Fashion and Style

What's a reunion without brunch? Asking ourselves this, 8 of us planned to do brunch the Sunday most of my friends were in town - 17th of December. The Garden Brunch Cafe was selected as our location, and so we headed there at about 9:45 am. Unfortunately, the cafe doesn't take reservations, so there was about a 30 to 40 minute wait for us - more for those who came after us. The weird thing is that they don't seat tables of more than 6, and all had to be present for us to be seated. This meant that 4 of us got a table first - and then 2 of us had to wait an ADDITIONAL 30 minutes for the last 2 to arrive to be seated. We weren't too happy about that, but by the time we were hungry enough that we just wanted some food - a good decision, since the food was great! The ambience was chic and modern, and not too busy. I loved these centrepieces! We decided to get a carafe of their mimosa for the table - mimosas make everything better, and you simply can't do brunch withou...

Nashville is famous for its hot chicken, and I'm definitely a fan from when I last visited. This time, my friends decided to take me to a place that does both hot chicken AND hot fish - it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a quick review. Bolton's is a casual, hole in the wall place. It's known as a hidden gem - not one of the more popular hot chicken joints, but definitely worth it. You order up at a little window, and tell them which meat you want, with the desired spice level and sides desired. The cutlery and plates are plastic, and you seat yourselves. Unfortunately, on the day we got there, they had run out of the other spices, and only had one level - light medium I believe? While I had wanted to try something spicier, I'm glad I didn't - this proved spicy enough for me! I decided to get a chicken tenders plate, which came with two sides - I chose the mac and cheese, and fries. Most of my friends got the catfish, and loved it. The chicken was AMAZING -...

When you ask someone how they're doing, or how life is going, or how they've been, 9 times out of ten the answer will be ' busy' . The world has gotten faster, and busier - and seemingly, unhappier. Many of us work 8-5 (if not more), to be able to afford to maintain a lifestyle that we don't even have time to enjoy. Fortunately, there are numerous things we can do, on a regular basis, to ensure that we do invest in ourselves beyond just making sure we're professionally successful. I thought to write about a select few that I try and keep up with, and others that I am starting, and I hope to be able to feature others' at some point too. 1) Writing No surprises here that I write, often. I write on this blog, I write (real) letters to friends (and yes, I do use a fountain pen similar to the one above), I write to myself . If I'm having a crappy day, or trying to make a difficult decision, it wouldn't be too uncommon to find me grabbing the nearest piec...

We hope you�ve been enjoying the feature on Frazer so far! If you haven�t read the previous parts yet, you can catch them here and here . Today, Frazer will be answering some questions I threw his way. What are three principles that leaders should live by? 1.       Intense personal reflection 2.       Don�t give a shit 3.       Facilitate radical candor What three words would you use to describe yourself? 1.       Intuitive 2.       Active 3.       Controlling (see, not all roses and rainbows!) What�s the best advice that someone has ever given you? �Use your head� If there�s an aspect of your journey that has surprised you so far, what would you say it is? How quickly we can adapt to change Now-Frazer meets early-20�s-Frazer. What advice would you give him? If I could give my early-20�s �me� some advice, it would be to not listen to my 42...

In  part 1  last week, we met my mentor, Frazer Buntin, and learnt about his early life and education background. Today, he'll talk to us about his career so far. Work background Right after school, I worked for my father�s company for about a year. I wanted to see if the business clicked with me and additionally, my older brother, with whom I am very close, was there as well. My plan was to work and live at home and eat Ramen noodles to save as much money as possible for an epic adventure. I absolutely love adventure. I love adventure more and more throughout my life and also regret not adventuring more along the way. This particular adventure was about 3 months of tramping around New Zealand and Australia with a back pack and a $500 car that I bought off a cork board advertisement in the first hostel I came to in NZ. I hiked and camped and climbed mountains and fly fished and sat in silence for long periods during the middle of the day. One rainy afternoon, I simply started ...

We�ve all heard stories about �self-made men or women� and marvelled at their stories, and wished we were them. The truth, however, is that very few (if any) people are truly �self-made�. Be they negative influences or positive ones, the people in our lives, from birth to old age, have a large part in dictating who we are. The people who surround you are the people who also influence who you will be. It is always a good idea to be selective about the people you choose to let into your inner circles! Among the people who can have massive influences on our lives are mentors and role models � I�d like to introduce you to one of mine. I first met Frazer Buntin when I attended my first Beyond the Gates weekend at Sewanee. Frazer is a Sewanee alumnus who was assigned to be my mentor for the weekend. While we were unable to connect over the weekend itself, as he had to return home due to a family commitment, we found some time to connect shortly afterward, and I was impressed by what I learn...

Haven't checked out part 1 and part 2 yet? Make sure you do! April 27, 2016 Happy Anniversary!! We went to town to look for an olive oil tasting, but absolutely nothing opened up till 10. We did go see the amazing Castlello di Amorosa and take pictures. We drove around and ended being the first group at Sterling . What a place! It is more of an experience than a tasting, and what a production. The tour starts with a Gondola ride up to the building on top overlooking all of the vineyards. It�s sort of a Disney effect. We got the extra tastings free with our hotel card and visited the art gallery with my favorite Chagall �Fox with Grapes�. It also included several original Ansell Adams, a Picasso and a Renoir among others. I can�t find our tasting list � but won�t give up! After Sterling, we went to Tra Vigne for a pizza lunch. Our next stop was Rombauer - not really what we expected. The grounds were pretty, but unlike all of our other experiences, the employees weren�t very ...