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I went for the colourful Smoky something (seems Pakalolo’s online menus are out of date or else I would tell you the exact name).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 🙂

Car-crazy Father’s Day in Franschhoek

This past weekend was Father’s Day, and this week the 2018 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity award week in full, so it’s been a super busy time, as you’ll see from the snaps below.

We went car crazy with the dads and took in not just one car museum but two, visiting the Wijnland Auto Museum before our appointment at the Franschhoek Motor Museum, followed by lunch in Franschhoek town itself…

Friday, 15 June 2018: A work farewell

Friday was a dear colleague’s last day working with us so we went for an early team dins. See some of the snacks in office, my latte and shared slice of cheesecake at Derry’s on Carlyle in Vredehoek, and a group shot.

Saturday, 16 June 2018: News Cafe and Moyo eats and treats

It was a ‘News Cafe breakfast special’ kind of Saturday, see my early-bird English and cappuccino, as well as Husband’s flat white and bacon eggs benedict.

It was very wintery weather so we decided on the Moyo pulled-lamb linguine for an early dins. I had a vanilla latte, Husband had a Castle draught and we also splurged on a set of the Chief of Greatness ‘communal shooters’ – Skyy infusions vanilla vodka, roasted hazelnut extracts and Cape Velvet chocolate liqueur.

Sunday, 17 June 2018: Father’s Day at the Franschhoek Motor Museum and Tuk-Tuk Microbrewery

Bertie boy waiting for his dad to open his eyes so he could welcome him to Father’s Day with a big lick.

Oh, my heart! Little Miss Bass having a Father’s Day snuggle with her dad.

For Sunday breakfast, we stopped in at Village Place Cafe. See Husband’s eggy mince-on-toast, my berry-banana banting flapjacks and large caramel cappuccino – also the sweet mini cakes we spied, will have to go with enough belly-room for one next time!

The sun shone through the streaky clouds, making for the prettiest Sunday roadtrip sky.

Our first stop in convoy was the Wijnland Auto Museum in Paarl, on the way to Franschhoek. We saw it all, from the delightfully old…

To the very new! Not sure which road is wide-enough to accommodate this rocket-car, it’s quite something.

Ahh, Franschhoek! It’s one of the most beautiful spots in the country, especially in winter when they skies are grey, mountains blue and grass finally green from the much-needed rains.

We got to the Franshhoek Motor Museum bang on time, boarded the tram from the parking lot and were ready to take in even more motor vehicles in the greenest surrounds.

The Franschhoek Motor Museum’s entry area features this bright, Chapman’s Peak-inspired artwork.

Wine and art go well together, clearly. Some of the goods for sale in the Franschhoek Motor Museum’s main hall.

We were told at reception to make the ‘Food truck hall’ our first stop, and we’re nothing if not good at following orders. See the queue for Terbodore coffee, a bowl of truffle-mayo fries and more.

Next, we paused to watch a few cars go around the track. Some real beauts.

Several cars were whizzed around the track at a leisurely pace, but the big halls are the main attraction. Just took at these old beauties!

Each vehicle on display at the Franschhoek Motor Museum is worth a second look.

A quaint, glass-cased collection of model cars.

By then there was more then one rumbling tum, so we high-tailed it to Tuk-tuk Microbrewery in the heart of Franschhoek for some grub.

Tucking into Tuk-tuk food. See the bowl of salty chips we shared, two of the ‘dogs’ on special – a Mexican and a chorizo, as well as my chicken chimichangas and the fish tostado.

We also strolled along the main street and stopped in at Leeu House right beside Tuk-Tuk for the dads to take photos next to Madiba and Gandhi. Plus, chocolates!

Precious doglets under a blanket on their Granny’s couch, much later that evening.

Wednesday, 20 June 2018: Family dins at Bossa with Gords

Cannes Lions is one of the busiest, most stressful work weeks of the year, so I was fortified by headphones, coffee, and Kit-Kats that magically appeared on my desk. 😉

How beautiful! The dam at Mellish Welbeloond reflected the sunset sky when we drove past on Wednesday evening for family dinner at Bossa in Burgundy Estate.

This is what (some of us) came for – Stone-baked base pizza, burgers, beer and shakes. Yum!

Happy snaps of the family in eating mode. Gords was clearly down from Joburg for a visit, too.

See my mochaccino, as well as assorted burgers and pizzas. We finished everything between us, not a jot needed to be taken home in a doggy bag.

Gords’ view of the table. My happy Cape Town family! ❤

That’s all folks! Hope you have a restful, relaxing weekend ahead 🙂

Cloudy Cape Town skies and misty Chapman’s Peak

Hi everyone, we hope your Good Friday has been great! 🙂

Last weekend we took a misty trip along Chapman’s Peak drive for a change of scenery on the rather long trip to visit Brother-in-Law Spec in Fish Hoek…

Saturday, 24 March 2018: Extended family breakfast at On the Rocks, misty trip along Chapman’s Peak

Various non-Capetonian family members were visiting on Saturday so we met up for breakfast. Beautiful view of Table Mountain from On the Rocks, but the wind made it just a tad too chilly to eat outside.

Coffee and family, such a good way to start the weekend.

I had the French toast with berry coulis and ice cream; parents both had the Alaskan – scrambled eggs with salmon and mushrooms; Husband had the kassler breakfast. I even ate the strawberry slice once the rest of my plate was clean.

After a bit of weekend admin it was time to head to the other end of the Cape to see Husband’s family. It’s now R45 for a single car to travel along Chapman’s Peak drive, which we hadn’t done in ages so happily paid the price. We could just make out the sea from the scenery below.

You can just see the sea peeking through in the bottom right here. It was like something out of a horror movie!

The sea looked so inviting all along the coast, especially once it started raining gently. See various scenes of the resulting braai.

For dessert, braai cones! The marshamallow-chocolate-caramel filling melts on the fire – delicious.

There was still a chill in the air that eve so the doglets snuggled up on the couch.

Sunday, 25 March 2018: After-work dins at Moyo

Bassie had a sweet moment snuggling with her dad on Sunday morning, before he left for work.

Bertie was equally sweet, showing us various angles of his sleepy face.

Mmm, we had milktart as a treat that afternoon.

Sweet doggies again at their grandparents’ house that afternoon. So much love.

I just couldn’t get enough of the clouds this week! This was the view when we arrived at Eden on the Bay in Big Bay that evening, for dins at Moyo.

Teehee. I had a hazelnut latte and my face painted. Husband had a carafe of wine and we shared the pulled-lamb linguine, no pics as we had a ‘Lady and the Tramp’ fail. 😉

After dins the sky was still bright but the sun was leaving.

A surfer strolling along the sea sand.

Clouds, sea and sun.

Monday, 26 March 2018: Dins at Burgundy Bossa

The weather was lovely when we got home from work on Monday, so we dined at Bossa in Burgundy Estate. See my creme brulee shake and monkeygland burger with sweet potato fries (burgers are just R59 on Mondays) – also see Husband’s draught beer and pizza. Yum.

Wednesday, 28 March 2018: Streaky clouds at work, pink sky at night

See the streaky clouds from my office during the day and pink sky at home that night.

Thursday, 29 March 2018: Creative Mornings Cape Town at Friends of Design

On Thursday morning I attended the March 2018 version of the Creative Mornings Cape Town talk. Coverage will be on Bizcommunity next week!

Loved the decor at Friends of Design, so very student friendly – as are the coffee prices!

That’s all, folks! We hope you’re having a lovely Easter weekend, filled with chocolatey smiles.

Recommended by CapeTownInsider

Delights of Design Indaba 2018 and the R50 lunch special at Hail Pizza

Last week was one of my busiest work-wise for the year, as we attended Design Indaba 2018. But of course, that’s not all we did…

Wednesday, 21 to Friday, 23 February 2018: Design Indaba at the Artscape

You know you’re in for a treat when you arrive at the Design Indaba Festival and feel a sense of wonder before you even enter the Artscape. This year, we were encouraged to ’embrace the unknown’. Click here for a reminder of the 2017 version.

These colourful rhinos also brightened up the cold concrete, while raising awareness for their cause.

Decor inside the Artscape was just as appealing. See various signs and posters.

If you had a full Design Indaba conference ticket, this is what you came for!

Considering all the running around we all did, it’s amazing that we managed to stop with Design Indaba editor-in-chief Neo Maditla for a quick snap. You may recall my interview with her late last year. If not, click here for a reminder.

I loved exploring the emerging creatives’ displays in the tea breaks, too. And that outdoor swing-relax area was amazing.

I finally got the chance to swing my troubles away on the final morning of Design Indaba. Such fun!

One of my personal highlights this time around was interviewing Lebo Mashile. She’s amazing, click here and here for more!

Husband snapped this shot of the sky while I was putting last week’s blog post together. Pretty clouds, and we actually had a spot of rain the next morning.

Aww. Bertie was such a sweetie on the couch that all our pics are of him, this week! Bassie was there too, I promise -she just slunk away before these pics were taken.

Saturday, 24 February 2018: News Cafe breakfast, work, Moyo dins

We both had a busy work day ahead of us on Saturday, so stopped off at News Cafe on Marine Circle to start the day the right way – with the earlybird English breakfast special – and cappuccinos, of course.

All that for R35, if you order before 10am. It’s delicious!

Once we were both done with work for the day (tragic to say that for a Saturday, where you both worked all week, too), we stopped in at Moyo at Eden on the Bay in Big Bay for an early dins. See Husband’s curried mussel starter, my hazelnut latte, and the pulled-lamb linguine starter we shared.

Spending some quality time with Bertie biscuit that evening.

Sunday, 25 February 2018: Primi breakfast, Saint’s afternoon treats

We had Sunday morning breakfast at Primi on Marine Circle. See my eggs benedict, the large cappuccinos (actually served in latte glasses/mugs) and Husband’s Primi power stack.

We stopped in at Saint’s at Eden on the Bay for our Sunday afternoon treat. See my Insomniac shake (chocolate, espresso, Amarula and Kahlua) and Husband’s Painkiller cocktail (Bacardi, Malibu, orange juice, pineapple juice, coconut, nutmeg).

Monday, 26 February 2018: Design Indaba newsletter

Snip snip! We sent out our special edition Design Indaba newsletter on Monday, so that’s the true mark that Design Indaba is done and dusted for the year. Click here to read through the newsletter – it’s packed with galleries and videos.

Tuesday, 27 February 2018: National Milktart Day

Of course we indulged in a slice of milk tart with coffee on Tuesday, as it was National Milktart Day.

Wednesday, 28 February 2018: Team lunch at Hail Pizza

Design Indaba done and dusted, we had our first team lunch of the year on Wednesday afternoon, at Hail Pizza on Bree Street. Their R50 midweek lunch meal special is amazing – I had the rooibos-lemon-mint ice tea and large margherita pizza, and brought home more than half of it for dins. All that for R50!

And surprise! We invited former team members Rod and Bev (both bottom left) to join us. Was a lovely afternoon!

You can also finally read my full review of the new Friday-lunch offering at 95 Keerom that I sampled a few weeks ago. That’s all, folks! May your weekend be relaxing and restorative.

Blouberg beachfront dining: On the Rocks breakfast and Moyo lunch

Last weekend was so sunny that even though we’re desperate for a bit of rain in the Cape, we filled it with delicious outdoors-y moments…

Saturday, 13 January 2018: Breakfast at On the Rocks, lupper at Moyo

We’d tried to breakfast at On the Rocks twice over the December holidays – the first time it was completely closed, the second time it was hosting a private function – so we were pleased to find a table outside when we popped in last Saturday morning.

Various snaps of the front and back of On the Rocks.

Aaah. Cappuccino, fresh sea breeze and sunshine? Yes please! Best way to start the weekend.

Husband soaking up some of that sunshine.

Husband chose the breakfast pan, I had the French toast with berry compote. Lip-smackingly good!

We did a brief walk to work off some of that food. Sunny selfie on the sea shore.

After some weekend admin it was time to venture out into the sunshine again. T’was quite windy so we sat in the sheltered section at Moyo in Big Bay. See Husband enjoying his wine and me having my face painted before starting on my coffee-cashew smoothie.

See my dukka-spiced burger (with cheese and bacon) and side of thick fries, as well as Husband’s lamb-shank linguine, and Husband with a chip on his shoulder. Literally. 🙂

Second beach selfie of the day, but you can’t quite see my face-painting in the bright light…

So Husband took a quick snap before I wiped it off, while resting on the couch with Bertie.

