) about Fashion and my style. See I don’t want just a fashion blog because I feel like these are becoming a go-to thing for teenagers and I’d probably be more likely to drown, never to be found again, in the blogging world if I focussed solely on fashion but I still really love the idea of fashion and creating an individual style plus it’s a part of who I am so it must be included.

Then there is art. I am an art student. In fact I am head of art at my school. I am not the most talented artist or the most creative but it does grab deep inside my soul. I love the inspiration and brilliance that can be achieved through art and the peace that I get to feel when I have a pencil or paintbrush in my hand and when I have writers block this will be an excellent thing to put on my blog.

I am also going to write about South Africa because it is my home and I have this verging on unhealthy patriotism, not necessarily to the ever changing leaders but to the people, the culture and the land itself. Sometimes I don’t think I can truly express in words the beauty of this country but I’ll try because that is the least I can do.

I will write about the environment because I’ve been brought up to respect it and take care of it and I only wish to share that, to share ideas on how to help on the environment and to discuss its beauty because what are we without it.

Then there is food because we can’t live without it (and the procrastinating teen writing to you certainly can’t live without it).

I will also discuss social issues and current affairs when they are on my mind, in my face or topical because what happens in the world around us is important.

And (because I haven’t listed everything that exists in the whole wide world) I will discuss the interesting ins and outs of my life and my world.

I think I should come up with a catchy phrase to end each blog with. Anyone have any ideas?

A short introduction

How does one start a blog? Well I suppose and I know this isn’t original but probably at the beginning. Right now it feels like I am writing into the big abyss that is the internet but hopefully this will change as I get used to being a blogger.

So I should probably introduce myself. I am an almost-18 year old living in South Africa. My name is Jemma and for the most part I don’t have a well known nickname so Jemma it is going to have to be. I come from a rather average middle class family made of extraordinary people and here I am about to start a new journey (oh isn’t that a clichéd metaphor)… I am going on an adventure… No still not right… Ah! I am going on a grand exploration of the blogging world. Why? Well I am the type of girl who owns more books than clothing (and I’m sure you will soon find out my huge love of fashion so this is saying a lot). Books have always been my friends and they have nurtured inside of me a love of writing and expressing myself and my ideas and there seems to be no better place, short of writing an autobiography, than a blog to express everything that I am to the modern world.

I look forward to what this has to offer and maybe what I can offer in return.