Coffee & Honeycomb: starbucks

Showing posts with label starbucks. Show all posts

LIFE LATELY : BABY STEPS

Friday, January 17, 2014

currently :
- Reading "Restless" by Jennie Allen. I'm only on chapter four, but so far? It is an absolute gem. I would recommend it to any senior in high school or college — or anyone in transition. (I plan on doing a separate post on this book later, but if you're feeling eager to check it out, find it here!)
- Applying to jobs... There's really not anything else I'd like to add to this. It's just... going. (Please lift up a prayer for me for God to open doors!)

- Playing Dutch Blitz! Have you heard of it? Think solitaire + speed!
- Watching "Pretty Little Liars."
- Drinking soy iced chai almost everyday. I think I need to find a good recipe to substitute the cash I'm dropping at Starbucks.

baby steps :
What are baby steps? They're like goals—only less intimidating and less measurable. They're baby steps toward permanent lifestyle changes.

- Create a mood board.
- Apply to three new jobs a week.
- Eat turkey bacon and egg whites.
- Visit a new city.
- Keep squatting.
- Read a fiction book.

THROWBACK THURSDAY : SUMMER FEVER

Thursday, September 26, 2013

In lieu of fall, I thought we'd dedicate today's #throwbackthursday to reminiscence on the previous season: summer. (:

Oh summer, what easy and wonderful days you were... Abundant with wedding bells, rooftop lunches, morning train rides, work cocktail hours, lazy Saturdays, foodie adventures, CM munchkins, and tan lines...

IN PHOTOS

Although it has only been a few months, my life looks drastically different now than it did before. My responsibilities are different, my work feels different, and my prayers sound different. Not necessarily good or bad, just different. But you know what they say...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." — Ecclesiastes 3:1

So with that, fall, I welcome you. :) Bring whatever this season may — and may it be more grand, stretching, beautiful, fruitful than the last. May I be more loving, patient, diligent, and faithful than the last. And may God be bigger, realer, clearer, and sweeter than the last. Bring it on, fall.

HELLO MONDAY

Monday, August 12, 2013

Hope your day has been filled with bottomless coffee, fulfilling work, and obedient hair. (:

This is the first Monday in awhile that I didn't wake up early and go to work. In fact, I did quite the opposite — I woke up at 2:30 p.m. and started my day from there (Yikes.) The night before, I attended a farewell BBQ for one of our church friends who was moving back to Korea and got home pretty late. It was a really good time, complete with grilling, sushi, and cake! YUM.

His flight was this morning and he wanted to pull an all-nighter so he could sleep during his 14-hour flight (and aid the jet lag once he arrived,) so after the BBQ started to fade out around 10 p.m., a bunch of us non-working friends went to do Korean karaoke in Niles! It was a blast. If you've never tried karaoke Korean style, I encourage you to put that on the top of your bucket list. They rent out private rooms, ranging in sizes to accommodate your party, decked with a tv screen, tamborines, and microphones so you and your friends can sing your hearts out — without stage fright! They're usually open really late at night (like, 3 a.m.) for the night owls. After we sang three hours worth of Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and FUN., we made our way over to Steak & Shake to grab some late night milkshakes! I ended up coming home when the sun was rising, 6 a.m., and passed out into the late afternoon. (I'm still feeling pretty lethargic.)

When I woke up, I headed over to Starbucks to clear out my inbox and of course, blog. I wanted to share with you guys new arm candy that the bf bought me for an (early) birthday gift! Over the weekend, we decided to go eye shopping at Tiffany's and passed by J.CREW along the way. And of course, I made us peep in. I spotted these colorful, bold bangles there that immediately caught my eye and I fell in love! I thought I'd treat myself to one, so I grabbed the colors that I liked and contemplated which one to get. The bf asked me if I liked all of them and said, "don't choose. Let's get 'em all. Birthday present part one." I, gladly, did not oppose. (What a guy. This is why I keep him around. He keeps me smiling for days.)

