Coffee Klatch

The Little One's BFF text me yesterday and asked me to go out for Pho this weekend.  My friend from South Carolina was coming  to visit me again.  She spent the last two weeks at her sister's.  Her sister and brother in law were driving her over today so I figured we could all go for Pho together.  With the husband as well, the six of us had a wonderful lunch together.  Filling traditional Vietnamese food at Pho So 1 in West Hills.
After we loaded ourselves up with comfort food, we wanted coffee.  Something close to our house was preferred.  We hit up the Corner Bakery in Calabasas and took our coffee outside.  Out of the six of us, four of us ordered the same thing.  The truffle mocha jumped out to us.  They had a truffle hot cocoa that called to the sister and the brother in law got a fruit smoothie.  Our truffle mocha was terrific.  Chocolaty and rich without being too heavy.  No need for whipped cream.
The bakery case called out to me as well.  They had hand pies in two flavors, lemon and blueberry.  I went with the lemon and the husband got a plain croissant.  Turns out my lemon hand pie was a lemon cream hand pie.  Mmmmm.... I was so happy I took advantage of getting something from the case.  Everyone else said they were in a food coma so they passed on any extra treats.  It was hard to see my friend's family head back home.  It's always fun to see them but it's never for long enough. Of course Nugget was happy to see her friends again too.

Bravo, Cafe Ole

Ah man! My vacuum broke again.  It was a loaner from a friend but it started blowing everything out of the side of the canister.  The husband and I, despite my loathing of going to Target on the weekends, headed to Target to pick up a new one.  We splurged and got the pet filter one cause now we will actually need that feature.
When we finished our quick trip to Target, I asked the husband to Google a coffee place in the West Hills area we were already in.  He couldn't find anything in the vicinity but the results yielded a place called Cafe Ole in Calabasas.  "Let's head there and see what's up.  Wait, This is just the tiny shopping center that we usually do our big loads of laundry at".  We've spent a lot of time at this laundromat and had no clue there was a restaurant a few doors down or that there was a coffee shop inside of said restaurant.
We entered the side door under a rather plan looking sign that said, "Santa Fe Cafe".  This was a Mexican food joint.   We were confused.  We ordered some food and headed to the dining room that extended to the store front.  That's where we saw the painted sign in the window for Cafe Ole and to our right was a counter with a woman behind.  She greeted us with a big smile and we looked behind her and saw a really enticing menu.  My eyes locked onto the specials board where I knew right away what I would be ordering.  The woman, now introduced to us as the owner, Jen, told us most of the drinks listed can be made with or without coffee.  When questioned why there was a random counter coffee shop in the middle of a Mexican restaurant, she said she had been there for about four years and there was some sort of family relationship to someone in the restaurant.  She continued by answering that the counter used to be a bar but now is her shop that she has open everyday until 2pm but is hoping to extend those hours soon.  I was dumbfounded that in the year and a half we have been going to this laundromat, we never knew this was here.
I ordered the first thing on the specials menu, Peanut Butter Chocolate iced blended with coffee.  When Jen asked if I wanted to add whipped cream and chocolate drizzle I didn't hesitate to say "Heck yeah!".  She had a little bit left in the blender and poured in into a small cup and gave us the extra.  The husband ordered a Paradise Passion iced tea.  Both were unbelievable delicious.  The husband also ordered a green tea lemonade to go, which was also good.
Our Mexican food was finally ready so we sat and ate and enjoyed a nice chat with Jen.  The food was nothing special but the drinks and the hospitality on the coffee bar side was enough to make me add Cafe Ole to the list of recommended restaurants at work later in the day.
I have so many people I want to bring here.  The Little One loves the Frappes at McDonald's and I know she will find something perfect here.  When my friend in Seattle comes down, I bet she will get the Cherry Chocolate iced blended.  And the menu had so many more things I want to go back and try.  I highly recommend checking this place out.  Ample parking in the back and shaded outside seating.  Check it out.

Amazing!!

It really is just a counter inside a restaurant.

The specials board.

Jen at work on our drinks.  Fast and friendly with lots of choices.  Even a baked goods display (not pictured).

Seattle Roast with My Seattle Friend

I joined my friend, the one in Seattle, over Skype for coffee today. We chose to have the same coffee, Rainy Day Roast, a delicious coffee made in Seattle.  It didn't need much sugar or milk.  So far I've enjoyed most of the coffees from independent roasters in Seattle.  Oddly enough, it wasn't rainy for either of us.  She said it was 70's with humidity and at my place it was 77 but it felt like 92.  That's what the Weather Channel app said.  And it really did feel 92.  I had the fan blowing on me during our chat.  Other then the heat, we had a great chat and her brother and mom hopped into our conversation to say hi too.
My mug was a gift from her mom when she went to Seattle to see where her daughter was moving to.  I love this mug.  Umbrellas line the inside of the cup and a big yellow one is at the bottom.  It has great size and the umbrellas remind me of Mary Poppins.  My friend used the mug she used for last week's chat but had to show me that she found her art figure in the boxes.  He was in the box with one arm reaching out as to be asking to be pulled from the wreckage of the other stuff in the box he was packed in.
My friend had the maintenance guy stop by to look at some stuff around the house and I got an important phone call so our call was cut short but was enjoyable.  I look forward to a chat and coffee with her where I don't have to rush out to work afterward.

California side.

Nugget helped me set up.

