Green tea with pomegranate and mint

This is a special "Paula creation" tea. Two tea bags in one cup for a delightful expression of originality. Overall though, it's not that great. Even though I left the green tea with pomegranate in way longer than than the green tea with mint, the mint is too overwhelming. eh, you win some, you lose some.

Or as I heard a little old man say once, "you win some, you lose some, and some get called for rain delays...those are the best because there's really nothing you can do about them."

And in honor of that baseball quote (because what else do they call for rain? tennis? who cares about that?) It is 1 month, 20 days, 4 hours and 58 minutes until the Dodgers home opener. But have no fear friends, there will be no rain delay. There are no official statistics on this but I'd be willing to bet that Dodger Stadium has the fewest rain delays of any MLB stadium, or maybe it is tied with Angels Stadium.

So on this rainy day in Boston, I wish all my lovely readers sweet dreams of sunny skies and baseball season.

Revolution citrus spice herbal tea

In the hopes that you'll forgive me for being MIA for a week, (midterms...ugh) I shall now provide you with two in one day!

first off, of course, this tea...its delicious and it was a gift because it is similar to PF Changs orange spice tea, but honestly, I'm sick of it. the box must have come with 50 tea bags because I feel like this is all I drink. Perhaps this is just because this is the only tea I actually own rather than swiping from the dining hall.

Random fascinating tidbit: I went to the bathroom today (you're fascinated aren't you? just wait, there's more) in the architecture building. I open the door to the stall and my brain sends me a little signal saying "Yeah I know Bladder just told me we have to go in there because that venti iced tea filled him up, but I'm not sure...I'm pretty good at judging spacial distances (its pretty much my job) and I just don't think we are going to fit in there." So, I checked the handicapped stall. Eugh...back away. Back to the mini stall to cram myself in somehow. Once Bladder was happy, Brain got back to his antics. So I measured the space in between the toilet seat and the inward opening door. 3 inches. Is that where my legs are supposed to go? Surely I'm not the only one to discover that this is a problem. In the architecture building of all places!

So next article of business: I'm hosting a CONTEST! Legitimately. There will be prizes. It will be fun. Alright, hold on though, before you get too excited, remember--I am not an interesting person. (I told you that in the first post) Therefore, my contest might not seem interesting either. But you should still be excited.

Backstory: I bought a cadbury egg today for $0.48 on a whim. Everyone knows the creme filled deliciousness is best frozen. Everyone also knows that when you have one thing in your freezer it is easily forgotten.

Contest:

Guess when I'm going to eat the cadbury egg!

Comment on this post with a date (spring break is next week so I'll be gone Feb 27-March 6)

I pinky promise I wont look at the comments until I bite through crunchy chocolateyness into the gooey/cold cremeyness.

Whoever is closest to the date (over or under counts) wins a prize from me!

Things to keep in mind:

I'll be gone for a week.

I wrote this whole thing about it.

I have a lot of candy in my room.

Easter is coming up.

Do what you want with these facts. I am not supplying interpretations, just facts.

Also, to comment you have to sign in

if you don't have a blog, you can sign in with a google account

if you don't have a google account, I recommend you get one because google is taking over the world

If you don't believe my google takeover theory, tell someone to post it for you or send it to me on facebook in a message labelled secret or something

While you're doing that whole sign in thing, click the "follow" button...I like pretending a lot of people are reading.

P.S. if you want me to read your comment on this post before whenever I eat my carbury egg just post it on the other post from today.

P.P.S. If you think I'm crazy, yes I am. If you think my contest is crazy, yes it is. If you don't want to do the contest, don't its ok...you can still read my blog without doing the contest.

water/venti iced green tea

So I came to sit in Starbucks but figured out I didn't really want anything. Even if I did, I cant leave my spot now after having to scope it out and swipe it as soon as the guy previously sitting here vacated the area. I think I'll get an iced tea to go before class so I'll add my future order to the title.

The group of about ten people to the right of me is clearly some sort of study or discussion group. There are a couple of older adults and the rest are obviously students. I think one of the women is even the student's professor or advisor, as she is facilitating the discussion. They were all sharing stories of AA meetings and the people they met there, family members with various ailments and tough situations, work and class experience, etc. Starbucks support group? I love when I see people in these situations. We unload our problems on people so often we take it for granted that its special to have another human being who will take our feelings into their heart and take care of you when you need it. I have some advice for life today that is a little deeper "than don't sleep on the couches at Starbucks because it's creepy." Be conscious of when others really need your support (and aren't just ranting perhaps) and bring them in so they know they have comfort and someone to talk to in you. Also, pay attention to what you tell other people. If you scare them away with only talking about the negative in your life, they may not know when you really need them.

Live. Love. Live love.

tazo black tea at home

I drink tea in the dorm in the same fashion that chain smokers smoke cigarettes. Rather than using my last cigarette to light the next, I just make the most of my tea bags. This works best with something like the tazo black tea because it is ridiculously strong (like, dip the tea bag in and pull it back out strong) I could work at Starbucks with this skill of steeping Tazo I possess. I wonder why they don't have their own brand of tea though; there is Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea at Starbucks. Oh well, don't fix it if it isn't broken.

