At the Fireside | Home Inspiration

I love a good fire. Cracking, roaring, glowing…whatever it does (as long as it doesn’t smoke out the house!), it’s a great addition to any home. My parents have the greatest fireplace – it’s big, draws really well and serves as such a good focal point in a room. A few years back they added a black fireplace to our games room – modern, easy to install and great for warming a bigger place – but I must say, I still love an old fashioned fireplace!

My aunt and uncle used to live in the ‘broekie lace’ part of Observatory in Cape Town, where their old, beautiful Victorian house had some great fireplaces – tiny, backed with mosaic and really attractive. I’ve also stayed on a farm in the Eastern Cape called Blanco (really great family memories) where they had HUGE roaring fireplaces – you could literally climb into the space they were so big. Friends of ours also have a great fireplace at their refurbished house in Rosebank – it separates two rooms with space on either side, so that it can warm and be attended to on both sides! love that feature.

Anyway as it appears to be raining and chilly most of the weekend (even though we’re off to Clanwilliam), this post is all about fantastic fireplaces – warming up your Friday!

Split Fireplace | source Houzz.com

Cosy Kitchen Fireplace | source Houzz.com

Fire on the Patio | source tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com

Fireplace in Monochrome | source kitkadesigntoronto.com

Fireplace in Summer | source Pinterest

Country-Style Fireplace | source Houzz.com

A [GLEE]ful Obsession | Pop Culture

For some reason, I’m completely head over heals obsessed with all things GLEE! Love that show. Anything that combines singing with clever wit, great writing, excellent casting, classic high-school ideals and the rise of the down-trodden – we’ll I’m a goner. Guess that’s why I loved Grease all those years ago…

I know the The Good Girls Guide isn’t normally about Pop Culture stuff, but maybe there’s a nice little niche for posts like this! Ok, so to break it down for those who don’t know – check out the wikipedia post on GLEE, visit the main website for deets or (my personal favourite) – check out the Youtube Channel for all the awesome music 🙂

My Favourite Characters: Rachel, Quinn, Santana and Blaine

My Favourite Songs: We Are Young, Cough Syrup, ABC, Red Solo Cup, I Need to Dance With Somebody, Remember… and many more!

Safari Style | Some African Inspiration

I get a lot of decor satisfaction with looking at images of beautiful safari lodges in Africa. Yes, I work in E-Marketing, but I also work for an outbound luxury Africa tour operator, so I see images like the below ALL the time! I love the essence and elegance of superb safari style – not cheesy animal print and fur, but classic tented style glamour, old colonial elements and a clear artistic flair.

One of my absolute favourite reserves is Singita – renowned the world over for their luxurious safaris and lodges. They have five SA lodges – Ebony, Boulders & Castleton in the Sabi Sands, and Lebombo and Sweni in the Kruger. They also have one lodge in Zimbabwe – Pamushana and then four in the Grumeti Reserves in Tanzania – Sasakwa, Sabora Tented, Faru Faru and Singita Explore. All offer unique and different experiences, but ALL are sublime when it comes to decor & style. Be inspired for your own home!

All photos from Singita

Hey Friday Hey! Have a Good Girl Weekend!

Hey lovelies! Hope your weeks have been good, but if they haven’t – it’s ok – it’s FRIDAY! Can you tell that I’m ready to head home? May your weekends be full of the nicest moments, and may you be the best Good Girl you can be 🙂 Would love to hear about your weekends – and what cool stuff you got up to.

Taken some pics at a market? Gone to a show? Spotted a cool DIY idea? Would love to know your ideas around awesome weekends! You can mail me on theggguide[at]gmail.com or DM me on twitter @theggguide. Keen for some weekend inspiration? My Pinterest account is growing alarmingly with the number of {prettyinspiration} boards, so be sure to check those out too over here.

Have a happy weekend!

Feast Feast Feast!

My lovely friend Camilla – a qualified doctor, married to an Australian and living the Aussie life right now – is also a FABULOUS cook! Recently she started her new blog F E A S T – and let me tell you, there are some amazing recipes being shared!

