POM Friday . 9

Alfie is always such a great little sport, putting up with me dressing him in warm jackets or shower caps. I suppose he’s like me in the way he will do anything for a treat, right?

The weather isn’t nearly cold enough for him to wear his Canada Pooch jacket we got for him in 2012, but I sure love dressing him up in it, especially this time of year because it looks like a Santa suit!
Getting-coat-on-Alfie

Alfie-in-coat

Canada-Pooch-with-Alfie

Alfie-in-his-coat

Alfie-in-Canda-Pooch

Pom-in-a-Coat

Alfie-in-red-coat

Christmas-AlfieI may be biased, but isn’t he the cutest? Love our little schnogg. We will resume POM Friday’s in the new year — Merry Christmas from Alfie, The Guy and I!

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Exploring coffee shops: Chromatic Coffee Co.

Chromatic-headerIt never occurred to me to let you guys in on some of the coffee shops I visit. After I posted a photo of my first Starbucks red cup of the season, my old Graphic Design classmate Geri suggested I check out local coffee establishments rather than large chains like Starbucks. While I do often go to smaller one-off coffee shops, I didn’t really blog about it, except for that one time I went to Bellano!

Today I’m bringing you along with me to Chromatic Coffee, a few blocks down the road from Bellano.Latte-art

For my own personal review purposes I’ve decided to order the same type of drink for each coffee shop I visit, a vanilla latte. I sound some fancy! It’s only because I’m not a fan of regular coffee — flavoured coffee’s is where it’s at you guys. That and iced vanilla coffees. Hoo-wee, yummo! This time I took my iPad, sat down and read for a little, people watched while I was at it too. It was pretty packed when I went this day since I popped in around lunch time. They were playing No Doubt (an ol’ classic fav of mine, brings me back to the early 2000’s when my local climbing gym back home played that). I got lucky and snagged an awesome comfy leather couch to perch myself down on and sip away.

Chromatic-GamutI love whoever did the Graphic Design for this coffee shop, and the fonts they used on the ground coffee packages.

Chromatic-Coffee-CoChromatic doesn’t have a menu up on the wall, but they have a stand alone right in front of the cash register which is clipboard cut in half and smoothed out. Pretty snazzy if you ask me. It’s not the cheapest coffee spot I went to, I ended up paying $5.15 for my vanilla latte. Ouch.

Inside-ChromaticI love watching the barista’s work their magic. One dude was so quick with his hands pouring out two tea pots into two to-go cups at once, a little fascinating to watch especially since I’m a little clumsy.

Chromatic-menu It’s like having “me time” and being social without being social. Know what I mean? I can write a lot of my blog posts here if I didn’t get annoyed and frustrated with my ipad no working with wordpress. Instead, I bring a pen and notebook, sit down for a bit and write a few pages.

Chromatic-latte-artI stuck around for about an hour until my friend from Canada texted me, and I drove over to her house in Sunnyvale to hang out for the afternoon.

Chromatic-Sidama

coffee-time-at-Chromatic

What is your go-to drink when you’re at a coffee shop?

Chromatic Coffee

5237 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051
Hours: Weekdays 7am-9pm, Weekends 8am-9pm

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20 Stocking Stuffer Ideas

10 days til Christmas! Is everyone that celebrates, done their shopping?

I have to pick up a couple of things for our little Pomeraian Alfie, but other than that — I’m finished! I was chatting to my Mom on the phone the other day and we were chatting about stocking stuffer ideas, which got me thinking, I should share some of my ideas with you guys in case you’re a little stumped too.

I love receiving stuff I wouldn’t normally buy myself, sometimes they may be run of the mill things or little luxuries. Here’s a few of my favourite stocking stuffer ideas:

20-stocking-stuffer-ideas

  1. Terry’s orange chocolate — my favourite thing to get at the bottom of my stocking each year! Can you believe they’re hard to come by here in California? I bought one at World Market for The Guy this year, and haven’t seen them anywhere else.
  2. Bar earrings — I bought myself these earrings last week. Hoping they arrive before Christmas day :)
  3. Razors — Who really likes buying their own razors? I asked for some to be put in my stocking this year.
  4. Gum — Trident has this Candy Cane gum out this year. I don’t know if it’s US only, but it’s pretty tasty. Orbit gum in Sweet Mint  is also a huge fav.
  5. Mens fragrances —
  6. Fluffy socks — My favourite thing to give along with someone’s Christmas gift!
  7. Lush Dream Cream — I’ve raved about this before. It smells lemony, but it keeps your skin moisturized until the next day. It’s unreal, I love using it on my legs during the winter.
  8. Portable phone charger — I have a similar phone charger for when I’m out of the house. This has come in handy so many times!
  9. Fabric hair ties — It’s all I’ll ever use in my hair.
  10. Womens fragrance — BOSS MA VIE Pour Femme is the newest fragrance for women from BOSS Parfums. BOSS MA VIE Pour Femme was inspired by an element of today’s woman’s life that until now has gone unnoticed. It draws on the pleasure she feels when she chooses to step out of her day to day routine, slow down, loosen up and simply enjoy life’s moments. The fragrance captures the intimate essence of her independent spirit, releasing the indulgent and fulfilling sensation of simply savouring life – her life.
  11. Dry shampoo — Principess is my favourite, it’s a powder form and comes in two shades, I clearly have the brunette one :)
  12. Nail polish — spicing up  your nails with new Christmas polish, always fun! If you shop at Sephora, they have a 100 point perk for a Deborah Lippmann sparkly polish.
  13. Make up bag — I’ve been dying for a Prada make up bag for probably over 10 years. There’s a Prada outlet 45 minutes north of me that sells them 50% off. I’m thinking of spoiling myself in the new year.
  14. Marshmallow chocolate santas — If there’s any memory of my Mom at Christmas, it’s these chocolate marshmallow santas :)
  15. Flavoured Coffee — Limited edition coffee with peppermint, or egg nog – so good.
  16. Peppermint tea — Not the coffee drinker? Try some Celestial peppermint tea. It is amazing.
  17. philosophy hope in a jar — philosophy has the cutest packaging for Christmas. You can never go wrong with their hope in a jar moisturizer.
  18. Jo Malone perfume — Always on my Christmas wish list.
  19. Diptyque candle — Can’t go wrong with a little luxury during Christmas. One day I’ll own (and probably never burn) a Diptyque candle.
  20. Deodorant — A deodorant is always in my stocking. The coconut scent by Secret is my favourite at the moment.

Are your stocking stuffers wrapped or unwrapped?

What are some of your favourite stocking stuffers?

Disclaimer: Hugo Boss and Lacoste fragrances were sent for review.

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