Mid-winter sea dips and lots of warm dogs

This past weekend was chilly so we spent lots of time at home with the doglets, as you’ll see from the pics below…

Friday, 19 July 2019: Rocomama’s dins

Little girl wrapped up in her blanket on the bed while watching me work from home last Friday.

Husband felt for Rocomama’s for dins last Friday evening, so we headed out as soon as he got home from work. See my creme brulee shake, his very hot chicken wings, and a cute bumper sticker we spotted on our way back home.

Superdogs! These two are so funny. they insist on being wrapped in blankets, then drag them on the floor behind them like superhero capes when they go explore an interesting noise elsewhere.

Saturday, 20 July 2019: Limnos brekkies, Doodles nachos and angel fish

We started our Saturday with some mall admin so stopped at Limons Bakery for a bite to eat. See my grilled ham-and-cheese croissant and Husband’s cooked breakfast – our cappuccinos were effectively free.

We were a little early for our movie at GrandWest casino on Saturday afternoon so stopped at Vida e Caffe for a coffee first. See my standard cappuccino and Husband’s triple.

We stopped at Doodles on the beachfront for an early dins that evening. See the sunset, as well as Husband’s glass of red wine and my plate of cheesy nachos – free as we used an Entertainer voucher.

More snaps of the sunset, also see Husband’s angel fish with veggies. Yum!

Such a pretty girl! Sitting in her granny’s arms, of course.

Sunday, 21 July 2019: The Daily breakfast and a mid-winter sea dip

We breakfasted at The Daily at Seaside Village on Sunday, with Husband’s parents. See my tin cup (condensed milk coffee) as well as banana-bread French toast top right, as well as Husband’s potato waffles topped with poached egg and Hollandaise sauce, a chicken-mayo sandwich with side salad for his mum, and Father-in-Law’s basic brekkie with decaf cappuccino.

Travel-inspired decor at The Daily in Seaside Village.

Proof we were all there.

We stopped at Husband’s favourite swimming hole later that afternoon so he could have a dip in the sea. Spot him in the three pics around me.

Little Miss sitting neatly tucked up in her doggie bed by the fireplace that evening.

Mum’s delicious chicken parm for Sunday lupper.

That’s all, folks! Stay well and tune in for my update next week – same time, same place.

Father’s Day 2019 lunch buffet at the Italian Club

This past week I’ve had my annual ‘Cannes Lions cold’, and it was also Father’s Day and the Youth Day public holiday (though I worked throughout), as you’ll see from the pics below…

Tuesday, 11 June 2019: Spark Media’s Roots 2019 launch

Last Tuesday, I attended Spark Media’s Roots2019 research launch at the River Club. See some of the intriguing displays made from Lego – behind glass so they wouldn’t be messed with (and snacks, meant for eating!)

Thursday, 13 June 2019: Sunrise over Woodstock

I had a super-early start at the office last Thursday, and remembered to pause to catch the sunrise out the window.

Friday, 14 June 2019:  Syrupy crumpets and sunsets

Mmm! When I worked from home last Friday, Mum whipped up a quick batch of crumpets – best enjoyed with tea and syrup, yum.

Pretty as a picture sunset caught in the phone wires, as seen from our lounge that evening.

Saturday, 15 June 2019: Beef roast and potatoes, Weber-style

We decided on a slightly different breakfast on Saturday, at Primi on Marine Circle – see our coffees (flat white cappuccino for Husband, Mocha Forte for me), as well as our breakfasts – the berry pretty super protein bowl for me, the full Primi Power for him. Pricy but filling (I brought half of mine home for the next day).

As it was a long weekend and we’d be having a special Father’s Day lunch with all the parents the next day, Spec slept over at ours on Saturday night. Husband Webered a roast beef, Mum supplied the potatoes and peas – dinner, sorted!

Sunday, 16 June 2019: Father’s Day lunch at the Italian Club

We arrived at the Italian Club at the same time as Husband’s parents, so took a few snaps outside before heading into the big hall for lunch.

The inside was festively decked with balloons and crisp white tablecloths and chair covers.

Look at all those drinks! The craft beers were handed to all the menfolk on entry, with the mini gins waiting on the tables.

Cheers! We brought our own bottle of bubbly along with us, to toast all the dads at the table.

Me with our dads. Lots of love!

