Rocomama’s waffles and jam jar cocktails at Boardhouse

This past week was quite a busy one workwise so we didn’t get out much, but we enjoyed all the small moments of joy…

Friday, 18 January 2019: McDonald’s with a difference

We stopped in at our nearest McDonald’s after work last Friday and were surprised to see the decor is completely different, with a fully automated order system. Not a yellow arch in sight!

And to drink, with my chilli cheese medium McMeal? An iced coffee, further adding to the unexpectedness of the experience.

Saturday, 19 January 2019: Rocomama’s waffles

It was a Bread & Butter breakfast for us on Saturday. See our flat white and mochachino respectively, as well as my single bacon eggs benedict and Husband’s trout omelette.

We decided on Rocomama’s for our Saturday afternoon treat. Seen here: My half portion ‘Cookies and Scream’ waffle, Husband’s Franken-smash burger with chilli-cheese fries, and his G-shake with shot of Jack Daniels’ Jack Fire. Yum!

The burgers and fries were top-notch as always, and the waffle delicious. This is the half-portion of ‘Cookies and Scream’, which I polished off after my burger and creme brulee shake.

Sunday, 20 January 2019: Greens breakfast, Boardhouse cocktails

See how we started our Sunday: my caramelised pear, pecan and marscapone flapjack stack, Husband’s spinach and mushroom benedict, my moccachino and his flat white.

Sunday morning means quality time with the doglets!

We used a 2-for-1 Entertainer voucher that afternoon, for cocktails at the Boardhouse. See our cranberry-rose mojo jam jars – one each – and some of the lovely decor. Sadly, we did have work the next day!

Bright, sunny decor inside Boardhouse in Table View. We sat inside as it was quite a windy day.

Mmm, malva pudding after lupper at Mum’s on Sunday evening.

Wednesday, 23 January 2019: Awarding work at work and sweet evening dogs

I received a certificate of jury participation from the global Epica Awards at work on Wednesday. These are for advertising work, and are judged by journalists in the marketing industry. I judged 531 of the 4020 entries last year! You don’t vote on your own country’s work, of course. Click here for an overview of the winners.

Our happy little ray of sunshine, Bertie on the couch that evening.

This precious child of mine.

That’s all, folks! We hope you have a happy weekend ahead 🙂

Stunning sea sunsets, Saint’s burgers and hanging with Smile 90.4 FM

Streaked with clouds, pink pastels, fire ball orange – this past week I can’t believe the beautiful sunsets I’ve snapped, mostly near the sea. See for yourself below…

Saturday, 13 October 2018: Greens breakfast and sunset burgers from Saint’s

We started our Saturday with breakfast at Greens in Plattekloof Village with Husband’s parents. See our smiley faces and breakfasts.

See Husband’s Seaside haddock, hash brown and poached egg breakfast; his dad’s deluxe breakfast with beans, chips, bacon and mushrooms; my flapjacks with caramelised pear, pecan and marscapone cheese; and my coffee shake.

Spending quality time with the furkids later that afternoon.

We decided on Saint’s in Eden on the Bay for lupper as it’s one of the best spots (close to home) to sea-gaze. See my Cafe Capri – it’s a latte topped with chocolate and coconut, as well as Husband’s glass of red and Tom Yum shooter with chilli flakes on the rim, and our enormous burgers and sides.

Bellies full, it was almost time to catch the sunset. We posed all around the yellow National Geographic frame…

And then we hit the beach at ‘golden hour’ – I find the light to be just magical as sunset approaches. See how the mountain was outlined, and the sun as it set over the sea.

See folk on rocks with their dog in the distance.

Pretty girl, nibbling some leftovers.

Sunday, 14 October 2018: News Cafe breakfast and Pakololo sundowners

We popped into News Cafe in Marine Circle for an earlybird Sunday morning breakfast – we were there before 8am! See my cappuccino and earlybird English, as well as Husband’s ‘Mexican sunrise’ bowl.

