Stunning sunsets and celebrating National Milktart Day 2019

This past week has been busier than usual, with Husband working most evenings and the whole of last weekend, so we didn’t get out much…

Monday, 18 February 2019: Team meet at M&C Saatchi Abel

As seen on the wall in the waiting area at M&C Saatchi Abel, where we had a quick catch-up meeting at 11am on Monday, 20 Feb.

T’was a female-strong meeting, clearly.

Wednesday, 20 February 2019: Amy Kleinhans-Curd’s lessons from Madiba talk at Red & Yellow

Amy Kleinhans-Curd was the guest speaker at Red & Yellow School’s lunchtime lecture last week – click here to catch-up, if you missed my coverage!

Thursday, 21 February 2019: Kantar’s Man vs machine event

Events held at Kantar’s offices on the Foreshore are among my favourite, as the content is always interesting and the view across the harbour and to Table Mountain is a treat. Click here to catch-up, if you missed my coverage of their Man vs. Machine event!

Saturday, 23 February 2019: W Cafe breakfast and doggie quality time and h

I met up with Mum and Dad for breakfast at Table Bay Mall’s Woolworths’ W Cafe on Saturday morning, as Husband was at work. See some of the yummy things we ate and drank – that’s mum’s ginger, orange and cayenne pepper shot.

I spent lots of quality time with the precious doglets over the weekend, as you can see. Such sweeties.

Sunday, 24 February 2019: Homemade burgers

Lupper at Mum’s once Husband was done with work that evening – homemade burgers, yum.

Monday, 25 February 2019: Chef’s Cape Town lunch, pretty sunset

I got to try Chefs’ lunch offering at a meeting with the Upstairs Ludus on Monday – the chefs take your order, cook it up themselves and bring it to your table, with just three options to choose from each day. The chicken dish was delicious. And those thrice-cooked chips…

Pretty streaky clouds over Lion’s Head as I made my way to the bus for my commute home that evening.

We were in for some rain the following day, which meant the sunlight caught the clouds in the most beautiful way that evening.

Wednesday, 27 February 2019: News Cafe breakfast on National Milktart Day

I was on leave on Wednesday, while Husband finished off a few urgent work things, so breakfasted at News Cafe with my parents. See our early-bird English breakfasts, and the way Mom snapped us cheers-ing our coffee cups and jammed toast. Teehee!

As it was National Milktart Day, I was sure to have a slice or two with some coffee that afternoon.

Thursday, 28 February 2019: News Cafe breakfast on box-packing day

I ended up breakfasting at News Cafe on Marine Circle again on Thursday, this time with Husband and his parents. We sat outside and I opted for the early-bird muesli breakfast this time, so it was not a duplicate of the previous day’s breakfast.

Husband had a quick dunk in the sea later that morning, to reset his batteries from ’10-days’ straight work mode’ into ‘moving house long weekend’ mode…

That’s all, folks! The rest of our time has been spend packing boxes, so watch for all the details of our move in my next update…

My cousin’s wedding in Gansbaai and 35th birthday waffles

Remember I shared last week’s blog post a whole day early? That’s because we were out of town on Friday – as a double-whammy 35th birthday and family destination wedding getaway…

Thursday, 14 February 2019: Valentine’s Day hot dogs and shakes at Rocomama’s 

I’d taken a day’s leave on Valentine’s Day, so that I’d be well into the holiday spirit for our weekend away. See my lovely lunchtime treat at Rocomama’s with my parents – that’s a double BCG hot dog (topped with bacon, cheese and guacamole), as well as a Nutella-banana waffle and various cold drinks.

Friday, 15 February 2019: My 35th birthday – Hermanus waffles and dinner in Gansbaai

Happy birthday to me! Imagine balloons and such. We were both obviously on leave so we slept in until after the weekday alarm usually goes off, then decided on a New Cafe breakfast as we needed an early start for the first leg of our road trip up to Hermanus.

Lunchtime! After a good few hours on the road, we met my parents at Belgian Waffles, Burgers and Beers in Hermanus. See some of the beers sampled, as well as my Speculaas waffle and ginger-white chocolate cappuccino. Happy happy!

Husband and Dad off to dip their toes in the sea at Grotto Bay – it was quite a low tide so they didn’t venture in beyond their ankles.

Benguela Lodge in De Kelders was our home base for the weekend. Lots of blue skies and the sound of water everywhere made for some happy Aquarians (and Leo parents).

