Busy Budget Foodie: Tilikum Place Café

Wow, it's hard to believe, but I just graduated with my Master's degree!! That's right, you can now call me "Master" Kristina, as I have just wrapped up my last week as a graduate student in English Composition & Rhetoric at the University of Washington. The program was the reason why Stuart and I moved up to Seattle two years ago, and it's seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye. To be honest, it's been a marathon of hard work and I am definitely proud of myself! I had a naive vision of what "going back to school" would be like when I was first accepted -- I pictured leisurely hours spent in coffee shops reading, and the same amount of social time that I had during my college years. However, I was off the ground running from day one when I was hired to teach Public Speaking (never took it myself...) to 45 undergraduates (some who were almost my age!). I rarely studied in coffee shops because that meant you had to buy a coffee, something I felt my meager stipend could not often afford. And of course, I was wracked with worry since I didn't ultimately know what I wanted to do with my degree, and my life. While I still don't know the answers to those big questions, I'm now happily freelancing as an editor for a textbook company, looking forward to moving back to sunny California, and seeing where my life takes me next. Now that I've tackled grad school, I know that I can tackle anything.

Now that my personal life happenings are off my chest, we can get back to the food. Ah yes, the food. Because my parents are here to visit for graduation, and there is a LOT of good food here in Seattle. Today, I want to share what is perhaps my new favorite breakfast/lunch spot in Seattle: Tilikum Place Cafe. It is an adorable little spot near the Space Needle, where they fresh-squeeze their orange juice, work with delicious fresh ingredients, and reasonably price everything. My family and I had a fantastic lunch here, and everyone cleaned the last bite off their plate. I can't wait to go back.