The top row is lupper at Mum’s on Sunday – homemade bobotie with peach mousse dessert; while the bottom row is from dins at our house on Tuesday eve – Mum made meatballs, spicy rice and veg, while Dad captured the rainbow flower light in this coffee cup reflection.

Sundowners at Pakololo’s on the beachfront that evening. A Kahlua dom pedro for me, with a Bloody Mary for Husband.

Heart-eyes emoji for this pastel sunset, as captured in our back garden.

Wednesday, 17 October 2018: Smile 90.4FM new office meet and greet

I popped in to see Smile 90.4 FM’s new offices after work on Wednesday. They have gorgeous views across the CBD, with lots of greenery and lovely spaces to relax inside, too…

Hanging with the cool kids – I chatted to radio hosts Bobby, Bailey and Lindy from Smile FM, as well as Fatima from the Cape Town Ramadaan and Lifestyle Expo.

Another beautiful sunset, while passing Sunset Beach on my way home that evening.

That’s all, folks! May your weekend be filled with similarly beautiful sunsets. 🙂

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. 🙂

Winter 2018: Coffee, gnocchi and suspicious dogs

We’ve been having quite a bit of work done around the house lately and with all the much-needed rain finally bucketing down the doggies have been quite on edge, as you’ll see from the snaps below…

Friday, 22 June 2018: Cooped up as house is painted

I worked from home on Friday as I had stacks to do to finish off our Cannes Lions coverage, so skipping the commute to the office was a plus – and as it was international’bring your dog to work day’, I brought the work to them, as I kept an eye on the doglets while we had various walls painted. They weren’t too happy about watching me work, but spent quality time on the couch with their dad once he got home that evening.

Saturday, 23 June 2018: Perfect winter food, gnocchi bolognese at the Italian Club

We had lots of mall-admin things on the agenda for Saturday, so we started off with a Wimpy breakfast. See Husband’s extra large cappuccino, my regular Wimpy coffee, his streaky bacon with extra cheese griller and my flapjacks with fruit salad.

Bassie couldn’t decide whether to be excited to be confined in a room with us, while other parts of the house were painted, or to be Very Sad that she wasn’t free to run around outside. This is her in Very Sad mode.

Who’s a pretty boy, then? Bertie spent the time staring at himself in the mirror, just like this. Such a handsome fellow!

My Saturday afternoon pick-me-up cappuccino while wandering the aisles at Makro.

When the sky is white and the wind is cold, my belly thinks of just one thing – gnocchi bolognese. So that’s what we had for dins at the Italian Club and oh my goodness, it was delicious! See my coffee shake and Husband’s glass of red.

Sunday, 24 June 2018: Tin cup coffee, roast chicken and potatoes

Sunday morning breakfast at The Daily in Seaside Village was all about tin cups (espresso with condensed milk), anchovy toast, savoury muffins and eggs florentine with a side of bacon. Yum.

We heard, ‘Hey!’ Looked up and there were my parents! They joined our table and both the boys enjoyed the coffee tasting tray – a triple-shot cappuccino, mini tin cup and mini con panna (with cream).

More comfort food for lupper at Mum’s that evening – roast chicken, veg and potatoes with gravy. My best!

Jelly + custard + cream + sponge cake = trifle at Mum’s that evening.

Thursday, 28 June 2018: Office birthday doughnuts

Doughnuts! It was the man who built Bizcommunity’s birthday on Thursday, so he treated us to these delicious doughnuts and muffins. Just what we needed!

That’s all, folks! There’s more wet weather and housework on the cards this weekend but we’ll do what we can to enjoy the small moments in between that make us smile.

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.

Tiger’s Milk breakfasts and Hotel Glencairn gourmet milkshakes

T’was another sunny weekend and brother-in-law Spec’s turn to host the braai so we made our way to Fish Hoek and spent the day exploring the other end of the Cape. But first…

Friday, 19 January 2018: Work milkshakes at Red Sofa Cafe

I had a business meet Vredehoek side on Friday. If you’ve never been to Red Sofa Cafe, you’ll know you’re at the right place not because of a red sofa (I didn’t see one) – but rather by the ‘but first coffee’ sign outside and the cheery red interior jam-packed with hipsters typing away at their keyboards. Also, see two of the sunset scenes we snapped that evening.

