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

Miserable, Magical Monday || 4/20/15

I have some old news:

My once beautiful, flourishing IKEA succulent is gone. I killed it.

I killed a succulent. A SUCCULENT. My seasonal poinsettia lasted longer than my succulent.

Isn't this thing supposed to be low maintenance?

Maybe that's what I get for buying a plant at IKEA.

I couldn't tell you if I neglected or smothered it to death.

All I know is he's gone.

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Melodrama aside, I need a botanist to explain some things to me...like how is it I can keep dying flowers alive longer than a living plant? My cut flowers last for weeks and my plants...well, they hold on as long as they can.

In the Villa and I'm Muggin Myself for Being Irresponsible

I've been feeling guilty lately over my repeated use of disposable coffee cups at work. When I was in college and even throughout my first year in the workforce, I was diligent about bringing my tumbler (which I actually just spelled as tumblr -- SAVE ME) to work. But in hindsight, I was more motivated by my need for drinkable coffee than by sustainability. The fact is, the coffee at my current office is delicious (because it's also sold to the public) and I've become a spoiled blob of free coffee and free lunch...and it's having an adverse effect on my noticing how much I throw away.

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All of that to say I'm on the lookout for a reusable mug. But I have some conditions. If I'm gonna drop $15 or whatever these things cost nowadays, I want it to be fun-looking, spill proof and durable. Believe it or not, that's been hard to come by.

Podcasts

I have a few new podcasts I've been listening to. Have you heard of the Smart Women Smart Power podcast? It's a podcast where women talk about pressing international and political issues. It's done in an interview format but not always one on one. The host isn't the most dynamic out there, but the conversation is generally stimulating, interesting, and awesome for political science nerds. I listened to the episode with Anne Marie Slaughter a while ago and I was giddy to hear her thoughts vs. reading them.

My friend Barbara tuned me into the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. It's pretty light material since the topic is always pop culture related, but the conversation is some of the most insightful, intelligent discussion I've heard in a while. Usually, pop culture podcasts stay pretty shallow, but the panelists are all so damn smart on this podcast that the discussion quickly deepens and in turn becomes interesting to listen to without being pretentious. I mean, unless you think that talking about and comparing the color palette of a show is pretentious, this might not be for you. 

Have you seen there's a podcast related to Aanan Sayed case? It's totes inspired by Serial's story, but supposedly it covers the story from a more journalistic approach than a narrative one. I haven't listened to it yet but I'm intrigued. I mean, I would regularly think about how weird it must have been to be someone who lived through that whole experience as a teenager, only for it to become the trendy story of the year 15 or 20 years later while the Serial saga was airing. So now I almost feel like I should listen to this new podcast since I made this real horror into a source of entertainment for myself. Like, I might have some minute obligation to keep up with the case since I helped make it such a huge deal by downloading the episodes every week. But I digress (a lot).

I've been digging This American Life lately, but they pretty much always do a good job, so that's no surprise.

Are there any new/new to you podcasts I should start listening to? I like ones that are about an hour long since that's how long my commute is to and from work. Let me know!

Until next week,
♥ A

Birthdays Are Perfect

Except this one.

I've spent next to no time exploring the Napa Valley. I have a business relationship with it. I commute 50 miles to get there, spend eight hours or more making sure employees get whatever they need, and head the 50 miles back home at the end of the day.

I wanted to do something special for Brandon's 25th birthday. I requested a night at the resort and luckily enough got approved! This was Napa's opportunity to show off. I wanted a speed date with it, and I fully expected it to leave a life changing impression on me.

The weather had other plans...

We began the day by grabbing lunch at Boudin, as requested by Brandon. The inside was packed so we sat outside...in the rain...and cold...Brandon had no jacket on.

Little did I know Brandon was coming down with a cold/flu thing.

I'd done a bit of research of possible cool places to visit. One of them was the Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park. I looked at the photos and thought it would be such a nice place to explore. Plus, it happened to be en route to the castle we planned on exploring! But when we got there -- and by there I mean the gate -- we realized the mill was not open at all. We were trying to play tourist in the middle of slow season, so I wasn't entirely shocked, though I was disappointed.

Then we set off to visit the Castello di Amorosa. It's a castle built using traditional methods of medieval architecture, even though the structure itself is relatively new. The owner has an extensive history of the project listed on his website. Pretty cool thing to nerd out over.

