Coming Home: Memorial Weekend

Man, it is good to be back!

The road trip was a remarkable and an unforgettable experience. I saw so many amazing sites, attractions, and places. Nothing but good vibes and awesome memories. I got back Saturday and was able to spend the rest of the three day weekend to unwind, relax, and get situated back home. I will upload a few extra pics or outtakes from my trip that I did not upload onto my Instagram sometime this week.

Also, I am happy to say that I won my second IG contest that I've enter in for the Bellevue Square Mall's Spring IG contest in downtown Bellevue, WA. It's the second contest that I've entered and also my second time winning a prize! With the gift card, I was able to purchase a new duffel bag big and convenient enough to stuff everything I needed for my road trip. A post for that will be up on the blog either towards the end of this week or the beginning of next week. So keep on the look out for that post! 

Moving on, I spent the last days of the weekend to visit Seattle since I dearly missed my beloved city and the great Pacific Northwest! 

SUNDAY- we went to a new bakery and cafe place called Coyle's Bakeshop. It is fairly new and we decided to go check it out since the pictures on their Facebook page looked so enticing. The place is cozy, spacious, well lit, and adorable. You are able to see the staff baking away when you order. The coffee and baked goods were delicious. We had a mocha with their house made marshmallow, a hazelnut latte, a currant scone, a slice of their decadent chocolate cake, and a "cretzel"- croissant pretzel. {First Photo} They also had a rhubarb tart and an olive oil cake with rhubarb and cardamom that I will be getting the next time I'm in. 

Next we explored Capitol Hill and stumbled upon a tucked-away alley filled with new boutiques and restaurants yet to open soon. A new local ice creamery had already opened up along with a small plant and home decor shop next to it called, Niche outside. They had cute convenient home products from Japan, gardening books, plant keeping supplies, and other quaint items. {Second & Third Photo}

MONDAY- was Memorial Day and I spent another day adventuring in Seattle! Later on in the evening, I finished the night by watching the new hit movie, Mad Max. We walked around the Seattle waterfront and went go the Northwest Cultural Folklife Festival they had going on memorial weekend. For brunch {Fourth & Fifth Photo}, I went to Tilikum Place Cafe in Belltown and close to the Seattle Center. The food was delicious and the coffee made well and delicious also. Our waiter was super nice and always made sure we were doing fine. I had a sweet mini dutch baby that came in it's own pan with apples and almond streusel. I ordered a side of two eggs sunnyside up and my boyfriend ordered a crab cake eggs' benedict smothered in hollandaise sauce. Yum, and so much yes. Both orders were delicious and several other options on their menu had intrigued me as well. Gotta go back! 

Well, I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend regardless of whether it was long or not, and had gotten to enjoy some sunshine! Relax to the max in your free time! 

I will talk to you guys later! Cheers!

~Tiff 

3/07/15

Another sunny Saturday with spring and warmer weather around the corner, which called for a weekly Adventure in Seattle day. As usual, I went to brunch at Smith in the creative Capitol Hill. The interior decoration was very fascinating and cool with a bunch of taxidermy head statues mounted on the walls. I hope they were fake, possibly.. But regardless, the food was fantastic and the atmosphere was full of comfortable vibes and had a homey, familiar, and lively setting. 

I enjoyed their buttermilk waffles with apple slices and cinnamon. It was one of the best home made waffles I've ever tasted without the toppings being too sweet. My friend ordered their blueberry pancakes which was just as fantastic and fresh. 

The cherry blossoms had already started blooming, so I had to take a picture of the bundle of beautiful pink petals. 

While taking a ferry ride to Bainbridge, other than gazing at it, I just had to snap a picture of the sunset and of Seattle in all it's glowing glory. 

I will be uploading more pictures of my adventures and what I have been doing and up to soon. So much has been going and happening all at once and just when I though my schedule would be slowing down, it seems there is always too much fun going around. And that's not a bad thing, right!? It makes my simple mundane life all the more interesting with these little excursions. 

