Team HP

Meet loving-life Lisa, Hello Pretty's zesty intern ??‍♀️

Hi there! My name is Lisa, and I will be interning at Hello Pretty for the coming 3,5 months (until the 21st of December). I am very enthusiastic for these coming months. This is actually my first time in South Africa and I must say I love it already and want to see and explore as much as I possibly can!!!

Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself first….! I am an 18 year old girl from The Netherlands, living in a small town called Laren (very close to Amsterdam). Although my mother is a Dutchie, my dad is from Austria and his roots lay in Armenia!

My friends play a huge part of my life and I absolutely love to hang out with them and go on adventures together as well as party as much as we can.

I love to be outdoor doing all kind of different activities, such as yoga and running or walking with my sweet dog. But the thing I love most doing is to travel, seeing and experiencing new cultures and meeting new people from all over the world.

I feel very lucky that I’ve got the opportunity to work for such an amazing company with the loveliest of colleagues <3. Currently, I’ve only been here for 5 days ( arrived the 4th of September), but Cape Town already feels like my happy place. I mean how can it not? The people are amazing, the food is insanely good and OMG the wine is from another planet!!! So is guess its gonna be a “ work hard, play hard” kind of lifestyle here for me… cant wait to figure it out!

So yeah, I am a very happy gyallllll,
Again ( one last time) ….. CANT WAIT FOR THESE MONTHS!!! ( sorry, I am just very very very excited)

XOXO,
The happiest girl alive, Lisa <3

Hello Dutch Pretty - meet Sem!

Hi there, my name is Sem (yes, this is my full name), a Dutch Fashion Student who’s ready to be Hello Pretty’s intern for the next five months. I feel blessed to get this great opportunity to be part of the Hello Pretty family and to live in this fantastic city (Cape Town).

I'm a spontaneous and sociable twenty-two year old girl who's always up for a party, so I can't leave good food and drinks standing. I love to travel and my dream is to see as much of the world as possible. I’ve left a bunch of lovely people in the Netherlands to start this adventure, but I've already found a lot of lovely friends in Cape Town.

I came to CPT with a 60 KG suitcase fully packed with clothes, I love clothes.

I'm in the process of completing my studies, and I'm sure that Hello Pretty has a lot to offer me, so I can go home with a new family, two suitcases full of knowledge, a lot of great memories and to graduate in February and rock all the Dutch people's asses off. I am excited to show you what I (& Hello Pretty) have to offer.

Byeee (in Holland I say: GROETJES)
P.s. I cannot wait to face a new summer season!!!!

Hello! Hi! I’m Porchia.

Hello - Hi, my Hello Pretty family! I’m Porchia (Porsche-a not Por-chia) :)

I’m 20-something years old and a mother of 3 wonderful boys. I dont know how some of you might feel, but I find it a bit too cliche to say “I’m happily married to the man of my dreams for 4+ years”... truth is that I'm happier than I could ever have imagined, especially because we're two different human beings and I’m just not the easiest person to spend eternity with.

I enjoy spending time with my family but do occasionally enjoy some retail therapy. My husband would probably disagree on this and say that “occasionally” is sugar coating my addictive habit. BUT! He's a wise man and knows that a woman is always right and saying nothing benefits him more. I am blessed to be working for such a wonderful company such as Hello Pretty. I work as the Community Support Specialist and assist with day 2 day queries and make the stay of our sellers and customers as comfortable as possible.

I'm Monique, one of the Hello Pretty elves. Pleased to meet you.

Hey Guys,

So I'm writing this blog post to introduce myself, one of the team members of Hello Pretty.

I'm Monique and I'm super happy to be a part of this wonderful small company. I have been working at Hello Pretty for nearly a year and I can honestly say that I have learnt so much! I think I've found my niche with marketing and social media as well as the curation of products for the site and homepages. I love what I do and I love the team I work with and really believe in this business, and for that, I feel so grateful.

Photo above taken at the Studio & neighbourhood tour with A Ring To It.

I'm also a single mom to a powerful, strong minded, warm little nearly four year old. This single mom life is the hardest thing I've ever done but its also the most rewarding learning curve I've ever had. I'm all about personal growth as my background is in psychology.

I've recently rediscovered my love for yoga which has opened a whole new holistic approach to my life. I'm also all about balance so I like to follow my yoga classes with a bloody mary (its 5pm somewhere in the world). And yes, I have a dry sense of humour ;)

I also love art and design so curation at Hello Pretty is definitely my thing.

The Consol Mixology Theatre at Taste of Cape Town

I'll let you in on a little secret: Promise cocktails to Team HP, and we're pretty much putty in your hands. So when Consol invited us to join one of their Mixology classes at Taste of Cape Town last week we were beyond thrilled.

(Side note: Mixology is, basically, the science and art of making fancy cocktails. No tequila sunrises here!)

After a tough week, we were all more than ready to get stuck into some delicious beverages. Here's the bit about the Mixology Theatre that's both a blessing and a curse: While you walk away with three very delicious cocktails, you do have to make them yourselves!

When you arrive, you find a spot at one of the many stations - they're all equipped with standard bartender's tools, cubed and crushed ice, Consol bottles and jars, jars of fruit and garnish, and several bottles of interesting things ranging from wine to a buchu cordial. A quick overview of what's what, and you're off!

Let me tell you, I have newfound respect for bartenders who make cocktails. It's exhausting. Between the shaking, and the muddling, and the having to keep track of half a dozen different things at the same time...people, tip your bartenders!

Can't take him anywhere.

We learned how to make 3 delicious cocktails: The Blue Dissolve, the Citrus Burst, and the Vinfusion. The awesome guys from Thirst were there both as teachers, and as a helping hand when you got stuck. Team consensus? The Citrus Burst was our favourite.

Looks good, right? Want to know how to make one? Sure you do. Here's what you'll need:

4 lime wedges
4 naartjie segments
2 lemon wedges
25ml (single shot) elderflower syrup
50ml (double shot) Absolut Citron
25ml Red Espresso
A Consol jar
A muddler and bar spoon
Crushed ice
Straws, lime, and mint to garnish

Put the lime, naartjie, and lemon into a Consol jar. Add a single shot of elderflower syrup, and a double shot of Absolut Citron. Then, use a muddler to gently crush as much juice as possible out of the fruit. If you don't have a muddler, try using a fork - but gently does it!

Once you've got a good amount of juice, fill the jar up 2/3 of the way with crushed ice. Use a bar spoon to mix the juice and fruit segments into the ice - go slowly, and use lifting movements. If you don't have a bar spoon, a regular tablespoon and a delicate hand will do the trick.

For the last stage, add even more crushed ice - you want to aim for a little heap going over the top of the jar. Gently pour the Red Espresso over the top of the ice. Then, add two straws to the side, and garnish with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint. Ta-da!

We walked away with slightly fuzzy heads, as well as the jars we'd used, and a nifty booklet with tons of great cocktail recipes. Huge thanks to Consol for including us! We can't wait to get our mixology on at home (where no one can see us drop things and spill).

You can stay connected with them on Twitter and on Facebook, and see more of our photos from the event here.