Coffee talk....

Gosh. That picture makes me look tired. How long has it been since we have had a coffee talk...like months and I apologize. My doppio espresso with steamed breve and I are here. 

I can't believe that it is June. This month ranks #3 of my all time least favorites under July and August aka summer.

Okay. Let's see who is in the coffee shop. 

1. A lovely older black woman with the most beautiful toes I have ever seen. I think she must have just gotten them done. They are like a perfect shade of mauve. She is sitting directly in front of me and she is on her DELL. why do I instantly feel sorry for PC users? She has sunglasses on her head, which have the Crown Royal emblem on the sides, reading glasses on her face and pretty gold hoop earrings. She is wearing a lavender tank top and long white shorts. She has gorgeous hair and the more I study her, I realize it is a weave. When she sat down, she immediately got on facebook. She is on her pink iPhone now and she has the most GORGEOUS sapphire ring on her right ring finger. A silver charm bracelet loosely drapes her left wrist. Her nails are done in french tips and she is wearing brown strappy sandals.

2&3. There is a man and a woman behind me. They are arguing about a house and money and payments and some other woman. I don't think they are a couple but they talk like they are closely connected in some way. Their tone is not a good one. They are frustrated and angry. I have no idea what the man looks like but they are getting up now so I can see them.... They just walked out. He is wearing stupid shorts cargo khakis, a white polo and a red hat. The woman is in a red tank and some funny long black shorts. They went out to a Toyota and they are smoking. 

4. This Japanese chick just walked in and got a Venti iced beverage. She was wearing the tallest pink heels and a super cool blazer and jeans and big shades. The Japanese are so cool. She was the skinniest person I have seen all week and I think she was probably about 5ft tall, but with those heels and her confidence, she looked about 6ft. 

There are a few more people behind me that I can't see and if I keep turning around, I think I might get kicked out for being creepy. Life is going really well. I am deeply committed to the pages of my story. I will head to California in a few weeks and I am thrilled about that. I will learn some Chinese, eat really great food and see a great city with a wonderful friend. 

Happy June. 

I HATE SUMMER!!!!!!!

Coffee talk...Nashville Airport

This might be the best coffee talk ever. 

I flew into Nashville Airport this morning and have pretty much all day free. As I was wondering what I was going to do in this lovely city, I took a stop at the Starbucks near terminal C. To my viewing pleasure, I saw what appeared to be a man with headphones setting up his drum kit. In the AIRPORT! So I got excited. 

Then comes another man with a little black case which was holding the most perfect of trumpets. 

Then this super tall fellow wearing a white Kangol comes on the stage. 

The quartet is completed with a crazy haired Samoan lookin guy carrying an upright bass.

And all is well with the world. 

I just love airports. This might be my favorite airport experience. My favorite is walking past each gate and seeing where the folks are headed. 

Destination: Orange County

-60yr old white woman wearing Hermes with a 30 thousand dollar face.

 I mean...this lady. Is she serious? Does she think she really looks younger???

Destination: Dallas Fort Worth

-1 pink cowboy hat, 1white one, 3 brown.

-8 pair of cowboy boots; one pink

-Camo

-Carharts

-The most lovely of cowboys

Destination: Albuquerque 

-Turquoise earrings; four pair

-2 dreamcatchers

Destination: Any place in Florida

-Tommy Bahama polos

-worn out flip flops

Destination: Any midwestern town

-sweatpants and children

This is a great day. Listening to this amazing music makes for a great start to the weekend. I love watching the people tap their toes to the beat some are even tapping off beat. how does that happen? I love that a little boy grabbed a chair and pulled it up right next to the piano and sat so confidently. My ears are thankful for this time here in the airport. Thank you Nashville! 

Coffee talk

Backlit. The sun is quite bright. 

I am here at the old coffee shop in Arlington. I don't think I have been here on a Sunday morning. It is quite different. There is a perfect combination of heathens and church goers. The lady standing in line next to my table just picked her wedgie..over her coat. It was all a bit awkward. She is wearing a knee-length black coat, blue sweat pants (they have a sticker on them. The symbol looks like the Ferragamo symbol..or, if you are in college, it is kinda like the symbol for Omega). She is also wearing brown loafers, no socks and her hair is slightly unbelievably out of place A MESS. I am guessing she had a semi-late night and will not be at the first service of church.  I have seen 2 bellies already. Did I mention that it is 26 degrees... 

I miss this place. Half of the barista's are new. I said hi to R. when I got here. Glad he is here. I have seen one of those fuzzy head halo headband things that I am not a fan of can't stand:

*Note: if a supermodel looks bad in it.....then it is probably not the best choice.

I see one home-made grey cropped short sleeve sweater thing with a hood. I don't understand it either. Oh! I just saw furry headband thing #2 in black. 

I am going to order the quiche. Ham & cheese. That is what R. says to get. I miss this place. It no longer feels like home but it feels more like a fun little vacation spot. 

The Indian man

I love going to the asian market. Here is a convo from my last visit:

Scenario: I am trying to find this tea that my Nepali neighbors drink. I have many options. I grab what I think is the proper box and proceed to roam each and every isle until I find someone who I think is from the India region to confirm my soon to be purchase. Three isles later, I spot a man who has a red dot in between his eyes. My assumption...Indian.

