350 : paris tea

A month ago, while browsing at the Torrance Antique Fair, the bff craved coffee. Luckily there was a little coffee spot, and he ran in while I continued to browse. I wanted some Earl Gray, but was pleasantly surprised when he got me a cup of some super yummy tea. Having no clue what "Paris" tea was (besides some sort of black tea blend) I tore off the little tag on the tea bag and made a mental note to get some.

The super amazing guy that Jeff is, also made a mental note, and bought me some for Christmas. Hooray!

263 : afternoon caffeine fix

With the the heat, long hours, stress and insomnia that seems to be filling my life lately, today was the day it finally caught up with me. When I needed to stop, lay out the blankets on the floor and take a little time out with the 'ster (as in Monster). Unfortunately, this only worked until my phone started ringing (if you're reading this, you're still my favorite client) and the emails (from other amazing clients) came in. Sigh.

Next best thing? Hit up Starbucks across the street for a major caffeine fix. Oh, how I love you, vanilla soy latte...even when it's 85 degrees out.

254 : wine vending machines

Yes, you read that right: vending machines that dispense wine. After a long work day, my first non-related work browse of the internet turned up this gasoline type machine that dispenses wine by the liter. While currently only available in France, reportedly this contraption will soon make its way to the US. But seriously, how good could wine by the masses be?

250 : super cold water

 

I love drinking water (or any drink for that matter) when it's super cold. The office fridge is always set to really low...sometimes too low, and everything inside starts to freeze. But with the weather being so hot lately, there's nothing better than coming back to super cold water after walking the Monster (he even likes it too).

188 : sangria

Today the bestie and I partook in some mid-day sangria with lunch. It was the perfect summer drink during this heat wave we've been having. It reminded me just how much I love me a good glass of the winey fruity goodness...and that I can put some of those bottles of wine in the office to good use making a pitcher....or two :)

If anyone has a good recipe, let me know.

The picture above is from chatN'chow. Their version has peach, nectarine, strawberry, raspberry and orange and sounds super delish. May just have to try this recipe first.

163 : cosmos

At the risk of sounding like a booze-hound, I must say, I love me a good drink. Sipping cosmos over dinner, or a nice conversation can be the perfect way to end a long day. If only that is how I was ending my day today...
 
Image from La Cocina de Inma Lopez

149 : zen tea misto with soy

The perfect way to start a Monday... a Zen (Green) Tea Misto with soy.

106 : tea forte

We're tea drinkers. Monique is a chai kinda girl, and Jen likes green. But even before we drank tea on a regular basis, we had to have Tea Forte. We fell in love in with the packaging years ago, and bought some based more on the way it looked, than the fact that we actually wanted to drink it. It's the designer side of us. The packaging is simple and clean, and the little leaves on the tea bags are just too cute. A happy surprise was to discover their tea isn't too shabby either.

65 : wine tasting

Guess where we went today?

Yup, on what would normally be a Margarita Monday, we partook in wine tasting. The Howell Mountain Wine Tasting was at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA, so it was a win-win; free wine (you know how we like that) and ridiculously nice cars.

Since we're designers, and not hardcore winos (there were 27 wineries, most pouring 2 different types of wine), we had to be a little selective. So we judged which wines to taste based on their label designs and/or the winery's name...(and one which had neither a nice label or name, but simply had a cute boy pouring).

After who knows how many tastes, we came out with two favorites: Cakebread's Cab (the name alone makes us happy) and the Summit Lake Port. Yum!

37 : iced coffee

Another guilty pleasure of ours is hazelnut iced coffee from McDonald's. A week will not pass by without at least one morning where we have a cup on our desks. Don't judge! For some reason, McDonald's has crazy good iced coffee. Hey, there was even the taste test study that said most people preferred McDonald's coffee to Starbucks coffee. For this we would agree.

23 : margarita monday

If it's a Monday night, more than likely we'll be partaking in the awesomeness that is Margarita Monday.

What's not to love? Cheap drinks, half price appetizers, and free veggies. Oh, and the people watching isn't bad either. Like the elderly group who order margaritas and when the waitress isn't looking spike their drinks with tequila they pulled out of their purse? Or the woman who fills her purse full of the free mini chimichungas? Yup. Never a dull moment.

03 : tea lemonade

With literally 3 Starbucks locations within less than a mile of our office, we've had more than our share in the past 2 years (hey... caffeine keeps those creative juices flowing).

Our new current obsession: Iced (Green/Passion) Tea Lemonade. Such a nice break from those chai & vanilla tea lattes.