I actually walked by a Starbucks today. It wasn't my Starbucks though, one off-campus, and it was crazy busy! Today's President's Day so no one has school or work and it's supposed to be 41 degrees today so everyone was out on the town.

Children in Boston are officially the cutest kids in the world. I love seeing the families all bundled up in the city. I really wish I was under the age of 10 and could pull off a warm hat with an animal face and ears! Anyway, this story is about a particular little girl outside the Starbucks. This little darling was living the life--chilling in her stroller with no one bothering her but with loving parents standing nearby. Grasped in her miniature hands was a blueberry muffin approximately the size of her head. muffins and cupcakes are slightly daunting to anyone who wants to eat in public (do you eat the top then the bottom, or bottom then top, or attempt going in from the side...?) Little miss pigtails was completely fixated on this muffin though and dove right in without a fear of the blueberry on her nose or the crumbs on her lab. I wanted to point her out to everyone I saw just because you couldn't look at her without smiling. :-)

Happy President's Day

tall white mocha (an old classic)

I've been getting this drink for years--just enough caffeine to keep me going for awhile but it basically tastes like sugar, none of that coffee bitterness.

So in the spirit of the coffeeshop and my love of tea, here's something for the mind:

7 random facts about coffee~

1. It all started when Ethiopian goats used to dance when they had coffee berries. (I would pay BIG money to see some [well-treated] dancing goats)

2. Bathing in coffee grounds and pineapple pulp improves skin quality and reduces wrinkles.

3. Rise of Islam helped rise of coffee because alcohol was not allowed so people switched to coffee.

4. Hawaii is the only US state that grows coffee

5. 1675 king of England banned coffeehouses because he thought that’s where people met to conspire against him (he was probably right, revolutions start in coffeehouses…that’s why I’m here, of course)

6. Coffee is the second most traded item on earth. Oil is #1. (Priorities, people.)

7. “Cup of Joe” comes from "GI Joes” in WWII who drank a lot of coffee. The "Americano" (espresso and water) comes from them too because that’s what they drank. (Probably wanted to make it last longer.)

And 7 random facts about tea:

1. Tea is second only to water as far as most consumed.

2. People have been drinking tea for thousands of years

3. All types of tea come from the same plant, it just depends on when you pick it. (remember that commercial from a couple years ago where the guy goes on the quest to understand white tea and the little old man says something about baby tea?)

4. If you don’t like milk, drink tea. Builds strong bones! (and strengthens the immune system, lowers cholesterol, helps the heart, reduces risk of cancer, fights tumors, )

5. Tea also helps quell hunger (don’t diet, drink tea!)

6. Excessive amounts aren’t bad (whew) In fact, its recommended you drink at least three cups a day.

7. Iced tea was invented in America (Go us!)

So that was for the mind, make yourself some tea (or coffee if you must) for the soul. Happy Thursday.

Medium iced tea. regular. plain. nothing in it.

I went out on a limb yesterday and stopped by dunkin donuts for some caffeine before class and remembered why I never go to DD. The tiny little dunkin located basically in a hallway and a doorway was excessively crowded between classes so the workers (should I still call them baristas?) were all awry and generally unpleasant (although these Dunkin Donuts people are not rumored to be particularly pleasant anyway). So the woman who was taking orders suddenly had an important mission to attend to, abandoning me at the register with the non-English speaking woman who had been previously preparing peoples' drinks. I order my plain bagel and medium iced tea (easy right?) and she doesn't understand. She grabbed a hot cup and asked me what size. I said iced to get her in the right section at least. Then I said medium. She asked what size again. I pointed to the exact cup. Then the abandoner came back and asked me what I wanted so she could punch it into the cash register. Meanwhile the confused one is asking me something about my tea. I say black tea. regular tea. plain tea. (how many more ways can I describe this?) Finally I turn to the abandoner and she says (in a way that conveys her annoyance/bitchiness) "what do you want in it?" Me: "nothing!" her: "thats all she was asking!"

WOW!

THEN, some girl took my bagel, looked at it in clear confusion because it was not her bagel, reached in to the bag and touched my bagel before I could inform her that it was, in fact, my bagel. (Note to people: don't touch food if you suspect it might not be yours)

So this brings me to a bigger picture beyond my general dislike of Dunkin Donuts. Dunkin Donuts is not a coffee shop; its a pharmacy. People come in get their dose of whatever poison and get out. Their cups even have a little man running across the bottom because "america runs on Dunkin" America literally runs. according to Dunkin Donuts. But really I still consider DD an East Coast thing only. There are none on the West Coast and only a few scattered about in the middle and westernish states.

People always ask me what the differences are between California and New England and I have finally figured out how to respond. New England runs on Dunkin; they get their caffiene and get on with their lives. Californians sit in their Starbucks and read the paper, meet with people, chat about life, or go to the drive-through Starbucks on their way to somewhere else. We all know Californians live in their cars but could it be that this makes them more relaxed and laid-back? More "lets chill at the coffeeshop" than "give me my caffeine." I would even take this argument to the fact that West coasters are more social. (I know, that’s quite a claim, but hold on—I have a theory for this.) People in California or other driving-centered locations have a release, an escape, from other people: their cars. Drivers must pay attention to other cars but not directly people. People on the East coast, particularly in cities, have to rely on public transportation or walking where they are in constant contact with others. So as a California girl I will profess my love for my car and my coffeeshops and quit with the overgeneralizations and tangents.

