Before I get to anything else: The Cardinals won the World Series last night. After being 10 1/2 games back in late August.
If you understand how awesome this is, well, then you understand how content I am today.
If you don't get it, I understand but I'm a little sad for you.
It was awesome.
And now I start the 5 month wait until I get to watch baseball again.
You know what else is awesome? That I've been at the coffee shop today for approximately 3 hours and am not planning on leaving anytime soon.
I've hung out with a friend, had an Americano, edited a video for club on Monday, spent some time aimlessly interneting, listened to some good music, and altogether had an awesome Saturday morning.
I like my life.
Song of the Day: Dirty Rain by Ryan Adams (Yes, there's a new Ryan Adams album out. And yes, it has helped make my life more complete. I love me some Ryan Adams.)
I slept until noon today. Which was glorious and much needed.
And then I went to the coffee shop for 2 hours, where I was planning to post on my blog but ended up getting distracted by facebook and the 12 separate people who came in that I know and want to catch up with.
Such is life in a small town.
And now I'm a little late to the "team leader meeting" I'm having with my Area Director/friend Miriam and Wyld Life team leader/friend Christin. It will involve sangria.
Such is life when you're awesome.
So rather than a long post, I'll just tide you all over with my new musical obsession. Enjoy.
Song of the Day: Down in the Valley by The Head and the Heart
Bonus Song of the Day: Rivers and Roads by The Head and the Heart
So, I live in Williams, AZ. (Please don't stalk me.)
Ever heard of Williams? Does it ring a bell? Maybe your grandparents came here in their RV?
No?
Well, it exists. And it's awesome. And 80% of the time it's a hilarious little tourist town. People come from Europe, Asia, and retirement communities to visit junky Route 66 trinket shops, go to the Grand Canyon, drive the wrong way down one-way streets, ride the Grand Canyon Railroad (which turns into the Polar Express around Christmas), and generally keep this place interesting.
But then there's mid-January through April. When nobody is taking any kind of vacation to Williams, AZ. Our 9 feet of snow just is not that appealing to people for some reason.
And, while it's nice to not get backed up at our stop sign and not have to dodge people taking pictures in the middle of the street, it also means that half the town shuts down. Our Dairy Queen's been closed for months. No more mini-blizzards at the end of a long day for the HK staff.
Worst of the worst is American Flyer, our awesome coffee shop and altogether saving grace of living in a small town, is closed until April!
It sucks.
Bad.
Today is Saturday. I had a limited list of things I need to do today: prepare some stuff for a meeting with my YL team tomorrow, blog, read, and hang out with people. I don't have internet in my house, so obviously, what I would normally do is go to Am Fly and send a mass text trying to entice others to join me.
Not that I would even need to send the text because every time I go there I run into at least 4 people I know, not including the people who work there. It's beautiful. And I can spend hours there, drinking coffee, computering, reading, and catching up on life with my townies. (Embrace it, friends. We're townies.)
That is basically my heaven.
But it's not going to happen for the next couple of months. Instead, I have to go to Starbucks inside Safeway and then to work to use the internet.
Oh, gosh. I'm sad just typing it.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? I'll be standing outside on the day it opens back up, jumping up and down with excitement.
Song of the Day: Barton Hollow by the Civil Wars (Seriously can't get enough of this duo. Poison and Wine was my song of the day a few weeks back and you must listen to it if you didn't then. It is so good.)
I'm sitting in a coffee shop, drinking a soy latte, blogging and staring out the window at the ridiculously beautiful, snow-covered Humphries Mountain on Day 3 of my weekend.
It is moments like this that I love my life.
You know when I don't love my life?
When I'm awake at 4:00 in the morning because my mind won't stop racing with everything I have to do and everything I wish I had.
But then I put in my earbuds and listen to the Avett Brothers and my life feels better again.
I get up and I stare out my window. I look at the pine trees, and the pristine snow on the ground. And I listen to my music. And I write in my journal. And all of a sudden stress and worry is peace and thankfulness.
Peace because my world is at peace. And thankfulness because there is so much to be thankful for.
My racing mind stops worrying that I don't have enough. Enough money, enough courage, enough. I realize that the only currency I care about is wrapped up in the people that I love, the people that love me.
In this I am rich.
I stop mentally checking my calendar. My color-coded outlook calendar, filled with more and more and more. I'm worried because there's so much to do and it's so much harder to do it all when I'm tired and weary.
