have a lovely weekend :)

image via frkncngz.com

ps. i've recently become aware of toffee nut skim lattes from starbucks.

Why I Choose Coffee Over Water

During the week, I hate to say that it's quite possible I consume more coffee in a day than I do water. I wake up, get ready for work, pour myself a coffee, and quite possibly buy myself another coffee as soon as I get to the office. And some days, like today, a pot of coffee is readily available in the office. My eco friendly reusable coffee mug doesn't help the cause. Nor do my busy nights and weekends.

Yesterday, for example, my friends and I went to a free concert in Central Park. Taking the train to the city can be quite the trek, and it was super hot out yesterday. So once we got to Summerstage to see Victor Deme, Trevor Hall, and Jimmy Cliff, we mostly just layed down on the tapestries we brought along and drank wine that comes in a carton (Bandit- awesome) and bottles of water.

We may or may not have also attempted to use free beach balls as pillows...somewhat unsuccessfully.


By the end of the day we were all tired and sweaty, but we came back with a favorite new song:
Deen Wolo Mousso by Victor Deme.
We have no idea what the lyrics mean but we love them.

Coffee and Art Supplies

Few things please me more than a delicious latte accompanied by an art supply shopping spree.

But throw in a 1 day only, 40% off coupon to Blick Art Supply and I might as well be soaring through the clouds. Very few things make me feel so satisfied. I bought 55 dollars worth of art supplies, and only had to pay 32! And not only that, but they validated my parking so it was free for the first hour! So I got free parking. In Boston. Never happens.

It was all just a wonderful sequence of events.

I am now caffeinated and ready to get my creative juices flowing! Yay!

Our next assignment for art class is to construct a box 18x24x16, with a lid, out of cardboard and tape. Therefore I had to scrounge around in the recycling room for some people's leftover boxes and such. The security guard walked down just as I was walking out with a huge box and seemed rather confused as to why I was actually removing garbage from the garbage room.

I am so happy I decided to take this drawing class. Everything about it is amusing, even the ridiculous things I have to do, like taking other people's garbage.

Reading

I've been waiting for this sort of day for months.

Laying in bed, drinking cup after cup of coffee, reading a book on my kindle.

Right now I'm reading the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol.

It's moving pretty slowly right now, I am a little more than a third of the way through and hoping it'll pick up soon.

I'm kind of excited to finish and move on to the next book, which will probably be the new Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. After that, who knows!

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Having a kindle is great, but there really is something special about holding a book in your hands, turning the pages, underlining your favorite lines to go back to later, and then lending your favorite books to your friends. Also, one of my favorite things to have happen is to have someone say, "I love this book, I think you will,too," and then they lend you theirs, with the worn in pages and bent spine. As much as I love a new book, it's somehow more special when it's already been read and experienced. There's something magical about it. But of course, kindles are so convenient and the books are often cheaper and you can have like a thousand books with you at a time, pretty excellent for vacations. Yet, I don't really think it would be a good idea to bring a kindle on a beach.

I just hope that the same thing doesn't happen to the book industry that happened to the record industry. It's a legitimate worry of mine.

There's something so beautiful about a stack of books.

And I love bookshops, and when I grow up, I want a humungous library.

I'll stop being a booknerd now and go back to my reading.

(images found on booklover.tumblr.com)

This Week is a Mess.

So many awful, stressful things have been happening the past couple of days.
I am physically and emotionally and mentally exhausted.
Because of this, I remembered something I wrote about in a previous post.
Remember to do something good for yourself at least once a day.
Today, I made grocery shopping a priority over homework, because I have been scrounging in my cabinets for the last bit of decent food for the past few days.
I also had time to pick up one of those new Caramel Brulee lattes from Starbucks.

Then tomorrow, I have scheduled a massage!
Oh, how I need it.
I have the back of an 85 year old woman right now from being hunched over studying a majority of my waking hours.
Thanksgiving, where are you???

(photo found via Tumblr).

eco friendly coffee cozies

I just bought this super cute coffee cozy off of etsy.com

waysideviolet makes a bunch of different ones. I think they're a great idea if you are an avid coffee drinker like myself. I use a coffee sleeve every day in the fall and winter on my daily, sometimes more than daily, starbucks trips around campus. I could save a lot of paper this way. I bought a pink one too to save for someone as a gift.

Justifying my deceptively healthy habit!

SELF magazine online posted this article that not only justifies having a coffee habit, but also whole-heartedly supports and encourages one!

in fact, it even says that my one daily cup isn't even enough! they say that even four cups is alright and actually good for you since it dramatically decreases your chance of getting many unpleasant diseases.

also, apparently its a good thing to drink coffee before exercising. it helps you work out longer and with more energy. i'd heard that before but wasn't sure how true it was. the key is to wait at least an hour after drinking the coffee to work out, or else you get those painful stomach cramps.

the only thing there is to worry about is drinking way too much, or drinking it late at night. what the article also stresses is the importance of paying attention to what you put in your coffee. If you put a lot of sugar and milk you are adding lots of extra unhealthy calories.

anyway, I LOVE COFFEE!