A spot of birthday cave exploring? Why not! It was so hot, we were happy to dip our feet in the sea again…

Love how Husband captured Mum capturing this snap – the only ‘birthday hat’ photo we took. 🙂

We decided on birthday dins at the Blue Goose, just up the road in Gansbaai.

Scenes from my birthday dinner at Blue Goose restaurant in De Kelders. See the sunny dining area, bottle of Hermanuspieterfontein red, my chicken dish and the linefish, both with crispy baby potatoes.

Beautiful sunset over Gansbaai on our way back to De Kelders that evening.

Saturday, 16 February 2019: My cousin Shelley’s wedding at Panorama Farm in Franskraal

T’was a cold, drizzly Saturday morning so we decided to pop in at the wedding venue for a quick recce. See the pretty pruned trees, main castle building and various dogs and horses we befriended.

Next stop, we drove up to see where the shark cage-diving happens in Gansbaai. There were so many folk in wet suits! Not us, of course…

By then we needed a treat so stopped at Giuseppe’s Pizza in Gansbaai for cocktails – their special is ‘buy any two beers, pay for both’. Lol! See my toffee-nut shake; Dad’s enormous Long Island Ice Tea, with a thick lemon wedge separating the white spirits from the sugarless Cola; Mum’s bloody Mary; and Husband’s orange Sex on the Beach. All were yum!

Sights we saw at Panorama Farm in Franskraal, at Shelley and Richard’s wedding.

Panorama Farm has a lovely forest ceremony area, which is where we witnessed the vows. See Shelley walking down the aisle with her brother and dad.

Aww. Such a special moment, snapped between my cousin Darryl (brother of the bride) and his son, Dylan.

Introducing Mr and Mrs Lothian! The joy and love was all around us.

Wedding bubbles! See the sweet individual bubble blowers we used at the ceremony, with rose petals, as well as the enormous bubbles we created when it was time for ‘snacks and lawn games’. Also see Dad and Husband doing the same the next morning, at the post-wedding breakfast.

Beautiful platters adorned the wedding reception tables.

Sunflowers were clearly the theme, adding a sunny touch to the tables, with Shelley’s hair featuring daisies.

See the individual cheese, cracker and spread platters that were waiting on the tables, as well as the dessert table, including the cake and cinnamon cookies Shelley baked herself. Yes, those are Groot and Deadpool cake-toppers! 🙂

Teehee, happy faces at our table at the wedding reception at Panorama Farm.

Various family dance floor shots – the newly married couple opening the floor to ‘Love to see you smile’ by Homer and Marge Simpson, posing with the rest of us, and the family on the dance floor.

The sunset from the ‘Love’-lit pond was so beautiful.

Sunday, 17 February 2019: Post-wedding breakfast at Panorama Farm

We missed our doglets very much but made friends with Benguela Lodge’s sweet African bush cat, Oscar.

After a speedy check-out, we started our Sunday with a brief explore of the walkway down to the deck overlooking the sea at De Kelders. It was just beautiful.

Champagne sparkles on the glossy blue sea.

Next stop, our third visit at beautiful Panorama Farm, where we all met up for a quick farewell ‘foodtruck’ brekkie, featuring coffee and bacon-egg rolls. Just the thing after all the dancing of the night before.

We had worked up quite an appetite from our morning walk, so the bacon-and-egg buns and cups of coffee in the sunshine went down a treat.

That’s all, folks. Here’s to a relaxing weekend ahead! 🙂

Brilliant burgers and slurpworthy shakes at Gibson’s

Last weekend the weather was just gorgeous, as you’ll see from the snaps below, and the food – my goodness, the food…

Saturday, 9 February 2019: Burgers and shakes at Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers, V&A Waterfront

We were up and about early on Saturday so decided on breakfast at The Hart Bakery in Melkbos. See the pretty floral decor, also my single bacon benedict and Husband’s chorizo rosti.

Bassie was very interested in my quick ‘coffee and cake treat’ later that morning – Husband’s parents dropped off the wedge of baked milktart from their roadtrip to Philadelphia. Now you have the Philadelphia song playing in your head, I’m sure… “The streets of Philadelphia, nah nah nah…” Sorry. It sure was good!

Taking the scenic route meant it was all palm trees and sunny skies on the way into town.

Beautiful blue skies and cloudy tops for Table Mountain on our way along the R27 that afternoon, as a table was waiting for us at Gibson’s Gourmet Burgers in the V&A Waterfront.

