Interviews - Inspired Living SA

Confessions of a Blogger Candice from A Gorgeous Life

This is the first post in our new Interview Series – Confessions of a Blogger, featuring the lovely Candice Bresler from A Gorgeous Life.

Hi, I am Candice, a vanilla-obsessed eater, baker and cook. I live in a beautiful little corner of Cape Town with my gorgeous husband and a balcony filled with home-grown vegetables and herbs. It began when I was a little girl of four, with wild curls, and a plastic striped clown apron, helping my mom in the kitchen, pretending to stir when I was really just licking the bowl. I grew up in a house where small portions didn’t exist – there was always enough food for seconds, and for the rest of the street.

When did you start your journey as a blogger and why? I started blogging in October 2010, at the suggestion of my then-boyfriend (and now-husband). As I always spent so much time in the kitchen and find joy in words, he suggested I started a blog. At first, I was very hesitant – with the millions of food blogs in the world, who would want to read mine?
Do you blog fulltime or do you have a 9-5 as well? I have a very normal desk job that keeps me busy during the day – this, thankfully pays the bills. Blogging is a mostly delicious, but naturally time-consuming, hobby.

Tell us a little about your space on the interweb and what you blog about? A Gorgeous Life is a celebration of food, travel and the joy of home. After blogging for almost four years, my blog has grown and developed more than I could have imagined or planned. What started out as a strictly food blog, has now grown into one encompassing more lifestyle aspects. You can now expect to find recipes, restaurant and accommodation reviews, as well as beauty, health and home décor posts.
Being a blogger is not always easy – what motivates you and keeps you going? Curating a good blog is difficult – not only creating original, interesting content, but also the occasional ethical challenges faced when reviewing an unpleasant product or awful restaurant. However, the joy far outweighs any challenges – my blog is my creative outlet, my life’s hobby. My week would feel so empty without planning blog posts, editing photographs or planning reviews. It gives me the opportunity to be creative and learn.

What have your biggest blogging challenges been? Early on I had to tackle the issue of not-so-great (or downright awful) restaurant experiences – as restaurant reviewing is a large part of my blog, I had to create a policy, which has now spread onto all areas I write about – simply, I don’t do negative reviews. Whether it is a product, accommodation or restaurant, if I don’t absolutely adore it, it won’t make it onto the blog.
Do you have any blog related or social media pet peeves? {things that other bloggers or social media peeps do, that really annoy you} Ah, transparency and disclosure. I don’t particularly care if bloggers beg for ‘freebies’, but please – if you have received anything for free, or are being remunerated for a blog post / review – please be honest about it. All it takes is a simple line at the end of the blog post. Both your readers and the company / restaurant involved will appreciate your honesty.
What has your journey as a blogger taught you {about yourself or in general}? Has it changed your life in any way? A Gorgeous Life has greatly changed our lives – not a week goes past that my husband and I don’t have a review or event scheduled. It has also changed the way I cook and see food – most people will simply ‘cook dinner’ – I make a meal for the blog. It has shown me that people to respect and respond to honesty. That original content is valued. That I have a voice.
If you had to give a newbie blogger any advice, what words of wisdom would you impart? First, re-evaluate your reasons for starting a blog. If you are starting a blog simply in the hope of receiving ‘freebies’ or wonderful event invitations, I would stop now. Blogs need to be built on passion – this shines through to your readers. If you are writing about something you love, everything else will follow – growth, credibility, and yes – lovely events. Blogging is not a solitary endeavor – there is an entire network of bloggers who have been doing this for years, sometimes decades. Interact with them – learn, ask questions, read their blogs and let them help you. On that note, there is also a wealth of information available online – helping you with everything from editing photographs to how to structure a blog post and find the perfect template – you can be brilliant.

In three words tell me what blogging means to you ~ My passion, documented.

Thanks Candice for sharing a bit more about your life and blogging journey, with us! If you would like to find out more about Candice and A Gorgeous Life please click the links below.

Blog: A Gorgeous Life

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If you would like to be a part of this interview series then please email Fiona or leave a comment below.