But then the silence and the music and the beauty plant energy deep within me. And I keep staring. I put away the futile struggle that is a constant in my life, the over-reaching to be better. Better than you, better than I was, better.
All I really want is more of this, more currency of love, more peace and contentment.
For this I will fight.
And then I sleep. Deeply. And contentedly.
And I wake up this morning and laugh at my 4:00 AM self. My broody, funny, sleepless self.
And then I write a blog post I'll probably be faintly embarrassed about tomorrow.
And I stare out the window at my beautiful mountain and drink my latte and continue listening to the Avett Brothers.
And love my life.
Love. My life.
Song of the Day: I And Love And You by the Avett Brothers
(See January of 2009 to know what I'm talking about. 32 posts in one month? I want that life back.)
In other news, it snowed here yesterday.
Yes, snow.
Already.
Here's proof:
OK, now I know that's not a lot of snow so I can't really start whining about it yet, but it's too soon! People are still being grouchy when I play Christmas music (which is everyday). It can't snow yet.
I'm still holding out hope that it will be a mild winter. Mainly because my new house has a wicked steep driveway and I needed new tires a year ago. So, let's all just keep our fingers crossed that that situation works out alright.
Lastly, I'm going to list what all is happening in my life in the next 2 weeks so you can appreciate how crazy my life feels right now:
Today: work, run home to make something delicious (undecided as to what), take deliciousness (not a nickname for myself) to family dinner, laundry MUST happen
Tomorrow: work, meet with some peeps, women's bible study/wine drinking extravanganza
Friday: morning fundraising work project with kids, get some coffee, spend a couple hours trying to get our paperwork/my life together, meet with team, go to weekend camp, yell at kids when I want to go to bed at midnight and they're too amped on soda and pizza to be quiet
Saturday: super packed day of high school weekend camp craziness, more sugar for the kids, lots of coffee for me
Sunday: coffee, weekend camp ends, get kids home, more coffee, back to camp to help at the yearly Williams Community Thanksgiving Dinner, mingle with my town folk
Monday: work, still more coffee, go to awesome albeit still unplanned post-camp-because-we're-too-tired-to-plan-club event with kids and team
Tuesday: work, start campaigners, inject coffee directly into my veins, laundry/packing
Wednesday: work, drive to PHX, stop at first Starbucks I see on highway
Thursday: Fly to Central Oregon, get pumped for some HK training/awesome work trip, realize that I left something really important to said trip in Williams (this is inevitable)
Friday: continue work trip, also continue coffee injections
Saturday: same
Sunday: get up at 3:30 AM (goo) to catch my 5:30 flight, drive to Flag for team meeting, drive to Williams, not a chance of unpacking, prep for short week of work before Thanksgiving
There it is.
My life makes me tired. And happy.
Song of the Day: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Sufjan Stevens (It's time, people.)
(Side note: rereading those posts have made me realize that my blogging has been crap lately. I'm going to work on it, don't worry.)
It has been an incredibly wonderful couple of weeks off. I went home and played games and hung out with my family and old, comfortable friends.
And now I'm in Tucson. And it's warm. Yesterday I laid in a hammock reading for 3 hours. And this afternoon I'm sitting in a coffee shop blogging. Yeah, it's basically my dream life.
But tomorrow, it's back to the grind. I'm refreshed and ready. And I have snow boots. So I'm pretty much set.
On another note, I've decided that the 10s are going to be my decade. The Decade of Kate. I'm not really sure what that consists of, but I'm positive it's going to be awesome.
Here are some things that are going to happen in the Decade of Kate (aka 10 things that will happen in the 10s):
1) I'm going to turn 30. Weird!
2) The Cardinals are going to win the World Series.
3) I'm going to live somewhere for more than a year.
4) I'm going to laugh a lot. Like way more than I did in the 00s.
5) I'm going to travel to at least 4 continents.
6) I'm going to dream less and do more.
7) I'm going to love my job.
8) I'm going to love people.
9) I'm going to love my life.
10) I'm going to figure out the balance. Strength vs. Vulnerability, Adventures vs. Roots, Humility vs. Pride.
Oh, man, this is going to be a good decade. I'll keep you posted.
Here's a tale straight from the streets... Grand Street.