Seattle side

The Wonderful World of Disney and Their Partnership with Lackluster Coffee

Unfortunately, today's coffee was an uneventful cup of Starbucks.  I can explain!!
As cast members for Disney, we get discounts on all kinds of things: movie tickets, our park tickets, other theme park tickets, musical and event tickets.  The catch is, you have to pick these kinds of things up at a Team Center.  The closest one to us is located at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.  The Little One wanted to go to an event so we had to head to the studio to get the tickets and figured we could get lunch while there.  We brought along the husband and the Boss.
The Boss, being a cast member as well, noticed someone familiar walking around at the entrance gate.  It was the CEO of the Disney Stores, Jonathan Storey.  This is a person I admire very much.  He single-handily brought back the fun to our Disney Stores for the cast members.  During the early 2000's, the stores belonged to a different company, not Disney.  After just a short while of owning them, that company was going to go bankrupt but rather then lose the stores, Disney bought them back and brought aboard Jonathan.  He realized that the fun company that Disney is, was not extended to the stores.  He immediately brought back trivia and raffles, Voluntears opportunities, and a genuine care to treat the stores as if they were part of the whole Disney family.  He also showed off his extensive Star Wars collection, including his first item, a white pencil case with Princess Leia on it.  Being shown his stockroom-style prized collection of Star Wars paraphernalia brought my inner nerd collector to tears.  He is all around a great guy.  Seeing him today, as he apologized for holding our car up at the gate, should have been a sign that this wasn't going to be just another ticket pick up day.
We headed to the Team Center and got what we needed and since the Disney Store was right there, we poked in to see if they had any product that we might be sold out of.  We ran into a cast member who the Boss and I have worked with at different stores and he told us about the book signing that was happening today and also the 75th anniversary of the Walt Disney Studios.
Wait, what?!
Yes, that's right.  Walt had been drawing since early in the century and in 1940, he started construction on his Burbank studio.  We took a self guided tour around the studio, seeing pictures of what it was like when it was first build.  Most of the architecture was built so it had actual functions and not just the decades decor.  Windows that are set up to get the most light and access from one department to other departments in a snap made up some of the design decisions.  It has stayed pretty much the same since 1940.
In honor of this special day, the studio was celebrating with not just the tour, but people around the studio were dressed to the era, music of the bygone age filled the lot, and over at the commissary, they were serving meals replicated from restaurants that were big back when the studio first opened.  My meal, for example, was a turkey and potatoes meal that was served at the Brown Derby in the 40's.  Along with this theme, small Cokes in glass bottles were sold at .10 each, the price they were in 1940.  There was also free cupcakes.
With my meal, I decided to have coffee.  I forgot that Disney proudly serves Starbucks.  I wanted coffee pretty bad so I said ok.  The options were a decaf regular coffee or the Latin bold blend that I picked.  I added hazelnut creamer and sugar but it was still just a bitter cup of coffee.  I don't understand how they don't know how to make their coffee taste less burnt.  I drank it also knowing I probably wouldn't get another cup today.
We ended our trip by visiting the archives.  In a tiny section of the Frank G. Wells building, they had a display of some neat memorabilia from over the last 75 years.  Props, menus, signs, concept models, it was just a sliver of the icons that were part of the studio history.  On display as well was a replica of Walt Disney's office.  Even down to his ashtray.  (Shhhh.. no one was supposed to know he was a huge smoker and died from a collapsed lung due to disease).  I didn't take a picture of the office, but if you are curious to see what it looks like, watch the movie, Saving Mr. Banks.  That movie shows an excellent depiction of Walt, the studio and the details are so accurate.  However, they managed to Disneyfy that movie and make P.L. Travers look like a tolerable person.  At Travers request, the company recorded all their meetings and behind the scenes, she had quite a set of lungs on her. You won't see that in this film.
After a wonderful afternoon with good company and fun, we had to leave so I could go to my other job.  As we were in the parking structure, the Boss says, "You guys missed it, Jonathan was right behind me just now!".   *nerd moment*
Take the tour with us by checking out the pictures below.  Zoom in and read the interesting details that helped develop one of the world's largest and most innovative companies.

I shared a Coke with my soul mate.. for 10 cents.

One of two cupcake displays.

Clocks at the Team Center.

The commissary today.

The same fire plug. The same painted curb.  75 years later.

Under construction.

Inside the Animation building.

The floor in the middle of the Animation building.

When facing this building, to your left is the lot's own Starbucks.  I got mine in the commissary.

Most important piece in the archives that I saw today. 

My favorite movie was filmed in this location 52 years ago.

These were not the prices or options available today.  Well, the Coke was.

If you look up from the location of this sign, you can see the buildings that so many movies were made in.  Stage 1 saw Fantasia as it's first movie and it only grew from there.

Visitors Bearing Gifts

I had two visitors this morning.  The Little One came over and brought McDonald's coffee for the husband and I.  We each had the caramel mochas that were so good.  As usual, they were made with my favorite McDonald's crack-infused flavors.  She also brought some little cinnamon treats that are new to the McDonald's menu.  Those treats came in a paper bag.  Nugget loves paper bags so she also got a gift today too.
About an hour after the Little One came over, the Boss came and joined us as well.  She brought some gorgeous roses from her garden.  The blooms were so fragrant and colorful.  Along with the hand-picked flowers, she brought some loose leaf teas to share that she had picked up at the Strawberry Festival last weekend.  Out of the four different teas she brought, the husband picked the chocolate mint.  He said  it was reminiscent of a York Peppermint Patty.  A dark chocolate flavor with a standard mint tea flavor in the background.  The Boss and I had the banana fudge rooibos.  There was pieces of chocolate and dried bananas in the bag.  It smelled like the old banana scratch and sniff stickers I had as a kid.  I'm not usually a rooibos person but this had wonderful flavor.  Like banana and chocolate taste.  The Little One brought some sourdough bread so we had grilled cheese together for lunch and all played with Nugget until I had to leave for work.

She's lovin it.

The all black mug was the husband's.  We will talk about the other mugs later.  Yes, that is a High School Musical mug.