Be Inspired, Blogging, Interviews

Confessions of a Blogger – Why I Blog

Funny thing really but I find it amazing how many people ask me why I blog – well I can tell you straight off, it is certainly not for fame or fortune! After having this question posed to me so often lately, I decided to bare all in my Confessions of a Blogger!

First a bit of histrionics – I started off blogging over 4 years ago, with very little intention of it ever being more than a personal journal. Little did I know where it would end up! When I started blogging my motivation was to write about my experiences as a mom and share this with, well I guess in the beginning, only my friends and family. My children were much younger when I started out and I was still very much in the “mommy” phase of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I am still very much a mother, but both my family’s needs and my own, have changed.

Along with the changes in my personal life, my blog needed to change and evolve as well, which is what motivated me to eventually change the name last year. There have been quite a few times over the past year, for other more personal reasons, that I have come close to giving up blogging altogether but I here I am still doing it!

I guess the natural question is what makes me keep doing it? I have always enjoyed the creative side of life, whether it be drawing, cooking, putting an outfit together or painting my nails – it all comes down to being creative. I have always loved fashion and beauty – especially as a teenager, I loved pouring over copies of my mom’s Fairlady magazines, swooning over the gorgeous models and all the stunning fashion! Before leaving school I even considered a career in print media but life had other plans! I think this is one of the reasons I am so drawn to blogging and why I keep coming back to it! Blogging has become my creative outlet, a platform to explore and share the things I love.

As I mentioned before I do not blog to earn money {much to my hubby’s disappointment as he would love to retire} but I do it because I really enjoy it! There are definite perks to blogging and I won’t lie, I love receiving lovely free goodies, being invited to amazing events and meeting new and interesting people. Blogging has opened many doors for me and forged new friendships, across the globe but my favourite part of blogging is still creating the post. It does not matter whether it is writing a review or an interest piece, it is the creative process that I love. One of the most enjoyable aspects for me is the photography – I am by no means a professional photographer but I love styling and photographing – well just about anything! I guess in essence it is being able to sit back and say “hey look at what I have created” and feeling proud of it.

With the fun creative part, comes the slightly more tricky part of balancing everything. One of my greatest blogging challenges, at the moment, is the lack of time to do everything I would like to do or the inevitable FOMO – lets face it nobody likes to miss out! The balancing act of being a wife and a mother sometimes does not lend itself to being as free and independent as I would like to be but my family comes first!

So in a nutshell I blog because I like it and it makes me happy! 🙂

The greatest lessons I have learned from blogging are not to take myself too seriously, to do what I love, that I can do anything I put my mind to and not be too concerned by what those around me are doing or saying, especially if it is negative.

I will leave you with one of my favourite quotes…

If you are a blogger and would like to be featured in my new blog series “Confessions of a Blogger” please email me for more details.

Be Inspired, Cape Town, Eating Out, FAR Photography, Food, Interviews, Restaurant Reviews, Taste

The Foodbarn Noordhoek Village

For those of you who don’t know me I am a local Cape Town girl who likes to live the simple life but enjoys the finer things life has to offer. I love food and it has always been an important part of my life and Cape Town certainly has a great deal to offer gastronomically. Recently I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview a local food legend, certainly in our quiet seaside suburb of Noordhoek, not to mention the greater foodie community, Franck Dangereux.

Although now a local man Franck was born in France (Cannes). He grew up in a family where, despite not being foodies themselves, food and eating was always at the heart of the home. In Franck’s words, his passion for cooking was “born out of a love of eating”. Languishing family feasts were always a strong tradition and trips to the local markets, a childhood adventure. Franck does feel that in modern society we might be in danger of missing these fantastic opportunities, of families being united by sharing in delicious food and making precious memories.

He started cooking at the age of 14 and began studying at the Nice Hotel School, the following year. By the age of 18 Franck was working in 3 Michelin Star restaurants in Paris. In 1987 while on holiday, Franck visited South Africa for the first time, only to fall in love with this magnificent country. He also happened to meet up with a local South African, Pete de Bruin, and despite their language barrier, (aided by the power of Tequila) they formed a friendship that would ultimately see them reunited through a joint vision in the future.

