The Shocking Disappointment that is the Village Roaster

I had heard tell of the Village Roaster.

  Located a hop, skip, and a jump away from my university in Lakewood, and the only non-corporate cafe for miles,  I was anxious to try the place. How had it stood the test of time since 1979? I have no idea.

  Full of high hopes and expectations I waltzed into the joint, I fell in love with the set up. It was all eye candy, picture the Central Perk from Friends ran into Luke's from Gilmore Girls. I spent a good ten minutes just looking at the funny mugs and the high tech coffee-ware they were selling. I then ordered my go-to, a vanilla latte, and proceeded to chat with the barista. He had all the right qualities: tattooed, kinda flirty, and steady on the drink-making front. I thanked him for my latte, sat down, and set up shop to work on some projects I had going on. After waiting a Lana Del Rey song later, I took a sip.

   Milk. Foamy vanilla milk. You couldn't taste the espresso and there was an aftertaste that reminded you of the discomfort you feel when your grandma has had too many eggnogs and starts talking about sex and vodka at Christmastime. Not good.

   Maybe I just needed to take another sip? And another? And another? No improvement. Maybe I should ask him to remake it? It's a latte, how do you mess up a latte? And then I had a horrible realization, this is the Village Roaster product. Take it or leave it.

I threw it away. 

   Will I come back? No. Am I sad that it was not on par? Yes. I feel my best comment on this establishment was on snapchat. 

I'm sorry cute barista. 

-CR

The Fluid Coffee Bar

       My roommate and I celebrated my birthday this Saturday (yes, I'm a Valentine's baby) at 16th Street mall in Denver. And what would a day in Denver be without a trip to a cool coffee joint? I went to Yelp for inspiration and picked the closest spot next to us, the Fluid Coffee Bar. We walked about 3 or 4 blocks and found this little niche spot with a neon coffee sign. 

I want a neon coffee sign. 

       We walked inside and were immediately greeted, our questions were answered and our drinks were made for us. I got my usual, a vanilla latte, and my roommate ordered a strawberry smoothie. Looking around, the place was a study haven. Outlets galore, office chairs and couches strategically placed everywhere, and the whole bar had this quiet vibe, talking almost felt wrong. Which is great when you're studying, not when you wanna chat. It was also really hot inside the shop, which was weird because it was nice outside.

       My latte was divine. It had a smooth taste and finish, I was very pleased. My roommate's smoothie was also surprisingly very good, and I'm not a big smoothie person. We wanted to stay, but the sun was going down on our adventure. We will definitely be returning for our midterms studying. 

My latte  

Fluid Coffee Bar=Solid coffee study joint. 

PRODUCTIVITY. OR A DISTINCT LACK THEREOF.

You ever have that awesome accomplished feeling when you get A BUNCH of stuff done that you had been putting off. And you feel basically invincible and part of you is like "LOOK AT ME. I CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY. I'M A TERRIFIC ADULT."

You also know how sometimes that feeling. 

Just sometimes doesn't cut it. 

And it's like...now what? 

ALLOW ME TO MAKE A LIST. 

Current Reasons Why Cailin Is Currently Productive: 

1. My roommate will kill me in my sleep if I don't do [verb]. (Not as effective as you think, I'm the night owl of the house. But hey. I don't wanna piss the person I live with off. That just bodes ill will.)

2. You will get in trouble if you don't do [verb]. (You will get a speeding ticket if you don't drive like a responsible citizen. You will have no coffee if you don't go to work to buy coffee. It's highly effective.)

3. I will get a reward out of this. (Super effective for dumb reasons. Go to a class to see a cute boy. If I get up and go to class I'll make myself a cup of coffee. I will buy myself a cookie if I do my homework.) (This reason might make me fat.)

THAT'S ALL. 

Good luck with being productive!!! 

