Remember the competition I ran to win tickets to see Riverdance?  Well, Southern Sun also gave me double tickets to see the show.  Cool hey?!

So, Lance and I went on a date

We dropped the kids at my parents house where they had a romantic meal (candlelit dinner with my parents and my sister Elaine and Bryan), and then stayed awake for as long as possible before crashing.

We went to Montecasino.  We had an awesome meal at Kai Thai.  I had a red curry and Lance had a cashew nut stir fry.  And then we went to see the show.

I didn’t manage to bump into Cheryl, who won the tickets on my blog… but we did sit next to Angel and her mom.  It was awesome sitting next to friends in arguably the best seats in the house.  Seriously, we could not have chosen better seats ourselves! We were RIGHT in the middle a few rows from the front.  It was perfect!

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the show! I loved the irish dancing of course, and the tap dancing scenes were magnificent, especially the one with the irish dancers dance against the tap dancers (I managed to find a video with that scene which is below).  Oh and the music, simply amazing, the musicians were fantastic.  I really really wish I could have taken photos so that you can see what I’m talking about.

If you haven’t managed to see it yet, make the effort and book.  You won’t be sorry.

Thanks so very much Southern Sun for the tickets!! I think their specials with a night’s stay with theatre tickets would be a win, if we had built in babysitters at home!

Oh, and they’re now giving away tickets to Don Quixote, so follow Southern Sun on Facebook and Twitter to see the details.  Now that I’d LOVE to see, oh man, I love ballet!

WOW!! Just wow at the response to the giveaway on my blog… thanks all for the interest.  And most importantly, thanks to Southern Sun for offering this stunning evening as a giveway

I’ve drawn the number in the most random way possible…

And the winner is…  Cheryl!!

I’ll be in contact with you via email

Follow Southern Sun on their Facebook page and on their Twitter handle… they often have information on shows like this, and even more giveaways

Woot!! I have a giveaway!! And it’s to one of my favourite types of performances too… a dance show!!

Southern Sun has given me one set of tickets (2 tickets) to the Riverdance show at Montecasino on Wednesday night (12 October 2011) to give away to one of my esteemed blog readers. It’ll be a perfect reason to leave the kids with a babysitter and go on a well deserved date night

Because all parents need a date night, I’m going to make this really easy….

To enter, leave a comment below.  Extra entries will be given to those that tweet about the giveaway, just add another comment with a link to the tweet.

I’ll be drawing the lucky entry at 4:30pm today

Show: Riverdance (JHB Only)

Date: 12^th October 2011

Tickets: 1 set of double tickets (ie: 2 tickets – perfect for couples)

Terms and conditions:

1. Entrants must be a fan of Southern Sun on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SouthernSunNews) or follow SouthernSunChat Twitter Account (http://www.twitter.com/SouthernSunChat).
2. The competition is aimed at Johannesburg based entrants only (due to the event being held at The Teatro, Montecasino)
3. Date and time of the performance cannot be changed.
4. If you are selected as a winner, the blogger will contact you directly for further details.
5. Details to be provided to the blogger upon request are as follows: Full name, Mobile Number, Email.
6.  Tickets cannot be redeemed for cash or other value.
7. Winners will be drawn randomly by the blogger in question.
8.  Draw closes on the 12 October 2011 (at close of business) at 17h00.
9.  Winners will be contacted thereafter directly by a Southern Sun Manager.

**UPDATE** entries are now closed

I know… 2 posts in one day… virtually unheard of, but I’m so excited about this one.

You know I posted photos from our trip to Market on Main yesterday (on my photoblog)?  Well, check out what I saw in my Twitter stream just now…

There’s not much information on the Neighbourgoods Market website yet, but I’m sure they’ll update it soon.  If you can’t read the small font… the market will be opening on 10 September at 73 Juta Street in Braamfontein.

Now there’s a cool market for Saturdays as well as Sundays!! I just love the rejuvenation happening in Jozi!

Even though today’s weather was sunny, it wasn’t warm enough for the beach so we took the kids to Crocodile Creek, which is about 12km from Ballito (and we were thankful that this time we drove a 4×2 and not a normal car)

We’ve been there before, but the kids don’t remember… in fact Bradley was tiny when we went the last time.  It was awesome going with the kids this time because they’re the right age for this type of outing.  We got there half way through the one tour so caught up with that group to walk around the place, and then joined the next tour group (which was a group of 60 kids on a school tour from Johannesburg) to hear about the anatomy of the crocs… and to hold the crocs.

The handler took out a 4 year old Nile crocodile for everyone to touch… much to the delight of Connor because the croc was the same age as him.

And now the kids are very excited to have photos of themselves holding the crocs to show their teachers and friends at school

My parents took Lance and I out for dinner last night in lieu of my birthday plans a few weeks ago (the lunch that had to be cancelled because Bradley was sick).  It was so nice to spend time with them like that… and we had an AWESOME meal.  Oh I do like the restaurant so much!

From the fabulous wine my dad chose, to the spectacular food and awesome service, it was such an awesome evening… and I didn’t even blog when I got home!! LOL! I was actually too tired by the time we got the kids home and sleeping.  The kids seemed to have had a ball at Madelein’s house too, although Pierre and Madelein looked rather tired when we got there at 10pm because my kids were still not sleeping!

