#but i paid $7 for it and then tipped the barista $2 and i was like well

[megkuna]

strawberry matcha drink you were delicious but why the 900 grams of sugar. i have such a bad headache now

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

okaaaaaaay i think im now madly obsessed w yan player amor so what if barista reader noticed and slowly became uncomfortable w his uncannily nice advances and overly big tips and all that knowing he has quite the reputation? but i think that the gods also shot an arrow into my heart as i read abt yan player >< <33

Yandere! Male! Player x gn! Barista! Reader part 2

An order of Amor coming right up!

"He's here again."

One of your coworkers nudged your side, smirking at your deadpan face. "Aw, what's the face for? Aren't you happy that you got such an icon pursuing you?"

You want to gag.

Amor has been going here, everyday. Drinking the same coffee, eating the same cake. It's been like that to the point that you'll prepare the order beforehand.

He always come to the cafe at 7:30 in the morning, walk up to you and with that dumb smile on his handsome face, he would say "Hello darling. One order of caramel machiatto and a slice of red velvet please." And you would hand the order immediately just to minimize interaction.

But he would stay at the counter just to smile creepily at you.

It doesn't help that your coworker would gush about how lucky you are, how amazing it is to have THE Amor fawning over you.

But guess what, you didn't care. You wanted out.

And you made sure Amor knew about it.

You ignored him, always adamantly returning his ever so generous tips, and shooting him down whenever you had the chances.

On the other hand, Amor is getting quite... Pissed.

Why aren't you falling for him?

He made sure to wish for every person to fall for him in his next life, which is this current life. So why aren't you fawning over him? Even the god of love doesn't have an answer at all.

It was infuriating.

You were so close. So painfully near to his grasp but so far. You were like an unreachable dream to someone so selfish as him. Like a punishment for being so over himself.

But, he's the Amor. He gets what he wants.

So, begging to his family, throwing a quite embarrassing tantrum, he managed to...

"MOM! DAD!" You yelled at your parents as they stopped arguing. The dark circles below their eyes were a signal that something's wrong. Terribly wrong.

They looked at each other before your mother gave a pointed look at your dad.

"Do not tell them." Your mother seethed, but your dad groaned.

"They deserve to know!"

"But they don't live here anymore! They don't have anything to do with our debts!"

Debts? Your parents had debts?

You looked at them incredulously, not believing at what they're talking about right now. Your parents were pious, they never, ever had debts and always were good people. So what's with debts? And why haven't they paid it yet?

"Dad, mom, debts? You guys made sure to pay them always if you did get debts or favors or whatever." You raised your hands in disbelief. You had a bad feeling about this.

"It's just that, we somehow got debted to the Kim's." Your dad said, worried.

"Kim's?" You asked. "There's too many Kim's! Which?!"

Your gut feeling made you remember a certain playboy.

"You know, that Kpop idol Taejoon Kim. With his wife the miss Universe Alyssa Kim? Their son... Amor Kim."

Your eyes widened, a feeling of dread creeping up your back and making you shiver from the sudden chill. No way, right?

"How did you even get debted to them?" Your voice carried a humorless laugh that seeped out a bit of fear. Your parents looked at each other before your mom sighed.

"I work in that fancy hotel, right?" Your mother grimaced. "I apparently broke their pipeline? I swear I was only in the pipe system to investigate the rat problem but I bumped into a faulty pipe and now the whole hotel is flooded... That hotel was owned by Mrs. Kim..."

Your father fidgeted on the spot also, looking away.

"The company I work at, had this pipe system too, and as their main cleaning manager I manage the waterline. I thought I could fix the problem by myself... Ended up flooding the building also... Owned by Mr. Kim."

You shivered from the weird coincidence. Both pipelines? Really? How did that even happen?

"So? Both of you are going to pay for it?" You asked with a slight grit on your voice and they nodded.

They looked so defeated, it broke your heart into tiny smithereens. The anger flared up for Amor once more.

"Those rich people..." You seethed.

"It was our fault dear." Your mother cooed, hugging your frame. "I... I wasn't careful enough."

"Me too. I should have called for an expert." Your father frowned sadly.

You never felt so helpless in your entire life. If only there was a way to help them.

"How can I help..?"

This time, your parents froze and they coughed loudly, looking away.

Another bout of the twisted gut, you looked at them with worry in your eyes. "What is it?"

"I-it's nothing, dear." Your mother whispered, avoiding eye contact. "We will find a solution ourself."

"No! If I can help then I will!" You stepped up to them. Your body moving in order to meet their evasive eyes. "Please! Look at me! What is it?"

"Ah..." Your father looked at your mother before whispering something to your ear.

"No."

Goosebumps riddled your body as you froze from the sudden shock going through your form. "Marriage?! What is this?! The 17th century?!"

Your parents looked at each other before shrugging. "It's really weird, dear. There's so many other chaebols out there who's more rich than us. But why you? We're not rich at all."

The whole situation was so fishy.

And a flash of that lovesick look Amor slips through sometimes came up on your mind.

You're too smart for your own good.

You knew it was due to him.

You had enough.

You can't just let your parents suffer like this.

So, with a heavy heart and a defeated look, you held their hands and hugged them both. "Thank you for taking care of me for my whole life, mom and dad."

A loving whisper, and a touch affectionate, your parents knew of your plan. And they paled.

"No! Dear, this is not your burden to carry!" Your father shakily let out. "You... You have so much to live for!"

"Look at the bright side, dad! I will be... Uh, rich! We will be!" You reasoned, trying, scouring for the bright side to this situation. "It's okay dad. Rather than being homeless trying to find money to pay for such a huge debt. I would take this road for the both of you."

Your mother started to weep, and you inwardly died.

You can't believe Amor would stoop this low.

You don't even know him that well.

And as you, in an elaborate and extravagant wedding garment, reach your hand towards the extended ones of Amor, with that triumphant and obsessive look that you abhor, you cursed him inwardly.

You never stood a chance.

The gods are on his side after all.

You are now his, fully.

Now it's up to you if you want to make his life miserable, or melt into his arms.

[snowflakechallenge]

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #8

Introduction Post* Meet the Mods Post * Challenge #1 * Challenge #2 * Challenge #3 * Challenge #4 * Challenge #5 *Challenge #6 * Challenge #7 *

Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

It's time to shine a light on your own fannish projects, whatever forms those may take. Ideas count too, so don't be put off if you have nothing concrete to show.

Challenge #8 Talk about a current fannish project (fic, art, vid, crochet, funko pop village) (that you are creating or enjoying) Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

One thing fans like to do is talk about the things they enjoy and create, and for this challenge we want to explore that. This is the time to let your creative side shine bright, and I just don't mean via fic. Though if you're writing/posting a fic right now; tell us, we want to know about your 10000k epic about Hawkeye, Lucky and the people who love them. But by the same token, if you're writing AU drabbles about Janeway the barista, well tell us about them, too.

But for this challenge, anything goes. Do you throw pots shaped like BB-8? Have you created a Funko village full of random characters where Jon Snow has a place next to Groot? Do you knit Pokémon? Made Roy Kent out of paper mache? Have you created a model Enterprise out of pipe cleaners? Have you recorded yourself singing The Black Parade with a folk song slant? Do you have plans to create a webcomic or have a list of things you'd love to podfic? Painted a portrait in oils of Venom? We want to know it all.

If you're creating it or have created, tell us, let your love and talent shine. The product doesn't have to be finished or posted, heck, even an idea that you've been thinking of for years will count. It doesn't even matter if those ideas will never materialise, we just want to know what you'd love to create if you could.

We're waiting to bask in the incredible fannish projects that are out there, no matter what form those take.

Tip: It helps folks find useful posts if you mention some of the fandoms or topics when you comment here.

Check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on. (And because we were gifted with paid time for the month of January, you can search comments! So don’t forget to list the fandom(s) in your comment so people can search for it.)

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

[rainy-day-gracie]

America’s Sweetheart 1

HELLO !!

This was an idea I had that I couldn’t walk away from, more chapters to come :)

YFN YLN catches the eye of a Dr. Spencer Reid. The only thing is... he has no idea she’s America’s Sweetheart, Oscar winning actress, and a Hollywood phenomenon. Truly a tinsel town tale of love, crime, and gossip.  

MASTERLIST

__

I was on a beach. Just some random beach. The waves lapped against the sand, and no one was there but me. 

A storm rolled over the ocean, sheets of rain beating down on me, giant waves crashing against my body. I tried to run, but my feet were sinking into the sand, and saltwater stung my eyes. 

Just as I was about to drown on the water beating down on me, I wake up in my own bed in Washington DC. 

In the few weeks after I had moved to DC, I would give the city a 7 out of 10. It was a good random place to hide from the flashiness of Hollywood, but it was honestly overrated. That was until I met Dr. Spencer Reid. 

I kept my eyes low as I ordered my coffee, pulling my baseball cap down over my face even though it wasn’t very sunny outside. As I went to pay, the barista shook her head. 

“Someone’s already paid for your drink, ma’am.” She pointed to a tall man slouched over a book in a booth, seemingly not paying very much attention to anything else in the coffee shop. 

“Um, thank you anyway,” I said as she handed me my coffee. My feet carried me hesitantly towards the man in the booth, studying him as I approached.

“Um, excuse me?” The man looked up, and my breath almost caught in my throat. Dark brown eyes peered up at me, and soft brown curls made him look extremely youthful. I cleared my throat, trying not to get distracted by his beautiful high cheekbones. This man was gorgeous even with the elevated standards Hollywood had given me. He could be a movie star if he wanted to. “Thanks... for the coffee.”

He looked confused for a moment, then he smiled. “Oh, of course. Um... anything for a lovely lady.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, waiting for him to ask for a picture. But he didn’t. He just peered at me, trying to read my face as I tried to read his.

“What’s your name?” I asked, surprising even myself. 

“Spencer. Just... Spencer. What’s yours?”

He was being vague, and I wasn��t completely sure he knew who I was, even though that sounded completely vain. “YFN. Just YFN...” I waited for him to put the pieces together, but he didn’t. Instead he just nodded with a small smile on his face. 

“Well YFN, I hope to see you getting coffee around here more often.”

A strange smile came to my face. “Yeah, I think I will be.” I took a napkin lying on the booth, quickly scribbling my personal number down and tucking it into Spencer’s jacket pocket flirtatiously. “Well… call anytime, I guess.”

The BAU 

Spencer didn’t realize leaving his phone unattended at the BAU was such a risky decision. The team had noticed Spencer’s upbeat mood and buzzing phone the past few weeks. One day, when Spencer left his phone on his desk while he got coffee, JJ glanced over to see who was making the good doctor so happy. 

JJ gasped when she saw the contact name come up on Spencer’s phone, and immediately ran to Garcia’s office. “Penelope!”

“Ah! What- what do you want?” She spun towards JJ in her chair. 

“I think... I think Spencer is going out with YFN YLN.”

Garcia’s jaw dropped. “Like... the YFN YLN? The most renowned young actress in Hollywood right now? The Oscar winner?”

“That’s the one.”

Garcia looked around her office, not totally sure on what to do. “Well, we have to tell him right? Reid doesn’t keep up with the modern day Hollywood stuff, there’s no way he knows who she is.”

JJ nodded. “We need to tell him.”

“Tell who what?” Morgan asked, walking in the room with a stack of files. 

JJ and Garcia looked to each other then back at Morgan. “Spence’s dating YFN YLN.”

Morgan dropped the files on the floor in shock. “Reid? As in pretty boy? Dr. Spencer Reid dating Oscar winner YFN YLN?”

The women nodded, and Morgan just stood there, the files on the floor completely forgotten. 

Later that day, the team was lounging around the office, Spencer smiling at a text he received on his phone. “Hey, Spence?” JJ asked from across the desks. 

“Hmhmm?” Spencer said, not looking up from his phone. 

“Who’re you talking to?”

“This girl I met at a coffee shop… she’s amazing. Beautiful, kind, intelligent...” 

JJ took a deep breath. “YFN YLN?”

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows. “How did you know that?”

“She’s… famous. Like really really famous. Movie star, award winner, America’s sweetheart famous.” JJ broke the news softly, not wanting to raise a big scene. 

Spencer just looked more confused then he was before. 