Me: Excuse me sir, are you Indian?
Sir: (with quickie-mart accent) Yes I am.
Me: I was wondering if this was the kind of tea you guys drink. I have neighbors from Nepali and I want to make the tea yall drink with the cardamom and milk and sugar.
Sir: Oh yes. It is! This is the good one. How do you know it is? Because when you shake it (as he shakes the box next to his ear)- it makes noise. This means it's the good one. It is the leaf. If you get one and shake it and it makes no noise then its the powder. You don't want that one. It is not good. This is the good one. 
Me: So if you were to buy the tea then this is the one you would get? Do you get this kind?
Sir: Yes. You have to shake it though (shaking the box) and if it makes noise then it is the leaf. You got the right one.
Me: Thank you!
Sir: No problem.

I love the asian market.

Newsflash: Missouri is not Kansas

I have been getting some funny responses lately when people hear the response to where I am from. RECENT INCIDENT #1:  Just last week at work, I asked the shoe shine guy what time the Missouri/Nebraska game was on. I work at Nordstrom. They have a shoe shine guy. Or 3. They are all 60 year old black men that are hilarious.  So the guy looks at me, while in the middle of shining a beautiful chestnut wingtip Santorelli, and laughs out loud. The man whose shoe he was shining also laughed and so did the 2 other guys that were standing there. I asked why the laughs were necessary and mentioned that I was rooting for Missouri and so I cared about the game. That made them laugh harder. The shoe shine guy said, "MISSOURI? Who is from Missouri?".  More laughs rose and as I walked away shaking my head. A few minutes later the guy came up to me and said again, "Missouri?". I let him know that he did not ask as question and that he just said the name of my home state. He then said, "Are there black people in Missouri?". I said yes and that I was from Kansas City. He said, "OH. Kansas City! They killin people up in Kansas City". I said yeah and that I would also cut him if he keeps mocking my state.

RECENT INCIDENT #2
Yesterday, while at work, this sweet little woman from Scotland asked to help her find something in the store. She was adorable, purely due to the accent, and I, of course in Bre fashion, started to talk back to her in my Scottish accent. I found out that she was a flight attendant and the airline had lost her luggage so all she had was the trousers she was wearing and a pull over which she called a "jumper". I thought that was cute. Anywho. I told her that I would love to visit her country someday and she told me about the castles and what not. She asked where I was from and I said Kansas City due to the laughs that Missouri gets I thought it might sound a bit cooler to say Kansas City.  Her little face lit up as did mine when she said that she was from Scotland. She said, "OH! I will have to tell my daughter that I met Dorthy! She will be thrilled!!". This lady was excited about it to. I had to bust her bubble and let her know that I was not from Kansas. She didn't care and carried on about the Wizard of Oz. She explained to me that her daughter wouldn't know the difference and how cool it was.

These people out here act like I am from some little country state in the middle of nowhere where the people worship the alters of Wal-mart and drive old trucks. They make it sound like there are cows and workin men in Carharts on the sides of the dirt roads. Like people have little gardens and hang their clothes on clothes lines and know everyone in town. Well, let me be the first to say: SO WHAT!!  It's a great place with great people and good food. Everything is close and traffic means cars on the road and I can't wait to visit over Thanksgiving!

coffee talk

I am wearing a shirt fyi.

Its an all new coffee talk. I am not drinking coffee now and really feel like I should get one just so that I can properly call this coffee talk. I hate to say it but I am not sitting at my usual Northside Social in Arlington. I am sitting at Panera in Tyson's corner mall. I already miss the coffee shop and the people. I miss all the employee's and all my little quirky people that I got to write about. I start today at my new job which is Nordstrom. I am really pumped about it. I do, however, need a new wardrobe for the job so feel free to mail in donations for that. The lighting in here is a bit terrible. I just ate a chocolate covered biscuit. Y.U.M.

There are way too many people in here to blog about. I think I might just pick out a few that stand out and let that be the coffee talk. Already, I am bored of the khaki pant and blue button down with the sad, blue tie, brown shoe, brown belt. I am wondering if it is actually a uniform for the government worker. If it is, then I really need to speak to someone higher up.

There is one lady that stood out to me. She sat at one of the 4 tops for those of you that have never worked in the restaurant industry, a top is in reference to how many seats. So if you have an 8 top, that means you have 8 people seated. You could sit a party of 6 at an 8 top. Or you could sit a party of 2 at an 8 top but you wouldn't want to do that. You would just sit them at a 2 top. And I digress  with her son who looked about 4 years old. She was wearing a large salmon colored long sleeve shirt and it sadly swallowed her extra small frame. Her son, sipping his organic chocolate milk and dipping those processed chicken nuggets in a little pool of ketchup, kept looking up at her, pleased with the way he was dipping. The woman, however, was preoccupied with her nine dollar tub of greenery to even notice his excitement. She stabbed some greens, looked blankly at the kill, and shoveled it in the opening of her boney face. This process continued.

"We are in a war between dullness and astonishment."-Dangerous Wonder

coffee talk

This is a scary picture. 

