Waffles sweet and savoury, shakes and frozen frappes

Last week was full of sunshine, good food and sweet doggie moments, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Saturday, 17 November 2018: Afternoon naps and braais

We had mall admin to sort out at Table Bay Mall first thing, so it was a Mugg & Bean breakfast for us. See our samples of blood-orange gingerade (very nice), the bottomless coffee station, table decor and our food, which Husband called ‘un-characteristically underwhelming’.

We shared a savoury waffle for Saturday lunch at the Big Bay Waffle Company in Eden on the Bay. Also see my frozen white chocolate latte (frappe) and Husband’s white chocolate shake.

Sweet doglets trying to wake their dad from his Saturday afternoon nap.

The beautiful, bubbling sea – it looks lovely from a distance but was actually quite murky and foamy up close. So much so that Husband skipped his weekly sea dip!

We attended a later-than-usual braai at Husband’s parents that eve, to coincide with the SA vs Scotland rugby match aired on TV after 7pm. See some of the food we ate, and the dessert Bassie wanted to eat.

More scenes from the braai – Bassie smelling the flowers and eyeing the braai meat, Bertie licking his dad’s nose and sunset setting in.

Bertie loved sitting wedged between his mom and grampa while watching the rugby after the braai.

Sunday, 18 November 2018: Melkbos morning

Our ‘I Love Melkies’ breakfast on Sunday morning was a win. See our coffees and the setting, as well as my bacon-marscapone-strawberry waffle.

Husband’s second flat white and ‘hash and pork’ bowl, so good he declared it delicious.

A beautiful lilac double-Adirondack I spotted while we were walking in Melkbos. I must have!

We stopped in at Catch 22 on Marine Drive for Sunday afternoon treats. See Husband’s jumbo oysters and Bloody Mary, as well as my Ferrero Rocher shake. Yum!

Table Mountain, as seen from the powdery sands of Dolphin Beach. The sea was still too choppy for a dip, alas.

Mum made a chocolate peanut-butter cake that had us all asking for more.

Tuesday, 20 November 2018: R59 Tuesday pizza special at Panarotti’s

Husband had to work late on Tuesday evening, when my parents usually come over with dins, so instead we met them at Panarotti’s in Table Bay Mall for the R59 pizza special. All thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, from the pizza to the cherry cola and salted caramel shakes as sampled by me and dad. See Husband pretending to pour his glass of red into mum’s Sprite Zero.

Wednesday, 21 November 2018: Corinium’s Women in Digital and Data conference at The Forum, Embassy Hill

More scenes from in and around the venue.

I’d never been to The Forum at Embassy Hill in Constantia, what a beautiful conference setting! The insights were also fantastic and will be featured on Bizcommunity over the coming weeks.

Thursday, 22 November 2018: HeavyChef’s ‘entrepreneurial grit’ masterclass at Workshop 17

One of the best cups of filter coffee I’ve ever had. Delicious and fresh, especially after dipping an arm elbow-deep into an ice bucket for almost 2 minutes for important lessons on mindset. Watch for my coverage of the masterclass on Bizcommunity, if you’re not sure what I mean by that!

Some of the sights from inside Workshop 17. What a wonderful co-working space! Easy to see why so many work events are held at Workshop 17.

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

What you missed at AfricaCom 2018 and Friday evenings at Moyo

This past week has been busy as always work-wise, so we did what we could to relax after hours…

Friday, 9 November 2018: Moyo sea-dip evening

Certain cocktails are R39 at Moyo on a Friday before 6pm, like the creamy pina colada.

Given the above picture, you can see that we started that weekend feeling earlier than usual by popping out for a quick beach visit once we were done with work. See Husband’s draught (R25 before 6pm on a Friday!), as well as my Pina Colada and our shared pulled-pork linguine at Moyo in Eden on the Bay. Also see Husband’s splash in the sea.

The sky was beautiful when we got home that evening.

Saturday, 10 November 2018: CTFM paella and shakes

We had some mall admin to tick off our weekend to-do list so we started the morning with cappuccinos and breakfast at Bayside’s Mugg & Bean. See Husband’s bean and bacon hash benedict, and my rainbow slaw-sweetcorn-avo toast.

Lots of birds on the rocks next to Husband’s usual sea-swimming spot.

It was so hot that I passed on hot drinks and instead tried the iced coffee slushy at Expresso in Table Bay Mall (delicious). Seen with a chocolate-cinnamon twist and Husband’s tiny con panna.