Anyway, I chose it because I knew Brandon would enjoy it. We pulled into the parking lot and the sprinkle of rain that had been trailing us turned into true rainfall. We sat in the car for a minute trying to decide if we should even get out. I was determined to (read: stubborn) have something to show for our drive out there, so we braved the rain. We walked up the steps and were quickly topped by a woman who ushered us into what I guess is the lobby to purchase our wine tasting passes. Uninterested in a tasting, we walked back into the rain to try and explore the grounds. We were unsuccessful, so we walked back down to the mini stables. The rain refused to let up and Brandon was feeling progressively worse, so we gave up on the outdoor activities for the day.

We still had a bit of time to kill before check in and were both pretty cold, so we headed to Bouchon Bakery in Yountville to get some pick-me-ups. We patiently waited in line outside under the awning until we could fit into the small bakery. We picked up some warm drinks (coffee for me, tea for B) and each got a large macaron to enjoy for dessert later that night. There's no indoor seating and it was still raining outside, so we huddled back to the car. At this point, Brandon was out of it. He was not feeling well and it was clear he needed to sleep. So I took the wheel...and the scenic route to the hotel.

Check in was a surreal experience for me. As someone who regularly interacts with all departments on property, I've come to know nearly everyone by name and face. So it was a little strange to have employees wait on me the way I usually wait on them. I have to give it up to my colleagues and superiors: they really treated me as a guest and not as their co-worker who was using her free night at a luxury resort. The reception agent that checked us in gave us a cottage in a "desirable neighborhood" (yeah, there are neighborhoods) with the most requested layout. I was thrilled even though I had no idea what it meant.

I'd made our dinner reservations for closer to 7:00 than 4:00pm, so we threw on the fireplace and the warmest robes and Brandon crashed while I relaxed.

Can you blame him? He was such a trooper.

♥ A

Reminiscing About La Tour Eiffel

If you googled something today (I guess it's not really today anymore for you east coasters...oops), you saw Google's header was something honoring the Eiffel Tower 126th Opening Anniversary. Since I'm practically obsessed with the Eiffel Tower and I'll take any excuse to humbly gloat about seeing it in person, I'm forcing my terrible four year old photos on you now.

Will it make it better if I tell you I waited in the wrong line for about an hour and never made it to the very top of the tower because I had to catch the RER (I think) back to my host-home?

It's one of my life's biggest disappointments.

That and this photo of me looking like a total goober.

On to the decent stuff!

That blue sky is something else over there.

View from the first level.

I spared you a photo of my feet on the first step. Because I care that you don't care to see my sandal-walking tourist toes.

My favorite memory from this day is the dirty bonheur puns one of my classmates/groupmates kept making (I'll let you read bonheur in English and guess what kind of joke bandwagon we all jumped on).

Also the view of Montmartre was insane. That's the Sacre Coeur.

I can't end this without including the group photo that was not taken on my camera and that I totally downloaded from Facebook four years ago.

Hashtag take me back immediately please.

♥ Alex

San Jose

It was our last day in Costa Rica and I'd saved the capital, San Jose, for last. That morning, we woke up, grabbed some McDonald's for breakfast and wifi, and caught the bus into downtown.

The whole experience was trippy for me. I don't know if my sister really caught on to how many memories I was reliving just while riding the bus. I was definitely in my own little world.

The bus stopped at its usual spot by la caja which is just a big, boxy, concrete government building that has lots of bus stops around it. From there I oriented myself and we headed for the national theater. 

I'd been to the cafe inside the theater only once in my time in Costa Rica. Funny enough, my first visit there was also towards the end of my time living in San Jose, when it felt necessary to go do something with the one roommate you got along with because you both knew this would be the functional end of your friendship.

I ordered some latté and Andrea got a white hot chocolate or something. The coffee was good but our server was so not about indulging us. I ended up getting out of my seat to ask what the pastry options were. If I remember, we got some sort of delicious cake (which should not be a surprise since we're Pinedas).

Do you ever feel like you don't look like yourself in a photo? That's what this is for me.

We took a tour of the theater shortly after our mid morning treat. Fun fact: the theater is a to-scale smaller replica of the national opera in Paris. At least the inside is. I'm going to majorly plonk* right now and tell you that I love that I saw the original theater one summer and sat in a concert in the replica not three months later.

But I digress.

