The Chamberlain Art Show

My lovely friend Lizzy had a beautiful get together this weekend. 

It was called "The Chamberlain Art Show".

I went to visit her to help put on this massive event and to meet her newly acquired fiancée, Jon.

They are so cute by the way!

They have been dating since November 2009, 

and I just have never been in town at the right times to meet him.

 There was art work in every room of the house

on every inch of the wall.

It was incredibly elaborate.

But then again I would expect nothing else from Lizzy.

My big contribution was arranging the food,

making Mushroom Pate,

and creating fun candles around the house. 

This was my favorite piece of artwork.

It was called: "Jesus was a Black Man Too",

and it was painted by the talented Leah Nixon.

Lizzy, being an aspiring playwright, wrote a play called "Collection Time", 

and it was performed that night.

The concept was that our technology tools are not necessary to life as the "garage man" comes to collect all of the "trash" (electronics).

It was very intriguing.

This is a photo of the theatre room.

It was cut down the middle by blue tape.

One side saturated with technology,

and the other memorabilia from the past.

 On top of having a fabulous weekend with an old friend,

Lizzy asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.

I feel so honored.

I just about cried on the porch at 2 am in the morning after this crazy night. :)

I heart friends!

The funny thing is I visited her in St. Louie almost exactly one year ago.

Remember my Comfort of a Coffee Snob post?

Funny, how that stuff can happen on accident. :)

This picture is for Hannah Elizabeth & Connally:

 If you want to see more photos of the art show,

Check out my album here.

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Brewing Basics: The French Press

A press pot, also known as the French Press, is a coffee brewing method technique that allows the coffee grounds to steep in hot water and then the grounds are “pressed” to the bottom of the French Press. There are many ways to make a press pot, but The I make my press pots with a technique that I believe best showcases the coffee.

You will need:

1.       50 g Coffee beans

2.       A scale

3.       A grinder

4.       Hot water

5.       A French Press

1.  Shine the French Press with a paper towel.

2.  Zero out the scale with a silver cup on top and set to grams. This means to put the cup on the scale, turn it on, and wait for the reading to be zero before adding any beans. If the scale is set on ounces, press the on button a second time before it reads zero to change it to grams.

3.  Weigh out 50 grams of coffee. 

4.  Grind the beans in the ­Bunn grinder on the course setting. Catch the grinds in the press pot without the lid on.

5.  Steep the grinds in hot water (just below boiling) and fill up to the top silver line. I usually let the water kettle whistle at me or get to boiling, and then take the kettle off the stove for 30 seconds to let it cool down.

6.  Start timer and let the grinds bloom. “Bloom” means to let the grinds saturate in the hot water. The picture to the right illustrates what it should look like at this stage.

7.  At one minute, stir the grinds so that they are all wet.

8.  At three minutes, start scraping the top grinds off using  spoons, as pictured below. 

9.  At four minutes, put on the lid and slowly press down.

10. Enjoy.

I took all of the pictures of my co-worker David in action.

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Building Ecuador Excitement

My study abroad program in Ecuador is a little less than 3 months away, and I am starting to get excited.
I bought a vintage red suitcase (which probably won't be practical for Ecuador but I love it anyway) and a passport cover (girly, I know). I also received a lovely packet of Ecuador info from a couple back home that used to live there as missionaries awhile back. People are so thoughtful. :)

Last night was our first official meeting to, which was exciting in scary. You know, those meetings when you are travelling in groups where they have to prepare you for every worse case scenario. Let's just say there are a lot of those, but there are also exciting things. I know who my roommate is! Her name is Brandi, and I am eager to get to know her.

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Eat. Pray. Love.

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This past weekend, I watched the movie Eat. Pray. Love. with Travis and his momma. I love the essence of this movie--a woman's journey to find herself amongst people who are very different than her. I admit though that I dislike her motives to take the journey. I could not get over that she left her husband just because she didn't want to be married anymore--it was a tad selfish. It worked out for her in the end, though.

Watching the movie fed my adventure bug in a crazy way all over again. I love how she experienced Italy, India, and Bali with local people--seeing the realness of that country.

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It got me thinking if I could pick my Eat. Pray. Love. countries, what would they be?

After a lot of pondering, I made my list and I wanted to share it with you:

• First, I would go to Morocco. I LOVE Moroccan culture. It is such a hub of so many other cultures such as Spain, France, Arab, and Africa.
• Second, I would go to India (like the movie, I know), but it is such a colorful place. There is really no other culture like it. Ever since 3rd grade, my friend Brit and I decided we wanted to go to India because it sounded cool in history class. That thought has never let only deepened by things like Slumdog Millionaire (I heart that movie!).
• Last, I would go to Australia. I have no particular reason for the last one other than I enjoy learning about the struggle with the lost generation of aboriginals. I would love to learn more about that first hand, and the wildlife is amazing.

So those are my Eat. Pray. Love countries, 

What are YOURS? :)

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What is a Latte?

This week for "Adjusting the Grind" I wanted to answer the question:

A Latte is one of the most basic espresso based coffee drinks (coffee brewed on a espresso machine). It is the drink I most often recommend to newcomers because it is a safe, basic drink that you can have fun with if you want.

"Latte" literally means "milk" in Italian.

So why is this coffee drink called a latte?

Well, "Latte" is short for "Cafe Latte".

"Cafe" literally means coffee in Italian.

So if you went to Italy and ordered a cafe latte, you would get a funny look and receive something that looked like this. 

However, Americans changed this. A cafe latte is not a part of the main traditional Italian drinks like the cappuccino. Caffee Mediterraneum, in Berkeley, California, claims to be the place where the American cafe latte was born. According to them, one of their owners, Lino Meiorin, came over from Italy in the 1950's and created a larger cappuccino with more milk to appeal to a wider crowd. 

Today, the cafe latte has become to be espresso + steamed milk.

Compared to a cappuccino, a cafe latte has less espresso to the milk ratio and less foam in the steamed milk. It is also served at a higher temperature than a cappuccino. In a 12 oz. or tall latte (like pictured here), there is  two shots of espresso mixed with steamed milk. 

That is all!

But the great thing about lattes is they are the basis for many other coffee drinks. For example, a mocha is a latte with chocolate. So be creative with your latte, but it fantastic all on its own as well. 

I took and own all of these photos of my co-worker, David, in action.

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