Weird wall gizmos and job title celebrations

The past weekend was a goodie as I finally started feeling better from bronchitis – antibiotics are a necessary evil – and we didn’t have much on the cards, so could spend some time relaxing and rejuvenating. Here’s what we got up to…

Friday, 2 October 2015: Dogs in various positions on couches

First the doggies decided to take up the whole couch – Bertie placed Bear perfectly so there just wasn’t enough space for his parents to join in.

Then Bassie moved to sit with her dad and Bertie decided to help me with my studies… note lots of medicine on top of ‘shades of grey’ cabinet.

Eventually all three relocated to the other couch. Note Bertie has Bear under his chin and has placed himself over Bassie.

Saturday, 3 October 2015: Brekkie overlooking rainy Rondebosch Common

Saturday dawned cold and drizzly… with the realisation that I’d left most of my notes for that week’s assignments in the office. So we headed out for breakfast in the general vicinity of work, ending up at Common Ground for breakfast.

‘Common ground’ is a clever name because apart from the obvious, it’s also a coffee shop (ground) opposite the Rondebosch Common. Our table was fairly situated in the middle but we could still watch the rain pouring down. I opted for the bacon and banana French toast.

Here’s Husband in mid-chew of his eggs benedict – yes, I have considered renaming the blog “French toast and eggs ben”!

So much was the French toast that I took half home with me to finish off that afternoon. Note we both proudly wore South Africa supporter shirts to support the Springboks in that evening’s RWC match.

Next stop – work to collect my assignment notes. While waiting for the guard to arrive and let me in, we explored the ‘Delos’ building next door. It’s filled with antiques like chandeliers, fancy tables and somewhat scary wall decorations, like this guy.

Notes in hand, we stopped off at the nursery, where I fell in love with a selection of metal outdoor wall owlies. Still deciding which is my favourite.

Gardening and assignments complete, we settled in to watch the rugby – Bertie was very interested and kept checking with his dad for approval, Bassie ignored the festivities.

Sunday, 4 October 2015: New job title celebrations

Still not feeling 100%, I enjoyed some early morning cuddles with the doggies before we ventured out for breakfast, as we do.

We ended up at Greens. Husband had his favourite deluxe breakfast – here he is buttering his toast

I had a chai latte and tried the coconut-pineapple French toast. Delicious.

Mum had bought the most beautifully patterned milk tart to celebrate my new job title (am officially editor-in-chief: marketing & media)…

And we had dry pink MCC to top off the celebrations.

Wednesday, 7 October 2015: Business of Design conferencing at ICIC

It was a busy week for me as I covered two conferences. The first was the Spring 2015 edition of Business of Design, held at the Inner City Ideas Cartel. This was my rushed tea-time treat between taking notes and networking.

Lunch that afternoon was served on the rooftop. I love these egg chairs!

Thursday, 8 October 2015: Mobile 360 Africa conferencing at African Pride Crystal Towers

My second conference of the week was the GSMA Mobile 360 Africa, held at the African Pride Crystal Towers hotel in Century City. This sculpture is fascinating.

The conference content may have been technical and detailed, but the snacks were delicious. This was a mini mille feulle with my coffee

Later that afternoon I had to take a shot of these gorgeous citrus blooms on my walk to the Myciti station. Yes, those are colourful cats on my sock.

That’s all, folks! Until next time…

September SEO studies, walks along the Cape coastline and lots of lattes

I’m now into the third week of my 10-week part-time course and my brain is positively overflowing with information that you may well see filtering across into this very blog’s design soon. Exciting! 🙂

Other highlights from the past week include the first true glimpse of Spring 2015 for Cape Town – always a few weeks behind those of y’all upcountry, alas. See below…

Friday, 11 September 2015: Chilly dogs in blankets

Bertie Andrews feeling the chill.

Bassie Andrews also felt the need to be blanketed.

Saturday, 12 September 2015: Breakfast at Woodbridge Island, post-assignment burgers at Rockstar Diner

Some pre-brekkie grins at Ilha, Woodbridge Island on Saturday.

Husband about to tuck in to his full English.

You know I love French Toast! This is a stack with bacon and grilled banana, and a cafe latte on the side.

Much, much later that day, after Husband had done lots of cleaning and clearing (we visited the local dump twice and that final box that had sat in the garage since we first moved to Cape Town is gone).. plus after I finished my last assignment for the week, we treated ourselves to fancy drinks and burgers at the Rockstar Diner. This is Husband’s Long Island Ice Tea…

There we are with our burgers and big grins adorning our faces. You can just see my ‘strawberries and cream’ milkshake, as well as my cheese burger topped with a crumbed onion ring and Husband’s ‘magic mushroom’ burger.

