Fashion

OOTD

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I haven’t been feeling well the last week or so. I think it’s due to the weather shift. One minute it’s 12 degrees and misty outside, the next it’s 32 and a scorcher of a day. Anyway, I can’t wait to get rid of this aggressive cough – otherwise I feel grand and dandy – minus the two random days where I actually got sick sick. That’s never fun.

But what’s fun is more OOTDs. Yay. Hope you’re enjoying them like I used to post way back in the day. These pics were from a few weeks ago, but that’s what happens when I’m a tired mama. I don’t get time to post as regularly as I’d like. I’d rather shut everything down (ie: my body lol) when I put bebs down for the night. Anyway too many excuses! Let’s get onto the post:

Alfie will be TEN YEARS OLD in a few days. Can you believe it?

You’re not gonna believe where this sweater is from. I’ll tell you below in the details. I LOVE it. It comes in many colours, but make sure if/when you buy it you have a coupon.

Here Alfie’s in mid-bark because he sees my husband and bebs coming home from a run with the jogging stroller.

The foolish side of me then comes out. Trying to make bebs laugh ;)

Outfit details:
Sunnies: Rayban
Sweater: Old Navy
Belt: American Eagle (circa 2004 or so lol)
Jeans: Articles of Society (one of my faves, find them at Nordstrom!)
Shoes: Lucky Brand (but bought them at TJMaxx!)

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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

85C-coffee-bakery

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.

85-Bakery

Walnut-Raisin-Multigrain

Green-tea-rolls

Bakery-and-pastries

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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Daily

Bay Area Buddies

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Bay-Area-BuddiesA number of years ago I posted about a couple of my favourite blog reads, today I’m doing the same. Starting 2015 off on the right foot, I decided to read less blogs, clear out my feedly RSS feed and focus on less quantity, more quality. Know what I’m gettin’ at here? I want to dive into the new year being a better friend, whether it be online or in person. I’m horrible at leaving blog comments, and I usually scroll through a lot of blogs I read without truly reading them.

I’ve put together a list of my blog friends from the San Francisco Bay Area that I’ve met and thoroughly enjoyed their company, had good laughs with, and cannot wait to spend more time with in 2015. Hope you enjoy their blogs as much as I do!

TeamWikingJessica | Team Wiking: to her gorgeous photography to her impeccable style, Jessica is someone who I look up to, not only in the online world, but also offline. I’ve known Jessica online for 10+ years until a few years ago we had the chance to meet in person one weekend when we planned a girls trip to San Diego. Never once did I think I’d be moving to her country 3 years later, let alone her neighbourhood! I mean, we’re kind of walking distance from one another (I drive there #GotACarWhyNotUseIt), and I love just heading over there just to hang out. Because really, her house is just as gorgeous in person, too.

CarlaCarla | Alyssa & Carla: Carla is the person I run up and squeal to whenever I see her. Carla and her best friend Alyssa run a blog together from their weekly updates to their creative DIY’s. Carla lives here in the Bay Area but her best bud Alyssa lives in Japan! I love it.

MontgomeryFestAnnie | Montgomeryfest: After reading Annie’s blog for a few months and missing each other at blog meet up’s, we finally met last month at an event. I admire Annie because she is a creative individual who pumps out incredible content on her blog. I love just heading over there and oggling at her photographer and styling.

A-side-of-sweetKelly | A Side of Sweet: Kelly is someone I truly admire, she has to be one of the most friendliest person I’ve met. One thing I cannot get over is how much of a go-getter she is, especially considering she runs her blog full time, and she is a full time pediatrician.

a-lady-goes-westAshley | A Lady Goes West: Is also new to the California area as she and her husband relocated from Florida, so we’re all pretty new here. I enjoy when she blogs about the restaurants she goes to, and adventures she goes on since I still want to take my husband out to new-to-us places. Ashley is not only a healthy living lifestyle blogger but she’s also a personal trainer. I always stop by her blog to get ideas on workouts she’s come up with.

Pink-on-the-cheekLauren | Pink on the Cheek: Lauren’s blog is full of ways to grow your blog with tons of tutorials, or ideas on how to get out of a blog rut. This year I plan on takin’ Lauren out to the rock climbing gym and go for a climb, or for me to join her at a CrossFit WOD. I want to hang out with her more often!

Snixy-KitchenSarah | Snixy Kitchen: I think I need to drive over to Sarah’s house and get her to teach me her ways. As much as I enjoy cooking, I don’t really have a knack for coming up with recipes on my own, and throwing in whatever ingredients I have laying around and have it come out amazing. I feel like Sarah can whip up the most intricate meals without looking into a recipe book. It’s crazy, and I love it.

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