24TH September, Heritage Day

24^TH September, Heritage Day

This is one of my favourite public holidays. Why? You may ask. Well believe it or not, I love my country. Yes it has its flaws as all things do however, it is the place I call home. Having travelling spirit and having the opportunity to explore may other countries, I still get that overwhelming feeling of excitement, joy and pride when heading home to SA.

I love our beautiful country, with the ever unique ‘Rainbow Nation’. We have 11 official languages, 9 provinces, each filled with a diverse group of individuals, each representing their own culture and traditions. In essence we needed a day to recognise and celebrate our diversity. I relish in this diversity and see it as an opportunity to show our strength in diversity rather than adversity.

As most of you know Heritage Day is also known as National Braai day. Others know it as barbecue well here in SA it’s simply “braai”. It is something that connects us all and what better way to celebrate our diversity together, than to share a meal over a braai. The French have Bastille Day, the Aussies have Australia Day and the Irish have St. Patricks Day and since 2005 we have National Braai Day incorporating a sense of unity and truly South African spirit. This year for the first time I got to engage in this festivity – an unplanned mini braai. But a braai none the less.

The highlight of my day however, was my time spent with the spirited staff at the Dischem beauty counter. These gorgeous women went all out to show their Heritage loudly and proudly. Dressed in their Zulu attire these young women clearly showed the spirit in which this holiday was created. Although they were at work on a public holiday their spirits were not dampened, rather they uplifted the spirits of the hundreds of customers which they came in contact with. What made me feel even more proud was the young Indian lady that was also dressed in Zulu attire. Why? Because living in South Africa, makes us African and being born in KZN makes us Zulu! I love this sentiment and wish we would all see ourselves as AFRICAN before anything else.

So what did I learn from my time spent with the ladies aside from make-up tips?

Embrace your individuality and remember that we all live towards a common goal of peace and unity so celebrate the fact that you are African – and may you finally become proudly South African!

xxx

Saudaa

SODA on the blog : Must-haves for Spring down-south

SODA on the blog :  Must-haves for Spring down-south: I know I'm a bietjie (little) late but Happy Spring! I have never been excited to say goodbye to winter, however my excessive sh...

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🌸 Must-haves for Spring down-south 🌸

I know I'm a bietjie (little) late but Happy Spring!

I have never been excited to say goodbye to winter, however my excessive shopping splurges forced me to look forward to Spring. Sunny, flowery days with just the perfect amount of warmth.

So this Spring Day after I had exhausted the dark colours in my cupboard I pointedly went all bright n lumo to welcome Spring. I paired my high waisted super bright palazzo pants with a plain white T-shirt and white strap sandals.

Exhibit A

After my shopping and search for perfect deals I soon realised that this Spring isn't all about those bright colours.  It's more about the pastels and subtle hints of colour against neutral colours. So I've put together a MUST HAVE LIST FOR SPRING which will most likely pull you through Summer as well.

Let's start with the essentials

Cellphone and accessories 

 1. What's a beautiful day if you can't document it nor capture the moment on your phone? So on our list the first item is a portable phone charger.

2. Hair accessories have been all the hype recently and if you can't get yourself a bunch of freshly cut flowers use these flowery bands to turn your outfit from sad ol' winter to happy sassy Spring where you can give your Snapchat filter a break and use the real stuff.

3. The sneaker/ takkies hype: these just scream "buy-me". For those Tom-boys who don't want to leave their sneakers behind but still want a bit of a girly touch these are for you!  And those girly-girls (like me)  who want to try the Tom-boy comfort look -these are a MUST HAVE.

Now for the real deal 

4. Cullots/ 3/4 pleated pants are the perfect balance. Pair it with a dark coloured top (black/ chocolate/ maroon/ etc)and you're good to go with a wide brimmed hat and you're all set.

The hat will see you through Summer as well.

5.What's Spring without some flowers?

This simple floral print dress is a quick solution to dressing-up for brunch add the hat from no. 4 for an extra hint of glam. You can get the dress from Primark or similar one can be found at Mr. Price.

6. If you're not up for the florals try this simple knee length dress paired with a dark coloured sling bag for a preened casual look.

7. Who doesn't go out on day dates in Spring? Pair this pastel peach bell sleeved top with a pair of wrecked denims with heels to add a bit of sass and sophistication.

If you're looking for an evening look you can pair a darker shade of the top with a light bottom (I've used a white dress) along with a brooch to enhance the outfit, like I've done here.

(it was a last minute outfit for a charity dinner - post about it to follow soon!)

So my lovelies that's all for now

Happy Springing

xxx

Saudaa 😘 

New breaks 🎊

Firstly congratulations to our athlete

WAYDE VAN NIEKERK

Not only did he get us a gold medal 🏅 but broke the world record in the 400m track event. It's moments like these that make me beam with pride as a South African. 

It's also even more special because he's from my favourite city AND we're the same 90's babies! So it seems as South Africa enters the history books, I shall enter into the blogging world with a new "identity".

And for some serious LOL moments watch the video below 📹 (you have to click on the link BELOW ⬇
Olympic moments - how you feel
……………………………

I know it's been a while but I've been contemplating changing my blog name to something more positive and still relates to me.