Sunday, 13 September 2015: Breakfast and long walks along the West Coast

First thing on Sunday, we headed to Eden on the Bay and dithered over where to eat. We started out at Captain’s Kitchen, where I had a strong cappuccino.

Husband had a Cola, of course. We then decided to walk “a little up the road” to see what else was on offer.

Walk and walk we did! All the way past the Blue Peter, Ons Huisie and the incoming sea. There’s a ship in the top left of the shot.

See? As close as close can be to the sea. Actually I lie. We were walking in the sea later, and I very nearly got swept away when I stepped into a hole in the sand – luckily Husband was right there to rescue me and I only got soaked up to my knees.

We ended up having breakfast at Petit Fours. Husband had this lovely poached egg concoction.

My favourite Boy and his favourite sauce.

For me? This rather delightful mini cheesecake filled with salted caramel and sliced almonds, washed down with a Chai latte.

Later that afternoon we were back in the area and stopped off for a spot of sushi at Best of Asia on Marine Circle

Wednesday, 16 September: Dins at Fat Cactus, Woodstock

To celebrate my first assignment results, Husband met me down the road from work on Wednesday at the Fat Cactus

For me? A super large espresso milkshake. There was enough in there to fill two glasses.

For Husband, the pulled pork, crispy tacos. He loves them

For me? The ‘starter’ rib basket. Husband helped me finish and we brought the rib bones home for the doggies.

Later that night we gave Bertie the teddybear we’d rescued from the side of the road a while ago and cleaned first. He loves it.

Friday, 18 September 2015: SEO studies and delicious tea breaks

I took the day off from work, so my Friday started like this – chocolate Poptarts and cappuccino breakfast while cluing myself up on the design aspects of SEO.

I had this for a brunch break later with the parents – custard-filled croissant and a large Chai latte. Yum!

That’s all, folks! The weekend ahead is set to be sunny yet windy, so who knows what my next blog update will have in store for you?

Dinky Colas, Turkish delight-choc ganache dough-sants, and rainy public holiday movies

What do you do when it threatens to rain on your Winter public holiday? Wintery things, of course. That’s why last weekend we met a friend for a coffee-fuelled weekend breakfast (and tried Jason Bakery’s much talked about daily dough-ssant – more on that below), went to our nearest News Cafe twice, and spent the public holiday trying to keep dry as that’s the day it really bucketed down. More below…

Saturday, 13 June 2015: Jason Bakery breakfast, with Jana, News Cafe drinks with seagull

The menu’s printed daily at Jason Bakery, as the dough-ssant option changes daily. Look at my beautiful cappuccino with a shortbread biccie on the side.

Lookit! Husband’s breakfast Cola was so tiny Jana suggested we take a photo including his hand to show the scale. So cute he had two (Colas, not hands, he’s always had two of those, and at R9 for the 200ml dinky bottle it’s not bad).

The dough-ssants are the reason we opted for Jason Bakery, and boy were they good! What’s a dough-ssant, you ask? It’s like a cronut, sometime called a French doughnut – round doughnut shaped but the texture is all croissant. It’s R35 and Saturday saw us facing the ‘Turkish Deight-choc ganache’ option, with a thick layer of delight inside and glittery soft pinkness atop. Delightful.

Proof that Jana and I were both there! Here we are, tucking into our dough-ssants. We couldn’t finish in one sitting and were HUNGRY to start with (though I confess I did finish mine in the car on the way home.)

Husband was not tempted by all the sweet treats, opting instead for the Wild Wild West breakfast. His pleasing pan came with a bread base, Jack Daniels beans, fried egg and tasty sosswag.

It was a cold day so we sat and watched some telly that afternoon – Bassie objected to yet another photo but Bertie didn’t notice me taking this shot, he was so engrossed in watching TV.

We ventured out again that evening – a sweet seagull decided to get very close while we waited for our drinks to arrive at News Cafe, Blouberg. The whiteness in the distance is the sea.

Husband glugged an Amstel Draught…

I had a cafe mocha. Lovely mix of coffee and hot choc. The seagull had winged his way further up the coastline by then.

