SORRY, Not Sorry

Every year for my mom's birthday, we do pretty much the same thing, but she loves it.  We get the three daughters together for board games, cake, and hang time.  Mom's board game of choice is SORRY.  Old school, but it's her favorite.  I'm almost always yellow.   This year was no different.
I drove through McDonald's to grab coffee for the Little One and I before heading to mom's house.  Our usual Frappe's on a hot July day.   We watched a little tv and then let the games begin.
With my older sister joining us, the four of us sat down at the table for a family fun game of SORRY.  This particular game was intense up until the last minute.  All four of us were neck and neck down to each having three guys in home and one in the safety zone.  In the end, I won.  I'm sure it was thanks to my super secret strategy.  I try to keep a man in the start for the entire game, if I can, so if a SORRY card is pulled, I can use it long after everyone else has all their characters out and almost home. I get a quick skip ahead and crush the competition.  Just after the first few rounds, everyone else has already pulled all their men out so the SORRY card is useless to them.  Wait, my mom reads my blog?!  My secret's out.
After a couple of games, it was cake time.  We got a store bought chocolate cake.  It was dense but not too heavy.  My sister brought Brownie Bites that we put chocolate frosting on top of.  When cake time was done, we were all thoroughly chocolate wasted.
Flowers given, presents opened, games played, and cake devoured, mom had a great day.  Can't wait to do it all again next year.

Little One always gets the large mocha without whipped cream.  Mine the small with.  Sugar!

Must Go Back

The Little Boss took a cruise to Greece so we got together to grab coffee and catch up.  We picked the new center in Westlake Village to find a place.  There is lots of options to chose from there, including In N Out, Tifa's other location, and what we ended up choosing, which was Jeannie's.  A friend of ours referred to it as pricey but once inside, it's more like getting what you pay for.  (Officially: Jeannie's Gourmet Food Hall)  It's called a gourmet food hall as when you enter, you are greeted with several locations that grab your attention.  To the left is the baked goods and coffee counter, straight in front of you is a cafeteria style, long counter, to your left, passed a small sitting area, is a gorgeous bar with bar seating, booths, and tables with clear, acrylic chairs.  At first, it can be slightly overwhelming but then you understand what's going on.  This is not a normal sit down style restaurant.  It's more of a boutique, fun restaurant, possibly something you would see Downtown.  Offering it's breakfast menu until 3pm and happy hour everyday, featuring options like a cheese platter, sushi, and flatbreads, it definitely not the norm for restaurants in the valley.
During our visit together, the weather was nice so we sat out front.  A slightly private, shaded patio faced the fountain that sat in front of the restaurants across from us.   We saw some really relaxed seating areas with glass fireplaces that look like they would be wonderful to have a glass of wine at.  Little boss and I ordered our food and started chatting it up while we waited for them to make our food and find our number card.  All of her pictures from her trip were saved to her laptop but she shared with me a stunning panoramic of the boat leaving Venice while she told me about the ports they stopped at and the hikes they took.  She didn't have a lot of time for shopping but did bring me back two postcards.
My coffee arrived first.  A delicious, creamy mocha.  As I drank, the inside of the mug revealed a message: Love has no... well, I don't know what the rest of the message said because I had been caught up in the Little Boss's stories.  I'm sure it was something profound, like Love has no unknown karate moves.  Ok, maybe not.
Her flatbread was fresh and tasty and my side order of French toast was massive.  For some reason, all the dinnerware had the restaurant's name branded on it.  The napkins too.  Everything was great.  My mocha didn't have the sandy chocolate remnants that come with some coffees and our food left us satisfied.  Definitely a place where you could split a meal and dessert and not break the bank or your belt buckle.
We were too close to Tifa to not get gelato after, so a strawberry basil for me and she mixed up a coffee with lemon pistachio.  They gave us little rolled cookies in it for free.

The fountain is to the left from this view.

Bye Bye Venice!

Tifa always has the prettiest fresh flowers.

And The Winner Is....

Congratulations Marisol Schmitt!  She won the 100th blog contest.  (Chosen at random) I loved hearing about all of the go-to drinks you guys have.  After starting this blog, I've expanded my knowledge of coffees.  Each culture, each region, down to each person has a different way of preparing and serving coffee.  I still haven't tried a fraction of what's out there.
My hands down favorites used to be a cup of green tea in the morning, Genmaicha, being the tea that centered me for the day.  As for coffee, anything from McDonald's, white chocolate ice blended from Coffee Bean, or anything with loads of sugar in it.  My tastes have developed and changed in the last few months.  I've taken my coffee more natural and strong.  I loved the Almond Essence latte from Balconi I had last month.  I'll be doing a blog next about Jeannie's that had a great mocha and Roladin, that had something all their own.  I can't wait to share that with you all.
I'll be having more giveaways and contests in the future.  Thanks again for following my coffee.