We wanted ‘dinner with a view’ so headed out to CTFM in Seaside Village. See Husband’s seafood paella and my burger with chips and onion rings.

See me with my Cookies and Cream shake jar, Husband’s delight at his pan of paella, and how he loved it so much that he licked the pan clean.

I spent some quality time with my precious boy dog on the couch that evening.

Sunday, 11 November 2018:  Baconville breakfast, Pakalolo cocktails and Dolphin Beach visit

You feel like you’re right in the countryside, travelling from Table View to the Durbanville and Tyger Valley side.

We forgot to snap a shot of the attendees, but Baconville was the venue for our Sunday morning breakfast with Husband’s parents. See the heart in my chocolate latte and our various bacon-topped breakfast plates.

Nothing says ‘sunny Sunday’ like a beach walk! See our brief visit to Dolphin Beach.

View of Table Mountain across the snowy sands of Dolphin Beach.

By then, the weather was shouting that it was time for a cocktail. Here is Husband with his Bloody Mary at Pakalolo’s.

I went for the colourful Smoky something (seems Pakalolo’s online menus are out of date or else I would tell you the exact name). T’was delicious.

Mum set out all the fixings for chicken fajitas for Sunday lupper, and later whipped up a batch of peanut-butter cookies, fresh and delicious with coffee.

Bassie thought my cream-topped coffee smelled just as good as the cookies.

Wednesday, 13 to Thursday, 15 November 2018: AfricaCom at the CTICC

I covered sessions of AfricaCom from Tuesday to Thursday, with so much going on at the same time – 9 different conference tracks – that it was held across both the CTICC and new CTICC 2 venue, so you get to cross the ‘skybridge’ multiple times.

View from the top floor of the CTICC 2. So much business conferencing going on!

More scenes from AfricaCom. The Speculaas ice-cream in the Expo centre was yum, and it was fun to watch the live graffiti installation.

Pretty colours in our dining room when Mum created a quick pasta bake for our Tuesday visit.

On Wednesday, I quickly dashed out between AfricaCom sessions to catch a ‘bring your own lunch’ lunchtime lecture at Red & Yellow School, before dashing back to the CTICC.

I’d brought the popcorn snack with me from the AfricaCom expo – also popped in a few chocolatey treats to munch on while taking notes!

It was a beautiful evening and we both got home later than usual on Wednesday so decided on Jerry’s for dinner, as a mid-week treat. See Husband with his glass of red, me with my Pina Colada shake, our burgers and the sunset.

That’s all for now, folks! See you next week 🙂

Farewell curries at Ninety One and CTICC conferencing

Can you believe we’re already in August! This past week has been busy on all fronts as usual, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Friday, 27 July 2018: Birthday cakes at work and Petiscos dins

Almost as soon as I’d sat down at my desk on Friday, it was time to leave for the monthly Creative Mornings Cape Town talk, held at Friends of Design on Bree Street. The talk was on the theme of ‘intention’ – watch for my coverage on Biz this coming Monday.

When I got back to the office there was a selelction of cakes and sweet treats to celebrate my colleague Gail’s birthday. T’was lovely!

It had been a long, hard work week so we treated ourselves to dins at Petiscos last Friday night, as we had so enjoyed the chicken fillet xai xai the previous weekend. It was delicious and came fast! Husband had his with a glass of red again, I went for the wild berry shake.

Saturday, 28 July 2018: Small dogs and Sea Point curries

We had weekend admin to tick off our lists at Table Bay Mall on Saturday, so we started off with a quick breakfast at Mugg & Bean. See Husband’s bacon-egg-tomato toast and my triple-choc muffin, That’s a flat white for me and a serious cappuccino for him.

My sweet girl enjoying the sunshine outside on Saturday morning.

Sometimes Bertie sits in a way that makes him look tiny (he’s a hefty 10kg ‘medium’ according to doggie food charts). Bless.

The doglets on the couch together that afternoon. Little Miss Bassie looks concerned, Bertie not so much.

On Saturday evening we made the long trek past town, to combine a colleague of mine’s farewell dinner with my brother-in-law Spec’s birthday. We went to Ninety One in Sea Point and had the most delicious curries – the butter chicken with peshwari (desiccated coconut and raisin) naan bread as amazing!

The girls! Some have since left the team, but we’re always good for a curry dinner catch-up.

Sunday, 29 July 2018: Baconville breakfast, Moyo sunset dins

We treated Spec to breakfast at Baconville on Sunday morning. See my large Flake-topped chocolate latte catching some sun.

It was sunny and there was coffee and bacon, so we were happy.

