My Week in Coffee

As many of you know, I love good coffee. I'm all about the locally roasted, organic snobbery because I really think it tastes better than anything else. I've gotten to the point where I can note the subtle taste profiles in the espressos from different roasters/shops. Some are nuttier (hey oh!) while others are more acidic.

How far I've come since considering this mocha slushy with a chocolate cookie straw coffee...and this shot as a decent photo. Seriously Alex?

Anyway, I'm dubbing this past week my week in coffee. I scored some delicious craft coffee six times in eight days. I only displayed one of them on instagram, which is honestly a huge deal, because I have a visceral urge to share pretty coffee with the internet every single time I enjoy it. Hence this post.

Saturday

UC Davis had it's annual Picnic Day celebration on the 18th. Brandon and I didn't know exactly what Picnic Day entailed and I definitely thought it was an afternoon event, so we ventured downtown to our favorite coffee and tea spot: Mishka's Cafe.

Mishka's is a total study spot, but since Picnic Day is basically a holiday, there was plenty of seating. I did some blogging while Brandon caught up on some work for the literary magazine he's working on for one of his classes.

Sunday

Brandon and I were able to sleep in on Sunday and I chose to celebrate with a new coffee spot called Journey Coffee Co. on our way to church.

The coffee is great, but unfortunately the barista was less than friendly. Also I felt like a total hipster walking in to church with my independent coffee shop coffee instead of the ever popular Starbucks, but that's not really a bad thing to me.

Monday

I had the longest day at work, which is kind of ironic since I got to work an hour late thanks to some absolutely terrible traffic. It was the first time I've ever crumbled (and by that I mean cried) due to the stress of everything. But I did some confined space yoga in a closet and calmed myself down. My cousin Rachel pointed out how yogi of a thing that was for me to do, and I totally agree.

I treated myself to some solo decompression time at Mishka's that night. I wrote in my journal, I got on Pinterest, I read some blogs and listened to music. It was the perfect way to drown out the day's negativity.

Tuesday

I got coffee with Barbara at a recent Davis find, Common Grounds Coffee. I found this coffee shop on Yelp and have really enjoyed the couple of times I've been there. The coffee is incredibly well priced and well roasted. Plus this time I got an elephant!

Fun story about this night: I'd pumped gas the night before and put my debit card into my pocket, then forgotten to grab my card before leaving for work the next morning. So I show up at the counter and order my drink only to realize I still don't have my card (even though I'd swung by my apartment to change my shoes and grab a few things) and no cash. I stumble through letting the guy behind the counter know I can't pay them and before I can say "let me ask my friend if she can pay," the barista -- who looks nothing like what you'd expect from a local coffee shop -- tells me not to worry about it, that they'll still make the drink for me.

Thursday

I was particularly sleepy this morning and I figured the best cure would be some pre-work, pre-commute caffeine. I chose to give Journey coffee another try, thinking that maybe I caught them on an off day and they'd be cheerier this time around. I was wrong, this time was worse. I think the barista said hi to me. She definitely didn't smile once. From there the only times she opened her mouth were to tell me how much my coffee and scone cost and then to call out my order when it was on the bar.

Keep in mind, I was pre-caffeinated here. How in the world was I more friendly sans coffee than the girl working surrounded by caffeine?! I even went as far as to thank her for my coffee when I picked it up and she didn't respond. Not a smile, not even a nod. She just turned around.

I'm giving that place one last chance before I decide to write a review on Yelp...and I never write reviews on Yelp!

Saturday

I closed out the week in coffee with Mishka's, of course. It's sort of become my Saturday tradition with Brandon. We wake up slowly, stay in our pajamas extra long, then get dressed specifically so we can get coffee and tea at Mishka's then walk around the Arboretum. It makes for perfect Saturdays.

On a similar note, I was lucky enough to get an espresso machine that was being replaced by a Nespresso at work! Now I can actually brew espresso and steam milk in my own home. I'm simultaneously excited and intimidated by the legitness (not a word, I know) of this thing!

Stay caffeinated, amigos.
♥ A

Still Living

Even though I don't post everyday, I always take pictures of what I'm doing. This is my first photo dump of random things I've documented during January and some of February, which I'm dubbing Still Living. Get it? Like still life photography?

Enjoy, friends.

Our church changed it's service times, which means Brandon and I have to be in Fairfield at 8am every Sunday for him to practice with the band. I've made a nice routine out of it. I drop him off and then hang out at the Starbucks nearby for about an hour before I have to head in to help with the babies. It's given me a chance to slow down, reflect, read, or write. It's nice to have a forced alone time.