Scene: 9:30 AM. Grand Street Coffee. I stand behind the counter. A chime dings, someone enters. It is a man. A balding man, wearing shorts and an Abercrombie and Fitch tank top. I am excited to interact with him.
Me: "Hello!"
Man: "Hi."
Me: "What can I get you?"
Man: "I want a mocha with two extra shots... I did 'shrooms for the first time last night."
Me (slightly taken aback at the announcement but rolling with it): "Alright! How'd that go for ya?"
Man (with look of concentration): "It went alright. I remember jumping out of a car. The car was going slow, though. But we had hit a curb and I was worried we would explode."
If you haven't looked at the sseko website yet, you're way behind the times.
I forgot my headphones when I went to the coffee shop today. I normally keep them in my computer bag. If I have to use them at home, I take them out, use them, and then put them back in my computer bag. Except for this time. This time I left them at home.
My problem in not having my headphones is that I get very distracted by people. I'm OK if either nobody around me is talking or if everyone around me is talking. The problem is when there's only one person around me talking. I get focused on their conversation. I can't help it. I can just hear it so clearly and sometimes they talk about things that are mildly interesting.
I attempt to tune them out. I can do it pretty well. I just focus on what I'm working on. (By working, I mean doing crossword puzzles online and checking facebook.) As long as they keep up a steady flow of conversation, I'm fine.
But there is one thing that will always, no fail, cause me to stop whatever it is I'm doing and intently eavesdrop. That is when the conversation shifts from normal tones to an animated whisper. You know what I'm talking about. The conversation is humming along and all of a sudden whomever is talking decides that the subject at hand is something that they shouldn't be screaming about in the coffee shop. So they lower their voice, but continue on with just as much intent.
I'm sorry, I have to listen at this point. If it's something juicy enough that you have to stage whisper around strangers, I have to know what it is. Is it personally embarrassing? Is it a social taboo? Is it possibly offensive? If the answer to any of these is yes, then I want to hear about it.
So next time you want to talk about something private in a public place, continue on in a normal register. I won't notice.
One of my biggest faults is my incessant need to seem like I know everything. I hate it when a topic comes up in conversation that I don't know anything about. Even though I rationally know that it's impossible for everyone to be conversant on every topic ever, it makes me feel ignorant if I'm not.
So, most of the time I fake it. I really try not to because that just makes me feel dishonest, but it's a compulsion and I do it a lot anyway.
Now that I've admitted that I do this often and it's not something I'm proud of, I'm going to pass judgement on my fellow (wo)man for doing the same thing.
The average person who comes into a coffee shop in Kansas City, MO doesn't really know the first thing about coffee. There's a certain lingo that comes with a knowledge of coffee and most people don't really have it. And they know they don't.
There are several responses to this:
1) Fumbling around with words like mochaccino and machiatto until we finally say, "Do you want the one with chocolate in it? Do you want it blended?" Normally it's an affirmative response to both of those questions.
2) Memorizing the way to say one drink with the cool lingo. These are the people who keep their phone to their ear while saying "Can I get a grande skinny macchiato?" and simultaneously throw their credit card at you. If we want to out them, we ask if they want a traditional macchiato or the one with caramel and vanilla flavorings in it. The answer's always a blank stare and the caramel one.
3) Giving up all pretense and simply explaining what you want. One girl the other day asked if she could get something like hot chocolate with coffee in it. I walked her through what is in a mocha and she went with that. I appreciate her.
4) The people who actually know what they're ordering. Bone-dry cappuccinos, 2-pump vanilla lattes, Americanos with no room. And every great once in a while, questions about our coffee blends, what roasts they are and origins of the beans. These folks are great and I relish the chance to geek out a little talking about coffee.
As much as I enjoy talking coffee, I don't think it's weird if you don't know about it. Until I became a barista, I had no idea what I was ordering, ever. My drinks of choice were white chocolate mochas or chai teas. I didn't know what espresso shots were or how many of them was a lot.
And I was too embarrassed to ask my barista. As a result, I probably got eyes rolled behind my back often.
The thing is, I could've asked the first time I went into a coffee shop and my barista would've probably loved taking the time explaining to me what the different drinks were. Instead, I just faked it and often accidentally ordered things I didn't like.
You miss out on the opportunity to learn when you act like you already know. And that's a little tragedy in and of itself.
*Note: I've been watching a lot of West Wing the past week, so I'm combatting the urge to make my posts grandiose. I apologize if it doesn't work.
