Discovering where pineapple belongs in the Italian kitchen at 95 at Parks

This past week has been another busy one packed with events and delicious food, as you’ll see from the snaps below…

Thursday, 20 June 2019: Kantar’s ‘Innovation for Growth’ workshop

Last Thursday, I attended Kantar’s ‘Innovation for Growth’ workshop, at their photogenic offices on the Foreshore. Click here for a reminder of my event overview article.

Friday, 21 June 2019: Orange sky before the storm

A line of orange clouds last Friday, before an enormous storm that evening.

Cold weather means lots of cold doggies snuggling up under blankies. And watching the rain from between the curtains.

Saturday, 22 June 2019: Munching at Trecastelli and Colala on Marine Circle

See our breakfast at Trecastelli on Marine Circle last Saturday morning. Flat whites and the cooked breakfast for Husband (it’s not on the menu but quite a popular choice), while I had the cappuccino-croissant special.

I was in dire need of a coffee refill when we were at the Mall later that afternoon. Nothing a R10 dirty chai latte from Xpresso can’t fix!

On Saturday afternoon we popped into Colala on Marine Circle for an early dins – they serve Asian fusion food, so you can have sushi and a creamy curry like Husband, or chicken cashew nut with egg fried rice like me. They also serve milkshakes like this caramel one, yay and bonus, they’re on the Entertainer app – we’ll be back!

Sunday, 23 June 2019: Reload Leadville breakfast

Sunday was a ‘Reload Leadville’ kind of morning, so we popped in for breakfast. See my mashed avo bagel and peppermint-choc latte, as well as Husband’s ‘trim’ mince, cheese and onion omelette. We also gret numerous happy doggies having walkies with their owners.

Coffee on our pretty new coffee side table.

Homemade creme caramel for dessert at Mum’s on Sunday. Yum!

Sweet, sleepy doglets as seen throughout the week.

Wednesday, 26 June 2019: Pasta Ripiena master class at 95@Parks

On Wednesday, I attended a ‘pasta ripiena’ master class at 95 at Parks, where chef Giorgio Nava shared tips and techniques to make his legendary stuffed pasta dishes. Mum came along too! See her with chef Nava, as well as the delightful setting.

I also had my pic snapped with Chef Nava, of course! See the delicious cheese we snacked on, the cosy setting, our first course of spinach and butternut ravioli, and the deep-fried Pasta Montenara.

The master class in action! Chef Giorgio Nava, with his two ‘helpers’, Giovanna and Jonas. All three showed us various aspects of the filled pasta creation process.

See the pasta ripiena menu, on offer until end-July, as well as the pea-and-ham cappelletti, pineapple sorbet (this is the answer to where pineapple belongs in the Italian kitchen – certainly not on pizza). Also see our espresso and cappuccino to end the meal. Click here for my official review on Biz, as well as to download Chef Nava’s pasta recipes from the master class!

Thursday, 27 June 2019: Surprise 50th office birthday party

We surprised our CEO with a birthday party a day early on Thursday. See some of the decorations and snacks.

Happy birthday! See Andre in white, just to the left of the gold ’50’ balloons, with the rest of team Biz gathered around.

We had pots of delicious Thai curry and rice, as well as stacks of sweet treats – always doughnuts for Andre – to celebrate.

That’s all folks! I’m taking a few days’ leave next week for a ‘digital detox’ of sorts, see you for next Friday’s 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! 🙂

August 2018 celebrations at All in the Kitchen, El Barrio and Rocomamas

Apologies for the slightly delayed post, loyal readers. As you probably know, I’m in Durban this week covering the Loeries so making do when I have a spot of free time.

And you’ll see the past week and a bit has also been busier than usual as we had the the Women’s Day public holiday, as well as both my parents’ birthdays.

See how we celebrated this and more below…

Monday, 6 August 2018: Media networking at Expresso Studios

It was an odd feeling to see all the settings that are synonymous with the Expresso morning show. We also met the six new SABC3 presenters, so click here if you missed my interviews with them.

Husband and I enjoying a flute of bubbly in front of the tropical wall at Expresso Studios.

Tuesday, 7 August 2018: Future Females’ women in leadership breakfast

I attended my first Future Females women in leadership breakfast session on Spin Street, all about better communication in the workplace. Click here for my coverage on Biz, if you missed it.

