Home is where the party is!

Eastern Food Bazaar; this place is insane. Go there!

The girls; Robyn, Claire, Renée & Maxine

 

Superb sarnies at Yours Truly in Long Street

Coffee at Manna

Tretchikoff exhibition at the South African National Gallery

Falafal Pita at Lazari

Cleo fashion ed, Carla at Lazari

Now that I am the fashion intern at Cleo magazine, I live the swank life. One of the perks being business trips to all corners of the globe. ie, Cape Town. K so, my job is so totally not swank, it's hard work. A lot of sellotape, a lot of boxes needing to be packed. But I did get to accompany Cleo's fashion ed, Carla Uys on a week long business trip down to the city that always sleeps. And also, my home city! So, just like Miley, I got the best of both worlds (minus the limo) we sourced, returned, met with people and shot during the weekdaytimes and I spent the weeknights with my family and the weekend doing touristy things with my best friends. The best way to ensure I make you turn green with envy and book a trip to Cape Town is by putting my 'things I did' into a list.


1. First of all, let me just say: EASTERN FOOD BAZAAR! If you haven't, you really should. This place is tasty and tasty is good! I ate a chicken shwarma the size of my face. I swear, I ate and I ate and I ate and then I took what looked like my entire shwarmalama in a doggy bag.


2. I ate my first macaroon from Cassis in Garden Center, which was awfully moreish and I still wish I'd brought a bucket load of those back with me. 


3. A place I'd heard too many good things about to not try, is Yours Truly. This little sandwich bar is delightfully delicious and one of the many great spots along Long Street. You can make up your own sarnie or oder one of the pre-designed combos. I went for the chorizo sausage, tomato, some greens and chutney on ciabatta; I definitely recommend it. 


4. I walked through the company gardens with Robyn,  Maxine and Renée, which is always an enjoyable way to pass time. We saw the Tretchikoff exhibition at the South African National Gallery, which is really, truly brilliant! Also spotted some knitting bombing on the handrail!


4.  My friend Claire is the chef at Manna Epicure in Kloof Street, so we made a stop there for a Latte, a shortbread cookie and some bread. After sitting on the porch in the sunshine for a bit, I began to wish I'd studied something sensible, like medicine, so that I could afford the mezzé platter or the mussels in garlic sauce. For me, the best thing about this place, is Claire - it was such a treat to see her in her chefs uniform poaching eggs and looking terribly professional. It makes one extremely proud to see friends doing so well for themselves. Claire has started a food blog that chronicles her cooking adventures; as a treat to you and me, she is taking requests as to what you would like to cook, but can't because you spent your days watching re-runs of days of our lives instead of the food channel. I love this idea, because it makes it real easy to be clever in the kitchen when someone else is doing the research. 


5. One of the things I miss the most living away from my home is the endless supply of kids to hang out with. I got to see most of them on Saturday night for Bruce's blog party and then a boogie in Assembly. 


6. I miss half price sushi specials down the road, which Becky and I used to frequent. Thankfully I got to stuff my face with enough raw fish and rice to last me a while - or at least until I next go home! It is always a laugh and a treat to see Bex. She teaches me things about my camera I should have known ages ago and we speak about other peoples lives. [Never dull] 


I spent the rest of my time at home with my family. Adrienne and I got to catch up on seafood platters and DVDs in bed, I got to go shopping with my Mom, talk business and clever things with Dad, talk gossip with my big sister Jenna while getting my roots re-bleached and I got to see how much my little cousins have grown. When you're away from home, you miss the evenings at the dinner table and private jokes stemming from countless Seinfeld episodes, the chatter around the breakfast table [where the breakfast is made for you] and the lazy Sunday lunches on the stoep.