Grande vanilla rooibos tea

I've gotten this African red tea before in the Snapple iced bottled version. The main difference I can see between these two is the amount of hype; Snapple advertises this red tea as the last great discovery the Earth will ever find. Starbucks just throws it up on the menu board with all the other Tazos. C'mon Starbucks, this is something special (obviously it's special--no one can pronounce it) play it up!

Something Interesting:

College students are truly fascinating creatures. We are entirely inconsistent with what we say we are. We say will do anything for our grades, unless that means studying on Friday and Saturday night. All we want to do is sleep, unless we have an exam or paper we have neglected and must stay up all night to study or write. Or, of course its a Friday or Saturday night, we'll forgo sleep as well. We call our dorm home and love our friends like family, but really, sometimes we just want to go to our real home with our parents and our dogs. This is a personal deception, too; its mostly unconscious lying and confusion.

Something a little disheartening:

Think about how much time you spend waiting....waiting for grades, waiting for someone to email you back, waiting for the light to change, waiting for something interesting to happen, waiting for anything...

Something to negate the previous disheartening statement:

I guess to look at this in a positive light I'll throw in some food for thought: enjoy the moments spent waiting. Write down the things you're waiting for so you don't forget and file them away. I like to think of my brain as a giant filing cabinet. When there's nothing I can do about a situation, I file it away and lock it up. I've got a bunch of cool magnets and post-its and whimsical things on the outside to keep me entertained while I'm ignoring the said uncontrollable thing. I have a daily calender titled "3600 things to be happy about." Everyday I post a page to the filing cabinet and smile while I wait.

Well that's all for today, I've got work to do...

Tall skinny cinnamon dolce latte

First things first. I might like the nonskinny version of this drink. I'm loving the 90 calories but I need a little something more. The worst thing is when something tastes watered-down. Also, me ordering this implies that I know what I'm doing when I order, at Starbucks or elsewhere, whereas in reality I am the Queen of indecisive ordering and getting the same thing every time I go. Please don't be disappointed in the future with the large number of venti iced green teas I get.

I may never know why, but today inspiration hit--inspiration to try something new at Starbucks and to start a blog.

So I started with that because people like Starbucks; people usually find things like what people order interesting. I, on the other hand, am not interesting. And I don't intend to be. Let me rephrase, this blog is not about me. It is impossible for me to not write through my personal lens and within my personal sphere but hopefully thats a looking glass you'll want to look through with me. I don't expect you to want to live vicariously through me.

The question still remains: What is this blog about? Tea and other fascinating things, duh! Such as,

Observations about the people around me:

The slow and obvious judgement of a girl on girl interaction

The awkward professor failing to go unnoticed in a sea of students

The girl who talks too much on a lunch date :-(

the guy sleeping in one of the comfy chairs (who does that!? sleeping at Starbucks=sketchy)

The students who fool themselves into thinking they are working even though they inevitably revert back to facebook

The group of girls that somehow make up 80% of the noise in this place

The give-me-coffee-quick types

The wannabe artsy people that sit in coffeeshops with their plaid and v-necks and floppy hats

The wannabe wannabe artsy people that awkwardly sit and judge everyone else in the room (yeah that’s me)

insightful things I learn in school:

Your opinions matter. voice them.

judge people. act appropriately based on your judgements. slap people who say not to judge. (just kidding I added that last part in; they can't teach that in schools.)

although Obama resembles Hitler in rhetorical style, its not very nice to make the comparison because our society has made Hitler synonymous with evil and President Obama isn't evil. (through my lens, political pessimism and optimism are more important than republican and democrat)

women's senses increase astronomically when they are ovulating which makes them more sensitive to the other gender and more likely to partake in the act of reproduction. (this is not an overshare; its fascinating, continuation of the human race at it finest)

minimum wage is less than it should be according to inflation rates. (I probably won't include things like that often because its a bit of a downer and not very fascinating)

And of course!

Things about tea/coffee/starbucks etc.

the best coffee on earth is harvested by the poorest children in the world. drink tea . (got this fact courtesy of a friend)

Starbucks used to double-cup their drinks before someone invented the sleeve in 1997. They didn't really stop double-cupping until fairly recently though. The sleeve is "60% post-consumer fiber" according to my cup right beside me. Thank you Starbucks, Love Planet Earth.

I love the song "Falling in Love in a Coffeeshop" by Landon Pigg. It's the one that goes "I think that possibly maybe I'm falling for you" and was in that cute AT&T commercial

Coffeeshop songs are included in this category. Right now they're playing Jesse's girl. I'm a fan.

and I feel I need to give myself a loophole, so the final category is

Other fascinating things: (i.e. whatever I want to talk about :-))

love from my starbucks to yours,

Paula