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Rose and Thorns

easy chocolate chip cookies
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Easy Chocolate Cookies

being an influencer
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How to survive the world of the Influencer

Lifestyle

The Rose & Thorns guide to: Being a lekker wedding guest

Lifestyle

The Rose & Thorns guide to: Enjoying your wedding

Lifestyle

My favorite photos of 2019

My girls Love..., Parenthood

Encouraging imaginary newborn doll play for all

  • easy chocolate chip cookies
    Food & Drink

    Easy Chocolate Cookies

    With the national lock-down looming for South Africa, don’t forget to add chocolate and baking goods to your grocery…

    March 24, 2020
  • being an influencer
    Lifestyle

    How to survive the world of the Influencer

    Among the top 20 hated words of the last decade, “Influencer” weighs in pretty heavily, eliciting mass eye-rolling and…

    March 6, 2020
  • Lifestyle

    The Rose & Thorns guide to: Being a lekker wedding guest

    Are you attending a wedding soon? Here’s some hot tips on how to enjoy yourself without stomping over the…

    February 28, 2020
  • Lifestyle

    The Rose & Thorns guide to: Enjoying your wedding

    Need to plan your wedding and actually enjoy it, or just commiserate on what you wish you did differently,…

    February 27, 2020
  • Lifestyle

    My favorite photos of 2019

    Wow, what a year! January 2019 was the moment I stepped out of the boat and into the waves…

    December 30, 2019
  • My girls Love..., Parenthood

    Encouraging imaginary newborn doll play for all

    There’s a gender-confined “rule” that at some young age a girl should receive her very first newborn doll. When…

    December 13, 2019
  • Explore, Food & Drink

    Leopard’s Leap makes family lunches lovely

    A few weeks ago we were invited to try the Rotisserie lunch at Leopard’s Leap in Franschhoek and it…

    December 3, 2019
  • Food & Drink

    Join the Rugani juice revolution

      How do you incorporate veggies into your kid’s diet? I don’t how about you, but before having kids…

    November 18, 2019
  • Lifestyle

    2019 Local Christmas Wish List

    It’s the most wonderful time of the year and whilst I exert a good deal of energy into remembering…

    October 28, 2019
  • Explore, Food & Drink

    Family lunch at Perdeberg

    Getting out with the kids deserves some form of trophy. I feel really strongly about this, as someone who…

    October 18, 2019
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Hello!

Hello!

I'm Shante Hutton, mother to two wonderful girls, Rosie and Cece. Welcome to my lovely (and raw) world of parenting, food, wine, travel and British sarcasm.