Little Bassie proved she’s also always a pretty girl, even without face-paintings.

Sunday, 14 January 2017: Sea swims and coffee in a cone

We breakfasted at W Cafe in Table Bay Mall’s Woolworths. See Husband’s super-tall cappuccino and eggs benedict on mushroom, with my vanilla-cinnamon latte and coconut loaf topped with pineapple cream cheese and coconut shavings. Yummy!

Husband contemplating his weekly dip in the sea.

I really felt for coffee in a cone as my Sunday afternoon treat, but most places where I’ve had it before were now out of stock. Luckily we found it at Cup & Cake in Eden on the Bay. If you drink out the coffee, you’re left with warm, melty-chocolate in the sugar cone.

Mum had made weather-appropriate food for lupper that afternoon – chicken curry that we scooped into French loaf to make mini bunny chows, with dessert of ice cream, watermelon and mixed berries.

Monday, 15 January 2018: Office birthday cake

It had been Biz managing editor Sindy’s birthday over the weekend, so she treated us to an assortment of crisps, sweeties, fruit, cupcakes, marshmallows and amazing chocolate-caramel-coconut swiss roll when we got to work on Monday. Best way to start the week!

The selection of sweets and treats I munched on throughout the day.

Thursday, 18 January 2018: Seventh #digitalmarketingLIVE lesson at Red & Yellow

Thursday was the first #digitalmarketingLIVE session of the year – there’s only one to go before I’ve completed all eight! ‘Seth Rotherham’ of 2OceansVibe Radio shared his first-hand experiences with running a business on digital and social media.

I sat with Su Little and we took a few versions of this snap to properly include Wesley, the Red & Yellow staffer photobombing us, here. #digitalmarketinggeeks

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

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. 🙂

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.

Lots of gnocchi, meet my fox dog and see the Waterfront sunrise

The irony – in my last post I mentioned Husband was done being Marvin, but he went on to work all weekend and late most of this week – it’s now been 17 days straight! At least we’ve finally reached the weekend, and both have an extra few days off thereafter. Here are a few of our favourite moments from this very busy week…

Friday, 21 July 2017: Celebratory dinner at Moyo

We ventured out to Moyo at Eden on the Bay to celebrate the change in Husband’s work shifts. It was too cold to sit outside so we headed indoors, where I had a Madagascan cold coffee drink (served with tot of Amarula). We were also served complimentary sherry and Moroccan breads with spicy dip, very nice!

The purple lighting bouncing off the metal tables was pretty.

Our meals: The chicken and date tagine for me, the lamb shank for Husband.

Saturday, 22 July 2017: Early morning doggie moments

Bassie was happy to spend a few hours sleeping in with me on Saturday morning as it was rainy and we were having a new front door installed.

We headed out for a quick breakfast before Husband had to be in the office so ended up at Cubana. That’s me pouring hot milk into my coffee and Husband sipping a flute of orange juice as these come free with certain orders, like their spicy ‘eggs benedict’ – not on English muffin but polenta cakes. It’s a huge portion, we really could have shared! All this for R100, including tip.

Bassie trotted all around her other grandparents’ property that evening when we had the weekly braai.

Sunday, 23 July 2017: Lacomia breakfast and hidden-centre cupcakes

When you need to make some Builder’s Warehouse purchases first thing on a Sunday as Husband needs to get back to the office ASAP, you pop in at Cafe Lacomia for your breakfast. That’s Husband’s Cola, my cappuccino and sunnies.

We were in for a real treat when we go to Mum’s that evening and bit into these freshly made cupcakes with chocolate-y surprise!

Tuesday, 25 July 2017: Meet my fox dog

Teehee. Couldn’t resist having a photo taken as proof of just how much my boy doggie resembles the clever fox on my jerkin.

Wednesday, 26 July 2017: Cannes Lions Cape Town and Stepbrothers’ team lunch

Wednesday was the day of the Cape Town version of our Cannes Lions feedback session. It was held at Ster-Kinekor at the Waterfront first thing – note the pretty sunrise and art on the walls outside the movies theatre.

We manned the registration desk, grabbed a tub of popcorn and sat back to watch the presentations by our roving reporter and SA’s Cape Town-based judges. Click here to read my overview.