Song of the Day: Criminal by Fiona Apple (all-time awesome)
It is easy to pinpoint my favorite thing about working in a coffee shop: getting to know the regular customers.
It is an interesting group of people who love their coffee and I love seeing the smallest little snippets of their lives. I, being me, feel as though I know these people. I've made up names and personalities and entire lives for them in my head.
In fact, my coworker Nicole and I have turned guessing people's names into a game. Everyone who comes in, we give a name to based on what we think would fit their personalities. The problem with this is about half of our customers have actually told us their names and the other half we have made up. And I can't for the life of me remember which is which. So I'm sure to call someone by the complete wrong name any day now.
Some of my favorite customers so far are Rob, the guy who brought the same coupon from Ink in 4 times to get a free cup of coffee and Bobby, who very excitedly talked about how awesome our toilets are for a while. Then there's Lynn and Tyrone who describe themselves as "early morning workout enthusiasts," Tom who journals for a while every day, and Frank, the self- (loudly) proclaimed small business owner with lots of suggestions.
It is an interesting cast of characters daily and that feeds my soul. I hope to create a warm and welcoming place for them to have an awesome cup of coffee, time, and the environment to feed their souls a little as well. I really enjoy coffee shops.
Also, my coworkers are awesome and when it's slow we play Uno. We have a running scoreboard going and I (no surprise here) am dominating. Really, they're all super cool and I've enjoyed getting to know them and laughing at funny coffee shop randomness.
Oh, and SYTYCD starts tonight.
Life is good.
Song of the Day: Dancing by Elisa (also a little taste of what we can look forward to all summer... easily my favorite show on TV.)
Firstly, I would like to say thanks to both Bonnie and Sara for their encouragement of my songs of the day.
On to today's post:
You may wonder why I haven't posted for the past couple of days. I know you've probably all missed me and my witticisms greatly, but I've been very busy and important. You see, I have a job.
That's right, folks. I am officially a barista again and, man, does it feel good.
Wednesday and Thursday were my first days of legitimate paid work in a while. We had barista training which was surprisingly fun. I got to start to get to know the other 5 baristas I will be working with and they all seem pretty cool. Although they're all way hipper than me. One of the girls started talking about how it was really cool that we were all artists and that's when I had to break it to them that unless coloring with crayons in my Big Book of Fun and Games (Wal-Mart, $1) qualifies me as an artist, than she was mistaken.
But they're all pretty cool and I got to spend 2 days straight talking coffee. We're using the Roasterie's coffee beans which means yummy. Also, they sent in their barista trainer and he knows what's up. He taught me a bunch of tricks that make me feel like I'm on my barista game. I'm working on foam art. I'm that legit. Also, he talked a while about different beans and roasts and what flavors come from what regions. I feel like Sara's the only one who's going to appreciate how fun this was, but trust me, it's exciting to learn these things.
Today was our first official opening. We had a lot of people come in and say they had been waiting for a while for us to open up and were excited. It was fun to see who was going to become a regular. There is nothing I like better than random customer friends. I'm definitely hoping it gets a lot busier but it was only our first day so I'm sure it will.
I've really enjoyed being in on the ground floor in this place. They're definitely wanting our input on a lot of stuff and really listening to what we think will work or what won't. It's going to be fun to see it take off.
So if you're in KC, come to Grand Street Coffee on the corner of 20th and Grand (a couple buildings down from the Western Auto building). I'll make you an awesome drink.
It is pouring outside. And thundering and lightening. And being altogether awesome.
It's one of those warm, spring rains that actually improves my mood significantly. Because it makes me sit in my coffee shop, drinking a soy latte, and reading.
And reading.
And then reading some more.
I finished half a book when it was kind of rainy the other day and I plan on finishing it today while I listen to Ben Harper. But it may take a long time because I have to break to stare out the window and write emails and such.
There is no better rainy day recipe.
I highly encourage all of you to do the same. I guarantee you will enjoy it.
Liz and I walked around and asked people questions about sandals yesterday. It was really fun.
Oh, and on Friday we're going to win a year's worth of movies at a new AMC opening here. It may involve dressing up. You'll have to wait for the pictures.
Also, I just realized that this blog really sees the highs and lows of my life. I feel like I'm either whining incessantly or gushing about how awesome life is. I don't think I'm an overly-emotional person, so this may misrepresent me. But I do get really excited about things, so maybe not.
