year three

I'm just going to ignore the fact that it has been three months since the last post, ok? Ok. Thanks, I'm glad we've gotten that settled.

Three years ago today I married my favorite friend. In celebration, we started the day with breakfast at the very spectacular Olympia Cafe and have a festive dinner planned for tonight, as well as a little getaway in a couple weekends time.


One of Brendan's pressies from me was a retrospective picture slideshow. I debated posting this mush-fest on the blog, but in the end I figured if you can't be sentimental and sappy on your anniversary then by-golly when can you? Besides, some peeps will get catch a glimpse of their own faces in this, and you can have a chuckle at our changing hairstyles over time.

Cloth

Yesterday was our second wedding anniversary, the cloth anniversary. The bulk of our celebrations of marital bliss took place on Saturday, though, when we went out to the Warwick wine estate for a Big 5 wine safari, wine tasting, and gourmet picnic. We were lucky enough to have *pristine* weather, which made the day feel all the more festive. The safari was a hoot. Eight of us rode around in a big Land Rover type thing and we "spotted" the big five wine grape varietals. We now know that:

cabernet sauvignon = lion (bold flavor)
cabernet franc = elephant (a taste you'll remember for a long time)
merlot = leopard (subtle taste)
pinotage = buffalo (very strong, aggressive flavor)
sauvignon blanc = rhino (distinctive nose)

We rode up to the top of the vineyard to enjoy the views of both Table Mountain and Paarl Rock and have a glass of sauvignon blanc.

see the silhouette of Table Mountain in the background?

Once we hunkered down in our lovely picnic spot, we gave pressies and feasted.

We both did our best to include the traditional gift of cloth. I gave Brendan some honey and coconut coated apple rings, a t-shirt I put a funky design onto, and a Kindle with a hand-sewn cloth cover. I got a gorgeous hot pink Le Creuset mug, a meter of block printed fabric I have been lusting over from a shop in Kalk Bay (I am open to suggestions for what it should be turned into!), and a pair of lovely heart-shaped earrings. The picnic was scrumptious: caponata salad, sun dried tomato puree, green bean and feta salad, salami, camembert, cheddar, smoked salmon with buttermilk dill dressing, two loaves of ciabatta bread, biltong and brandy pate, smoked smoek pate, and dark chocolate brownies for dessert. Yum.

Last night, we enjoyed a bottle of Spice Route pinotage (served at our wedding) with some sesame-crusted seared tuna steaks and sushi rice salad.

Then we scooted down the road to share a mini lemon meringue with Anna & Graham. I love having wonderful neighbors. All in all, it was a great start to what will be an exciting third year!

this week

On Monday the MB parents left Cape Town to go back home. We had a wonderful two week visit during which, among other things, we celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary (!!) with a very special dinner.

On Tuesday I made some heavenly macaroons. The simple coconut kind, not the fancy and incredibly complicated French almond kind. I'll take simple over complicated any day. In need of a macaroon? Just ask Becky Brown.

On Wednesday I got stuck in an hour of Cape Town rush hour traffic (something I am wholly un-used to) and resigned myself to the fact that this will be the story of my life for the next five Wednesdays while I conduct a workshop out of town. But my oh my, what a view to be stuck with.

On Thursday Brendan called me out onto our porch to see the rainbow over our neighborhood. These beauties are a wonderful byproduct of our rainy winters. I also channelled my inner Julia Child and made the most *EPIC* and delicious boeuf bourguignon. The six hours of effort were fully worth it.

And today is Friday. We are going out for a big sushi supper. Life is good.

happy days

Four years ago today I went on a date with a really handsome guy I met on the first night of tango class. It was an icy sub-zero day in New Haven. We had Thai food. Later that evening we drank rooibos tea and I was introduced to Johnny Clegg. We saw each other the next day, and the next day, and the day after that. It was bliss then and it still is.


Our days of late have been very full and happy in other ways too. We've spent a few glorious days on the beach, my new favorite of which is Llandudno though we've spent a fair bit of time in Fish Hoek too.


We went for a sunset walk along Hout Bay beach, watching the mountain change colors and the clouds roll in.


Afterward we had a drink at a bar on the beach and watched the full moon rise. Our chairs were in the sand and we could kick our feet up and relax.


There has been loads of family time as well. We've had more time with this little cutie and his brother. I have a great video of James and Brendan that I will figure out how to post and get up here soon.



There was a gathering of all the M-B sibs, their partners, and their kiddies (I'm glad Ant & Kate have two so I could have someone to hold!).


And now we have B's cousin Kate and her husband James here. On Sunday we packed a picnic and parked off at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for one of their summer concerts.



Sadly the Nepal training has been a bit back-burnered because of my broken toe. I think it is nearly better enough to start hiking and we will hopefully recommence soon. In the mean time, Brendan has been harassing me (I think he would say he is strongly encouraging me) to do wall squats to increase leg strength. I decided that I would do them when Parker did.


While his form leaves something to be desired, I guess this means I need to start doing wall squats. Dang.

paper

One year ago, this happened

and this

and this

and this

and this

The first wedding anniversary is the paper anniversary, so a few weeks back Brendan and I exchanged slips of paper with our gifts for the other written on them. We are much more apt to give experience gifts, rather than material gifts (although I may have purchased a little something for Brendan to unwrap on the day). Brendan's gift to me was a weekend away at the Lazy Leopard guest house up the coast in Knysna and my gift to him was for us to go paragliding off Lion's Head. We will likely wait to do that until January or February when the days are warmer and have more consistently nice weather. 

It has been a most incredible year with a second wedding in December, an intercontinental move, and the births/engagements/weddings in the lives of so many friends and family members. There are lots of bright plans and dreams lined up for the future, and I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather be sharing this exciting life with.