Coffee To Go

Coffee To Go

If we were having coffee, it would be for a quick link up at the coffee shop nearest to my office. And we would have our steaming cups of java to go. It’s been a hectic week around these parts. I started in a new department on Monday and between training on my new desk and still holding the hand of the guy on my old one…I have not had much time to come up for air.

Our cuppas today is of the to-go variety because I still have stuff to complete in the office. And that’s where I’m headed. So sorry that we could not sit and savour our java today. And I am especially sorry that we can’t have our usual catch up, but it really couldn’t be helped.

I still want to hear all your news, so tell me everything and we will catch up fully when the dust settles. What’s happening in your world?

Feel free to share in the comments below.  

#WeekendCoffeeShare is an awesome link-up where coffee is being shared over great conversations. Join in this week’s fun here.

Weekend Plans Start With Coffee

Photo by: Natalie Collins, Unsplash

Because All My Weekend Plans Start With Coffee

If we were having coffee, I would tell that it’s been really busy in my part of the world. And when things get like that, I go back to the basics – sleep and then coffee. Today, we are having a quick cup of coffee, while we catch up. A drink and run if you will, but I’m still going to brew in my usual Saturday slow routine.

Let’s see how did the week go? It was a four-day work week for us Trinis, as Monday was a holiday. However, there were are two things to know about that: 1. Four-day work weeks such when you have deadlines. It means that your those four days actually feel like seven. And 2. We spent Monday being anxious and a little afraid, because we were under a tropical storm watch.

Not So Fun Fact: The storm was named Bret. The last time a tropical storm named Bret was headed our way was in 1993. Tropical Storm Bret was one of the deadliest storms to ever hit our very close neighbour Venezuela and the fact that 2017 Bret seemed to be headed directly for us, was a major source of worry on Monday.

Long rainy night and story short, the storm came with heavy rains and gusty winds. Some parts of Trinidad suffered flooding and homes were damaged. Some parts of our country fared better than others. Most of us were grateful that the impact was not any worse.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that once the storm passed, I was out to work on Tuesday for the start of the longest short work week evah! But I survived, powered by many cups of coffee.

Moving On

Speaking of work and the reason we are having a quick cuppa and catch up this week, I am moving to a new department effective July 01st. Now normally it is tough to ensure that everything is ready for handover, be on top of your work (because the work continues) and say goodbye to the team you have grown to enjoy working with for the better part of four years. But trying to do all of that, in a month with three consecutive four-day weeks…is near impossible.

As a result of enjoying those extra days at home, I am heading into the office today, to get some things done without the distraction of ringing phones and deadline. So sorry to brew and run, but tell me your news and we will catch up fully when the dust settles. What’s happening in your world?

Tell me in the comments below.  

#WeekendCoffeeShare is an awesome link-up where coffee is being shared over great conversations. Join in this week’s fun here.

Coffee For Two #weekendcoffeeshare

Coffee for two

Coffee For Two

Saturdays..nay weekends on the whole, were made for slow starts and coffee that is crafted to your own special requirements. It’s when you have the time to get the coffee to milk to sugar (if you have those accouterments with your coffee) ratios just right!

Saturday mornings when I get to share coffee over great conversation about nothing and everything all at the same time…now that is heaven. There is a Johnny Cash quote that sums this up perfectly. When asked what his definition of paradise was, he said, “This morning, with her, having coffee.”

Yeah. Exactly That.

Saturdays were made for recreational coffee, as opposed to weekdays where it’s medicinal…I read that somewhere and I wholeheartedly agree with it.

Sharing Over Coffee

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that this week was especially hard for me. I had exams the first couple days, then spent pretty much the rest of the week recovering. When I am in exam mode, everything gets muddled and I had to remind myself over and over to expect good things.

I started this month, with a plan to publish a post every single day and so far, so good. It’s been tough finding the right balance and still managing to keep this commitment to myself. But I press on. I saw Wonder Woman this week and as well, a wonder-woman-in-training myself, you have to go see it.