After a few more years spent honing his skills aboard, Franck officially immigrated to South Africa and made Cape Town his home. His first job in Cape Town was working for Franck Swainston at the esteemed Constantia Uitsig, where he worked as Head Chef for two years. In 1996, after taking some time off from the intensity of the kitchen, Franck returned to the gastronomic world and started La Colombe. He was given carte blanche to create a lavish fine dining experience, which would go on to achieve numerous accolades, including being voted as one of the top 50 Restaurants in the World in 2006.

A few years later, after discovering that the Noordhoek Farm Stall was up for sale, Franck and Pete realised the dream that their shared passion for food had ignited years previously, and The Foodbarn was officially born.

As a local Noordhoek – lass I have had the opportunity of eating at The Foodbarn, Noordhoek Village, many times, but what you may ask, is so special about this restaurant? The vision that Franck had for this eatery was to have a fine dining experience with great food and wine but a relaxed ambience and The Foodbarn certainly lives up to this expectation. Patrons are treated to a wonderful dining experience and great seasonal specials.

Franck believes that cooking is an experience that should excite all your senses, that food should be both visually appealing as well as taste good, with sauces being his forte, from a simple vinaigrette to a fragrantly spiced jus. Wine is also an integral part of your dining experience at The Foodbarn, with food and wine pairing recommendations being a feature of their menu.

Together Franck and Pete run The Foodbarn, Franck bringing his exceptional food skills and Pete his astute business knowledge, from years spent working in the corporate world. Not to forget Pete’s role of as the charming host at the Foodbarn, as well as looking his “baby” The Foodbarn Deli & Tapas, a more relaxed and rustic eatery. To find out more about Pete see a recent article featuring him as the Village Personality for March, on the Noordhoek Village website.

The Foodbarn Noordhoek Village is currently running a seasonal special, where diners can enjoy 50% off food ordered from the restaurant ala carte menu, Monday to Friday, lunches only. A few days ago I was lucky enough to be invited to photograph and sample two of these amazing dishes. The food did indeed taste as good as it looked! Below you will see the two dishes which I tasted and I would highly recommend that you visit The Foodbarn. (See the bottom of the page for contact details)

The 1st Dish was De-shelled prawns tempura served on confied tomato, aubergine and avo tian, finished with a chilli & red pepper syrup and basil salsa. “this dish was delicious, the tempura prawns(one of my favourite things to eat) where lovely and juicy, with a light-crispy exterior – balanced by cool and refreshing tangy tomato & red pepper flavours, with a hint of chilli.”

The 2nd dish was Rack of Karoo lamb roasted in a bread crust, served with a chickpea “panisse”, finished with harissa mayo and Moroccan spices scented jus. “the lamb was perfectly cooked, medium rare the way I like it, there was a slight heat from the harissa mayo and the rich intense jus complimented the dish beautifully.”

I would just like to thank Franck and Pete for this great opportunity and for bringing such a great dining experience to the area! I wish them continued success with both of their restaurants!

Contact Details: Email info @ thefoodbarn.co.za – contact the restaurant+27 (0)21 789 1390 – contact the deli+27 (0)21 789 1966 – address Noordhoek Farm Village Corner Village Lane and Noordhoek Main Road Noordhoek 7979

Photography: ©FAR Photography

Be Inspired, Featured Posts, Interviews

Real Women – Real Life

Today on Real Women – Real Life we get to meet Iva Grbesic, a rather stylish-mom of four who lives in Toronto, Canada. I recently happened upon her blog called One Chic Mom, a treasure trove of all things style and fashion and today Iva shares a few of her style and life insights with us – on Real Women – Real Life.

Real Women Real Life

Tell me a bit about yourself?

I live in the city of Toronto with my four children, 1 girl and 3 boys (the oldest is seven and the youngest is two) and my husband. I would like to go back to work when my youngest is in school but I just don’t know what I want to do. I did promise myself that when my youngest went to school, I would take a year off to enjoy going grocery shopping alone! It would be amazing just to be able to lock the bathroom door and shower in peace or leave a pen on a counter without worrying about toddler graffiti art on my ottoman.

What Makes You Tick?

As a mother your dreams and passion are about your children (their happiness and success) and family is the most important thing. I do feel however that there is still a small part of you that let’s some things be just about you. For me, I would love for my blog to be successful and give women the confidence to wear red pants with a leopard print heels. That’s what motivates me.

My weaknesses are so easy to point out, I can’t bake, there are times when I buy too much food and it ends up in the garbage, I am not very productive under a time crunch and I wish I was more an A-type about my house and its tidiness. Oh I almost forgot, I need to stop swearing when I am driving…my kids are picking up on my bad language.

My husband pointed out one of my strengths after a funeral visitation; he told me I have this uncanny ability of making difficult situations easier for those involved – having a real conversation with the widow or putting a smile on other family members. He also pointed out how I can talk to friends about their divorces or even discuss cancer with others. I’m proud of that strength.

I’m also proud of the fact that I can make this high-pitched guttural sound, which I break out into every time I am dancing Croatian folklore.

When Did You Start Blogging?

I am new to blogging, just started in January 2012. I blog about fashion and how moms should dress their bodies with new trends and basic favourites. There are lots of great blogs for the twenty something group (I am a follower of a few) but nothing for us. I hope to fill that void.

Pregnancy does a number on our bodies and our style needs to evolve with our new bodies. Don’t fight the change, take a breath and figure out how to work with it. I promise the results will make you feel great.

What Style Advice Can You Give to Women?

There are so many pieces of advice I have when it comes to style, however, the most important piece is enjoy yourself, we have no choice but to wear clothing, so look pretty and have fun. There is this guilt when we have children that we can’t/shouldn’t have time to ourselves. I say screw that – take a shower, curl your hair, put on some make-up and dress your body because you love it.

When you are dressing your body here are some tips:

FIT FIT FIT FIT – it matters the most as we age. Girls in their teens and twenties can get away with ill-fitting clothes, women who are over thirty (plus add a kid or more) can’t. Go to any magazine or internet site and look at celebrities in this age bracket and tell me what you notice…that’s alright I can wait…told you so
Get fitted for a proper bra, the bra should lift the girls to their proper position and give then shape. For big chested women you will see you do have a waist. My small busted friends it enhances your shape.

Dress Age Appropriate – yes I know we all feel 20 or even 25 but you shouldn’t dress like them. A 20-year-old dressed in low-cut this and short that will always do it better. Just look at Pamela Anderson.
BURN THE MOM JEANS – Purchase a dark denim, boot cut pair of jeans. Trust me, do it now
Buy some good shoes – Plastic shoes are a disaster on your feet. I am a big believer in less quantity and more quality

What Are Your 5 Favourite Items of Clothing & Why?

Blazers – they just dress up an outfit and make it special, who doesn’t like to feel special?
Jeans – the right pair make your butt look amazing and make you feel even better
Dresses – I love to wear dresses, whether casual or formal, jeans can get boring and I love being a woman, and in my mind that is associated with dresses
Nude Heels – Nude heels go with any colour, it’s really simple dressing and I need simple
ANYTHING LULULEMON – I have never gone wrong with this company, they make the best yoga/sports gear that I have ever worn before, during and after pregnancy. I work out in it and travel in it, if you ever get on a plane headed for a tropical destination in Canada at least half the Canadian women will be dressed in Lululemon. Every butt in the world is loved by Lululemon.

How Important is it To Dress Your Body-shape?

You should NEVER fight your body shape, embrace it and wear clothes that highlight your best features. That’s when we look our best.

What Would You Say Your Personal Style Is?

My personal style is classic with a bit of trend. I love my lines to be clean and easy, I am the queen of easy dressing. Classic pieces last and can even evolve as your own style does.

If I love a trend and it fits my personal style I will try to wear it. Right now I am loving peplum…just looking for the right piece.

Thanks so much Iva, I really enjoyed interviewing you on Real Women – Real Life and I really love some of your style ideas and I am sure my readers will too! Maybe I need to investigate this whole Lululemon craze, it is possibly a brand we need in South Africa too!