Thursday, 9 August 2018: Women’s Day breakfast at All in the Kitchen, Mexican dins at El Barrio

We started our Women’s Day on a delicious note, with breakfast at All in the Kitchen. See my bacon-egg croissant, the salmon-poached eggs-avo ‘omega breakfast; the others went for, and our flat whites. Also pretty roses, cakes and shots of Amaretto.

We tried El Barrio in Eden on the Bay for dinner that night. See the lovely decor and Husband’s ‘Mexican Flag’ tequila shooter.

The menu design is just gorgeous, and everything we ate and drank was delicious. See my Mexican chilli hot chocolate (you melt the chocolate into the hot, spiced milk); also our taco bowls – mine was pork, Husband had beef) – and also sunset.

Friday, 10 August 2018: Dad’s 68th birthday treats

Last Friday was my dad’s 68th birthday, so we popped in to wish him in person once we were done with work for the day. See some of the sweet treats Mum created, and the doggies loving all the attention.

Such a bright, pretty sunset in the suburbs.

Saturday, 11 August 2018: Daily Cafe breakfast, Panama Jacks lunch

We breakfasted at the Daily Cafe in Seaside Village on Saturday. See Husband’s coffee tasting tray and breakfast wrap, as well as my condensed-milky tin cup and ‘waffle pop’, topped with caramel and bananas.

The doggies had a heckin explore later that morning when we took them for a wander close to home. See Bertie in the water, curious Bassie and the mountain behind us.

We stopped in at Panama Jacks near the harbour for lunch after Husband popped in at work for a quick half-hour. See some of the sights we saw.

Lunch! Husband had the Thai fish curry with a glass of red, I had the duck starter and a ‘cookie’ shake. Yum.

Sleepy sweeties on the couch.

Sunday, 12 August 2018: Rocomama’s burgers, dogs and shakes

I went for three cinnamon-sugar pancakes for R20 and a butterscotch latte for breakfast at Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay last Sunday, while Husband had a flat white, Coke Zero and the salmon eggs benedict.

We headed out to Rocomama’s Durbanville for a between-parents-birthdays treat. Their burgers and dogs are always a treat!

See the beer- and cider-drinkers at one end of the table, the milkshakers on the other, and the ‘ plain half waffle’ we shared for dessert.

Speaking of milkshake… I made my way through this fantastic freak shake – the ‘Surprise Me’ on the day was an Oreo cookies/peanut buttery-caramel concoction, dripping with dark and white chocolate. Delicious!

My precious doglets. Probably wanting some of my coffee that evening. Or rather, the biscuit.

That’s all, folks! Watch for my Durban Loeries highlights in next week’s blog post. Wish me luck…

Bertie’s 8th birthday and the Cup & Cake breakfast buffet

Last week, our dear doggie boy Bertie turned 8. So despite us both having full plates of work, we made a plan to include delicious food and quality time with our furry children, too…

Thursday, 1 March 2018: Bertie’s 8th birthday

Aww! When we got home from work, I showed Bertie some of the birthday messages he’d received from friends and family on Facebook. He loved them, as you can see.

Teehee. This was the best option from a number of ‘birthday hat’ poses, I promise.

Friday, 2 March 2018: Coffee meet at Red Sofa Cafe

Did someone say ‘Friday coffee meet at the Red Sofa Cafe’? I was there like a bear, mirrored sunnies and all.

As it was breakfast time, I went for the flapjack stack. Brimming with blueberries, marscapone cheese and honey, it was delicious!

I tried the cheeseburger with sweet potato fries from the Bread Cafe downstairs for Friday lunch, once back in the office.

Saturday, 3 March 2018: Cup & Cake buffet breakfast

Husband was working again on Saturday, so I had a breakfast date my my parents at Cup & Cake at Eden, which has just moved to new premises. See some of the cakes and views here.

Also see my gingerbread latte, the sweet birdie sugar cup and more.

Table shot of all our eats and drinks at Cup & Cake.

We headed to Husband’s parents’ house for dins that eve, once he got home from work. Bassie was very affectionate with her dad.

Bertie ripped open his presents with a little help from his dad, and was delighted to meet his new TV-viewing companion, Seal. Bassie was happy to share his fancy doggy biscuits, too.

