Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle

Ok... so when I started writing this post it was Thursday, and National Coffee Day, the holiest of all the food holidays - expect for maybe National Donut Day which is filled of holes. Ha! See what I did there?

Anyway, National Coffee Day seemed like the perfect day to share our visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Or at least, it would have been had I finished writing this post on the actual day. Of course, now it's no longer Thursday, so National Coffee Day is sadly a thing of the past, but hey, I'm only a few hours late so let's just pretend!

Today it's National Coffee Day (shh... we're pretending, remember?) so what better day to share our visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle over Summer. I know, I know... a post about a Starbucks store doesn't sound all that interesting, but trust me; this isn't your regular Starbucks. This is swanky Starbucks. The fancy Starbucks. A Starbucks for true lovers of coffee. Scroll through the photos below and you'll see that not only does this Starbucks look nothing like a regular Starbucks, there's something different about the people too. Not a single person is sitting in front of a computer - well, apart from the guy controlling the coffee roasting machine, but we're not counting him. The customers are engaging in conversation. They're taking time to enjoy their coffee. They're watching the roasting and brewing processes. This is not a Starbucks to grab a paper cup of coffee in order to make use of the free wifi for hours - don't get me started on how much that very American practice still drives me crazy. This Starbucks is a destination. Oh, and look at the cups... they're ceramic. They're glass. They're not paper and they don't have names spelled strangely on the side in Sharpie. Of course, they do have paper cups for take out though, but they're fancier paper cups!

Seattle 2014: Pike Place Markets

This time last year we were on vacation in Seattle and Portland. A whole year has passed and I still haven't really written about our trip. I think that's got to be some sort of record on my behalf there!

Ok, so I did actually share a highlight post after our trip and one about the Gum Wall while we were in Seattle, but I have so many more photos I want to share with you guys so I think it's time to get back to it.   A year is long enough, I think!

One place that we visited regularly in Seattle was Pike Place Markets. Our hotel was located close by so the markets were a convenient place to stop by for breakfast, lunch and coffee. Ok, maybe the coffee part wasn't always so convenient given the long queues at the original Starbucks! We couldn't visit Seattle and not go to the original Starbucks even if it did mean standing in a queue for half an hour for our morning latte. Of course, the original Starbucks isn't the only place to get coffee at the markets if you need that caffeine hit without a wait.

My Littlest Mermaid

Lola has recently graduated from the "Mummy & Me" swimming class to the "Big Girl" swimming class. The thought of her taking swimming lessons without me in the pool was a little daunting at first but I knew she was ready for it, her teacher knew she was ready for it, and she knew herself that she was ready for it. In fact, once she discovered that she could float on her back unsupported (if only for a few brief seconds) she told her teacher "I can float on my back. I don't need swimming lessons anymore"!

We had a little break from swimming over Christmas and New Year and a few weeks ago we got back into it with the start of Lola's new lessons.

Lesson 1 wasn't that successful. Lola sat on the steps, water up to her shoulders, crying for half the class. Towards the end of the class she had calmed down and I could tell that she wanted to join in but she was lacking the confidence.

Lesson 2 there was a miraculous turn around. She didn't cry once and she did absolutely everything her teacher asked. Success! She still sat on the steps for most of the class but seeing as she can't yet reach the bottom of the pool with her head above water she'll be sitting there for a while!

Today was Lesson 3. Once again Lola enjoyed her swimming lesson, didn't cry at all (well, not until she hit her head on the hand rail getting out at the end) and did everything her teacher asked. She has so much more confidence than she did only two weeks ago and is really excited about her swimming lessons now.

I took my camera along to Lola's lesson today so I thought I'd share some photos. I must point out that most of the photos were taken from the hallway outside the pool room and the windows aren't the clearest. So apologies for a little blurriness ;)

Ready for the class to start