Love,

Cailin  

Caribou Coffee How I Missed Thee

   I lived in Aurora, Colorado prior to living where I currently live and unfortunately for me the Caribou Coffee that was by my place of residence shut down when a lot of them did last year. I was devastated and I missed the crap out of that shop, I still could buy the Caribou coffee at Target and let me tell you I totally did.

FAST FORWARD A YEAR.

  I visited a Caribou Coffee ten minutes from my current destination after one year of deprivation today and let me tell you walking into that shop made my freaking week. Caribou has an atmosphere that can't be replicated and I'm fascinated by it. I got what used to be my regular: Mint Condition Mocha iced and settled into one of their comfy chairs and began to catch up with my lovely friend, Michelle. And dear sweet peaches that was lovely, never underestimate the power of chocolate and girl talk my friends. 

  As someone who wants to run her own business I am thoroughly infatuated with Caribou Coffee. Unlike Starbucks, whose selling point changes from frappuccinos to shaken teas to seasonal drinks Caribou Coffee keeps a good chunk of their focus on the coffee. SHOW ME YOUR WAYS CARIBOU.

Yeah.

I'm a little obsessed. 

Love you Caribou.

Cailin 

DTR.

Okay so I go to a Christian college and apparently this is a completely normal activity for little Christian boys and girls but I myself am a public school kid and have never had any experience with this so BEAR WITH ME.

   DTR. It means to Define The Relationship. After any given point of time hanging out a boy and a girl go on a stroll or start an awkward texting conversation and determine to figure out the verb that is their current relationship, be it "talking", "almost talking", "committed relationship", etcetera. One of my roommates 'DTR'ed with a boy after two days of knowing him.

What.

Just.

What.

   As a college freshman you barely know yourself and what you want and expect from yourself, MUCH LESS what kinda person you want to be with or what you want or expect from that person. In what world would you skip answering BOTH of those vital questions and just get to the deep implications of chemical reactions that are happening between you and a member of the opposite sex. I don't understand. I just don't understand. 

  And this weird thing happens ALL THE TIME at my school. It happened with two of my roommates and then it kinda happened to me and it was weird and I was like 'what is even happening' cause I thought this guy and I were cool and then I got lead on this little adventure for a couple weeks and then he was like "so there is nothing romantic that is gonna happen between us." Thanks for letting me know all knowing boy. You barely know me. Does this mean I've just reached a new level of scary bitch? I need to know so I can put a sticker on my chart. Whatever dude. 

 This just seems so pointless and adds so much pressure to the situation. C'mon y'all. What happened to being coy and flirty and making the other person stay up at night wondering what made you tick and if you were aware that when you wear blue it makes your eyes look dangerously wild and it turns them on. I'm not saying ironing out stuff isn't necessary but it just seems so overemphasized. Chill. We're still young. We have plenty of time. Breathe. Read a book. Figure out who you are first, then move forward.

Love,
Cailin 

Unexpected College Things

 Today in my public speaking class as I was forced to sit and listen to informational speeches on information I didn't care about, I decided to make a list of things I didn't expect in college that are a thing. Don't judge. I like lists. In fact I may create a part two to this bad boy. I don't know man, I had too much fun. 

Unexpected College Things:

1. It is possible to drink five cups of coffee and two red bulls in the span of five hours and not die. 
2. Some profs will schedule a sub instead of cancelling class. (This is cheating!!)
3. You will knock on someone's door at 1 in the morning before remembering that some people are asleep at 1 in the morning. (It's okay, they're still up, it's college.)
4. It was WAY too easy to forget the majority of your fellow high school graduates' names. (Facebook got much more awkward.)
5. You will snapchat with the people you live with more than anyone else. Period.
6. The joy of randomly checking the fridge and seeing someone has gone grocery shopping. (Yay free ice cream!) 
7. Synchronization is a thing. (Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.)
8. It's not weird to know the sleeping patterns of four people you've never even seen before August.
9. Attending class or napping becomes the most difficult life decision.
10. If one person gets hooked on a netflix show, we all get hooked on a netflix show. 

Love,

Cailin