I was sitting inside for a bit but quickly got my iced americano and came outside. The guy I wrote about a few weeks ago who was sitting outside will his Pelligrino and reading The Uncanny was here today. He is on a new book now and was sipping Pelligrino. Also, the man with the perfect facial hair and macbook pro is here too. He is sitting inside and I said hello to him as I walked in. He is wearing a salmon colored shirt, cool jeans, nice brown shoes and looks like he got the new iPhone because he has been on that thing since I got here.  R., the Pastry Chef, is here and looks like the Chef's are in a little meeting outside. R. let me enjoy some almonds that he made which were perfectly enveloped in a sugar coating. Mmmm.

When I came home from work last nite, I was desperate for chick peas. Why? I have no clue. So I made a chick pea curry thing. YUM!!! I can't tell you what spices I put in it because my spices are from my Nepali neighbor and there are, of course, no labels. So, if you like chick peas, here is the "recipe":

*1 can chick peas
*some tomatoes
*some leftover stuff from the pizza I made the day before including: jalepenos, turkey bacon and chicken
*onions
* fresh ground pepper
*cinnamon
*red spices
*dark brown spices
*medium brown spices

DIRECTIONS:
Brown the onions with delicious EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).
Dump in can of chick peas
Dump in other stuff
pour in the liquid from the can of chick peas
Add the spices
Medium high heat
Then reduce to simmer
Eat.
So maybe my future won't involve writing recipes. But let me tell you. It tastes AMAZING.

I have decided to get in the best shape of my life.

 I am cutting carbs (not as many pizzas for me :( ) , taking my vitamins, eating really well and often, and doing crossfit workouts. I feel great! I have a goal in mind and I plan on reaching that.

I mean......yes please.

 I know it will take a lot of hard work and discipline but I'm ready. Did I make vows to August? I don't think I did. I want nothing to do with the month. Thank God it is almost over.

Did I mention that my birthday is in September?? I think it is the greatest month. My last birthday was terrible and the year that followed was, well, the most difficult one yet. I am pumped for 28 and this next year. If you have clicked the "FOLLOW" button on my blog then thank you. If you remain anonymous then that is fine too but you could click the follow button :) That's all folks.

Coffee talk

Listening to Charlie Parker. Enjoying an iced latte. It is warmer than I like but I didn't get the usual txt from God asking me what degree I would prefer him to set the thermostat at today. He must not have unlimited texts.

to my left, 3 white girls, all dressed completely different than the other. One in a bedazzled brown skirt with a brown bedazzled belt, those weird boots that are peep toes and sandals all in one. those just confuse me. it is as if the designer started with a boot concept and WHOOPS. we just ran out of pleather....so...do we just make it a sandal? then some goof said YES!! Brilliant!! I, however, do not think it is brilliant. It is just confusing.  She is also wearing a brown top. She is a white girl but seems to have just got back from a month in the Caribbean due to her skin that is browner than mine.  She looks kinda like a glorified Hershey's bar. . She is drinking champagne. It is 4:00 by the way. The girl to her right seems to have just gone for a run. A bold number 13 hugs the back of her freebie t-shirt. Nike workout short in grey and pink, Asics shoes, leopard print glasses. Red nails. High ponytail with chunky blonde streaks. She is on her phone and telling what seems to be a very important story. The last wolf in the pak is in white shorts, a grey tank and flip flops. She is sipping champagne as well and has on brown glasses that are bigger than her tanned face. She has on a silver watch and a turquoise ring on the opposite hand.

There are white 2 men a few tables up. Both in khakis that make me bored just looking at them. One is in a yellow button down with a brown and orange hat and sun glasses. black shoes. black belt. black socks. black brief case. yawn. The other man is in a blue button down and he is a large man. They just got up and it took the larger blue man 3 strikes before he was out of his chair.

There are 2 more men at another table who look to be hispanic. I won't talk much about them because I would rather talk about the black man who was sitting at the table in front of me. He kept looking at me as if we were playing a game where I was whispering his name and then looking down at my computer as soon as he heard me. I was not, however, whispering his name. I did not know him. I wondered if he knew that he had ink all over his shirt.

A guy just came out and sat down in front of where the wolf pak is sitting. He was here yesterday and we sat by each other and as I was desperate for an internet connection, I asked him if he was having trouble connecting to the internet as well. He said he was and that it had been like that all day. He has a macbook pro and now he is reading a book but I remember his mac from yesterday. He is drinking iced tea now and he has on reading glasses with orange side thingys why can't i think of what the part of the glasses that go behind your ear are called... He looks to be from some foreign land but I can't guess where. He has long hair combed perfectly into a low ponytail and a face that is carefully framed in facial hair. He looks smart and I bet he plays and instrument. Probably guitar. He looks like the type to ride a bicycle places and to hate corporations and probably be vegan. He is in a blue shirt, dark blue jeans and cool brown shoes.

She didn't smell like curry

Yes. I am at the library. The library that I am at looks nothing like the picture above which is in Dublin. My library looks new and smells new and has a bunch of Korean's and middle aged stay at home moms with their children in it. There is no character and it smells clean. I would rather it look like the picture above. Bailey is looking through a Peter Rabbit book as I sit in the corner blogging, looking like a terrible mother...or wait...I could pretend to be the babysitter. :) Bailey just called me mommy. I have been found out.

So I am at the library because, well, I don't have internet at my house.  I was bumming internet from a lovely Motorola but yesterday, when I tried to get online, I realized that Motorola was no longer there. So. I don't have internet. I think this is a good thing. Well, its quite terrible but maybe I need this time.