Anyhoo, back to dinner.

For starters we all had gypsy spits which are button mushrooms wrapped in bacon.  Oh wow, how divine were they… especially cos they came with garlic sauce.

Then for main course, I had a fillet with potato wedges and veggies.  And OMW the meat was divine.  It was perfectly cooked to my liking with pink inside… and the taste was sublime.

By then I was full, but my dad ordered creme brulee for dessert…. and I could not resist.  And I’m so very very glad that I did order after all, because it’s one of the best creme brulees I’ve ever tasted! It was just perfect

As for the photos… taken with my iPhone even though I was carrying my DSLR

I took the kids to see Toy Story 3 in 3D today at Clearwater Mall.  It was a cool movie, I really enjoyed it and so did the kids… and it was the first time the kids had been to see a 3D movie… and they were quite excited about the prospect of watching the movie with the glasses.

There were a few things I learnt today about my kids and 3D movies:

• Even though Connor’s head is big, the glasses just didn’t fit him and he kept having to hold them against his face to keep them up.  Nu Metro should really make kids sizes available especially considering you actually have to pay for the damn things!
• As a result of the holding up… the glasses were full of sticky fingerprints within the first 5 minutes… in fact before the movie even started.
• This meant that he actually couldn’t see through them properly
• So he gave up on the glasses idea within 5 minutes of the movie starting.  This meant he watched the rest of the movie with blurred vision.
• After about an hour, Bradley started complaining that his eyes were sore.  This was the second time I’d seen a 3D movie, and I must say that my eyes didn’t get as tired today as they had with Avatar.
• Both kids had headaches by the end and complained about feeling nauseous. FABULOUS!

So even though the movie was good, the experience was not so good.

And before you ask, my kids don’t get motion sick (I’ve read an article somewhere about the fact that people who get motion sick get ill after watching a 3D movie)

Nice idea, the 3D thing, but in my mind it’s just a gimmick.  Until they find a way of showing a 3D movie where you don’t need the blasted glasses, I won’t be seeing another one in a hurry.

The only thing that worries me about that stand point is the number of movies getting released in 3D now… and not to mention the gimmicky 3D Sony TV that’s on the market now.  Surely with the TV you don’t have to watch everything in 3D… and then if you buy one you won’t be able to ever invite friends over to watch a game or something if they get motion sick.

Some marketer is going to have a hard job convincing me that it’s not a gimmick.

Over dinner a few months ago, Madi and I started chatting about how nice it would be to have a day without the kids and other people, and spend some time at a spa. Well, she’s so organised that within the next few days, she’d found a well priced spa not far from home and we booked the day away!

My word, the Body Sense Day Spa in Chartwell was amazing!

It’s not often that a place is actually nicer than the photos on their website! We didn’t spend ANY time outside, mind you, because the weather was so miserable and cold… and inside it was nice and toasty and warm with fireplaces and heaters in every room.

We both opted for the Stress Relief Half Day package (half day because both of us don’t like full day spa packages… I get a migraine).

It started with a yummy breakfast of muesli, joghurt, honey and fresh fruit; and that was followed by croissants.

Then the treatments started… a back, shoulder and neck massage (and it was good so very good), then a facial, then an indian head massage (which was the first time I’d actually enjoyed that kind of treatment).  We then had paraffin manicures and pedicures… ooh and I got green varnish on my toes

It was awesome!!   The perfect way to spend a public holiday. Well worth the money! And we’re definitely going again

Only problem… didn’t take my camera, so there are no photos

Going to a spa with Madi for half the day

Jealous much?

I cannot wait!

We had organised it close to Mother’s Day so that the men could pay for it… but oh well… I actually forgot to tell Lance that little part.  LOL! Guess I’ll have to do without that new pair of shoes that I needed.

It was Lance’s 40th birthday yesterday, and I bought tickets to see the Shaolin Monk show at Montecasino as part of his gift.

Just the two of us, mind you.  Even though Bradley would have enjoyed it, Connor is too small to sit through a 2 hour show and it wasn’t fair to take only one child.

The reason we went… Lance has had a thing about any kind of martial arts forever, and he’s always wanted to see them.

The not-so-good…

• The show started with a story, which carried on until after the intermission.  It was ok, but not wow.  Thinking about it now, the only reason it wasn’t wow was because I felt it lacked emotion.  The story was quite sad, explaining the history of the monks, but it wasn’t emotional enough, so it was difficult to get into.
• The first half was not mindblowing

The good…

• The kids in the show were AMAZING! They were seriously impressive doing head stands for 10 minute stretches and a weird balancing act balancing on one foot with the other foot hooked behind their ears… for 10 minutes!!
• You should have seen the little dudes doing flick flacks across the floor using their heads!
• A guy actually walked over a stand covered in long blades!
• A guy lay down on top of a bed of blades, then a bed of nails was sandwiched between him and another dude, and a concrete slab was put on top of the other dude… before being smashed by another dude wielding a sledge hammer!
• The second half was mindblowing
• The suppleness of all of them was just incredible

I’m glad we got seats close to the front, I think if we’d sat at the back the effects would have been lost.

In short… it was good, and we’re both glad we finally saw the show but we won’t go again… until the boys get older because I feel they need to see it at some stage.