See the Red Sofa Cafe chocolate brownie shake here, with chunks of brownie swirled throughout. Delicious!

Saturday, 20 January 2018: Day out exploring Muizenberg and Fish Hoek

Tiger’s Milk in Muizenberg was our first stop of the weekend. We’ll need to go back later in the day to try some of the other tempting things they serve – burgers, pizzas, nachos and cocktails. Mmm!

I went for the flapjacks with twirls of bacon and cooked banana, with a cappuccino to drink. Husband had the Ranchero breakfast pan and a Coke Light (not pictured).

Breakfast is served, Tiger’s Milk-style.

Beautiful yet windy day in Muizenberg. Things quickly turned cloudy and grey.

We stopped in at the lovely Hotel Glencairn for a quick treat on our way towards the braai. I loved the ‘Ubuntu’ wall and pretty purple patterned cushion inside.

We sat inside as the deck looked lovely but too windy. See the ‘Chappies wrapper’-print menu, Husband’s Castle draught beer and the peanut butter carmel-fudge gourmet shake I downed.

You can see just how much the weather had changed here – it was still warm but with an icy wind, very odd weather conditions.

Braai food included potato salad, green salad without lettuce, a variety of meats on the grill, garlic bread and a s’mores-type braai pudding. We ate and we ate!

Sunday, 21 January 2018: Mugg n Bean breakfast, dips in the chilly sea

We Sunday breakfasted at Mugg n Bean in the Table Bay Mall on Sunday morning. See my frozen mocha and choc-chip flapjacks, as well as Husband’s guava juice and bacon-bean hash benedict. Far too much food all round, we both ended up with takeaway boxes.

Sunday breakfast, Mugg n Bean-style.

It was beach weather again that day, so after a bit of weekend admin we made our way to Kleinbaai. The water was very chilly but that never stops Husband from diving in, as you can see bottom left.

Seagull sunning itself on the rocks.

Sweet doggies at their grandparents’ house that afternoon.

Mum made a delicious farfalle pasta dish for lupper that evening.

Thursday, 25 January 2018: Thursday cupcake, final Red & Yellow #digitalmarketingLIVE lecture and a healthy Bassie

It was a lovely surprise to find a freshly baked mini chocolate cupcake on my desk.

T’was the very last #digitalmarketingLIVE lesson at Red & Yellow on Thursday afternoon. Will miss my weekly learning sessions there!

Aww. Little Miss Bassie got a clean bill of health following her six-month check-up and was happy to have a snuggle that evening.

That’s all, folks! It’s Husband’s birthday this coming Monday, so you know what to expect in the next blog update 🙂

Strandloper fishy feast and Rocomama’s twisted cheesecake

If we’ve not yet spoken this year, happy 2018! It’s been a relaxing-yet-busy first week for us, as you’ll see below…

Friday, 29 December 2017: Day of rest

Friday was a day of rest, with this breakfast at Mugg n Bean in Table Bay Mall one of our only excursions. See Husband’s poached eggs on potato-bean hash brown, with my avo and poached egg toast and iced mocha. Highly recommended!

Saturday, 30 December 2017: Hot chocolate sampling tray at The Daily, sunset at the beach

We started our weekend as such: I went for the ‘hot chocolate tasting tray’ – white, dark and rooibos – with cinnamon-sugar pancakes while Husband had the eggs florentine and cappuccino at The Daily in Seaside Village.

We took advantage of the sunny weather later that day, with Husband having a dip in the sea at Castle Rock.

T’was an ‘ice cream on the beach’ day, so that’s just what I had for my afternoon treat. Was lovely, with ice cream all the way to the tip of the cone!

The weekly braai took place at Husband’s parents’ house later that afternoon, with Spec coming home with us and staying until New Year’s Day. Various snaps from the braai…

Lovely sunset at the beach on our way home that evening.

Sunday, 31 December 2017: New Year’s Eve Webered turkey

We opted for Foodlover’s Market for our final breakfast of 2017. See our cappuccinos, my bacon-feta-avo tramezzini with chips, and the boys’ halloumi stack breakfasts.

We stopped in at the Beach Tavern in Woodbridge Island for a brief beach visit and our final afternoon treat of the year. See my pina colada shake on the left.

There was gentle rain when Husband Webered ANOTHER turkey for New Year’s Eve, complete with confit potatoes and bright green peas.

Monday, 1 January 2018: Fry-up and prawn braai

We learned last year that almost everything is closed on New Year’s Day, so we planned ahead and stocked up on breakfast essentials ahead of the big day. Once we’d all rolled out of bed, Husband cooked a fry-up for all.

Spec left for his home after breakfast, and we got ready to put the Weber to use again with prawn skewers and peri-peri chicken. See mum and dad creating the prawn-and-peppers sosaties and the final outcome.

Husband did the honours of popping the New Year’s Day bubbly.

The hot doggies spent lots of time resting under the cool fans this week.

Tuesday, 2 January 2018: Melkbos morning, Woodbridge walk

Melkbosstrand beach was crowded as a result of the ‘beach weather’ day on Tweede Nuwe Jaar.

Castella Amare on the beachfront was one of few places open pre-noon on Tuesday, so that’s where we breakfasted. See our cocoa-topped cappuccinos, Husband’s eggs royale (salmon eggs ben) and my flapjacks with bacon and banana.

Various stages of the Woodbridge-Lagood Beach walk. We prefer starting at Woodbridge Island side, walking along the tree-lined road to Lagoon Beach, where we cross the stream and walk back to the Milnerton lighthouse along the beachfront. Walkies done, we stop for a treat. See Husband’s draught and the Dragon Fiery Apple I chose. They were frosty and delicious.

Wednesday, 3 January 2018: Day in Langebaan

We stopped off at the Vygevallei farm stall for breakfast, and ate at ‘Route 27 Roosterkoek’, which only served roosterbroodjies (coal-fired sarmies).

Of course I had a coffee to start (two tea bags of coffee in the pot = two tin cups full). Also see our ‘roosterkoeks’. Mine was jam and cheese, Husband had egg and cheese topped with hot sauce.

We met up with Husband’s parents at Shark Bay for a swim in the sea mid-morning. It was chilly but so refreshing!

Our destination for the afternoon – Strandloper! It offers a 10-course fishy feast, and if you’re a non-fish eater like me there’s still lots to fill that belly…

Mutton bredie! Crayfish! Moerkoffie in the sea!

We also ate… farm bread with three different types of konfyt (jam) – tomato, pineapple and fig. Mussels served two ways. Haarders. Koeksister twists with moerkoffie.

Thursday, 4 January 2018: News Cafe breakfast, Eden on the Bay walk, Rocomama’s treats

We woke up early enough for the early bird breakfast at News Cafe on Thursday morning. See our cappuccinos, Husband’s avo and chourizo eggs benedict and my early bird English breakfast. Very filling!

We worked off a bit of that breakfast with a brisk beach walk from Eden on the Bay to Kleinbaai and back – stopping at the yellow Nat Geo frame for a few snaps, of course.

On Thursday afternoon we went to the Durbanville branch of Rocomama’s with my parents. See dad’s burger and my chili con carne-topped fries.

This is what we came for – chocolate-syruped shakes with a tot of Jack Daniels served in skull-shaped glasses, and I tried the tiramisu version of their twisted cheesecake. So good!

That’s all, folks. It’s back to work for us next week so we’ll be making the most of our sunshine hours together this weekend! 🙂

All the Christmas 2017 feasting on turkey, gammon, pudding and more…

We’re finally on leave, woohoo! 🙂 It’s been a week of feasting, family and fun…

Friday, 22 December 2017: Annual Love Actually viewing

We kicked off the holidays once we were both officially on leave last Friday evening with this year’s viewing of the ultimate Christmas movie, Love Actually. complete with poinsettia, hot chocolate and popcorn.

