Skipping....though the mud. Ouch.

Tonight: the MudSkipper. A warm espresso drink, the MudSkipper is a mocha drink with hazelnut and whipped cream [always, always, always fantastic. at least for me. love it.] Tastes great. However....I may or may not be up the entire night. My mistake.

The MudSkipper is great if you're looking for a simple coffee, nothing terribly sugary [my caffeine addicted friend chastises me for putting creamer in my coffee or ordering the tasty drinks at Starbucks. If I'm paying that much for coffee, it's gonna be something I couldn't have made at home. She also drinks close to 20 cups of coffee a day.]

I'm sitting at the MudHouse at the moment, incredibly happy that every other song is Ingrid Michealson. Still a fantastic atmosphere, which is made even better by this AWESOME lamp next to me. I love lamp.

Closer to home....

I wasn't able to get to any coffee houses this week, so I decided to make some suggestions for your morning coffee at home :)

My current favorite is Starbuck's Ground Espresso Blend coffee, sold at grocery stores for between $7 and $9, depending on the store. I add in just a little bit of CoffeeMate Hazelnut creamer, sold for around $4, also depending on store, and it's a tasty start to the day.

I've also become addicted to Starbuck's Italian Roast Ground coffee, sold for the same price as the Espresso Blend. Add some CoffeeMate caramel creamer and pair it up with a blueberry bagel, and it's perfection.

Both of these are bold blend, so they aren't for the faint of heart coffee drinkers. Definately something to build up to, especially if you drink coffee only for the caffeine while hating the taste. Pick out your favorite creamer, CoffeeMate's International blends are also amazing, and start out your day!!

Who is this....Picasso? He'll never make it anywhere with those...finger paintings.

Another Rendezvous week for me. This week I tried the Picasso, which is a coffee made with almond and honey. It was pretty good...nothing memorable, but it tasted nice :) I had it warm, with tons of whipped cream [is it really okay to turn down whipped cream? I'm pretty sure it is NOT.] It's not terribly sweet, which is nice, and it's a great way to warm up in this crazy warm/cold March Missouri weather.

On another note...I just finished the book "The Road to Eden's Ridge." If you're looking for a good book to sit down, drink some artsy coffee, and read, this is a good option. And it had a great review from Willie Nelson [alot of the reason I bought the book.......]

So pick up a nice coffee of the arts, grab your favorite book [or tv show.....] and have a great week!!

Faces of Norman Rockwell....

I went to Rendezvous for the first time this week.....twice. The twenty-four hour coffee shop idea really appeals to me, although alot of the times it's hard to find a seat, and not the greatest environment for homework or really hanging out, since it's so busy. But I'm not going to knock the place for being so popular. I actually randomly ran into an old friend from high school there, which was nothing but AWESOME.

Rendezvous has their section of coffee's called 'the arts,' which are named for, well, artists. I decided on the Rockwell, which is a candy apple latte. I thought it sounded weird, and this coffee thing is a growing experience/reason to buy ALOT of coffee all the time (I'm pretty darn caffeinated these days...phew!) I had the Rockwell both warm and frapped [remember I went twice in three days...we had two hour rehearsals three days in a row for the Verdi Requiem and Kellie and I needed a bit of a pick-me-up. Enter Rockwell and Monet.] It's pretty good both hot and cold, although I preferred the frapped Rockwell, but I lean more towards cold drinks anyway, since I've burned myself entirely too many times for a 20 year old. It's sweet, but not terribly. I actually drank it while eating Rendezvous' spinach dip, which is also incredibly good. It wasn't a big enough portion of dip for us, but...we tend to have that problem anyway, so it was probably just the healthy serving :) Kellie had the Monet, which is caramel and mocha, also fantastic. I believe hers was also frapped...I can't exactly remember. Either way, it probably tasted fantastic.

On a home coffee note, I'm currently addicted to the Starbuck's Espresso Blend coffee...add in a tiny bit of hazelnut creamer, and you've got yourself a day.

Rendezvous is located downtown at 320 Park Central W, Springfield, MO 65806.

Merry Berry Mocha White Christmas

So, this week...I visited the one and only Potter's House. I hadn't ever been there before, so that was a good experience. It's a great atmosphere for the serious conversation that the girls and I would up randomly having...

Anyway, on my visit to PoHo, I decided to try the Berry White Mocha. Frozen. Awesome. It's sweet, but not too much for a sweets hater [at least not in my sweets loving mind....] However...if you've eaten a bigger size meal [like the taco bar...] you might want to pace yourself. It's a filling coffee. Very filling. I felt like it was after Thanksgiving dinner. With coffee. And without pumpkin pie [though Lord knows I had enough whipped cream. no complaints.]

Conclusion: Another great success. I'd definatly recommend PoHo's Berry White Mocha. Frozen or hot. Just pace yourself.

Also.....I fixed my comments! Much thanks to Amanda....it turns out the two hours [literally...] that I spent Friday night could be solved by a simple setting on the comments page. Who knew?