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  • *Oh no she better don’t!!* . . . I remember the old days (3 weeks ago) when any toy that made a noise was a potential liability and now, I welcome them with open arms and a pleading look on my face. . . When @primatoys sent this collection of LeapFrog toys to us it was like a literal light shining out of an angel’s bum. I was ecstatic because I could foresee moments of time in which I could get menial tasks underway whilst the kids are entertained by something educational AND fun. . . So what did we receive? 💟LeapFrog 100 Words Book. This bad boy not only teaches English, but also French and yes, Rosie now knows a few colors in French and I’m totes smug about it...except that the way she screams marron sounds a lot like mooooom 🤔. The toy is super easy to use, has varying sound levels (bonus) and teaches with facts, songs and sound affects. It’s my fave of the lot. 💟 LeapFrog Chat & Count Smart Phone. This is Rosie’s fave and has more than 15 activities. It has a “guess the picture” game which Rosie loves and she’s very into calling all her family members and having fat chats about my cooking skills. 💟LeapFrog Storytime. Bella the pink dog reads 5 stories to the kids to introduce early reading skills and she plays lullabies for bedtime - this has been the least used of the 4 which I found really surprising. 💟LeapFrog Dino Book. This one fits Cece really well. It’s easy to carry and with lots of light up buttons and sound options. With 3 modes, letters, story and music, we’re very much set on the latter with Cece. . . . I had this grand idea of getting Rosie to do a video review (maybe in French 😌) but that could be a reach. If a video isn’t on the cards, I’m gonna jab a few words into a blog post to give a bigger run down on the toys. . . Whilst I know they might not be considered “essential” buys right now, I know there are birthdays coming up and “hooray we made it” celebrations to prepare for 😉 . . . . Sponsored post ya’ll 😻 #childhoodunplugged #candidchildhood #enchantedchildhood #ourwhimsicaldays #ourplayfulstyle #letthembelittle #magicofchildhood #thehappynow #mytinymoments #toyreview
  • *This mess, this beautiful chaos, this constellation of burning souls - this is family* . . . Oh hey guys, we’re just busy making memories over here. . . Today I threw a wobbly. I got a bit emotional over things because I couldn’t control them. And I’ve realized that the only way I’m going to be able to mentally survive this period of time is to unchain myself from what I think I should be doing; to release this rigid need to have xyz done a specific way. . . I tried to do some work today because financially we freakin need it, but having the kids at home made it difficult and instead of changing the way I work, I tried to box everyone into a frame of what I’m used to. Disaster. Add to that the fact that my anxiety is showing in my skin (hives) and hair (loss) and Cece is cutting teeth and testing all the rules. . . . But a good friend reminded me that in a few years, God willing, when our kid’s look back at this period of time, they will hopefully remember the games we played, the silly faces we pulled, the baking, the laughter, the love...not the fact that we were shut indoors and their parents were going crazy. . . . Tomorrow is a new chance to imprint something lovely on our kid’s memories - it doesn’t have to be a mad-ass craft, it doesn’t have to be fancy or “gramable”...it can be a day spent in bed, watching movies, endless hugs or even fancy dress with mum’s clothes (anyone else just letting their kid’s wear whatever they feel like?) . This is not a normal situation, but it is your situation and you don’t need to make it fit into anything you’ve ever known, just make it work for you and your loved ones . . . . . . #21shutdownshots #rememberthesedays #documentyourdays #thehappynow #littlemomentsofhappiness #mytinymoments #littlefierceones #kidsforreal #parentingwin #raisingthefuture #cameramama #lovingtheordinarymoments #everythingtribe #photosinbetween #littlefamiliesofig
  • *You are not the shadows your light creates* . . . There is a hungry beast of fear pervading our senses; It’s prowling from home to home and holding us hostage with shackles of anxiety, insomnia, depression and anger. It’s lying in our beds, eating from our fridges and slinking from room to room with all the grace of a ballerina. . . There is such a lot of fear because our world has been turned upside down and a darkness seems to have settled upon us all. A darkness that is trying to drive out all memory of joy, love, hope and light. . But, dear hearts, we can only know darkness because we first know light. . . We can only have shadows because there is a light. . . When night falls, we don’t panic wondering where the sun has gone...and boy are we in a seemingly endless night BUT, and I say this with all earnest, there will be day again - maybe not in the way we are used to but it is inevitable, for the darkness can only exist to honor the light to come. . . And maybe it’s the waiting and the “what ifs” that are making us so much more fearful. Maybe it’s the fact that we don’t know what our new “day” will look like once the world goes back to “normal”. It’s a lot of maybes. A lot of shared worry and concern. And I don’t mean to trivialize the horror of what we have seen in the dark. Not at all. . . Right now, for me personally, I believe that the best thing we can do is to offer a light to those who need a way made visible; to shine a flaming torch into areas that need warmth, clarity and fears dispersed. . . And I’m going wield a burning flame till I can no longer hold up my arms. . . . . . . #21shutdownshots #thatauthenticfeeling #littlestoriesofmylife #momentsofmine #lifewellcaptured #kindredmemories #subjectlight #inbeautyandchaos #thephotographerwithin #portraitpage #portriats_ig #nothingisordinary_ #lifewellcaptured #dearphotographer
  • *Double points to me for actually wearing a bra today!* . . . I am SO unbelievably overjoyed to know that so many people are joining in with #21shutdownshots - you amaze me! . . I had all these ideas for day 1 (should I try and be elaborate and fancy, should I be naked, should I use a lot of photoshop...) and then I thought, let me just be “me”. . . . So here is my self-portrait. Taken in my spare room. With my camera on a tripod, set to a timer of 10 seconds so I have to dash like a maniac to the front and make sure I’m aligned with my focus point. This is a person who has been socially distancing for two weeks and I’m feeling slightly nuuuuts. . . Sans makeup. Sans pants (thank goodness for crop). Wet hair. Don’t care. . . . NOW SHOW ME YOUR SELFIES!! You can share in your feed or to your stories. Let’s just keep the creative juices flowing and give ourselves a little nudge to see, intentionally, the magic in our current situation... . . . . . . . #thisisme #selfportrait #nothingisordinary #verilymoment #lifewellcaptured #choosejoy #documentaryphotography #capturethemoment #photooftheday