Now I'm paranoid.
I hope it's raining where you are! Much love.
Song of the Day: Walk Away by Ben Harper (ridiculously good)
I'm hanging out at the Roasterie with Liz. They legitimately have the best cup of coffee in KC, but it's 20 minutes from my house. Why does all the bad stuff happen to me?
But I made the trek and it's rainy and that means I splurged on a soy carmel latte which is ridiculously delicious. Well done, Roasterie.
On another note, in the past week or so I've come to really love KC. I've always enjoyed it because of the people, but I've come to really appreciate the city itself. It's pretty cool.
A few weeks ago, I was talking to my friend Drew who lives in Portland. I was telling her that I thought she should come visit me here in KC and she started laughing. I was a little confused by that reaction until she said, "Is there anything to do in Kansas City?"
It was then that I realized she thought that I was living in something akin to a farm town. I had to explain to her that Kansas City is literally almost the exact same size as Portland.
My favorite thing about KC is that there is a ton of stuff to do, but none of it will break the bank. You can go to a major league baseball game for $7, you can get dinner for $10, you can get an awesome apartment in the middle of the city for $500/month.
Oh, and the people are nice and there's good jazz.
KC is awesome.
This is fun for me and also makes it a great place to visit. (Hint, hint.)
1) I'm trying really hard not to over-post about the Cardinals. I know that most people don't necessarily care about them as much as I do and therefore probably don't care about how heartbroken I am that Carp is back on the DL and whether or not I think it was a good move to bring up PJ Walters.
But just in the name of full disclosure, I love my Cardinals more than most people in my life. It's true. And I am very happy after a week in mid-MO because I watched every game I could and listened to the others on the radio, 2 things I can't do here in stupid KC. Also, I'm sitting at Caribou right now, watching the Game Day pitch-by-pitch and getting excited about the fact that the Sunday Cards-Cubs game is going to be on ESPN.
2) A group of Red Hatters is meeting right next to me. They are loud and have names like Norma. They are wonderful and I want to be them when I grow up.
3) It is a beautiful day outside and I had an interview with an awesome new coffee shop going in in Power and Light. I don't want to say any more about it until I hear something from them, but I'm excited.
4) I went along with my oldest brother on sales calls yesterday which meant a whole lot of time in the car together. It was really fun. I don't get to spend a lot of time with him, especially one on one. It reaffirmed that I think he's cool and we both decided we feel really old when we realized that he's only a couple years younger now than my dad was when he started dating his mom. In fact, my nephew (his son) is only a couple years younger than I was at that point. Weird.
We also talked about how freshmen in college make us feel ancient because we both still feel like we're college-aged until we see 19 year-olds. They look like babies all of a sudden. But he's 10 years older than me, so I would imagine that feeling's worse for him.
5) I officially have health insurance! My mom found out that I can still use her insurance through the entire year that I turn 25 even though I'm not in school. So I'm going to have insurance for another year and a half. Which is good because I still have a wicked cough. I'm going to have to go to the doctor soon. I have a serious concern that it is TB.
6) Why is people falling down so funny? (The ESPN highlight is way better because it shows David Wright cracking up at him. But you get the idea.)
7) This is a really long post. My brother only read #1 and #6 on this. If that's you as well, go back and read the rest. I'm witty and entertaining and I do this for you. (Actually, I do it so that I have a reason to be in the coffee shop for 3 hours.)
OK, I had my first really frustrating day of joblessness. Even though I whine a lot on this blog, I've managed to stay fairly optimistic about being unemployed. Not so much today.
Yesterday, I left my resume at a Starbucks by my house and the lady working seemed to indicate that they may be hiring and that I should come back and talk to her manager today. She was very helpful and I was optimistic.
Then I went in today.
The manager wouldn't even come out of the back room to talk to me and the extremely stoned man barista working the register didn't even give me an application to fill out after telling me they weren't hiring.
Seriously.
I have a college degree and I can't get a job that a bleary-eyed stoner can do. That is frustrating.
I would normally be amused that this guy was as high as he was at work, but in this case it pissed me off. He actually put his head down on the counter while he was talking to me. This man is a better fit for Starbucks than me.
OK, I'm done whining about it. I just had to get that off my chest. I'm going to return to optimism in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1.
Better.