Saturday, 23 December 2017: Rocomamas burgers and shakes

We sat outdoors at the Pink Olive for Saturday morning breakfast. It’s open before the Stark Ayres nursery officially opens its doors (if you know which door to enter through). See Husband’s bacon basket and my fresh scones with jam and cream.

Clouds were scattered prettily across the sky that afternoon.

We stopped in at the Rocomama’s at Willowbridge for treats after a day of Christmas shopping. See Husband’s chilli cheesebomb burger and creme brulee shake, as well as my Candyliscious freak shake, complete with bits of fizzer, white chocolate sauce and berry swirls.

Sunday, 24 December 2017: Christmas Eve dins at ours

We had our Christmas Eve breakfast at Bread and Butter.

My breakfast smoothie bowl was amazing. Filled with nuts, peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream and bananas, it was healthy AND delicious!

The beach was calling my name so we stopped in at Dolphin Beach for a few minutes, to dip our toes in the sand and sea, respectively.

Proof that we enjoyed our time at the beach.

We usually have Christmas lunch at our house (see here for a reminder of last year) but as Husband’s family is finally firmly located in the Cape too, we had a few extra festivities to factor in. So, everyone came to us on Christmas Eve…

A few happy moments from the night.

Bassie and Bertie got all dressed up for the occasion and had fun ripping open the wrapping on their presents, with help from their dad.

Aww. The doggies loved all the gifts and Christmas affection.

See the lovely tablecloth mum made for me, complete with my fluffy reindeer centrepiece. Also Christmas lights and various clever presents – adult colouring books, gingerbread and Christmas pudding-flavoured coffee, and slabs of caramel chocolate and biltong fudge.

Husband Webered the turkey (much like he did in 2013), father-in-law brought cold gammon and mum made a selection of desserts, savoury and sweet. Was tricky not going back for more and more!

Monday, 25 December 2017: Christmas Day lunch at Mum’s

We had Christmas Day breakfast at W Cafe in the Woolworths at Table Bay Mall. See my vanilla-cinnamon latte and slice of banana bread topped with espresso cream-cheese and nuts on the left, with Husband’s poached egg on mushroom on the right.

Happy faces at Mum’s house for lunch on Christmas Day.

Chilled pink bubbly from Steenberg was lovely to kick things off.

Our Christmas Day feasting included warm gammon, roast potatoes, colourful salad and roast veggies, with homemade Snickers-ginger biscuit ice cream.

Tuesday, 26 December 2017: Boxing Day leftovers at Mum-in-law’s

It had been a while since we last ate at Wimpy, so I had a regular Wimpy coffee and a sweet-treat waffle while Husband had the streaky bacon breakfast with an extra cheese griller.

All at Mum-in-law’s house with Janet and Phil for leftovers on Boxing Day.

Despite it being a ‘leftovers’ lunch there were many fresh new items, too.

Wednesday, 27 December 2017: Being touristy at the V&A Waterfront

We had intended to walk around the new Zeits Mocaa (Museum of Contemporary African Art) as it’s free entry on a Wednesday morning, but clearly the whole of Cape Town heard this, too. See the queues! We’ll come back another day…

Being tourists. Sun, sea and happy faces.

Various delicious eats and treats from the Waterfront – my Amarula Colada from Gibson’s far left and right, along with Husband’s very minty mojito, also his two extra-large oysters and my Woody’s burger from the food court. Yum!

Teehee, we couldn’t resist posing in the fat suit outside Ripley’s Believe it or not – that’s how we feel after all the Christmas feasting!

We couldn’t resist lunch with a view upstairs at MareSol – see various shots of the harbour, my pink shake with Husband’s carafe of white wine, and his fresh fishy platter.

Thursday, 28 December 2017: Star Wars movie at GrandWest Casino

On Thursday, we breakfasted at the Village Cafe in West Coast Village. See my latte and Husband’s large cappuccino, also my banting flapjacks topped with yoghurt and berries, Husband’s toastless brekkie and the sweet Christmassy reindeer at the door.