I am currently listening to a mom negotiate why her 5 year old can check out 4 books but her friend can check out 6 because the friend is going on vacation next week (lucky brat) and the she will get Lindsey's books. The girl said, "NO!". The mom then told her that she can get one more if she can find one in one minute. The girl is crying saying she can't find a beautiful one. The mom is now helping her. That child needs to be spanked. The mother needs to read some Dobson.

There is the cutest little Indian girl, about 2 years old who keeps coming over to me saying, "Bub-ull. Bub-ull". I am chewing gum and she saw me blow a bubble. Her mom, behind me, said that they just read a book about chewing gum. She is a doll so I keep blowing bubbles with my tiny, old piece of Trident. She has little pink earrings, a pink and black dress, and some flip flops that look like boys flip flops. She has short hair which is half up in a side ponytail. Her teeth are cute and spaced and she is def. a thumb sucker due to the protrusion of E and F (I learned stuff from my previous dental career).

Bailey is running around with a boy who is about 6 and has red hair and eyelashes. He keeps trying to get her to chase him. and she is. He sat down by her and she said to him, "Quit following me!". That's my girl.

Alrighty. It's time for home. Last week was a bit rough. I realized that some pages of a story aren't always exciting. I am learning some good lessons now. I will not look the same 6 months from now. That makes me smile and at the same time makes me realize that a lot is going to have to happen in order to look as differently as I hope. Pray for me. Thank you for being a good friend if you have been a good friend:)  Peace.

coffee talk

Its another week of coffee talk. I just bought Olive Oil here. I don't think I have been this excited in a bit. Well, maybe since this morning when I realized that I am, for sure, going to see Sufjan Stevens in concert in Kansas City on Oct 17th!!!!!

The olive oil is beautiful. It is made in Italy. All of the wording is in Italian. That makes me happy. The front label says:

Rapitala

Olio

Vergine

DiOliva

I am guessing it just says extra virgin olive oil but. It looks much better in Italian. 

I am sitting at a seat that I usually do not sit at. The piece below is the art piece that I am sitting under. It is much better to look at than the lady with the USA flag that I usually sit under. But, you know what I realized just this second? If I sit under the minimally dressed woman with the flag and heels then I am able to see the piece of art pictured below. But sitting where I am now, I cannot see the art piece below. I can only see the minimally dressed woman with the flag and heels. So folks there you have it. Deep thoughts by myself. Better to sit in front of garbage to see beauty than to sit in front of beauty to see trash. Nope. It sounded better in my head. Anywhoo. Here is what I am sitting under:

I am sitting in the upstairs. There is one guy on his hp and Jose' who is rolling silverware at the bar. We just talked a bit bout what time I get off work and how late of a nite I am going to have. The guy on his hp is wearing an orange shirt and he has glasses and he is sitting more awkward that I have ever seen a human sit. He is sitting with his legs up in the chair but to the side so he is kinda sitting on them. I am not sure why. He looks so uncomfortable. I can also see downstairs a bit and I see 2 guys on the couch. They clearly don't know each other as they sit as closely to the opposing sides as possible. The man on the left has salt and pepper hair and looks Italian or Hispanic. He has an hp and is wearing argyle socks, ecru button down, grey slacks. he is wearing a gold band on his left pointer finger and drinking an iced latte. I would guess he was gay by the way he just sipped that latte. No straight man drinks like that. He is well groomed but...he has an hp and a book bag with a NIB tag on it. The other guy is young.  I would say 10 years younger. He is cool. He has a macbook pro. 13inch. He has an old leather bag which I might try to steal. He is wearing cool black boots with little buckles on the side, grey jeans, blue flannel and sipping a black coffee in a mug. He is wearing sunglasses inside and it is not that sunny outside. He has thick sideburns and a little beard. He is not as cool as he thinks but he has really good hair with lots of product. He just saw me staring at him. I must learn to be more discreet.
Well, the time is over and I must go make some money. I had an alright week. I stayed up till 4am watching a french film with Audrey Tatou. I am still ready for an adventure. I am still learning about life and people and relationships. Enjoy your day. Peace.

