3/2/2014 0 Comments Delicious Well BeingIf your mouth did not start watering the moment you laid eyes on the above picture, there is something wrong with you.
You are looking at Chaco Canyon Cafe's 16-oz. Triple Berry Smoothie. It is actually my first time trying it, and it is delicious! It is smooth, sweet, and filled with texture--not like any watery or excruciatingly sweet smoothies you might find at other places. What is even more satisfying is what's written on the tin cup: "Warning! If consumed this beverage may cause: Dissatisfaction with processed & packaged foods, peace of mind, and a cascade of healthy lifestyle choices." This put an instant smile on my face. It also reminded me of how good it really feels to be healthy, and to tell you the truth this fact only hit me recently. During each of the last ten thousand attempts I made to be healthy, I kept telling myself that it was the right thing to do because...it was just the right thing to do. But, each of those attempts were not so successful--before I knew it, I found myself inhaling mountains of chips, cookies and bowls of ice cream. Well, I didn't eat all three in one sitting, and it wasn't literally mountains of chips...though it did feel that way. Anyway, it led me to discover that if I really wanted to stick to healthy routines, it had to be for a specific reason that made sense to me. Part of this realization came when I read the chapter of Do Cool Sh*t by Miki Agrawal that talks about living a healthy lifestyle; she suggested that instead of thinking of doing healthy routines as doing things out of obligation such as chores (exercising, dieting), you can associate exercise with releasing and dieting with having willpower. This quickly made it much easier for me to make the choices I needed to! Since then, I smoothly made the decision to do aerobics in the mornings because I wanted to release any tension I had; I have also been able to quickly decide on a smoothie over a brownie--I tell myself I don't want to lose power over my decision-making, because it wouldn't mean well for me if I did. So here I am, enjoying a smoothie with antioxidants and color and flavor and deliciousness! And I feel more at peace knowing that the choice I made has pushed me toward a better well being. :) ~~MC
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1/18/2014 0 Comments Cafe CesuraI just want to start by saying, this is a great coffee shop! And you must be thinking, Well duh, Why else would MC write a blog post about it? And you are right, it would be weird if I actually wrote blog posts about horrible coffee shops--What good would that do to anyone? But I digress...
You know those instances where you discover a new, exciting place after years of driving by it without taking note of its existence? Cafe Cesura was one of those times for me. I never really noticed it until one day I found myself in the area with no plans and wondering what to do; then I got in the I-want-to-explore-my-hometown-because-anything-like-that-can-still-be-exciting mood, and I ended up walking into this coffee shop! There are many cafes in the Seattle area featuring art pieces, loud trendy music, and the bustling of stacking mugs and saucers and friendly conversation. Cafe Cesura counts in the club, but it is still a venue worth visiting. Its location is definitely unexpected, at least for me because for a long time I had accepted the prejudiced notion that all coffee shops with such an energetic aura only existed in Seattle. This one sits in Downtown Bellevue. Its windows make up the entire wall where the entrance door is, letting in the much needed natural light to illuminate the paintings hanging on the purple-grey walls. Stark black chairs, wooden tables, and kind baristas add to this lovely atmosphere. All in all, you get the strong impression (strong as their coffee...) that they aim high to give the coffee fanatic a satisfying experience. Speaking of their coffee, it is another reason to really take note of Cafe Cesura (well obviously). There is that bitter taste that excites you, in that you find yourself acknowledging that you are ingesting a cup of strong, nourishing coffee. But, the creamy flavor and smooth texture give the juxtaposing subtlety to your taste buds. Plus, you will find great art sitting on your drink and not just on the venue walls (shown in picture above)! If you ever find yourself in town, or you are just a car drive away (hopefully not too long of a car drive), stop by and let me know what you think. Much love, ~~MC 7/19/2011 0 Comments A Basket of France...Yesterday was quite a lovely day in Seattle--the Sun was shining, the sky was clearing up, people were strolling in the downtown area as they seemed magnetically drawn to areas right by the water that was shining brightly underneath the sunlight...And I was sipping on my hot tall decaf latte with a foam design shaped like a heart in the center. :)
After pretending to be tourists at admiring every part of Pike Place Market (with the imperfect yet somehow still perfect stone tiling on the ground path...the boiling enthusiasm of the men tossing fish all over the place in the fish market...the bustling crowds among the small shops that sold things ranging from freshly plucked flowers to bottles of flavored olive oil...), my family and I sat in our favorite cafe in the area...Le Panier, and all the French aura and stimulating coffee drinks that come with it. You can already tell from the second photo that this cafe is a little piece of France in itself, a world that shelters itself from the piece of Seattle that occurs on the other side of the row of windows. As you walk down the short flight of stairs to the cafe and step out of the street of the market, you are welcomed by the subtle acoustic French music that blends as nicely with the voices of the customers as does a shot of espresso with the mug of freshly steamed milk, that fuse together into the latte I ordered and lost myself in (in the first photo); the gleaming yellow lights, the lovely display of French tartes and pâtes that look like they were made just minutes ago, and the black-and-white photos of all-encompassing angles of Paris...these other little things about Le Panier may also put you in a trance. Their lattes are finely crafted, as they never cease to please you with foam designs made with heart...which was why despite the 75 degree weather, I ordered a hot latte instead of iced. I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to lose myself not only in the latte but also in the decoration sitting on top of it. Le Panier translates from French to "the basket"--And to me, there is no other way to see that than as a basket of pastries and authentic drinks, a basket of France that sits among the bustling shops and aura of Seattle, waiting for you to step inside and be absorbed in a place that's another world away. ~~MC Today, on a beautiful warm sunny day in Seattle, I ordered a tall iced decaf latte at Parnassus. (In case you have not read one of my earlier posts for the Foods for Fantasizing page, Parnassus is the art gallery & cafe located in the basement of the Art Building on campus..Where I basically had the best latte ever.)
