Exploring the Bay Area for new coffee shops and finding that warm, cozy niche is my idea of making the most of a wet, wintry weekend. I’m always on the lookout for coffee shops with the right atmosphere — a balance between community tables with enough elbow room, an area to lounge, good coffee and bite-sized snacks, music and the right temperature. That’s not so much to ask for, right?

While the big chains, Starbucks, Peet’s and Philz are at the turn of every block, I’m a big fan of discovering independent coffee houses. There’s something about the warm, wholesome authentic feeling of being at home while sitting at a ‘mom and pop’ coffee shop that just cannot be replicated by the big leagues. But that’s not to say I’ll shy away from the chains, since you know what to expect for the most part.

We ended up making our way to Redwood City to check out the Starbucks Reserve. I’ve heard several good things about Starbucks Reserve — their freshly brewed reserve coffee, limited edition menu, gourmet wine and food selection — and even affogatos (!) on a hidden or soon to be released menu. I helped myself to a Butterscotch Reserve Latte in a hefty black, Reserve mug while picking up a new knitting pattern. Drunken off the creamy whole milk latte, I found myself tightly wound into a cable knitting frenzy as I braided one stitch over the other. This is my first attempt at cable knitting and I have YouTube to thanks for the step-by-step pattern. I’m looking forward to adding more stitches to this ‘brioche’ scarf, then bundling up to it during San Francisco’s cold, wintry season.