Auditions for something were happening as we were taking our tour so we got to sit in the dark and watch dancers be amazing. We reminisced about high school theater auditions and rehearsals and how we miss it all (OK not all of it).

I know this photo is pretentious. I don't care.

I was antsy to show Andrea my neighborhood and host home, so we jumped on the bus my expired instinct told me to take. Sadly, my instincts had us take the express bus which meant we got off pretty far away from where we should have. Andrea was a total trooper. It was hot, there was a World Cup game about to start, and here I was forcing her to walk all over an area even I hardly remembered when we could have just taken the correct bus or a taxi!

We eventually reached my host university, Universidad Veritas. A bit had changed around the campus, but I took Andrea all the way up the stairs to where I took my Spanish class and explained to her the details of what the food court area used to look like (did I mention she was a trooper?) and then took her to see where I learned how to Latin dance.

All the furniture would be pushed aside and we'd get to dancing. I miss those days and what it did for my waist.

My host home is literally around the corner from the university, so I took Andrea to go see it. I hadn't contacted my host mom, who I'll now refer to as my mama tica, so she had no idea I was coming over. I had no idea if she was home or on vacation. I knocked on the door and...she was there!

Outside my bedroom window!

I had to jog her memory a little bit about who I was. It's completely understandable: she hosts one to four students each semester, so she has lots of names to remember and forget.

Anyway, I showed Andrea my room, which looked almost the same. She saw the kitchen where my roommate Devin and I once ate cold leftover lasagna after a night out at the bar. I'll never forget that she called my pairing of lasagna and orange juice "gnarly."

I knew I had totally interrupted her day, so I took a quick photo with her and said goodbye. It was time to go back to the home bar of study abroad: Los Pros.

The bar's technically named Los Profesionales but us milens (translation: millennials) dialed it back to Los Pros. Now, the place has changed significantly over the last three years, but luckily, Edgar, the owner has not. He comes across tons of people, loads of students every semester, that I was sure he wouldn't remember me. Maybe he didn't. As I remember it, I don't think he knew my name, but he remembered my face thanks to -- wait for it -- Facebook. So did the main bartender, Monica, who is now all sleeved out and fab as ever.

I ordered my study abroad usual: rum with pineapple juice and Andrea finally got to try the Costa Rican beer. I'm talking about Imperial. I'm not a beer girl so I won't pretend to know how to describe the taste, but Andrea said it was like a Corona, but better.

I'm getting off topic! The point was to tell you that my drink was basically rum with a splash of juice.

Edgar had hooked it up as usual.

We needed to go souvenir shopping before sundown, so we sadly said our goodbyes to Edgar and jumped on the bus back into the city. We got to the mercado artesanal and had a ball picking out all the things. I bought huaraches as a consolation for not being able to replace my beloved purse. Andrea bought herself a backpack and we spent all our colones except for enough to buy airport food the next day.

The dark came too quickly and we headed back by bus to our friend Monika's for dinner. She took us to see her parents, who knew Andrea and I before we had memories. We picked up Monika's daughter Dani from school and grabbed a final dinner at a local spot with awesome fried food and a cool environment. (Legit almost just typed in Spanish...what is my brain?!)

Before I knew it, the trip had come and gone and it was time to give back all the joys vacation lends you. We turned the car in, ate a ridiculously overpriced lunch, and sat in the terminal to watch Costa Rica play the Netherlands in the World Cup. The game went to a shoot out that CR just wasn't able to win. That part was sad. It helped distract me from the sadness of leaving.

I'm trying so hard not to get all philosophical and lofty so I'll just say this: I felt like I got to go home for a little bit, and I'm thankful I was able to share it with Andrea. Study abroad can feel unreal. It can feel like you fell asleep for a semester and only dreamed you saw and ate and did what you did. Going back and sharing it with someone who only interacted with my experience via Facebook photos solidified that I did do this. It was real.

And that is cool.

♥ A

*Plonk: the travel equivalent of name dropping. Origin: Barbara Gausewitz

Miserable Magical Monday || 3-9-15

It's Monday. Are you miserable? Maybe some of this will make it magical.

1. I'm watching the Sharks play the Penguins as I type this. So if at some point there's a random typo or if I sound randomly flustered it's because something exciting is happening. Something intense enough to make me say "Come on, boys." That's my personal cheer. I never shout it, but whisper it like they'll be able to hear me through the TV or something. Like there's something magical about a whisper. Or a point, for that matter.

