On Cuddling and Coffee

“That arm rest goes up,” the waitress said as she stood in front of us.

Ok, thank you.

“You just push it up to get it out of the way,” she said, rephrasing her words in case I didn’t understand what she meant the first time.

Ok, thanks, I said, nodding my head thinking “I’ve got it.  Swear!”

On the way back, she looked over at us, then the armrest, noting that it was still down, and did it for us, pushing the armrest out of the way so my date and I could sit closer together. Apparently she’s the patron saint of romantic snuggling at the movie theater. I’m sure my date thanks her.

Ladies, I am here to tell you that chivalry is not dead. Gentlemen, thank you for those that continue the tradition. After being married for so long, the days of opening-the-car-for-your-date/significant other stopped, oh, pretty much before that all important walk down the aisle. My date this past weekend, however, opened every single one for me. Well, the ones that he got to first. As much as I love chivalrous gestures, if I get to the door first, I am a-ok with opening it myself. Speaking of opening doors…

Speaking of opening doors … I mentioned that Sarah and I went to Seattle last weekend.  Talk about opening doors!  It was to attend a Starbucks event, their Coffee College.  They do the event once a year (this was the fifth year) and select a very small group of people to go.  We were honored to be amongst the six.  There are tons of stories and pictures and huge information dumps to follow in future posts, but for now, I will share this one.  One of the portions of our trip including a lesson in how the same coffee brewed different ways can yield completely different results.  Some of the results were subtle differences.  Some were completely night and day different.  Ryan, a Starbucks “partner” (what their employees are all called), led this session using their Kenya blend. 

He made the coffee four different ways.  One was with the single cup brewing method, one was with a French Press, the third was a batch brew (from your typical home coffee machine), and the last was on the Clover machine (a machine not available in all the Starbucks).  Consider yourself lucky if your favorite Starbucks stop has it.  It is akin to the Holy Grail.

To say that I went to Seattle a non-coffee drinker would be an understatement.  I am the most shocked of all that I came home a certified coffee drinker.  And I honestly think it was this demonstration that totally did it for me.  My preference out of the four different brewing methods was the single cup version, and I liked it enough that once back in New Jersey, I ordered my very own.  I fell in love with lattes.  And iced coffees.  And what the heck happened to me?  Now I’m having at least one every day.  A destination it only took forty years to arrive at.  The single cup brewing method delivered such a rich, full-bodied flavor, it was hard not to be seduced by it.  I haven’t had a coffee maker in the house since The Ex left, and before then I never used it, drank from it, nor even knew how to operate it.  I now have the single cup brewing thing, coffee beans, filters and a grinder!  But as my date (above) mentioned today when he saw it, it might not be the most practical thing when there is more than one person over who wants coffee.  That might be so, but considering there was no coffee to be had at my house prior to today, I think this is an excellent step in the right direction.

We were also treated to Starbucks’ new Via line. La la love it! It’s already sweeted and perfect for an iced cup of coffee on the go. The team very kindly gave us many packages of Via, and I’m not sharing it with anyone.

Project 365
May 17, 2011, Photo #124

This would be how my day started.

And this would be how it ended. As Sarah helpfully pointed out, at least my shoes are cute!  Apparently I seem to be having a new problem with the last three steps at our house. Three of thirty.  Two weeks ago, I fell down them and walked away with huge black-and-blue marks and scabs that I proudly showed everyone. “Wanna see my legs?” became my new greeting, managing to gross out many children in my path. Sarah was treated to a stream of updated pictures on the progress of my knees. Yesterday I happily noticed that the black and blue marks had nearly faded. Today I replaced it with a sprained ankle. Same damn steps. The kids were already in the car and I was making my way towards it when I fell. I am pretty sure I nearly gave them a heart attack. Poor babies. I managed to drag myself into Madeline’s school, tear-stained face and all, to drop her off and drove right to the ER. Two hours later, I was the proud owner of a sprained ankle, an air cast and crutches. For the next four to six weeks. Awesome! Considering Nick wanted to know what the symptoms of cancer were, what we would do if I had it and if people ever have their heads chopped off and why, I feel very lucky that it is just a sprain. I think someone needs to have a chat with Nick on his bedside manner, because brimming with positivity it is not.