Reader’s POV

We had met for coffee about five times in the last two weeks, and I learned there was much more to Spencer than a lanky handsome exterior. He was definitely a genius, a doctor three times over, and worked for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. I thought I was impressive, but he takes the cake.

But today something was wrong with Spencer. I could see it in the way he fidgeted with his hands more than usual or how he couldn’t seem to meet my eyes for more than two seconds. “Alright, Spencer, what’s wrong?”

He was also a minor technophobe, which probably explained how he didn’t recognize me. 

Spencer seemed startled by my question. “Well, my friend… she saw your name come up on my phone yesterday and told me that you were some kind of celebrity. You told me you worked in the film industry, but the way my friend told it… you’re super famous, like a household name famous.”

My heart sank and I subconsciously pulled my baseball cap lower on my head. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Is that why you always wear a baseball cap? So you won’t be recognized as easily?” He asked, and I nodded softly while keeping my eyes down on my coffee.

Spencer looked downtrodden. “Then why are you interested in me?”

“Are... are you kidding?” I asked incredulously. Spencer shook his head, and I almost laughed. “I’m interested in you because you don’t have this preconceived opinion about me. You don’t want anything from me. We can just be normal people, I can be a normal person. Do you know how rare that is in my line of work?”

“That sounds... lonely. And stressful, not knowing who to trust.”

An image of my dream came back to me, my feet sinking into the sand and drowning in waves of seawater. “It is. But... I think I can trust you.”

He still looked confused, but a glimmer of a smile appeared in his eyes. “Why are you in DC?”

I rolled my eyes. “To disappear a little while from all the cameras and flashiness of Hollywood. I’m staying in a town house until I have to fly out to wherever my next project is, and who knows when that’s going to be.” 

Spencer looked completely mesmerized. “Tell me more… about Hollywood, movies, award shows, everything. I want to know everything.” His hands touched the tips of my fingers, and he grinned ear to ear. Leave it to Dr. Spencer Reid to want to learn about the ins and outs of shallow Hollywood life. 

I laughed, thinking maybe once in the four years I’ve worked in Hollywood, someone was truly honest with me. 

__ 

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Photoshoot across town, meeting with my agent, talking over movie roles I may or may not get. 

My mind kept coming back to Spencer. Spencer with his wild curls and thoughtful brown eyes and astonishing brain. My heart fluttered and I smiled just thinking about him, the impressive doctor with a heart of gold and mind like no other’s. 

My mind and body were completely spent from the long day, and I practically sleepwalked up the steps to my house. I was so tired, I almost missed the gift waiting for me. Flowers were left for me on the front porch, blood red roses with a note tucked inside of the petals.

I wonder if all of your fame and awards will protect you from a knife between the shoulder blades, Miss America's Sweetheart?

__

Part 2 !!

TAG LIST : @squirrellover1967 @yomama-umbridge @tiktokslut @sknnymnne @pinkdiamond1016 @vixengustin88 @lexshead @briannareneea985 @thatsonezesty13 @april-14-blog @baby-i-am-fireproof @mollyann14 @andiebeaword @oldspirit @rottenearly @cyndagoaway @peculiarinsomniac @ithinkilovetruecrimetoomuch @mjloveskids666 @aberrant-annie @stardream14 @radkryptonitepeanut @sercyan  @deni-gonzalez @matthewreid @emilouu

[siren-virus]

There's some stuff that has been going around in my head regarding Luckuboy!AU, so I'll just dump everything here and see how you might adapt/change/evolve some of these ideas, or don't use any of them since that's perfectly valid too and it's your au, not mine :3 anyways, this is a long idea that can be divided, so I'll do just that and make a paragraph for each sub-idea.

1) Ben's daily schedule: Ben most likely has a morning schedule in the coffee shop, and as such he would get to work early, now idk how they work, but I imagine Ben's day to day life would go something like this: Ben's alarm goes off at 7:00, he wakes up and leaves bed at 7:15, breakfast and shower before arriving at work at 8:00 (do shops open at 8:00? 8:30? idk :V), keep working until 16:00 with lunchtime tucked in the middle, hang out with friends/relax/naps until 20:00, start his own vigilante work until 2:00, where he goes to sleep and repeats. If his patrol is slow then he would go home earlier to sleep more, if it's hectic and he doesn't get enough sleep, then the afternoon/evening would be used in powernaps.

2) Ben the info brooker, I imagine that Ben would eventually get to know a lot, and I mean A LOT, of information about everyone and everything important that's going on in Undertown (which, considering the situation of Earth and the Plumbers, is probably the only alien world center, would be everything), and when he hears of someone having some kind of trouble, he gives them a nudge in a certain direction for them. Eventually word gets out that there's a new information brooker in town that has scarily accurate info, he works at a coffee shop and you better give him a big tip if you don't want some of your info to get out fast (how real this info is nobody knows, and since Ben hasn't heard of it he can't correct them)

2.5) One day Argit appears and asks for a coffee under a different name, when it's ready Ben calls for him (he used a fake name) and writes with an alcohol marker on the cup "Argit", scaring the hell out of him. "How did you know?" "I'd be shitty at what I do if I couldn't recognize you *wink*", then he tells him that as long as they do nothing dangerous near him he won't tattle him and Kevin to the Plumbers, or worse, Gwen. "Don't you dare" says Argit aghast, "Try me bitch" answers Ben grinning, almost double daring him into doing something dangerous only so he can call his cousin and set up a date

3) The coffee made in the shop is delicious, caters to every species needs, alergies, likes and dislikes, and everyone agrees that the place is the best of the best in the whole world for these reasons and more; thus the shop has been a tentative neutral zone for years, however the lack of "people" (idk what word to use that captures everyone, human or alien) that knows how to fight there has severly dampened the opportunity of it becoming one. Cue Ben beggining to work there, in the beggining it's nothing special, he's just a human who makes good coffee and is surprisingly charming, come a few weeks and months and everyone starts noticing how he's the infamous information brooker that has been the talk of Undertown, thus gathering a bit more attention. Eventually someone (Plumber, civilian, villain, whatever you choose) is more rude to him than needed and tries to get some info from him, even if it's by force... Ben decks him, like, he kicks their ass, defenestrates them, break a chair on them and hands them unconcious to the closest Plumber, bleeding and all while still being intact himself. Everyone glares in awe at the show of badassery and oficially the coffee shop becomes the new true neutral zone, where everyone can get coffee, exchange information and form unlikely friendships. Whenever someone tries to mess with the shop, if Ben isn't present, is busy or it's too much for him, everyone else, Plumber, villain and civilian joins him in defending the shop and getting rid of the nuisancess that mess with the shop.

4) With all the info that Ben gets both as a barista and as a vigilante, one would think that he would give everything out as long as you paid the prize, but surprisingly he has a strong code that he never breaks. If he EVER learns that a piece of information he has with himself is considered confidential, then he'll never speak about it with anyone, no matter how much they offer to pay him. He can't answer for the ones who talks about this info in the shop without saying in any moment that the info is supposed to be confidential, he can't read minds, but everyone catches on fast on this, and some say the keyword when talking in the coffee shop. However many still forget about it once in a while, since the calm atmosphere of the shop is too powerful and slip up often happen. Still Ben can't be blamed, how is he supposed to know if some piece of info is confidential if no one ever says it is? Again, he's not a mindreader nor a telepath.

5) Any info on his vigilante persona he never gives out, however it's not because of not wanting to give out any of that info, but rather because another part of his code is "If I haven't heard people talk about something, then I don't know information about it. All my info is second hand, so unless someone else already knows about it, I won't know about it". That can come in very handy considering the surprisingly little info there is about his vigilante persona out there, despite how famous he kinda is. This more often than not drives Jimmy mad.

Love brainstorms, hate the alien.

1) Most cafes open at 7am from my knowledge, 9am if you're in a sleepy town, so it'd be more like a 6am wake up, optional breakfast- (who eats breakfast these days?), straight to the cafe around 7ish to help with cleaning and setting up for the day.

This cafe is more of a 24/7 place. With 24/7 breakfast! (don't you hate it when places stop doing breakfast at a certain hour?)

Apart from that love what ya got there.

As for the vigilante side, he starts whenever is easiest, it's all dependent if things are hectic or not. Sun goes down roughly 7PM (pretty late I know, but where I live (during summer at least), sun won't go down til 9PM). Sometimes he finishes at 2AM, sometimes a few minutes before work (Incoming animatic!)

2) Love everything about that too! I'd like to think Ben has no idea about it at first, he just notices some days the tip jar is fuller than others. He chocks it up to his charming personality. But eventually he catches on.

Another thing to add, at some point if people wanted to get info from Ben they'd order a "whipped caramel latte with icing sugar, honey, and salt" (gross) Ben has no idea of this, but the weird amount of customers ordering that and asking for intel, kinda makes him think about it.

2.5) This!! good shit right here! Except, you can't call a customer a bitch, trust me... Karen's and Kevin's exist in all shapes, sizes and forms. So Ben uses the kill them with kindness, customer service attitude.

Additionally, sometimes Kevin, although rarely, comes by, hovers around the counter. He'll order a coffee and glare at Ben until, he gets his attention.

"You staring at me for a reason?"

"I need to know about Gwen 10."

Of course, at this Ben would grin devilishly and respond with, "Oh, you wanna take her on date? She loves sappy romance movies, she's also a nerd, so get her a math book instead of flowers."

That always shuts Kevin up, makes him leave most occasions.

3) Everything about this is just!!! Love it. Wouldn't change a thing.

4) Yes yes!!Sometimes, a customer will demand classified info (those that aren't initiated to how the cafe works). When Ben refuses to squawk this can lead to some shouting from a customer sometimes, which leads to a coworker, or a regular shoeing the nasty customer away. Ben can hold his own against most people, as a human, but sometimes they're just a little too big or a little too tough to be able to defend himself against.

5) I like that a lot too.

I also like to think that sometimes, if Ben wants to mess with someone, especially Jimmy. He'll slip a piece of information out that no one else knows.

"I heard from a plumber, that the vigilante guy likes smoothies- specifically [insert favourite smoothie flavour of the week]"

Cue Jimmy buying several of that smoothie to try and lure Luckyboy (still haven't thought of a namee!!!) out. It works, and Ben gets free smoothies almost every week.

This could backfire immensely though.

Woo, sorry about the delay there, been working a few shifts. Work is kicking my ass as usual...

[beholdme]

All the Many Shades of Gerry - Chapter 3

Chapters: 3/19

Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Gerard Keay, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist

Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Gerard Keay, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Gertrude Robinson, Elias Bouchard

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Library AU, Librarian Jon, Artist Gerry, Trans Male Character, Trans Martin Blackwood, Canon Asexual Character, Asexual Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Ace Subtype - Sex Positive, Polyamory, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romantic Fluff, Falling In Love, Boys in Skirts, Kissing, Demisexual Gerard Keay, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Canon-Typical Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Flirting, Minor Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Adventures in Hair Dying, Happy Ending, Banter, Gerry has a lot of sass, Gerard Keay is Morticia Adams, Jon is a very grumpy Librarian, Martin adores them anyway.

Summary: In which Gerry is a kaleidoscope and Jon and Martin can't help falling in love with him.

He happens to love them back.

Find it on Ao3

[1] [2]

In the following weeks, as he sees Jon a few more times, Gerry's hair fades out and he looks rather more 'forest nymph' than 'American Gothic'.

So it's not much of a shock when the next time Jon catches sight of Gerry striding through the library stacks, his hair has been re-coloured. This time it's a smooth buttery yellow and Jon is struck by how young the warm, bright colour makes him look.

Gerry doesn't feel young though, he feels tired and bored and wrung out, and he wishes he had never agreed to take art commissions.

"It's only the one time!" Gertrude had insisted to a very put upon Gerry, very early in the morning. "And if he puts in a good word for you in his circles, your name will really be on the map in the art world."

Gerry wasn't particularly interested in being put on any maps, or being picked apart by rich, stuck up strangers, but he had agreed to try, mostly because Gertrude had put a lot of effort into making his passion for art an actual career and he felt like he owed her.

(He forgets, frequently, just how much of a commission she takes on the sales of his paintings).

So there he was, striding around the library at 7 am and desperately looking for exactly the right reference book. Unfortunately, it has been out of print for years, and Gerry can't seem to find a copy anywhere that won't cost him half a liver. He has the money now, but he refuses to pay half a month's rent to a second-hand retailer on principle.

