Scenes From A Cafe
March 30th, 2011 § 3 Comments
Percolater Preferences
February 2nd, 2011 § 7 Comments
Day Thirty-Three: Feb. 2, 2011
In case you’re wondering, there will never be a shortage of snaps depicting my love for coffee on this site. Perhaps it’s my calling to travel the world seeking out the most beautiful cup? Let’s start right here in my own home where I concocted this beauty and saved myself $5.12 and a trip to the ‘Bucks.
You all know I am a crazed Peppermint Mocha fan. I also like vanilla iced coffees from Starbucks, but it has to be half milk so it’s not too strong. I try not to be “that girl” when ordering my drink, but sometimes I just can’t help it. There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you like, right? And, I mean, I am a devoted drinker. You’re talking to the girl who used to drop a big Benjamin Franklin in there on the monthly.
Please give me validation.
Today’s post brought to you by our sponsor Cailyn and Brian.
Warmth
January 12th, 2011 § 5 Comments
Day Twelve: Jan. 12, 2011
Thanks to my Mum’s aerolatte, this was the closest I got to wrapping my hands around a warm coffee yesterday – a simple pleasure I often dream of doing while walking in New York. I’m feeling better about our decision as the weather is not improving there, but it still stung a little to make so many cancellation calls.
I’m going for round two this morning, crossing all fingers and toes, throwing up the hundred-and-I-lost-count prayer as I drive to the airport this morning. Hope to see you all from Pittsburgh!
Help me, help myself
October 29th, 2009 § 5 Comments
So let’s just get something out on the table: I have somewhat of an addictive personality. I can get slightly obsessed overly quick. Over the past few years, it’s ranged from many things – most of them not exactly what you’d call the best habits. There was a time I smoked. Not like a chimney, mind you, but I still did. I turned to it when I drank. I turned to it when I was stressed. Bored. When I wanted to fit in. Stand out. Trust me, I always found a reason. I am proud to say that is a part of my past for once and all now. It’s a hard habit to kick, and it’s hard to admit publicly to some people who I know will be disappointed. But, it’s over and the moral of telling that is to prove the point of my addictive personality.
When I stopped smoking prior to “once and for all,” I picked up shopping. Having lived by the mecca of shopping malls in King of Prussia, this was bad. I got myself and my best friend Chase Visa in a lot of trouble there. When I moved back to Pittsburgh, the shopping eased up a little, but my old habit came back. Once I kicked it again (“once and for all”), I found the best new addiction: running. Now, when stress hits me, I want to run, not smoke.
I’ll admit, in the middle of my training for the 5K, I took a drag of a friend’s cigarette (I don’t know what I was thinking) and I coughed like a 15-year-old trying it for the first time. Do you know what that means? VICTORY!
So, what other addictions has The Twenty-Fifth Year faced? Well, in the years leading up to this pivotal one, a big one was coffee. Starbucks coffee to be exact.
Now, I know this java isn’t the mecca of all that is good in coffee land. It’s a bit bitter. Burnt, some say. But it’s EVERYWHERE. It’s convenient. And it’s expensive. I know what you’re thinking, “Duh! It’s like 4 bucks!” Yeah, I know. Because I spent that every day for months on end in Philly. It became a part of my morning routine. Get off the train, grab a latte from the super cute barista who always remembered me and was so, so happy at 8 a.m. (probably an evil ploy to get 20-something female return customers like myself) and get on with my day. THEN one day I figured out I was giving 100 big ones to Starbucks a month! And that’s when I decided the addiction had to end. I invested in some store-bought creamer and called it a day.
My garbage can at work in Philly? Maybe..
When I started my current job, I started to get sucked back into the Starbucks Black Hole. I mean there’s one in the building I work in AND outside. Cmon, two within a few hundred yards Starbucks people? Did I mention I work in the BOONIES? We were always making SB runs, and then I looked at my checkbook and saw too many java deductions. Back to the home-brewed I go.
Now, I save Starbucks as a special occasion and usually get it once a week. Maybe when I am running late, or need a little perk, or when I look at my checkbook and feel I deserve a reward 
And now, with the holiday season around the corner, I know I will tempted by SB’s Peppermint Mocha – aka the stuff I live for the other 10 months of the year.
But never fear bank account – I have refuge!
It’s like the people at Coffee Mate heard my desperate cries of a need for intervention! When I saw this at my grocery store, I freaked. Like I-just-won-$5,000-a-week-for-life-on-this-scratch-off-lottery-ticket-at-the-dirty 7-Eleven-after-the-worst-day-of-my-life-freak-out. I immediately bought seventeen two. This is literally liquid crack. I checked it out and these suckers expire in March 2010 (gross?) so I plan to stock up in December. If $3 a bottle can save me $300 then I am all in.
What are your addictions? How did you stage an intervention with yourself? Do you love Starbucks too??
Good teeth, bad hair
October 22nd, 2009 § 4 Comments
So remember when I told y’all about Operation Beautiful? Well I finally posted my note today!
The initiative behind Operation Beautiful was spurred by Ending Fat Talk and I think it’s just amazing. I posted this at the dentist’s office this morning. Don’t worry I was only there for a cleaning (thank goodness!) but having battled what I did, I know that many days I left that place not feeling too great. This office has over 1,000 patients and it’s a unisex bathroom so I hope it makes at least one person’s day!
After my speedy appointment I came home to enjoy the beautiful weather we’re having. Look what came in the mail today!
I received a subscription to this magazine for my birthday from my dear cousin Michael and I was pumped to see not one but two of them came today!! Oh, and that’s my amazing table my Mum and I made with a bunch of my old newspaper clips decoupaged onto it. Love it.
Naturally I enjoyed the first one right away..
I literally had to keep leaves from falling into my coffee – but I wouldn’t change this weather for anything! (And yes, I am never without that phone – they don’t call them ‘Crackberrys’ for nothing!)
Among all the awesome articles in here – I think it’s my new favorite magazine – one titled, “Mane Street USA” caught my attention. It talked about how bad hair days can actually be chalked up to the city you live in and its environment, weather conditions, etc. Guess what the number three city for worst hair is? Pittsburgh, PA. Here I thought living in D.C. and Baltimore gave me the worst hair days! Naturally curly hair with an owner who straightens it will not survive that summer humidity. And, hey, aren’t we supposed to be the U.S.’s ‘Most Livable City?’ It can’t be that great if we are all obsessing over our hair!!
Also on the worst on the list ranked by totalbeauty.com: Corpus Christi, TX, Olympia, WA, Las Vegas, NV, and Phoenix, AZ. The best? Honolulu, San Diego, Anchorage and San Francisco. Go figure.
The West Coast may have its perks, but I don’t think anyone wakes up to this..
