Review of Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room

~ theantelopediaries
Bean Hoppers at the Starbucks Reserve Tasting Room in Seattle, WA.
Bean Hoppers at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, WA.

A few weeks ago my friend and I visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting room in downtown Seattle.  Opened in December 2014, it was Starbuck’s first foray into retail sales of small batches of coffee from around world.  I had put it on my list of places to visit, but with the house-buying/renovation/child-rearing, it fell to the back burner.  When a friend recently suggested we meet for brunch, I suggested we meet there.  Hence, my review.  I was not compensated for this post.  Starbucks probably couldn’t care less about me or my review.  No one knew I was coming.  (Except my friend of course.)

The 15,000 square feet “Reserve,”  whose logo is an “R” with a star above it,  is a place where you can taste “rare and exotic” coffees, as former CEO  and current executive chairman of Starbucks Howard Schultz explains in this promotional video.  As in the video, the place looks more like a bar than a coffee lounge.  If you want the feel of a bar but don’t want to be around alcohol, this is your place. More →

Oh My Gosh! I’m Getting Older.

~ theantelopediaries

I looked in my car’s rearview mirror one afternoon last week and barely recognized myself.  Looking back at me was a woman that indeed looked closer to 50 than 30.  I didn’t want to believe it, but the wrinkles around my eyes conceded the truth.

When I look at the totally of my face in the mirror, I’m not as alarmed.  Perhaps it’s my ego selectively focusing on more shapely areas.  Or maybe the lower half of my face compensates for the upper half.  But in that instant in the rearview mirror, when it was just my eyes looking back at me, the truth was laid bare. More →

Digging and Sawing at Our House

~ theantelopediaries

Since I lost my job in March, I have been compelled to work in our yard, beginning with digging out the blackberry bulbs that I missed last summer.  It seemed like a positive way to deal with the mixed emotions I was feeling.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I know I need to move forward, starting with completing several projects around the house.  If I trust my head, I don’t know much of anything, but in my gut, it felt like an opportune time to get my house in order. More →

The Child I Want vs the Child I Have

~ theantelopediaries

 

Over the past several months my relationship with Polina has really been tested.  I love her more than anything, and that is the truth.  But there have also been times where she has challenged me to my core.  The main culprit is usually sleep.  At 4.5 years, Polina reliably naps 2 hours daily in addition to 10 hours nightly.  Anything less than her daily regimen of 12 hours of sleep per day and it comes out in her behavior.  I love that she naps and gives me time to myself.  I am at heart an introvert and need time by myself to replenish my reserves.  But sometimes this rigid nap schedule can get in the way of my agenda, and when I choose the latter I have no one to blame but myself.

More →