Nugget's, Well, Um.... Nuggets

As a responsible pet owners, the husband and I have to make sure our cat is taken care of.  She's had all of her shots and saw the vet shortly after we adopted her because she had the sniffles.  So when she finally got to the appropriate weight, which was over 3 pounds, we made an appointment to have her spayed.
The deal was to drop her at 8:30 in the morning and pick her up between 3 and 5:30 in the evening.  The shelter has a rule that if you adopt a pet that hasn't been fixed, you have to put down a $40 deposit as a promise to bring them back to have them neutered.  That pays for the procedure and it's a great way to help the shelter make the money to continue fixing pets for population control.
The staff ran a little late and there was a few people ahead.  Only one dog and about 4 cute kittens around Nugget's age.  Nugget was hungry but laid back.  She obviously didn't know what was coming.
We left and stopped for a breakfast and coffee date at McDonald's on the way home.  A couple of 'McBreakfast' sandwiches and a regular coffee.  The McDonald's coffee comforted my mind as I thought about what the little kitten was about to go through.  After breakfast, I went to work for a bit, ran some errands, and around 4pm we went to pick up Nugget.
She was a little out of it when we picked her up and we we got her home, she couldn't walk straight.  We felt so bad.  She had skin glue on the outside and dissolvable stitches on the inside.  She slept most of the rest of the day into the following day and by the next afternoon she was back to her playful self.  We gave her treats throughout the evening so she got her calories in without having to get up to eat.  It takes ten days for them to be allowed back to normal life, like bathing and such.  I'm really glad we got it taken care of.  I'm sure I was more stressed out by the whole thing then she was.  She's all done until she gets a check up next May or if she gets sick before then.  We're really starting to get this pet parent thing down.

Barclay's With The Little One

Wanted to grab coffee with the kiddo so I took her to Barclay's in Northridge.  She had never been.   The barista was a little chatty for us but nice.  I showed her how all the doors behind the register were full of tea and that I'll be checking that out the next time I go there.
She ordered a iced blended mocha and I got an lavender vanilla iced coffee and we sat outside to chat.  It was nice out but after half an hour it started to get hot. She enjoyed her coffee but it's her usual go-to coffee anyway.  I lifted the lid on mine and it had tiny lavender buds sprinkled on top.  Extra points for an appearance.
Once it got too hot for us outside, we saw that Big Lots was having a one day sale.  20% off on everything if you picked up the coupon they had at the entrance.  We saw a lot of great deals.  I ended up finding Nugget's litter in a two pack for $12.00 and used the coupon on that.  She now has litter to last her until she's a geriatric cat.
There is a $10.00 or less bookstore in the same lot but the kiddo wasn't feeling too well so we called it a day.  Not bad for a quick afternoon getaway.  Everyone needs those kind of days.

Celebrating With The Birthday Girl

In a small gathering at my friend's house in Ventura County, we celebrated my friend's birthday.  She asked for a girls night together for wine, snacks, and of course cake.  Following cake, most of the guests headed home.  It was nearing midnight when I really wanted a cup of coffee.  My friend had vanilla nut coffee and offered me a few choices for mix-ins.  When she mentioned coconut creamer, I was intrigued.  After all, it was a Trader Joe's brand, and I can't say no to the Joe.
It was terrific.  Nutty but light, without an aftertaste.  If you remember I did a blog on the Disney designer princess mug collectibles, you can see that my friend let me use her collectible Snow White mug.  I'm pretty sure that contributed to the flavor enhancement somehow.
As the evening was coming to a close, it was just 3 ladies left.  We quietly chatted into the wee hours of the morning, enjoying each others company, especially since our schedules have limited our visits lately.  Summer birthdays seem to last longer, not just because the daylight hangs on, but staying out in the cool evenings is so nice.
Best wishes to our mate for another wonderful year.

Hard Work Rewarded With Coffee

The Boss and I volunteered to assist in the preparation of the new Disney Store in Thousand Oaks together.  We have done many store reopenings after remodels and even worked on a new style of store before it even was announced to the public.  Each time, at least for me, it's like a fun day out with one of my best mates.  We sweat a little, and make some money at the same time but it only feels like work when I get home from a long, labor-filled day and can't move my arms.
This store was no different.  I did the first couple of hours helping to bring in the 25 pallets of product while the Boss was working on opening all the individual items in the girls department.  I worked on opening product for a few departments and we eventually met at the endless process of opening the individually wrapped t-shirts.
Our shift there zoomed by and before we left, we saw the empty store we greeted in the morning was now full of product and on its way to becoming the newest member of the Disney Store family.
Since we were out west of where we usually hang, I had to think where should we grab coffee on the way home.  Oh yeah, I'll take the Boss to TIFA in Agoura Hills.  She had never been and was excited to see all the antique shops in the lot.  I got an iced latte and she got an iced mocha.  After the laborious day, the latte was refreshing but it didn't have a whole lot of flavor.
My favorite thing about TIFA is the fresh flowers at every table.  They also have chess boards but I don't really get a chance to play when I go.
The Boss picked up the craft beer and cocktails set of chocolate for her friends that she was seeing later that night.  She told me the next day that it was good and she could taste the alcohol in the chocolates.
It was a wonderful afternoon with the Boss and even though we worked our buns off, we had lots of fun.  Can't wait for the next rebuild!