One random Friday we decided to branch out and try a new restaurant. We landed at Bistro 33, the classy restaurant attached to City Hall tavern in downtown Davis. The prices were less expensive than expected and the food was fabulous. I ordered the kobe beef sliders and loved them. I think Barbara ordered a spicy marinara pasta and Brandon ordered the French dip sandwich. We were all satisfied with our food and really dug the housemade potato chips.

Brandon and I went to our first San Jose Sharks game in years. We got to hang out with Nick and Seth and snack on pretzels and hot dogs. We were seated next to some Maple Leaf fans who kept trying to start chants. My favorite part (besides the fact the Sharks picked up) was how Nick would instantly start his own Sharks chant and we'd all join in and drown out the Maple Leaf guys -- whose face paint, by the way, looked more teal than blue. Sometimes it's all about those moments of blind loyalty.

What an artsy photo of...bananas? Yes. I'm including it because I love Rainforest Alliance and the cool work they do. And I saw their Follow the Frog sticker on some bananas last month so I picked those over another brand. Plus these bananas were less expensive than the other ones! Being a conscious consumer doesn't need to be difficult.

I had a good makeup and hair day and I showed it off to my friends with a cliche car selfie complete with  a gratuitous limp hand.

I worked late one night to help host the employee 5 and 10 year anniversary reception. It was a great example of the perks of working for a resort. I rode in the golf cart enjoying the views of the property, got to sip on champagne and eat haute cuisine tater tots I could never afford on my own. I had a great time and I think the honored employees did too.

I was really proud of my dinner resourcefulness. We made eggs with turkey and I threw in some zucchini for color and veggies. It was delicious and easy. Does this count as clean eating or paleo or something? I don't know. All I know is I'd like some more. 

I'd bet that the majority of girls not only have group texts with their girl friends, but use it as a way to share their outfits every day. I know I have two group texts where it's normal for us to selfie each other or send our OOTD's. I was particularly happy with this outfit, plus I pulled out my old black oxfords from college. They're totally plastic and not super comfortable, but they look good.

One of my coworkers suggested I put strawberries and blueberries in my water instead of lemon. It was a total game changer. I've been trying to up my water intake because I'm pretty sure I'm perpetually dehydrated. I even use an app to track how much water I've had each day. This was the first day I reached my goal.

Brandon had a Friday night gig with his band which left me on my own for the night. Luckily, I headed straight to Barbara's apartment where we whipped up some stir fry. We added extra broccoli since she and I really like it and paired it with some brown rice. Seriously, I don't know how it ended up so healthy. We usually struggle to make healthy food.

After spending an afternoon downtown, Brandon and I decided we wanted to have some Japanese food for dinner. The trouble was the place we originally picked was busy. So busy that there were three couples all waiting just to put their name down. We waited about five minutes before I suggested a less fancy option closer to our apartment. The food there is good, the prices are reasonable, and how pretty is the food?! I ate all of it.

These cupcakes were from my cousin Lily's bridal shower! I had an awesome time playing games and eating good food, even if one of the games entailed passing a wooden spoon using only knees. It was hilarious. The I Love Lucy theme was so perfect for Lily. My highlight was getting to chat with my cousins, especially since we don't get to see each other too often anymore. Oh, and these cupcakes. Strawberry and whipped cream goodness.

I have no explanation for this photo. I was done with my solo Starbucks date, saw a stump, got on top of it, and took a photo. Tadaaa!

Brandon got sick pretty much on his birthday, so I made some comforting chicken noodle soup for us one night. It fed us for almost a week! Soup seems like the only thing I can eat leftovers of over and over again. Maybe because once you warm it up, it still feels like you've just made it?

I asked for flowers for Valentine's Day. Brandon delivered. They're beautiful and they smell lovely. He even went as far as buying me socks with hearts on them and chocolate covered espresso beans! Once I kick this cough I'll be all over those.

We spent the gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Davis' Central Park. There was a craft fair happening (not sure if it's a weekly thing) and a live jazz band playing. We took a seat in the wicker chairs of the Comfort Cafe where I read my book while Brandon soaked in the music. It was a relaxing way to enjoy the gorgeous weather together!

This is from this morning. I woke up with a gnarly cough yesterday and a worse sore throat this morning. I've been miraculously enjoying the taste of my echinacea tea with a lemon slice, a bit of honey, and maple syrup to hide the honey taste. I don't know if you're supposed to put maple syrup in your tea, but it's the only way I like it. 

