NOT A WOW EXPERIENCE
Mike Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson, often talks about making sure customers have a WOW experience. We flew to Phoenix on Friday night on Northwest/Delta and it was NOT a WOW experience. As it was, we were supposed to arrive at 11. We didn't get in until after 2. By the time we got to Kara's and got to bed, we were hitting the pillows about the time we would have gotten up in Indiana. LOL But the experience wasn't without some laughs. Our son-in-law Mark had set the alarm in case they decided to get some sleep before they came to get us in the wee hours. He forgot to reset it yesterday morning. The alarm went off at 1 am and he grabbed the PHONE and was hitting every button possible trying to shut off the alarm. He finally handed it to Kara and asked her to turn it off. She said, uh, honey this isn't the alarm! :-)

One other silver lining was that we were stuck in Minneapolis, land of Caribou Coffee. So I got to have an iced americano. But we're here now with our baby girl. Yesterday we did a little shopping and got some fabulous coffee beans from Echo Espresso, best coffee in the land. We got some new Java blend that is to die for! I'm getting some coffee beans to take home with me on Friday so it's as fresh as possible. If you love good coffee, you should try some. It's absolutely fabulous! http://www.echoespresso.com/

Today I'm meeting with some writer friends for lunch at Mimi's. Should be fun! I've just come through the worst 6 mos I can remember: 2 books in 6 mos all written during the time my father-in-law was getting more and more ill until he finally died in April. I'm SO ready for a break! I'm going to bask in the sunshine and blue skies and enjoy being with our daughter. One bad thing is I'm away from Alexa! I'm used to seeing her every week. I must call so she remembers Grammy's voice!

Labels: Caribou Coffee, Delta, echo espresso, Northwest, Wow experience

COFFEE VINDICATION
I've had it with people saying coffee is bad for you. They do it with no utter proof either. If something contains caffeine, it must be bad for you, right? Wrong. Several new studies have just come out that prove coffee is actually GOOD for you. Yay! I can have my coffee with no sense of guilt. Click here to see the article on WebMD.

So in honor of this great news, I'm going to tell you how I get the perfect cup of coffee. Number one thing is buy good coffee beans and grind them yourself. HUGE, HUGE difference in the coffee experience. I'm particularly fond of Echo Espresso coffee in Phoenix. I have it shipped here and it's just fabulous. I particularly like their World Blend but all of them are fabulous. I found their coffee through my baby girl, Kara, who lives out there. Happy birthday, Baby Girl!

The grinder I like is a Capresso and I did a lot of research before I bought it. It's quiet and can also grind coffee fine enough for my Rancilio Silvia espresso maker. I put two scoops of beans in for a big mug of coffee. For two mugs, I use three scoops. The next thing is the coffee maker. No, a Bunn is NOT the best coffee maker. You need something that will extract the full flavor of the bean and a Cuisinart CANNOT be beat! It makes the best coffee out there. I've tried them all too. You can find it at Lowe's for around $60. The basic one will do just as good a job as the shinier one and it's even cheaper than the stainless one, I think. I use the natural coffee filters that are brown. The bleach in the white ones isn't good for you OR the taste of your coffee. The final step for me is the creamer. I'm particularly fond of International Flavors Hazelnut but there's a flavor for you. They have tons.

I pour my coffee into a big, thick mug then grab my MacBook to catch up on email while I enjoy the perfect cup of coffee. Ahhh!

What's your morning ritual?

Labels: capresso grinder, coffee, cuisinart coffee maker, echo espresso, international flavors