Coffee Photo Revolution

While catching up on my Google Reader this Labor Day morning, Amber at A Day Without Sushi mentioned she was participating in a Coffee Photo Revolution started at One Sister’s Rant.

As it turns out, I adore coffee. I’m not good at taking photos, but the thought of participating in a revolution on Labor Day is fantastic. The idea was just for coffee lovers like myself to post a photo of their cup of coffee on their blog, link it up with others, and share the joy that so many of us feel from our java.

Coffee makes me happy. It appeals to all my senses — most significantly I love smelling it brew and hearing it poured. And of course, the taste.

Some of the best coffee in Dallas, at Oddfellows in Bishop Arts District

Coffee makes me excited to go to work. I look forward to waking up at my desk (not sure what I am doing during that 30-minute commute) and checking emails while I sip on some Folgers (seriously, I don’t have to be fancy with my coffee).

Representing at work -- Go 'Cats!

Coffee is a reminder of how much JB cares about me. When I stumble downstairs on weekend mornings, I can smell the coffee he brewed for me before he left to play golf. Sure, I could make it for myself, but this gesture is always so much easier sweeter.

And coffee is time spent with friends. In high school, we started hanging out at this Starbucks place. And it’s where we went to catch up when we were all home for winter break during our college years. And just today, I enjoyed a relaxing brunch with two great girlfriends as we all injected our beloved caffeine — even if the restaurant had run out of coffee mugs.

We'll drink out of to-go cups -- just BRING US THE COFFEE!

Not surprisingly, we were not the only ones looking forward to a steaming cup of coffee as they caught up with friends, read the paper, recapped the weekend or just enjoyed a day with a high temperature of only the upper 80s. It’s just the sort of thing that calls for a coffee kick.

Mmmm… I’m already looking forward to work tomorrow.

Are you a coffee drinker? If so, do you just enjoy it in a healthy way that people enjoy a beverage or has it taken on a whole new level like me?

Oh Happy Place!

I hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing holiday season that hopefully includes some time off work. And if you are at your office this week, I hope you are wearing jeans and keeping your Internet browser busy. I won’t judge you if you didn’t even shower.

I’m back in Dallas, but have spent most of my break so far in Ohio visiting JB’s family. Ohio happens to be home to the latest infraction in college football, so there was much discussion (some calm, some not) during our trip about what exactly goes through the minds of these players (and coaches and parents and boosters and…) that gets them in so much trouble when they otherwise have so much to gain. I found myself getting downright angry about all of it and my feelings were snowballing — I couldn’t even get through a simple episode of “Two and a Half Men” with the family without espousing on the injustice of Charlie Sheen making millions despite his off-camera alleged criminal activity.

My plan was to channel these feelings into my next blog post because after all, I can’t think of an entity that needs balance restoration more than the college athletics system, but as I listened to myself rant and rave, I wondered why anyone would want to hear, much less read, this negativity.

So I as I sat here thinking about a happier topic, I looked around and realized I was in it — my Happy Place! I think everyone should have a happy place that you can go to physically and, if nothing else, mentally. We need surroundings that restore our sense of calm and equilibrium. We all have different needs in this area, but I want to share a little about my own, Cafe Brazil.

It’s just a local chain of restaurants in Dallas, nothing fancy — a coffee house, but so much more. Let me share a little bit of what my senses are experiencing right now to get me to this feeling of peace and happiness:

Sight: I’m at a location that mixes North Dallas hipsters (um yes, there are some!) with families with professionals. People eating alone, people at a table of 10. A woman is working on her laptop, a man is reading some papers, and others are just chatting. You can make this place whatever you need it to be. I like coming with friends or alone, like today, to read and write.

Taste: Oh, the taste! Like I said, it’s definitely more than a coffee house. The food here ranges from breakfast to dinner, from pancakes to crepes to salads. Since I basically ate cookies and pasta for five days straight in Ohio, I opted for one of their healthy options today, the Wine Country Salad — a delicious mix of greens, apples, strawberries, grilled chicken, and walnuts. My picture below doesn’t do it justice.

Smell: It’s more than a coffee house, but my favorite thing about Cafe Brazil remains the coffee and it’s aroma fills the air. They have a self-serve, bottomless coffee bar with different flavors of java, including my flavor of choice below. I love being able to just get up and refill my mug; it’s that comforting feeling of being at home (with no clean-up required).

Sound: Today the music has been mostly 80’s rock, including some “Sweet Child of Mine.” Enough said.

Touch: Well, if my hand touches something in the restroom here, I don’t freak out. That’s pretty much a bare minimum for a happy place.

The Intangibles: The biggest reason that Cafe Brazil is my happy place is just the vibe I feel when I’m here. I feel like I’m in Austin. I feel independent and empowered as I sit and eat and write by myself — yet being surrounded by others doing the same. I feel balanced.

I’m not anti-corporate by any means. I can, and do, all of these things at Starbucks too (well, except the bottomless coffee — yeah right!). But for me, Cafe Brazil is all I need. In 2011, I am committing myself to spending more time in my happy place. I mean, as long as they don’t start airing college sports, why wouldn’t I?

So… what is your happy place? What makes it so happy for you?