coffee talk

What a beautiful day for coffee talk. I got here really early today and I think that is what I will do from now on. I am sitting outside. The weather is perfect. A few minutes after sitting down a girl named K. asked to sit at the table with me (the outside is pretty packed). I, of course, said yes knowing she would be blogged about and that we would share stories. She apologized for interrupting but little did she know that she was not interrupting but rather fulfilling her role as a character in my page that sounded like i am way too full of myself and like her sole purpose in life is for me. that is not, however, what i meant. I found out that she is getting into Nutrition. She spoke about the amounts of Calcium in ice cream, the B12 in certain vegetables and how tomatoes and onions release more of their vitamins when cooked. I am pretty sure it was onions. K..if you are reading this feel free to correct me :) I told her that I blogged and she knew that she would be blogged about. She is 23 and from the Northern Virginia area. She sings. She loves food and has a boyfriend. She has 2 tattoos. One is on her left scapula and is from the Opera Carmen. the other is on her left hip and is from Phantom of the Opera. I told her that I have seen Phantom of the Opera and that I would see Carmen. She stayed well past her lunch break but didn't seem too concerned about being late.
I saw the lovely professor whom I pegged as a photographer. He was in business clothes which he is usually not in. He waved and I waved as he walked by and he asked if I was blogging. I told him that I was about to but not about him. sometimes i lie. but not on purpose
There is a man that I told K. that I would blog about. He has lovely grey hair and it is pulled back in a ponytail. An orange ponytail holder. He is on his iPhone that has a white case. He has grey scruff which goes perfectly with his look. He is wearing a white t-shirt and has the sleeves rolled up. He is wearing light khakis which are cuffed. His socks and shoes are off. He has nice shoes. They look like they are Italian leather. He is reading the Uncanny. I asked him what he was reading. I tried to read it from my seat but could only see the cover which is of 2 naked women. I was interested. I asked him what it was about and he said that it is a book set in Europe I think Europe is haunting me...in a good way. a very good way.  He said it was psychoanalysis. I don't think I will ever read it. Some guy just walked out carrying a Lamic. Raspberry. Framboise. My favorite. And I digress....
The man reading "The Uncanny" is drinking a bottle of Pellegrino. So classy. He is a confident man. So sophisticated. He has a slight blonde streak in his hair but you have to stare at him for a while in order to see it. It is a nice touch.
There many more people out here. 21 to be exact not counting me. I do not have time to write about them. There are 4 mac's opened here on this patio. There are 2 business meetings going on. One seems quite boring with a legal pad and some guy with his phone on his belt. There are some artsy guys behind me in a meeting with 2 people talking about visual arts and creating and imaging and mediums and spaces and projects and poets and LA and hipsters and collaborations and perspectives and feelings.
There are 2 people studying. There is one dog and 5 people wearing green shirts.
I love this place. I have been on an Adele kick. Have you heard that voice? She is from London. I love her. She sings in my range. I sing with her way too loudly in my car. She has a song called "Hometown Glory". I love it. Some lines are,

   "Round my hometown, memories are fresh

Round my hometown, ooh, the people I've met

Are the wonders of my world, are the wonders of my world

Are the wonders of this world, are the wonders and now"

I nearly cried, yes. i cry. i am a baby. don't let this tough exterior fool you...i am a baby. on my way here today listening to that song. I feel like this place is my home. This is my hometown. I feel so connected here. These are my people, whether or not I know them. I feel connected to them. I am getting to know them. Their stories. These people are the wonders of my world. I am so happy right now. I am so happy right now.  Jose', one of the guys who works here, just brought me lemonade. How nice is that. I am so happy. 

Coffee talk

Look at how silly that picture is beside me. It is just silly. It needs to be touched up too. I wish you could see it up close. It is funny. It is awesome what some retouching can do. Anyways. I feel like there has been too much coffee talk this week. I apologize for that.
OH. did you see my new flowers? I love them. It's kinda my thing. I also lost about 3lbs worth of eyebrows last nite. There are 3 things that I have learned how to do that I will never regret.
#1. how to cut an onion without crying and properly
#2. give myself a perfect manicure with the cuticle cutter thing and all
#3. do my own eyebrows
So. I usually would blog about the people that I am surrounded by but not in this one.
I want to share a bit of what has been going on in my little heart.
I met some people recently who I think might be an intragel part in my story. I am really excited about that. I am starting to picture what I desire my life to look like. It is so different that the one I had pictured a few years ago. How can things change so quickly in a life? It is crazy how one minute you can be walking down a certain path and then, all of a sudden, you are on a completely different road. Other people's choices can drastically effect your story. my story. It is scary and awesome and exciting.  What are some things in your life that someone has said or done that has completely wrecked you? Maybe it was something you read. Maybe it was a look someone gave you. 3 things recently in my life that I read:
#1 we want Don to want something
#2 Until one day.....
#3 get a loft
These 3 things are propelling my story. Thank you LORD.
ok. so I know I said that I wouldn't write about the people in the room but I must describe this man that just walked past. He looks kinda like Pastor Gary at my church. Such a handsome man. I think this guy is about 5-9 years older though. I bet he is European. why? He is wearing those long shorts that Euro men wear. They are navy. He is wearing a striped polo-navy and light blue striped but an overall coral color. his hair is perfectly grey and combed to the side. He is wearing boat shoes ( i think). He is on his macbook pro. iced latte. he has bright blue eyes and is wearing glasses with a small black rim. he is perfectly tanned i bet he just got back from vacation in the dominican.  His ears are larger than I expected and he is reading a magazine. I can't tell which one. He looks highly educated and I bet he has a summer home...in Europe. His legs are crossed. I am sure he drinks expensive red wine and donates a lot of money to charity. He keeps looking at me...well, I am kinda staring at him. haha. I will not tell him that I just gave him a story. I don't want another one of my stories to get hijacked. I love this place. I love to write. I love Chipotle. and my pen pals. I love Kansas City.