Buffeting! Finally, the tables were ready for us so we queued up for all the Italian food you can imagine. See some of the selections here.

Some of the desserts on offer. I may or may not have eaten all of this.

I’ve been to the Italian Club so many times, yet never been out the back to see the view of the mountain. It’s lovely!

Sweet little Bassie warming herself in front of the fire that evening.

Monday, 17 June 2019: Youth Day public holiday

As it was a public holiday on Monday, we slept in a bit then headed to The Daily at Seaside Village in Big Bay for breakfast, once I’d done some work. See Husbands tasting tray coffees, my Tin Cup and our breakfasts.

See my thick, puffy jacket (Winter is truly here), as well as close-ups of the food – my banana-caramel waffle pop and Husband’s full brekkie (he saw another plate go past with those sausages and promptly changed his order, teehee). This was my only outing for the day.

Tuesday, 18 June 2019: Wintery work-from-home lunch

I worked from home again on Tuesday and stopped for a quick soup-with-toasteds break. Just what I needed!

Teehee! So many funny faces. Snapped when we had curry takeaways at Mum’s on Tuesday evening – Gords was in town for business again so stayed the night with us.

Various sleepy doglets, snapped trying to stay warm throughout the week.

That’s all, folks! I’m looking forward to switching off completely this weekend and recovering from this cold. May your weekend be warm and relaxing, too.

Superette study buddy brownies and midweek sunset burgers at Jerry’s

This week, we got to see all the close Cape family members, as our Johannesburg friend Gords was in town on business…

Friday, 5 October 2018: Sunny office start

I started last Friday with a bright Smile 90.4FM mug of Douwe Egberts coffee in the office, yum.

Saturday, 6 October 2018: The Daily, Melkbos and El Barrio Springbok-viewing

A brand new branch of The Daily has opened in Melkbos, over looking the beachfront, so that’s where we headed for Saturday morning breakfast. See my condensed milk-topped tin cup coffee and ‘waffle pop’ topped with bananas and caramel, as well as Husband’s eggs Florentine.

View of Melkbos beachfront, from The Daily balcony.

Rugby-themed baked goods on display at our local Checkers when we did groceries that afternoon.

Husband had some 2-for-1 salmon sashimi from Best Asia Cape Town, the sushi restaurant in Bayside Mall for his early afternoon treat.

Scenes from our early Saturday evening dins at El Barrio – we watched the first-half of the Springboks-All Blacks rugby match and ate delicious taco bowls.

Husband had a glass of red, I tried the ‘Mexican coffee’ from the breakfast menu – Sierra Blanco, espresso, Kahlua and melted ice cream, with a cinnamon-rim.

Spending some quality time with the doglets that evening.

Sunday, 7 October 2018: Sleepy dogs and Pakalolo’s Bloody Mary

Various sleepy dogs as seen in and around the bedroom on Sunday morning.

We had breakfast at Village Place in West Coast Village on Sunday morning. I’d already had a coffee at home, so see my peanutbutter smoothie and Husband’s flat white.

To eat, Husband had the mince (and eggs) on toast, while I went for the banting flapjacks – the mix includes bananas, and they’re topped with berries and yoghurt. Yum!

Scenes from Husband having his customary weekend dip in the sea.

Husband looking pleased with his Bloody Mary at Pakalolo’s that afternoon.

Mum made a delicious potato-filled beef curry with rotis for lupper that evening.

Monday, 8 October 2018: Study buddy catch-up at Superette

After work on Monday, I caught up with my former study buddy from Red & Yellow School, Jaryd – he now runs Trusted Talent. We were thrilled to be at Superette in the Woodstock Exchange, as you can see.

It was super-hot that day so we were given chilled glasses of water with lemon. I also had a hot-cross-bun latte and we each ordered a chocolate brownie – see little lump of white chocolate inside, with berries and cream.

Wednesday, 10 October 2018: Ads24 event at Nasdak and family dins at Jerry’s

Gorgeous view from the ‘Nasdak’, where the Ads24 Food For Thought event was held on Wednesday. Click here and here if you’ve missed my coverage on Bizcommunity so far.

As the event was called ‘Food For Thought’, the food on display was a true delight! See the doughuts, asking to be topped or filled with the contents of the hanging tubes – padkos-nostalgia themed, with strawberry Steri-Stumpie, peanutbutter-and-jam, humbug, guava roll-cream or ‘biltong-and-Melrose’ to choose from. Also see superfood capsules and shakers to boost our morning coffee with cocoa, macha powder, turmeric, hemp seed or mushroom powder.

Gords was down from Joburg on business on Wednesday, so we gathered the family at Jerry’s on Marine Drive after work that eve.

We had booked a booth, so got to see the lights from Jerry’s reflecting out over the view of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head at sunset.

Group shot in front of the Jerry’s tattoo wallpaper before we left.

The doggies, caught napping together on the couch again that evening.

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

11th wedding anniversary tacos at El Barrio, Velvet Cake Co rainbow slice

Get your scrolling finger ready to see how we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary last weekend, amongst other things…

Wednesday, 22 August 2018: Future Females at Workshop 17

Last Wednesday was the Future Females monthly evening event, which coincided with their first birthday celebration. Click here if you missed my overview.

Some networking snaps and oh my goodness, look at that cake!

Thursday, 23 August 2018: SheSays ‘side-hustle’ event

Last Thursday, I attended the second ever Cape Town SheSays event, held at GetSmarter’s offices. Watch for my overview of the event on Bizcommunity early next week!

Unicorns, barista-brewed coffees and local bestselling books make good waiting companions.

Group shot! We snacked, laughed and chatted away before the main panel discussion began.

Saturday, 25 August 2018: 11th anniversary dins at El Barrio

We had some mall admin to kick off our weekend so it was another Mugg & Bean breakfast for us. See our flat whites, my choc-chip flapjack stack and Husband’s basic fried breakfast.

The sea that afternoon was the picture of ‘winter in Cape Town’ – grey sky, green water. Husband did not venture in.

We stopped in at The Daily for a mid-afternoon treat of ‘tin cups’ (cappuccino with condensed milk, served in a tin cup). We dunked our heart-shaped shortbread biscuits in them. Yum! ❤

We had our anniversary celebration meal at El Barrio in Eden on the Bay. See a selection of the tacos we ate. All delicious!

See Husband with his glass of red and me with my ‘Drunken Mexican’ cocktail, complete with roasted marshmallows and cinnamon stick.

If you sit inside at El Barrio, you’ll see some of these things, including a super-cute bulldoggy.

I finally got to try a ‘pastel caramel-custard rainbow cake slice’ from Velvet Cake Co in Canal Walk that evening. It tastes even better than it looks, and that’s saying something!

Sunday, 26 August 2018: Breakfast at The Hart, cappuccinos at Bread & Butter

We breakfasted at The Hart Bakery in Melkbos on Sunday. See my single eggs benedict, Husband’s chorizo rosti and our flat whites.

Handsome Husband! My coffee date at Bread and Butter on Sunday afternoon.

Mmm! We had veggie soup with bacon-flavoured croutons for lupper at Mum’s on Sunday. Just the thing on a cold afternoon.

Monday, 27 August 2018: Growing Greatness book launch at Ruth Prowse School of Art

Monday was cold and rainy, and also the evening of the launch of Joe Public United chief creative officer Pepe Marais’ book launch, at the Ruth Prowse School of Art. Click here for my interview with Marais, if you missed it.

Tuesday, 28 August 2018: Networking Vietnamese coffee bowl at Hemelhuijs

I started my Tuesday with a quick coffee catch-up at Hemelhuijs, and finally tried the Vietnamese coffee bowl. It costs R50 and tastes like heaven – with vanilla and condensed milk added to the bowl.

A networking selfie together with the founders of the Voyc.AI transcriber, in front of some of the pretty things on display at Hemelhuijs.

Wednesday, 29 August 2018: UCT Unilever Youth Report launch

The weather on Wednesday was crisp and fresh, with blue skies and light clouds everywhere. I snapped this at the Sports Science Institute in Newlands, where I was attending the launch of the UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing’s Youth Report 2018.

Key moments from the morning.

Sweet doggies snuggling on the couch that evening – both with me and without. Also see before and after snaps of the Checkers’ ready-to-cook master chef meal that Husband whipped up for dins. This was the sweet-and-sour pork.

Thursday, 30 August 2018: Love Milo’s Spring design Magnolia launch

On Thursday afternoon, I popped into Love Milo on Hope Street in Gardens for their Spring design trends Magnolia launch. It was just lovely.