Choc-chip birthday queen cakes Mum whipped up for Spec, eaten at my in-laws’ house on Sunday afternoon.

Bertie was a sleepy sweetheart that afternoon and slept on his dad’s lap, almost on top of his sister and spreadeagled on the sun-warmed carpet.

We decided on a shared bowl of the lamb-shank linguine at Moyo in Eden on the Bay for our early Sunday dins. Also see my hazelnut latte and lots of heaters and interesting pink lights.

We had the full Moyo experience with gas heaters and drumming music and my face-painted, and were lucky enough to catch the sun setting over the sea just as we were leaving.

Tuesday, 31 July 2018: Farewell cakes at work

Such beautiful cakes! These were in honour of Ilse’s formal farewell lunch at work on Tuesday.

Wednesday, 1 August 2018: CEM Africa conference day one

Wednesday was the first day of the annual customer experience management or CEM Africa Summit. I’d not been to the CTICC for a while so enjoyed taking in the scenery before the conference sessions kicked off.

The food during tea breaks and lunch was as good as always at the CTICC, with fresh pastries and mini muffins, as well as sticky doughnuts, assorted desserts, and lots of small round foods easy to eat with the hands. I approve!

Thursday, 2 August 2018: CEM Africa conference day two

The food choices on day two did not disappoint!

Some of my favourite keynote presentations included these slides. You can read more about them here, here and here.

Of course I stopped for a photo at the BrandLove booth, they’re my favourite CX team!

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

Full Lion’s Head hike with Wally’s Cave and the Beerhouse float reward

Last weekend we braved the Lion’s Head hike with brother Spec, as he’d not tackled it before. But first…

Friday, 20 October 2017: Galliova Awards at Landtscap, Stellenbosch

Last Friday, I covered the 2017 Galliova Awards. I started my day in the office, then caught a shuttle from the CTICC to Landtscap wine farm in Stellenbosch, and rubbed shoulders with celeb chef Zola Nene and this year’s ‘broiler champion’ for chicken-writing, Abigail Donelly.

Obviously the food for an event celebrating ‘food writers’ has to be exceptional. Landtscap outdid our expectations – click here for a full list of all the ‘chicken and egg’ themed food we ate.

T’was a truly lovely afternoon. Click here for all my words about it on Biz.

It was also #ChampagneDay, so I was happy to do my bit…

Saturday, 21 October 2017: Musselling and braai at our house

The three faces of Bassie when I had my first coffee of the weekend – “Mmm, that smells nice Mom, what is it? Oh it’s coffee. OK then, as you were.” What a cutie!

The entire Andrews family was going musselling on Saturday morning, an event that had been planned for months, with the resulting ‘catch’ to be eaten as starters at the braai at our house later that afternoon. Spec had driven over from Fish Hoek the night before to spend the weekend with us, so we all met up at Doodles on the beachfront for their weekend buffet breakfast.

A-musselling we will go! Tummies lined, we headed up the beach to Husband’s favourite spot for musselling, permits in hand.

Here’s the overall mussel haul. Soaking, about to be debearded and scrubbed for cooking.

As we were in need of the extra man power to complete the task, we took advantage of having Spec in the house to help replace the old helicopter fish tank centrepiece with this shipwreck. Also topped up the gravel and gave it a good grit vaccuum.

The doggies were on their sweetest behaviour during the braai later that afternoon.

Sunday, 22 October 2017: News Cafe brekkie, Lion’s Head hike

We knew we needed a big breakfast to sustain us on the hike ahead, so we joined my parents for breakfast at News Cafe in Marine Circle as you can’t beat the value of their R35 early bird English breakfast special.

We knew the task ahead of us so took it slow, with lots of breaks to admire the view along the way.

The best thing about the Lion’s Head hike is that it’s not a straight, endless line up to the top (ahem, looking at you Platteklip and Skeleton gorges!) Instead you wind around the peak a few times so there’s a new view every few metres.

Proof that we made it to the very tippy top of Lion’s Head.

Peak summitted, we began our slow climb down with a detour along the way. Success! Wally’s Cave isn’t easy to find if you’re coming at it from the top, as we were. We took a few wrong turns but eventually reached our destination. That’s Lion’s Head done and dusted in full.

We were in desperate need of a treat after that, so headed off to Beerhouse on Long Street. The Andrews brothers never say no to a beer, and as for me, well…

This is what I came for – the ‘beer float’ – listed on their dessert menu as it’s a mug of milk stout topped with salted caramel and bourbon ice cream, with honeycomb crumbs on a cloud of whipped cream above that, ribbons of dulce de leche and chocolate ganache dripping down the sides and cherry on top. Also served with a side of grilled marshmallow skewers.

