Not Your Average Coffee Bar Lift Bridge Coffee

During my latest trip to downtown Tacoma I happened to visit a new coffee bar called Lift Bridge Coffee. It’s set in the beautiful historic Court House Square that’s home to a variety of things from offices to local businesses, to a hipster restaurant (En Rama) , to event spaces the list goes on and on… From the moment I pushed through the revolving doors I felt like I was stepping back in time there are arched framed windows, wood work, ornate radiator heaters and vintage lighting. The coffee bar itself is set facing a massive hallway that it shares with the U.S. Postal service.

Lift Bridge offers a specialty menu that has been uniquely curated around coffee, tea and seasonal kombucha flavors. I had the salted honey latte and it was dee-licious! Overall the vibe is awesome! A nostalgic setting with wonderful coffee and beautiful natural lighting. I highly recommend checking out Lift Bridge Coffee as well as, the many other vendors located in this architectural gem. Honestly, I  never looked forward to going to the post office until now!

Advertisement

Must Read Books📚

The past month of February was super cold, snowy and icy at times here in the northwest so staying in was a must. Amidst trying to not go crazy from cabin fever I reached for some of my favorite books to reread. Each one is wonderfully unique and I wholeheartedly believe would benefit anyone who reads them.

Thrive – by Arianna Huffington

This book is chalked full of wisdom that runs counter culture to the typical American hustle mentality presenting better, more productive ways for people to live their best lives.

• 

If You Feel Too Much – by Jamie Tworkowski

This book is full of powerful true stories. Each time after reading it I feel more connected to humanity and in some ways more hopeful.

Big Magic – by Elizabeth Gilbert

I think everyone in the world is meant to be creative in some way or another and should read this. Our world and lives are better when we live from a place of creative thinking. Honestly, if I would had read this book before going to college I don’t know if I would have actually went.Thought provoking,validating and dare I say magical.

A New Approach

Each year I look forward to the start of a new year I feel like it’s the time when the slate gets wiped clean and possibilities are endless. I’m especially looking forward to this year because the passed year has been one of  the hardest years of my life. I received a major life altering surgery and recently had to have an emergency surgery. My body, mind and spirit have been challenged and pushed more this year than ever. As a result, I’ve decided I’m not going to refer to my goals and resolutions for this new year as such instead, I would prefer to call them mindset changes and habit forming. Classifying them this way seems more approachable and achievable to me. I feel that whenever anybody sets out to accomplish something new it’s at great motivation to have like a mindset, mantra or even a symbol in mind. A vision board might be something to help aid this. I appropriately have chosen to use “rise of the Phoenix.” I think the Phoenix being a mythical bird that rises out of its own ashes and is renewed in freshness and youth aptly portrays where I am (recovering) and where I want to be (thriving).

• 

My mindset and habit forming agenda for this year is focused around thriving in all aspects of life. Personally the biggest obstacle I face is how I use my time. I want to optimize my time by multi-tasking more (i.e. working out while watching Netflix) and eliminate wasted time habits (watching Netflix and not accomplishing anything). I also, want to compartmentalize my time with things that are really important but don’t necessarily take precedent when I’m busy like working out, meal prepping or doing something creative. These things need to be a higher priority for me in my daily life because they feed my mind, body and spirit. I’ve decided to carve out 1hr. – 30 minute daily blocks for these. The mindset and habit forming here is to be consistent no matter how I feel or if I don’t think I have time I’m taking time to move, prep and create. I feel like efficient time management is such a big task and can affect so many aspects of my life positively that I’m not focusing on anything else.

• 

Please comment below about what you’re hoping to accomplish this new year or if you have any tips about what works for you. Let’s support each other!

Feelin’ It 🍎

I just recently started listening to podcasts while I work out and really love these two in particular. Good Company – with Grace Bonney founder of Design Sponge, best-selling author and founder of the Good Company magazine.

The Dave Chang Show – hosted by famous chef/restaurant founder/owner Dave Chang of the Ugly Delicious Netflix series. Both podcasts explore creativity in business while talking about the struggles and success of it all. It’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff which I love.

Jamie Cooks Italy 🇮🇹 – YouTube

 

I’ve watched many cooking shows in my life but I’ve never watched a cooking show that made me salivate the whole entire time! Jaime Oliver and his friend Gennaro explore Italy’s heritage through the richness of its people and their food.

The 90’s are back and I’m excited to revisit some styles from my youth! Bring on the caboodles, scrunchies and big clips! Let’s pretend the butterfly clip phase never happened. I nabbed this caboodle online from ban.do. They have a variety of cute caboodles in a varying sizes and styles. Big clips and scrunchies my recommendations are from Amazon.

 

 

Cafe Allegro – Seattle’s Oldest Espresso Bar

One of my favorite things in the world to do is visit new coffee shops. On a recent  trip to the U-District I visited a cafe that claims to be the oldest espresso bar in Seattle. Cafe Allegro founded in 1975 is a rustic, artsy cafe with college vibes written all over it. It’s entrance is hidden within an alley way. It’s a chill atmosphere where students, locals and art abound. Allegro is also a roastery and imports coffee beans from all over the world they are available in store or online .

My personal approach to visiting a new coffee shop like this is to really try to get a sense of the coffee that is being presented by doing a number of things. I like to approach the barista (if they’re not crazy busy) and ask them what’s their favorite drink and I’ll try that or ask the person ringing me up what’s the cafe’s signature drink/s and order that. Another thing I like to do is strike up a conversation with someone who is a regular and ask them what their favorite thing to order is and why they like it and order that. Lastly, I like to order at least two different drinks. By doing this you can usually gage the quality of the coffee overall and hopefully get to experience a variation of types of coffee and flavor profiles.

If you’re interested in historical coffee sites, coffee or just want to hang in a chill environment and be served by friendly people this is the place to go.

Located @

4214 University Way NE (Entrance is in the alley) Seattle, Wa 98105