Once seated with a view across the water, we browsed the immense flip-style menu to find just the concoctions that tickled our fancy. See Husband’s Amarula Colada and my chocolate-toffee-cashew shake. That spoon came in handy for scooping up all the cashews that had drifted to the bottom of the glass!

And the food! There’s almost any combination of toppings available, which is why I ended up with the ‘onion blossom’ on mine – that’s a full fried onion, instead of a side of onion rings, accompanied by sweet potato fries, while Husband had the Philly Cheese Steak and accompanying baked potato – one of the best taters he’s ever eaten.

Bellies full, we decided on a quick quayside stroll before heading back to the car. This was just before 7pm, the sun was nowhere near ready for setting…

I almost blended in with the rhinos outside the Waterfront’s main quay, so bright and festive and rounded were we.

Sunday, 10 February 2019: Early morning doggy beach walks

The doglets were thrilled at the idea of beach walkies first thing on Sunday, before the humans had even had breakfast.

See a very happy Bertie post-beach walkies, reflected in the rear-view mirror.

Beach walkies done and doglets back at home, it was a Woolworths W Cafe breakfast on Sunday as we had mall admin to sort out. See my vanilla-cinnamon cappuccino, Husband’s regular flat white and Coke Zero, my croissant French Toast and his exotic tomato breakfast, all featuring lots of flaked almonds.

A quick coffee pick-me-up break later in the day at Xpresso in Table View Mall meant a dirty chai latte for me and a double espresso con panna for Husband.

One of Mum’s former work colleagues was in town last Sunday so we met up for a ‘team lunch’ with other friends at Panama Jack’s. See the Thai Fish Curry, which was ordered by most, and my starter portion of crispy sesame duck with peanut dressing.

We were so full from lunch that it was just sweet treats for lupper at Mum’s later that afternoon – crumpets with syrup, jam and honey; juicy cherries, frozen yoghurt cups and coffee with biscuits. Yum!

Precious doglets snapped in sleepy mode over the weekend.

That’s all, folks! Watch for my full review of Gibson’s on Bizcommunity soon…

*Disclaimer: Our meals at Gibson’s were part of our review package. All else came from our own pockets. All enjoyed equally.

Finding Nemo (and other fishies) at the Two Oceans Aquarium

Last weekend we visited the Two Ocean Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront, as entry is free up to a week after your birthday on proof of ID, so we paid for a single ticket…

Friday, 1 February 2019: Creative Mornings CT, work lunch at Da Vinci’s

The best way to start my Friday, especially as we were finally over the endlessness of January and into February – with gold-flecked doughnuts and insights from Dan Mace at the first Creative Mornings Cape Town session of the year, held at Friends of Design on Bree Street. Click here for a reminder of my overview of the event!

It was also time for our first team lunch of the year on Friday, so we decided on Da Vinci’s on Kloof Street. See my peppermint crisp shake, as well as the R50 burger special I enjoyed, and various pretty salads consumed by colleagues.

Work lunching! We sat in a lovely tropical corner.

Saturday, 2 February 2019: A free birthday Aquarium visit

We breakfasted at MareSol at the Waterfront, close to the yachts in the harbour. See Husband’s cappuccino, Coke Zero and Portuguese breakfast pan, featuring chorizo, jalapenos and baked eggs, as well as my delicious caramelly Rabanadas (French toast made from Portuguese roll rather than bread) and glass of pineapple juice.

See the bright blue skies when we were sight-seeing between breakfast and the Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront. I love those rhinos so!

See Husband outside the Aquarium, two eels popping up to say hi top-left, as well as various other spiny waves ‘hello’.

I think I found Nemo. This ‘photo-posing’ cylinder is kiddie-size so I had to crawl around on the floor to get in and out. Anything for a good photo, teehee.

Baby shark, do do do do do do… See the shark pods top-left, baby sharks bottom right, penguins top right and Husband in explorer mode.

We also saw stretching starfish, stripy fish, jellyfish and coral-like stonefish (look closely at the picture bottom-right for their orange faces!)

Precious seahorses, glowing archways and various other fish.

Even more sea critters – rays, crabs and coral.

This selection of ‘tall things’ shows how the weather changed during our Waterfront visit. See the blue skies behind Life Grand Cafe on our way in, a clever ‘no-nonsense coffee guide’, and the decidedly grey skies behind a giraffe sculpture on our way out of the area.

The colourful stairs to the Silo District, at the other end of the V&A Waterfront.