Here they are! They are beautiful! Gold on the rim and gold in the inside. That makes me happy. Very Kate Spade-esque, no? Happy early birthday to me! :)

#jcrewproblems

XO.

Pay it forward.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Lately, God has been revealing that there is greater joy in loving others than there is in loving myself. I realize how much time and energy I spend on protecting myself — my image, emotions, reputation, pride, comfort level, etc. And the more time I spend on looking at myself, the less I can see others around me. But if I have faith and believe that my God is a God who protects and provides for me, then there is no need to be worrying about myself at all. Now suddenly I have so much more time to see others, help others, love others...

God said HE IS LOVE. And so if love is the language he understands and embodies, the more I love, the more I understand and know that God, too. Thank you, God, for loving me first, so that I can accept, feel, share, and learn more about love a little bit more each day.

IT'S NOT ABOUT STARBUCKS

Monday, March 11, 2013

I have a thing for Starbucks. (Or have you not noticed?) And as an advertising major, I always stayed comfortable with the reason for that affinity being its excellent advertising. It must be.

And I still do think it kind of totally is. I mean it did completely change coffee culture in America. To not only get people to like the drink in the cup, but be proud for holding that cup in their hand, and creating this habit of staying in the store. It became not only a coffee shop, but a living room, an office space, a hang out. And that's what all brands around the world spend millions and millions of dollars each year trying to achieve. To mean something and be able to express it in words and images and share this idea to the people. And then the hardest part? Be so real that they believe it.

And hey, Starbucks did it. It means something more than caffeine and it has become so interlaced with my own life that I'll drop +$4 on one cup and post a pic on Instagram for the 90th time.

For me, Starbucks is the place where Jesus and I meet and have our best conversations. Lessons learned, healing found, truths exposed. Some small, some big. Both always mattered.

And today, I'm pretending I'm at Starbucks. I'm sitting at my kitchen table -- something I rarely do because my roommate and I are barbarians who like to eat our meals on the couch with feet up and tv on.

But right now I'm sitting here. Headphones plugged in, a cup of coffee in hand, and the Word opened in front of me.

Why? Like I said. This post is not about Starbucks. Not at its core anyway.

It's about Jesus. And how important it is to be taking care of that relationship with him.

In Italy, it's been hard to find that intimacy with Jesus. I stayed in bathrooms, laid in bed, and I told myself it didn't matter the location of my quiet time. Which is entirely true, because one more reason why our God is so great is that he is with us at all times. But the flip side of that same coin is that since we are conditional and physical people, the location of the quiet time CAN matter... If the room is noisy, our ears will listen for people's voices rather than the Lord's. If our bellies are empty or eyelids are heavy, our limited concentration will take us towards dreams of food and sleep, not his Kingdom. Because I am a very conditional and limited person, because I am human, I can't turn my worrisome and anxious heart off with the flip of a switch.

Even though God is with us at all times and we can squeeze in prayers on our walks to school or on the train, He is also our King and not only deserves, but COMMANDS our full attention. And sometimes we can't reach so deep on the train or in the supermarket. Jesus went to the mountain to have his intimate moments — maybe your mountain top is a private room, getting on your knees, prepping with a worship song, lights turned off. Whatever it is, coming back to the heart of worship is absolutely needed.

For me, dates with Jesus at Starbucks worked for us. And today, I woke up and my soul was CRAVING a date with him. And so as silly and stupid as I felt, I put myself in a position where I knew my eyes and ears and heart and mind would be at His fullest attention. So it's not about Starbucks, it's about finding a way to give Him your fullest and undivided attention.

A cup of coffee is just a plus. (;

a short one.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

My posts have been long. Thought I'd spice it up a bit. Keep ya on ya feet.

Fun fact: I'm a huge coffee connoisseur in case you didn't know.
Feel free to send me Starbucks gift card(s). I won't get mad.