Sunday, 14 June 2015: News Cafe breakfast, lemon meringue pie and Milo

While at News Cafe we’d both spotted yummy sounding things on their breakfast menu, so we returned on Sunday morning. This is my strawberry cheesecake flapjacks and (empty) cappuccino cup…

Husband went for the Hangover Eggs (not that he had one). It was very good, he loved them – slices of toast with baked beans, rashers of streaky bacon, egg and feta. Of course he doctored it with lots of Tabasco sauce. And washed it down with a Cola.

Mum surprised us with Milo and lemon meringue pie when we visited for lupper on Sunday.

The bottle the others sampled during lupper; I was still on flu meds. It was a lovely peachy colour.

Monday, 15 June 2015: Met at the bus stop by my doglet

Husband got home long before me on Monday (we were not among the clever few who took a day’s leave for an extra long weekend). Both doggies hopped in the car to come fetch me from the bus stop. Bertie was leaping around the back seat, Bassie was excited to know where we were going – a little sad when we just went back home.

Tuesday, 16 June 2015: movies in the rain

Here is Husband, dressed in skimpy T-shirt and shorts when we ventured out to Grand West Casino in the rain.

Thursday, 18 June 2015: Blue lemonade cocktails at African Pride 15 on Orange

The blue lemonade ‘cocktails’ handed to us when we arrived at the Meltwater marketing brainfood event at the African Pride 15 on Orange hotel on Thursday.

Friday, 19 June 2015: Weekend cupcakes!

One of my colleagues surprised us with delicious, moist chocolate cupcakes she’d baked using Woollies’ cake mix. Lovely way to start a Friday!

There you have it, kids. Hope your weekend ahead is lovely 🙂

Hello Sailor breakfasts and Mother’s Day puppy love

It’s official – Winter 2015 has hit in Cape Town. What’s funny is, I made the same announcement last year – that Winter had officially hit on Mother’s Day weekend. (See here if you don’t believe me). Most of this week has had foggy, frosty mornings – not fun on the back of a bike. I predict a weekend of being wrapped snug in soft blankets, mugs of steamy drinks and lots of lounging in front of the fireplace.

But before we get to this weekend, we need to cover last weekend, and all that’s happened since…

Saturday, 9 May 2015: Breakfast at Hello Sailor in Obz,  home generator installation

Bertie’s morning face. Love this dog.

That’s me, as seen through the window of Hello Sailor in Obz.

Couldn’t have started the day any better than with a cappuccino.

Husband was either pondering the ‘Hello Sailor’ artboard or the ‘ever-present hippie’ on his Mac in the booth opposite. We then had a long discussion on the difference between hippies and hipsters.

Husband happily Tabasco-saucing his well-peppered eggs ben.

My French toast (of course) with bacon and grilled banana was just delightful.

Some of the pretty street art (not sure if this counts as graffiti?) in Obz, when we took a little walk after brekkie.

We treated ourselves to a genny, after lots of research into how much wattage we’d need to keep the basics running when we have our all-too-frequent loadshedding stints. We have bad luck with our schedule, as we’re loadshed every second day from 6pm to 8.30pm, but this week was a breeze.

Sunday, 10 May 2015: Mother’s Day brunch, afternoon snack at Captain’s Kitchen

Mum and me on Mother’s Day – we kept to our standing tradition of Mother’s Day brunch at our house. Husband kindly cooked eggs and bacon and toast, and we had a feast of fruit salad, yoghurt, pastries, coffee, juice and bubbly.

Love this photo of Bassie with her granny.

Here’s Bassie with me – such a dear little dog.

My doggies remembered! They gave Husband their grubby puppy coins and he got some items from their list – all things to make mommy’s garden and patio pretty. Bless.

A Mother’s Day draught at Captain’s Kitchen. R40 is way too much for this, Husband commented.

This here coffee shake was a bit better value at R25…

And the Italia pizza for R90? Perhaps we’d have it again on their weekly Thursday ‘two for the price of one’ special.

Thursday, 14 May 2015: Exploring the Castle Brewery complex in Woodstock

This here grey kitty let me snap a photo when I was walking through the Castle Brewery complex in Woodstock on Thursday morning. I got there super early so had time to take in the sights…

…But was delighted to find that Native VML, where the event was held, has a lovely bright coffee shop area with interesting things all over the walls. Just right for a creative space.

So I spent the rest of my wait busy with the book I’d remembered to bring along with me, a top-notch cappuccino or two and digestive biccies.