It's cold, rainy and windy here today but in a way that I love. I'm sitting in my coffee shop in a big leather chair listening to my Rainy Days Mix and I splurged on a real latte because I needed it and it's cold. So life really is good.
I just have to remind myself every once in a while.
Apparently it's cute boy day at my coffee shop. I am not complaining.
First was one of my favorite types of people, the man barista. He's a little emo looking but dark haired, blue-eyed, tall and skinny with an angular face and long, long lashes. He's one of those people you're pretty sure they hired just to keep the ladies coming back.
Next comes the opposite end of the cute boy spectrum. That is Royals hat-wearing, C.S. Lewis-reading, mac-toting, approachable and lovable cute guy. I have to say, I like this one better. He was forced to talk to me because his mac was plugged in behind my table. And in the process he melted my heart a little with a great smile and direct eye-contact. It's simple but it works, people.
I didn't plan it that he would have to climb behind my table to unplug his computer, but I'm not sad it happened. Don't judge me.
That's my news for the day. Cute coffee shop boys.
Yep, I'm still unemployed. I need a life, desperately.
Why is that I feel more productive when I spend 3 hours on my computer at a coffee shop than I do when I spend 3 hours on my computer at home?
I think it's because I at least interact with the world while I'm in a coffee shop. I see people and I talk to them and I laugh internally when they almost fall out of their chairs while stretching. (Just happened to the guy across from me. It was HI-larious. He was embarrassed.)
There's something comforting about being in the presence of other people, even though literally everyone else here is on their computers or reading a book. Even though everyone's engaged in solitary pursuits, we're doing it together. It reminds me of being in the living room of Condo 55 and literally all 5 of us would be on our computers not talking, but at least we were together. It's nice.
On another note, I am perilously close to being actually penniless. It's kind of scary. It made me cry yesterday but then I got over it. I had to call in the dad and that severely dented my pride. But now he's going to help me do a little refinancing (I don't know what that is) and it's going to be better. Maybe I should let people help me more often... Ha! Who am I kidding? I can do everything on my own. (I was born in the feminist 80s, people. Don't tell me I can't do something.)
Wow, my ego surprises even me sometimes.
All this to say, if anyone knows someone who needs a day laborer or anything in KC, let me know. As long as it's legal, I'll do it.
Oh, and if you have a USBank account, you should close it now. They suck. A lot.
Song of the Day: Nine in the Afternoon by Panic at the Disco
I found a Caribou Coffee only 5 miles from my house.
I am happy.
Maybe they'll hire me?
This is definitely a strong contender in the GNKCCSS09.
On to more pressing matters.
I actually feel as though I have failed you all a little and misrepresented myself in the meantime. There is something very vital to humanity happening right now and I have not blogged about it at all.
That's right. Spring training!
The boys of summer are back, although it is hard to believe when it's supposed to snow tonight here. But it is true. And, even though I'm living in freaking Kansas City, my Cardinals have been dominating my thoughts and a large portion of my internet time. (And thus, a large portion of my overall time.)
If you've been keeping up with me for a while (or if you know me at all), you know that my heart was broken a little by missing a large portion of last season because of the insane craziness of summer in the Canyon.
I feel like I'm behind the curve, like I know very little about what happened in the collective life of my team. But daily reading of the Post-Dispatch Sports Page has me feeling quite a bit better.
The beginning of baseball season means one thing for me: optimism. I am excited, I am enthusiastic, I believe that we are going to win the World Series. I'm rooting for my favorite underdog players to make the team and I'm grieving the loss of a couple of my favorites to trades. But I'm a believer.
I have discovered that we do get the Fox Sports Midwest feed here, but I do not know if they play the Cardinals games. I haven't seen Cardinals Live or anything, so I'm a little scared. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I need my Cardinals games. And Dan and Al. I've missed them.
In the meantime, I'll be counting down the days (26) until I don my lucky Yadier Molina jersey and root my Cardinals on to a Opening Day win. And I'll get excited about paying $8 to go to Royals games. Definitely still fun.
The GNKCCSS09 continues and there are some exciting developments.
Last we left off, I had decided to give the title to Espresso dell'Anatra. I was dissatisfied with a couple of things, but it was growing on me. It was clearly the best out of all the contenders. It's small, not too hipster and fairly cheap. It has tall tables and some comfy chairs. The one lady working during the day seems to know the names of about half the people that come in. They take the time to make my drink the way I like it. And there's free WiFi. Good work, Espresso dell'Anatra.
