Life Lately

LifeLatelyI’ve been trying to keep busy, but it’s hard! There’s only so much you can do in the run of a day, a week, a month. I’ve been avoiding the sadness but a few weeks ago it hit me hard and I fully embraced it and it sucked big time. I don’t mean that for you guys to comment in a big ol’ pity party, I’m just saying. I’m fine, everything’s going to be fine. It just sucks, and it’s hard and I don’t like it. I’m so glad my husband is so compassionate.

latteBut I’ll tell ya what I do like. Espresso. And four shots of it. I’m starting to love the taste of espresso (still not loving the taste of a coffee though), and I’m trying to figure out the cheapest way to ask for an espresso drink somewhere, without paying $6 or $7 for it. Next time I might just ask for all the espressos with no additives (milk, or fancy frothy stuff) in it, then bring’er home and add some of my own milk. Am I being a penny pincher? My parents always told me I will always have a couple of bucks on me no matter how broke I get. Guess it’s from all those days asking for pure espresso shots. Really though, I don’t drink the espresso alldayerrday. It’s about once a week when I need to get shiz done. Ya know? Like yesterday when I blogged (I’m not even going to tell you how many posts I pumped out yesterday due to the caffeine intake). BUT IT WAS GREAT! By the way, anyone try the new Lancome Juicy Shakers yet? It’s the lip product up there shown in the tiny cocktail shaker shaped thing! Cute right??

Upclose-NicZoeI don’t dress up often since I don’t have a corporate job to go to any more. But I do like to dress up for blogging events from time-to-time. I put together this little ensemble over the weekend and liked how it came out! Fancy Nancy is sportin’ all black, with a bright red shoe. No matter where I go, these shoes get complimented on, and they were SO cheap!

Stand-with-purseOutfit of the day
NIC+ZOE day to night top and perfect leggings, Nexus 5X in my hand ;)
Moto 360 watch, hand-me-down purse
Etsy necklace, Brandy Melville gold ring, Charlotte Russe flats

NIC+ZOE is a really nice place to shop online for business casual clothing. They have some beautiful pieces and I already have a few more items on my wishlist I’d like to purchase from them (the top and leggings were sent to me).

What else. I’ve been enjoying running. Although, not for very long, but getting it done quickly. Sometimes Most times I hate running, but ya gotta get a bit more exercise than a bit of bouldering, and yoga-zen-time. So, running it is. You might’ve noticed I’ve been cycling an awful lot too. That’s because I have been. I got a new bike in December from Specialized, and after my first fall I’ve resorted to wearing street shoes and not clip-shoes (what are they called? Why are they called clipless, if you clip into them?). I’ve been exploring the city about an hour each time I go out on the bike and I still feel silly walking my bike across the intersections. But I’m still a bit wobbly and clumsy on it! I’ll get used to it one day. Back to running. I had a scary moment in a sketchy neighbourhood (which I’ll never run in again by the way). I had throat-burn from running so fast away from 2 scary guys who scared me for a legitimate reason.

Moto360-watchI got my first fancy smart watch! It’s the new Moto 360 Android watch in rose gold, and it officially launched yesterday. I’ve been playing with it ever since I got it. I feel like Inspector Gadget talking to my wrist to bring up the weather app, or to text someone. It also has a really interesting feature where you can change the strap on it very easily with the push of a button on the back. I have it in a tan pebbled leather, a black silicone, and the strap that came with it — this soft tan shade. I have to say, it brings me back to my childhood when a university student who lived next door neighbour bought me a watch with interchangeable straps for my 9th birthday. Memories!

colouring-bookColouring has been awesome too. Did you guys get any colouring books this Christmas? I swear it was a popular item. My husband gave me TWO colouring books, talk about spoiled! I’ve been using fancy calligraphy markers from fancy art stores in fancy San Francisco to colour and I’ve been enjoying every moment of it. About an hour a day I turn my electronics on airplane mode, put on some chill music, and colour, or just take a bit of me time. It’s been good.

How have you been?

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Exploring coffee shops: 85°C Bakery Café

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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