Jon watches him skulk around for so long, (apparently forgetting that he is, in fact, a librarian) that Sasha comes out from her desk to ask Gerry if he's looking for something specific. She's wearing her big round glasses today and even indulged herself in her favorite waistcoat to beat the Monday blues.

"Why, yes." At this, Gerry looks directly up at Jon, where he is standing and watching him from the upper balcony level. Jon's face burns, and he ducks out of sight, but not earshot. "I do actually come here to borrow books, not boys." And he smartly feeds her the name of the reference book he has been hunting for almost an hour.

Sasha giggles at his antics, "We do have a copy of that, actually, but it's very popular. There's a waitlist; also it's checked out right now."

Gerry's whole demeanor sags and he sighs in defeat. "Guess I really will just have to order it off the internet, then." He eyes the stacks of books, old and new, looking vaguely betrayed.

"No!" Sasha's exclamation takes everyone a bit aback, being that they are in a library and all. "You know, my mate has this sweet little bookstore, and he loves hunting down rare copies of older books, he might have a copy?" She wrings her hands, eyebrows raised in question.

Gerry beams down at her, causing even stoic Sasha to blush and scurry off to get a piece of paper for the address.

They're already most of the way to the front desk by the time Jon realizes just which bookstore Sasha is busy recommending to the man he is dating , and just who owns that particular establishment.

By the time he manages to get downstairs to try to deflect the situation, Gerry is out the door, nothing left but the faint scent of oil paints and leather from his jacket.

***

Tim Stoker leaves Gerry feeling faintly dazed. By the time he stumbles out of the bookstore and into the tea room, elusive book in hand, he's forgotten everything he has ever known in the face of such intense flirting. And Gerry thought he was bad.

Throughout the whole episode at the library, the walk through Chelsea, and the exchange with Tim, Gerry had never once taken a moment to consider that Sasha's friend with a bookstore and Jon's Martin with a bookstore might be the same person.

He chooses to blame the lack of sleep and general disarray that is his life for the oversight.

Which is how, 9:30 in the morning, having been awake for almost 24 hours and completely finished, Gerry walks up to Martin in his tea room and says, "I'll have whatever is pink and in that jug, please. The biggest you've got."

Martin, of course, recognized him immediately. He would have recognized Jon's gothic childhood boyfriend from his social media stalking alone, but Jon's frantic texting was also a pretty big giveaway.

Martin: Relax, I don't bite clients this early in the morning. He's in safe hands with me.

Jon: HE KNOWS THINGS ABOUT ME. Besides, who's gonna stop him from biting you?

Martin: Whatever he has to tell me can’t possibly be worse than the office gossip I heard about you before we even meet.

Jon: W H A T

Now, here Gerry is before him, and he’s quite pleased with what he sees. Even tired and vaguely dazed, his presence in the little room carries a certain energy that Martin enjoys.

"Right away. Take a seat and I'll call you with it." Martin's voice is sweet, but gentle and firm, in a comforting sort of way. Through Gerry's sleepy haze, the instruction makes perfect sense, although he has neither paid nor offered a call name.

Gerry considers taking a seat on the plush bench that occupies one wall, before deciding that he desperately needs a cigarette, and wandering outside.

Technically he is only supposed to smoke at night when he's painting and needs just the right kind of boost, but he decides to call this one since he's on a painting-based errand when he's supposed to be sleeping.

"Gerry?" He turns toward the sound of his name, to find the barista offering him a large to-go cup of what he assumes is fruit ice tea. He frowns at having his name known (his new, much-preferred name, no less) and then frowns at a blonde, bespectacled man in a tea room attached to a bookstore.

His brain finally takes a moment to function, and he puts all the pieces together in an avalanche.

"Martin?" Far from his usual self-confident tone, the single word comes out in a squeak that would make even a toddler wince.

"Yes?" Martin returns the single word in the same solidly reassuring way, and even offers a happy smile.

"I didn't... I didn't recognize you."

"Would be pretty hard for you, considering this is the first we've ever met." Martin's voice is calming in a way that eases Gerry a bit, teasing and all.

"Thank you. For the tea, I mean." Gerry closes his eyes and desperately begs his shit to pull together for him, just this one time. "It's nice to finally meet you."

His hands are fully occupied with a book, a cup of tea, and a cigarette, but Martin doesn't seem particularly bothered by the lack of a hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you too. We're giving Jon a heart attack by doing it without him."

"That is the lawful good," Gerry says, after a long drag of his smoke. "A panicked Jon is a happy Jon, after all. Whatever would he do with himself without a situation to unnecessarily complicate?"

"Yes, the man does seem to thrive on anxiety, doesn't he?" Martin asks warmly, eyes crinkling around a fond smile. "Speaking of, you seem pretty wrecked yourself. Good party, I hope."

Gerry's answering laugh has a razor edge, "Not hardly. This fucking painting I'm working on will be the death of me." Gerry lifts the reference book as proof of trauma and stabs out his cigarette viciously.

"Hmm, sounds like a pain. I hope you typically find art a more enjoyable career?" Martin asks, tilting his head inquisitively. His curly hair moves fetchingly and Gerry catches himself tracking the movement.

"Mostly, yes. Although I keep the bartending gig for variety. You'd be amazed at the sort of inspiration someone can find in the right drunk crowd." Gerry grins, thinking of all the ridiculous things he’d seen walk in and out of the bar in his run there.

"I'd be very interested to see what kind of art you can turn that into. Maybe you'd like to show me sometime?" Martin's words are open and friendly.

Gerry eyes him for a minute, hiding behind a long taste of his drink. He's trying to suss out Martin's motivations, for his kindness and general geniality. The drink is good and it tips Gerry's mood far enough back into cheerfulness that he shrugs off his considerations for the time being.

"You know what," Gerry quips back. "I think I would like to show you sometime. How 'bout tonight."

It's not a question really, with Gerry's typical force of personality behind it, and he leaves the shop with Martin holding an address in his hand and a time to drag Jon over for dinner that evening.

***

Gerry does not make a big deal of Martin coming over. He acts as if any other friend is coming over for dinner.

He tidies, a little. Lights a few candles. Wears pants. The bare minimum really.

He isn't trying to impress anyone, he tells himself sternly.

Except he is, obviously. He doesn't know Martin very well yet, but he does want to keep Jon around, and they are a packaged deal these days. Which he was happy with, truly.

In their limited interaction, Martin had been sweet and put Gerry instantly at ease. He knows, from many years of working a bar, how to spot a dipshit, and feels confident in his assessment of Martin's character.

But, it's his own character that concerns him. People don't always like Gerry past surface interactions. He can be tempestuous and moody, and catching him tired is a pretty bad idea. The combination of artist and mommy issues can be jarring.

He desperately wants those things to not bother Martin though. He wants Martin to like him, and he's not interested in putting on a show to make it happen.

It occurs to Gerry an hour before they're due that he doesn't even remotely know what takeout to order for dinner.

(He knows what Jon will eat, and he obviously knows what he likes, but what about Martin? Why didn't he ask this morning? Why didn't he ask Jon earlier?)

Gerry is just starting to really panic about all the life choices leading up to this moment, when he gets a text from an unknown number, instantly filling him with relief.

Martin: Since you're hosting this time, I'll grab the take-out. Jon says you like Thai, I'll bring that. You got the drinks covered?

Gerry: As long as you drink either coffee, vodka, or water, yes.

Martin: I'm sorry, I subsist only on the blood of virgins.

Gerry: Oh dear. I couldn't tempt you to settle for Earl Grey?

Martin: Hmmm, yes, I'll accept your offerings this time.

***

The first knock comes right on time. Gerry, dressed in his best paint-stained jeans and cherry blossom kimono, opens the door with a flourish.

Martin allows himself to be welcomed in and hands the food off to the dramatic artist, who deposits it on the table where he has already set the tea tray.

"No Jon? Not that I mind quality ‘us’ time, of course."

Martin is busy taking in the rambling studio space and barely spares the attention to respond, although he manages a blush at the flirty tone. "He's, uh, running late. Work stuff. You know Jon."

Gerry smirks at that. "I do indeed. Is it a 'stumble in at 3am' late, or 'we could probably wait to eat' late?"

"Hmmm? Oh, let's wait a bit? If you don't mind." Martin seems equally taken with his painting wall and his book wall and keeps trading his attention between the two. The paintings, being the larger attraction, eventually win, and he meanders over to study them closer.

"Do you keep all the completed paintings around?" His voice is soft and reverent, and Gerry feels a rush of pride for his work.

"For a while. I like to make sure they're in their final forms before I release them into the wild." Martin blinks big brown eyes at him, before grinning and giggling slightly.

"You're very talented. Jon said as much, showed me the pictures, but words and photos are nothing compared to seeing the real thing." Martin really regards his paintings as if they're special, and rather than the prickly feeling of appraisal he feels during gallery nights, it fills Gerry with warmth.

He turns to examine the wall himself. It's filled with an eclectic group at the moment. Large abstracts made by pouring paint and then layering designs over, three-dimensional pieces painted and then embroidered or quilled over in select places, including a particularly wild eye design. Surreal faces and scenes that seem realistic except for the wild subject matter of planets in meadows and chimeras going to battle.

"Is this what comes from your adventures in bartending?" Martin asks Gerry, turning from the wall and towards the slightly taller man.

"That, and my traumatic childhood." Gerry makes sure to laugh at the last, taking the edge off the small confession.

"Obviously." Martin offers.

"Obviously." Gerry accepts.

***

Gerry and Martin drink tea on the floor while they wait for Jon. Gerry gently prods Martin through the story of how he came to open the bookstore. The blonde man even softly confessing that he had to lie on his CV to get the librarian gig at Magnus.

"How old are you? How did you convince them you had a Master's degree?" Gerry is incredulous. Not that he doesn't think Martin could have an advanced degree. But in paranormal research? Gerry hadn't even known that was an option.

"That's the thing! I'm only 29 now . I worked there for five years!" Martin's voice pitches up in disbelief. "I'm still in shock that anyone ever brought it. Desperate times, desperate measures, you know?"

"I do, actually." Gerry shifts slightly, adjusting his balance with the long remembered urge to flee from those desperate times. He fiddles with his teacup to distract himself. He brought this particular set from a pawn shop because the filigree and florals appealed to his love of colour theory. Soft pinks and corals warm against the cool aqua background.

"Jon says you wanted to go to art school when you two were younger."

It's not a question, but merely Martin offering the same space for openness that Gerry had given him.

"I never went. After my A-levels, I had to get away, and I never really stopped moving for long enough to go to uni when I was younger. Now I'm settled and it's not important to me anymore. Besides, no one asks for a copy of my phantom degree when I sell a painting. So I'm happy with how things turned out for the most part." He stops to consider the outline of a possible past for a moment, one where he didn't have to skip college and go ten years without seeing Jon. "Besides, can you imagine a 27-year-old in art school? The young ones would sacrifice me for more creative talent."

Their eyes meet for a moment, and then they laugh easily and move on to different topics, sliding through the easy stages of getting to know each other.

***

Jon does eventually arrive, looking panicked and harried. He de-ages 10 years when he finds them laughing and relaxed instead of tense and awkward.

So, the three of them eat cold Thai take out on the floor of Gerry's loft, leaning against the perfectly good couch. They share the odd intimacy of people who have known each other for very disjointed amounts of time but like each other just the same.

[record-on-the-shelf]

Being a Starbucks Barista During COVID-19

So…I’m a Starbucks barista that decided to go back to work. For those of you who don’t know, Starbucks gave their employees the option of whether they wanted to go back to work or not. We get paid our average hours through May 3 regardless of what we decide. I’ve been with the company for over 2 years now and have never taken a vacation. So of course I took advantage of taking a week off and getting paid to do that. Being who I am, I lasted only 1 week before I got stir crazy and wanted to go back to work. There were also some good incentives to go back to work such as our usual free drink/food and coffee bean mark-outs, but we also get an extra $3/hr, 50% discount and tips. The tips definitely make it worth it (I went from getting $20 to $120 every week!!). Anyways, I got some insight for you on what it is like to work during COVID-19 as a Starbucks barista.

