VernetteOutLoud

#WeekendCoffeeShare 08/20/16

If we were having coffee, I would first have to apologize, because it’s been a while since we’ve shared coffee in this space. Things have been hectic and I’ve been finding it pretty difficult to slow down and savour my coffee. I mean, I’m so busy these days, I got my coffee routine down to 3 mins – grind, brew and chug.

Today however, I’m relishing in the recreational aspect of coffee on a Saturday. Today, we’re gonna sloooow right down and savour the moment while we catch up.

My coffee routine starts with the choice of beans. I bought some absolutely delicious Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee back in June and have been chinksin* on it so that it could last and last. Choose beans, then prepare grinder. It’s not the best, but it gets the job done.

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Pour over last Saturday in Grand Riviere.

Beans, nicely ground we move on to the brew method. Today, we’re going to explore pour over. It’s Saturday, we have the time. While the coffee drips, let’s catch up.

Back in May, I shared that I was on a new desk at work and things were feeling a bit like the first day of school. Well, four months later, I’ve settled down a bit. I still feel some anxiety hitting ‘send’ on an email, but it has gotten better.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that because of work, I missed the opportunity to go to BlogHer16 this year and connect with some of my favourite people, but I am a firm believer in you are exactly where you need to be, so I’m not stressing to much. If I make it to BlogHer Food 16 or BlogHer17…it was meant to be.

If we were having coffee, I would pour your first cup. Savour my first sip and settle in to hear all your news. So tell me about your week and your plans for the rest of today, I’ll listen while you talk.

*****#WeekendCoffeeShare is an awesome link-up where coffee (or some other awesome beverage) 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

Weekend Away, Grand Riviere

Staycation:
A holiday spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.

Sometimes a reset is in order.

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Coffee Break: Novella Cafe

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I just love discovering little cafes in and around Port of Spain. It not only gives me options when I choose not to brown-bag it to work but it’s also a welcome respite when I’m having a stressful day at the office.

Enter: Novella Café. Open since September last year, I like the fact that they are not that new to the scene. After almost a year, they would have had a chance to settle in and sort out any teething problems that comes with being a new cafe in Downtown, Port of Spain.

I was immediately struck by the decor, which is mix of modern with quaint little touches apparent in the little owl figurines and owl themed decor dotted through-out the café.

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Don’t mind if I do!

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Chocolate Macarons FTW!

While the cafe does not offer a lot of seating options, that did not stop the steady stream of patrons who visited while I was there. Take-out seems to be quite popular with the lunchtime crowd.

Thankfully, we – my cousin and I, were able to score a seat at one of the tables and I was able to enjoy my coffee treat comfortably. Cappuccino and macaron get in my tummy. This sweet treat was particularly good!

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The menu offers affordable options: salads, subs, smoothies, dessert bites and coffee. For lunch, I had the California Salad – since I’ve been California dreaming lately. I’m still bummed that I missed BlogHer16. And it really doesn’t help that all the reports have been superlative thus far.

The California is an interesting mix of lettuce, red onions, cranberries and arugula topped with walnuts and feta cheese.

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My cousin and I chatted about vacation plans and how we should stop clock-watching at lunch and just enjoy the coffee and each other’s company. What’s funny, is that when I returned to the office, I had one of my most productive days for of the week. Just proves that a midday coffee break goes a long way towards maintaining my sanity and improving my productivity.

Find Novella Cafe, Monday through Friday – 7 am – 3pm at 87-89 Frederick St., Port of Spain. (Please note: They will be closed from August 15th until August 29th. They will open on August 30th but will be closed for August 31st – Independence Day.)

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I love hearing from you, leave a comment below or come on over to Instagram and say hi!  

 

I Still Need Her

They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite.
― Cassandra Clare

On a Thursday morning earlier this year, I woke wanting to speak to my mother. The urge was so overwhelming I ended up in tears. Because as much as I feel like I can talk to her in spirit it is not the same. It will never be the same. View Post

#BlogHer16 starts today and I’m missing out

#BlogHer16 officially gets going today in LA and I am missing out. It’s not from a lack of trying though – my ticket was bought early, hotel booked around the same time. As soon as flights opened up I secured mine. I was ready!

