Perfect weekend

This weekend was one of those rare occasions where we managed the perfect blend of socialising and chilling. We haven't had a non-frantic weekend in months, so we really enjoyed it.

Supper Club was at our house on Friday night and I made a few things from one of Jamie's 30-Minute Meals menus, expressly ignoring his advice to not mix and match menus, and then put together a few of my own creations.

We had Woolies' spicy nachos as a snack, with homemade guacamole. Then supper was Jamie's spinach and feta phyllo pie, with pesto tamato salad and a cucumber and mint salad. I made a chicken tray bake with honey, thyme and lemon juice (I love having fresh herbs and lemons from the garden to play with). Desserts were mint milkshakes with whipped cream and sprinkles. Yum.

I do think I used almost every piece of crockery and cutlery in the kitchen though. And my dishwasher is stll broken (six weeks now!), so when Louisa and Nicola arrived for coffee the next day, Louisa was forced to eat her words after she'd refused to believe that my house looked like a bomb had hit it.

We took our coffee and muffins outside and spent a lovely morning enjoying the fresh air and the sun, once it had decided to grace us with its presence. We chatted for ages and I just loved the chance to catch up with Louisa and see Nicola so happy. If ever I become a mother, I want to be a Louisa kind of mom - the lie-down-on-the-grass-and-tickle-your-kid-till-you're-both-out-of-breath kind of mom.

When TSC arrived back from racing his concrete boat across Germiston Lake (varsity assignment), he watched the rugby he'd recorded and I planted my bulbs and napped.

Later on, we headed through to Cresta, where I got to spend my very generous birthday LaSenza voucher from Ruby. Thanks again, lady! We had a pretty good dinner at Founders Grill and shared a creme brulee (I hear the Hallelujah chorus when I think of it) for pudding.

Then it was off to see Crazy, Stupid, Love at the movies. I wasn't expecting much, but we both loved it! It's the best romcom I've seen in ages. It started off pretty slowly, but by the time it got to the height of the comedy, I was in stitches. Great casting, really.

Sunday started with a pilates class, which always makes me feel like I'm at peace with the day. Then we decided to have brunch somewhere outside where we could enjoy the spring weather, so we headed to De Ouwe Werf at Broadacres (can't find a link), where we had a good, simple meal (great value for money) in the beautiful gardens. Looks like an amazing venue for those with kids - they have a jumping castle and a great enclosed playground.

After that, it was a quick visit to the shops, a nice snooze at home and then church and a Sunday evening meal of leftovers on the couch with a glass of wine

It really was a perfect weekend.

How was yours?

PS: My wedding story is up over at Angel's Weddings today.

Happees

• It's Friday!



• I have the Jason Mraz album playing instead of Roo's usual blaring pop radio station.



• Went to a great new restaurant last night, Arzoo, serving "Incredible Punjabi Cuisine". They unfortunately don't have a website, but if you're keen to try their AMAZING chicken tikka marsala or lamb gosht badami, they're in the Bryan Park Shopping Centre and their telephone number is (011) 706 9345/6. The food is great, the lighting is... unusually and amusingly kitsch and the service is by far the best I've had in years. New favourite!



• I have finally decided what I'm going to buy with my Kalahari voucher from Angel and Glug. Thanks again, guys!



• I won tickets to Taste of Joburg from the competition on Glad to Be a Girl. How awesome?! I am so excited that I could jump up and down at my desk. Instead I'll just bounce on the exercise ball I sit on at my desk like a five-year old on a sugar high. Wheeeeeeee!



• Some of my favourite bloggers have been saying nice things about me and giving me awesome awards. Yay!

I got this pretty one from Angel and Louisa...

This one from Helen, for all the *ahem* honest scrap on this here blog thing...

And this specially-made one from Paula...

Thanks, guys! You really boosted my spirits!

I know I'm supposed to pass these all on, but I can't keep track of who's got them already, so I'm just going to dish out Paula's awesome "blog I read with my morning coffee" award to: Phillygirl (I know you don't do awards, but yours is one of the blogs I read first every morning), Slyde (I have a feeling you're also not an awards-fan, but tough) and Louisa (I smile every time I see your blog in bold in my reader).

I'm also supposed to write 10 random things about me, but I write random things every day (almost) here, so I'm going to skip that bit and just say...

Have a rad, fab, mad *insert other three-letter adjectives here* weekend, everyone!

Overload!

Seriously... this weekend was packed! Awesome, but packed. And Monday was infinitely less awesome, but packed with total drama. Again.


Let's do the fun stuff first... TSC and I invited six people we don't know really well for supper on Friday. It turned out to be a great evening. We enjoyed winter comfort food and good red wine while we chatted about everything from church to jobs to politics...


We clicked especially well with one couple and they only ended up leaving at 2am on Saturday morning after we'd been through a lot more good red wine. So nice to be at the start of a new friendship!


Saturday was spent buying TSC a new monitor for the computer I'm getting him (so that I can claim my notebook back) and then rushing to Bloggirls at Cafe Sophia. What a cool restaurant! Amazing tapas at reasonable prices, and four or five different types of sangria by the jug.


And what cool people! Some of the usual suspects, like Phillygirl and Angel (and Arkwife and Ruby who arrived late after I'd already left). And some new faces. I finally got to meet Boldly Benny (who I have been reading for ages. She went to the last Bloggirls but I was sick and missed it). I love her writing and so enjoyed meeting her IRL - different from how I pictured her, but just as gorgeous, glamourous and absolutely lovely.


I also met two people I have just recently started reading, Cybersass and Mellisoo. Cybersass was wearing the most awesome multi-wear dress she made herself and entertained us with stories of the life of an actress (kissing a co-star you have no interest in, for example). Mellisoo was quieter but has the best kick-ass sense of humour and a keen interest in Mojitos. I am so glad I got to meet both of them.

Unfortunately I had to dash off early for the stupid rugby. TSC had originally told me it was a 7pm game, so we'd said to my folks we'd watch it at their house. I sped home from Bloggirls, picked up TSC and whizzed through to Pretoria. Thankfully, one of my best friends, Noo, called to say her hubby was away for the weekend and asked if we could meet up. Instead of watching the men chasing the funny-shaped ball, we went to Fego's for some good coffee and a catch-up.

After that, it was supper with the folks at Brooklyn Mall. Sunday we drove home, madly cleaned the house and then had TSC's best friend and his girlfriend over for a braai before church, where we served on both services and got home at about 9.

It was super fun, but I felt like I needed a weekend to recover from the weekend. No chance of that though... Monday dawned chilly and ominous (as Mondays tend to do). I knew what lay ahead and felt like there was a big, cold stone in the bottom of my stomach.

TSC dropped me off for work (he had my car as his was in for a service). Icing didn't show up for work - she had left a note explaining to Boss that she wasn't coming back (even though she officially had 9 working days left). Chips was struggling to get hold of her fiance who had been on a boys' weekend in the bush. She then got a phone call from his mom to say he was in ICU after a car accident. Thankfully he was ok - just in shock. She left immediately.

Then JK resigned. She's found a job that pays three times better. Then a big press conference that was scheduled for today for one of our clients got moved to two weeks' time and we had to frantically let the media know.

It was an eventful day that ended up with Coach coming for supper. But that's a whole other post. How was your weekend / the start of your week?