T’was time for our second viewing of The Last Jedi, and the parents’ first (they’d caught up on all the previous movies in the past few weeks). Enjoyed it even more second time around!

We took the customary ‘strike a pose’ snap at The District section of the casino.

Thankfully we still have a full week of rest ahead of us before we start the 2018 work year. Hope your Christmas was all you hoped for! 🙂

Ostriches on the beach at Cape Point

So much to celebrate! Today was our last working day for 2017, it’s Christmas weekend and last weekend we celebrated living in Cape Town for 5 years…

Thursday, 14 December 2017: End-Dec work things, Star Wars: The Last Jedi at iMax

Sugary treats are a must in December, when motivation levels are low. All the more so when said sugary treat is a marshmallow-topped cupcake complete with shortbread antlers, to match one’s disinterested deer mug.

As we had tickets to the new Star Wars movie last Thursday evening, I attended that week’s Red & Yellow #digitalmarketingLIVE session from home, complete with Bassie on lap and mug of hot chocolate to get into the Christmas spirit.

We met up with Spec for a quick Indian bite to eat before the Star Wars Imax experience. See the bright bowls of sauce served with the boys’ curries.

Friday, 15 December 2017: Last team pic of the year

Much of my office was on leave or working from home this week, so we snapped a quick pic together before leaving last Friday. Sindy in the red pants watched The Last Jedi with me at Cape Gate iMax the night before, so we had a late night behind us!

Saturday, 16 December 2017: Exploring Cape Point

We were up early on Saturday as we had a full day ahead of us. Our destination for the morning? The Cape Point National Park, as our Sanparks green card (for Cape residents) was expiring the next day, so we entered for free while we still could!

You might recall I missed out when Husband’s family breakfasted at Cape Point’s Two Oceans restaurant to celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary, so obviously that was our first stop.

We sat right outside with a view of the peaceful ocean below. It was chilly and overcast to start with.

Look at that view. Calm, endless water and clouds that lifted a bit as the day went on.

The breakfast was worth the months I’d waited. See my crumpets with nut crumbs, as well as Husband’s salmon eggs benedict.

It’s like someone had dipped a paintbrush in white and flecked it across the blue sky. This was some of the softest sand.

Husband explored the various beaches – some were rockier than others, as you can see.

Lo and behold, an ostrich! We saw quite a few with their chicks trotting along the road, with a few more on the beach sand. There are various ostrich farms right outside the nature reserve but you don’t expect to see them strolling past the car like this.

A tourist was kind enough to snap a pic of us at the Cape of Good Hope – officially the most South-Western point of the African continent. Quite the location to celebrate having lived in Cape Town for five years.

You can just make out the ridiculous colour of the water we were winding our way towards here.

Here’s Husband in that sea. He swam around for ages as it was calm and slightly warmer than the water on the other side had been.

There are crosses for Dias and Da Gama in the park.

We drove through Simon’s Town on our way out, and could have driven right into the water if we had so desired.

We made a quick stop at The Stag Coffee Company on our way through Fish Hoek, towards the braai at Spec’s house. Had a caffeine-boost of cappuccino, obviously.

Caps backwards for the braai as the sun was behind us.

Most of the braai food – sausage-types went on separately.

Sunday, 17 December 2017: Melissa’s breakfast

Melissa’s is one of the few breakfast spots at Table Bay Mall that’s open before 9am, so that’s where we ate our first meal of Sunday. See my berry-marscapone-bacon flapjacks and Husband’s baby marrow-potato hash brown based salmon egg ben. Both very similar to our breakfast choices the previous day!

The doglets in sleepy mode. Such cutie patooties!

Mum rustled up all the goodies to make our own gatsbies for dins, with her famous potato salad, of course, as well as gold dust-topped mini eclairs from Woolies. So yum!

Thursday, 21 December 2017: Last day in the office for 2017

I worked from home today, so yesterday was my last working from the office. Treats included cappuccino muffins for crossing things off seemingly endless to-do lists.