And then life happened and plans changed. And I’m here watching all the conference updates trying to be happy for all those bloggers out in LA about to have the conference of their lives when all I really want to do is be there enjoying the experience with them.

I’m consoling myself by trolling Instagram knowing that it would never be the same as being there and that there are quite a few things I’m going to miss. #BlogHer15 was my first everything in blogging conferences and I was fortunate to be attending with two other bloggers from my island in the sun.

We connected through our blogs months before and travelling, attending the conference and living together for a few days, not only sealed our friendship in blogging but moved it beyond that as well. I will be forever grateful for that.

This year I planned to attend by myself and while I knew I would miss my friends, I was extremely excited to navigate the conference no longer a newbie but still very much new to blogging conferences and it definitely would have been my first time in LA.

What I will miss

I will miss the energy. If you’ve been to a BlogHer conference you know what I’m talking about. The air is alive with hope, love, excitement and just enough fear of the unknown that if it were a alive it would probably look like a unicorn…it’s that’s amazing.

I will miss the opportunities for learning. Not just the sessions – if you choose the right ones for you and where you are at with your blogging journey it can definitely make a difference. I will miss the meet-ups, the random coffees and the in-the-hallway-chats. That’s how I met Tiffany of the The Mrs. Tee, through a random call for a dinner date. Tiffany is a VOTY honoree this year! Congratulations to her.

I will miss the opportunity to explore a new city. I think what made my conference experience so great last year, was that I saw NYC with two friends. While, I wasn’t new to the city it was my first time getting to show other people some of my favourite spots and it was just so cool. We had fun.

Some tips and lessons

A tip for those considering attending a blogging conference is to get there a day or two before and get to know the city you’re in. It’s a also a priceless opportunity to connect with bloggers BEFORE the start of the conference, especially for newbies.

You will meet your favourite bloggers and they will turn out to be normal people. You will have blogger groupie moments. And it will be amazing. Yup. That happened and I went over and introduced myself and it was like I said…amazing.

My biggest lesson was letting go of my expectations and surrendering to the experience. The best things happen when you least expect it. This is how I met and connected with a blogger I admire. We had just boarded the bus to head to the closing party. I was sitting in the front because we were the first ones on. Behind me, sat Elan…I could not believe it. She wrote this post and it really resonated with me. It’s one thing to leave a comment on a blog post but to meet the writer and express exactly how much what she wrote echoed your own feelings and fears. That was truly priceless. And it happened on the bus, on the way to the closing party. 

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After, after party #BlogHer15 

You will find your tribe. BlogHer offers this unique opportunity to connect with women and men who are your brand of crazy or normal. Same difference. Like my call for other Caribbean and international attendees to meet up in the hotel lobby after the closing party at last year! That turned into the best lime this Trini could have asked for. 2 Jamaicans, 1 Bahamian, 1 Bajan and 3 Trinis and 2 honorary Trinis. We had fun!

I’m gonna miss all the swag! I kid you not, BlogHer has the best swag and you have to be smart about packing before you get there, or you will need an extra bag for the stuff you get over the course of just 3 days.

Self-care while at the conference is important. I had a mini implosion which lead to an explosion in my room by the Friday afternoon of #BlogHer15. You need to take regular breaks. Please don’t be like me. You cannot do all the things. Because there is just too much to.do.see.experience. Breathe. Go for a walk. Skip a talk. It’s okay.

Oh that reminds me re-entry is a thing. And I am definitely NOT going to miss that. Life after a BlogHer conference can be difficult to assimilate. I went back to work on the Monday after #BlogHer15 and by the Wednesday I crashed and burned. Hard. It was too much. My brain needed the break to just get all the ideas and connections out without the distraction of work.

Great things happen when women and men support each other. And that was been my best experience at #BlogHer15 and what I was hopeful for this year. Ah well. #BlogHerFood16 is in Austin *fingerscrossed* that’s where I’ll be headed in October – hopeful but mindful.

I’m going back to stalking Instagram for #BlogHer16 updates.

Now I want to hear from you. Have you been to a BlogHer conference or blogging conference before? What was your experience like?  Do you plan to attend a conference in the future?