Coffee talk follow up

Okay. So......after I shut my computer, I asked Sam if he was a photographer. He said no. I was so wrong. I felt like I wanted to go back and edit my blog post. I did not. I don't know what he does now. My whole story about him is off now. He has to be some sort of artist. He was writing something and I saw some big words. He had a special keyboard for his mac. A weird one that was really close. I don't think I would like it. SO.....
Crazy old Maurice (line from Beauty and the Beast) over here (which is suppose to be me) TOLD HIM THAT I WAS BLOGGING ABOUT HIM!!!!.
who.
does.
that.
I do.
Oh my gosh. Not only do I do that BUT.
I
gave
him
the
LINK
!
Sometimes I wonder about my own judgement. I know you do to. wonder about my judgement that is. I prefer the strikeout over the parenthesis.
I spelled out the web address. I felt a bit weird, hoping that I didn't write anything inappropriate about him. I don't think I did. I mean, saying that you sat so close to someone that you could smell their hair isn't weird......is it? creepy. yes. weird. no.
And I was late for work because of all this and I got written up for it. Work was slow...so....slow.
It was one of those nites that makes  you question what the heck you are doing in life and makes you want to quit. BUT...
EARLIER.....
I got a random text from an 816 area code that is kansas city earlier today. I didn't know who it was from and the 816 person didn't tell me. I just knew it wasn't a man cuz that is what the texter said. We played this game all day of me asking questions and guessing. I finally got the answer tonite. It was so much fun. Thank you A for the fun little "who the heck is this" game. I love you. The texter wrote something that changed the rest of my nite. She said that this part of the story is the part that gets edited but everyone knows happens. I am so dumb and deleted my inbox so I don't have the exact txt.  She said that this is the part of the story where I wait in the stillness. Wait...and then the next part of the story goes,
"Until one day....."
:) It made my day when she typed that. Yeah...that is how it is going to go. I am just walking out these pages and then....One day.......

coffee talk

Ahhh. my coffee shop. I am glad that the people here now know my drink. I got my iced coffee in a pint glass today. I think its gonna be my new thing. The cup melts when they put in the hot coffee to melt my sugar. I kinda like the pint glass thing.
I am sitting upstairs but I rather be down stairs. There are a ton of interesting looking people down there that I would love to watch but it is kinda packed. Maybe I will go down anyways and sit on the couch. I would have to sit close to someone though and they would be able to see that I am bloggin. maybe I will ask them their story. going down stairs now.........brb.
So glad I did this. I am in the middle of it all now. I blogged a few coffee talks ago about some photographer looking guy. He is here. Right in front of me. Its great. I can almost smell his hair because he is so close. He has some streaks of grey. It is perfect. Looks like he just came from the gym...or is going. I bet he does yoga. Yeah. I would really want to sit outside but it is blazin out there.
Was my last post a bit confusing? Someone told me they didn't get it. I told them that there was nothing really to get. It is just a new chapter.
In the book I am reading, the book about life as a story, they talk about how the character needs to want something. I thought for a minute about my life and how I need to want something. It is not specific. I don't know what I want. I don't know if it means that there is some sort of job that I need to want or a place that I need to want or what. There is just something that I am going to need to want to keep my story going.
In just walked a guy that was here last week. He was reading a book on Nazi life and it was like sci-fi and the people entering an alternate universe. How do i know that??? I heard him explain it to someone else. He rides a bike and smokes American Spirits. He is balding on top and has a cross tattoo on right tricep. He wears cool shorts and dingy shoes.
DANG IT!! I just looked at the time. I am suppose to be at work in 2 minutes. It makes me want to quit and blog full time. So this guy who I pegged as a photographer really is one. I can see his computer. He is in some sort of photographer program. I am good. He is skinnier than I thought.
As I walked in, some guy on a bike said he liked my flower. I like it too. He is sitting with the photographer. He has a smashed ring finger and a camo back pak. He is wearing jeans that are rolled up to his calves and some hiking sandals. Black shirt. Hole in the right back pocket of his pants. brown wallet. slight beard.
Okay. I don't feel like much got accomplished.
Holy crap. The photographer guy just turned around and asked me about my job. I have been his waitress before. HAHAHAHHA.
He doesn't know that I am blogging about him right now. His name is Sam. isn't that great. Oh well, off to work.

Update from the wedding

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was going to a wedding while I was in Kansas City.  I went. It was perfect. I thought I would know some people when I got there but I only knew the brides family. I invited myself to sit with a table of all really cool people. There were only 2 people sitting down when I first got there but then a bunch of really cool people soon came. The table consisted of 4 couples, a baby and me.
couples:
#1. married 2 years. 3 months pregnant.
#2. married. handed out programs at wedding. really cute. guy in skinny suspenders and shoes w/no socks.
#3. married. hairstylist wife who is pregnant (with baby #2) and has a chest piece (tat). husband has dreads and tat's and is really cool
#4. married. cutest baby.
then there was me.
I had so much fun and met a bunch of really cool people. I told the bride how much I loved her and made crude jokes with the groom. I hung out with the brides grandma(B's mom) and brought her iced tea. She is from Mississippi. I ate the best piece of white cake that I think my mouth has ever tasted and ate all of the awesome food on my plate. I stayed till the very end and talked with some funny people after the wedding. I just journaled what my heart felt and I want to just share this little part from it:
     "The K/W wedding was unbelievable. I was emotional-my heart so desired what I saw there. 2 young hearts completely in love; 2 families coming together. The W's were fully supported. The wedding looked vintage. There was food & dancing. The bride was nervous for her wedding nite. Their friends were cool & supportive. Lots of skinny ties & scruff & tattoos. All wonderful things. As I was watching them have their first dance, my heart really felt. I wanted that. My heart wanted that feeling. N was playing with her hair & looking at her in a way that I have never seen. My heart longed for that atmosphere. Surrounded by cool creative people who are walking out their little creative lives & who all  truly love K & N. As my heart was coveting, the Lord spoke so tenderly to those thoughts, "I have something for you. It is not this. It is fully YOURS." WOW. I felt it. My heart stopped coveting. I thanked the Lord for that. My heart let that moment be fully theirs. I no longer tried to steal it. I did, however, take notes on the decor"

actually picture from the ceremony (you can see the back of my head :)

What the LORD has for both you and I is fully OURS. What a freeing thought.