That’s all, folks! We’re officially on leave as of now (yay – and just in time as my immune system seems to be flagging) so my next few updates will be less work and more play. Have a very merry Christmas! 🙂

Staycation 2017 cruffins, waffle specials and Halloween spiders

I took a few days off from work this week and soaked up some much-needed me-time…

Friday, 27 October 2017: Greek working lunch at Maria’s in Dunkley Square

I had a working-lunch meeting last Friday afternoon. We walked down to Maria’s in Dunkley Square – loved how the foam heart remained long after the coffee was gone. You can just see the slice of kataifi I ate, too.

Saturday, 28 October 2017: The Daily Cafe’s birthday special

Last weekend was the second birthday of The Daily Cafe in Big Bay’s Seaside Village. They treated customers to a birthday special – R70 for eggs benedict or florentine, along with a flute of orange juice or bubbly, and a cappuccino. It was a very good deal!

Orange-y scenes from our breakfast at The Daily.

The colours were blindingly bright at Eden on the Bay that afternoon!

We also did a few long-arm beach photos. Love the expressions on Husband’s face.

We treated ourselves to a late-lunch at Moyo at Eden. See Husband sipping his Long Island Ice Tea and his lamb shank linguine, as well as my dukka-spiced burger and pina colada.

We presented Bertie with his newest chew-toy as he’s a good dog. What a happy boy.

Sunday, 29 October 2017: Bread and Butter breakfast, ice creams at Eden on the Bay

We decided on breakfast at Bread and Butter on Sunday. I had a cappuccino while Husband had his customary Cola to begin…

Husband asked for his salmon eggs benedict on a plate as things slide off of the usual breadboard. Also see my bacon-banana flapjack/crumpet stack.

We stopped in at Eden again on Sunday, for an afternoon ice cream treat. My windswept hair should be a giveaway that this was not an easy task. Wind in hair, hair in ice cream. Oof. Lovely, though.

You also pose here with your ice cream, if you’re anything like me. Tis a sad size comparison.

Monday, 30 October 2017: Cruffins at Black Forest Cafe

Ahhh. Coffee. Book. Couch. Dogs. That’s how I spent the bulk of my Monday and Tuesday, relaxing and activating my brain’s ‘screensaver’ mode.

Little Bassie is just the cutest. Love that face! She’s showing off her balancing skills here, perched atop the back of the couch.

Mum and dad treated me to morning tea at the Black Forest Cafe, just up the street. The cappuccino was strong, the coffee shake chocolate-y, and the mood happy.

These are the cruffins (croissant + muffin) we chose from. Mmm.

Tuesday, 31 October 2017: Milky Lane waffles, W Cafe coffees, Halloween dins

If you’re ever at a loss for what to do on a Tuesday and have R36 standing by, take advantage of Milky Lane’s special – two plain waffles topped with ice cream blobs and all the syrups. For R36! We also shared a mint milkshake.

After a spot of window shopping we stopped at the W Cafe in Woolers for a coffee pick-me-up. I had a short vanilla-cinnamon while the parents had regular cappuccinos.

Mother-in-law loves a themed table, so invited us for dins on Tuesday evening. See various Halloween-y things.

The doggies were eager to get involved in all the food activities. See the marshmallow ‘spiders’ atop my jelly-mousse dessert.

Wednesday, 1 November 2017: Team lunch at La Bottega

After a morning of playing catch-up at my desk on all I’d missed from two days of leave, it was time for our department team lunch. We Ubered to La Bottega on Sir Lowry’s Road. That’s my Nutella-banana shake you see.

Milkshake up close, open views across Woodstock from the deck and my beef burger on sweet potato slice ‘bun’, with cheese and avo. Very yum!

We put Angie’s selfie stick to good use. This was about the best of the various attempts. Crying-with-laughter face.

Thursday, 2 November 2017: Office birthday cake and orchids

My lovely colleague Clarina brought in an assortment of cakes to celebrate her recent birthday. She does not look 40! And look at the fake orchid on my desk, with Angie’s real one just visible behind it. Office things.

That’s all, folks! I’ll show you the DIY project I also completed during my days off in next week’s blog post. 🙂