Company-wide: Cafe stores are closed, hours have changed, drive thru and grab-and-go only. Most stores in each district are closed. The amount of stores that are open are dependent on the amount of employees willing to work. We, the employees, are not to blame for stores not being open close to hospitals. The stores are determined based on if they have drive thrus and if they have enough space to accommodate grab-and-go pickup. 

My store: We are only open 7-2 because our district thought it was best to have 2 stores open instead of 1 to alleviate the line a bit. Our line begins forming 30 mins to open and continues being busy until we cut off the line 30 mins to close. Sometimes, the line gets out of hand and wraps onto the main road in front of our building. We have had the cops come and redirect the traffic because it gets bad at times. Typically our line is 30+ cars long and it takes us anywhere from 30-50 mins to get through the line depending on how large the orders are and who is actually making the drinks. People make the decision to get in line despite knowing it will take awhile.

At my store in particular, we get quite a few bad, rude and/or entitled customers.

“Since I can’t come inside to enjoy my drink, can I get 2 free coffees that Starbucks is offering?” Umm..what now? We are in a pandemic and we are not giving you free coffees because of the mild inconvenience. On top of that, the offer is for front-line health care workers to get a free tall hot/iced coffee. The coffee isn’t for bored soccer moms with nothing else to do...

“This line is ridiculous!! You need to get employees that can actually do their jobs.” Sorry you feel that way. We have been trying our best. Taking it out on the employees is not going to solve the problem. On top of that, we don’t have enough employees. If you want the store to remain open, you have to deal with the line. Plus we didn’t hold you at gunpoint to get in line. The only way to make the line shorter is for customers to obey the stay at home order.

“You need to open more stores.” Sorry, we don’t have enough employees. (I had to repeat this at least 3 times per person because they weren’t grasping the concept of work being voluntary.)

My manager and I went out to cut off the line because we were about to close and a woman tried cutting in front of 10 cars to make sure she could still get a drink. I told her that the line goes back behind her, that she was cutting the line, and that we were not taking any more customers. She ignored me, sped to the back of the line where my manger was and lied to her saying that I told her that she could get in line. My manger, not wanting to deal with it, told her that I 100% didn’t say that but let her in anyways to avoid any more lies and yelling.

Customers have attempted to bribe the barista stopping the line to let them in. 

Several customers have ran over our sign with our hours that blocks the drive thru when we close. They think that by getting into the drive thru lane automatically means we have to serve them. Sorry, that is not the case.

One customer yanked and banged on the front door after we closed. Keep in mind, we have 4 signs on our door and I wrote our hours largely on the windows too. He proceeded to look confused, walked around to the side of our building to the drive thru window and started banging there too. If he didn’t leave, we were going to call the cops. Thank goodness it didn’t have to come to that. Our store has made too many calls to the police this past year.

“You guys always run out of food.” We order as much food as we can that makes sense. We have donated so much food to Salvation Army at the end of each day. Trust me, we only run out of popular food and that happens maybe an hour to close. If you come late, there’s a good chance that the food item you want will be gone. 

Customers will crowd around the front door and attempt to drink on the patio. We have to continuously go outside to tell customers to stay 6ft apart and that they have to enjoy their drinks in their car and not by the door.

A lot of young teens come through the drive thru and then park in the lot to spend time with each other. 9 times out of 10, they don’t practice social distancing. Since they are on our property, we can get in trouble too so we try to shut it down as much as we can.

I also spend a lot of time online when I am not at work. I’ve looked on reddit, tumblr, twitter, facebook and the news to see what customer concerns were.

One customer was mad that they could no longer access the free internet we provide. Saying that we “needlessly closed the cafes.” Sir, we are not purposely attacking you. We have to think about our safety as well as yours. If you need internet, several grocery stores have free internet. You can sit in the parking lot and still access it in most cases. 

“Starbucks is not an essential business and shouldn’t be open.” I generally agree with you. However, the amount of healthcare workers that come through and show us immense amount of gratitude makes it worth it. We are meant to be open to serve them. Sadly, we get more people that are meant to stay home, coming in. They make the line too long where some essential workers don’t have time to sit and wait.

Customers have been complaining on reddit that we have been rude. I can’t speak for other stores, but mine has tried to remain positive and friendly. Keep in mind that we are scared and worried just like you. We can only hold back our fear from turning negative for so long. We deal with customers not following social distancing and the stay at home order coming in. They can be mean and downright disrespectful at times. We wish that we could refuse service but we need to keep in mind our policies. Overall, we are stressed to the very limit while working. All stores are. Lines are too long, some cars have families who order 6 custom drinks that take extra time. Then mobile/delivery orders come through with up to 20 drink orders at a time. 

However, there are some pretty great times too.

Customers bring in their dogs to get pup cups. I take pictures of course! They brighten up our day so much.

Customers are generous with tips. We may have tipped the scale a bit by putting two tip jars out with a yes or no questions attached to them. We have done simple questions too like “do you like cats or dogs?” or our best question was “Did Carol Baskin kill her husband?” We have fun with it and so do our customers.

We get customers that are extremely funny or pleasant to talk to while we make their drinks.

We get to meet employees from all around and make new friends. 

We have the honor of serving our front-line workers.

If you decide to come to Starbucks:

Make sure you have time to wait in line.

If you don’t have 30+ mins, mobile order and come to the front door. Please give us at least 5-10 mins if you can.

Pay with card or phone to prevent cash handling. Every time we handle cash, that person has to go to the back room and wash their hands. Save everyone’s time by doing that.

Wear a mask. The CDC recommends it and it gives us more peace of mind.

Don’t touch our hands when we hand you your items. Again, we have to wash our hands, which wastes precious time. 

Only front-line workers get to take advantage of the free drink promotion. 

Have backup food/drink items in mind! Due to the increased volume of orders, we run out quickly. We don’t want you to waste time in line if we don’t have the specific item you want. It sucks waiting so long and to not get anything at all. 

Don’t try to be funny and fake cough. It makes us freak out.Don’t be that person.

Don’t smoke cigarettes in our drive thru. Some of us have allergic reactions to the secondhand smoke. We have told people before. Most don’t listen. We have, in the past, shut the window and refused to serve them until they put it out. We hate doing that but we are not putting our employees in harms way just so you can have a quick high. Wait until you leave our drive thru please and thank you.

Be aware of our hours. Don’t get mad when we stop letting new cars come through. 

Please refrain from ordering at the window. It messes up the groove of the people making drinks. It makes the line stop longer than it needs to. 

Let us know if the food item you want needs to be warmed. Some items come warmed automatically while others don’t. If you come to the window, take your items and then tell us you wanted it warmed up, we have to throw the item away and get you a new one. Don’t waste food. 

Same goes for drinks. Let us know if you wanted it hot or iced, what size and if there needs to be sweetener. The drinks all have their own presets. If you don’t tell us, don’t get mad when we make it to the preset. It is up to you to order correctly. Side note: if you think you are going to pull off the TikTok hack where you purposely order a grande and get to the window and say otherwise, you are mistaken. You WILL NOT get the extra drink for free nor will you get away with not paying for the size up-charge. It has happened way too many times and we are over it.

Tip your barista? We don’t have to be here, but we are. Most of us rely on tips to pay our bills. Some of us got laid off from our second jobs. Some of us have partners that got laid off and need as much extra income as possible. 

In general, be nice. It makes everyone’s day better if you do. We get nasty customers and having great ones help make the day not suck. Trust me when I say that being called a c**t, a b***h, a w***e, etc. for just doing my job to the best of my ability sucks. It makes you not want to come to work anymore. Plus I believe in karma. 

That’s all for now folks! Message me back stories if you are also a barista, I would love to hear how your store is doing. I will block and report trolls so don’t do it. I may update this post or make a part 2 if I have more stories. Let me know if you want to see the dog photos? Umm I think that’s it?

[emmbr]

Tips for being friendly in Drive throughs!

I work at S*bucks and love working in the drive-through! I wanted to put information out there for people who do not know what it is like on the other end of the drive-through! 

1. While you are at the speaker box we can hear you whether we are talking with you or not. Please do not make us listen to your music, phone conversation, or anything like that while you wait before or after your order! Sometimes people sit there and blast music and we can’t hear each other or it is just really annoying. Turn off or turn down whatever you may be listening to in the car while you order. 

2. I say “We” because almost all of the employees inside can hear you when you are at the window! I know it is a little unnerving to know that several people can hear you stumble over your order, but it is what makes everything go a little smoother. If you are rude to the person taking your order, know that several other people are mocking you over the headset before you come to the window. Obvious unspoken rule: don’t be rude y’all.  

3. Be patient when you have to repeat your order! The drive-through position requires a TON of multitasking and sometimes your order will not be heard the first time you say it. We are doing our best and we want to get your order correct! Please don’t get frustrated with us, we want to do well and we don’t want to have to remake your drink! 

4. While drive is one of my favorite positions because I love interacting with strangers, this is not always true of my coworkers! It is a lot of multitasking and people skills in a timed and fast-paced environment so just be kind even if it takes a little while. Trust me, we can see the amount of time that you have been waiting. 

5. Please do not get a ton of gift cards at the window. The gift cards are not kept over there and it is hard to show you the whole selection. Of course, getting one through the drive-through is doable, but if you are putting a ton of work on the register at the window you are going to ruin our times. Just come inside. Of course, this does not apply if you use the drive-through for disability access reasons. 

6. There are sensors at the microphone, and while you cannot hear it they repeatedly beep at us if we have not helped someone there yet. Plus, the microphone is automatically on when a car is tripping the sensor so we hear the drone of outside sound. Do not greet us before we greet you unless you have been waiting there for over a minute. Especially when the store is not busy, the person working drive-through is probably talking to a customer at the window. 

7. Yes, there is a camera so that we can see you while you order! It breaks with bad weather so it doesn’t always work, but I know some people lately have been surprised and unnerved by learning about the camera. What do you expect; you are always on camera nowadays. Fun fact: if we wanted to we could show you our face while we take your order from a camera on the monitor, but I have never met someone who actually wants to do that. 

8. Time intensive tasks include: pour-overs, >3 hot food items (depending on which ones and if you get duplicates), >1 frappuccino. Of course, a significant delay when you get these items will depend on how well staffed and how busy we are. I honestly think that S*bucks should ban pour-overs from being ordered through the drive-through. Just come inside (except for access reasons). 

9. Get a Starbucks membership on the app! When you run out we can always reload at the register for >$5, so you don’t have to keep a bunch of money on your card. You get rewards if you pay through the app, and a free drink on your birthday! It allows you to tip (unlike using your card). AND surveys about our performance are only sent out to members, so please influence those! 

10. If you want to be nice, tip well instead of “paying it forward!” I feel a little weird saying “give us money instead of other customers,” but I know for a fact that my coworkers need money more than our average customer coming to Starbucks. Pay it forward is a little annoying to ring up (but totally doable), but so many people do that instead of tipping- which reminds me that our customers are empathizing more with other customers they haven’t met than the worker that they are looking in the face who is more likely to be struggling financially. I know it ruins the “random” and “stranger” charm of pay it forward, but, honestly, if I were ever at the end of one of those pay it forward lines I would just end it and put what I would have paid in the tip jar. 

11. Standard in interacting with customer service: don’t order/ pick up your order while on the phone. I don’t care if you have one earbud in as long as you can hear me. I do care if I have to decipher whether you are talking to me or not. I do care that I am doing a service for you and trying to make a welcoming environment and you won’t treat me like someone you are interacting with. If you don’t want to talk with someone, just mobile order and come inside. 

12. We love to make sure that your drink is made correctly! It is usually no big deal to remake drinks, especially if we are not busy. Make sure you are paying attention to the screen where your order is when you are at the mic, and pay attention to what the barista reads back to you about your order (so the order is correct in the first place and you don’t have to wait!). Check your order before you drive away- it is super easy to give someone the wrong drink. If you are really picky go ahead and taste your drink before you drive away! However, don’t take advantage of us. No matter if it is our money or Sbucks’, no one enjoys being scammed. 

13. Maybe I just don’t understand this because I am not very picky, but I will never understand how much some people care about their lattes not having foam on them. It does not give you much more milk? And just makes the latte-making process longer (and harder for beginners)? You do you and ask for “no foam”, but don’t complain if it is made with a little bit of foam. Some foam even forms after scooping foam off after pouring. It really isn’t that much less milk.  