The snacks and treats were all pinky purple to match the Magnolia trend, with pomegranates in the flutes of pink bubbly and mint leaves and raspberries to garnish the ice tea.

This table setting is just so pretty with the ombre napkins, touches of gold, wood and floral.

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

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

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

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

See how we celebrated this and more below…

Monday, 6 August 2018: Media networking at Expresso Studios

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Such a bright, pretty sunset in the suburbs.

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

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

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

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

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

Sleepy sweeties on the couch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Belated day(s) of donuts as winter 2018 hits Cape Town

You can see that winter’s well and truly on it’s way as we’re dressed in woolly hats and socks and long pants in the pics below – the lack of milkshakes and absence of dip in the sea over last weekend is another giveaway that we’re in the colder bit of the year…

Saturday, 2 June 2018: Waffle breakfast at The Daily, wintery braai at the in-laws

T’was a ‘The Daily Cafe’ breakfast kind of day. I went for the ‘waffle pop’ breakfast – a waffle quartered and served with sliced banana, nuts, ice cream and caramel sauce. Husband had an unpictured salmon eggs benedict and flat white.

The Daily’s ‘tin cup’ (cappuccino with condensed milk) is a delicious warming start to the day.

We did some weekend admin at Century City that morning and stopped in at Dunkin Donuts for a quick coffee-Rocky Road donut treat, as the previous day had been international donut day in the US. Given the time difference, our celebration was almost bang on target.

Later that afternoon: Father-in-law’s homemade boerewors. When asked what was in it he thought a while to remember, then decided it was pork mince, beef mince, coriander and nutmeg.

She has a faraway smile on her sweet face here, while squashed onto the couch next to her dad.

Bassie looks just as concerned as owlie bag here.

We must have looked cosy on the couch as Bertie decided to join us, too.

Scenes from the braai – meat cooking, my portion, instant pudding with crumbled Flake on top and little miss Bassie pretending she’s not looking directly at the food on the table.

Sunday, 3 June 2018: Breakfast at Primi, Solo movie outing at GrandWest

On Sunday, we breakfasted at Primi, Marine Circle. Husband had a latte with extra shot of espresso.

The Mocha Forte comes in a tiny cup but it’s a delicious blend of ristretto, dark chocolate, coconut oil and micro-textured milk. Just the thing when it’s chilly out and you need a hot caffeine fix!

See? It’s tiny but delicious. The lovely open fire pit in the middle of our local Primi, with views of the sea through those windows, is also a winner.

I surprised everyone (that’s Husband and myself) by opting for the crispy bacon-avo bowl topped with poached egg for my brekkie.

Husband opted for the Primi Power – streaky bacon, sausage patties, sautéed mushrooms and eggs.

Later that morning we met brother-in-law Spec at GrandWest Casino to watch the Star Wars Solo movie. (Teehee if you thought I meant I had gone to the movies by myself!) This was the least blurry action shot of the bunch husband took.

Mum had whipped up two different soups for lupper – Woolies’ ginger, carrot and coriander and a variation of Checkers’ creamy broccoli-and-potato – which were both just the thing with bacon-flavoured croutons and egg-mayo sandwiches. Yum.

And for dessert, an assortment of Dunkin Donuts’ finest, also in honour of International Donut Day on Friday! My favourite is the choc-filled smiley heart and the milk-tart-filled powder-dusted heart. I heart them. ❤

Tuesday, 5 June 2018: Woodstock sunrise and paella dins

Pretty sunrise over Woodstock as I made my way to work from the bus on Tuesday morning.

Mum whipped up a delicious ‘dry’ chicken-sausage paella when they came for dins that evening. The left-overs for lunch the next day were amazing!

That’s all, folks! May your weekend be donut-delicious.

Donuts, doughnuts everywhere!

It’s Freedom Day today in SA, so we’ve had a lovely day relaxing and spending time with family. But more of that in next week’s update.

Last week, you’d think I just sat and ate donuts (or doughnuts, depending on your spelling preference) from the pics you’re about to see. I promise I did lots of other things in between…

Thursday, 19 April 2018: SheSays CT launch at Red & Yellow

Last Thursday, I attended the launch of SheSays Cape Town with my colleague Clarina after work. It’s the largest global network of females working in the creative industries. Click here if you missed my coverage!