This task had a difficulty level of 10 🙈 (and I'm not being my drama queen self). That's because it involved tonnes of introspection and self evaluation. I've realised that I've never focused my energies on only one thing. I wasn't the loner nerd, nor was I superwoman on the sports field but I was the juggler "All Rounder".  I couldn't figure out something that I'd completely focus on nor could I find a word that could adequately describe me. Hence "Soda" the nickname that stuck and the 'easy' version of my name 😂.

Anyhoo welcome to the new site hope u like it!

Ps. Get my random bubbles and blurbs on instagram @soda_ontheblog

xxx
Saudaa 

I am...

I was going to start this off and say what I'm not, but I'd rather start off on a positive note of what I am...

I am intelligent,

I am smart,

I am funny,

I am kind,

I am loving, 

I am considerate,

I am driven,

I am religious,

I am emotionally balanced (at times),

I am brown,

Yes,

I am weird

I am IMperfect...

BUT

I am "ME"

I am a woman.

And I'm worth it. The time,  effort and affection, not only from others but from myself as well. 

Being the month that celebrates women ♀ as well as the month in which we voted to make a positive impact, I felt it apt that I talk about us women.

So often the value of being female is overlooked not only by males but by ourselves as well. 

I love the image that says, "Women who aim to be equal to men lack ambition, because they are already so much more than what men will ever be".

Focus on your strengths rather than weaknesses, but acknowledge them and work on it. I've always thought I'm only as strong as my biggest weakness. It's difficult to do introspection and find those weaknesses because you have to be completely honest with yourself. With me my biggest weakness is the "fear of failure". However I often use it as a powering tool that drives me to succeed. 

Think about your strengths and weaknesses and who knows you may find that misplaced screw that's hindering you from reaching your optimum performance.

Nobody is perfect to another person, but you should be perfect for yourself. Love yourself, celebrate yourself - I know it's easier said than done but just remember people may come and go, they may hate or love, but you're stuck with yourself so like my pj's say "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!". 

Happy Women's Month my Lovelies!

Never feel alone in the jungle of life, there is always someone else in the same the same boat as you are.

And just so I can leave you with a promised smile

This picture is for you!

xxx

Saudaa 

Saying goodbye...

This is by far the most difficult piece of writing that I've had to put together.

"Ma's finished baby,

Ma is gone..."

These are the words that will echo for a long time to come.

This past week for the first time in many years I lost an immediate family member, someone who actually played a vital role in my life - my granny. One of the closest people to me, more a wise best friend rather than a "nani". That brings me to her reaction everytime someone referred to her as our "nani" she would say, "Who's a nani? I'm their ma". Her witty, humorous personality and her love for fashion is something that we connected on. She would match her outfit from head to toe, matching shades of the colours with the perfect shoes, handbag, scarf AND accessories to match.

Ma was my knight, the only real piece of armour that protected me from my mother. Her pep talks after my parents' lectures always involved a light hearted joke and an understanding that my mummy is a little 'nuts' at times.

My ma was our travel buddy she accompanied us on almost every single trip we made and was not the average "granny", she was  one of us, keeping up and alles. Seeing her sick for just over a month wasn't easy yet we all thought she would bounce back as she usually did. I guess now her suffering is over... Saying goodbye was tough, but all i can do is make sabr and dua (pray) for her to be granted jannah, smile and be happy as she always wished for me. insha-Allah Ameen...

I will miss hearing "yes, aunty Saudaa" to my 'aunty Fathi', the Half English/ Urdu jokes, the hugs, duas and so much more.

I will always miss you my "Thandroost chicken" (strong chicken).

Love you always.

xxx

Saudaa

Playtime, Yay time

Hello hello. 

Have you ever sat down and just become nostalgic or thought about the things you did as kid? I guess we all have and it's often the time I wish I could relive. The time of carefree, no responsibilities and friend-full playtime is something we all want. The past weekend we (my sister, mum and I) got a snippet again!  A surprise visit from an old neighbour who hadn't changed a bit! Except he grew up ofcourse 😅.

The Tales of our antics and his destructive tendancies brought the mini us alive! So out came the make-up and i had my "NO makeup" make look done by what seemed like a professional 🙌.

The make-up kit 

1 Cleansed with Mac wipes

2 Cream

3 Thin layer of Clarins Everlasting Foundation applied with a make up sponge

4 Highlighter - from The Body Shop 

applied on the T and cheek bones

5 Mac Studio Fix powder 

applied with a buff brush from The Body Shop (the silver case in the picture)

And what's a girl without two the essentials?

6 Softlips no.15 bronzing lip ice

7 One coat of mascara - Elizabeth Arden,

which was also used to brush up my eyebrows 

And Voila all done!

Yes an unprofessional male did my make up and I loved it! So who said "adults" can't have fun?! 

We just get to use the real stuff now, which makes it even better.

I hope you get to a moment to refresh your childhood memories. Remember you're only as YOUNG as you feel you are 

That's all for now 😘 

xxx

The UBG 

Saudaa