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2. We celebrated my dad-in-law's birthday on Saturday with lots of good barbecue, apple pie, and the Live Aid DVD. I guess the Queen performance there was frickin legendary, but I'd never had the pleasure of watching it until then. Brandon and I later marveled at how commanding Freddie Mercury was. The clip below is still relatively early in the 20 minute performance, but the fact that Freddie doesn't at any point ask the audience to chant with him is amazing enough. They just listen! It was amazing and I'm pissed I never got to see Queen live.

3. I read this article on NPR. It's short and just a nice story, but sometimes a nice story is all you need on the mediocre days!

4. I listen to the Coffee Break French podcast and this week's episode was soooo good. There was even a Friends (FRIENDS? What's the consensus on the formatting?) reference made by one of the hosts. I blurted out a "HAAA" when I heard it. Besides that, the vocab was stellar and the grammar was intense. Which is great because my French has taken a huge hit thanks to all the Spanish I speak and write at work.

Did that sound as annoying as I'm reading it? I swear I'm not trying to be impressive or cool.

//

Alright, that's all I've got for today. I hope your Monday (or Tuesday) is a good one.

♥ A

12 Things: Results

It's been a few months since my 12 Things deadlines came and went. Here's a quick overview of how I did.

Done

1. Perfect the tiramisu cupcake

7. Bake a cake/cupcakes from scratch - I made an apple crumb cake for Thanksgiving (along with my cappuccino cookies). I completely spaced and didn't take a photo, but according to my sister it was pretty delicious. I (of course) didn't have a bite because I was too nervous it would be disgusting.

9. Complete 5 of my pins on my Learn/Make/Do board on Pinterest. 1 2 3 4 5

Half Done

2. Read 6 books - Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me, Mindy Kaling and Divergent, Victoria Roth are as far as I got before my birthday. BUT! Since then, I started and finished A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans and I've moved on to Gone Girl. Also, The Shining is still sitting on my side table, half read, but I feel like it's so dark it might be better to store it in the freezer (newbie Friends reference, anyone?) for a while.

3. Explore a part of San Francisco I've spent little time in. - This did not happen to the extent I wanted it to, but I did get to spend a surprise afternoon in the city to get my passport. I was totally unprepared for it clothing-wise. I realized this once I was at the BART station. All I had to keep my lizard self warm was a light blazer. But I made the best of my procrastination by finding a hidden Blue Bottle Coffee near the processing office. I sat there and enjoyed my pretty latte, wrote in my journal, then moseyed on outside to sit in the sun. Not a bad way to kill time!

6. Make coffee art - Honestly, I've just uploaded lots of photos of coffee art. Maybe we can make that count. At the very least I should get credit for rediscovering my french press. Kona coffee made in a french press...now that's a work of art!

Attempted

4. Finish organizing/uploading my Project 365 - It turns out working on a project you know you never finished is too much of a hassle for not enough pay off.

5. Practice French everyday for a month. - I know I said April, but it turns out April had other ideas.

8. Watch 10 classic movies I've never seen before. - I added nothing to the list of movies I've seen after the two from last update. I've realized that movies are not my thing. I like to think they're my thing, but when push comes to shove, I'm gonna sit at home and watch HIMYM or New Girl or Gilmore or Friends before I pop in a movie.

10. Hand letter something. Turn that something into art. - I'd like to actually know what I'm doing before I commit to the creation of art. But this is definitely on my radar.

Completely Missed

11. Volunteer at Coastal Cleanup Day - It's hard to be in two places at once, and I ended up volunteering my time at a debate tournament that weekend.
12. Decorate the apartment - Curtains. I need to buy some darn curtains.

Ok, so I didn't do as well as I'd planned. But I'm not stressing about it. I mean, I definitely was stressed about completing my things on time. Then one day, I realized that I created the list because I needed a push. I didn't want to lose the motivation that kept me growing and learning. And you know something? The list did exactly that. I might not have been able to cross everything off the list, but I did do some other cool things like:

learned to make a soup other than chicken noodle (no shade)

styled a bookshelf

started learning to play ukulele

traveled abroad

practiced yoga

experimented with makeup and hairstyles

went back to San Diego

enjoyed living in Davis

hung out with Brandon

turned 25

I think that's a fine list.

♥ A