Matters of Katie

Weak Sauce

2008-12-17T16:58:00.001-08:00

I heart Ballard, but we always get the weak sauce weather. Come on, bring on the snow. I have 3 days off and want to play in the snow!

Grove Holiday Party

2008-12-14T19:47:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you give me 4 martinis and an iphone camera.

Yeah for snow!

2008-12-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

It's snowing in Ballard! I should take pictures before it's all over tomorrow. Just got back from a fabulous Christmas party at my friends who I first met as customers at Bambino. It was fantastic and it snowed the whole time and now I have to go to bed because I have to work at 6:30am and it's 12:30am right now. Oh the life of a Barista.

Now at Aster Coffee Lounge

2008-12-09T14:05:00.001-08:00

I quit my job at Bambino about a year too late. Don't get me wrong, it was a great job, awesome customers, amazing co-workers, but having mean and unappreciative management can be a deal breaker. My last day was on Thanksgiving!

When I quit I decided to take a few months off to clear my head and re-evaluate my position in the service industry, see if I really wanted to continue with it.

Then...my barista who works at the coffee shop down the street from my house got into a nasty cycling accident and broke her elbow and is out of a job. So having extra time on my hands I stepped in and am now working 4 days a week at Aster Coffee Lounge. It's an awesome place, amazing coffee, the worlds best cinnamon rolls (rivals the Stehekin Bakery), good beer and wine and will soon be featuring some of my famous soups. I don't know for sure how long I'll be there, who knows it could end up being a full time thing, but I am enjoying helping out and getting to learn a lot more about coffee. Oh yeah, we are the only ones in Ballard that has a Clover machine too, and the hype is all correct, it's the most awesome drip coffee maker ever!

Oh what it is to be a Scorpio.

2008-12-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

I always new Scorpios were different. But, I don't have asthma, guess I'm a lucky Scorpio.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/health/research/09asthma.html?no_interstitial

Back to the real world

2008-12-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah I am absent again and I said I wouldn't be. Well I'm back, I've got a shiny new iphone to help me keep connected to the world 24/7. WhoHoo! I am also back to being creative and selling my handyworks on etsy. Check it out if you have time and give me some feedback.

See I have been in a whirlwind the past few months, the photo doesn't lie.

I finally got my tattoo...

2008-09-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I finally gathered up the courage to get the tattoo I've always wanted. There is a lot of special meaning for me in it. Most people say, "Oh, you got a tree," well yeah I got a tree, but it's so much more than a tree. It's the Katie Tree of Life. The trunk of the tree represents myself with the branches being my close friends and family, the roots are my parents and my sisters, and each of the leaves/dots are an important accomplishment that I've completed thus far in my life. So far there are 16 leaves and I hope to add more to the tree as I get older.

I'm such a lier.

2008-07-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

In my last post I told myself and you that I wouldn't slack. Well, here I am slacking and there is so much to update on. So one post at a time I swear I'll update from the beginning.

Where does the time go?

2008-04-07T17:34:00.001-07:00

Boy oh boy, I told myself I wouldn't do this and I did. I didn't post in a whole month. What was I thinking. Apparently I wasn't thinking for a whole month.

So what have I been up to. Absolutely nothing. For reals. I have been working, running, working, and then running some more. I am training for more marathons this summer! Who Hoo, I'm excited as if you can't tell. I bought my plane ticket for the first one. The San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon. It sounds like it will be a blast. 14K people, music every mile, a huge concert at the end, free booze and swag, what more could you ask for really. I was going to run the Maui marathon September but was lazy and didn't book my accommodations in time and now have no place to stay. I think it was fate telling me to stay closer to home, save money and explore Portland instead. I'm gonna run the Portland Marathon instead in October, seeing as I don't hurt myself before hand. Knock on wood.

Other than that, I've been pondering what I'm gonna do with my life. I applied for a teaching position at FareStart but they were already hiring for the job when I applied. So sad. I was excited about the prospects of combining my two passions, coffee and helping others. Oh well. I guess it wasn't the right time for this position. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason.

Hey Babe, where do you Caucus?

2008-02-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

Rob and I participated in our first caucus today. WhoHoo! I couldn't believe how many folks were at our meeting. We had a 130+ turnout in our precinct (only a few blocks of Ballard) and most of those were first time caucus voters. Everything was completely disorganized because there were so many participants. There were too many people to fit in the cafeteria, so we split up and half of the precincts went to the gym, where we were crammed in like sardines. All in all it was fabulous. I wish there would have been more of a chance to discuss more with our neighbors, but with so many people you could only talk to the person sitting next to you.

