Category Archives: Caffeine

A Rose By Any Other Name (Guest Post)

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We’ve all been there. Standing in line, either scanning the menu boards to decide what we want or already with “the usual” in mind, waiting to inch up to the cash register and step into the spotlight. Only it doesn’t come when you place your order; it comes when the cashier asks, “Can I get your name?”

There are two things you have to hope for at this point. The first is that your answer won’t be drowned out or distorted by some noise in the background, like a blender roaring to life or a small child knocking something over with a crash. The second is that your parents gave you a name that isn’t about to get mangled.

Some people can walk into Starbucks and walk out again with their actual name spelled correctly in sharpie on the side of their cup. Whenever I’ve said my name is Carol, I’ve been among those people.

My name isn’t Carol. Continue reading →

Coffee Culture on Pinterest (Guest Post)

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Let’s start with the basics. What is Pinterest (the short version)? Pinterest is an online platform for creating vision boards or interest boards. Some people call it a visual bookmarking site. You start by creating a profile on the site. Once the profile is in place, you can create “vision” boards on any subject. Now that you have a board in place, you can start “pinning”! A “pin” can be created from a photo, a graphic or anything visual.

You can pin something to a board by uploading a file from your PC or smart phone. You can also pin something interesting you see on a blog or website to one of your boards. For example, let’s say I’m cruising around the internet and find some great photos of Pluto on the NASA website. I can pin the photos to my Pinterest board called “Planets On The Go” or “Dwarf Planets in Space”. I can call the board anything I want.

The thing that gives Pinterest its social appeal is “re-pinning”. You can follow people on Pinterest and see what they’re pinning to their boards. If you see something interesting, you can “re-pin” it to one of your boards. Of course, others can follow what you pin and re-pin to one of their boards as well.

With anything social, as more join in, cultures and sub-cultures start to form. Pinterest is no different. Pinterest tracks patterns among users as they create boards and add pins to those boards. Before long Pinterest will create categories and sub-categories for a subject as more people pin about it. Pinterest has 70 million users worldwide so new  categories and sub-categories are created daily.

Continue reading →

Monday Musings #12

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A Rant About Starbucks:

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First, please pardon my lack of postings last week. February’s been a tough month, but I think we’re finally getting over the hump. At the same time, I think the last 4 months before a wedding are the worst. So we’ll see how this goes. Especially with the stress of my first dress fitting in 8 weeks. #makemeskinnynowplease

OK. A rant about Starbucks today. I’ve been a pretty loyal fan of their overpriced coffee-type beverages for several years ago. Call me your typical white girl (I did own a pair of Uggs [til the bottom ripped off], and I have an iPhone with monogrammed phone cases), but I’ve never denied my Starbucks habit. I get at least $50+ in gift cards every year to Starbucks.

I secured my gold status in like April last year to stay safe until March 2016. The way their rewards system has been set up is that each purchase gets you 1 star, and (if you’re a Gold member) after you hit 12 stars, you get a free menu item.

Ever since I started to unsuccessfully diet, I stopped drinking their Frappuccinos, mochas, etc. and settled instead for a plain old cup of coffee. Usually the blonde roast, but the Pike Place was fine too.

It was a good set up. After I bought 12 coffees, I would get a free one.

But NOT ANYMORE. Continue reading →

Coffee Shops – My Therapy

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Friday, you got the pleasure of reading a wonderful guest post by Brent Jackson (if you didn’t read it, make sure you do!) about how for him, coffee shops are his second office.

After my mental breakdown on Wednesday (I call it that, but I don’t think it was that bad), I needed to recuperate. On Thursday, I don’t go into work until 2pm, so I stopped in at Starbucks (just a mile from work) and got up to the counter pondering what was going to give me the best start to my workday.

Deb (I seriously love her) was working, and she asked if I wanted my usual – a grande blonde roast, with room for cream. “It’ll have to be a pour over though, is that okay?”

I have no problem with pour overs, I get them all the time! But I wasn’t sure I was feeling the plain coffee thing today though. And I think she could sense my hesitation before I said yes.

She asked if I wanted her to use less coffee grounds or something, and that’s when I told her that I’d had a bad day the day before, and wanted something different. Continue reading →