Keep warm, critters! It’s cold out there…

Long weekend pastel milkshakes, continental breakfasts and Bo-Kaap houses galore

The last weekend was the last long weekend we’ll see it a while, and we celebrated it in style. Yes, I rhymed for a reason – to make you smile 🙂 Here’s what you missed…

Friday, 1 May 2015: Worker’s Day, Bassie has her stitches out, Cattle Baron lunch buffet

Little Miss Bassie, home after having her stitches removed at the vet first thing that morning. We gave her a green chewy treat as a reward. She didn’t look so pleased with it, at first…

But was soon munching away, at the opposite end of the couch to her brother.

My parents discovered our local Cattle Baron has a wonderful weekday buffet lunch special. This is my coffee shake. The rest of the photos were badly lit, so you’ll have to take my word about what good value it was. All the ribs, fish, rice, curry, veggies and salad you can eat for R69. R59 for pensioners. Most folk had four plates full.

Saturday, 2 May 2015: Bo-Kaap street explore, Panama Jacks lunch

In my two+ years as a Capetonian I’d not once been up the Bo-Kaap streets with their colourful houses. That changed on Saturday morning. Bunting banners were up, too.

So bright and cheery, and no colour duplicates. No wonder it’s such a popular photo destination for tourists.

I spotted this dog watching me over his wall, so I took a photo. He was still as a statue, as though he was well-versed in posing for photos.

Such an interesting archway on Wale Street.

Panama Jacks for lunch? Don’t mind if I do! Dad is having calamari and I’m busy with what the waiter called a “pink shake”. Tasted exactly as it looked.

Sunday, 3 May 2015: Continental breakfasts and windy beach walks

Coffee first thing in the morning after getting up (or as soon as possible thereafter) makes me so happy you can see the smile in one eye alone. Helps if the cappuccino is only R10 as it’s part of your breakfast at Euro Haus on Loop.

Yes, Husband is very photogenic, but the point of this photo was all the interesting wooden keyboards on the wall above his head at Euro Haus on Sunday morning. We were lucky to get a table, you can see it’s a popular spot.

The ultimate continental breakfast. If you’re ordering breakfast at Euro Haus on Loop Street, you coffee/cappuccino/tea is just R10, and you get this bread basket filled with fresh, flaky croissants and rolls, as well as assorted little jam tubs – brought to your table for free.

My scumdiddlyumptious French toast croissant with bacon and syrup.

Husband’s eggs ben with salmon at Euro Haus. “Was nice”, he confirms.

How do you boost my mood if I’ve already had my fill of coffee for the day? With a peanut butter-chocolate milkshake at Driftwood Cafe, of course…

Husband and Bassie during our very wintery beach walk.

Monday, 4 May 2015: Half-price Spur burgers and roaring fires during loadshedding

Lighting’s not great but this is to show you just how long the queue was at our local Spur in Bayside on Monday evening, when we were on our way out – one of the few functional food places during loadshedding. We always enjoy their two-for-one Monday burger special.

There was still an hour or so of loadshedding to sit through when we got home, so Husband lit a fire. The doggy children enjoyed the warmth.

Tuesday, 5 May 2015: Gartner Architecting Digital Business conference at CTICC

My standard “what do the flowers at the CTICC reception desk look like today” photo. Bright tulips are always a win.

Delightful breakfast offering at the CTICC – custard pastries, muesli-yoghurt-berry shots and strong filter coffee, perfect for spilling in the saucer, as I do. Great way to introduce yourself at an event.

Wednesday, 6 May 2015: Owlie office mug jealous of cakes set in plain sight

What better was to get through a Wednesday in your first full five-day work day in a while (thanks, public holidays) than with a colleague’s birthday treats?

Thursday, 7 May 2015: #FirstThursdays on Wale Street

Fair Trade coffee is often more expensive, but tastes delicious and you buy with a better conscience. This was Bean There, the setting for Thursday evening’s #FirstThursdays event – the last one of the season before winter strikes, and my first ever. Pleasantly surprised how well-attended it was.

For R19.50, my Fair Trade cappuccino sure did look – and taste – like it was made with love.

And this, you ask? Well, in conjunction with #FirstThursdays, it was the launch of Skip washing powder’s new #FabulousDressProject, to showcase Skip’s stain-removal power. Attendees got to artfully decorate pure white material however they pleased in the hope of winning a bespoke ivory dress. Fun after a busy day of work.

Could not resist a photo of the bathroom at Bean There. Do you SEE the amazing wallpaper? It’s even on the ceiling. And the lampshade? Priceless.

That’s all, folks. We’re back to regular two-day weekends (sob) so expect the posts to be slightly less photo-heavy for a while. Enjoy and stay warm – I sense we’re on the verge of the 2015 ‘bangers-and-mash-capades‘! 🙂