I Really Want One

2008-02-06T15:32:00.001-08:00

Anyway we can get one of these for Echo?

Take that cheaters!

2008-02-03T20:23:00.001-08:00

Now on to baseball!

More Disneyland Pictures

2008-01-22T15:42:00.001-08:00

Don't ride the teacup ride after eating shitty hamburgers and french fries.

The Disneyland must have photo in front of the castle, which turned out to be 75% smaller than I remembered as a kid.

Disneyland

2008-01-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a trip to LA to visit friends, eat delicious dinners and we couldn't miss the chance to go to Disneyland. Both Rob and I haven't been since we were really little so this was the perfect opportunity to relive our childhood.

We started the day at California Adventure. We rode the screamer roller coaster twice in a row. It's always good to start the day off right being dizzy.

We had a blast. Rode all the rides we could, ate churros, watched all the suckers with their tired screaming children and got our picture with Eyore.

We also had a fabulous 9 course wine tasting dinner with 27 of Rob's poker buddies. It was amazing. I was most impressed of how well the food paired with the wine. I wish I had that ability to know what tasted good with what. All I know is that garlic tastes great with everything, even ice cream (thank you Mallards).

I told myself I wouldn't

2008-01-05T23:14:00.001-08:00

I told myself I wouldn't care. I even bought a t-shirt to let everyone know that I really didn't care (see above). But, things happen that are beyond your control. I rented the whole series of "My So Called Life" and have been enjoying them as much as I did in the early 90's. But too much teenage angst takes me back to my high school days and with my 10 year high school reunion coming up this year, I am already reminded of high school and all the drama. So, I turned off the DVD and changed channels to see what was on and damnit I got stuck on the New Hampshire debates and actually watched the whole thing and cared!

Are the holidays almost over?

2007-12-26T14:28:00.001-08:00

Happy Christmas and almost New Year.

Neeko is wondering if the holidays are almost over. He, along with Echo, had a grand 'ol time opening up presents on Christmas morning. Ripping apart stuffed animals couldn't be more fun. We had a great Christmas this year. No stress, lots of hanging out with friends and family and it even snowed in Seattle. Wow! Bring on New Year's!

My pirate Christmas face.

Christmas self-portrait.

Etsy shop is almost set up!

2007-12-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

www.seattlegrl.etsy.com

We got our new computer all set up and I'm in the process of setting up my etsy website for my jewelry sales. I don't have stuff up for sale yet, but should by the end of next week. I have to take pictures of all the earrings before I can list them. Oh what fun that will be!

White Elephant Party

2007-12-16T14:18:00.002-08:00

We held our annual White Elephant/Bad Holiday Sweater party on Friday. We had a grand ol' time with friends, food and festive drinks (mmmm hot buttered rum). I was impressed with the White Elephant gift turn out, you all did a great job picking fun and awesome gifts. This year the coffee themed bag was the big winner. There were many comments from the non-coffee industry folks wondering why the coffee industry folks wanted the coffee soooooo bad. We can't help it, we NEED coffee, even at home!

Ryan checking out the coffee bag goods. Laura and Will were the proud winners of the coffee bag. I hope you're enjoying your morning coffee and chocolates!

Some of the gang checking out the next openers goods. Notice Brian's awesome Santa tie.

My beautiful Christmas sweater, I heart the Holly pin.

Creepiest Video Ever!

2007-12-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb5DkLd22Ic&feature=related

Sorry I had to share. This is Fergie when she was on Kids Incorporated singing "Say You, Say Me" with the creepy clown.

Three more weeks until 2008

2007-12-10T16:21:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's the middle of December already. It seemed like yesterday that it was June and I was looking forward to hiking the Enchantments and running the marathon. They sure are right when they say time flies too fast. I always have all these grand plans at the beginning of the year and then life gets in the way and I have to reschedule all the things that I really wanted to do or accomplish (like painting the house). So my pre New Years resolution is to not make any resolutions so I won't be disappointed when things don't happen or get done.

We had a great family dinner last night with my Uncle, his family and my sister and her girlfriend. Along with the no gifts theme Rob and I have adapted we held a craft night/dinner to celebrate the holiday. We drew wooden framed ornaments out of a hat and painted them for each other as our "gift" to the family. It was so much fun and we got to spend some quality time with each other with no TV, drama, or obligations.

Andee painted the snowman for Rob and Uncle Ray painted the penguin for me.