It was a braai at Husband’s parents for dins that evening. See various braai meats, our green gazpacho starter made with Husband’s mum’s basil plant, as well as a very happy Bertie.

Sunday, 3 February 2019: Breakfast at the Blaauwberg Beach Hotel

Sunday was gloomy and grey and all day, with pockets of rain. We met Husband’s mom and brother at Waves restaurant at the Blaauwberg Beach Hotel, as his dad was taking part in a bike race in Stellenbosch. See some of the cheese and tomatoes at the breakfast buffet, as well as our strong cappuccinos and the grey skies outside.

Breakfasting at Waves! See how full it was, and our table of food. That’s a peanut-butter breakfast waffle for me, the ‘breakfast burger’ with extra egg for the boys, and the smashed avo brekkie for their mum.

Coffee, a book and spending time with my doglets made for a happy rainy Sunday morning.

The sky had cleared up a little bit by the time we went for our Sunday treat that afternoon, but Husband didn’t get in.

You know it’s cold if Husband has a coffee-based drink for his treat – even if he’s still wearing sleeveless vests. Lol. This is the Mexican coffee, featuring tequila, Kahlua, espresso and ice cream with a cinnamon rim – followed by the tomato sangrita shooter, while I had the enormous bowl of cooked Champurado – Masa harina, muscovado sugar, milk, dark chocolate, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla. The coffee and Champurado are both on the morning menu. Delicious!

We had two types of pie with salad at Mum’s for lupper, followed by homemade peppermint-crisp tart while watching the cricket – yum! Also see Bertie enjoying the breeze on the way home, with his sweet head out the window.

That’s all, folks! It’s set to be another scorcher of a weekend so stay cool.

How we celebrated Husband’s 39th birthday

It was Husband’s birthday on Tuesday, so there were quite a few celebrations over the past few days involving cocktails, pizzas and beach visits…

Friday, 25 January 2019: After-work dinner at Ikura Earth Cafe

Husband fetched me from the bus stop after work last Friday and we had an early dinner together at Ikura Earth Cafe. See my very pink shake, Husband’s glass of red, his salmon handrolls and my crispy honey chicken. Yum!

Saturday, 26 January 2019: Reload breakfast, Hooked lunch, Beach Tavern cocktails

We opted for a quick breakfast at Reload Parklands on Saturday morning, before kicking off our admin chores for the weekend. See Husband’s eggy-bacon breakfast, my scones with jam and cheese, our coffees and the lovely leafy setting.

After much mall admin, we tried Hooked in Tygervalley Mall for lunch on Saturday afternoon. Husband enjoyed his fishy platter for one and the waffle with bananas and hot, fudgey sauce served in a pan was delicious.

We also met my parents at Beach Tavern in Woodbridge Island for Saturday evening cocktails. See the beautiful creamy pina colada shake with pineapple wedge. Dad and me had these, while Mum and Husband had Bloody Marys.

The four of us at Beach Tavern, with our happy faces and cocktails.

The weather was lovely so we stopped at Dolphin Beach for a quick beach visit on our way home. I was befriended by a doggy and there was a wedding ceremony underway. We sat on a dune and watched for a little while.

Sunday, 27 January 2019: Carlucci’s breakfast and beautiful beach weather

We had breakfast at Carlucci’s in Table View on Sunday morning, with a view of Table Mountain and delicious coffees. Also see my large almond croissant and Husband’s salmon eggs benedict.

Beautiful Table Mountain beyond the bowl of Table Bay.

Husband walking through streams of mussel shells to reach his preferred sea-swimming hole.

Husband and sea birds, between various dips in the sea.

I had a ‘Coffee in a cone’ from the cashless Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay as my Sunday afternoon treat.

Precious clean doglets after their Sunday afternoon shower.

It was a ‘build your own gatsby’ lupper at Mum’s. Yums!

T’was a pretty Sunday sunset, though the sky was hazy.

Tuesday, 29 January 2019: Husband’s 39th birthday dins at Panarotti’s

We met both sets of parents at Panarotti’s in Table Bay Mall for Husband’s birthday dins, after a long day of work. See all the happy faces.

Also see some of our pizzas and pastas – they’re all on special on a Tuesday – as well as my Bar-One and Dad’s Cherry Bomb shake.

The standard ‘birthday hat photo’ with the doglets once we were home that evening.

That’s all for now, folks! We’re sure to celebrate Husband’s birthday even more this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled for my next update. 🙂