Important Holiday!!!

Happy National Doughnut (or Donut if you will) Day!!!

I was going to try and finish the posts I had started earlier this week, but realized I need to be sure to give one of my favorite holidays a shout out. Go to your nearest DD and get a free doughnut with purchase of a beverage!!

Coffee that goes CRUNCH

I have been out of coffee for my coffee maker for the last week or so. Being the fiscally responsible woman that I am, I have, of course, begun purchasing iced coffee on my way to work every morning. I can't bring myself to drink black coffee so I usually get a little cream and sugar.

This morning, when I walked over for my morning -- errr late morning/early afternoon -- jump start, I neglected to say "just a little" when quantifying the cream and sugar. Because of this the woman at DD went to town with the add-ins. As I walked out of the store I stuck my straw in the cup and took my first big swig.

Whoooooosh. Not only did I get a mouthful of coffee but along came a substantial amount of sugar. Crunch crunch crunch. Feeling the granules of sugar between my teeth made me flashback into time when I ordered ice coffees (light and sweet) to drink while watching middle school baseball games. It was a nice quick trip down memory lane. I don't have plans going back to that kind of sugar intake, but for the moment it was pretty sweet. (pun intended)

The Jitters Are Real

I definitely go over the 300 point on almost a daily basis. This could be why there are days I just cannot sit still. Maybe, just maybe I will try to cut down on my coffee consumption. I did try earlier this week to cut down my email dependency and failed miserably at that, so I don't see how lowering my caffeine intake after depending on it since I was 15 is really going to happen.

When Life Spoils Your Milk...

Make A Poor Man's Mocha?

This was the beginning of week two of working full time and going to night class from 6-9 EVERY DAY. I am surviving as best I can. Sleep is a luxury. Grocery shopping is nothing but a memory. I opted to stay at my parents' this weekend when I went to pick up my car that has been in their driveway since Christmas, so I wasn't able to get any real cleaning done up here and I have about a four foot tall pile of clothes that need laundered, oye! Sunday night, I decided that I had enough food to survive the upcoming week so I could go without a late night run to the store. This morning, however, I immediately regretted the decision while I made my cup of coffee. Just as my travel mug filled up, I went into the fridge and realized, no milk.

Ugh.

I froze. I had no idea what I was going to do to make the coffee drinkable - I had brewed it strong and drinking it black was simply not an option. I considered the idea of adding extra sugar, but that didn't feel right. Then as I looked up into my food cupboard, I saw the solution to my problem. The hot chocolate powder packets. I quickly grabbed one, dumped half a packet into my mug, and stirred. Yum. I had completely forgotten about this technique and thankfully it really does the trick. Somehow the sweetness of the chocolate powder simultaneously acts as a creamer and sugar, and I am ok with just accepting this as fact. Hopefully I can get some milk this upcoming weekend, but for now, I can deal with this as a temporary solution.

Breaking News

Fire Destroys Topless Coffee Shop in Maine

This is the same bar that I blogged about when High Heels Short Skirt was first born! I was really hoping to go there some day :P

Maybe they will rebuild?

The Turbo Shot should not be taken lightly

Yesterday, I was feeling a little unproductive. I had started the day strong with going to the laundromat and getting breakfast. The landlords were coming to show the apartment at noon, so I even attempted to make my room not look like my wardrobe exploded and get all the clothes put away. (Definitely didn't make the 12 o'clock deadline for that). But everything eventually got into the proper drawers and hung up on hangers -- well minus the pile that is currently on my desk. After this, my day kind of began to stall as I got sucked into watching HP 4 Goblet of Fire on ABCFamily. A couple hours in I realized it was gorgeous out and I needed to go for a walk. There isn't much in my bank account right now for frivolous shopping thanks to first/last and half fee on the new apartment (SOOO EXCITED FOR THAT) so I needed to stroll and try not to tempt myself. I figured I would head down to Harvard Square, make my way up to Davis and turn back home. Nice long route.

I realized quickly that even though I had only just finished my morning coffee, I already needed a pick me up so I stopped at DD and got an iced coffee. They have had that deal for a free turbo shot for a while now and I have yet to try it out. But as my friend pointed out, "the deal may or may not expire on an unknown date" and so I should probably try it out before I would have to pay for that extra jolt.

With the first sip, I knew that the shot was totally worth it. It would help me with the few miles between me and home. Only problem, as I start my stroll up Mass Ave I realize that I have to cut it short! There were some seriously dark clouds forming to the North, which was the direction I had been heading. This means that I had to return after only walking for about an hour and half. Boo.

I returned to the couch with my subletter and watched Bridelizas. Such messed up people. After a few hours of it (yeah I am embarrassed by how much I watched) I went to read and get some sleep.

Freaking turbo shot.

