Hi, I’m Lori!
Welcome to my blog, First Find Coffee. I’m a blogger and amateur photographer based in Seattle, Washington. The Pacific Northwest has always been my home, and I’ve loved writing, cooking, and creating since I was very young.
Writing about travel
I started this website in 2016 on a whim before I departed on a 10-day solo trip to London. I had always wanted to travel to London on my own, so I planned the adventure as a gift to myself for my 50th birthday.
At the time I created this website, my plan was to use it as a way to keep my family and friends updated about what I was doing each day. As the trip went on, the process of reflecting at the end of each day in written form helped me connect with myself in an unexpected way.
Describing my experiences—even the everyday task of grocery shopping—gave me the gift of being mindful of the simplicity of life. I engaged with people differently. Today, as I re-read some of my entries, I find keeping this blog helps me remember small details I know I would have forgotten.
There has been a big gap in my solo trips due to unexpected life changes, and of course, travelling during the pandemic was difficult.
I will be resuming solo travel in 2024 and picking up this blog again to reflect and share my travels.
I keep this blog purely for my own enjoyment, but perhaps you or someone else might find my travels interesting or entertaining.
Recipes and wellness
Another section of my site is dedicated to sharing my favorite low carb and ketogenic recipes.
For the past six or seven years, I have been on a health and wellness journey. I dislike the overuse of the word ‘journey‘ when it comes to health, but alas, I couldn’t think of a more fitting word.
Journeys are not always linear, and this is absolutely true for me. I have continued to tweak, experiment, and adjust the type of low carb eating I practice and am always curious to refine what works best for me.
Overall, I don’t like being dogmatic about diet. Healing from health issues naturally without medication has been the driver and inspiration for adopting this way of eating, not weight loss.
Six years ago I reversed prediabetes, lost 75 lbs, and improved symptoms of depression simply by following a whole-food based ketogenic diet. I removed all types of sugar and carbohydrates from my food choices and also practiced intermittent fasting.
I do have more weight I would like to lose, but I am dedicated to keeping processed foods and sugars out of my diet purely for health prevention. Following this lifestyle has helped me improve the quality of my life in so many ways, and I stick with it (sometimes imperfectly) as a preventative for developing other chronic, metabolic-related health issues as I age.
Always a planner, and lover of coffee and tea
Yes, I do love coffee enough to focus the name of my blog on coffee. I also love tea. And another fact about me, I am also an obsessive planner when I travel. Planning usually involves selecting where I might stay based on its proximity to coffee shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and public transportation. I always consult Google Maps to make sure these things are within walking distance from where I’m staying prior to making my reservations.
In my everyday life when I’m not traveling, you’ll find me cooking and creating low carb recipes, enjoying documentaries, film and television, listening to Audible books, taking photos, and sharing life events and random things on Instagram once in a while.
And, even if you are not a coffee lover like me, I hope you will enjoy reading about my travels and other musings.