Camilla Smith Fowler’s gorgeous new blog FEAST

Calorie-free, most of the food is not, but wowzers does it look amazing! Please pop over to her blog to have a look-see – she posts all her recipes out with pictures too. I’ve included some of my favourites below – I think the peanut butter mousse hi hat cupcakes must seriously take the proverbial ‘baking cake’.

I now vow to be a little more adventurous with my cooking & baking from now on (I have a cool 5 minute chocolate microwave cake to share) – so here goes! 🙂

Peanut Butter Mousse Hi Hat Cupcakes

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Peppermint Pudding

7-hour Pork Shoulder

Mini Coconut Cupcakes

Thursday Inspiration – Strength through the One who Strengthens Us

Days come when things don’t go right, stuff gets us down, people make us upset, we disappoint ourselves… and the food burns in the oven. Sometimes we have days like that, and its just means we need to draw just a little deeper within ourselves and find the strength to move forward and above.

The human spirit is really amazing, and I think we doubt or don’t expect to find the amazing strength we have within us. I read a book recently about a Jewish man who had escaped from Treblinka during World War 2. The daily atrocities he was faced with are something we cannot even comprehend – but somehow (somewhere) he took each day as something to overcome and his incredible strength and hope for a real future kept him going.

I was rather humbled when I read this account, and it made my little troubles seem so incredibly insignificant; how could I even complain about a bad day when terrible days happen every day around the world to so many people? Am I unable to gather the strength to get over a bad day when others are drawing incredible momentum to escape from atrocities?

The good thing in ALL of this, is that God is the beacon of strength and light in each one of us. I firmly believe that He is the one that gives us the strength to get us through tough times – even tiny insignificant bad days. Today’s post was drawn out of me having a ‘bad day’, but has grown into a realisation in myself that our strength is worth fighting for, and ALWAYS worth asking God for.

“For I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens Me” – Phillipians 4:13

Pink! It just goes with the Fashion | Decor & Style

Pink, it’s my new obsession, yeah
Pink, it’s not even a question
Pink, on the lips of your lover
‘Cause pink is the love you discover

Pink, as the bing on your cherry
Pink, ’cause you are so very
Pink, it’s the color of passion
‘Cause today it just goes with the fashion!

Aerosmith

Pink Cafe | source ZsaZsa Bellagio

Rose in a Gilt Cage | source valdirose.blogspot.com

Ballerina Girl | source weheartit.com

Love on a Stand | source juliasroomfordessert.blogspot.com

Pink & Orange India | source Erin ever After

Into Morocco | prettypetals.typepad.com

French Afternoon | source frenchbydesign.blogspot.com

Pink at the Beach House | source vintagerosebrocante.tumblr.com

Oh So Vintage | source Sarah Kaye

Vintage Wedding | source The Pretty Blog

Lounge in the Pink | source Style at Home

It’s PINK! | source pinterest

Pop Culture Britannia – It’s the Diamond Jubilee!

So it was celebration galore this weekend in the UK and pretty much throughout the Commonwealth as Queen Elizabeth II celebrated 60 years on the throne. Many people feel that a royal family is no longer needed in today’s society, but you know what – I personally feel that a royal family (whether constitutional or merely ceremonial) tends to give hope to the nation.

I remember how caught up everyone was in the Royal Wedding last year when Kate (a regular girl) married Prince William – the romance, the glamour, the outfits! People LOVE the royals, and events like these are ways of making a nation or nations of people take time out from their humdrum schedules and dream a little...

Anyway I’ve put together a Britannia and Diamonds pinboard on Pinterest – you’re welcome to check it out and share with friends or on Facebook. So today’s post is really about the immense popularity of the Britannia image, the Union Jack, the red, white & blue. The Queen and her royal household have permeated into pop culture, society, pop art and more – this post is for all things British!

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee | source Easy Art

Jubilee Britannia | source Pinterest

Britannia Pop Culture | source Wayne Tippets

Black and White Double Decker | source Steelway Photostream Flickr

Britannia Fashion Culture | source Next Direct

Gorgeous British Glam | source sameoldstyleslightlynewtake

Refurbished Union Jack | source hgtv.com

Jacks in the Street – Urban Britannia | source Apartment Therapy