Two more angles of my beer float, and Husband framed with his draught.

Coffee with cream and coconut-jam tartlets at Mum’s that evening.

Monday, 23 October 2017: Gourmet Guide launch at The Stack

I was invited to the launch of the second edition of the JHP Gourmet Guide on Monday morning, at The Stack in Gardens. It was a foodie event packed with delicious treats, tiger ceramics and sunny views.

The Stack is all animal-print carpets, wooden artwork and bright colours. I like.

Coffee and a scone? Don’t mind if I do!

Tuesday, 24 October 2017: Working lunch at Montebello

I had the opportunity to interview a team of very bright ‘design thinkers’ on Tuesday afternoon. Their office is in the Montebello Design Centre in Newlands so that’s where we met, with a wonderful lunch at The Gardener’s Cottage on the same grounds. See my cappuccino and chicken burger topped with cheese and pineapple-mayo. So yum, and such speedy service!

Wednesday, 25 October 2017: Adams & Adams IP crammer at 15 on Orange

I spent my Wednesday covering the Adams & Adams crammer day on intellectual property issues at the 15 on Orange. Very interesting topics I’ll write about soon, and so many snacks to keep us alert!

In case you missed it, this also happened this week… I’m the only South African to be shortlisted for the Women in Marketing #WIMawards2017! Click here to read all about it.

That’s all, folks! I’m on leave Monday and Tuesday next week so looking forward to a few days of rest and switching off.

Hillcrest Quarry Oyster and Champagne Festival and all the chocolate cake

Yes, we really did slurp oysters and swig champers in the Hillcrest Quarry last weekend. See for yourself…

Friday, 13 October 2017: Work meeting with Design Indaba team

There’s always something different to see when visiting the Design Indaba/Interactive Africa offices. We loved their wall art when we popped in for a brief catch-up meet last Friday.

Saturday, 14 October 2017: Family breakfast at Cafeen, Oyster and Champagne Festival in Hillcrest Quarry

The bike was ready for collection first thing on Saturday so Husband’s parents transported us there. This was so we could all breakfast together on the way as we had a busy afternoon planned, so a braai was out of the question. We decided on Cafeen in Claremont for breakfast as it was fairly close for Spec to reach from his end of the Cape, too. The decor is lovely.

I remembered my envy over the creme brulee latte Husband had sipped on our last visit to Cafeen – Valentine’s Day of 2016, click here for proof – so that’s what I ordered. Also see a happy Spec, Husband peppering his breakfast and the parents in conversation.

And the food? Looked, smelled, and tasted delicious. See various eggy options and my amazing French toast – cinnamon-sugared, syruped, baconed and lemon curded. Yes please.

Next stop once the bike mission was complete was the Oyster and Champagne Festival at Hillcrest Quarry. Parking was full – so much so that we were directed onto an adjacent field. There was then quite a queue for shuttles to the quarry on Hillcrest Estate but it’s a short walk up hill – roughly 1km – so we hoofed it, rather.

Once we had huffed and puffed mildly up the hill, we joined the queue of folk waiting to enter. Once in, we bumped into Terence, a former camping buddy back when we all still lived in Joburg ages ago. See the complimentary branded champers flutes with five tasting coupons each, and some of the white-and-gold dressed attendees.

The oyster section is separate to the champagne section – housed in a different tent and at a price of R12 per oyster (over and above the R160 entry fee) We did not pay this as had media passes, but coughed up for all the oysters Husband guzzled.

One could choose from all manner of MCCs, sparkling wines and even authentic Champagne from France to sample – some cash bar only, though – as well as live music and even a coal-heated ‘jacuzzi’.

The silvery candyfloss was a hit. Photo with Husband for size, he didn’t have any.

Cheers to pink bubbly! Full description of all we sampled in my official review.

If you’ve not seen the quarry at Hillcrest Estate, it’s a gorgeous surprise. We were admiring the view when we bumped into another friend from our Joburg days – Michael Rorke, a former colleague from Caxton!

We decided to shuttle back to the car once we were done. Just to say we’d experienced the Festival in full. Not because we didn’t have the energy or anything (ahem).

The doglets were on their sweetest behaviour that afternoon. Excuse the colour-contrasting blankets.