If we were having coffee…coffee for two today, it would be an intimate affair. I am in a self-care mode and I invite you to tell me about what’s happening in your world. I have found that when I start to feel world-weary and I start questioning my direction, that is the time to go back to basics.

The basics being, get my coffee right, do the things that make me happy and keep my circle small. So come in, have a seat on the sofa of truth with me, and share a little.

Now it’s your turn, how was your weekend? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

#WeekendCoffeeShare is an awesome link-up where coffee is being shared over great conversations. Join in this week’s fun here.

 

#WeekendCoffeeShare: Celebrating My Half Birthday

Latte Art Weekend Coffee Share Celebrating My Half Birthday

I’m celebrating my half birthday today! Whoo hoo. #morelife

If we were having coffee, are you ready to party like it’s my half birthday? Because I am! And just in case you were wondering…YES half birthdays are a thing! Do a quick Google search and the interwebs will tell you that a half birthday is the day approximately six months (give or take a leap year or two) before or after the anniversary of the day you were born.

Why a half birthday?

When I happened upon the concept earlier this year, I had a light bulb moment! You see, my birthday is always bittersweet.  I am always in mental count down mode to mum’s death, as she died eight days after my birthday. And I stopped feeling as joyous about my birthday as I used to prior to the events of 2010.

So, taking all of that into consideration, I thought, why not make it a thing, make it my thing? My half birthday would be the celebration where I could do something a little extra special for myself without the sadness that usually engulfs me on July 30th. I also have all the energy of firsts – first month of a new year to give the day some extra magic. Bonus: It will always fall around the end of January, right around payday. HELLO!!! 

No half-baked celebration

Imagine just one birthday every year ah, but there are three hundred and sixty four unbirthdays! – Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter was certainly on to something there. Life is too short not to take time to celebrate the journey. And that includes all the days that happen to be unbirthdays and in my case, a half birthday. Do you want know when is your half birthday? Find out here.

No birthday (half or otherwise) would be complete without a birthday wish. Thus, my 2017 Half Birthday Wish is that you choose a close friend or family member and go aaalll out – bake them a half cake or sing half of the happy birthday song – one of my close friends sang the birthday song for me today, croaky voice and all.

Or, sing the Unbirthday Song from Alice in Wonderland and add a bit more fun and give them only half of a present. Trust me, it will be the best half birthday ever!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

If we were having coffee, it’s time for a birthday cake martini baby! Because this is no half-baked celebration. I promise to swap the amaretto for coffee liqueur. Because, this is #weekendcoffeeshare after all.

Needless to say, I super excited for this celebration and I’m looking forward to surprising some special people in my life on their half birthdays this year. I’m already thinking about what next year’s celebration could include – perhaps a mini vacation? Who knows and that’s the absolute fun part.

Now it’s your turn, how would you celebrate your half birthday? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

*****#WeekendCoffeeShare is an awesome link-up where coffee (or birthday cake martinis) is being shared over great conversations.

#WeekendCoffeeShare originated at Part Time Monster:

I started the Weekend Coffee Share last year after lots of feedback and several months of writing posts that imagined a conversation with my blog readers that started with the “if we were having coffee” line. The coffee share runs on the weekends, and there aren’t a lot of rules—-posts just need to be formatted like a conversation over beverages (we’ve had tea-drinkers and cocktail-hours as well as coffee) AND be written within the past week (so you don’t need to publish on the weekend to join the link-up). The hashtag #weekendcoffeeshare is in use all weekend on Twitter and Facebook, and it is sometimes used a bit during the week as well. ~Part Time Monster

Glitter & Confetti Confessions

I’ve learnt that:

  •  Alone is not a four-letter word, neither is Single.
  • I am intense and that’s okay. I love hard. I am passionate about the things that move me. My family comes first – my blood and the family I chose, my Cohort Of Awesome. This is me.
  • I can eat Tiramisu for the rest of my life and never get tired and I really want someone to fund this challenge. Aioli…I’m looking at you.  
  • Sushi and wine is a thing. My thing.
  • Knowing my Love Language has helped me unpack some of the baggage I’ve been carrying around. My Love Language: Quality Time and Words of Affirmation…Translation: Friendship and Encouragement/Appreciation.
  • Bejeweled Blitz and Scrabble on FB are my guilty pleasures.
  • I am a hypocrite on Thursday nights…well that will resume from September 25th anyway.
  • It doesn’t matter whether Brazil ever manages to give another football team 10 goals in a World Cup Semi-final in the future…I will have to find a way explain to my future children about the debacle of 2014 – which will be talked about until Jesus comes back for His world – and why mummy still supports that side.
  • I am still capable of throwing tantrums…foot stomping included.
  • I’m a hardcore pluviophile and that’s okay.
  • Time doesn’t heal all things. In fact in some cases, time makes things worse. When it comes to conflict resolution time can cause a wound to fester. You have to work at resolution and reconciliation, not winning. If there is a winner…there has to be loser. And this life is too short for that kinda drama.
  • Grief has revealed who I really am.
  • Adulthood is a freaking trap and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I shoulda put my foot down in 6th Form and stayed there.
  • I will never have a thigh gap and that’s okay.
  • I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve…except for those I love. Then you have it forever.
  • I love long lists and I cannot lie.
  • Failure is always an option. I have made a shitload of bad decisions in love, in business…in life. And that’s okay. Because every day I open my eyes and find myself in the land of the living…I get to try again.
  • I am no longer a girl. I am fantastically and supremely woman. I honour this body and all its imperfect beauty. I am thankful for all the experiences that brought me to this very moment. I embrace all that I am because I know that I am the product of “a thousand loves.”
  • My power is in the present. This is all I have.
  • I cannot live without books. I cannot live without blogs (my favs at least). Reading, learning and growing is like oxygen to me.
  • You become who you surround yourself with. Choose well.
  • I don’t need to try something new every day to be fulfilled. Living in fear every single day is not how I want to live my life. Overcoming my fears…one at a time works for me. The little so-called mundane things I do everyday…makes for a great life if I do them well. Those in-between moments are just as poignant.
  • The more I love for the simplest of reasons, the more reasons there are to love: Myself, my family, rain, tiramisu…the colour red…everything.
  • I have this one life. This one chance to do things my way…not the cheapest way, the most popular way or the way someone else thinks I should.
  • My happiness is a full-time job and every day I commit to cultivating a heart full of joy, wonder, love and gratitude.
  • These are my core values: Contribution. Growth. Authenticity. Excitement. Loyalty. Family. Passion.
  • “No” is essential to my peace of mind. It is the foundation I build all my “Yeses” on.
  • I make time for that which is important to me, this goes for my goals, items on my Life List and my relationships. If I say something is important, but I’m not making time for it…something has to change.
  • And speaking of change…Nothing changes, if nothing changes. There is a popular quote that describes insanity as doing the same thing over and over expecting to get different results. If I want something different for myself, I have to change the way I do things.
  • I own my crazy. I own my reality…because the one I’m living is the one I chose.
  • Life is too short for holding on to grudges. “Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something.” I have big-girl Jedi panties for this specific reason. “Forgiveness is for those who are confident enough to stand on their own two feet and move on.”
  • Every single day I work on becoming the person I love. This one precious life I have is a living, breathing reflection of my dynamic self.
  • My glass is full. Be it wine, water, tea, or coffee. My glass is full. Not half full or half empty. Full. And it is up to me to ensure that it stays that way.
  • Miracles are only obvious in hindsight. And the fact that I’m still here, still writing, still loving, still growing it the most fantastic one of all.