Coffee talk

 

Oh coffee talk blog. I love thee. What I love more than thee is the 3 girls that just walked into this place and sat at the bar right by me. The last coffee shop I was in was Broadway cafe in Kansas City. I am clearly not there anymore. These girls are proof of that. 

Girl #1- drinking a glass of Pinot and has her toes done perfectly. She is sharing a blueberry tart thing with 

Girl #2 -wearing a dress....i am pretty sure it is a shirt but she isn't wearing pants. It is SO short. I mean. Beyond inappropriate short and does not have the body that anyone would want to see all that is being shown. Was that mean? I think what is mean is her friend not questioning her picking that shirt to wear as a dress  She is also drinking a glass of Pinot. 

Girl #3 just left. I don't remember her....dang it.

Sipping Pinot and eating 9$ blueberry tart things. Oh Arlington. How I love thee. I love that I was just sending a text and I looked up and everyone in here is also on their phones. 

I feel so creative right now. I want to go home and create things. I feel like for the past, oh, i don't know, 5 years, my creativity has slowly been diminishing. But....It is back and it feels good. It feels like me. I want to create something everyday. and I want it to be something great. I want it to be beautiful and I want to share it. Whether it is food or art. I want to be around creative people. I want their creativity to make me more creative. I think there should be a limit on how many times one can use a certain word in a day. I would have exceeded that already There is so much I want to do. I was talking to my dear friend G. yesterday about all that we wanted to do in life. The awesome thing is that we CAN do so many of the things we dream of. We have nothing but time. Why not do missions and open a coffee shop and go to hair school and travel Europe and have babies and a garden and buy dresses and learn about cheese and beer and bread and rugby. 

Time for work. Have a good nite. Peace.

Coffee talk

I am sitting in a coffee shop in Raytown, Missouri. The name of it is Benetti's. There are 6 other people in here besides myself. 

1&2. What seems to be a couple each reading their own books, one drinking an orange pop in a bottle and the girl with a small cup of coffee. 

3. A guy next to me who is also reading a book. A HUGE book. He has a mug of coffee. I bet it is drip coffee. He has the old Nokia phone in a holder on his belt. awesome. 

4. Some guy who is drinking water and wearing a striped polo with gym shorts that are as long as pants.

5. I can't see him. He has an Hp and is wearing tennis shoes. That is all I can see. 

(Everyone is wearing tennis shoes in here)

6. The guy that works here. I think he just got off. He is sipping a mug of something wonderful. He has a nice beard and 3 earrings. I keep looking over in that direction to see what he is doing and each time he looks up. Awkward. I think he has in earphones. I don't know what he is doing. I think he is playing a game on his iphone or something. Probably sudoku. (I love sudoku) No wait.....It was his iPod. He was changing songs. He is wearing brown pants and some old school adidas. He was just taking a break. Back to work. 

These are the people that come to this coffee shop. They do not come to my coffee shop. They all have a story. I want to know their story. 

I have spent a week here now in Kansas City. I have done SO much this week:

-photoshoot with the AMAZING T.F.  www.timfleenorphoto.com

-Skies restaurant with my dear L. and her family

-St.Louis with my brothers

-City Museum

-Budweiser factory

-The most amazing wedding that I have ever been to

-The Peanut and Bait Shop with L. and her man and his friend (SO FUN!)

-The Foundary in Westport with old and new friends and laughing so hard (I really want to visit Oregon now. Not so much Bartlesville...sorry) (OH..and let us not forget the cut-off shirt guy with the terrible half sleeve)

-Taking pictures of strangers in Westport

-Saw an old boyfriend

-New fav. band. http://www.myspace.com/kopeckyfamilyband

-Picked blueberries with my mom, grandma and Bailey

-Green Street Hooligans.....no...it was a bootleg copy...didn't work...The Breakup....no awkwardness....junk?

-Saw an old classmate G. (told you I would blog about you)

-Met some great people at the Welch wedding!!!

-The Redeemer church 

-Broadway cafe (twice)

-Got some great vintage stuff

-Saw baby J. and my cousins

-Got a new old clutch

Okay....so you get that a lot happened in just a short time. I fell in love with this city. I can't wait to come back. I feel like I am suppose to be in DC at this part of my story though. KC may try to lure me in but I am not easily swayed by the constant temptation of great coffee shops, authentic churches, beautifully tatted people, vintage stores, old homes, low cost of living, amazing people and a slower pace of life. 

I do love this place. 

Coffee shop

I love my coffee shop in Arlington. 

I love it. 

I get an amazing cup of Joe and so much great people watching. I love this crowd. 

I love that everyone has a story.

I would love to know some of the stories that are in here. 