Evening skies over Devil’s Peak.

Cloud-flecked sky as seen when looking towards the harbour from the Red & Yellow School rooftop.

Friday, 20 April 2018: Dunkin Donuts while working from home

I worked from home last Friday as had a huge amount of work to do before Sunday evening so decided to save time on the commute. My parents popped in with a sweet teatime treat – Dunkin Donuts! The heart held a raspberry jammy filling and the smiley face was filled with a chocolate mousse. Delicious!

Saturday, 21 April 2018: Father-in-Law’s 75th birthday braai

We started our weekend at Driftwood Cafe as we were conveniently having our car washed next door. See the coffee and weekend breakfast special minus toast as they were in the middle of a power cut, so this was all cooked on gas.

After a bit of weekend admin we stopped at The Daily Cafe in Big Bay’s Seaside Village for a mid-morning treat. See Husband’s con panna and my ‘waffle pop’ topped with caramel, banana and a cup of soft serve.

Father-in-Law held his official 75th birthday braai on Saturday afternoon, with various friends and extended family members in attendance. See the train-topped birthday cake and lots of smiles.

Bassie got lots of attention from her other Grampa and dad during the party.

Bertie was all tuckered out after entertaining everyone at his Grampa’s party by running around and greeting animals on the TV screen. He curled up on the couch and rested for a bit once we got home.

We see you, Bertie boy…

Sunday, 22 April 2018: Village Place breakfast, Milky Lane treat

We both had quite a bit of work to do so started off with a quick breakfast together at The Village Place Cafe last Sunday. See my vanilla cappuccino with heart-shaped biscuit, Husband’s mince, eggs and cheese on toast and my French toast with bacon, banana and nuts.

Once we were both done with work for the day we stopped in at the Milky Lane at Table Bay Mall for a quick Sunday afternoon treat. See my ‘Bubbles crunch Sunnydae’, very similar to the promo pic and looks and just what I needed. Husband had an ice-cream sandwich, not pictured.

Monday, 23 April 2018: Belated birthday cake at work

My colleague Juanita had been on leave for a few days to celebrate her birthday and spoiled us with cake in the office on her return. I had a slice of the ganache-y chocolate, it was delicious! The caramel and Black Forest disappeared before I could even think of trying a slice. I’ll be faster next time 😉

Tuesday, 24 April 2018: AfricArena media launch at InvestSA

Cape Town time, front and centre at the InvestSA one-stop shop.

Such a nice work environment at InvestSA – it’s a coworking space, so you’re encouraged to pop in if looking for government assistance with any aspect of your businesses!

I was there to cover the press conference for the second AfricArena tech startup pitching competition and conference, taking place in Cape Town later in the year following a brief ‘world tour’. My overviews will go up over the next few weeks, as it’s Africa Month on Bizcommunity.

Mum brought over delicious meatloaf with veggies for dins that evening. We ate up every last scrap!

Wednesday, 25 April 2018: Good Hope FM #donuttouchthatdial DJ line-up remix at Grand Life Cafe

It was time for even more donuts at Good Hope FM’s first trade media event in five years, their new DJ line-up reveal held at Grand Life Cafe at the V&A Waterfront on Thursday. Was a wonderfully sunny day with bright blue skies.

Oh you know, just hanging with the Good Hope FM DJs.

These vibrant purple flowers looked fake but were definitely the real deal. Also see the two ‘candy stations’ offering an assortment of red and blue sweeties.

Beautiful pink and red and orange cascading blooms.

There was a printing station so you could have your face printed on a donut if you so desired, and guests were free to sample as many as they liked. These were all absolutely amazing, glazed with caramel, chocolate, coffee and pretzels in all the right places.

Lovely sushi and fishy eats too, if you weren’t a fan of sweet things (who are these people?!)

This is what we came for – My Sugar created special donuts to go with each DJ’s personality.

I got to take home my favourite – the DJ Ready D. It had a peanut butter-choc ganache topping, nuts and a mild milk chocolate centre that oozed out when you bit into it. Delicious!

That’s all, folks! We hope you’re having a wonderful long weekend so far.