14. I should have put this at the top of the list: do not make a big stink about us running out of something. Sometimes our nitro tap breaks. We only have a certain number of sandwiches thawed each day. Sometimes someone makes a mistake with an order or sometimes there are district-wide shortages. I don’t want to listen to you be loudly disappointed at me when we don’t have the exact thing that you want. This is beyond our control, and you are probably an adult so be an adult about it. We will try to get you a comparable product and there is not much more we can do about that. 

15. This is just a personal small peeve: don’t start an order with “I need...” There is nothing in our store that you need. This is about having perspective and recognizing our role in your lives. 

Even though this post was pretty much complaining about customers, I do want to make sure that the reader knows that I genuinely do enjoy connecting with customers. I do assume the best, and unless you are actively rude it is not a big deal if you have done these things before! I get energy from every single positive interaction I have in the store. I love getting to know customers so well that I know their face, name, and order (which takes a decent amount of time and care for me to remember!). I genuinely am interested when I ask where you work if I have a moment with you, or when I ask how your day is, or when we talk about the sunrise or the weather. These interactions keep me satisfied with my job! I am moving soon and I am genuinely sad to not see many of my regulars again and genuinely excited to meet many more customers. 

[puckinghell]

Stars and Supernovae | August

Summary: As soon as you meet Tyler Seguin, you know you’re destined to be best friends. Sometimes you wonder if you’re destined to be more, but life keeps getting in the way. Perhaps it’s just not written in the stars? Note: This is Part 4. Part 1 | part 2 | part 3

You groaned as what felt like the hundredth guy looked down your shirt as you handed him his beer. You knew why your boss had decided to make your work outfit so low cut - more tips - but God, did you hate this stupid job. But you needed it; somehow a miracle had happened and you had managed to find a new roommate, so you could keep your apartment, but it was still tight with money, and without this job you wouldn’t be able to keep your head above water.

Well, truth be told, Tyler had managed to find you a new roommate. You weren’t sure how, but he’d called you the day after the infamous dinner party, and told you that his sister Candace had a friend that was looking to move to Dallas. 

Sabrina was nice enough, although she didn’t really get your sarcastic humor and she preferred heels over sneakers, which was always one of the things that made you a bit distrusting of people, but she paid the rent on time and never left the kitchen a mess, so in more ways than one was she a better roommate than Katie ever had been.

In a way, it had been good for your friendship, that Katie lived with Jamie now. Not having her around all the time meant you were no longer so annoyed with the little things she did - like leave her shoes in the middle of the hallway - and you both made sure to get together every other week or so at the very least, to catch up on everything going on. Sometimes, you met up in a bar or coffee shop, but you also liked going over to their house because it meant Jamie would be there, and you’d really taken a liking to the Dallas Stars captain. 

Maybe because he was the closest you could get to Tyler, right now. Although you would rather die than tell Tyler that.

Once, Jamie had asked you about Tyler.

“So, are you two like, dating?” You’d been in the kitchen together, him cooking and you getting yourself a glass of wine, and you’d nearly dropped the bottle at his words.

“No,” you sputtered, “Why would you possibly ask me that?”

Jamie shrugged. “I’ve known Segs for a while, and I’ve never known him so… domestic. He barely goes out, doesn’t really take girls home anymore, and even now that he’s at the cabin he calls you nearly every day. I’m lucky if I get one text a week and it usually just says still alive, don’t worry or asks me to water his plants.”

“I’ve been watering his plants,” you blurt out, and the corners of Jamie’s lips curled into a knowing smile as he raised an eyebrow. “We’re just friends, Jamie. Promise. Nothing is going on between us.”

“But you’d like it to.” It’s not a question, more a statement, and you felt your cheeks flare up red. Jamie just laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. But just so you know, I know Segs, maybe better than he knows himself. And he might not want to admit it to himself, but he knows you’re his person.” Jamie had left the kitchen with those words and they’d played over and over in your mind for the weeks following.

“Yo, what does a man have to do to get another beer in this place?” someone yelled, and you groaned before plastering on a fake smile and turning to the culprit.

“What can I get you?”

“A beer, did I stutter the first time, bitch?” You sighed, biting the inside of your cheek hard to stop yourself from saying something snarky back, when suddenly the guy disappeared from the bar. You watched as the guy stumbled back in slow motion and a pair of hands grabbed his shirt and pushed him into a table.

“Learn some manners, bud,” a tight voice said. A voice you’d recognize anywhere. A voice that was supposed to be in Canada right now. 

Tyler was always big and intimidating, with his tattoo sleeves and big muscles, but you’ve never seen him like this; his jaw set and his eyes cold, a snarl on his face. It’s the look that Jamie had whenever he’s about to get into a fight on the ice, a look that Tyler never gets, because he’s not a fighter.

“Tyler?” you brought out, stammering, and at your voice Tyler turned around. His face softened as he caught your eyes, and he made his way over to the counter so quickly you could barely see him move.

“Meet me outside?” he asked, softly. “Please?”

You didn’t know whether you were supposed to be mad at him; he was technically defending your honor, but this was also your job, and you really couldn’t afford to get fired. Your lack of answer seemed to worry Tyler. “Look, I’m sorry for losing my temper, but please come outside? I brought Gerry to meet you and I can’t leave him alone in the car any longer. Please.”

His repeated begging was enough to get you to leave your post behind the bar, but the mention of the puppy pulled it over the top, and you quickly nodded with smile. You asked your co-worker to cover for you and made your way out of the bar, where your eyes found Tyler immediately. He stood in front of his black pick up truck, a small blonde Labrador at his feet.

“Gerry!” you cooed, and the puppy looked up at you, his tiny tail wagging. You practically ran at the dog and scooped him up in your arms, pressing your lips to his head. “Tyler he’s so cute,” you marveled. Your best friend just chuckled.

“I haven’t seen you in four months, and I don’t even get a hug, huh?” You knew he was teasing you, and maybe it was because you’d missed his teasing so much, that your heart leaped and you quickly put Gerry on the ground, only to throw yourself forward and into Tyler’s arms. He caught you easily, his arms wrapping around your waist as he giggled into your ear.

“Hi,” he whispered into your hair, and you pressed your face into his neck. He smells so familiar, feels so familiar, and suddenly you were swallowing back tears.

“Hi,” you smiled.” I missed you.”

“I missed you more.”

You felt something scratch your feet and released Tyler, only to kneel and pick Gerry back up.

“I can’t believe you come back to Dallas after four months and the first thing you do is punch one of my customers.” You wiped at the tears in your eyes and then smiled up at him. Tyler at least had the decency to look ashamed, as his hand rubbed his neck slowly.

“Right, sorry about that,” he said. “I took offense to his tone.”

You laughed humorlessly. “That’s nothing, Ty. He was nice, in comparison to most. It’s just something I have to deal with. You can’t punch them all, cause then I won’t get paid.”

“You shouldn’t even have to have this job,” he mumbled. “If I could…” He stopped himself then, staring at the ground in front of his feet instead. But you knew what he was saying. If he could, he would take care of you. If you would let him. Which you weren’t going to do.

“I know,” you told him softly, and then you reached out and cuddled into his chest again, holding Gerry between your bodies. “But I have rent to pay.”

“Can’t you find another job?” Tyler asked, his hand stroking your back. “Can’t I just hire you as my professional dog walker?”

You laughed, lightly kicking his shin with your foot. “Absolutely not. You’re my best friend, not my boss.”

“You’re my best friend, too.” Tyler’s voice was soft and you cursed your heart for fluttering the way it did. “That’s why I worry, with you at this job. These guys wouldn’t know respect if it hit them in the face. What if one day, one of them goes too far?” He swallowed thickly and you couldn’t help yourself; you reached up and pressed a kiss to his cheek, before stepping back.

“I’ll keep an eye out for other jobs,” you promised him, and the content look on his face made it worth it that you were most definitely going to get yelled at by your boss for being gone so long.

Tyler spent the next few days helping you find another job, at least when he wasn’t training, and you spent them cuddled up on his sofa with his dogs as you scrolled through the internet looking for jobs. Finally, you found an advert for a barista position, at a 24/7 coffee shop on campus, and you sent in your application. Two days later, you were hired.

“It’s still at night, but at least my customers won’t be drunk,” you joked. You were sitting on your own couch, for a change, because Tyler’s sisters are in town and staying at his house. Sabrina was on the other side of the couch, watching Sex and the City. It had never been your favorite show, but you let her pick, because you weren’t really planning on watching it anyway. You had an essay to write. Your phone pinged, and you smiled when you saw it was Tyler.

Please come over. My sisters are driving me insane.

You quickly typed out a reply, explaining that you had an essay and simply didn’t have the time.

I don’t accept that. It’s Saturday, you have all day tomorrow. Pretty please? :(

Even over text, you didn’t know how to say no, so you told him you’d be there within ten minutes. You were a bit nervous to meet his sisters, but understood that you had no right to feel that way, because you were just a friend. When you explained to Sabrina where you were going, she clasped her hands together in excitement.

“Oh, I’ll come with you! I haven’t seen Candace in so long!” You couldn’t come up with a good reason why she shouldn’t come, so you nodded, even though you weren’t that excited about the prospect.

You opened Tyler’s door with your key and ignored Sabrina’s raised eyebrow, probably wondering why you even had a key in the first place; instead you focused on the three dogs crowding around your feet.

“Hi, puppies,” you cooed, lifting Gerry into your arms and using your free hand to pet Cash and Marshall.

“You must be Y/N!” A blonde girl appeared in the hallway, and smiled at you. The smile broadened when she spotted Sabrina. “Sab!” She ran over and hugged your roommate. A second blonde girl appeared, but she just stood there, seemingly unsure what to do. Then, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs, and you were relieved to hear Tyler’s voice.

“Hey Shiny,” he hummed. You put Gerry down and smiled. “These are my sisters, Candace and Cassidy. They’re driving me nuts with their yapper about my lack of decorating skills.” He rolled his eyes and you laughed.

“It is a bit bare, in here.”

“Oh, come on! You can’t gang up on me, you’re my best friend!” Only then did he seem to spot the girl currently wrapped in his sister’s arms. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi,” said Sabrina, and you’d never heard her voice that honey-sweet. “I’m Sabrina. You must be Tyler.” She shook his hand, and the other sister, who you guessed was Cassidy, since Sabrina was Candace’s friend, frowned.

“Hello to you too,” she deadpanned, clearly annoyed that Sabrina was still making eyes at her brother, completely ignoring her presence. A snort escaped your lips and Cassidy sent you a look, her lips slowly curling into a smile. “Well, you must be Y/N. I’m Cassidy, that’s Candace. Come to the living room with me, we’re planning to get Ty some new decor and I’m sure you’d like a say, since you’re here so often.” There was no malice behind her words, but you didn’t miss the narrowing of Sabrina’s eyes.

“Oh, yes, you can show me around, Tyler,” she purred, and you rolled your eyes as you followed Cassidy to the living room.

“I was thinking of putting the couch a bit more like this…” Cassidy motioned, “and putting a painting there…” pointing, “and then also some ornaments like, vases and pillows and just little knick knacks. There’s nothing in here that shows any personality.”

“He has his hockey pucks,” you pointed out. In the bookcase lay an array of hockey pucks. One day, when you’d come to pick up the dogs and Tyler hadn’t been home, you’d gone through all of them to read what they were for. First NHL assist, first NHL goal, hat tricks, 100th game, 200th game.

“Not enough,” Cassidy said, and you had to agree with her. You spent the rest of the evening planning Tyler’s new interior, Candace joining you after a while, and Tyler begrudgingly letting you. You figured maybe he would’ve fought it more if he hadn’t been so busy entertaining you roommate, who you were starting to like a lot less; not that that was fair, because Tyler was single and hot as hell and could you really blame her for trying? 

No, it annoyed you more that he seemed to be very interested. Again, that wasn’t fair either, because she was very pretty, and exactly the kind of girl he probably should end up with. 

But it was the first time you spent a night at your best friend’s house without him making even one smart ass, snarky remark towards you, and that’s how you knew things were about to change.

[the-coconut-asado]

Oh Stumptown my Stumptown!

