Neo Style

Expat life – when your friends become your family

The decision to move from home, family and friends and go start over in another city; let alone a city on a whole other country and continent is not an easy one. In 2009, just after we got married, we left our perfectly comfortable life in Johannesburg, South Africa to come and live in the UK.  Fast forward six years later and we have a son called Neo and call London our home. When we first came…

Lately I have been looking at Neo and marveling at him. I have been paying close attention to his fingers, his toe nails and the funny way his tongue sticks out between his teeth when he says ‘tent’. Four whole years later, I am still in awe of him, of how he is a perfect mix of me and PJ and of just how much I love him. I think about what kind of person he will be when he is older and I pray…

*New post* Our California road trip adventure holiday

California Adventure

There is a proverb in Setswana language that says ‘Go tsamaya ke go bona’ which, when directly translated means ‘to go is to see’ and which means that travelling and getting out of your comfort zone, opens your mind and expands your horizon.

I didn’t realise when I was planning our California road trip that it would have such an impact on my life. When I was planning our…

*New Post* Neo’s style – sunny in California 

I love hot and sunny temperatures and when we were in California for a family road trip recently, the weather didn’t disappoint. I loved dressing Neo in sandals, shorts and character t-shirts.

Here are my favourite picks of Neo’s style for summer*:

Dinosaurs

Our first stop on our road trip was to Monterey (pronounced Mon-eray by the locals). It was a glorious day and we spent the afternoon doing…

Here is the first instalment of our #California #Family #RoadTrip

My family and I have come back from the most awesome, fun filled and amazing road trip in California, the incredible #rammzepicroadtrip. I remember looking out the window while on the road and thinking what a brilliant time we are having and I wanted to pinch myself to make sure it was all real and I wasn’t dreaming. It wasn’t all smooth-going all the way, and that was the beauty of it. Our…

A new post about #learning from the #death of a loved one. It’s been a year… - Lessons from my cousin Maphanki  - http://neo-style.co.uk/?p=548

It has been a year since my cousin Maphanki died. I remember a friend and colleague telling me that I will experience a lot of firsts now that she is not here anymore; the first Christmas without her, her first birthday without her and of course the first year without her. It’s a strange feeling. For me I guess, her absence is a lot less intense as I am away from home anyway and she is not a part…

Listen and Watch. You gotta be... by Des'ree #Music #Parenting #pbloggers

You gotta be is a song by Des’ree which was first released in 1994. I heard the song again about a week ago after a long time and I liked the message of self confidence that the song is about. Neo is a little too young to get it but I hope when he is older, I get to teach him to challenge what the future holds, try and keep his head to the sky, release his fears and that love will always save the…

Adding a bit of zing to our little corner of the internet #pbloggers @EllieAllAtSea

I decided even before the start of the New Year the blog needed a bit of work. It is our very own corner of the internet and I was beginning to feel like it was not representing me, Neo and PJ very well or that I was not taking it seriously. It was lacking personality, colour, fizz, pizazz, you name it! When I was picking my blog theme, I was thinking minimalistic but I ended up with boring.

  (…

*New Post* Valentine's Day Children's Books #pbloggers #ValentinesDay #ChildrensBooks

I am not crazy about Valentine’s Day because I would rather we showed each other every day that we loved each other than just on the one day. Having said that, this year I have seen the value in using Valentine’s Day as a chance to reinforce and remember the message of love, compassion and family to Neo. For me, books are almost always a default way of teaching something or introducing something…

Our California Road Trip check list #travel #roadtrip #familytravel #california

I blogged a little while ago about our 2015 travel wish list and we decided to move our main trip to California in a few weeks!

  So we are going on a road trip from San Francisco! I’m so excited; there are nights I actually can’t sleep. I am planning the trip myself and hoping to make it a really fun trip, not just filled with the usual posing in front of things and all that. So, here are key…

No plans for the week-end? Have a look at the new post on the blog - London with Kids – 16 to 18 January 2015

London always has so much to offer for families that sometimes it can be overwhelming if you have nothing planned for the week-end and would like to know what’s going on.  If like us, you live for the weekend and want fun things to do, then I have rounded up some lovely child friendly activities in London.

  Free Range Urban Kids

Free Range Urban Kidsis Hackney’s first outdoor nursery inspired by…

Room on the broom play at Lyric Theatre #London

Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler are not strangers in my house and I bet mine is not the only family that is familiar with this power-duo’s books. So, when I saw tickets on a discount on Amazon Local to a play based on their book Room on the Broom, it was a no-brainer; of course we are going to see it!

  On Saturday we went to the Lyric Theare in London and were lucky enough to get…

*New Post on the Blog* Our 2015 travel wish list #pbloggers #familytravel #travel #resolutions

We have decided to do a bit of forward planning with our year and our family holidays. There are flight and holidays sales on right now and we need to be able to take advantage of discounts on offer. We are very lucky that we are now somewhat stable in our lives and careers right now and can, as much as possible; start making wish lists for our travelling. More than just any other wish list, I…

*New Post!* London New Year’s Day Parade #2015# lnydp# #london

Our New Year’s Eve was like any other… Neo went to bed at the usual bed time; PJ and I stayed in, listened to some music and we watched the fireworks on television at midnight. We are living on the edge!

We woke up on New Year’s Day bright, chirpy and not hung-over and headed off to Trafalgar Square in central London to watch the London New Year’s Day Parade. I never realised that parades were a…