What a pleasure it was to have my family down recently from Los Angeles. My uncle is a singer (see my write-up on him by clicking HERE) and the last time I saw him and the rest of my family living there was a staggering 8 years ago. I can’t believe how time flies. It was an absolute thrill to have them all down for a reunion as well as for performances he gave in both Johannesburg and in Port Elizabeth. In Joburg he performed at Tanz Cafe and in P.E. he performed at The Vodacom Ampitheatre at The Boardwalk. There was a good crowd who came out to support him at The Boardwalk on both nights, despite the rainy weather.

It was so special to see David & Sherri (my cousin) get up on stage after the interval for a duet.

After the shows everyone stayed behind to buy CDs and get autographs.

Below is a photo I took with my uncle and his producer in South Africa, Benjy Mudie. Benjy initially became famous for being the Marketing Director of Tusk Music and subsequently for being the producer of a very popular South African singing group Mango Groove. He is most recently well-known from being a guest judge on Idols, South Africa, and for being the Founder and Managing Director of Fresh Music since 1998. Below is a photo of Sherri also signing her autograph on the CD.

It was a really great weekend… David performed two nights in a row. While in Johannesburg he was also interviewed on various radio stations and also on television. He was interviewed one morning on Morning Live on SABC3:

He and my cousin had a lovely write-up in The Herald’s Weekend Post while they were here, which was great to see! Sherri cracked the front page, so naturally we took this snap while waiting at the traffic light:)

Something else I was invited to attend over the past week was “The King & Queen of Port Elizabeth” competition. It was held at the The Grand Hotel here in P.E. and was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. I attended it with my good friend Brandon Lorenzo, of MTV Base fame. It was very cute seeing the babies modelling… I managed to steal a snap with  two of them after the show.

I attended another super event after that…. it was a talk given by Colin Cowie – events planner & lifestyle guru to the stars! He spoke here in Port Elizabeth at The Granary and a huge crowd came out to listen to him.

This guy has planned some of the most talked-about parties in the world… his clients include Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries, Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Hugh Hefner and many more…. So it was only fitting that I wore my highest pair of heels in honour of the occasion! Click HERE to view his website – it’s very interesting!

He was telling me how he’s missed biltong, smoked snoek, oxtail, tomato sauce and all the other South African products that aren’t available in the U.S. Finding out that he is from Selborne College in East London, here in SA, was so amazing. He said that he left South Africa at the age of 23 with nothing but a well-cut suit, a good tan and $400! His first client was Bruce Willis, when he was still young and had just got his first job on the series Moonlighting. Bruce asked him to do a barbeque on the beach and the rest is history. It was very inspiring to hear! It shows you that anything is possible. Here is a snap of him and I:

On another note, this past Saturday saw me giving a talk to a class of grade 10 students at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University who are part of Engen’s Saturday School Programme.

I spoke to them about valuing yourself and using your God-given talents to achieve great  things in life.They loved it when I did my range of accents for them! Afterwards we handed out dictionaries to the learners, which were sponsored by Rotary Algoa Bay. My mother is the President of Rotary Algoa Bay this year, so she was there to present the students with this generous donation! It was a beautiful experience! Giving back is very important.