I’m sitting on my pink couch, amongst my beautiful Christmas tree and twinkling purple lights over the doorway. I’m finishing something my Nana started knitting fifteen years ago, listening to a lady sing beautiful french words. A sweet kitten is purring beside me and I’m wrapped in a down blanket. My boyfriend is on his way home to take me out on for an Austrian meal to celebrate the first time we ever exchanged a very special “i love you.” It just started snowing and there is a meteor shower tonight. Life is good.

We had a ridiculously perfect day a few Sundays ago. Let me break it down.

• Woke up, munched on banana nut muffins I made the day before
• Caught up on ‘Bored to Death’ from week before
• Took a walk to get coffee
• Headed to Barnes & Noble on 7th ave and picked out so many books my arms hurt. Sat in cafe and read together for an hour. We had $30 gift card from Joe’s Granny for Halloween gift so we got Charles Bukowski “Hollywood” and a three pack of Moleskin pocket pads
• Took long way home and strolled through Prospect Park
• Decided to take a Yoga class together at the YMCA (then, took it.)
• “Shot around” on the basketball courts, Joe taught me a thing or two about how to actually play basketball (I’m pretty good!) Joe played a quick game with some guys who were admiring his skills and I ran a mile around the track.
• Came home, cooked what turned out to be a yummy dinner of what I like to call “cubbard guts”- translation- whatever you have left in cubbard or fridge that isn’t rotten or totally random.
• After dinner, we cuddled on couch and watched “She’s Out of My League”

Such a fun, relaxing day together. We needed it bad considering most weekends we either have visitors or the weather is lousy. Also, we only spent $5 of our own dollars!

walking down 7th ave 🙂

COFFEE.
Coffee.
coffee.

I think you are harming my body. In the past week I have been getting all Grey’s Anatomy on myself, thinking something little like a hiccup or a backache or a headache is ultimately death. Reason? I have been having crippling 10 second long headaches throughout the work day where I want to lay down and cry. I thought maybe I am allergic to the kitten (who doesn’t come to work with me) or that maybe I have a tumor in my brain (I was already visualizing my own McDreamy diagnosing me) But yesterday Heather, my Mom and Joe all brought it to my attention that it’s probably overload of caffeine. WHAT??! I have to cut back on caffeine? I really drink that much?! Yep. It’s a problem. I do. Throughout my day, I drink coffee. All day. I’m bored, I drink coffee. I’m tired, I drink coffee. I have any sort of task ahead of me, Obviously- I need a coffee. I’m walking or shopping or going to a movie, COFFEE.

I used to hate coffee, swore to my parents as they sat and had their coffee & cigarettes that I would NEVER smoke or drink coffee. Granted, I was seven or eight years old but I thought coffee was bad for you, like a cigarette. I learned in college that it was opposite, it was miracle juice. Woke me up for early morning and kept me up late cramming or finishing a paper I “forgot” to start. I started working in a local cafe when I was 18 and stayed there for four years (enter my world of all you can drink *free* coffee.) Commence addiction. Since then I have worked at six other cafes and probably poured hundreds of thousands cupsa’joe. A solid percentage of that number have obviously been for myself. Working at the cafe I do now, I have torture hours. Tues – Fri 5 am- 2 pm. No break, confined space and lots of stress in those 36 hours per work. I drink cup after cup. If I make espresso and there is a leftover shot, I pour it over ice and splash some milk and chug. It’s unfort. the only way I have been standing at 11 on Friday morning. It’s just so good, especially when you have freedom to make your own drink the way you like it whenever you want. My ideal drink? Four shots of espresso brewed over one pump of chocolate syrup poured over ice, topped with regular iced coffee and then a splash of soy milk. Doesn’t that make your head hurt just reading it? It seriously sort of made me ashamed to type that.

So, today was my first day of cutting back. I originally made myself a small iced coffee with just a splash of milk. I didn’t even get to drink it because we got insane busy and then later a co-worker made me a latte that I didn’t drink and I only had orange juice and water all day! I felt a with drawl headache coming on so I made a small iced latte for myself before I left work today. I haven’t even finished it and I really feel a lot better. I am not crashing and my head feels fine. Aren’t ya’ll so proud of me?