Portland likes to keep it weird. Officially. You could even buy the tee shirt if tee shirts weren’t so predictable.   

From a poster invitation to “Hear my TED Talk about DIY and Impending Doom” to the Big Legrowlski (sic) night club that hangs carpets on the walls -  not to balance the sound for the band but because they really bring the room together -  the City has an off-beat vibe that feels authentic even while it gets you scratching your head. And where else would you queue round the block for a voodoo-doll shaped doughnut with a pretzel stick through its ‘heart’?

You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that Portland is  the Hipster Capital of the World. You know it’s hipster because it sells more coffee and has more microbreweries per head than anywhere else in the US.

We came for the food because People That Know told us to. It’s not simply that everything is delicious but that chefs, cooks, carts and food enthusiasts are trying to do different. It’s like Masterchef has landed in Twin Peaks. Entrepreneurs are making ice cream out of chickpeas and it works. A pastry chef has re-interpreted her favourite childhood book on a plate and you rejoice in the complex flavours of her tiny reconstructed bunny. So who’s the bunny boiler now?

One thing that puzzled me is why the City changed its name from the original Stumptown (pretty weird) to Portland (the Holiday Inn of city names). Devon, a local lawyer who we chatted to most mornings in Baristas Cafe, explained that Portland was never officially called Stumptown.  It became its nickname due to all the trees they had to cut down to build it, leaving the eponymous stumps in their wake. Stumptown is also the name of their iconic coffee brand, which I always assumed was NYC’s greatest invention. This is one of the many ways in which travel expands your mind.

Devon embodied something else about Portland: its friendliness. Even the passport officers are anxious that you have a good time. Full disclosure,  it wasn’t just Devon that we sought out each morning - it was Pepper, his cute little dog. I would eat Barista’s fresh, flaky rhubarb hand pie just to drop crumbs that Pepper would breakfast on. 

Devon put us onto a couple of great places to eat - one we made it to, one we didn’t. But more of that later.

Where to begin to describe this steel guitar food odyssey? Let me take you through our many highlights from the  mountain of food we consumed. Set it to the soundtrack of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Thing.

Our first evening, tired and hungry, we stuck to our guns and found Andina, the City’s Peruvian eatery. When you are both tired and hungry it’s easy to get seduced by posters boasting ‘Meatball Monday’ and forget your mission, but our persistence paid off. That legendary Portlandia hospitality squeezed us into a nook where there really wasn’t a free table, and we dined greedily on humitas, ceviche, lamb shank and seafood, washed down with Oregon’s finest home-grown Pinot Gris. I didn’t quibble that they brought something different from my order. In my fractured Spanish ‘Arroz con Pato’ probably did sound like ‘Seafood Risotto’  - and the risotto was obviously going to be delicious before fork met lip, so I didn’t send it back.

Next day, which coincidentally was Taco Tuesday, we hit the street food. 

Portland is big on street food (see: hipster capital of the world). Most food vendors have carts - permanent fixtures where the chef builds enough of a following over months or years to be able to open a small restaurant. Nong’s Khao Man Gai was just one of these. They do one dish - a Vietnamese poached chicken with a secret chilli sauce, accompanied by rice cooked in the chicken broth. You can also have a version with shrimp, pork or Tofu. We bought a bottle of the sauce to bring home. Life’s too short.

It’s not all carts - there are a fair few trucks too. 

One which specialised in cheese toasties challenged “ Come and relive the taste of your childhood. But if your childhood sucked, we’ll share the memory of ours”. Have you eaten a cheese toastie recently? I mean really felt the embrace of  a sandwich of molten cheese and fried bread? Maybe your childhood did suck after all.

That evening it was the turn of The Hairy Lobster restaurant, and that bunny dessert I mentioned earlier. Little Bunny Foo Foo to give it it’s full name. A delicate carrot cake, covered in cheesecake mousse, accompanied by a ginger crumb, caramel sauce and a marshmallow rabbit. 

Despite it’s show-stopping appearance and fusion of flavours, it was their roast squash with curry sauce and pumpkin seed praline that was the stand-out dish for me. The Lobster picnic for our main was pretty damn good too.

Friday brings me to Devon’s first recommendation, Pok Pok,  a teeny Thai eatery in the suburbs. Getting there had the added advantage of passing through a neighbourhood full of rambling old houses in the Amityville Horror style. I recalled the first time I had heard of Portland was from a TV thriller full of witches and jabberwocks called Grimm. They had definitely filmed it’s eerily beautiful moments around here.

If I had to single out a food highlight in a week of next-to-no food lows, I would choose Pok Pok. It gave me my first food coma in a long while. Something about it’s smoked aubergine, pork belly curry, marinated chicken with two dips, sublime mango with sticky rice and that rhubarb blush cocktail… I sense I am sharing my food coma with you now. Their signature dish is hot spicy chicken wings. The couple on the table next to us were too full to finish theirs so offered them to us. Maybe it was the wings that tipped me over the edge. I’ll never know.

And so to our last day, and the big daddy of Portland nights out: Jake’s Crawfish. Over 100 years old, walking into Jake’s is like walking into one of Sinatra’s memories. It has a justifiably stellar reputation, and seems to have maintained it for a century. I ate Steel-head trout for the first time, fished on their doorstep from Oregon’s Columbia River, coated with a horseradish crust, and preceded by half a dozen of the plumpest oysters I have ever eaten.

I haven’t yet mentioned Portland’s biggest hipster foodie habit: brunch. No matter what day of the week, the restaurants that brunch are always full. For most of our trip, we were waking up too early to really do brunch justice. Those rhubarb hand pies at Baristas had satisfied our hunger by around 8AM so a mid-morning banquet wasn’t really on. One day, however, we made it to Tasty & Alder in the Pearl DIstrict of the city and managed to sneak in a table for two before the queues built up. Worth it for their Green Frittata with salsa verde (who ever thought of doing that before?) and lightest, fluffiest American biscuits. We never made it to Devon’s second recommendation: Burmasphere, his friend’s Burmese cart on the other side of the river. And now we have an excuse to return.

When it came to rustling up some recipes that take me straight back to Portland weird, I whittled my list down to three: my version of Tasty & Alders’ green frittata with feta and salsa verde; a less labour-intensive version of Andina’s Arroz con Pato, made with chicken or guinea fowl; and in the spirit of weird, though by no means original, a cake inspired by Churros con Chocolate. The best possible end to a Taco Tuesday.

I messaged a friend of mine that had moved to Portland a few years back and asked why she had ever left. “ Too much rain and not enough art.” she said.  

You missed the point Sweetie. Great Food IS great art. And if you can’t stand the rain, get into the kitchen.

Green Frittata with Feta and Salsa Verde

A great little brunchy-lunch dish packed with flavour for the carb-conscious. If you want to add some carbs, slices of toasted sourdough will go down a treat. Serves 4

Ingredients

8 large free-range eggs

1tblspn, double cream

100g asparagus spears, chopped into 2 cm chunks

100g shelled garden peas or petit pois

50g feta cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa verde:

Small pack of flat-leaf parsley (around 15-20g)

½ a small pack of mint leaves

3 tbsp. Capers

7 anchovy fillets

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp dijon mustard

8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

How to make:

Bring a small saucepan of salted water to the boil, then add the peas. After a couple of minutes, add the chopped asparagus and continue simmering for another 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Put to one side.

Next, make the salsa verde. Put all the ingredients except the olive oil into a blender, season generously with pepper and go easier on the salt (anchovies and capers are already pretty salty). Then, add the olive oil and blend again. Don’t over blend at each step - it's nice to keep the texture a little rough.

Put a skillet on the stove and melt a knob of butter. Beat the eggs, add the cream and season. Lightly saute the green vegetables in the butter for a minute or two. 

 then pour the eggs over and crumble the feta cheese over the top. Cook for a couple of minutes until the bottom is starting to brown.

 pop under the grill to continue cooking, until the top is a light golden colour and the frittata has firmed up with a slight wobble (keep a close eye on this, probably takes 2-3 minutes).

Cut the frittata into 4 wedges and serve with a dollop of salsa verde on top.

Arroz con Gallina Picante

I never did get to eat Arroz con Pato in Andina, but while I adore the rich flavour of duck, devoting two or three days to confitting it before finishing the dish is only for the dedicated dinner party cook. This version with a spicy chicken and a feta-enriched herb sauce (based on a Melissa Clark recipe)  goes down just as well - or the richer Guinea Fowl, which I have used here. And Peruvian aji amarillo is now more available by mail order - substitute ordinary chile powder if not. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized chicken or guinea fowl, jointed into 2 breasts, 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs (discard the back or freeze to make stock at a later date)

For the marinade:

6 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp paste made with aji amarillo powder and olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp sriracha sauce

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp ground cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

½ a large bunch coriander leaves, broken up

2 jalapeno chilies, chopped

75g feta cheese, crumbled

1 garlic clove, crushed

Juice of 1-2 limes

2 tsp chopped fresh oregano

½ tsp dijon mustard

½ tbsp aji amarillo paste (see marinade earlier for method)

1 tsp honey

1 tsp ground cumin

½ cup extra virgin olive oil.

For the Peruvian Rice:

3 tbsp sunflower oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

3 heaped tsp aji amarillo paste (see marinade earlier for method)

½ large bunch fresh coriander, broken up and blended till smooth with a tblspn water

500g fresh chicken stock

300g bottle of beer or lager

2 x small green chillies, chopped finely

500g basmati rice

1 red pepper, chopped into small chunks

100g fresh garden peas or petit pois

How to make

First, make the marinade. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, cover the fowl of your choice in it, cover with cling film and pop in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

For the sauce: put all the ingredients into a blender, and blend till smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate, taking out about 15 minutes ahead of eating to bring to room temperature.

For the rice. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and saute until starting to turn golden. Add the blended coriander and chili paste  and cook for a couple of minutes until the paste has thickened slightly and smells delicious.

Pour the beer into the saucepan, cook for a few minutes then add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, season, then take off the heat, cover and put to one side.

Heat the oven to 200C. Pat  the chicken or guinea fowl pieces dry, then pop onto a shallow baking tray, season and drizzle with olive oil. Put the tray into the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes.

While the meat roasts, finish the rice. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a medium sized saucepan, add the peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the rice and stir into the oil and peppers until it starts to crackle a little at the bottom. Add the peas and chilies and stir again, then add the stock, beer and onion garlic mix. Stir, season if needed, then cover and simmer on a low heat for 25 mins.

Fluff up the rice and spoon onto plates. Top with the chicken or guinea fowl pieces, and crown with a dollop of sauce.

Churros Bundt Cake with Dipping Chocolate Sauce

I love churros, and I love a Bundt cake. If you want all the flavours but none of the faffing or frying, then give this a try. The cake will keep, covered in a tin. Just remember to reheat the chocolate sauce for dipping or pouring each time. Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 ¾ cups plain flour

2 tsp. Baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp. Salt

170g unsalted butter

130g caster sugar

50g soft brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 egg yolk

1 375g punnet of sour cream

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar ‘glaze’

2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tsp caster sugar

For the chocolate sauce:

½ cup cocoa powder

Pinch chilli flakes

100g dark chocolate (70%)

1 cup double cream

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon

How to make

Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease and flour a large bundt cake pan (make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies).

Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl (ideally using an electric stand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and continue to mix between each addition, finishing with the egg yolk. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat again until just incorporated.  Mix all the dry ingredients, add them to the butter and egg mix and fold in until smooth. 

Pour the cake batter into the bundt tin and bake for around 50-55 minutes until a skewer inserted near the middle comes out clean (I usually check the cake after 45 mins). Invert the cake onto a rack to cool.

Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt the butter and paint all over the surface of the cake. Dust the cinnamon sugar over the buttered cake, making sure you pat it in places to stick.

To make the chocolate sauce. Pop all the ingredients into a saucepan, then cook, stirring constantly, on a low heat until the chocolate has melted, everything is smooth and custardy. Let it bubble slightly then turn off the heat.

Serve slices of the churros cake with warm chocolate sauce poured over. There are some who prefer their chocolate sauce served cold. That’s fine too.

[grunge-rat]

How to be a barista’s best customer

Hey all, I work at a coffee shop chain and I felt like compiling a list of things you can do to make your barista not hate you.

