Started reading this new gem at The Federal Store:

The café is a new one that was opened very recently (maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago). The owners apparently fixed up the place all on their lonesome, and it looks great. Super clean lighting with a nice selection of munchies that you’d find at a general store. Great coffee (beans from Bows & Arrows) that I would come back for, especially as it’s along a very popular bike route at 10th and Quebec.

This Changes Everything. It’s been a minute since I’ve read a book that has this type of information, so progress is slow and not very steady. I should really prioritize reading (ugly people need to read more, or so I’ve heard). A very friendly patron at the shop mentioned that Naomi Klein has another book about branding and logos… I’ll have to check it out after this.

Took advantage of the extra day off to spend more time with my lovely friends, who I feel like I haven’t seen in forever. I may have been neglecting them a bit, but weekends are now for working and napping. S and I went to Nelson the Seagull in Gastown…

Above: Poached eggs with mushrooms for $11 + $3 = $14. These were a little difficulty to eat because they were poached hard. I suppose I should’ve specified medium, but who likes hard eggs?! Other than that little blip… The bread was very fresh and good (IT BETTER BE, THEY BAKE IT IN HOUSE). The salad and mushrooms were acceptable, and tasted like they’re probably freshly grown/local.

Above: The Full Nelson – I don’t remember how much this cost. $13? Black forest ham, tomato, lettuce, and cheese (swiss?). Question marks because S ordered it and devoured it to soak up his hangover. He seemed to enjoy it, although the ham was all piled in the middle and not evenly distributed, according to S.

Below: Latte with almond milk, made in house, and a little plant.

Overall, a good experience, because it’s a nice atmosphere to meet friends and the coffee’s strong enough. I would not recommend eating here, because there are other breakfast/brunch places with better eggs.



And yes, I’m happy. As happy as an angry little girl could be.

Today has been food and caffeine filled. How else would I spend my Saturday? Took a break from baking to have lunch with H, and visited Parker Street Cafe, where they were roasting fresh coffee beans:

Got the Parker’s Special, cold Americcino, which is blended ice with a shot of cold brew. (Shamelessly displaying H’s handmade leather wallet… Give me a shout if you want one.)

Nice place to hang out, quiet neighborhood, not a lot of traffic. Coffee’s STRONG. I like it. Come back soon!!!!

Now that I’m in my late 20’s, I go skiing without a hangover. Whistler was beautiful this Saturday:



Then, we picked up a Nespresso on Saturday, and decorated my house with red and champagne (not white) roses:



This is the Inissia model, uses only the OriginalLine capsules. We took advantage of the $100 coffee credit to pick up about 14 boxes of capsules, including the limited edition Ciocco Ginger (intensity of 6, which is the middle).  When they run out, I’m going to scalp these on Craigslist. H laughed when I told him my plan.

It was difficult getting back to work on Monday.

Brunch at Scandilicious, a lil’ tiny waffle café on Commercial Drive…

and they had a Pumpkin Pie Latte!

Not sweet enough, or maybe I was just craving more sugar after only 2 hours of sleep following a graveyard shift. Lots of spices and foam near the top, but it wasn’t very strong. Again… maybe because of the graveyard shift. Cost $4.50, and didn’t make me feel sick. Waffles were good too. I like it.

Went to about 3 different locations before I could find a Tim Hortons that wasn’t burned down, under construction, or closed.

Anyways, a Timmy’s Pumpkin Pie Latte cost about $5. Talk about overpriced for half a cup of foam. Not sure if it they just made it wrong at this location, but it tasted like cardboard and I think it gave me food poisoning, i.e. sitting on the toilet for about 2 hours. Definitely not worth the $5; do not get this.

 

 

The Laughing Bean on Hastings, a family run local business.  The owner always seems to be high on caffeine. When I asked them if they had PSLs, they told me It wasn’t the season for PSL yet, as it isn’t quite Fall. They still made me one. They had syrup from last year, I guess, which is slightly questionable.  The drink tasted strong enough of pumpkin, it was sorta too sweet, there was whip, and best of all, the caffeine is strong there! Cost about $5.

This could be a potential replacement once Fall comes around and they have it more readily available.

Sunday morning, post hiking the Wedgemount Lake Trail, couldn’t sleep, so went out for a quick coffee instead. Used one of my many McDonalds free coffee cards to pick up a medium PSL with skim milk:

Not too sweet, different type of pumpkin taste than Starbucks, I think more of a fake sweetener taste… Leaves a strange aftertaste though, and there’s no whipped cream! All the syrup was also stuck at the bottom, but that’s probably because the staff at McD were so swamped (or incompetent). Caffeine content in McDonald’s coffee is usually decent, but I wasn’t feeling the kick today. Maybe because I slept badly for about 3 hours, and nothing will be able to save me now.

Starbucks PSL wins this round.  Although the McD PSL is about half the price, I still prefer the taste of the original. Here’s another comparison of the two: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2013/10/pumpkin_spice_latte_throwdown.php

On another note.. Wedgemount Lake. This is what I live for:

Pictures don’t do it justice. I didn’t want to leave…

look what i can do! can your coffee mug do this?

:( time for a new one.

my sources of caffeine during finals.

VITA mocha soybean milk

ITOEN iced green tea

milktea from CRYSTAL MALL

STARBUCKS hazelnut soy latte

STARBUCKS doubleshot on ice

some japanese coffee

from strongest to weakest:
1japanese coffee
2STARBUCKS doubleshot on ice
3milktea from CRYSTAL MALL
4ITOEN iced greentea
5STARBUCKS hazelnut soy latte
6VITA mocha soybean milk

best to worst taste:

1milktea from CRYSTAL MALL
2VITA mocha soybean milk
3STARBUCKS doubleshot on ice
4STARBUCKS hazelnut soy latte
5ITOEN iced greentea
6japanese coffee

THREE more days.