Bassie joined me while I had my post-dins coffee outside, just before the sun set. She wasn’t so sure about including Bertie in the photos, LOL.

Bertie snuggled with his seal on the couch that evening.

Teehee, he really loves his birthday seal!

Sunday, 4 March 2018: Breakfast at Village Place Cafe, Black Panther at GrandWest Casino

We all met at the Village Place Cafe for breakfast first thing on Sunday.

My Sunday cappuccino at Village Place Cafe.

Some of the food we ate. See Husband’s poached egg on a stack of sorts, as well as brother-in-law Spec’s more traditional plate of eggs, bacon, toast and tomato, with my banting flapjacks and mum-in-law’s mushroomy toast plate.

Later that morning, Spec met us at GrandWest Casino as we’d booked tickets to watch the latest Marvel movie, Black Panther. All had a fun time, as you can see 😉

Monday, 5 March 2018: Doggy snuggles on the couch

Bassie having a snuggle with her dad on the couch after another tough day at work.

It seems we interrupted an important conversation between the siblings when we snapped this photo of the doggies.

That’s all, folks! The weather looks quite chilly at the moment so perhaps we will give the beach a miss this weekend.

Table Mountain sunsets and how we celebrated my 34th birthday

Yay, last week was my birthday! If you’ve been waiting to find out how we celebrated it since then, rub your hands in glee and get scrolling below!

Thursday, 15 February 2018: Birthday breakfast at All in the Kitchen, dins at Saints

My parents treated me to breakfast at All in the Kitchen on Thursday morning. I love the ‘Chocolate doesn’t ask questions, chocolate understands’ sign!

See me with mum and dad and our lovely food at All in the Kitchen.

A close-up of that lovely food – Mum squeezing lemon for her avo croissant, Dad’s Omega breakfast with poached eggs and avo, with my nutty, fruity granola bowl bottom right. Love those berries!

All in the Kitchen owner Ally sweetly gifted me with a birthday cupcake! It was chocolate ganache-y delicious and even came with a lit candle.

My afternoon looked much like this – napping with the doggies, colouring in, reading and taking coffee breaks with my gorgeous new owlie mug. Birthday bliss!

Once Husband got home from work, we headed to Eden on the Bay in Big Bay for my birthday dinner. We decided on Saint’s where I had the Insomniac shake (the BEST ever, it’s a chocolate-espresso base topped with Kahlua and Amarula and it hardly kept me awake) – also see Husband’s glass of wine and our delicious burgers and sides. Happy birthday to me! 🙂

We stopped off for a photo of one of my favourite things – the lovely sunset over Table Mountain after dins.

We did a few of our standard ‘kiss on the cheek while wearing the birthday hat’ photos that evening. The doggies don’t look impressed.

Friday, 16 February 2018: Day off coffee at The Daily

One doesn’t take off a Thursday from work and then go in to the office on the Friday – no sir, catching up on all the work is Monday’s problem! One of the things I did on Friday was join my parents at The Daily Cafe in Seaside Village for a morning coffee.

See our coffees and laughs and breakfast plates.

Saturday, 17 February 2018: Solitary coffee at Peacocks, early dins at Bossa

Husband had to work on Saturday so we had a quick breakfast together at Mugg n Bean Bayside before he went to the office. See my iced mocha and croissant, with Husband’s decidedly larger farmer’s breakfast.

I stopped in at Peacocks at Bayside Mall for a quick coffee break following a spot of birthday retail therapy. This hazelnut latte was just what I needed!

Work done for the day, we had an early dins at Bossa in Burgundy Estate. See Husband’s Castle draught and ginormous Big Elvis chicken burger (with bacon, avo, hashbrown and melted cheddar) on the waiter’s recommendation, with my Feel Good pizza and Colada shake. All hit the spot!

Another beautiful sunset over Table Mountain, this time on the way home from Bossa.

Sunday, 18 February 2018: Family birthday breakfast at Cassia at Nitida

Sunday morning was time for the full family birthday breakfast. We’d chosen Cassia at Nitida as it’s not too far from all our homes and the breakfasts are delicious and affordable. See various family snaps outside.

Just look at the wonderful eats and drinks! See my cappuccino with the marscapone-bacon-blueberry flapjack stack ordered by Dad and me, as well as the salmon eggs benedict ordered by Husband and Mum-in-Law.