1. Say please and thank you. This should be a no brainer, but you’d be surprised at the amount of 50+ y/o who don’t know basic manners. Say please and thank you at the register and say thank you to the barista.

2. Make eye contact. Hey! I’m a person! Just as valid as you!

3. Tip. Tipping is so important. We don’t get paid a lot and we rely a lot on tips. Tipping tells me you care about me and not just your coffee. Tip the left over change in your pocket, literally anything.

4. Hand me your money. If you’re paying cash, physically hand it to me. Don’t just place it on the counter and expect me to pick it up. It makes me feel like less of a human because you won’t make the human connection of handing something to me.

5. Smile. It means I’ll smile back at you. Plus it makes me know you’re not dying.

6. If I make a mistake, know it’s nothing against you. I am human, I make mistakes; laugh at it and know everything will be fine. Say sorry, say thank you, be polite. I’ll be more than happy to rectify my mistake as long as you’re polite and kind.

7. Know what you’re ordering. Sorry, I don’t work at Starbucks, don’t use “grande” and “venti.” An extra foamy latte is just a wet cappuccino; talk to your barista about the drink you’d like and we’ll ring it up correctly.

8. Don’t be on the phone when you order. It’s a pet peeve of mine. Give me your full attention in order to tell me you respect me.

[iwritefanficsometimes]

Cinnamonny Whatever Drink (Or Pumpkin Spice Latte, I guess...) 13 Days of Halloween: Day 2

Welcome back to 13 Days of Halloween, Day 2! Cinnamon Spiced Drink (Or Pumpkin Spice Latte I guess...) I have made myself a Chai tea latte and I am ready to write! Not gonna lie, I’m kind of sad no one else has posted anything using these prompts, but I was kind of last minute, so what did I expect?

Day 1 2(AO3) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Rating: G

Prompt: Cinnamon Spiced Drink (Or Pumpkin Spice Latte I guess) + “Did you feel that?”

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,101

Summary: Tony takes Stephen on a coffee date, and pulls out all the stops. Stephen pretends not to be impressed. This is a continuation of day 1, linked above, but if you don’t want to read that, basically Tony and Stephen met in a haunted house that Tony built that was far too scary. They were both shaken up by it and at the end Stephen gave Tony his number now they’re going for coffee.

---

Tony was grinning like a mad man when he met Tony in the staging area. “I don’t want to know, do I?” Rhodey asked, faking ignorance. “I need plausible deniability if you fed him to your actors.”

“Shut up,” Tony said, showing Rhodey the texts on his phone. “I have a date.”

Rhodey read over the text messages and raised an eyebrow apprehensively. “Are you sure? No where here does it say it’s a date.”

“It’s a date, Platypus, trust me. I know it’s hard to believe, because you’re immune, but most people find me charming.” He took the phone back and eagerly responded to Stephen’s last text, “I’m going to take the Audi.”

“Or you could get an Uber, like a normal person,” Rhodey suggested, and Tony waved the idea away.

“I’m not a normal person.” He locked his phone and then used the black screen as a mirror, “How do I look?” He adjusted his hair until it was exactly the way it had been before he started messing with it, and then looked up at Rhodey.

“Well, other than your big head you look fine.” He grinned and just to mess with him ran a head over Tony’s hair.

“Hey!” He yelled, hunting down a make up mirror to fix himself in.

“You look fine. He saw you screaming like a little girl, I don’t think he’s gonna care about your hair.”

“I was not screaming like a little girl. And even if I had been, there’d be no shame in it.” He huffed and pouted when he couldn’t make his hair look nice again. “Jan, please, if you love me, help.”

“Is this about the mystery guy you went through the house with?” She asked from where she was attaching an eyeball to a guy’s face and leaving it hanging down by a tiny fake optic nerve.

“Yes,” Rhodey said at the same time Tony said, “No.”

“I’ll do it.” Jan said before turning her attention back to the cast member whose make up she was doing. “Don’t touch it too much. The spirit gum will hold, but if you pull on it it’s gonna hurt. You have priority for getting that off when your shift is over, okay?” She pushed up his sleeve and attached a yellow wrist band that she was using to remind people to come and see her to get certain SFX pieces removed. She sent him off and then looked back at Tony. “Alright, take a seat in my chair of horrors, let me see if I can fix you.”

“He looks fine.”

“That man is gorgeous, Rhodey, I need to look hella fine, at least. Jan, you know you’re my favorite right?”

“I’m plenty aware. Sit down. The faster I get done with you the faster I can get to installing fake teeth. I need an assistant or a raise.”

“Have both,” he said as he sat down across from her. “Just make me pretty.”

She laughed and pulled out a clean brush and some hair gel from her kit.

Three minutes later Tony was out the door with the keys to the Maserati in hand. Rhodey couldn’t resist seeing the rest of the show, so he met Christine and Stephen at the front of the house.

“You’re both idiots.” Rhodey informed Stephen as he stood beside Christine. The entire block probably heard Tony revving his engine at the other side of the house. Soon enough Tony pulled up in a silver Audi and rolled the window down, flashing his winning grin at Stephen.

“You coming?”

“So much for shaken up,” Christine mumbled under her breath, and Stephen had to agree. But distraction was an effective coping mechanism, so he couldn’t be too upset with himself.

Stephen sauntered down the stairs with a shrug, like he had nothing better to do, and he didn’t miss how intently Tony watched him. “Yeah, sure. You’re buying though.”

“Sure,” Tony returned jovially. “Least I can do after my house traumatized you.”

Stephen reached the door and Tony pushed a button that opened it automatically. Stephen did let on that he was impressed, just got in the car and let the door close behind him. “So do you take all your guests for coffee, then?”

“Just the snarky ones.” Tony revved the engine again, the adrenaline from going through the house still apparently in full swing. He beeped the horn a couple of times to get people to move away from the gate entrance, and once he was sure they were all out of the way he sped off drove at a reasonable speed to May’s coffee shop.

The drive was silent, short, and strangely not uncomfortable. Tony turned on the radio and Stephen seemed to be enjoying his taste in music, so that was a big plus. Big big plus. Tony was gonna like this guy.

The song changed and Tony scrambled to skip it but Stephen was already laughing. “Is that- is that the monster mash?” He was clutching his stomach as Tony skipped to the next track, a blessedly not-embarassing AC/DC song.

“Rhodey picked it.” He grumbled, the tips of his ears turning red. “Because he’s an ass.”

Stephen finally managed to calm down and was smiling harder than he had in his entire time in med school. “Well, you should tell him thank you from me. The- the way you were trying to change it.” He laughed again. “I needed that after that hell hole you called a haunted house.”

“It’s always a pleasure to help.” He said, a little bit stiffly. Stephen wasn’t a particularly touchy person but he reached out and squeezed Tony’s bicep to assure him that it wasn’t bad.

“I needed that.” He smiled softly, and Stephen didn’t know where all his irritation at Stark had gone, but it seemed to be completely gone, in it’s place a fond tolerance he usually reserved for friends. “It’s good to know that the suave Tony Stark can be caught off guard.”

“So my reputation precedes me.” Tony asked, more than happy to change the subject. “All the worst things, I’m sure,” he grinned

“Only the worst. I heard you eat babies for breakfast, disgusting,” He shook his head, but Tony could see the faintest smile on the corner of his lips. “Actually other than the haunted house they haven’t been saying much. Not that I’ve seen anyway.”

“Yeah, the house was probably only really a good move from a PR standpoint. I can’t get into trouble and it keeps the press occupied so they aren’t looking for something to scoop. From a business standpoint though,” Tony made a face and Stephen chuckled.

“Not great?”

“Not even a little. The investors want me to be ‘making something,’ but I’ve been making shit for them since I was eleven, I can take a break.” He rolled his eyes and suddenly Stephen felt a lot more sympathetic of Tony’s ridiculous project.

“I’m sure the house isn’t turning a small profit either.”

“It’s not bad, but I’m putting most of the money back into it, for the staff and crew and stuff. It’s not like I need the money. After the upfront investment the thing is basically paying for itself.” Tony said nonchalantly, and Stephen smiled full out.

“You’re not as much of ass as I thought you were.” Stephen said as Tony pulled into a parking spot.

“That a good thing?” Tony asked, no bluster or obnxious smile to be found on his face.

“Yeah,” Stephen smiled, “It’ll be an even better thing once you buy me a coffee.”

“I see how it is, everyone’s in it for the money.” Tony joked, but it wasn’t as light-hearted as it should have been.

“I’ll get the next one,” Stephen assured him, and Tony’s eyes went wide. “Unless you don’t want to?” he asked with a raised brow and Tony was quick to correct him.

“No, I do. Definitely. Next round’s on you.”

“Good.” Stephen went inside and once again Tony was left staring after Stephen, just a little bit infatuated.

Tony followed quickly, catching the door just before it started to swing closed behind Stephen. The smell of coffee and fresh pastries filled the cozy store and Tony followed Stephen to the line, already craving that cinnamon whatever that may made him once that he orders every fall like clock work.

When they finally made it to the front of the line Stephen ordered first, rattling off a drink order that Tony didn’t follow, but it sounded like it had a lot of sugar in it. Tony could get behind that. He stepped aside and Tony ordered, “that cinnamonny thing, you know the one.” He told May, who smiled at him fondly.

“The cinnamonny, thing, got it.” She write his name on the cup and handed it off to the barista and Tony paid her for their drinks.

“You really don’t know what it is you just ordered?” Stephen asked, as they stepped back to wait for their drinks.

“I asked May to surprise me once, and now I get it every time. It would ruin the novelty of it if I knew what it was.” Tony shrugged, shoving his hands deep in his pockets.

“I’m going to to figure it out.” Stephen said with conviction and Tony looked over at him.

“You’re going to steal my blissful drink order just to boost your own ego?”

“Pretty much.“

Tony tilted his head and raised his eyebrows with a shrug. “I can respect that.”

Stephen laughed just as their names were called. Stephen, with his damned long legs, got to the counter faster and stole Tony’s drink, leaving Tony to grab Stephen’s and follow him to a table. Whatever Tony had to say about Stephen, he certainly kept him on his toes.

Stephen sat down at a two person table by the wall, and Tony sat across from him, placing his drink near Stephen. “Can I have my coffee?” he asked, as Stephen sniffed at it, grinning.

“You really don’t know what this is?” he asked again, and Tony shook his head.

“No, I really don’t, I just know that it’s good. So, can I have it?” Tony reached his hand out to take it, but Stephen pulled away it away.

“Can I taste it?”

“I don’t know where your mouth has been. What if you spend your free time liking sidewalks?” Stephen made a face and Tony waved his hand at him, “Fine, go ahead, what else do I have to lose. If I get sidewalk diseases I’m blaming you.”

“I live in fear of the day,” Stephen smirked before taking a sip of Tony’s drink. He held it in his hand, licking his lip and mulling over the taste. “This is a pumpkin spice latte.”

“No it’s not.” Tony protested immediately, taking the drink back from Stephen and taking a sip for himself. But now that Tony had the idea in his head he could totally taste it. He’d been ignoring the pumpkin before, but now it was the main flavor. “Oh my god this is a pumpkin spice latte.”

Stephen grinned and made to take a sip of his own drink, only for Tony to put his hand in front of his mouth. “IF you got my first sip I get yours. Turnabout is fair play.”

Stephen set the cup down and gestured for Tony to have at it. Tony took a sip and his eyes went wide. The sugariness was intense, but it was otherwise delicious. “I change my mind, this is mine now.” He hummed and when he went to take another sip Stephen grabbed it back.

“If you want one so badly, go order your own.” He said vehemently, but the mirth in his eyes was unmistakable.

“I just might, now that you’ve ruined my favorite drink for me.”

“You can still drink it.” Stephen rolled his eyes and took a sip of his reclaimed drink. “It’s just that now you know you’re literally the most base model of a person that exists when it comes to coffee.”

“Oh shut up, it’s good!” Tony took another sip of his drink, but found it strangely lacking after drinking Stephen’s. He sighed and put it down. “Alright, what are you drinking. I want one.”

“A cinnamon dolce, extra espresso with almond milk and dark and caramel chocolate syrup.” He grinned smuggly, taking another sip of his drink just to taunt Tony. Tony glared, but there was no real heat behind it.

“I’ll be right back.”