I highly recommend the no gifts idea for the holidays, it makes things so much easier. No stress, no shopping at the crazy mall, no disappointment when you don't get that thing you "really" wanted, easier on the pocketbook and most of all you can spend more time with the ones you love. WhoHoo!

Heaven Sent Christmas Cacti

2007-12-07T14:51:00.001-08:00

I've been given multiple Christmas Cacti over the years and every one of them I've managed to kill. Don't know what I did, but they as a species don't get along with my semi-brown thumb.

Thus, I'd like to share with you my new specially handed down Christmas Cacti and note that they are healthy and blooming!!!!! Blooming I tell ya!

My Grandma Cameron, bless her, had the best collection of Christmas Cacti, she had all colores, red, purple, pink, white and I think even a yellow. Every time I'd visit she'd always want me to take some of her babies off her hands. She never threw the new growths away. Every time I'd have to tell her no because I would just end up killing them. The last time I saw her I had to give in though and now I have three beautiful healthy girls sitting on my windowsill. Grandma passed away just days after she passed these beauties on to me. She gave them to me I think knowing that she'd help me take care of them and help them bloom just in time for Christmas. Thanks Grandma and I miss you too!

WhoHoo Weekend!

2007-12-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

WhoHoo, it's finally my weekend and there's so much to do. I started it off right with sleeping in until 9, stressing out about money, dropping off our adopt a family boxes and enjoying a wonderfully made americano from my work.

Speaking of work, I haven't really introduced my new place yet. Yes, you heard that right, new place. The rumors are true, I quit the south Allegro in October and started a new barista job at the tiny Cafe Bambino (www.cafebambino.com) in Ballard. It's a great little shop that has some yummy coffee, mighty o donuts, and free live music on the weekends out on the patio. I really like it there, I get to walk to work, I'm meeting abnormally nice and wonderful customers and my co-workers rock (though my co-workers and some customers at Allegro are just as awesome).

Don't worry, starting a new job hasn't put my overall plans on hold. I'm still aggressively pursuing opening up my own place as well as starting my own coffee roaster. As I've come to realize these things take a lot more time than I had originally thought. I was talking to a customer the other day about his 5 year plan for opening up his own restaurant, 5 years, holy shit that's a long time, and he's a certified chef who knows his stuff. So I'm not feeling too bad about my years adding up so far.

You think you're having a bad day...

2007-12-04T15:39:00.001-08:00

Saddest little hedgehog ever. I vow that if I'm having a bad day I will just look at the saddest little hedgehog ever and feel better.

Rob and I did our 3rd or 4th annual (I can't remember) Adopt-A-Family shopping spree today. We've decided that giving each other stupid meaningless Christmas gifts is pointless, we already have everything we could ever need or want, so we adopt a family or two each year instead of giving gifts. It's one of my favorite shopping trips of the year, especially since I get to spend an hour in the toys isles for a good cause. There are some really cool toys out there. This year we adopted a family of four, Mom, Dad, Son and Daughter. Fun fun fun. We went to town and hopefully the family will love their gifts. If not, at least they should be grateful that they aren't the saddest little hedgehog ever.

Za Christmas Tree with the Boys

2007-12-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

It snowed yesterday and what, I missed putting up the tree when the snow was falling, oh well, had to make due with rain. Here's our cute little fake-o Christmas tree with our ton of ornaments and the boys sitting nicely in front waiting for me to squeeze the ball. We switched to the fake-o tree after we got Neeko in the Greenlake house. It took a lot of convincing, really I just went out and bought one off of craigslist before Rob could say anything. We had to switch because Neeko had a abnormal obsession with drinking the water from the real trees and we couldn't keep the stand filled, then we got Echo who thinks that light bulbs are edible. Who knows what kind of trouble they are going to get into this year. Hopefully they won't try to open the presents as we put them under the tree.

Go See Enchanted!

2007-12-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

Usually I'm not a movie pusher, but I have to recommend going to see the new Disney movie "Enchanted". It's worth the full price movie ticket, so much that I've seen it twice now. I haven't seen a movie twice in the theater in years, not since my teenage angst years when the Leo version of "Romeo and Juliet" was out, yes I saw it way more than twice in the theater, sad I know. But, Disney has come back to full form with "Enchanted", it's smart, funny, dreadfully cheesy and will keep you smiling through the whole movie.

Welcome to Matters of Katie

2007-11-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to start a blog for years now. I used to post on the Bitching Barista, but after a while I got tired of bitching. Who would have thought. So here I am to update the world of my world and what matters.