Delicious food = happy faces.

We had sausages and salads for lupper at Mum’s on Sunday evening, with an amazing nutty-bacon-broccoli salad, too. Yum!

Monday, 19 February 2018: Birthday cakes in the office

As I’d last been in the office the day before my birthday, I took in a selection of treats when I returned to my desk on Monday.

That’s all, folks! You can expect an update on the mind-blowing madness and mayhem of covering Design Indaba next time.

Husband’s 38th birthday and waffles on a stick at the Big Bay Summer Market

This past week took an age to get through. Perhaps because we’re finally in February and January’s always the longest month, what with transitioning back into ‘work mode’ after the end-of-year break.

Here’s what we’ve been up to since my last update…

Friday, 26 January 2018: Meltwater webinar presentation

Look at me, looking nervous/excited/relieved with Philippa Dods, Meltwater’s amazing marketing coordinator for India, Middle East & Africa last Friday, after a successful PR webinar presentation. No need for FOMO if you missed it, just click on this link to the recording so you can catch-up!

Saturday, 27 January 2018: Sweet treats at Sweet Loaf, brotherly dins at Catch22

We started our weekend at Wimpy in Bayside as we had a few weekend admin chores to do while there. And surprise, soon after we ordered my parents also ended up there for breakfast! I enjoyed my regular Wimpy coffee and toasted cheese on a stick. Husband had the streaky bacon breakfast with extra cheesegriller (as did Dad), while Mum went for the avo-toast. A good start to the day!

We also did some motorbike-gear pricing at Sable Square and stopped at Sweet Loaf for a quick treat – everything sells for R11, whether you want a cappuccino, can of Cola, mini-cake load or palm-size pie.

Aww! Little Miss Bassie was such a happy girl when we popped in at her grandparents’ house that evening for some tech assistance.

Bertie was also eager to share his affection with his dad. Big licks!

Spec was spending the night with us so after a quick unpack at our house we headed off to Catch22 for dins. See Husband enjoying his glass of red top-left, my gingerbread latte top-right, Spec with his Amstel bottom-left, and Husband and me in front of the tropical paradise painting outside bottom-right. T’was so bright, we needed to wear sunnies.

And the food? Oh boy was it good! See group photo top-left, full table of food bottom-left, that day’s specials in the middle my buccaneer beef burger topped with bacon and cheese top-right and Husband’s baby kingklip with veg bottom-right. Spec went for the linefish with calamari special. All delicious!

Later that evening we walked down the beach to see the kite-surfing competition in action – it was suitably windy!

Sunday, 28 January 2018: Husband’s family birthday lunch at Bossa

The little ones were happy to pose with me on the couch as my coffee was in a doggy-patterned mug so they felt right at home. As they should, as they were at home. Teehee.

For the first time in many years, we all live in the same city so could do a combined birthday lunch for Husband. See the eisbein with roast veg with parents shared top-left, the pizza me and father-in-law ate top-right, dad’s strong flat white bottom-left (and he had a Black Label draught before that, so his placemat was accurate), with a full family shot bottom right.

Once we’d had time to digest lunch, we stopped off at Husband’s favourite sea-swimming hole for his weekly dunk.

We stopped in at Table Bay Mall for a spot of birthday shopping and a treat in the form of Milky Lane ice creams, mmm! Husband’s is plain vanilla with caramel topping and assorted syrups, mine is the berry-meringue whizzer.

Monday, 29 January 2018: Husband’s 38th birthday

Here’s the first batch of ‘kisses with the birthday hat’ photos. The doggies were keen to join in but seemed shy once we started taking the pics.

These are our attempts while sitting on the couch. If i was licking Bertie’s head in the bottom-left pic (I’m not, I’m blowing Husband a kiss but Bertie angled himself in such a way that it looks like Bass is licking my hand, I’m licking Bertie’s head and he’s licking his dad’s chin.) Crying with laughter!

Tuesday, 30 January 2018: Office donuts and owlie mugs

When clients cancel Tuesday meetings and send through apology donuts (from Dunking Donuts, else they’d be ‘doughnuts’), we share. Also, meet my new hipster owl office mug – disinterested deer has bitten the dust.