It took me back to that time I had the hot version of the latte last winter, where after the very first sip I began to hallucinate Johnny Depp standing right in front of me (I didn't really hallucinate..I'm sort of exaggerating..But that's hot amazing the latte was :) P.S. If you feel tempted to read the intensely detailed account of this hallucination, feel free to read the past post under the Parnassus tag). I guess having a coffee drink at Parnassus can be just as tempting and gratifying during the lively spring season as amidst the brisk, freshly-cool air of Winter. ;) Happy Tuesday, and enjoy a latte! ~~MC 5/7/2011 2 Comments Ugly Mug.You may wonder at the title of this post, asking what it means or if I just came up with that out of complete random...
But really, it's the name of my "second home" (besides the other second homes that include bookstores and coffee shops in general!), a cafe that I never get tired of and that sits happily near UW campus. It's a very small space--yet the cozy furniture and humbling art work surrounded by the warm yellow-painted walls, the coffee drinks and meals made purely with heart, and their diverse yet soothing music make you feel like you're in your own little room... So words like "hurry" or "rush" don't exist in this cafe. :) Their coffee drinks are mostly what you may find in other cafes, but each drink has so much character to the way it looks that you'll find yourself admiring it almost too long before actually drinking it! Their meals include soups (my favorite of which is pumpkin tomato), sandwiches (Veggie Foccacia is the best!!), and even a breakfast plate where they give you eggs, an english muffin with a sweet creamy spread, and other delicate eats! And as for the drinks, I mostly order their Ovaltine Latte (sweet and rich) or their milky dreamy Earl Grey Tea Latte...Mmmmmmm. If you all of a sudden find yourself in the bustling busy street of University Ave in Seattle, achingly wondering where you can get yourself the best, coziest, warmest meal of your life, just walk in the delightful aura of Ugly Mug and you let the noise of life drain out of you. :) Happy Saturday (and Happy early Mother's Day)! ~~MC 1/14/2011 0 Comments Johnny Depp, One Sip Later..Hello all! I hope you all had a great week and are enjoying the three-day weekend--And with the cherry on top of the sundae, I hope you all are going to tune in to this year's Golden Globes! ...I'm a huge movie fan, though I haven't seen all the nominated films, ..but I'm pretty sure that The Black Swan is going to win some awards because it looks so finely crafted when I watch the previews...Natalie Portman is such a great actress that she scares me even when I see normal pictures of her XD ..
Anyways, before I get even more side-tracked, I'd like to say welcome to the first post of "Food Fantasizing"! Particularly if you are a food lover already, you will be shortly transported to heaven, because I am about to reminisce about a latte I had (or rather, to be more accurate, inhaled) at a certain coffee place this past week... For the last few months, a couple of friends of mine have raved about how delicious the coffee was at Parnassus, an art gallery and coffee shop (by the way, those are the exact words written under the name Parnassus, on the wall right outside the cafe) located in the basement of the art building on campus--I was especially intrigued, when one friend told me that she walks 20 minutes in the rain (or no rain..but that's like 10 percent likely in Seattle) from the science building, just to snuggle up with a tall steaming drink! With this conviction, I decided three days ago to buy their tall latte... ...When I took the first sip, I thought for a second that I was face-to-face with Johnny Depp, standing in front of me with his gold tooth gleaming slightly through his pearly-white shy smile, and a meltingly intense red rose gestured by one hand, just for me...In other words, I thought all my dreams had come true in that one sip! :) Now I don't mean to say that I hallucinate about Johnny Depp every time I drink a latte, but that was how amazed I was by the drink...The rich yet subtle creaminess of the milk, blended with the (decaf) shots that were as artistically thrown in as the firework sparks of vibrant paint...And, like a perfectly wrapped Christmas present, the barista had topped the drink off with an eloquent, beautiful design with the light magical foam. Even before I took that first sip, I fell in love. WIth a latte. And by the time I had tipped the cup downward to get the very last bit of foam in my mouth--because the foam is always my favorite part of a hot beverage! Yum!--, I had made the decision to make every other encounter the rest of the day just as amazing and embraceful (that isn't even a real word, but oh well) as that latte had been. Even as I opened the pages to my Art History reading after the latte was finished, and the booming, fluctuating beats of the music were echoing throughout Parnassus, decorated with the laughs and exclamations of customers and baristas, I felt like I was still in heaven. ;) Have a latte-full day! ~~MC |
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