coffee Archives - Dine and Dish

The E.A.R.L.Y Show Episode 3 – The Best Chicken Marinade and Something for Coffee Lovers!

Kristen — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 14:29:57 +0000

Hi friends! Welcome to Episode 3 of The E.A.R.L.Y Show. I actually recorded this episode right on time but was having the WORST luck trying to upload the videos to my computer. I tried everything and after about 10 hours of attempts, I finally went to facebook looking for help. It was my friend Ashlee who kindly hinted that maybe my hard drive on my computer was too full. You guys. I felt so stupid. 10+ hours of work, and all I needed to do was move some files over to my external hard drive and all was good. I felt so stupid. Ugh….

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My Favorite Coffee Shops in New York City

Kristen — Sun, 24 Jul 2016 18:17:01 +0000

On a recent trip to New York City, I decided to scope out many of the local coffee shops. Here are my favorite!

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to find new, local places to enjoy my morning cup of coffee each day. I’ve been to New York City many times, but until recently had yet to really explore the coffee scene. Since I had several days to explore New York, I decided this time I was going to really delve into visiting as many coffee shops as I could throughout the city, and share some of my favorites with you!

As much as I appreciate Starbucks being on every corner…and getting me through many mornings at home…it just seems silly to not branch out to local shops when traveling. I’ve judged my favorite New York Coffee Shops on two things. #1, the taste of their coffee…or in my case, their lattes. #2, the atmosphere of the coffee shop.

I like my coffee to be rich, smooth and slightly bold. When I drink a latte, I want the flavor of the coffee to be the dominating taste and not to feel like I’m just drinking coffee flavored warm milk. As far as atmosphere, I don’t want to feel rushed ordering and/or drinking my coffee. I want the other patrons experiencing the coffee shop to be diverse and the overall feeling of the place to be as much of an experience as drinking the actual coffee. The following coffee shops are my favorite New York City Coffee Shops because they met all of the above and more! …

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Our Life In Photos #Imperfect366 Week 4

Kristen — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:38:55 +0000

A look back at our week in photos as part of the #Imperfect366 No Rules Photography Project plus other snaps from the week. Check out the close to 800 photos submitted on Instagram.

January 18th The girls have been begging me to buy a bunch of different flavored Oreos so they could do the blindfolded Oreo tasting challenge. It turns out, apparently they don’t really love Oreos because we now have 6 bags of Oreos no one wants to eat.

January 19th I’m a stationary hoarder. It’s a fact. If you follow me on Snapchat and watched my coffee talk, you’ll see I’m making an attempt to unload my cards in a way that might brighten others days. So, I’ve spent my afternoon writing cards to strangers who are friends of my Snapchat friends…and it makes me happy to do it!
PS these gorgeous cards are illustrated by Jenny Bowers. Such talent!

January 20th I picked Leah up sick from school today, and she was acting so happy and perky. It was then that I gave her a lecture about not “faking” sick and how she always needs to tell the truth. 20 minutes later, she threw up on her way to the bathroom, all over the floor. Talk about mom guilt!

January 21st This morning on my Snapchat Coffee Talk I shared about my longtime struggle with S.A.D. I’m so thankful for friends who’ve known me a long time who recognize when I’m in one of these funks and reach out to pull me out of it. This month seems to have hit me harder than normal. Is it summer yet?? I’m so ready!…

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The Happiness Report #32

Kristen — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 02:09:26 +0000

My new motto…”If at first you don’t succeed, pie, pie again.”

Happy Friday, friends, and happy Happiness Report! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. This is such a busy time of year for most people…I think it’s so important especially when times get busy to take a few minutes out of the day to reflect on what is making us happy! So here we go!…

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Happiness Report #30 – Thoughts on Phoning it In

Kristen — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 16:55:22 +0000

This morning I was sitting at my kitchen table, reading the newspaper and drinking my made at home latte, mulling over in my mind what I am going to say during my talk at the upcoming Chopped Conference. The topic of my talk is something I am really passionate about in the blogging world, which is basically blogging beyond your stats. My unofficial mantra has always been “what kind of blog will you have if you don’t have a life to blog about”. Meaning, we need to stop sitting behind our computers all day, refreshing our stats, scheduling our posts, trying to get ahead or at least how I feel, not get completely left behind.