T’was also the day I did a video interview in the Barclays Rise space in the Woodstock Exchange. I’ll share the link to that interview next week. For now, see the interesting surrounds.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018: Waffles on a stick at the Big Bay Summer Market

It’s been a while since the last ‘I love Big Bay’ food and craft market, usually held at the Big Bay Lifesaving Club at Eden on the Bay on the last Wednesday of every month. It was a very windy day so we didn’t stay very long.

Various shots of me with my waffle on a stick, also see my potato wedges topped with paprika and parmesan top-left. Yum!

Look at the choices! All were fresh and chocolate-y but I went for the ‘Astronaut’, as it was covered in mini-Astros and looked like an edible Christmas tree. Yum.

Thursday, 1 February 2018: #NespressoOnIce pop-up shop at work

The NespressoOnIce truck is conducting a road trip across the country and stopped in at our office on Thursday afternoon. We were thrilled to try a few of the iced coffee options as it was a very hot day.

That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend 🙂

Velvet cakes, mum’s Moyo 63rd and mum-in-law’s 65th at Steenberg Bistro 1982

I think every August blog post I’ve ever published has mentioned that it’s been a very birthday-filled month. Add my Loeries work coverage to the mix and it’s almost impossible to fit in everything we want or need to do. Despite the craziness we did still get to see both our moms for their birthdays in the past few days, as you’ll see below…

Sunday, 13 August 2017: Mum’s birthday lunch at Moyo

My mom usually cooks Sunday lupper for us, so we decided having her NOT cook would be one of her gifts, especially as her birthday fell on a Sunday this year. We went to Moyo for something different, and as we’d let them know it was Mum’s birthday, she was presented with a special dish of ice cream and berry sauce, was sung to, made to wear a hat AND fed the first spoonful.

To eat, we went with the sweet potato soup (me), the flame-grilled chermoula fish (Husband), the Maputo peri-peri chicken (Mum) and the oxtail with dumplings (Dad). We were all licking our fingers afterwards, so delicious!

We tried the ‘Independence’ shooters to end the meal in style. They’re yummy Pina Colada-y concoctions!

We took a photo of our Moyo-painted faces when we got home before the paint started flaking off.

Sunset from my parents’ house later that evening.

Tuesday, 15 August 2017: Velvet Cake Co sneak peek

I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of some of the Velvet Cake Co’s new treats – my parents came along. Click here for all the words, this is just proof I was there in front of the lovely cake-painted walls.

Aren’t these the most gorgeous cakes? Really special.

Probably the prettiest slice of cake I’ve ever seen.

Little bites of all sorts of niceness. An enormous strawberry, caramel-popcorn-meringue topped cupcake, and red velvet cupcake.

Wednesday, 16 August 2017: Opening of CEM Africa Summit

Scenes from the first day of the CEM Africa Summit – gin stands, a packed panel session, interesting art work in the Century City Conference Centre and proof I was there covering it.

Saturday, 19 August 2017: Mum-in-law’s birthday breakfast at Steenberg’s Bistro 1682

My mum-in-law decided she wanted to host her 65th birthday breakfast at Steenberg’s Bistro 1682 all the way back when we first took her there in November last year, before they had officially moved down here from Johannesburg. The weather played along beautifully on the day.

If you’ve been to Bistro 1682 for breakfast you’ll know the wonder of this surprise – the warm, sweet rolls with toffee sauce to dip in that are served while waiting for your meals to arrive. Drool!

“Happy birthday to you!” Oysters were shucked, pork belly-bacon benedicts devoured, bubbly toasts were made and a special birthday plate of treats was presented to the birthday girl. All in all a lovely birthday experience.

The other side of the table – an almost-well-from-his-cold Husband, a just-starting-to-suffer-the-symptoms dad and a smiling-happily brother-in-law.

Bellies full, we trotted outside for some family photos. First up, Husband with his clan.

Then it was our turn.,, ❤

Now one with everyone, minus my father-in-law as photographer. On taking this pic we realised we had all dressed to a blue/green theme without realising. Stylish!

Husband whisked me away to our nearest Spur with a view of the sea much, much later for a quick Saturday afternoon treat between batches of work. We ended up with a Pina Colada, hazelnut latte and chicken-bacon-avo salad to share.

Sunday, 18 August 2017: Coffee tasting tray at The Daily

We popped in at Seaside Village’s Daily Cafe for a quick breakfast bite before more work rolled in. Here is Husband with his coffee, the new menus and my Nutella-banana pancakes. Always start your day with chocolate, where you can!

Of course I went for the coffee tasting tray when I saw it on the menu. It’s three tiny cups of plain espresso, espresso con panna (with cream) and their famous ‘tin cup’ with condensed milk. A must for coffee lovers like me. I’m trying their hot chocolate tasting tray next!

Apologies for the lack of doggy pics this week, kids – here’s a pic of our little angel Freckles to make up for it.

That’s all, folks! Have a happy, sunny weekend and click here for more of our Velvet Cake Co experience.

Husband’s 37th birthday hot dog and a farewell at Kirstenbosch

We celebrated Husband’s 37th birthday this past weekend, amongst other things on other days…

Monday, 23 January 2017: Spur’s Bar-One shake and chicken bacon salad

We popped into our nearest Spur after work last Monday and shared their chicken-bacon salad. Husband had a cappuccino and I slurped up their Bar-One shake.

Tuesday, 24 January 2017: Doggy beach walk

With my parents on a cruise for the week, we distracted the doggies with a nice long walk at Kreeftebaai after work. T’was remarkably empty.

The doggies had a lovely time chasing the sea and shouting at the birdies.

This is what it’s like for one person to walk both doggies – they veer off in opposite directions, with Bertie aiming at the sea and Bassie investigating the shells and dunes.

For dins that night, Husband had rustled up the following deliciousness – roast chicken with gravy, bright peas and potatoes roasted in duck fat. My new favourite.

Wednesday, 25 January 2017: Evening at Cape Town Comedy Club

We were invited to the Cape Town Comedy Club at the V&A Waterfront after work for a social evening with the team from Popimedia. We got there early as we had to leave early (before any of the comedy line-up even) to catch my next Photoshop webinar at 9pm, but still had fun. We dressed to the ‘black and red’ theme for the night, and I highly recommend the chocolate shake – very moussey.

Proof we were there. As it was previously known as Jou Ma Se Comedy Club, of course I tried the Jou Ma Se burger and Husband had the Jou Ma Se pulled lamb gatsby. Good dining fare.

Friday, 27 January 2017: Creative Mornings talk at Friends of Design

Tickets to the monthly Creative Morning talk go fast – so fast that this is the first time I’ve registered to attend in time. It’s held at Friends of Design on Bree Street, which is a working design lab and has lots of interesting things to see.

Even better? It’s free to attend, and there are lovely snacks, coffees and Sir Juice smoothies to get your creative juices flowing. Will do my best to register in time for each monthly talk!

Saturday, 28 January 2017: Pre-birthday celebrations

We started our Saturday at Village Place Cafe. Husband had a cappuccino, Coke and salmon eggs benedict. I went for a toffee cappuccino and the bacon, banana and nut-topped French Toast.

After a few weekend chores it was time for Husband’s pre-birthday dins, so we headed to the Ocean Sizzler at Eden on the Bay in Big Bay. He opted for the Sunset Screamer cocktail and seafood pasta, I went for a coffee milkshake and a cheese burger. Yummy.

Bellies full, we wandered around Big Bay as there were interesting things to see.

Sunday, 29 January 2017: Husband’s birthday fun

Birthday breakfast! We woke up pretty late so headed off to Reload in Parklands. Look at my bokkie in front of the bokkie wall, and note his breakfast hot dog with extra egg, my smashed avo bagel and toffee latte.

I had two free 2D movie tickets thanks to #AbsaRewards so we watched Passengers at Grand West Casino. Teehee at how I made Husband look all birthday-like with the added hat and balloons. 😉 We thoroughly enjoyed it.

When we got to Mum’s house for lupper she had pulled out all the stops – spaghetti bolognese with grated parmesan, her magical carrot cake complete with pineapple and walnuts (click here for a reminder of last year’s version), and the birthday hat that’s served us well over the past few years.

Thursday, 2 February 2017: Farewell picnic in Kirstenbosch

I’ve been to Kirstenbosch a few times but there’s always something new to see, like this bench just calling you to take a break and gaze at the purple-and-greenery.