Autumn Risotto Pop-Up Experience at 95 Keerom and Gords’ visit

Last week was really busy and quite chilly but filled with happy, delicious moments, too…

Wednesday, 4 April 2018: Autumn Risotto Pop-Up Experience at 95 Keerom and Gords’ visit

I’d been invited to review the Autumn Risotto Pop-Up Experience at 95 Keerom on Wednesday afternoon, so of course I accepted the offer. Each bowl was delicious, especially accompanied by Steenberg Wines’ finest.

The food and the drink. Yes, I ate all this. Click through for details and full descriptions in my official review on Bizcommunity.

Gords, one of Husband’s oldest friends from our Joburg days, was in Cape Town on business on Wednesday so we jumped at the chance to see him at Husband’s parents’ house. See various happy moments below – yes, the doggies were there, too.

Husband’s Mum cooked up haggis, chilli con carne, potatoes and various veg in honour of Gords’ visit. See how thrilled Bertie was to greet Gords, also see my Mum with Bassie (my parents popped in for a quick visit, too).

Friday, 6 April 2018: Doggies warming themselves at the fire

The doggies warming themselves at the fire last Friday evening.

Sleepy sweethearts.

Precious little Bassie peeping out from under her blankie.

Saturday, 7 April 2018: Coffee-filled breakfast at The Daily

The Daily at Seaside Village in Big Bay had revamped its menu so we went for a quick taste. As it was first thing in the morning, we started with coffee! See various shots of Husband’s ‘con panna’ (espresso topped with cream) and my latte.

To eat we went with old favourites – toasted chicken mayo in white for me, eggs florentine for Husband. See shots of how they were served on the left and after we’d doctored them with sauces on the right.

After a fair deal of weekend admin we decided on an early dinner at The Orient in Eden on the Bay that evening. See various hand rolls, sashimi and maki consumed by Husband, and my cashew chicken dish bottom left.

Sunday, 8 April 2018: Coffee at Reload, breakfast at Tables at Nitida, liquid treats at Pakalolo

We were up earlier than necessary on Sunday so stopped for a fancy coffee treat first thing. The outside seating area at Reload in Parklands is inviting.

See my peppermint-chocolate latte and various weekend newspapers. Sunday morning bliss.

As we’d not seen them the day before, we met Husband’s parents at Tables at Nitida for breakfast. It’s such a pretty spot!

Love the mosaic tables at Tables (lol) – also see my Milo shake;, the general ‘bacon-eggs-mushrooms-tomato’ brekkie ordered by Husband’s parents; my brioche French toast with jar of scrumptious caramelised bananas and nuts; and Husband’s Italian-style chorizo-pepper-feta-spring onion open-faced omelette. No wonder their tagline is ‘For the love of food!’

Tables at Nitida always makes us feel welcome. “May all who enter as guests leave as friends.”

After we’d ‘left as friends’, we stopped in at Klein Rosboom for a look around. The entry table is just so pretty. Insert heart-eyes emoji.

Some of the lovely sights at Klein Roosboom. We found ‘die hang gat’, where you can sit in a swing chair while tasting wine. Such fun!

You can see us peeking into another of the tasting room ‘caves’ at Klein Roosboom in the mirror here.

Much later that afternoon, after lots of manual labour in the garden, we stopped in at Pakalolo on the beachfront for a liquid treat. It was a frosty Castle Light draught for Husband and raspberry virgin daquiri for me. Delicious!

You can just make out Husband behind my virgin raspberry daquiri here. Lol.

Ahh. That’s how you spend a Sunday afternoon. Sipping daquiris and staring at sea views.

Mum outdid herself with homemade gnocchi and a crunchy salad for lupper that eve.

Wednesday, 11 April 2018: Overcast fiery skies at night

Overcast sunset sky at night…

Thursday, 12 April 2018: ‘Feel better’ pastries from Trescatelli Bakery

Cloud-flecked sunrise sky in the morning.

There was a bus strike on Thursday and I wasn’t feeling 100% so worked from home that day. Day made when my parents popped in with delicious pastries! See huge mug of coffee with chocolate and vanilla-cream cannoli from Trescatelli Bakery here. Mmm.

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

Table Mountain sunsets and how we celebrated my 34th birthday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See our coffees and laughs and breakfast plates.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Delicious food = happy faces.

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

Monday, 19 February 2018: Birthday cakes in the office

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

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