33rd birthday freak shakes, fish tanks and family lunches

T’was my birthday on Wednesday and luckily Husband was off this week following his week of being ‘Marvin’, as his parents were in town…

Friday, 10 February 2017: Photoshop diploma and FUE date night

The first thing I did on getting home from work last Friday was go through the final lesson and quiz for my diploma in Photoshop through Shaw Academy. I squeaked by with 99%.

To celebrate my diploma and Husband finally having a few days off work, we set off for the Festive Underground Eatery of FUE, where I had this monster shake on my last birthday, before ‘freak shakes’ were a thing. They have a Friday night date night special of two burgers, two fries and a shake to share for R199…

The monster coffee shake that we ‘shared’ – Husband had a sip and no more as we were worried all that caffeine would affect his already shaky sleep patterns from working night shift.

Saturday, 11 February 2017: Airport collection and Petiscos dins

Bertie’s previous toy/TV-watching companion had become a grotty raggedy thing, so Husband presented him with a new friend – Monkey – first thing on Saturday. Bertie set about removing Monkey’s eyes, with a few licks as though to say sorry for hurting Monkey. Such a funny dog.

We headed off to the nearest Wimpy for breakfast before our airport trip to collect the parents. I went for a toasted cheese and Wimpy coffee, Husband had a Coke and streaky bacon breakfast with extra cheese griller.

Precious cargo safely collected from the airport, we headed back home to wait on an important delivery…

A fish tank! We’d been buying accessories over the weeks and finally ordered this tank last weekend as a combined birthday present to ourselves, for delivery on Saturday. No fishies in there yet as the water is being filtered and chemically altered to be just right – another week and it should be ready.

After a few more ‘Saturday things’ we were all feeling peckish and you can’t go wrong with a meal at Petiscos. Husband went for the hot chicken curry, the parents tried the hake and mussel combos, and I went for the can’t-miss chicken xai xai and Lindt Flake shake. Best!

Lol. Excuse the red lighting from the plastic sun filter to the side of the balcony.

We were done and dusted early enough to catch the sunset from Blouberg beachfront – note the males were brave enough to go knee-deep in the icy water.

Sunday, 12 February 2017: Braai with all the parents

If it’s Sunday and the Andrewses are around, it must be braai time. We braaied at ours on Sunday afternoon, with both sets of parents in attendance. All the food was delicious and there were lots of laughs.

Tuesday, 14 February 2017: BrandLove CX Trends talk, Woodbridge Island lunch and watering parents’ garden

Each time I attend an event held by BrandLove I feel there’s more and more to learn from them. Their latest customer experience trends event took place on Tuesday at the 360 Business Parks space in Paarden Eiland. This was the packed room in attendance.

Conference complete and on leave for a few days, I met Husband and his dad at Ilha in Woodbridge Island for a snack while his mum was out meeting former colleagues. We shared a portion of their bacon-feta jalapeno poppers, with Father-in-law opting for an omelette (despite it being afternoon time), and Husband and I shared the chicken schnitzel and chips. Yes, that is yet another coffee shake you see before me 🙂

Due to water restrictions in the Cape, we’re only allowed to water our gardens at certain times, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, using buckets not hoses. As the parents were here on a Saturday and a Tuesday, we popped in to water the garden and also give the doggies a tour before the official move in a month or so. There was lots of exploring!

Bassie decided my lap was the best spot to sit and wait while the others did what they could to water the garden with buckets.

Wednesday, 15 February 2017: Birthday relaxing, family lunch and doggy beach walk

I’ve been taking my birthday off work for a good few years now. There’s nothing better than sleeping in, especially as the day flies by with all the calls and messages that come in. I also had the chance to read with my feet up and some caramel tea – of course Bassie wedged in beside me.

Husband and father-in-law joined my dad and his weekly pool tournament with his neighbourhood friends. Here they all are at Poole in Parklands.

I’d been chomping at the bit to try the deliciousness of All in the Kitchen for a while now. They recently moved from Boy de Goede circle to Marine Drive, but close at 6pm and don’t open on weekends. Seeing as we’d all be available we booked a table for lunch on my birthday. The meal of the day was roast beef with roast potatoes – see top left – the cappuccinos were strong and the coffee shakes were delicious. Everyone ordered the ‘meal of the day’ apart from me. That’s because…

Look. at. that. CAKE! I’d seen a preview of the ‘cake of the day’ on All in the Kitchen’s Facebook page and just knew I’d be going for this, the Nutella chocolate cake. It came complete with birthday candle and singing – just delicious!

After a brief nap it was time to walk off some of that food, and what better way to do so than at the beach with the doglets? You can make out Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, Husband and Bertie in this shot from Kreeftebaai – Bassie stayed out of view with me.

It was a treat having someone else along to take photos during our walkies. Love Bertie shaking himself after his swim in the sea and the contented looks on both doggies’ faces once back home again.

Hehe. The annual ‘kiss on the cheek while wearing the birthday hat’ snap ❤ Click here for a reminder of last year’s version and here for the year before.

Thursday, 16 February 2017: Bread & Butter breakfast, Captain’s Kitchen cocktails

As we were both still on leave for the day, we decided on breakfast at Bread & Butter for the parents’ final meal with us before they returned home. I opted for the cheese and ham on sweet potato bread, Husband had the salmon eggs benedict and the parents each had the ‘hen’ breakfast.

We ended up at Captain’s Kitchen at Eden on the Bay in Big Bay that afternoon. I tried the blue crush-topped, pineapple-y Captain’s Sunset cocktail while Husband went for his firm favourite, the Long Island Ice Tea. The perfect way to round out a few days of leave.

That’s all, folks! Have a happy weekend. 🙂