It was also the day of our next team lunch. We headed out to Stepbrothers near Cape Quarter and had the most amazing Italian meal. That’s my cappuccino and pan of very round gnocchi with pizza strips to mop up that sauce. Trust me, I did!

Thursday, 27 July 2017: Impressive office birthday cakes

In addition to being my brother-in-law’s birthday, Thursday was also the birthday of one of the lovely ladies in the office, so she spoiled us with cake. Look at these amazingly delicious ones.

I had to wolf down that cake fast as next on the agenda was the media launch of the Say Cheese fair, coming to the Italian Club later this year.

Top left – the cheese samples we started with, bottom left – Arancini di mozzarella in a spicy tomato sauce, top right – a blue-cheese-broccoli soup and bottom right – one of the largest bowls of gnocchi in cheese sauce I’ve seen in my life. Yes I had gnocchi twice in two days.

We ate and we ate, that’s only the half of it. Just look at all that cheesy deliciousness! Seen here: mozarella boccini top left, feta-beetroot-rocket pizza top right, baked Brie topped with bacon and thyme bottom left and haloumi-chickpea-pomegranate avo bottom right. Full description on Biz soon.

That’s all, folks! Time to unplug, unwind and destress.

Autumn 2017 and Husband’s parents arrive in Cape Town

It’s been another longgg week with Husband playing the role of Marvin (click here if you’re not sure what that means).

We’ve finally had a fair sprinkling of rain though, and the weather’s definitely nippier than usual so I think it’s fair to say that Autumn 2017 has arrived in Cape Town. If you click through to my blog post from this week last year I said the exact same thing, so at least I’m consistent)…

Friday, 17 March 2017: Work farewell at Fat Cactus

We tend to hold any work farewells or special functions at the Fat Cactus as it’s walking distance from our office, so that’s just where we went last Friday for our editorial assistant’s farewell. I had the espresso milkshake you see here.

Saturday, 18 March 2017: Autumnal Chocolat breakfast, doggy beach walk and local rugby supporting

This is what the weather was like when we set off for breakfast on Saturday morning. Cloudy, cold and in need of coffee.

Luckily that’s just what we had at Chocolat in Durbanville – we were headed somewhere else when we saw it’s facade and decided to pop in. I’m so glad we did.

Look at the pretty gold-framed bunny art inside, the proteas in silver teapots, Husband’s Tabasco sauce-drenched eggs benedict and my strawberry-topped Nutella-peanut butter French toast. Delicious!

Later that morning it was time for walkies at the beach, which was surprisingly empty. Note Husband, happy doggies and sea birds.

Lots of happy moments during the walkies, including Bassie being off leash and Bertie swimming in the sea. Both were tired and happy to get back home.

Much later than evening, after a few weekend adminny chores, we went to Theo Marais Park to support Union Milnerton Rugby Club (Millies) against Brackenfell (Brakkies). It was cold enough for coffee and Husband had to go retrieve the ball when it veered towards the cricket side of the field.

Sunday, 19 March 2017: Pineapple-y Sunday

We wanted to break our fast at the Woollies Cafe in Canal Walk first thing on Sunday but got there before they open at 9am, so had a quick pre-coffee at Limnos while ogling their droolworthy cakes. Also seen here: The fritaffle Husband ate, my frosted caramel latte and the healthy orange, carrot and pineapple-y juice Husband braved. That wasn’t the last pineapple of the day…

We decided on a shared pina colada for our Sunday afternoon treat, at Moyo as you can tell from my face-paintings here.

You can see my face-painting better in this shot out of the light (and the icy water our feet were dangling in as we bravely sat at the surfboard tables outside.)

What a coincidence, Mum had made a pineapple pudding for after lupper that evening.

Monday, 20 and Tuesday, 21 March 2017: Husband’s parents arrive

Husband’s parents arrived at our house on Monday evening, and the truck with all their worldly goods arrived at their new house first thing on Tuesday morning – luckily it was a public holiday so we could go along to help out, though Husband was being Marvin this week so only had two hours of sleep from Monday night’s shift.

