Last weekend we took Bassie for an explore around Leadville doggy park in Sunningdale. It has a Reload on site so you can swig some coffee while your doggies trot around the grass, making friends.
See snaps of that and other top moments of the week below….
Saturday, 18 November 2017: Ilha breakfast, windy braai
We’d not been to Woodbridge Island in a while so headed that way for Saturday breakfast. Without planning it, we were both in matchy-matchy grey in front of their grey-blue wall.See Husband’s full English breakfast with mushroom and pork sausage, and my well-sauced scrambled eggs on toast.Bertie spends about 30% of his time perched atop the couch back like this.Cold, rainy days are all about relaxing with the doggies indoors.Scenes from the braai at Husband’s parents house, later that afternoon.Last week you saw Bassie with the pudding cups. This week, Bertie allowed a few pics before he ran off to chew his in peace.Bassie and I braved the chilly wind to sit in the sun by the braai fire for a while.
Sunday, 19 November 2017: Leadville doggie park, Saints treats
We’d heard that our local News Cafe offers a few more breakfast specials for the early birds, so tried them out on Sunday morning. I went for the standard English early bird top left, Husband sampled the ‘spinach and feta’ eggs benedict for R45. Very good value.An ‘action shot’ of Husband peppering up his plate.This is Leadville. Bassie had a fun time trotting around in the fenced off area for ‘small dogs shy dogs’.Later that day, beach walkies! Bertie splashed about in the sea and had a lovely time.We went to Saints at Eden on the Bay for our Sunday afternoon treat, and ended up with two drinks each. See my Snickers shake (with chunks of actual chocolate bar swirled throughout) and Cafe Capri (coconut chocolate latte, very yummy); then there’s Husband’s Smooth Criminal shooter – caramel vodka with creme de banana top, and his Kiss and Say Goodbye shake, with Scotch whisky, Kahlua and Oreo cookie bits. Yum.Mum outdid herself with a summery feast for Sunday lupper. I think we ate everything between the four of us (six, with the dogs).Mum made these gorgeous individual trifles for dessert.
Monday, 20 November 2017: Evening doggy snuggles
I worked from home on Monday as had lots of transcribing to tick off my to-do list. T’was still chilly that evening so Bertie curled up beside me on the couch.
Wednesday, 22 November 2017: Meltwater interview in Green Point, burgers and shakes at Bossa
I interviewed the global CEO of Meltwater at their Cape Town offices in Green Point on Wednesday afternoon. This was the view from the ‘interview room’. Click here for the interview.That evening we headed out to Bossa in Burgundy Estate – where we used to go for paella at Espana. We sat outside and I was delighted that their boozy shakes are included in the R40 happy hour. See my ‘mud pie’ shake with vodka, Nachtmusik and Amarula. Husband looks zen.Here is Husband’s cheese bomb burger – mozzarella, aged cheddar, bacon and jalapenos – with large onion rings and chips.All the foooood. Husband had a burger, I went for the nachos with mince. That’s a half portion you can see, which I only finished the next day.
Thursday, 23 November 2017: Red cup, yellow chair at Red & Yellow
My brownie bite and colour-coordinated red cup of strong coffee in front of a yellow chair at Red & Yellow for the third week of ‘digital marketing live’.
That’s all, folks! I’m having a mini-staycation at the start of next week so looking forward to relaxing and having happy moments with the doggies.
Last week I started attending the digital marketing live sessions at Red & Yellow, which run into early next year. Start scrolling below to see a few snaps from the first two classes below as well as other work-related moments and lots of snaps of the doggies…
Thursday, 9 November 2017: Futures Cape Town and Digital Marketing LIVE at Red & Yellow
Last Thursday was a very busy one for me. I started off in the office, then spent the first bit of the afternoon at the Inner City Ideas Cartel (ICIC), where I covered a bit of the WGSN Futures Cape Town session. Click here if you want to read my coverage on Biz.Talk over, I Ubered to Red & Yellow School in Salt River. The digital marketing LIVE lessons are streamed over the internet if you can’t be on campus on time – 15:30 to 17:30 on Thursdays. Snacks and study aids at the ready!Each week, a different digital marketing lecturer shares words of wisdom with us. Up first was Rob Stokes, who started Quirk agency (now Mirum). You can just see the back of my head on the left.
