B2 Coffee Shop + Why I Drink Decaf Coffee

Loft shirt // Target DIY shorts (love these) // Tory Burch espadrilles // J.Crew hat // Daniel Wellington watch // Clare Vivier clutch // Wanderlust and Co pretzel and screw ring // Brooklyn Designs necklace

For those of you who live in the area, have you been to Bellano 2 Coffee Shop in San Pedro Square Market? It’s one of the coolest coffee shops I’ve been to. I love the large space, industrial decor, and all the great light. It shares it’s space with Garage Bar, which I mean, alcohol and coffee, talk about killing two birds with one stone. Anytime Natalie and I are in the area, we make sure to stop in. Market lights while drinking a latte, I’m so not mad at that.

I’ve been drinking coffee for as long as I can remember. Both my parents drank it while growing up, so I was always eager to take a sip of theirs or try to create my own blended coffee drinks at home. Once I was old enough to enjoy the taste, I became a Gold member at Starbucks and haven’t looked back (yes, I favor Starbucks. Not necessarily for the coffee, but to me, they have the best soy milk). Coffee has become a part of my everyday routine. Something I truly enjoy every morning. I don’t drink anything fancy. If it’s not coffee with soy milk at Starbucks, it’s simple and black.

Last October while playing around with Lola on my chest I felt pain in my right breast. I didn’t think anything of it (we’ve all had pain there when it’s that time of the month). Weeks later the pain was still there, so I started to feel around. There was a huge lump that was ball-like and hurt like hell. I was frightened, but kept the information to myself. After a month had gone by and nothing had changed, I began to panic. Everything you could imagine crossed my mind. I just got engaged and I was about to begin the happiest time of my life and now I have breast cancer. I’m too young. Can this really be happening? I tried my best to be present and not let my mind wander until I saw a doctor, but, man, I was SCARED.

Because there could be many non-cancerous reasons you have lumps in your breast, the process of seeing a specialist isn’t that easy. You have to be seen by your doctor and then from there, they have to direct you to a specialist. When you have huge lumps in your beast and you’re playing the waiting game, it’s NOT FUN whatsoever. I finally was able to get an ultrasound done and although my test results weren’t back yet, the doc did not think I had cancer. In that moment, I felt a sense of relief. I waited for my results to come back and come to find out, the doc was right, there was nothing they saw that they wanted to take a step further. If I wanted to, I could have had some of the cells tested with a biopsy, but I didn’t feel it was necessary.

You see, during my first doctor’s visit I asked about eliminating caffeine from my diet because I heard they could cause cysts in the breast. The doctor kind of shrugged off my question and said she would never tell her patients to eliminate caffeine because she’s a coffee drinker herself. Being pretty anti-modern medicine, I decided to go with my gut and stop drinking coffee. I began drinking decaf coffee and tea and slowly but surely I noticed the lumps disappear. So yeah, when the results came back negative, I didn’t feel the need to go through with a biopsy.

Photos by Natalie Dressed

This all sounds crazy, right? While I’m SO extremely grateful the results came back negative and it was a simple change in my diet, this is just another instance where I shake my head at modern medicine and the people handing out drugs like it’s no big deal. Ever since going vegan and changing my lifestyle (nearly 9 years ago), I’ve been really in tune with my body and how it functions. So, when my gut said cut the caffeine, I had to give it a try, before anything else. The moral of the story, always listen to your body and trust your gut no matter what anyone else says. The doctors don’t always know your body best AND you can end up saving a whole-lot-a money in the process.

As for the coffee and caffeine. Do I miss it? Not one bit. I’ve never been one to get high off of caffeine. It really has no affect on me. I could drink a latte right before bed and go straight to sleep. I was never that person who needed their caffeine to start the day. I’ve always had it because it’s apart of my daily routine. I love the smell of it brewing and how it warms you up in the morning. So, I’m perfectly happy with decaf and I still get to continue to morning routine. My new Starbucks order, decaf Americano with an inch of steamed soy.