Delicious : Ego Tea Flowering Sampler

A little while back, Kim had ordered some free samples from Ego Tea. She snagged a Flowering Tea Sampler, which had three different kinds of green tea blooms: Golden Lotus, Green Tango, and Floral Eclipse. (Their current free sample is a non-blooming Moroccan Mint. It seems like the samples change depending on what's new, but they all look very tasty!)

We both love coffee and tea, so we were really excited about this. Not only is it delicious, but you get a beautiful display while the tea brews! Pretty cool.

The bloom.

The directions tell you to brew for 3-5 minutes, at 165 degrees (F). After heating the water, we dropped the bloom into the pot... and poked it with a chopstick to help speed up the process.
(I don't recommend doing that though, haha.)

Bit by bit, the bloom slowly started to unfold.

Fully open! (Still needs another minute to brew though, which is why the water is so clear.)


The tea was super delicious. The only problem I had with the sample was that we couldn't tell the differences between the blooms, so we were never quite sure which tea we were drinking.
 Luckily, they were all very good!

What's your favorite tea?

Treasure Chest, Ahoy!

Full of possibilities and sparkle. (Also Garu.)

Valentine's Day

Two glasses of tasty wine to mark the occasion. 

Valentine's Day this year (our fourth one together!) was a cozy, cute affair. 

Happy to say we were both feeling the 'let's stay in' vibe, so there was much cuddling.

  (Sweet! Cuddling is at the top of my list of favorite things - though puppies are close behind, reigning supreme at the #2 spot.)

While Isaac cooked dinner, I busted out the candles.

Dinner was quickly destroyed, but I did manage to snag a picture of dessert.

Why hello, delicious chocolate covered strawberries. 

Handmade Valentine's cards were also exchanged. ^-^

 I am not an artist, so you won't be seeing the one I made for him. However, Isaac (for realsies) is an artist, so I don't mind showing off his work, mwaha. <3

(That's a Yumi-chan inspired dragon in the background, ready to pounce. The words might not make sense since I'm not posting the personal bits, but I thought the art was wonderful. This man needs to make another webcomic soon. ) 

 We wrapped up the evening by finishing off the rest of the wine, and watching The Borrower Arrietty.

Naturally, since it was a Miyazaki film, it was awesome. (The plants alone... detail!)

And because we're incapable of not taking silly photos, here's this... 

Hope your celebration of love (for yourself / for someone special / for your pets) was great as well!

Guardians of WiFi

Yoko, Maka, a wandering Jackalope, Chun-Li, and Sakura protect our WiFi from evil-doers.

They also strongly dislike tiered bandwidth.

Adventures : 25th Birthday in SF!

Originally, I had wanted to go to a bass-thumping club for my birthday, as I've never actually been to one. Then I thought about it some more and realized two things : (1.) I had an idealized version of what clubbing would be like in my head; if it didn't live up to what I wanted it to be, I was going to be disappointed. (2.) I really was not prepared for the massive booty shaking, or near proximity to constant grinding (and overall sweatiness) which apparently is the whole point of clubs. (Some random weekend I will go, just to experience it... when I'm better prepared.)

So instead, I asked myself: what do I really like? 

Obvious answer: cupcakes!

So, I tailored the plan for the whole night around an adorable snack. Dessert and coffee first, followed by dinner, then a quick cab ride over to North Beach to spend the rest of the night at an amazing bar. Happy to say that even though I almost got run over by an old, drunken motorcyclist (missed me by two inches), the night went exceedingly well! Though I live just across the bay in Oakland, I don't go into San Francisco near enough. It felt absolutely wonderful to soak up the city atmosphere all night.

Our first stop: American Cupcake (pictured above and below).

Cuteness everywhere.

I was definitely into the pretty lights, but I couldn't be distracted from the cupcakes for long. The pixie stick flavor was mighty tempting, but I opted to go for classic vanilla. Along with a giant, delicious latte, I was one happy camper.

That's right, I eat my tiny cakes with a fork. Classing it up.

Heart-shaped espresso saucers and specialized plates for cupcakes? Yes please.

We sat outside at one of the tall round tables, grateful for the heaters that hung above and kept us toasty. Isaac (who was camera-man for the night, so I have no pictures of him-alas!) and Misa both snagged a mocha cupcake, and Jesse grabbed a carrot cake one.

After that, we made our way down the street to obtain a delicious dinner at Roam Artisan Burgers.

So good.

After we finished our feast, we caught a cab and headed over to Vesuvio's, one of the coolest bars I have ever had the chance to chill in. The place almost felt like a louder, more crowded cousin to Chicago's Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. Awesome woodwork was everywhere, the walls were completely covered with framed art, and the vibe was fun. 

Tasty drinks and good conversation ensued. 

Jesse and Misa being adorable outside the bar.

We considered bar hopping, but the interesting decor and sweet upper balcony at Vesuvio's captured our hearts, (and we managed to obtain an awesome table upstairs, and we would not have found it's equal had we left) so we spent the remainder of the night there. I also saw my first Peachy Puff (SF's original cigarette & candy girl service) as she made her way through the bar scene. Pretty cute. 

All in all, the night was exactly what I had hoped for: a chill evening with good friends, taking a mini (relatively budget friendly) tour around San Francisco after the sun went down.

Desktop Screenshot : February 2012

One of my many dream libraries.

I've been trying to buckle down and focus on writing this month, and so far it's coming along pretty well! 

I've been using this beautiful background to keep me inspired and motivated. 

Books and gorgeous woodwork... they go together so well.

The Cute : Cuddling With Yumi-chan

Isaac's gray cat (Yumi-chan) is our resident furball, and she's consistently adorable. 

If you happen to sit next to her, you can bet she'll find a way to snuggle up.

^-^