Saturday, 11 November 2017: Village Place breakfast and The World According to Bertie
“I moustache you a question,” teehee. Husband ordered a large cappuccino at the Village Place Cafe on Saturday morning, so his accompanying biscuit was suitably supersized, too.See my regular size cappuccino and biscuit on the left, banting flapjacks topped with yoghurt and berries on the right, and Husband’s mince on toast topped with eggs in the middle.We helped Husband’s dad get around the new Table Bay Mall in a wheelchair we lent from the mall security later that morning.I noticed the cappuccino-donut combo special while we were doing groceries at Checkers later that afternoon and had to give it a try. What I got didn’t look quite like what was in the poster (see difference in pics) but it was still delicious and very good value for money.We opted against the usual braai as Husband’s dad was limited in his movement, so started with veggie soup, followed by a shared peri-chicken gatsby and chocolate mousse tubs for dessert. Bassie and Bertie got to lick the tubs once we were done with them, as you can see.Husband and his dad went for walkies down the street later that afternoon. Bertie watched.Little Miss Bass enjoyed her visit, despite wearing her sad face in this photo.Look at the title of the book Husband’s mum was reading!
Sunday, 12 November 2017: Chocolate-pecan pie and pink clouds
We Sunday-breakfasted at Greens in Plattekloof Village. You can just see us in Husband’s snap of the interior of the restaurant, reflected in the mirror.To eat: Husband’s mushroom-spinach eggs benedict on the left, my toasted salami, mozzarella and olives on the right.We had ordered a slice of chocolate-pecan pie to take home from Greens, and I heated it and ate with cream for my early-afternoon treat.Pretty streaky pink clouds at Mum’s that evening.
Monday, 13 November 2017: Office birthday cake and evening doggie selfies
Monday was an office birthday cake day as it had been Cheryl’s birthday over the weekend. It looks like I took severely tiny slices of milk tart and carrot cake here!I snapped a selfie with Bertie while recuperating from the work day that evening.
Wednesday, 22 November 2017: MyUptopia yoga and food review
On Wednesday afternoon, My colleague Shan and I reviewed MyUtopia near the Waterfront’s Express Bikram yoga class followed by a late lunch at the in-studio Nourish Cafe. My full wordy review will be on Biz soon, but you can get an idea of the experience here. See the foresty heated room you stretch and sweat in, and two of the yummy smoothies…There’s fruit-flavoured water and the bathrooms are stocked with everything you may need – shampoo and body wash in the shower, cotton balls and deodorant and lockers to stash your clothes in, and even a ‘blow dry bar’ so you can have your ‘hair did’ before you venture back to the office. T’was a lovely experience.Our late lunch was also worth writing home about. See the foam art in our cappuccinos, my toasted bacon, brie and pepperdew and Shan’s chicken wrap – both with the best beetroot crisps we’ve tasted! Thanks to Shanny for the pics as my devices were otherwise occupied at the time.
Thursday, 16 November 2017: Another afternoon at Red & Yellow
The second lesson was presented by Rob Stokes’ wife, Nikki Cockcroft. You can just see her through the glass. She’s really amazing, having been CEO at Primedia Online, taken Woolworths digital and more.
That’s all, folks! Hope you have a restful weekend.
Woohoo, we have made it to the weekend! It’s been another tough work week all round, but we always find bright moments to make us smile. See the latest below…
Friday, 3 November 2017: Burgers and monster shakes at FUE
The Festive Underground Eatery or FUE is now open until 7pm and still offering their R199 special for two burgers with fries and a monster shake to share. That’s where we went after work last Friday, to get into the weekend feeling a little early.These sure are monster shakes, at over 1l per jar! That’s Dad with the berry and me with the peanut butter-banana version.Look at those shakes in their entirety – topped with a full waffle, donuts, marshmallows, popcorn and more, this definitely counts as dessert!All were present and accounted for and full to the brim!
Saturday, 4 November 2017: Panama Jacks family lunch
On Saturday morning we breakfasted at McPherson’s. Husband went for an omelette while I had the club sandwich – both washed down with cappuccinos.T’was time for another family meal that afternoon. Husband’s dad was in hospital recovering from a knee op so his mom joined us at Panama Jacks in the harbour with my parents. The restaurant is moving across to the other end of the Waterfront in a few weeks so it was nice to sit and reminisce over the meals we’ve enjoyed there over the years. Note the standard pose outside post-meal bottom right.Some of the food we ate at Panama Jacks. That’s the lamb-black bean soup, the avo seafood, calamari with tartare sauce and Thai fish curry.I went for the Milky Lane Choca Mocha Whizzer for my Saturday afternoon treat following quite a bit of weekend admin. In case the name isn’t obvious enough, that means the ice cream is swirled with coffee and chocolate mousse.
Sunday, 5 November 2017: Pink Olive breakfast and GrandWest movies
We sat down to breakfast at the Pink Olive at Starke Ayres and not five minutes later Mother and Spec were there too, per chance! Spec stayed over at Mother’s for the weekend.Later that day we met Spec at GrandWest Casino on his way home to Fish Hoek, to watch the latest Thor movie. It was a bright, sunny day but the wind was cold and blustery.Ha. This is what we do when we see a ‘push button’ photo booth at GrandWest Casino. I think we take this same photo every time we pass it!
Wednesday, 8 November 2017: Loveables pop-up store launch in Salt River
I attended the launch of the Loveables pop-up store in Salt River on Wednesday morning. This is what I saw outside…And just some of the lovely things inside. Bunnies everywhere, and doesn’t little miss Eva look like a relation of Bassie? Full coverage on Bizcommunity soon!
Oh yes! I mentioned last week that I’d reveal the end result of the DIY project I’d worked on during my staycation. See below…
The chest of drawers I had painted in shades of grey a few years ago was in need of a revamp. So we sanded down the whole thing, then I painted the outer shell black with each drawer a darker shade of grey for an overall ‘ombre’ effect, then varnished it all to seal the deal.The end product. As you can see, we went all out and added new crystal knobs to each drawer so it feels fully fancy.
That’s all, folks! May your weekend be filled with all that makes you happy. 🙂
I took a few days off from work this week and soaked up some much-needed me-time…
Friday, 27 October 2017: Greek working lunch at Maria’s in Dunkley Square
I had a working-lunch meeting last Friday afternoon. We walked down to Maria’s in Dunkley Square – loved how the foam heart remained long after the coffee was gone. You can just see the slice of kataifi I ate, too.
Saturday, 28 October 2017: The Daily Cafe’s birthday special
Last weekend was the second birthday of The Daily Cafe in Big Bay’s Seaside Village. They treated customers to a birthday special – R70 for eggs benedict or florentine, along with a flute of orange juice or bubbly, and a cappuccino. It was a very good deal!Orange-y scenes from our breakfast at The Daily.The colours were blindingly bright at Eden on the Bay that afternoon!We also did a few long-arm beach photos. Love the expressions on Husband’s face.We treated ourselves to a late-lunch at Moyo at Eden. See Husband sipping his Long Island Ice Tea and his lamb shank linguine, as well as my dukka-spiced burger and pina colada.We presented Bertie with his newest chew-toy as he’s a good dog. What a happy boy.
Sunday, 29 October 2017: Bread and Butter breakfast, ice creams at Eden on the Bay
We decided on breakfast at Bread and Butter on Sunday. I had a cappuccino while Husband had his customary Cola to begin…Husband asked for his salmon eggs benedict on a plate as things slide off of the usual breadboard. Also see my bacon-banana flapjack/crumpet stack.We stopped in at Eden again on Sunday, for an afternoon ice cream treat. My windswept hair should be a giveaway that this was not an easy task. Wind in hair, hair in ice cream. Oof. Lovely, though.You also pose here with your ice cream, if you’re anything like me. Tis a sad size comparison.
Monday, 30 October 2017: Cruffins at Black Forest Cafe
Ahhh. Coffee. Book. Couch. Dogs. That’s how I spent the bulk of my Monday and Tuesday, relaxing and activating my brain’s ‘screensaver’ mode.Little Bassie is just the cutest. Love that face! She’s showing off her balancing skills here, perched atop the back of the couch.Mum and dad treated me to morning tea at the Black Forest Cafe, just up the street. The cappuccino was strong, the coffee shake chocolate-y, and the mood happy.These are the cruffins (croissant + muffin) we chose from. Mmm.
Tuesday, 31 October 2017: Milky Lane waffles, W Cafe coffees, Halloween dins
If you’re ever at a loss for what to do on a Tuesday and have R36 standing by, take advantage of Milky Lane’s special – two plain waffles topped with ice cream blobs and all the syrups. For R36! We also shared a mint milkshake.After a spot of window shopping we stopped at the W Cafe in Woolers for a coffee pick-me-up. I had a short vanilla-cinnamon while the parents had regular cappuccinos.Mother-in-law loves a themed table, so invited us for dins on Tuesday evening. See various Halloween-y things.The doggies were eager to get involved in all the food activities. See the marshmallow ‘spiders’ atop my jelly-mousse dessert.
Wednesday, 1 November 2017: Team lunch at La Bottega
After a morning of playing catch-up at my desk on all I’d missed from two days of leave, it was time for our department team lunch. We Ubered to La Bottega on Sir Lowry’s Road. That’s my Nutella-banana shake you see.Milkshake up close, open views across Woodstock from the deck and my beef burger on sweet potato slice ‘bun’, with cheese and avo. Very yum!We put Angie’s selfie stick to good use. This was about the best of the various attempts. Crying-with-laughter face.
Thursday, 2 November 2017: Office birthday cake and orchids
My lovely colleague Clarina brought in an assortment of cakes to celebrate her recent birthday. She does not look 40! And look at the fake orchid on my desk, with Angie’s real one just visible behind it. Office things.
That’s all, folks! I’ll show you the DIY project I also completed during my days off in next week’s blog post. 🙂
Ramblings, rumblings and random ruminations, version ii. Also reviews, recommendations and alliteration. Based on living the good life in the fairest Cape. Eating is my favourite pastime. Updated weekly
Rambling Litchii 