See you guys soon! Hopefully not this sick.

♥ A

Not Puerto Viejo: Our Day at La Paz Waterfall Gardens

This post is long, but there are more photos than words. That is blatantly false.

If you must skim, at least read the section on Frogs. It was the best.

Last time, I left off telling you that we were running out of money and couldn't stay in Manuel Antonio even though we really wanted to.

The original plan was to drive across the country and spend three days frolicking in the Caribbean sea and visiting rescue centers. But I guess the universe had something else in mind. We decided not to fight it to avoid getting lost and stranded in the middle of Costa Rica and settled on exploring the area around San Jose. My navigational track record made that decision lots easier.

Now here's where we got lucky. Andrea and I have a family friend (really she's my mom's friend) who lives in Costa Rica, not too far from the airport. She's a very generous and welcoming person in general, but it still meant a lot that she let us crash at her place for the last three days.

Our first day adventure was to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. I found this place by using the "Nearby" feature on the TripAdvisor app. We were on an animal-viewing high and weren't ready to come down from it, so we decided to endure the $38 admission fee for the hope of seeing a sloth. LPWG is a private ecological tourist attraction. It's filled with hiking trails, five fab waterfalls and a large amount of animal exhibits. I hesitate to call it a private zoo because that has a weird connotation to me, but in essence, that's what it is.

birds

The birds were the first stop on our hike, which I can hardly justify calling a hike since it's basically a walk along a paved path. But it is a long walk, so maybe that makes it a hike. Anyway, we walked through a hanging plastic chain barrier to be welcomed by some handlers hanging out with toucans! I'd never seen a toucan up close and personal before, and although I'm a fan of birds of prey, I'd always had a general aversion to getting close to other birds.

But this. This was different. This was awesome.

The handlers placed a toucan on Andrea's arm and I snapped photos like a crazy person. Andrea had no poker face about this whatsoever. She was beyond excited and it showed.

Next thing I knew, it was my turn. They placed the toucan on my arm and I was instantly overcome with respect for the gorgeous bird I was looking at.

See that blue band around my wrist? That's not a bracelet, that's the toucan's foot. It was the feature that stuck out to me the most. Yes, the bird's beak is insanely cool, but blue feet? That was not at all what I was expecting.

We moseyed past the parrots and the rest of the aviaries before arriving at the scariest place on property: the butterfly garden.

butterflies

Believe it or not, my sister and I are terrified of butterflies and moths. I can't speak for my sister, but my fear dates back 15 years. I was 10, walking with my mom to pick up the mail from our apartment's mailbox one night. There was a bright yellow light bulb shining, so of course there were moths around it. They were flying around us when one of them decided to try and perch on my mouth. It got right up on my lips and flapped about for what felt like 10 minutes but I'm certain was 2 seconds. And I just remember tightening my lips fearing that this thing would try to crawl into my mouth.

It was really horrifying.

There were a couple of times where we made a break for it out of sheer panic, staring strangers be damned!

Ok, no joke, as I was writing that last sentence I thought, I would rather free dive with sharks than have a butterfly land on me, out loud to myself.

monkeys

The reward for not screaming our heads off in the butterfly sanctuary was monkeys. I have to admit that having seen monkeys in the wild a few days earlier made seeing these rescues a little less exciting, but I snapped photos regardless.

hummingbirds

Hint: there are no hummingbirds in this photo.

Here's where I start making no sense. I am scared to death of butterflies, but I have no qualms with hummingbirds. I love those zippy little birds that have wings that beat anywhere from 50 to 200 times a SECOND. Seriously, how could you not like hummingbirds?

I'm sure someone out there is wondering the same thing about butterflies.

I caught some pretty cool shots of the hummingbirds. I paid special attention to the ones that looked like Flick from Pocahontas.

jungle cats

Next up were the cats. This was the highlight of our visit to LPWG for both of us. We've loved big cats since childhood so we were both really excited to see them. True to form, most of the cats were lounging around.

We oohed and aahed at the pumas, the margay and the ocelots but were stopped dead in our tracks at the sight of the majestic jaguar. We were instantly mesmerized by the way this animal walked. Seriously, I can't even pretend to make this moment less nerdy than it was. We stared at the jaguar long enough for a group to catch up to us, snap photos, jaguar watch for a bit, and move on.