Be Inspired, FAR Photography, Featured Posts, Interviews, Life

Real Women – Real Life: Introducing Claudia Jones

Claudia Jones is a 20 something local Capetonian who shares her love of “things” in her blog aptly named things – it’s me thing(s). Today she shares a bit more about herself and what motivates and inspires her.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a girl in her 20’s who (according to friends and family) sees the world a little differently to most people. I was born in Bloemfontein, in the Freestate and moved to Cape Town with my family when I was about 8 years old. My immediate family is really small, it consists of one younger brother, mom and dad, gran, Ouma and grandpa, two uncles and an aunt. I love them all very much and have a special relationship with each of them.

When I left school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life or what I wanted to be when I grew up but after a lot of thinking and enrolling everywhere, studying a part-time photography course and a year of basic graphic designing, I went on to complete my BA in Visual Communications at the AAA School of Advertising in Cape Town. I was a student for 5 years before I venturing into the “real world”. Up until now I have worked for a company that develops educational software and have been blessed with the experience of being thrown into the deep end and being able to learn so much. Apart from my fulltime job, I still enjoy doing photography part-time and working on my blog. In April I will be on my way to Thailand to teach English and see a little bit more of this big world!

What defines you?

One of my passions is trying to help out where I can. If I could be that one little person that makes a small change in the world I think my goal would be settled. In my head I don’t only have one dream… there are so many! I want to travel the world (even though I am petrified of flying), be successful and live an awesome life and growing old to tell my stories.

What are your strengths & weaknesses?

A weakness would definitely be answering this question (hehe). My weaknesses are probably trying understanding why people have to suffer the way they do (whether it is financially or emotionally), asking “why” way too much, over thinking and probably wanting to know too much about everything.

My strengths are being able to laugh (a lot), think creatively, be open-minded, accept challenges and be unique.

What motivates you, what or who is your major source of inspiration?

I don’t just have one specific person or thing that motivates me, I take a lot of my inspiration from my family and friends, they are probably my biggest source of inspiration. My other motivation is working towards making my dreams come true.

What do you treasure most in life?

Awesome memories, friends and family. I don’t think I can elaborate more on that 🙂

Describe your blog and what you blog about:

I blog about things. Most of the time it’s anything I feel I want to share with the rest of the world.

These things include: things I find (on-and offline), secret things and places I discover, people and their talents and the me things that makes me who I am today. I also write and try to illustrate happenings in my life (all true). Some of the stories I blog, I wrote from when I was 13 years old.

What makes you happy?

Just like the song from Spongebob Squarepants goes:

What is fun?

“F” is for friends who do things together
“U” is for you and me
“N” is for n-ytime and n-yplace at all!

Most of what I do for fun always involves the people I love. My fun involves anything from meeting up for a few drinks with friends, going to the beach, horse riding on the beach with my mom, braaing with my dad, chatting to my brother and being a tourist in my own country. I love Photography, being creative (trying to draw or sew clothes), surfing (although I must be honest I haven’t been in a while), cooking and my blog.

What Is Your Ideal Job?

Definitely where I don’t have to sit at a desk all day. If I could run my own company it would have everything from advertising to photography, travelling to far away destinations and blogging about it, helping people, fashion styling and organising events… that would be my ideal job.

How do you personally define success?

Success to me is when you have found your happy place in this big world. It does not have to have anything to do with money, driving a fancy car, knowing the fancy people or living in your fancy-gansta-looking mansion. To me it means, being happy with your job, life, love and most importantly with yourself. Once you’ve got those covered, I believe you are successful already!

What has been your greatest challenge thus far in your life?

This is a tricky one to answer because I feel that everyday so far there are challenges that can either make or break you in the person you are. I believe that as each day goes by, all the things that happen, happy for a reason and that the way you come out of it at the end of the day is what will mould you to the person you are.

I suppose my biggest challenge at the moment is leaving for Bangkok and then going over to Thailand. Doing this on your own is quite daunting but also very exciting.

If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?

I think I would have taken more chances in life that I was scared of doing. Work wise and even personal events. I think if I could change something, it would have been to take a leap of faith, when you didn’t know what else there was to do.

All I can say is that I wish I had as much insight as you in my 20’s! Thanks Claudia that was truly inspiring and I wish you all the success, enjoy your travels and have fun – after all we only have one life, so LIVE IT to the fullest!

Images: Claudia Jones