On a side note, I decided to just treat my personal blog as an online visual diary and chronicled journal! How more personal and close can it get when my blog's writing style would be exactly how I would talk to you as friend in person let alone if I was texting you about what I had been doing. I personally prefer and enjoy the casualness and informality of communicating or storytelling my adventures as opposed to a very formal formatted style. I don't want it to be cookie cutter or stiff. It's like reading the captions to my Youtube video if this post was made into a video of me ranting about my day. Who knows!? maybe I will start making vlogs instead, just to make things easier.

To continue from my tangent, what you can expect to come is more of the Coffee & Cafe Chilling session posts, as well as more Adventures in Seattle features, and of course the latest and biggest news/event- me going to Lucky 2015! :)

Well, we'll catch up soon folks! Until then, I'll ttyl! 

-Tiff 

(All pics were taken with the iPhone 6 and pulled from my Instagram: sonder_wonder) 

3/08/15

These series of pictures were taken while I was walking around and exploring downtown Seattle last Sunday. I went to brunch as usual and ended up going to the restaurant Local 360 in the Belltown area of downtown. The food was fresh and delicious. Unfortunately, while I was eating, I found clumps of hair in my pasta and completely lost my appetite. The restaurant omitted my meal off of the bill and was nice enough to have my friend's meal on the house because of the incident. 

Afterwards, I got a lovely lavender mocha from Bedlam Coffee that was silky but not too rich. The lavender flavor itself hit the right notes and wasn't overpowering over the chocolate. The brick wall of Bedlam's had cool artsy graffiti matching the weird spunky interior decor inside. 

I was able to walk around Pikes Place and around the Olympic Sculpture Park near the waterfront and watch the sun set beautifully in the distant. Overall, the day was very relaxing and was another wonderful day in Seatown.

-Tiff

Pre-Thanksgiving/Winter is Coming Food Splurge & Food Porn Pt. 1

Words alone can not describe each experience, moment, and taste so enjoy the pics because pictures are worth more than 1,000 words! :) 

 I'm beginning to realize that I get busier and busier and too tired to do anything or get things done let alone to type in depth my experiences. I will therefore mostly just post pictures with or no caption. Hopefully the upcoming holidays will allow me to creatively write my post pieces. But, regardless I will try to update and be consistent in my blog and keep on posting pictures. Stay warm and keep in touch!

- Tiff

Saturday's Seattle mini adventures & catching up with an old friend

COZY CAFES PT. 2

Yesterday I went to a new coffee shop that an old friend of mine had opened! I couldn't be anymore proud and ecstatic for her! The first three pictures are of my friend's cafe. I wish I could've taken pictures of the interior to share with you guys. The spot is a local, cute little shop along Alki  Beach near West Seattle. It's called Moondrop Coffee &Tea. The name is cute and catchy. The place itself is quite a catch with its cozy atmosphere and rustic homey interior. The dark pine wood and brick walls make it warm and inviting. The wood tables, wooden bench, and wooden bar area are all handcrafted by the co-owner and only add to the comfortable ambiance. They have a variety of options with good selective sections that offer diversity in beverages and food/snack choices that can be easily paired with any of the drinks. 

I tried their specialty drink the Mochaccinno. A mocha and cappuccino mix, by taking the foaminess you would get from ordering a cappuccino added on top of the mocha. I paired my drink with their homemade banana and zucchini bread. Delicious and nutritious! 

The last picture is of me and my family's meals for brunch on Saturday. We went to a hidden local cafe called the Cheeky Cafe. Their usage of unique bread for their sandwiches and french toast are really moist, soft, and fluffy. Their sweet potato fries are addicting. My sister ordered their "cheeky cakes" which are a thicker and fluffier version of standard pancakes, similar to giant round scones. They were really fluffy and moist with yummy chocolate chips in them. They have a unique fusion menu with a nice range of options.

Overall it was a good day of cafe chilling and I'm definitely craving more. 

See you guys soon!

-Tiff