Have you ever taken a day off to just explore and be a tourist in your own city? I think it’s not only important to do that every once in a while to have fun, but I’ve also felt the necessity of doing that more so in the last 6-8 months (when I’ve had to deal with the additional pressure of blogging while maintaining a full-time job). I normally use my vacation days for actual trips, but since my fiancé and I are saving for our wedding and therefore not travelling much this year, I figured I might as well put my vacation days to good use by taking days off here and there, as needed to refresh and de-stress.
Do you like to do things alone? Have you ever gone out to eat by yourself at a restaurant, or gone to the movies by yourself? Have you ever travelled to another city or country alone? For me, the answer to all of those questions is most definitely “yes”. I am a social person, but most people don’t realize that I’m actually an extroverted introvert, and I really love (and many times, prefer) doing things on my own. Have you ever heard of the concept of an extroverted introvert, or do you consider yourself to be one also? It’s something that a lot of people don’t understand, because they think you have to be one or the other. But extroversion/introversion actually lies on a spectrum and there are people (like myself) who are somewhere in the middle and can go one way or the other. If you want to read more about extroverted introverts, I recommend a couple of good articles here and here, which really resonated with me.
So, now that you understand a bit more about my personality, I’ll show you the 10 places I happily gallivanted to alone on my glorious day off in the city!
1. Creeds Coffee Bar, where I picked up the indie coffee passport and got my first stamp.
2. Sorry Coffee Co., where I obviously had to get a picture of the new cup design.
3. Hula Girl Espresso, where I chatted with a lovely barista and snapped this cool picture of the Denial Art wall mural, but did not get to try the butter coffee (yes, it is a thing).
4. Fool Coffee, where I experienced “deconstructed latte art” for the first time (it’s not really a thing – the barista just wasn’t very good at latte art).
5. Bake Shoppe, where I finally got to see the best ANSER: Mysterious Date wall in person, but did not actually eat any of the desserts (I did, however, buy a Drake cookie for my fiancé).
6. Torteria San Cosme, where I got about 1/4 of the way through this giant Cubano torta, and then had to take a doggie bag to go.
7. FIKA Cafe, where I got to witness the infamous and gram-worthy book wall.
8. Early Bird Espresso & Brew Bar, where I had the most delicious cortado, but pricked my finger while styling it (and by this time, had started to feel the effects of too much caffeine).
9. Constantinople Bakery, which has the cutest floor tiles and strong Turkish coffee, but I did not experience either because it was gloomy that day. However, I did go back on another day with a friend, which is when I took this pic.
10. Wilbur Mexicana, where I ended my day and rewarded myself to tacos and a couple glasses of wine, all for a hard day’s work!
By the way, if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen me post many or all of these pictures, which, although all taken in the span of about 5 hours, managed to provide extra content for me for several months!
Besides travel, what are some of the things you like to do with your days off? Have you ever been a tourist alone in your own city? Let me know!
GIRL that’s a lot of coffee and food for one day! although… no such thing as too much coffee amirite? you should check out Clockwork Coffee it’s so cute and shares a space with two other food places if i’m not mistaken. Been there once. That’s a place I definitely feel comfortable being alone lol
Hahaha, so true, Ella! I was definitely maxed out on caffeine by the end. But, it was all worth it for the ‘gram 😉
I have been to Clockwork! They have great coffee! And I want to try Rose City Kitchen, which it’s connected to! Next time you’re at Clockwork, you should introduce yourself to the Manager, Carlton. He’s super friendly.
Dang girl!! Such great spots and kudos to you for being so comfortable alone 🙂 Not a lot of people can do that!
Ps. I’ve been dying to check out Fika and so many other places. Cafe crawl together?!
Gunjan | http://www.songbirdechoes.com
Thanks, Gunjan! Oh, yes – I’m totally down to do a cafe crawl together. Let’s plan something in the upcoming weeks!
Ummmm can I join this coffee crawl you ladies speak of? :))) (insert arm up emoji here)
Sure, Ella! That would be fun!
Hi. Really great read! Thanks for sharing, I can never have too much coffee (good coffee). A nice surrounding always amps the whole coffee/quiet time experience.
I just discovered your blog, you know I’ve always found you fascinating, now I can read about your mini adventures.
P. S Jer and I are always looking for a good Mexian restaurant, thanks again for sharing.
Hey Hardeep! Thanks so much for reading my blog post and checking out my blog!
I can certainly recommend a few Mexican restaurants – Grand Electric, La Carnita, and the Playa Cabana restaurants are all good! Maybe the 4 of us can all go out for Mexican food one day this summer! Speak soon, xoxoxo
Just stopped by again! We would love to go out and possibly visit some of these hot spots.
Especially to make up for missing your engagement 🙂
I really enjoyed catching up on your special day through you pictures … You looked absolutely radiant (as usual)!
xo