I spend the rest of the night in a very restless state. I think I got a just about 2 hours of sleep before I was awake. I should have known better. Putting it out there, buyer beware, those shots are not to be messed with. I was still jittery this morning at work. But that is more likely due to the fact that I didn't sleep much and immediately hit the coffee when I got to work.

Can't fight an addiction. At least I didn't go get a latte...?

Addiction is contagious

I have been drinking coffee since 7th grade. Clearly, coffee does not stunt your growth. I began my addiction by getting jumbo ice coffees from Bess Eaton. (I believe jumbos were 64 ounces...does that sound right? maybe 32 ounces...I just can't remember)

Well anyway, I started as a fair weather friend to coffee drinking but became an addict once I began working at the beach club. Since I worked the opening shift of 8-4 I always went to grab a coffee on my way in. Then once everyone else arrived I got a second round with our daily coffee run. Nothing like two 32 ounce ice coffees (light and sweet at the time) in the span of a few hours. My daily dose of caffeine has continued ever since. Interestingly enough I did tend to give it up when I was in college mainly because I felt the coffee sucked.

The thing that my family found amusing is that neither of my parents drank the stuff. My father was a tea man and my mother enjoyed her diet coke. A few summers ago, my father began enjoying the occational iced coffee from DD while on vacation. He particularly frequented DD for this treat whenever he was in Florida, but would always go back to his usual lifestyle when returning north.

This Easter I learned that my father has come over to the dark side. He now gets an iced coffee every day on the way to work. No hot coffees for him, as he is a true Rhode Islander. I honestly never thought to get it hot until I moved to Massachusetts. My father has had to deal with my need for coffee for so long. There are times he has gone out of his way to stop at DD because he knows that I just get cranky if I can't get my fix. Well, he too is now in the club. Perhaps we will be making a few more stops from now on.

I am so proud of my dad. I knew it was only a matter time. After all, he was an avid coffee milk drinker. What is coffee milk you ask? Only the BEST drink out there!!!! Thank you autocrat :)

This is why I don't un-subscribe...

ICE COFFEE DAY - APRIL 21ST - 50 CENTS FOR 16 OUNCES!!!

A Gift Before I TakeOff

I got this in my email yesterday? Wednesday? Doesn't matter. The point is you get a doughnut for 49 cents if you get a medium or large coffee!

Who doesn't like a doughnut with their coffee. Sadly the pumpkin one is out of season.

Coffee does the Body Good

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology recently published findings supporting the claim that caffeine may help reduce risks of skin cancer. An article by HealthDay explains that caffeine is able to target cells damaged by UV rays by interrupting a protein called ATR-Chk1 causing the cell to self-destruct. Caffeine does not have an effect on undamaged cells.

But, Nghiem added, people shouldn't increase the amount of coffee or tea they drink to prevent skin cancer. "You are talking a lot of cups for a lot of years for a relatively small effect," he said. "But if you like it, it's another reason to drink it."

Scientists are currently looking to see if a topical caffeine based product would have the same reaction.

All I know is this just shows that it was for our medical benefit that we went on morning coffee runs when I worked at the Beach Club. Those 32 ounce iced coffees were just as important as the 30 spf sunblock that I regularly bathed my arms and face in. I feel like I should send this article around to the coffee places back home, help out business and all. It is a beach town and this would show that maybe we do care about the well being of our tourists :P

Coffee PROS and cons

Last week we learned that those that consume seven or more cups of coffee a day are more likely to hallucinate or hear voices than those that have a more reasonable caffeine intake.

This week, we learned that those that drink at least 3-5 cups are less likely to develop dementia, type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's!




I'm thinking that my morning/afternoon/evening coffee consumption doesn't have a reason to change as of yet...

Coffee and Boobs

As an avid coffee consumer I am amazed to hear that because crude oil has fallen in value "soft commodities" like coffee are predicted to fall as well. If I was driving my car almost to empty, had $3 in my pocket (clearly in this hypothetical situation we are assuming no one takes plastic) and needed my $2 morning cup of coffee, I sure as hell would hope that the half gallon of gas I could afford would get me to my barista and back.

To be honest this post was originally inspired by the article in the Globe this morning that informed readers about the amazing new coffee shop that is opening in Maine.For coffee drinkers who need more than caffeine to get them going, Donald Crabtree thinks he's hit on an eye-opening answer in this small town just north of Augusta.

Crabtree plans to open a topless coffee shop in as soon as a month here, where the biggest excitement has usually been the town picnic during Vassalboro Days each September.

In a long-vacant building that once housed Mac Daddy's Pub at the Fat Cat Grille, Crabtree plans topless service between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 25 tables arranged on a checkerboard floor behind blacked-out windows and a cordon of security. Read more...

I enjoy the woman who threatens her husband with divorce if he picks up a coffee drinking habit. God help that man, hopefully he already is a regular at some strip club. But being the practical minded person that I am, I have to wonder if I could handle working at the topless coffee shop...I mean what if someone ran into me and I spilled on myself. Damn, Gina that would hurt.