We had dinner at Catch 22 on the beachfront that evening. It was too chilly to sit on the outside balcony for a view of the sea and Table Mountain but we still had a good time. See my blueberry cheesecake shake and Buccaneer beef burger topped with bacon and cheese, along with Husband’s Castle Lite draught and seafood curry.

Sunday, 15 October 2017: Cafe Lacomia brekkie and strawberry lupper

It was time for breakfast at Cafe Lacomia in our nearest Builder’s Warehouse on Sunday. I went for a toasted chicken mayo and latte, while Husband had the bullseye washed down with a Cola, as he does.

Later that afternoon, lupper at Mum’s was all about strwaberries – look at them in the salad on the left and adorning the chocolate cake she whipped up. We got to take some home with us and Bertie was hopeful he would get to claim a slice when I had some as a treat. He didn’t, as chocolate isn’t good for dogs.

Monday, 16 October 2017: Office birthday cake

I really lucked out on the chocolate cake front this week, as my colleague Arlene brought in her sister’s famous Whispers-topped chocolate cake on Monday morning to celebrate her birthday. It was delicious, with the topping a mix of melted chocolate mixed with cream.

Wednesday, 18 October 2017: Kantar Millward Brown Re-imagining Marketing talk at 15 on Orange, cloud-flocked sky

I attended a breakfast presentation at the African Pride 15 on Orange hotel first thing on Wednesday. Excellent breakfast, excellent presentation, coverage coming up soon!

Stripe of scattered clouds in the suburbs.

Sunset that evening – about half-an-hour later – was another example of pretty cloud play.

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

Weekend Driftwood afternoons and Winter-warm dogs get a Spring clean

Woohoo! September’s always a happy month as we’re over the worst of the work things and the end of the year is in sight so the pressure eases off a little. Here are a few of our happier moments from the past week and a bit…

Sunday, 27 August: Post-Tulbagh Driftwood shakes and beach selfies

Ahh. Late-Winter means you often get surprisingly warm, non-windy days just perfect for sitting in the sun and defrosting. That’s just what we did after we got home from our Tulbagh weekend, with a lazy draught, shake and meal at the Driftwood.

Later that afternoon it was time for a few beach selfies. I am amused 😉

Tuesday, 29 August 2017: Pamro conference at the Vineyard Hotel, doggies get a delivery

I bumped into Mike Broom of Panel Services Africa/Infotools/Marketing Science at the Pamro conference and had a quick catch-up chat.

This picture shows just how gloomy the weather was that day – just right for having an informative day indoors while the rain beat down outside.

Conference shots. The hotel was full on the day and the food was amazing, as always. I also wrote about my learnings from the day – you can read through a few of the topics here, here, here and here.

The doggies received a Very Exciting media pack that evening – so excting that Bertie got into the box to see what it was. Oh joy, another #Dreammaker cushion from Hills! Say goodbye to the days of sharing!

The doggies have spent every chilly evening since then just like this, huddled in front of the warmth of the fire on their Hills #Dreammaker cushis.

Friday, 1 September 2017: #Cupcakeformyhero

Last Friday was Spring Day here in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the launch of this year’s #cupcakesformyhero initiative by Mugg & Bean. For R22 you get a tangy, fluffy lemon meringue cupcake in aid of childhood cancer awareness.

Saturday, 2 September 2017: Rocomamas and braai at our house

We had lots of weekend chores to get through last Sunday still, so started off with breakfast at Village Place Cafe in West Coast Village. I had the heart-biscuited cappuccino and blueberry-topped banting flapjacks, husband had the light Village breakfast.

A meal at Rocomama’s is always a good idea. Here is Husband with his Castle Lite draught and chilli cheese bomb chicken burger. I went for the classic cheese beef smash burger and the ‘surprise me’ freak shake. It was an espresso/coffee/caramel concoction on the day. YUMMY! There’s also a sped-up video of me drinking it that we may or may not release 😉

Bassie was not impressed when her brother decided to disembowel his current bear, Elephant, on the couch beside her during the weekly braai.

The Andrews family at the braai – the doggies were content to nap on the couch in front of the blazing fire. PS: Yes, my hair looks a completely different colour to the photo from Rocomamas earlier – it’s all the lighting.

Caramel braai pudding. Sticky and runny and delicious.

Sunday, 3 September 2017: A dunk in the sea and doggy spring clean

We headed off to Greens in Plattekloof Centre for Sunday morning breakfast. Both of us had a cappuccino to start, with Husband devouring a spinach-and-mushroom eggs benedict and the caramel-banana waffle for me. Yip, more caramel!

Husband had a proper dunking in the sea that afternoon. Look at those crashing waves!

The doggies had a proper spring clean themselves that afternoon. Here’s Bertie trying to dry off in a bit of sun.

Bassie chose a cooler corner.

Lupper at Mum’s that eve – strawberry avo salad, unpictured roast chicken and jelly-custard trifle for dessert.

Wednesday, 6 September 2017: Coffee catch-up at Cassis

I met Mike Broom for part two of our coffee chat this week, at Cassis in Gardens Centre. See my custard-chocolate twist with my first cappuccino, while he went for an Americano with hot milk and a caramel apple tartlet.

That’s all, folks! Note that there won’t be a blog update next week, but the following week’s will be well worth the wait – we promise 😉 Happy weekend!

Stellenbosch conference views & Mother’s Day 2017

Greetings, loyal blog reader! 🙂

Husband worked last weekend so we weren’t out and about quite as much as normal but we still had a few delicious moments, as you’ll see below…

Wednesday, 10 May 2017: Good Food & Wine Show 2017 media launch

Loved this selection of pics the Good Food & Wine Show posted on Twitter (those are my pics of the non-Black Insomnia coffee at the start of the first row and the cake slices end of second row, eee). Really a lovely media experience, and you can read my event feedback here for more of what to expect from the show.

A handful of the prettiest moments I snapped at the Table Bay Hotel event, all linked to that amazing rainbow cake and world’s strongest Black Insomnia coffee.

Saturday, 13 May 2017: Reload latte and Saint’s burgers

On Saturday Husband left for work then I joined dad for a coffee at the nearest Reload as we were treating mum to a pre-Mother’s Day mani and pedi just down the road. Just look at his lovely mustard-y hot dog and the clever Table Mountain design in my choc-mint latte.

We set off for Saint’s in Eden on the Bay once Husband got home that eve. That’s my Pink Dragon cocktail and Husband’s TNT boozy shake (whisky and salted caramel, so good); as well as his ‘Free Bird’ chicken burger with onion rings and ‘green salad’; my ‘Smoke on the Water’ chorizo-and-pork burger with sweet potato fries and the beginning of the sunset. I still had a bit of work to do that evening so this was a welcome break.

That doesn’t mean we set off straight for home, though. Bellies full and smiles on faces as it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon.

Sunday, 14 May 2017: Mother’s Day breakfast at News Cafe, doggy TLC and beach walks

We had Mother’s Day breakfast bright and early on Sunday to beat the crowds at News Cafe (though Husband had already left for work, so it was just the three of us). Then later in the day we took pizzas along for lupper as moms shouldn’t cook on Mother’s Day.

Food and coffee down gullets we went for a quick ride along the beachfront before heading home. Love how peaceful it was!

Bertie was displaying his couch back-sitting skills on Sunday but also spent some quality time with his current bear, Tiger.

Bassie preferred to spend quality time with me as it was Mother’s Day. Aww, bless.

We went for a quick walk along the beach in Kleinbaai once Husband was done with work for the day.

Monday, 15 May 2017: Office cake and post-work half-price curry

Mmm. We had cake in the office this week as two birthdays were celebrated. This creamy choc cake with strawberry on top sure chased away the Monday blues!

While it doesn’t feel like it’s officially Winter yet in the Cape, winter specials have started popping up on all the menus again. This here is a forkful of the Monday half-price chicken curry special at Eden on the Bay’s Inside – I went for the butter chicken. We’ve been enjoying this special for years (click here for a reminder).

Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 May 2017: Samra conference at Protea Hotel, Stellenbosch

I was lucky enough to attend the annual two-day Samra (South African Marketing Research Association) conference in Stellenbosch earlier this week. Such a pretty town.

View directly out the window of the Protea Hotel’s conference room – little wonder they drew the curtains during sessions!

Conference food is always a treat. Note some of the fresh morning pastries top left, Thursday creme brulee dessert top right, Wednesday brownies dessert bottom left and pretty table settings bottom right.

My Thursday morning pre-conference cuppa was delightful, especially as I got to gaze at this view.

That’s all, folks. We attended the funeral of Husband’s aunt Sybil earlier today and have his brother Spec staying with us this weekend, so expect a few family-themed pics in the next update. Cheerio!

Husband’s solo escapade and end-of-Loeries team lunches at Jerry’s

And then the Loeries were but a memory. Remember my blog post about last year’s experience? This year was same same but different, as I didn’t jet along to Durban with the rest of the team but was glued to my laptop in Cape Town for five days straight sorting out all sorts of admin, last-minute changes and uploading of content. Husband was up in JHB for much of that time to attend his Gramps’ funeral so t’was an odd, stressful time all round but we survived.

