Pom Friday, Spiffydogs

Pom Friday . 16

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When we brought Alfie into our lives over 5 years ago, we were told he was crated at night. We decided it was a great idea for him to sleep in his own little home each night, and kept up the routine ever since. That doesn’t mean to say he doesn’t get to spend time up on the people bed, because oh does he ever. I usually head to bed earlier than The Guy, especially if he’s on his indoor bike trainer in the next room. As much as Alfie loves joining me at night, he doesn’t like to cuddle at all. He usually takes over my husbands pillow and snuggles up on the opposite side of me, or at the foot of the bed.

When it’s time for him to be put into his crate for the night he acts like a dead weight, which is adorable to watch. We’d let him stay up on the bed some nights, but I’ve been known to boot him off in my sleep during the night. So, we keep him crated and give him little luxuries with a little water dish inside in case he ever gets thirsty in the middle of the night — which he does! The water dish usually has to be filled up every night for him. When my Husband and I are on the top floor where the bedrooms are, chatting or getting ready for bed— Alfie is often times found in his crate sucking on his bed because he is getting ‘ignored’, and wants attention. He is too cute for WORDS sometimes.

It’s a great idea especially if he ever has to do an overnight visit in an unfamiliar place, the crate gives him comforts of home, his own little space. Here’s the little guys crate at the foot of our bed. Usually it’s stored on my husbands side of the bed— but we are currently re-doing our master bedroom (reveal coming soon!).

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Alfie-not-in-crate

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Coffee shop

Exploring coffee shops: 85°C Bakery Café

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85C-CupertinoI was craving a mid-day pick me up, so I popped by 85°C Bakery Café in San Jose around 1:30 last Friday. I pulled up to a gigantic building, expecting a small coffee shop — I didn’t realize it was a chain. I didn’t do too much research on it, I simply found it on Yelp. 85°C Bakery Café isn’t your typical chilled out coffee spot. This coffee & cake bakery means business, and the customers know it. Flowing in and out constantly with multiple drinks in hand and large brown boxes of goodies.

Vanilla-Latte-85C-BakeryPer usual, I placed my order and got a vanilla latte. So while waiting for that I grabbed the last table and waited for my drink to be made.

Looking-other-way

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85-CupertinpThe ambiance of this spot is like being in a cafeteria. The building itself is nice and clean, but the place has an echo, it’s incredibly busy and loud with customers talking. Not the place to come and quietly drink your coffee in peace, especially with the staff yelling out peoples orders like at Starbucks, but instead “Guest number 449 please!” I guess that’s what I get for heading out to a popular bakery and café during lunch time on a weekday. At one point the place seemed a little less busy, so I decided to count the number of customers in the shop (because what else am I supposed to do when people watching by myself at a coffee shop?), and there were 43 people and it felt empty. Hoo wee! So imagine how large the spot really is.

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Big-ol-latteThere were 7 tables for seating, all but one table was taken which was later snagged after I placed my order. First sip of the latte and I already said I’d be back (in my head – ha!). The whipped foam on top was great, but not the place to go for a fancy latte art, not that it really means much. It’s just to impress the customers a bit. Quite a bit of latte for the money, since I paid $3.50 for it. Which in practice is a dollar less than any of the other spots around, and I felt like I received a larger portion than usual.

I noticed the customers ordering snazzy looking drinks, many of them being bubble tea (I’m not a fan of tapioca in drinks), but some of them had real chopped up peaches in them. Many of the people were there for the cakes and pastries. Every couple of people walked out with a large box of them.

I’ll be back for sure but next time instead of hanging around the noisy spot, I’ll take it to go.

85°C Bakery Café

1183 South De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129
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Beauty

Products I’ve Used Up

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Prouct-Empties-headerWelcome back for another Beauty Talk Tuesday. Today I’m going to show you the beauty products I have used up recently or what I’ll be throwing away even if they’re not completely empty. This is where things get real. It’s where I tell you if products are worth the hype, or simply don’t waste your money on. It takes me ages to finish a product up completely, so this type of post will probably be going up semi-annually.

Let’s jump right on in.

Miracle-WorkerPhilosophy Miracle Worker eye cream: It will take me 6-8 months to finish an eye cream when applying it each morning. Miracle Worker was first introduced to me when I went to Toronto for a philosophy event at Sephora, and I was hooked on the consistency as soon as I felt it. This will continue to be a staple in my makeup bag, as I’ve alrady gone through 2-3 tubes of this in the past. I do like to take breaks from products and switch them up, as I have more than one favourite of certain products. Right now I’m using my other #1 eye cream, the Bobbi Brown Extra Eye Repair, which is a completely different in texture, weight, and feel to the under eyes. Miracle Worker is more of a silicone feel, and Extra Eye Repair is more hydrating and sinks into the skin.

Jouer-BronzerJouer Bronzer: After using up two of these bronzers I have finally decided to go on and try something else. I apply bronzer heavily to my skin, year round due to personal preference — I like the healthy glow year round. I would continue to buy it again, it’s not too gray or orange and it lasted me a good 7 months. Unfortunately my local Nordstrom doesn’t sell this brand, so I have to order it on Amazon, or on the Jouer website.

Equate-wipes Equate-wipes-bonusEquate Makeup Remover Wipes: I’m going to lump these two facial wipes in with one another. The more blue packaged one is what I had been using regularly to remove my makeup, so I picked up a similar 2-pack when it was on sale. Out of the blue, the only thing that I had changed in my routine was using the whiter package set of wipes and the next morning I woke up with swollen puffy eyes. I’m not sure what happened with these since I had last used them, but they do not work with my skin any longer. 3 for 3, I tried them (all within a few weeks of each other because I wanted to clarify it was this and not another product). Sure enough, every time I used one of the two wipes above, puffy, flakey and sore under eyes the next morning. Not a nice sight! These are going straight to the garbage. I’m disappointed because I kept repurchasing the blue package one’s above, without fail — now they irritate my skin.

Dior-diorshowDior Diorshow Mascara: One of the most fantastic (yet expensive) mascaras I have for volumizing and lengthening your eyelashes. I prefer a drier mascara formula and this one is fantastic. I’ve gone through countless Diorshow mascaras, and I’ll continue to buy this product.

principessa-dry-shampooPrincipessa Beauty Dry Shampoo: I first found out about this coloured dry shampoo powder when I received it in a beauty subscription box a number of years ago. It was a small sample sized tin at the time, and I love enough to purchase this 4oz full sized tin for $24 at The Bay in Canada. You only need a light sprinkling of this to soak up any oil in your hair, and the tin has lasted me for 2 full years. I panicked when I ran out of it down here in the USA, but luckily found it on Amazon and what do you know — this product is Canadian-made in Vancouver! Represent! :)

purity-made-simplePhilosophy Purity Made Simple: Saving the best product for last. I can’t count how many times I have purchased the purity facial cleanser. This product will never leave my sink side, and if I have less than a quarter left in the bottle, I’ve already stocked up on the product at the store. I will never go without this, it’s gentle enough on the eyes (never stings) and removes all of my makeup. Occasionally I’ll use my Clarisonic Mia 2 with this to get a nice deep clean.

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