I love the "artist looking" guy in the corner with his macbook pro and frizzy hair and mustache and whole foods bag. 

I love the girl at the bar with her ipod and white heels and bad highlights and designer bag. 

I love the asian lady in to the left sipping her no fat latte in a mug and bright pink skirt and bangs.

I love the black girl in the corner with her hp getting work done.

I love people. 

I love the 2 couples.

Are they dating? Co-workers? Friends?

I love that every time I come here there are new people. I do see some of the same people like that exotic looking woman who wears all black and has questionably big lips. 

And the guy who is definitely in the art world somehow who has his mac and crazy grey hair and little cute blue glasses.

These people make my day. They don't know it. 

They don't know that I am sitting here checking them out, writing about them. 

Oh, I forgot about the guy at the bar in the flip flops and fitted jeans and blue t-shirt working so diligently on his mac. 

I can't see his face and it makes me really want to get up.....wait...he just looked back here :) He is definitely from some place like Greece or Lebanon. 

Someplace cool like that. He is checking his Gmail. Has WAY to much in his inbox.

Thank you NorthSide Social for spending an hour with me before work. 

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard

ps. the guys really don't look like this. 

So I work at a lounge now. I am really enjoying it. The people watching in Arlington, VA is like none other. There are some great and interesting people out there and I am so glad to be able to meet some of these 'characters'. They are not necessarily characters in MY story. I mean, for a few moments they are but what I mean is that they are funny people. What I am really enjoying is the male/female interactions...and to be more specific, the way the guys are with me. Our lounge has a TON of regulars and my lovely trainers introduce me to all of the regs. They are typically late 20's to late 30's professionals who make way too much money for the work they actually do so they work for the government.  Tonite I want to specifically talk about one gentleman whom we will call F. i forgot his name but it began with an F. so many of these characters have really cool exotic names. I like that.  So my boy F who is about 6'4, weighs probably 190, blue v-neck, ripped jeans, cool eyes, whitebread found out he was born in Bosnia and Amstel Light in hand SICK approaches me at the end of the bar and has NO clue how the next twenty minutes or so of his life are about to pan out. He shakes my hand and tries to order some drinks for his friends. 

Okay..so I don't have to give all the little silly details. 

His name was very odd so I asked him where he was from. He told me to guess I LOVE the guess where I am from game because I think I am pretty good at it :)  I guessed Greece because he just had the look. He said close and that he was from Bosnia. Once again here comes my geography that I did not care to learn but is needed to know where heck Bosnia is.  so....anyways....Talked a bit about what he does and what I do and played guessing games on that one too.

F tells me that he is really interested in me and blah blah blah who knows maybe he could be the love of my life.  I let him know that I was probably NOT like the other girls and that a relationship between us would probably more than likely NOT work out for only a few thousand reasons. Then F asks to take me to dinner so that he can get to know me really F? wow. i feel so special. my heart is beating so fast. I am getting butterflies in my stomach and a bit nervous. just kidding I told him that I would love to but I have a few questions. I asked him what 2 desires of his heart were. 

Answer: buying a home for his parents in Bosnia and moving them back because they want to live there and they did so much for him. The second one was something like working with children or....I don't remember that one. Oh..It just came to me. He said that he wanted to find fulfillment in life. I asked him where he thought that came from. I don't remember his answer to that but it  had something to do with helping people and kids which led to him telling me that he was working at this elementary school today which lead to me asking why he was at an elementary school today if he works in IT which led to him telling me that it was community service which led to him telling me about his charge with possession of marijuana and coke. not classic either

This is the point of the story where I held up one hand, looking into my palm as if there were a list of all possible future spouses numbered neatly with a Sharpie on it and with my other hand I proceeded to use my pointer finger as the Sharpie to sadly cross his name off the list. I made a sad face, gently touched his well defined deltoid and apologized for my deletion of his name. I did assure him, however that we could be friends and I could see him again friday he better tip well too!! He talked to me every chance possible and kept trying to convince me that he was done selling coke and weed and I kept trying to convince him that I was so glad, so proud, so NOT going home with him. He was heartbroken but seems to leave happy with that drunk tall girl at the other end of the bar. (ps. all of this really did happen. I laughed inside a bit)

You mean he really didn't care about me and my heart? I am in shock. 

Dear boys at the bar:

Get a man's drink, some integrity and Jesus and then come say hi to me at the end of the bar. 

signed-bre aka the new girl aka halle. 

What do I look like?

I just love this look. I wonder what she does for a living. I bet she works in marketing or p.r. I bet she smokes Marlboro ultra lights, but only when she drinks...and she drinks red wine...and not the cheap stuff.  She is just dating and doesn't want kids because then she couldn't just go to Paris (p.s this pic is from The Sartorialist blog if you haven't checked it out. Its WONDERFUL). I bet she did her undergrad at UCLA. She has a younger sister. She watches Lost. She played tennis in college. She makes way too much money for what she really does and has really nice sheets on her bed. She is a vegetarian. She has never built anything or been to the midwest..wait..she went to Chicago to a baseball game with her x boyfriend. She doesn't believe in marriage because she was once engaged and got her heart broken. I would love to meet her. I wonder what people think about me without knowing a thing. I wonder what I "look" like.
P.S. I bought those shoes a few weeks ago!