It’s already June 1st! It’s almost Friday even! Where has the time gone? All I know is I feel that I have not done much this week but at the same time I’ve done way too much. As I took a break from going into my internship office this week, I was fortunate enough to work a bit from home a.k.a go to coffee shops. I was scheduled fewer hours at my downtown job as well which meant more time for yoga, workouts and enjoying this lovely Chicago weather.

The temperatures went from about 40º and raining this past weekend to lower 70ºs, sunny and breezy. I wore a flippin’ scarf to work last weekend and then last night a dress! Sometimes I am utterly confused by not only Chicago’s weather but how extreme global warming is getting. Fingers crossed it stays hotter for the rest of this summer!

Because the weather has turned around, I have spent the last few days in Edgewater, Andersonville, Lincoln Park and Old Town. Exploring the unique neighborhoods and trying to be more aware of my surroundings, along with enjoying the time I have here this summer. Exactly a week from today I venture off back home to Cleveland and I could not be more excited to see family, my three best friends and all of the amazing shops and restaurants I used to stop at last summer.

Until then, I have many things to complete before next Thursday’s long 6 hour bus trip (how thrilling). I have businesses to contact, ClassPass classes to be booked and taken and acai bowls to be made! All in a week’s time.

Since I haven’t blogged in a bit I’ve been using my mom as my outlet to rant to. I have been telling her every little detail going on in my life and at this point, although she won’t fully admit to it, I think she’s a bit over it. I don’t blame her.

After I called her this morning telling her about this and that, she sent me a text telling me how I talk too much! Ha, of course. I took this as a notion I should rant all of my thoughts onto my blog, after all that is what blogs are for aren’t they? One of the conversations we had was about this amazing tart I had this morning at Metropolis Coffee Company in Edgewater.

Metropolis is hands down one of my favorite coffee shops in the city. Their interior reminds me exactly of my favorite spot in Cleveland: Phoenix Coffee Company, they serve pastries and baked goods from their own kitchen along with local bakeries and they serve fair trade and organic teas and coffees. All things I am completely obsessed with, naturally.

Thanks to the handy dandy PopularPays app on my phone, I am able to receive Metropolis’ weekly pairing (coffee or tea with a house made pastry) for FREE! As long as I take a photo of it, show it off on Instagram and tag it, I get to receive this goodie once a month. I’ve done it ever since last winter about 4 or 5  times. However, every time I’ve always given my pastry to a friend. I guess you could say it’s partly because I don’t like sweets and partly because coffee shop baked goods can tend to give me food anxieties.

The last time I ate a pastry from a coffee shop was last summer and it was a vegan scone. As I’m always trying to break out of my rigid way of eating and not always restricting “unhealthy” foods, I decided after I took the usual bajillion photos of the pairing that I would eat the dang pastry. This takes a lot of guts for me to say but I had to turn my brain off for a minute and just say to myself, enjoy this pastry and the moment you have in peace at this beautiful coffee shop. You’re not eating a whole apple tart but rather a little slice of heaven.

Enjoy the moment, find balance and sip your tea. Enjoy the summer, enjoy the day, enjoy these things in life while you can.

And you know what? I’m glad I had that apple pecan tart! It was not overly filling, did not leave me feeling guilty and was not overly sweet – what I love about fruity desserts rather than chocolate ones.

Going off of treating myself to a delicious little slice of apple pecan heaven, this past week Luna and Larry’s sent me coupons to try their delicious Coconut Bliss dairy-free ice creams. I decided to buy myself a pint of their Mocha Maca Crunch. Ever since I was little I’ve been a huge fan of coffee ice cream. Anyone remember Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Buzz, Buzz, Buzz? My uncle and mom taught me to love that flavor right when a Ben and Jerry’s first popped up in my childhood neighborhood.

If you’ve tried that – you will LOVE this. Little pieces of cacao nibs are spread throughout a creamy and delicious coconut milk-based ice cream blended with agave syrup, maca and fair trade coffee. All ingredients are organic and I’ve got to let you know there are only 7 ingredients in the whole pint! You can’t find just 7 ingredients in Ben and Jerry’s that’s for sure.

Coconut Bliss is refreshing and a perfect summer treat. With organic, dairy-free and fresh ingredients, a bowl of this makes for the best after dinner go-to. A good incentive for not eating the whole pint in two days is telling yourself you need to make a recipe with it! 🙂 So far I’ve been thinking of a maca mocha milkshake? Adding frozen bananas? What do you all think?!

If you’re interested in purchasing Coconut Bliss, find which stores near you carry it here.

Since this post is all about treating yourself and finding balance, to me it is more than saying yes to ice cream or pastries at a coffee shop, it is also when to say yes to buying food out OR cooking it in your own kitchen. Today, for example, I was contemplating buying Chipotle for a good hour. This is often what I do when I’m tempted by food (specifically the hot bar at Whole Foods, who’s with me?). As I walked right past Chipotle on my way home from Metropolis, I remembered I had bought an Amy’s burrito the other day.

I saw on Instagram they had just came out with a brand new black bean and quinoa burrito and since I’m a huge fan of their other gluten and dairy-free burritos, I had to splurge the $3 and get one! So instead of buying Chipotle, I had a burrito with a side salad. Fresh salsa and avocado slices do the trick. Followed by a dollop of Siggi’s plain yogurt acting as my sour cream. Always the perfect topping!

I love Amy’s products and usually get her burritos from time to time, on occasion. They’re the perfect meal when you’re coming home late from work or in the need of a Mexican fix quick and don’t feel like heading to Chipotle or anywhere else more pricey for that matter. Most of her products are lower in sodium and contain all non-GMO, organic ingredients so they’re nice options to have around.

This one had swiss chard, quinoa, black beans, bell peppers and even my latest favorite ingredient – organic garbanzo bean flour! So so good let me tell ya. 

This week and past weekend more than usual I have been treating myself to desserts and quick meals. Last night for example I had cereal for dinner, the night before that I had an amazing salmon burger with avocado toast and then topped off the night with some Coconut Bliss for dessert.

Today I microwaved myself a frozen burrito and had a pastry from a coffee shop because WHY NOT!? Life is all about balance and if we don’t treat ourselves every now and then, we are bound to reach our limit and binge on every sweet or packaged item we see. I love eating healthy kale salads and veggie burgers containing minimal ingredients but sometimes, like every other person, I like to mix my constant spin, barre and yoga classes and healthy eats with a scoop of ice cream or bowl of pasta. I, just like every other person on this planet, is human and craves normal indulgences every now and then!

Don’t forget, life is beautiful and that life includes all of the gorgeous local, hand baked, hand prepared pastries, coffees, drinks in this beautiful city… even the weather (most of the time). They’re here for a reason so we got to enjoy them while we can!

Now go enjoy your Thursday and have a scoop of ice cream (or two!)

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-Addie