Highlights of the past two weeks below…

Friday, 12 August 2016: Hills Special Stews

Hills was kind enough to send the doggies samples of their new Special Stews – a tin each. Bassie got the version for mature doggies 7+ while Bertie tried the ‘1- to 6-year-olds’ can. Both gulped them down then sniffed each other’s bowls (both had been the same flavour). That’s me in the chef hat that accompanied the delivery. Click here for more info.

Saturday, 13 August 2016: Beach Tavern breakfast, brief Woodbridge Island beach walk and meeting Zeplin

I can just remember this breakfast if I stretch my memory back two weeks. Husband had an open omelette he could barely finish it was so stuffed with things, and I went for the waffle with syrup and ice cream, as you do on a Saturday morning.

There was a chilly breeze blowing so Husband covered up after we’d eaten, for a very brief stroll along the beach and back to the car, which we’d parked near the lighthouse on Woodbridge Island.

Later that evening we went off to braai with friends who have moved into a new house that included this gas oven and a wonderful shelf full of Batman and Superman coffee mugs. We also met their new doggie, the Brindle Boxer you see me chatting to. His name is Zeplin, and at just a few months old is already bigger than Bassie and Bertie combined!

Sunday, 14 August 2016: Family birthday breakfast

It was time for the annual family birthday breakfast get-together, this time at News Cafe in Blouberg. Most of us opted for the early bird special, and look at the precious piggy/panda foam art in my cappuccino! Click here to see the 2013 version of this photo.

Tuesday, 16 August 2016: Business Day Wanted Online launch at Smith Gallery

Husband was kind enough to accompany me to the launch of Business Day’s Wanted Online website after work, where we marvelled at some of the art on the walls and the amazing fresh snacks on offer. Look at the size of those strawberries I drizzled with chocolate. Husband had lots of greens.

Thursday, 18 August 2016: Husband flies to JHB, rest of us decamp to the parents’ house

Bertie knew something was up when his dad hauled the suitcase out the cupboard to pack for his brief trip. More so when his dad hopped into an Uber and set off without us. That strip of light on the right is his collar glowing in the dark as he watched dad get into Uber pre-dawn.

Once safely checked in at the airport, Husband had breakfast at Primi with a view over the runway. He took a pic of the wing out his window once on the plane, too. He loves flying.

After a franticaly busy day at work (home) it was time to pack up laptop, doggies and self and set up camp at the parents’ house. The second we got there Bassie and Bertie set about exploring the garden (though it’s hardly new to them as they visit each week). Top is little Miss Bass sniffing the grass cautiously, bottom is Bertie running along the paving all around the house.

Saturday, 20 August 2016: Collecting Husband from airport

Husband snapped this lovely shot out the window on his way in to land in Cape Town where he belongs on Saturday morning. No more pics of the day as it was a blur of work, alas.

Sunday, 21 August 2016: Doppio Zero breakfast

Husband had enjoyed his breakfast with his parents at Doppio Zero in JHB so much that he tracked down the only Doppio Zero in Cape Town and decided that’s where we’d breakfast on Sunday. Such tropical blooms were on display in the reception area of the Mandela Rhodes Place Hotel in St George’s Mall, in which Doppio Zero is based.

Trees of light guided the way to Doppio Zero.

So breakfast we did. That’s my cappuccino, and his breakfast Cola.

What did we eat, you ask? I went for the Nutella French Toast, Husband had the Barbarossa, which is hash potatoes, beans, eggs, chorizo, haloumi, spinach, chili, feta and salsa.

Monday, 22 August 2016: Sleepy doggies while mommy attends online lessons

Just look at Bertie with his new TV-watching companion, Bear (Dinosaur has since been flattened and thrown away). He couldn’t keep his eyes open on Monday night when I attended the first online lecture of the Social Media Marketing course I’ve just begun. I barely kept eyelids open myself.

Tuesday, 23 August 2016: Business of Design conference

I’d no sooner caught my breath from sending out our Loeries overview newsletter on Monday than it was time to cover the Business of Design conference at the Inner City Ideas Cartel, one of my favourites. Look at the yummy pre-conference snacks we got to choose from!

It’s not all about the food at conferences, but that’s what I usually end up taking pics of 🙂 That’s a custardy pastry on top, the lovely stitched goodie bags we received in the middle, and a tiny jar of salad I sampled at lunchtime, on the rooftop. I worked too, promise.