However, it's kind of far from my house. It's in like a little strip mall, so even though they try with the furnishings, they can't quite pull off the atmosphere. Also, not the best coffee in the world, but maybe the best for Missouri.
Honestly, I'm pretty happy with Espresso dell'Anatra, it's just that I wish I had some more choices before I had to make the final decision, but the 3 I tried out are the only ones that showed up on Google maps near my house.
Then today happened.
I am actually sitting in Espresso dell'Anatra with the same dude that has been in here literally every time I've come in working on his laptop. He's chatting with the other regular customers. He hasn't ever talked to me, but I'm thinking any day now we'll be coffee shop besties.
Anyway, I'm on the internet trying to make something happen in my life. Next week I'm going to start applying to coffee shops because it's getting to the point that I need some kind of income and the whole actual job thing isn't really working out. (Plus, I'm secretly hoping that thing will happen where you get a job and then all of a sudden everyone you sent a resume to wants to hire you.)
So I reworked my resume to play up my awesome barista/retail management experience and then decided to make a list of all the places I was going to apply to. Latte Land did not make the cut but I figured every Starbucks around here will be seeing me soon after I get rejected here.
But when I typed in "coffee shop near home" this time (which I've typed in many times before), it came up with a whole plethora of new options including 2 caribou coffees and a couple other locally owned coffee shops even closer to my house than this. I'm so excited! So I'll be spending next week hitting up a coffee shop a day and working my retail charm.
Also, I have another meeting with a lady in the non-profit world. So maybe... Whatever way I go, I'm going to be doing something next week. I'm determined. And that's all it takes, determination. (And a whole lot of networking. And maybe some marketable skills. Whatever.)
Employment, here I come!
Just so everyone knows, I chose this song of the day because it is playing right now and my future coffee shop BFF is singing along pretty loudly and in an awesome falsetto (which the song doesn't really require). I'm really glad I'm here alone because if anyone was here that I could laugh with I would not be able to hold it together. This just makes me more determined to get this middle-aged man in a muscle shirt to be my friend. I love people.
I'm wearing business clothes and carrying my work bag. It makes me feel cool. But it also makes me feel like a little bit of a fraud.
Apparently, merely sitting in a coffee shop looking employable does not equal a job. I have so much to learn.
Today actually felt fairly productive. I got up at 6:00 in the morning in order to get Paige to the airport on time. I sent her off with a hug and a wave and then promptly returned home and back to my bed. (Did you expect anything different?)
On another note, I had a very specific dream where a guy I only kind of know liked me and sent me some stuffed penguins in order to show his affection. I really liked the penguins in the dream and they totally won me over. I think they were some kind of inside joke. Anyway, it's kind of made me think about this guy all day which makes me feel like a creeper. Because, again, I only kind of know him. Dreams are weird.
Anyhoo, after my mid-morning nap, I got up, made some breakfast and placed a follow-up call to an organization that I sent a resume to last week. The lady wasn't in, so I left her a very professional message (or maybe I sounded nervous, said um a lot and repeated my name 3 times... there's really no way of knowing). I really want to work for this organization and they still haven't called me back, so that kind of sucks. But here's hoping.
I then got ready for a meeting with a friend of my step-dad's who is well-connected in the non-profit sector here in KC. So a good contact for me. The meeting was on the one hand very encouraging. He had some great advice and very kindly made it clear that he would help me however he could by putting in calls, etc. But he also stated pretty firmly that I should take whatever I can get right now because things are only going to get worse in the non-profit world. I told him I am absolutely fine with that. A foot in the door anywhere is what I'm looking for.
My optimism continues to win out. I'm fine waiting around for the right job and I feel like I have a couple of options in the meantime. So I continue to remain encouraged.
Also, I'm in contestant #3 of the Great North Kansas City Coffee Shop Search of 09 (aka the GNKCCSS09). Espresso dell'Anatra is definitely winning the game right now. It doesn't have the atmosphere, but it does have the menu. And it has a couple of comfy chairs and free WiFi. Also, no hipsters. Lots of middle-agers and people meeting for coffee which are my kind of people. It's only problem is that it's almost 10 minutes from my house and if I'm going to drive that far, I might as well go all the way to the good coffee shops and Liz. We'll see.
Song of the Day: Leave Your Boyfriends Behind by Leaona Naess