  • *We were together, I forget the rest* . . . I’m not gonna sugar coat 3 weeks and pretend that for everyone it will be a holiday. For many, it will feel like jail time. For many, it will be a period of intense worry and anxiety - fearful for lack of income and the inability to reach high-risk family members. . . In this time, you don’t need to pretend you’re doing fine. Whilst it may feel like we’re all individual islands right now, we have the power of social media to keep us together. We can check in on our friends, our loved ones and offer emotional support. . . For those with local businesses who have felt particularly shattered and broken. We can help by sharing and engaging with content and supporting financially by purchasing vouchers - this will hopefully assist a lot of us to hit the ground running once lock-down has finished. . . . If you have any other ways in which we can support each other then do share - I’ve been so blessed to feel such a sense of community and comradery - thank you, you juicy little jelly babies! . . . . . #strongertogether #stayhome #wewillprevail #empowerment #thisismove #giveyourselfgrace #forthegreatergood #dearphotographer #photooftheday #picoftheday #justgoshoot #visuallife #canonphotography
  • 🌈When they ask us what we did in 2020, we will not say “we just survived”, we will say “we lived, respectfully, so that others could continue to experience life”🌈 . . . South Africa is on lockdown. This is the best way to keep our nation safe. . . . I don’t want to talk anymore about the idiots who thought this was a joke, one day they will realize their selfishness. Instead, let’s focus on the next month: . . It will be brutal. It will be trying. But it will be the furnace in which we are refined. . . . Now is the time to show kindness. Now is the time to be supportive. Now is the time to share the love. Every person you react with online is now facing a future that is scary. Some of us have lost work. Some of us have lost friendships. Some of us have lost the support of family because we cannot reach them. . . . I applaud the commitment of every one of you who has stayed home. I salute the single parents. I praise the businesses that have given paid leave to their staff. And I personally thank the Lord for steadfast love and mercy in a period of time that is making my depression rage like a hurricane. . . . We are ALL in need of grace right now. . . . Once the “dust” has settled, I can’t wait to hug, oh so tightly, so many of you. . . . . . #lockdownsouthafrica #instadaily #wewillprevail #togetherwecan #unitedwestand #capturethemoment #honestlymothering #momtogs
  • *”I will love you when you are a still day. I will love you when you are a hurricane”* . . . I think that people wanting to have kids must have, subconsciously, signed a waver that disallows them to ever speak about the hardships of having said kids. I don’t remember signing it, but every day I’m privy to ol’ big mouth telling me I must suck it up some more because I chose to be a parent and therefore, every trial is a warranted test...guess what, I also choose to wax my bit-about-town but it still hurts like a biatch. . . With self-isolation in full force, many of us are housebound with our kids, and work, and anxiety, and stressed partners (some of you are doing it completely alone and you deserve so much praise) and it’s all mashed together in a confined space and naturally, because WE ARE HUMAN, we want to voice our stresses and concerns. . . . Why is it that parents are expected to juggle everything with a stiff upper lip? How is that natural? How is that healthy? I’m not saying we need to add to the craziness right now by constantly whining and moaning about everything but give us a chance to try and stay sane in a landscape that we’re not used to! . . Having both girls home 24/7 is a joy. It is a blessing. It’s also hard because they miss their friends and family. It’s hard because Rosie misses her school and the stimulation BUT it’s a small price to pay for the greater good. . . So we’re getting on with it and would love to feel less judged when we vocalize our concern and panic about activities/food/routine and the ever important need to refuel in order for us to continue to be the best people in our little one’s lives. . . . Rosie is wearing a sky blue @mumsythelabel tutu dress in 3-4 and you’re gonna get a lot of dress spam because ermagersh, isn’t she a vision! . . . . . . #myhonestmotherhood #motherhoodthroughig #momtog #enchantedchildhood #ourwhimsicaldays #talesofthemoment #jj_its_kids #moodygrams #portraitperfection #capturethemoment #darkfloral
  • *It’s the weekend...let’s just laugh at how meaningless that is now😭🥴* . . . What have we learnt from 5 days of social distancing? . ▪️Whilst Mr H and I are used to working together, with no outside socializing we have to make a conscious effort not to want to tear each other’s skin off. ▪️Many things are uncertain, my excessive weight gain due to consuming ALL the carbs, is not. ▪️We did not stock up on enough wine or chocolate. ▪️An effective method of torture would be to lock someone in a confined space with a 3-5 yr old who only communicates with “why?” ▪️Because I cant do it, I’m craving going to a restaurant and ordering pizza. ▪️If I don’t get dressed everyday and manage my hair I feel worse about the situation. Sometimes the simple things can make you feel more human. ▪️My house has never more organized. ▪️There is a bitter disappointment in my bones that burns whenever Rosie asks to see family and friends - especially as we are unlikely to see my family this year. ▪️Having the support of other local business owners has been vital! ▪️I am crazy crafty when I have to be. ▪️Having the girls home all day means I don’t miss all the words Cece is learning and all the imaginary games Rosie excels in. It’s beautiful. Trying, but beautiful. ▪️If I think too much about what comes next after Easter, I go a bit cuckoo . . . What have you learnt this week friends? . . . . . . #lovingtheordinarymoments #freespiritedchildhood #themagicineveryday #rememberingthesedays #capturingtheday #myhappycapture #lifecloseup #oureverydaymoments #raisingthefuture #documentyourdays #thehappynow #littlemomentsofhappiness #socialdistancing
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