Unfortunately Husband’s dad had a bad kidney stone attack during the night so was booked into hospital. The rest of us did a bit of unpacking then decamped to Eden Cafe for a much needed foot-dip in the ocean and tummy top-up. I had a passion-fruit shake, Husband a draught, mother-in-law a glass of wine. She ate the chicken mayo on pumpkin-seed roll while we shared a chicken prego roll that really hit the spot!

Thursday, 23 March 2017: Sea Point event, annual staff meet and Fat Cactus lunch

First thing on Thursday I hopped on the bus to Sea Point to cover the Mediamark In the Know Now media event at the La Vendome Radisson Blue hotel. It was sunny when I arrived but the weather quickly changed and became cloudy cool.

After catching up on emails in the office it was time to walk a block down to the Woodstock Exchange as we’d booked to hold our end of year staff meeting there. I opted for a hot cross bun latte – or a ‘cross burn’, as you can see here.

Then it was time to eat – at the Fat Cactus again, lol. The nachos grande with side of chilli con carne on the right was all mine, a truly huge portion that we’re still polishing off this evening!

That’s all, folks. We’ll be helping the parents unpack and also having a few days off work before my next update, so expect happier, more relaxed faces then. 🙂

Beach days, Moyo cocktails and some of Cape Town’s best sunsets

Another week has come and passed, and here we are again, looking back at the past seven days’ highlights…

Saturday, 9 April 2016: Foodlover’s Market breakfast, Espana paella and Burgundy Estate sunsets

Ha! This was too funny not to snap a pic of. While walking through our local Foodlover’s Market on Saturday morning Husband struck a pose near these marked-down Easter chocs. ‘Foiled again!’

Once we reached the eating area we ordered my cafe latte right away.

Husband peppered up his omelette and washed it down with a breakfast Cola.

I went with the ‘Bar-One and banana pancakes’. They were delicious.

Of course we headed to the beach once the day started to heat up. There was such a low tide that Husband waded right in and plucked some mussels, which he cooked and ate at home.

Me? I was happy to sit in the shade and catch up on some reading.

Just look at that clear sea!

Not ready to go home just yet we headed on to Moyo at Eden at the Bay in Big Bay and had these delightful drinks – a Turkish Delight shake for me, and tiki cocktail for Husband.

Husband sipping on his cocktail…

Of course I had my face painted. Apologies for the squinting, you couldn’t see the intricate pattern in full when we tried the same shot with my sunnies on. Note our feet were in the water as we sat at the ‘surfboard tables’.

We bought a box of white marshmallow eggs – marked down to R24 for 24 at our local Pick n Pay. Look at how well my manicure matches the wrapper!

And before we knew it, the day was nearing its close. This is the gorgeous sunset we snapped from the balcony at Espana in Burgundy Estate. Husband and dad played a round of golf then we all sat down to a pan of paella. So yummy.

Husband and mum, enjoying their paella…

Dad and me doing the same thing at our end of the table. I’d rubbed off much of the Moyo face paint by then.

Then we looked outside and noticed the beautiful colours of the sky.

Dad and me had our photo taken in front of the pretty sky…

As did Husband and mum.

Sunday, 10 April 2016: Spur breakfast, doggy beach walk

This was my Spur cafe latte first thing on Sunday.

My furry son loves swimming in the sea.

Little Miss Bass also had a lovely time scrambling over rocks – much more adventurous than her usual safe trots along the coastline.

Only one of us is smiling in this pic but we’re all happy, I promise. And Bertie’s running around in the back, we didn’t leave him at the beach – despite how much he’d love that.

Tuesday, 12 April 2016: Working at The River Club

My office for the day on Tuesday was the River Club in Observatory. I was there to cover a media launch in the morning and a business meeting in the afternoon. What a relaxing setting.

Pretty protea as part of the table decor at the River Club.

The eye-catching lights in the stairwell at the River Club.

My lunch meeting at The River Club included their ‘famous’ beef burger and chips. I washed this all down with a coffee shake.

Husband snapped this shot of sunset that evening from our rooftop.

Wednesday, 13 April 2016: Palm tree sunset

I caught a later bus home than usual on Wednesday as I covered an event close to the office after work. This is what sunset looked like when we passed Woodbridge Island on the bus. Love those palm trees.

That’s all, folks! Have a fun-filled weekend. 🙂