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Exploring Coffee Shops: Roy’s Station Coffee

July 29, 2015 2 Comments

I don’t mean to go all hipster on you, but I prefer checking out the small local coffee shops around rather than going to regular chains for my hot cuppa. I enjoy scoping out my new city, and places I wouldn’t have known existed if I didn’t explore. I have been trying to go to a new-to-me coffee shop once every two weeks â€”Â but sometimes I tend to go back to the places I’ve found because I enjoy the ambiance, the drinks and food, and warm welcomes.

Roy Murotsune is now 89 and owned Roy’s Gas Station since 1946, his family re-purposed it and turned it into a coffee shop. Â It had the coolest concept for a coffee shop, and saw it on Instagram and knew I had to pop in for a visit.

Although I do have a particular drink I like to order at coffee shops, I still like to head over to Yelp to see what people recommend or dislike from a place before I visit. What I didn’t realize was that Roy’s Station Coffee & Tea isÂ DOG FRIENDLY! I tweeted to them, making sure they were so Alfie could come on a mid-morning adventure with me, and sure enough their patio was perfect for your pooches. Although I’d normally bring Alfie with me to a place like this, I didn’t like the idea of tying him up outside while I took photographs and ordered. He would panic, and bark like a maniac, so I left him at homeÂ for an hour or so while I checked this spot out with Megan before she moved back to Toronto.

My drink is on the right, it was a barista’s PFox’s special which was called Mocha Joy (kinda like Megan Joy, ha!) and it had mocha, almond syrup and coconut syrup. So good.

The barista who created the PFox special and mixed our drinks!

Spy Megan out in the corner snapping pictures for her blog and Instagram :)

Roy’s Station Coffee & Teas

197 Jackson Street, San Jose, CA 95112
Hours:Â Weekdays: 7am – 8pm, Saturday: 8am – 8pm, Sunday: 8am – 5pm

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Beauty

Dior Cosmopolite | Nail polish for Fall 2015

July 28, 2015 19 Comments

791 Daring Blue

785 Cosmopolite

001 Mirror

701 Metropolis

These are the four new nail polishes Dior will be releasing on August 1, for their Dior Cosmopolite Fall 2015 collection.Â Got a favourite? That green one was the first one I took a photo of this morning, and it has been on my nails for 4 days without a hitch. Looks like it holds up pretty good while making a pretty bold statement. Who knew I’d be sporting the forest green colour I had painted on my walls back in Grade 8. My hubby seems to like this shade on me too.

After taking a few swatches of these this afternoon I now have on the maroon colour, called after the collection itself, Cosmopolite. Definitely a second favourite. The entire collection will be a hybrid of metallics, and fun colours to wear in the cooler months creeping up on us. Except, it definitely was not cool outside today. 38*C out there today, smokin’! I ended up driving to the mall to save me some air-con costs, only to have it announced over the entire PA-system at the mall that between the hours of 2 and 5pm they will be dimming lights and not putting the A/C cranked so high. Fail there on my part. So I drove back and cranked my own AC in the comfort of my own home and took some nail swatches for ya guys.

Dior Nail Vernis will retail for $31.00CDN.

Daily

My first exclusive car event

July 27, 2015 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail inviting me to a small exclusive ScionÂ media launch, and of course being the person to say YES to an opportunity that sounds cool, I obviously agreed.Â The itinerary was a little backwards for me, but considering I had nothing on the go that day I decided to giv’er and go all out for the experience. It went a little something like this:

Drive myself up to San FranciscoÂ during morning rush hour.
We test drive the Scion iM and Scion iA’s down to Santa Cruz.
We eat lunch in Santa Cruz and mingle with the other media attendees.
Drive back in one of the iA or iM vehicles to San Francisco.
I take my own vehicle back and drive it home to San Jose.

So, a lot of back and fourths for me. I’m not one to complain much but by the time I got home it definitely took the good out of me and I was ready for a big ol’ nap, or a good nights sleep.

I filmed a short few clipsÂ while I was the passenger for half the trip, so checkÂ it out! Some spindly windy roads down to Santa Cruz, it was definitely picturesque, and I can betcha a buck this is most likely where a few car commercials are shot! The roads were breathtakingly beautiful with all those gigantic redwood trees and Cali-views.

After whipping out my vlogging camera to capture some footage for my YouTube channel, I realized I didn’t film or take any photographs of the iA sedan I was in, only the sportier hatchback model: Scion iM. I suppose if you were really into reviewing vehicles, you wouldn’t be on my blog because it’s not a car-review blog. So I’m sure you will be able to find photos of that elsewhere on the internet.

Although I’m not even remotely a professional car reviewer I can still give my two cents on what I thought of both the vehicles. Preferably, I am more of a mid-sized hatchback type of gal, and I prefer to feel surrounded by a whole lot of car when I’m driving. As soon as I sat inside the Scion iA sedan, it felt too small for something I would purchase. If you’ve ever sat inside a Toyota Yaris, you would understand the size of the car.

However, IÂ enjoyed taking the Scion iM out for a spin since it feels more versatile and sportier.Â Does the front end look familiar to you? It was built in partnership with Mazda at the same manufacturer as the Mazda 2’s were, so it has the Mazda 2 chassis and transmission. Something I’m a little familiar with due to me owning a Mazda 3 hatch.

2016 Scion iM shown above in the colour Blizzard Pearl, releasing on September 1, 2015 for $18,460 (manual) + $19,255 (automatic). It gets 28mpg city, 37 highway and 32 combined.

The two cars are aimed towards a younger crowd of consumers, newly graduated professionals, buying their first car. The hatchback is a great idea since it’s so diverse, especially if you’re into biking and don’t want a bike rack on the outside of your car (especially considering my husbands bikes cost more than our cars). Fold down the two back seats and you have yourself a safe haven for your pride and joy: the bicycle.

Visit Scion for more vehicle information. Photos below provided by Scion.Â

2016 Scion iA + iM