General Fashion

Charcoal latte outing

 in General Fashion  tagged outfits / saratoga / spring 2025 by

wearing: multi-color earrings / necklace / mocha sweater (under $50) / suede bucket bag / spring nail polish / black wide leg pants (avl in petite, reg., and tall) / black boots (old, also love this pair) /

There is a popular coffee shop in downtown Saratoga named Sue’s Gallery Cafe. It was featured on “Zip Trips” which is a local TV show that showcases neighborhoods in the Bay Area and surrounding areas. It airs on local channel two, KTVU. I love this show because it features places I have been, as well as places I didn’t know existed. I grew up here and there are still nooks and crannies I’ve never heard of. This TV show is amazing for showing those locations!

So, when Zip Trips came to Saratoga, I knew I had to watch the episode. One of the places they talked about was Sue’s Gallery Cafe. It is a popular coffee shop which is always busy and attracts locals as well as visitors. One of the customers they interviewed was the one and only Ronnie Lott! If you are a football fan, and a niners fan, you know who he is!

Ronnie Lott told Zip Trips he loves Sue’s Gallery Cafe, and he enjoys their Charcoal Latte! So, my husband and I made it a point to try the famous drink. I mean, we are huge football fans, how could we not try Ronnie Lott’s recommendation? The episode aired last summer, so it took us awhile! We tend to make coffee at home, that’s why it took us so long to finally try the Charcoal Latte!

We decided to grab one Charcoal Latte and one Vanilla Latte; my good ‘ol standby order. I have to admit, the thought of Charcoal in my coffee was a little bit scary, but since it’s served and enjoyed by many, it must be edible! So, this felt like an adventure!

OK, without further ado, here is my take. It tastes slightly different than a regular latte. But, if you sipped it without looking at the color, you may not notice it isn’t a regular latte. Since I tend to like vanilla, I am not sure it will be something I order often. Although, my husband did like it, and he ended up drinking it while I drank the Vanilla Latte. Sue’s Gallery Cafe makes incredible coffee anyway, and when I go there, I have always ordered a Vanilla Latte, so I might just stick with my favorite. That being said, the Charcoal Latte was good.

Have you tried this trendy coffee drink? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

BAF Weekly IT List

 in General Fashion  tagged baf weekly it list / spring 2025 / winter 2025 by

BAF Weekly IT List from top left: spring sweater / Dior spring nail polish / Chanel spring nail polish / black belted tote / suede high heel / long sleeve top / suede bucket bag / boxy tote / sneakers / pink earrings / caramel top handle bag /

Do you love all the neutral hues right now as much as I do? There is something fresh about mixed neutrals in shades of mocha. Love!

Also loving all the pops of pale pink, which is supposed to be one of the hottest colors for fall 2025; of course, it is perfect to wear now too! Love that!

These high heels are amazing! If you missed my blog post from last week, these high heels have arch support and are engineered to fit correctly. I find them incredibly comfortable, and can’t wait to invest in more pairs! They have block heels, kitten heels, and more! Love that!

Shop the BAF Weekly IT List online:

Stay tuned for upcoming spring coverage!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

What I wore to jury duty

 in General Fashion  tagged outfits / winter 2025 by

wearing: pink earrings / olive tee / tweed jacket / bucket bag / spring nail polish / wide leg jeans (on sale) / boots / (background is AI generated-read below)

OK, first off, I was called for jury duty and wanted to be comfortable yet professional, so I paired my wide leg jeans with a blazer in order to combine comfort with a bit of structure. I was in the jury pool and ended up not getting called despite having to sit in a courtroom for three days while a jury was picked. This was my outfit from day three, I failed to photograph day one and day two because the weather was so bad.

Second, this is a full disclaimer! It was pouring rain when we snapped this photo, and the background was terrible. I wanted to share my jury duty outfit, but I didn’t like the photo overall, so I decided to play with AI.

In case you haven’t noticed, AI is everywhere. Sometimes I really need to examine a photo online in order to ensure it is real. It can be really difficult to tell! Since I wanted to share this outfit, but wasn’t happy with the background, I reluctantly clicked the “generate background” button and typed in various commands, the results were often humorous.

I tried “city streets,” “courthouse,” “sidewalk,” “path,” “downtown,” and from the often disturbing, dystopian results, I decided to try something a bit more on the simple side. My next run through was “brick wall,” and “plain wall.” These two commands resulted in close to real backgrounds. I cleaned up the background on this white wall and voila! I had a clean enough background to make the picture worthy of sharing.

It does feel weird posting something with an AI generated background, but since I didn’t touch the subject, which was me, I felt like it was ethical to post this photo along with a full disclaimer.

What are your thoughts on AI? Do you think using it to improve a photo is ethical? Is what I did OK?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy