Coffee and Rain

It's raining this morning! Well, o.k., it's sprinkling very mildly... but it was enough to have to use my windshield wipers on my way to work! I love it! I'm wearing a sweater, jeans, and tennis shoes, and sipping a Mocha - my Friday morning treat to myself. Unfortunately it's an iced mocha. I wasn't thinking properly when I ordered it and now am wishing that it was all hot and steamy to complete my cozy rainy morning fantasy. Hmmm, that statement can be taken really the wrong way. I'm talking about coffee guys! I mean coffee... guys, not Coffee Guys.

So, back on track, there is the most adorable perfect little coffee shop called Marie et Cie in Studio City that I drive by on my way to work every morning. It has a fantastic atmosphere with the most adorable indoor and outdoor seating. They also have a store where they sell cards, home decor, and furniture - really cute eclectic stuff. The coffee is always excellent and consistent, the service is amazing, and it's way cheaper than Starbucks! I've grown very attached to my local coffee house, despite the fact that I'm not a huge coffee drinker. Plus, it is a one of a kind, locally owned place that has been around for 15 years so it makes me feel good to be supporting their business. So this coffee shop has become my new beacon of temptation. I have strong desire to stop in every single time I drive by it and I'm not exagerating. So, the only way I have been able to curb my temptation to drink lattes 10 times a week is to turn it into a special Friday morning ritual. Starting with Monday, as I'm nearing the coffee shop and my arms are starting to tense at the wheel urging me to pull into the parking lot, I tell myself no, that I have to wait for the end of the week. So as the days of the week go by and I get closer to Friday, the anticipation builds as I look forward to my special end of the week treat with Marie.

This being a ritual and all, of course I order the same thing every week - a white chocolate mocha over ice and a cranberry muffin. Now, when I say cranberry muffin, I'm not talking about oversweetened, dried cranberries. We're talking about whole fresh melt in your mouth juicy cranberries with this incredible orange glaze on top. It reminds me of the time my best childhood friend Courtney and I made fresh Oregon Blueberry homemade muffins from scratch at her mom's house to enter at the county fair. Now I have this incredible urge to run out and buy a muffin tin and start looking for different muffin recipes to play around with. Although, if I were able to come up with a cranberry muffin recipe to make at home that are as good at the ones at Marie's, that might not be the best thing in the world for me. It's dangerous to have access to that much power. However, as I was turning to leave the coffee shop this morning, my eye did catch an item in the pastry case that just might lead me to move on from the orange glazed cranberry muffin. Behold, the Rustic Apple Tart. I already can't wait until next Friday. Happy Friday everyone!