There's something magical about a coffee shop

Have you ever notice how coffee shops have a different atmosphere from any other kind of store or restaurant? And somehow, that atmosphere is magic. It's not too formal and not too casual. It's not too quiet and not too loud. It is somehow a place where diverse people are comfortable. In a good coffee shop, the daintiest woman can get straight espresso and the burliest man can get a toffee latte and no one does a double-take. The savviest coffee shops sell all the beans and gear you need to make everything they make at home but produce a special enough atmosphere that you don't want to. At school I walk the line between teacher and student, which is much finer than I thought as an undergrad. At the school coffee shop I have a great banter with the baristas even though most could be my students. At home I am Mommy and can hardly get anything done (in fact I can't even get dressed or use the bathroom without my son walking in on me). At the Starbucks on my way home, I can have someone else make my food for me and I can sit comfortably, with internet access and get done in 30 minutes without interruption what would take me hours at home with interruptions. I posted as my facebook status about a week ago that a mother with an iPhone could conquer the world, but I was wrong. She has to be at her favorite coffee shop on their wifi to do it!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (in a coffee shop of course)

Where in the World is Indiana Valdez???

Where has Indiana Valdez been?  It has been just over 3 months since a post?  I wish I could say that I've been off adventuring in some rain-forest, exploring new coffees, with no internet access to update, but have tons of coffee adventures to report.  That would be so much more exciting and interesting than the truth.  Life is just so hectic. Between being the mother of a toddler, the wife of someone who works in construction, a graduate student who teaches undergraduate courses, and the child of someone with cancer, life gets so busy.  I was saying to several friends that I wish I could get a clone to do all my work for a week while I live at a day-spa.  Then I could go be Indiana Valdez for more than a few minutes at a time, and really come back refreshed.  Also, the town I live in doesn't have the widest variety of coffee shops that I know of, and I'm sure it gets boring reading about all the different k-cups I've tried (though there are some wonderful new flavors out, like Pumpkin Spice, for the Holiday Season).  So I'm going to try to be better about posting at least once a week so you don't wonder where Indiana Valdez went, but I'm also going to broaden my range and talk about other coffee related things, like books, mugs, etc.