I couldn't get over how freaking beautiful its coat was. It was perfect. And seeing the way its muscles moved when it walked was beyond amazing. I was overcome with this feeling of utter respect for this animal. Andrea and I knew that if some Harry Potter magic caused the glass to disappear, we'd be perfectly safe. Call it hippie nonsense or tree-hugging mumbo jumbo, but we knew.

casita

We eventually pried ourselves away from the jaguar (some rain helped) to explore the casita tipica or traditional home that LPWG has on property. We got to pet some oxen that were hooked up to an old traditional ox cart and walked around a replica farmhouse built by hand with tools from the early 20th century. The website advertises traditional food tastings and some other interactive experiences, but I'm not sure what the scheduling for those is. We didn't catch all the casita has to offer, but it was still really neat to walk through.

frogs

Next up was the frog exhibit. This might be tied for best experience of the day. We walked in to this large, humid room filled with all kinds of plants...and frogs! That's right, the frogs were roaming free through the room. Most of the frogs in the exhibit were nocturnal, so they weren't really moving around too much. There we were, minding our own business, trying to catch a frog sighting, when the frog guide came up to us and started pointing out where we could find certain frogs.

The guy-de (see what I did there?) took a liking to us and started telling us how to tell the difference between the male and female frogs. I'll let you in on it: the female tree frogs are larger than the males.

FYI: this is a female.

We walked us around the room pointing out frog species (in their Latin names, of course) and giving us fin facts about each. For example, these tiny frogs' skin would burn if we touched them because their skin is so thin and incredibly susceptible to changes in temperature. One touch from us and the poor frog's body would overheat.

I had a weird existential moment where the delicateness of life was plainly apparent.

These frogs are nicknamed "Blue Jeans" because of their blue legs.

Next thing I know, the guide is asking us if we're interested in seeing some of the frogs up close and personal. Andrea and I looked at each other and decided that yeah, even though we aren't frog people, we'd like to take a closer look at some.

The guy then leads us through a locked door into what is essentially a frog rehab office. He explains to us that this is where they keep the frogs that have been injured in some way as well as the where they monitor the tadpoles as they go through their transformation into frogs.

Let me be clear that Andrea is beaming the whole time. I, on the other hand, am split between identifying where the sharp objects are to use as makeshift weapons, if necessary (obvi) and allowing myself to enjoy this unbelievably cool moment in my life.

The guy lures out a red eyed tree frog from a glass enclosure and shows us her injury, a scratch on her eye. He lets us take as many photos of her as we want, always careful to show her good side to the camera. He then places her on Andrea's face and lets the frog kind of crawl around for a bit.

Then it was my turn. I never thought of myself as afraid of frogs. I mean, I never picked any up as a kid or sought out frogs in streams, but I also didn't think I was afraid of them. But in this frog rehab about to have a tree frog walk on my face, I have to tell you I was nervous. I thought she'd be sticky or that she'd leave slime on my face, or that my makeup would seep into her skin and make her sick. But I pushed down the fear and let the guide hold the frog up to my face.

I felt her soft, cold feet on my cheek and all my fears disappeared. And for that small moment I let my guard down and just soaked in the fact that I was lucky enough to be picked by this guy, who could have picked anyone, to come behind the scenes to have a red eyed tree frog walk on my face.

We got to see a golden tree frog who had a scratch on its nose, plus the tiniest frog I've ever seen ever. There was a whole exchange over the name of this frog, which if I remember correctly is gria in Spanish. Grio is the word for cricket in Spanish, and there was a minute of major confusion in where I thought he was trying to be funny by telling me he wasn't holding a cricket (male) because the truth was he was about to open up his hand to reveal a cricket (female)...which in hindsight doesn't make sense because how would he know the difference between the two?

In the end, he turned out to be a nice guy who really loves frogs and his job, not a murderer...and he left us with some amazing memories.

waterfalls

Last to come was the waterfall hike. We stopped to enjoy the marvelous views at each of the five waterfalls and even went off the paved path for a little bit!

Equally as awesome as the views was the sound of all that water careening past us.

The hike wasn't too strenuous. We were interested in climbing down to each viewing platform which meant we definitely had to endure some uphill walking. The good news is LPWG has done a good job of paving their path and providing railings to hold on to throughout the hike.

The hike ends on the opposite side of the grounds, but LPWG has its stuff together and sends shuttles to pick up visitors to take them back to the main entrance.

We ended our wonderful visit to La Paz Waterfall Gardens by sitting in the lobby mooching the wifi like the millennial tourists we are. I seriously recommend this place just on the waterfall hike alone.

♥ A