Oh My Hat

Wow, I kinda naively thought that was going to be a quiet weekend. I was wrong. At least my knees have recovered ;)

Shoo, where to start. I guess Friday was kinda quiet, until about 21h30 when TheHousemate, DJMike and I headed off to The Hat. Now I haven't been to The Hat in probably three years ...and admittedly that last time is one of my best memories of a night out in Joburg. So I was skeptical to go again. But you know, variety is the spice of life so what the hell.

It turned out to be a pretty okay evening. I had a good laugh at some of the people there. I'm not so in-tune with the pretentious, popped-collar crowd. And although I was a little nervous of being the oldest person there, I wasn't. We got home at a fairly decent time.

On Saturday I popped in to finally check out Rhinestone Cowboy (where I saw a gorgeous necklace that I can't quite justify buying ... yet) and then did some boring admin type stuff and grocery shopping (riveting, I know). Got home, spent some time with the bunnies and then made some Veggie Bunny-Chow with Chickpeas (although I only ate some on Sunday for lunch, but it was yummy!).

And then TheHousemate & I headed over to DJMike's to watch the Stormer-Bulls game (Yay, we won) and braai. And somehow, we ended up back at The Hat (in my defence there were a few other people watching the rugby with us who instigated the whole thing ... and hey, the alternative was to go home to bed :P). I'll say that the place is quite different on a Saturday night. Much quieter, different crowd and they don't even open all the bars.

I doubt I'll be heading back in a hurry, but truth be told, I'm not a purist about clubs / venues. If I know enough people at a place, and everyone's having fun, it doesn't matter where I am. And I will dance to just about any music too. I do definitely prefer the less "dressed-up" aspect of Red Room over The Hat & Movida tho. And man, I am just not cut out for dancing in heels 2 nights in a row ... since I pretty much *never* wear heels on a day-to-day basis. And man did I suffer for it on Sunday. Luckily I seem okay again today.

Sunday started with crumpets for breakfast, so yummy, I'm glad I made the effort, I haven't had them in ages! And then The Housemate & I hit the movies to finally watch Iron Man 2.

Sigh. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one (even ignoring the annoying children in the cinema, and even more peculiar to me, adults in the cinema who *laughed* during the new Leon Schuster trailer ... now wtf is that about?). Robert Downey just wasn't as swoon-worthy in this one. Normally it's that perfect balance of charm and cockiness that wins, but I found the charm lacking in this one. And (yuck) there was silly Scarlett too :P I will say she does look better with dark hair. But please, if you've got to have her for the eye-candy ... don't let her speak. Gwyneth was insignificant. But Mickey Rourke was *brilliant* (I've only just realised it was him when I wikipedia-ed it!). So yeah, I'd say you've kinda gotta go see it, but I won't be watching it multiple times at home like the first one ...

After that I had a whirlwind rush eating some of my bunny-chow for lunch, cleaning the rabbit hutch and getting ready, I had a wedding to go to!

My first Jewish Wedding, and it was Orthodox even. I can't say much about the ceremony, I think they should really look into the whole big screen option because I couldn't see any of the bride or groom thruout. To me it mostly looked as tho they were playing a game of how-many-people-can-we-fit-under-the-chuppah. And there is a *lot* of standing. Which is probably normally fine, but I was in heels (again!) and my knees were so so sore.

The reception was awesome tho. Unbelievably festive! And I was super *super* impressed at the spread of food waiting there for us to tide us over while the bridal couple did their photos (other weddings could definitely learn a lesson here!). And the food was delish (the most divine kosher sausages, and they had a little pita oven where they were making fresh pitas served with hummus). The decor inside was also beautifully done. And let me tell you, I've seen fewer festive things than when the bride & groom finally did arrive. It was quite spectacular to watch them all dancing and singing. And then there was just more and more and more food (the dessert spread nearly killed me!).

But *yawn*, I left relatively early (for a wedding, not for a Sunday night!). I haven't been to a wedding in a while and it was such a lovely reminder to see two people so happy together :)