Wednesday, 24 August 2016: Team lunch at Jerry’s, Obz

End of Loeries 2016 meant it was time to celebrate at work. We can’t go for a team lunch without taking a few photos. 🙂 These make me smile. We decided on Jerry’s in Observatory, and all had amazing burgers.

See? Amazing. You can’t go wrong ordering the ‘Jerry’ at Jerry’s. It’s a patty with Swiss cheese, BBQ sauce and caramelised onions. And of course you douse all your chips with Sriracha sauce, like so.

Observatory is a hive of activity on your average weekday afternoon. WJust look at this green vehicle drawing lots of attention while parked outside the Obz Cafe. Reminded me of the flame-painted vehicle parked outside a ‘No parking’ sign we spotted with Dad last year.

That’s all, folks. Hope you have a wonderfully relaxing weekend, all! Next week’s update will include how we celebrated our ninth anniversary. 🙂

Toffee hot chocolates and late-night weekend beach walks

Yay! If you’re reading this, it means we have survived most of Cannes Lions 2016! There are still a few award ceremonies to go, with lots of post-Festival of Creativity coverage to come but the bulk of the admin-intensive work is done and dusted, thanks to my most wonderful team at work. And now it’s time to relax a bit, but first, highlights of the past week…

Friday, 17 June 2016: Consumer Goods Forum at the CTICC

I spent a full-day at the Consumer Goods Forum, and wish I’d gone through for all three. T’was a wonderful event at my favourite CT conference venue, the CTICC. Morning tea break was time for networking, quick interviews and sampling some of the biscuits that were simply everywhere. Verdict? Amazing. If you see these various Leibniz biccies in store, buy them!

Concentration flagging during the afternoon tea break, a quick stroll around the expo set-up revealed a stand serving the most amazing coffee in glass cups. It perked me right back up for the final session of the day. Note the complete lack of traffic in the CBD below as many many clever people took the day off work as Thursday was a public holiday. I wrote this and this and this and this and this about the Forum, if you’re interested.

Saturday, 18 June 2016: Toffee hot chocolates and late doggie beach walks

This is just the sweetest dog. Bertie’s “Hello mom, I’m not fully awake yet” face always makes me smile.

Breakfast coffee! We ventured out to Green’s first thing on Saturday. Look at me all casual-like. Lol. That’s actually a very necessary neck up-prop as I was so very tired and the coffee hadn’t yet worked its magic.

Husband went for the mushroom eggs benedict, he loves this version.

Mmm. I went for the waffle with banana and caramel. A very good choice.

Later that day, we stopped in at Reload in Parklands for a coffee break. Husband had a double cappuccino, I had a toffee hot chocolate. Lovely little toffee nibs graced the bottom of my cup 🙂

The doggies were delighted to find their favourite beach deserted that evening. They hopped through the foam and swam and scrambled over rocks. Such fun.

You can just see Bertie demonstrating his doggy paddle here. He’s very good at it.

See how far little miss Bass ran when we freed her from her leash? She’s that little brown dot on the horizon. ❤

Trotting closer to her dad and brother so she could gnash her teeth menacingly at her arch-enemy, the sea foam.

Bassie let me take a photo to show just how late it was when we finally went home. The sun had set! The streetlights were on! It was about 18:40…

The doggies warmed themselves in front of the fire once we got home.

Teehee. Bassie sure does love being warm and dry. Typical mini dacschund

Eventually both settled on the couch under blankies.

Late night coffee and cupcake to keep me going – think this was just before midnight, when the Cannes Lions winner tables were finally looking pretty 🙂

Sunday, 19 June 2016: Father’s Day breakfast and lupper

Father’s Day, Father’s Day! Despite a late night and more work to do on the day, we were “up and at ’em” early enough for the early bird English breakfast at News Cafe in Table View with mom and dad for Father’s Day.

Work done for the day we went in search of another ‘cold day treat’… and we had enjoyed our coffee break at Reload the day before so much that we ended up there again. Here is Husband with his second double cappuccino of the weekend…

I had another toffee hot chocolate – this time with a swirl of toffee syrup on top! Delicious!

T’was cold enough for the doggies to wear their winter jerseys/pajamas that day. Bertie took his off before we went to the parents for lupper, Bassie was still wearing hers. And somehow ended up with cream on her forehead, teehee.

We almost forgot to take a pic of just me and dad together, as t’was Father’s Day. Here you go…

That’s all, folks! We’re in for another chilly weekend so keep warm…