Instead of cake and sad farewells in the office, we picnicked under a tree like this. The sky was very eerie and ominous, with someone saying, “If you try very hard, you can almost believe we’re in Jurassic World”. Ironic because…

Top left is a family of interested ducks, but look at the dinos top right and bottom left! How have I never seen these before? Also, the natural spring that provides for the entire park.

Cheese! (We ate some, too). Lol. Best bunch of people to spend eight hours a day with.

Woollies’ Pom Royale is lovely – non-alcoholic pomegranate with a vanilla flavour. We ate cheese, snack platters and homemade salted caramel ice cream. Lovely picnic!

That’s all, folks! Have a relaxing weekend.

Bertie’s sixth birthday

Hello, poor loyal blog reader who’s been set adrift along the winding paths of the internet with no safe harbour in which to dock your thoughts, fretting over my lack of update last Friday. Not only did I have much more to do than I usually do on any given Friday – father-in-law and a friend from Joburg were staying with us to participate in last weekend’s Argus Cycle Challenge (more on that in the next update) – but I also ran into some space/image storage issues right here on WordPress. So much so that I wondered whether it was even worth continuing with this. But, on reading up on how taking photos helps keep memories alive in later years, I gave myself a little pep talk and plunged in, for the benefit of my future self if nothing else. So, rather than pay to keep adding to the blog you’ve known for four years I chose to go with a whole new blog, which you’re now feasting your eyes on. I know, I know, it actually looks very similar to the old blog, but I’ll slowly be easing in some changes to the format so it’s not too much of a shock to the system.

For now, here’s last week’s promised post on Bertie’s sixth birthday…

Saturday, 27 February 2016: Wimpy brekkie, choc-cross buns, Jerry’s Burgers

We had a full day of weekend admin ahead of us, so first stop was the local Wimpy, to make sure our belly grumbles were at an all-time low. Husband demolished this tasty plate…

I had my default toasted cheese, drenched the chips in sauce and washed it all down with a Wimpy coffee.

The doggies tested their ‘cat skills’ by perching on the back rest of the couch. They’re very good at it.

The doggies prompty stopped the cat act when the vaccuum cleaner came out to ensure all was a-sparkle for Grampa’s visit. Both look very much like dogs here.

With Easter just around the corner, I couldn’t resist these chocolate-topped and filled hot cross buns. With coffee, of course.

Later that afternoon we lunched at Jerry’s Burger Bar on Kloof Street with mum and dad.

I went for the pulled pork burger with a slice of cooked apple, washed down with a gingerbread milkshake – just as good as the version in Blouberg. T’was, as Roald Dahl would say, ‘scrumdiddlyumptious’. But Husband’s Philly Cheese Steak burger was even better, remind me to have that next time!

Sunday, 28 February: Eggs benedict in Melbos 

We felt like a little road trip for Sunday breakfast, so headed out to Melkbos. These are the pretty heart-stamped napkins at I ❤ Melkies

Husband had the full salmon eggs benedict, I went for the half-size option with bacon. Very tasty indeed.

We remembered to stop in at our local vet pet shop to redeem the doggies’ Hills Science Plan voucher. They were very interested in what the packaging said…

The new kibble seemed to go down a treat as they spent the rest of the afternoon lying close together, acting like siblings for once. They say, “Thanks Hill’s, for another wonderful woofy surprise!”

When we got to Mum’s for lupper, she whipped up a batch of fresh scones with jam and cream. Lovely afternoon tea.

Tuesday, 1 March 2016: Bertie turns six

Can’t believe our furry little boy dog is already six. Click here if you’ve forgotten what I wrote about him on his fourth birthday.

Doesn’t he look smug! Over the years he’s learned to tolerate wearing the birthday hat. Click here for a reminder of last year’s birthday hat photo.

The second he unwrapped his squeaky piggy birthday toy Bertie ran off to unstuff and desqueak him. He happily pulled out bits of piggy innard for hours on end.

While Bassie doesn’t like squeaky toys, she’s a real jealousy custard, so her grandparents got her a chewy rawhide toy. This was her guilty face when I caught her eating it on the bed.

Soon he was a happy, tired boy, happy to snuggle on the couch. Happy birthday, Bertie Andrews!

That’s all for now, next update to follow soon…