| If you know me well at all, you would know that I really enjoy doing homework at coffee shops. When we lived in California, I practically lived at Starbucks (it was always empty and I could buy 1 drink and sit for 4+ hours). I got used to doing my homework with the sounds and smells of coffee. Well, when we moved back to Kansas, the only stand-alone Starbucks (meaning one not inside a store) in Lawrence is so packed all the time with people being socialites that I can never find a place to sit in a non-drafty area of the store (i.e. not by the door). I had grown up buying my coffee from a local hole-in-the-wall coffee house called The Java Break. Not much coffee...mostly flavoring. Very alternative setting, low lighting. Since high school, though, I've become accustomed to heavier coffee drinks with less sugary flavoring. I guess it's a sign that I'm an adult!  Well, lately, I have been going to Borders (similar to Barnes & Noble) because they had pretty similar coffee to that at Starbucks (only a little easier on the wallet) and the coffee shop area was suited for studying. It also wasn't as cold as Starbucks (it's always an ice-box there). [SIDE NOTE: I've discovered, in my coffee study hours, that there are two types of coffee houses. One type encourages the socialites to dwell there. You know the type - middle-class lifestyle, social meetings with friends, SAHMs, side business meetings with clients, etc. These people go buy coffee for the social aspect and there's nothing wrong with that (unless you want to study). The other type of coffee house encourages the students to dwell there. These are typically the students that: (a) have no other option for a quiet study place, (b) are addicted to coffee and need it to get through school, or (c) need the quiet to semi-quiet noise level for studying. The first type of coffee house tends to play music, the workers talk loud and with customers, and they provide games for coffee drinkers to engage in. The lighting is typically darker. The second type of coffee house does not play music, the workers are quieter, and there are only reading materials for the coffee drinkers, as well as better lighting directly above the seating areas. Starbucks is the first type. Borders is the second type.] Okay, back to what I was saying... Well, I noticed last week that Borders will be switching the brand/company for their coffee house part of the store. In a few weeks/months, it will become Seattle's Best Coffee (or something to that effect). This is entirely the wrong move to make in order to encourage people to come in to their store. I know that company from experience because it's the type of coffee they sell on campus. It's discusting!! No one drinks it and prefers to make a 10-15 minute drive (sometimes 20 minutes) to Starbucks in north Topeka for coffee (or they've found a hole-in-the-wall place). Campus originally had a different company but switched because no one was drinking it and now even fewer people drink it!! Well, all of that to say this: I found a new coffee place in Lawrence called J & S Coffee on the NW side of town. I found it by accident last week in a rush to get coffee before heading to school. It tastes BETTER than Starbucks. Their drinks have a distinct after-taste that is the best I've had. No one seems to really know about it - as far as socialites or students go. The day I was there a lot of people heading off to work were getting a cup to go. It's not too cold and the lighting is great. They don't play music either. So, maybe when Borders switches to that cheap coffee, I'll starting heading over to J & S Coffee. An added plus is that this new place is MUCH easier to get to since I come to town from the SW side. Borders is all the way downtown (takes a long time to get there with the way people drive in Lawrence). |
It seems like so long ago that we brought Lucy home. She will be 2 in June. When we got Lucy, though, she was already about 5 months old. So she wasn't a little tiny kitten. This will definitely be a new learning experience for me.