I’ll admit that I came back from a really refreshing retreat with friends in Tahoe recently and was pumped to get organized and get working. Dine & Dish has and always will be a space I love and treasure, but over the past year or so I admit to not putting my whole heart into it. I got tired of the blogging games that we are all doing to “get more traffic!!”, “grow your readership!!”, “get more likes!!!”. So instead of doing something about it, I just kind of threw in the towel and said “oh, well…”.

And so you’d think when I threw in the towel and just started phoning it in, my life would have been richer and more fulfilled. Not so. I’ve slowed down on reading books, which you know reading brings me happiness. My office is an absolute mess, which for a former FlyLady group leader, is unthinkable (my desk, right now above…ugh). My mind seems to be in a more chaotic state than ever before. Without some structure in my blog, my life had no structure. Phoning it in is harder than it seems… you see, I’m a motivated, hard working person. Even though I don’t like stats and the race to be the best, I still need my work to be good and meaningful. I’m not a sit on the curb and watch the rest of the world go by kind of person….

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Two Handed Coffee {Recipe – Chocolate Caramel Latte Muffins}

Kristen — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 02:16:38 +0000

Chocolate Caramel Latte Muffins made with the newest variety of Millstone Mayan Black Onyx coffee and a secret ingredient.

Oh Two-Handed Coffee Hour… how I love you so.

Did I ever tell you what inspired my two-handed coffee hour? Well it was a few things. First of all, the name was inspired by this blog post on Under the Sycamore. Adding friends and making it a weekly (or kind of weekly) event was inspired by Desperate Housewives, of all places. I swear I was born to be a 1950’s type housewife…although in reality I’d probably be quite miserable. I mean, what did those ladies do all day without the internet to keep them company? 😉

Anyway, you know how in the show Desperate Housewives, after the men would head off to work (or to their mistresses house or to murder some unsuspecting neighbor) the wives would get together in one of the kitchens and spend an hour or so drinking coffee together, chatting about current life drama? I love that… I wanted that. And in all of my 12 years of being a work from home mom, that’s not something that ever really happened regularly. So, I decided to create my weekly Two-Handed Coffee Hour for a once a week connecting time with friends. And I love doing it as much as I thought I would. It’s a soul charging, happy hour. Connecting, especially when you are fairly isolated at home during the day, is such an important thing. …

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A Cool Pick Me Up {Recipe: Strawberry Cafe’ Shake}

Kristen — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 15:39:38 +0000

“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. ” – You’ve Got Mail

Doesn’t school starting mean it should be fall like? We’ve hit 100 degrees here in Kansas City the past couple days and school has already been in session for 2 weeks! I’m ready to break out the long sleeved tee’s and jeans, but as Kansas would have it, I am still sitting here simmering and sweating in sundresses….

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Take Back Mornings with Starbucks {Giveaway}

Kristen — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 22:24:34 +0000

School is starting and I’m ready to take back my morning routine, with the help of Starbucks!

Leah starts school tomorrow and as much as I’m not ready for school to start, there is a part of me ready to take back my mornings. You know, “happy hour“? The time I wrote about way back when where I wake up early in the morning and have an hour to myself before everyone else gets up. I use that unplugged time to drink my morning coffee, read the newspaper, catch up on my happiness book and more. I treasure that time, but will be honest when I say during the summer, when getting up early is optional, sleeping in has won out.

I am slowly starting to take back my mornings. When I wake up early and have that time to myself, the entire household seems to run better. Because of my morning “me time”, I feel more organized and on top of it and ready to deal with the chaos that is getting 4 kids ready for school and out the door. …

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