“I know you will.”

[samuelfields]

How to make small talk and other advanced social skills

Does any of this sound familiar?

“I hate small talk, let’s just get to the point…”

“We started small talk and then there was this long awkward pause…”

“I had no idea how to start the conversation so I just sat there silently”

Small talk. Ugh.

But, I do have good news: Small talk is a skill. And just like any other skill, you can become more natural at it with practice. Thousands of my students have improved their social skills (especially if they weren’t “naturals” in social situations).

Today, I’m going to give you word-for-word scripts to help you start this process. Eventually, you’ll be able to set these scripts aside and make them your own — letting your own personality shine through.

How to Make Small Talk at a Glance

Instant Irresistibility: Why Small Talk is Important

3 openers that work in 90% of situations

How to practice making small talk: low stakes experiments

The invisible costs of poor social skills

My “Small Talk” Hacks Video

What to do TODAY

Bonus: Want more ways to build healthy habits? Check out my new Ultimate Guide to Habits.

Back to Top

Instant Irresistibility: Why Making Small Talk is Important

Why even master small talk? Wouldn’t it be easier to get straight to the “important part” of the conversation?

Let me tell you a story about my friend who’s an actress. We were talking about how she’d gone on a bunch of dates and the guys always fell in love with her. They had an instant rapport with her and felt the connection was incredibly deep after meeting her for an hour.

What they failed to understand was that she’s so socially skilled, she’s able to evoke this feeling of awe in most people she interacts with. She’s being totally transparent and ethical, but her social skills are so advanced that they bring out the best version of herself — making her almost irresistible.

The first step to reaching this level of social skills is to master a fool-proof conversation opener.

The 3 openers that work for 90% of situations

Here are 3 scripts that work in nearly any situation. I’m giving you the exact words.

“Hi. How’s your morning going?”

“Hi. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Ramit.”

“Good morning. How are you?”

Seem too simple?

That’s intentional! Notice how ordinary they are. The truth is, we’re not searching for magic words. We’re simply looking for a way to connect and build rapport.

It’s easy to “nod and shrug…” and then go back to what you’ve always done (which probably doesn’t include comfortably talking to anyone you’d like to talk to).

Or you can try something new. Use these scripts — starting today — and see how they evoke positive responses in others around you.

How many times have we walked past doormen, bartenders, people on the street, baristas and used our phones to avoid small talk?

We can change that starting today. Just a small baby step — say hello! Use just one of these openers to start a conversation with a stranger today.

How to Practice Small Talk: Low Stakes Experiments

The general openers above are great “easy outs” when you’re struggling to think of something to say.

But the hardest part isn’t having something to say. It’s having the confidence to actually do it. One of the best ways to build that confidence is to start very short conversations in low-stakes environments.

I’ll show you what I mean. Here are a few scripts to help practice your small talk skills with baristas and clerks.

Scenario #1: Servers and Baristas Servers and baristas are paid to be friendly, so this is a low-stakes situation. Just be aware of your environment: For example, don’t make your first small-talk attempt when there’s a line of 50 people behind you.

They’ll ask how you’re doing, and what you’d like to order. Instead of ordering your “regular” (in my case, a tall iced green tea, unsweetened), smile first, then try this instead:

“What’s good? (“Everything!”) “No really, what do you get when no one’s looking?”

From here, you can order their suggestion (“That sounds good, I’ll try it”) or stick to your usual (“Cool, I’ll have to try that next time”).

Non-offensive, safe-for-work jokes can add value too, but test your delivery before trying it:

“Have you ever purposely misspelled someone’s name on the cup because you didn’t like them?”

“Seriously, what’s the craziest order you’ve gotten this week?” (Notice how “this week” helps them narrow down the question so they can answer it easily. You do not want to be asking deep philosophical questions at this stage of the game!)

Smile and keep the tone light. This is fun! Treat it like a game and watch what happens.

Scenario #2: Checkout Clerks Most checkout clerks are treated like cogs in the machine. By taking a few extra seconds to make a genuine connection, you’re automatically standing out because the bar is set so low.

“Do you get a discount as an employee?”

[Pick up a tabloid] “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone buy one of these. Do you sell a lot?”

Try one or create your own questions based around it. Remember to listen to their response, smile, and keep moving on.

The point here is that easy micro-tests in low-stakes environments like coffee shops and stores give you valuable practice and confidence you can apply to higher-pressure situations like conferences or bars.

Back to Top

The invisible costs of poor social skills

But what happens if your social skills are just average?

Sometimes, it seems the people who don’t recognize the importance of social skills are the people who need it MOST:

She’ll never know what she missed.

How many of us go through this every day? The scary thing is, we’ll never know what we missed out on because of poor social skills. Those opportunities simply cease to exist.

For example…

We don’t talk to that girl at the bar, then kick ourselves later. Add this up over years and we end up getting our “second pick” of partners — not the ones we WANT, but the ones who are convenient or left over.

We stagnate in making new friends, since it’s hard to meet real friends after college. Especially if you’re not going out a lot.

We might be technically very skilled, but we bomb the interview, or get passed over for a promotion, or we’re not in the “inner circle” of people at work whom the boss favors.

There are even more haunting examples of the consequences of having mediocre social skills:

I have friends who thought earning enough would be enough to attract a partner. They’ve spent the last 5-10 years on their career, but never took the time to learn how to talk to men and women on a personal level. (A lot of Indian people are like this, actually.) Now what? They’ve got great jobs and lots of money in the bank, but they’re missing a core skill — and as a result, the pool of potential high-caliber partners is way smaller than for someone else.

One of my friends runs a successful tech company and was considering acquiring a small 1-man company. After a night of drinking, he asked me what I thought of the guy. He’s a good friend so I told him the brutal truth: I told him that the guy was way too cocky for his experience, I wouldn’t want him on my team, and I told him exactly why. My friend canceled the acquisition the next day. That guy will never know that his social skills cost him a 7-figure payday.

What do all these missed opportunities add up to over 10 years? 30 years?

If you learned even ONE technique to improve your social skills — something you can use every day while talking to co-workers, men, women, even random people on the street — what would that be worth?

Back to Top

Introducing My “Small Talk” Hacks Video

I created a new video for you, a 30-minute crash course on improving your social skills. I didn’t want to just offer you one or two random “tips.” I wanted to go deeper.

The video includes easy scripts for starting a conversation, keeping it going, and politely ending conversations (even with ramblers). I also included a live social-skills teardown about how to make small talk, plus the powerful concept of the Story Toolbox.

1:28   – Watch as I analyze my latest national TV appearance, beat-by-beat 4:07   – The social skills mistakes I used to make 5:44   – How do you start a conversation with a stranger? 8:20   – How do you keep the conversation going? 13:47 – How do you end a conversation politely? 16:57 – Your Story Toolbox: How can make yourself memorable? 20:50 – How do you make small talk?

TO DO TODAY

In the video at 16:57, I described the Story Toolbox, a Dream Job concept that lets you walk into any interaction — a job interview, bar, or cocktail party — and instantly have 5-10 stories to use at any given moment.

Top performers know that by having these stories ready to use — stories that consistently get positive reactions — they can instantly connect with anyone.

Today, I want you to start building your Story Toolbox.

Here’s your challenge:

Brainstorm ONE engaging story (like my story about the recovering alcoholic at the bar), then test it on 1 person — a friend, family member, coworker, even a stranger.

In the comments below, share the story (just an excerpt) and the reaction you got. It’s OK to get a negative reaction! Share whatever you find below.

How to make small talk and other advanced social skills is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-to-make-small-talk-and-advanced-social-skills/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[adrihoney-blog1]

Disney Shades of Green

A lot of Disney World frequents probably don’t know about Disney’s Shades of Green resort, a resort for military families, located right next to the Polynesian. This resort is specifically for active duty, retirees, veterans, and their friends and family members. I like to hop around hotels and experiment, and this was my most recent experience, and I decided to tell you about it in case you plan on staying there. I’m going to talk about the positives of the hotel, and the negatives. Here’s a fun tip: There will be a lot more negatives than positives. Strap in, kids.

The Positives

1. The Pricing

Because it’s a military family hotel, it has a lot of discounts. The rooms are really cheap compared to a lot of other Disney rooms, the dining is cheap, and their gift shop is pretty cheap too. It’s a perfect price situation for military families who want a good vacation but don’t want to have to spend so much on Disney’s expensive hotels.

2. The Gift Shop

They have one big gift shop, called Express. This gift shop has toys, clothes, gifts, the typical Disney stuff. But in addition, it has tons of necessary items that are hard to find at other Disney resorts, like actual contact solution, shampoos and conditioners, tons of medications, etc... It also has a huge variety of foods and drinks. And, if you’re looking to party, they have tons of alcohol, most of it being vodka.

3. The Landscape

Looking at this hotel, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Pulling up to it, we were in awe by the scenery. It’s a beautiful piece of property. The hotel was originally designed to be a country club, and it absolutely gives off that vibe.

4. The Parking

One thing I’ve always hated about Disney hotels is when you’re stuck with a parking lot view. It always ruins the magic vibe. The parking here is all in a big parking garage, so we paid for a standard room and got a gorgeous view of the golf course, trees, water, and so much more.

The Negatives

1. The Gift Shop

So, this is a bit contradictory. Everything there is super discounted, but it’s for a reason. Basically none of it is Disney Parks merchandise. The things you find there are general Disney toys and clothes you could find at your local Wal-Mart, which is why it’s all so cheap.

2. The Dining

So, we didn’t get to try many dining options, mainly because we were a little scared to. The Garden Gallery is the only restaurant we tried and it wasn’t fantastic, but not the worst. The things that bugged me the most were the dining hours and the Java Cafe. The dining hours are weird as hell. Restaurants are only open for breakfast or for dinner, and it’s very limited hours. I’m talking like four to five hours at a time, the restaurants are open. The only places open all day were Evergreen’s (which we couldn’t find), and the Java Cafe. They claim to sell Starbucks, but by that, I mean only coffee. When I asked for iced green tea, the barista, who didn’t speak a whole lot of English, firmly insisted she could not make me “ice cream tea”. We then had to explain what iced tea was, only to find they only did coffee, alcohol, and the very obscure assortment of drinks in the fridge (water, gatorade propel, many flavors of v-8, and a fruit drink i’ve never heard of is all i remember).

3. The Staff

One big thing you have to know is the staff of this resort are NOT Disney employees. They are in no way tied to Disney, other than that they work on the property. You’re not going to get the classic Disney hospitality and charm. The staff was mostly apathetic and disinterested, other than one worker at the Garden Gallery who invaded my personal space WAY too much, touching me and my bag, playing with my pins, and talking  nonstop. 

4. The Atmosphere

If you’re looking for a very Disney vacation, I encourage you to find ANY other hotel. This hotel feels like the one you stay at after you leave Disney when you’re in the middle of nowhere on the road trip home. The colors are supposed to represent the armed forces, so everything is green, brown, tan, and if you’re lucky enough, white. Makes for a very dark and somewhat sad environment, especially since the hallways are long, narrow, and winding, so there’s no natural light to be found. The only Disney things to be seen are a TV in the lobby that sometimes plays Disney films and a statue of Mickey Mouse with a whole bunch of patriotic things painted all over him. I can’t describe it well enough, so here’s a picture.

5. The Buses

Shades of Green has maybe four or five buses. Each bus clearly used to be a Disney bus, but they got a paint job. The outside is white with the Shades of Green logo, and the seats on the inside are two somewhat varying shades of brown. There’s a rope to pull for your stop, despite the fast that each bus only has one stop besides the resort, and all the fun Disney ads are replaced with obscure ads for the resort or other unrelated thing. The buses have a very strict schedule, and only leave the resort every hour (except one of them). They will actually sit at the pickup station for 20 minutes before leaving just so they leave specifically every hour. The only bus with a less strict schedule it the bus to the Ticket and Transportation Center, where you have to get off and transfer to a monorail or ferry to get to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. This bus leaves every 20 minutes, and will still sit in the lot for a while before actually departing.

6. ID Checks

When you get to the resort, you’re given a hotel ID that you need to present constantly along with a military ID to prove you’re allowed to be there. They have this in place to ensure nobody gets onto the property who isn’t military, and it sucks. When coming back to the resort from anywhere, your ID is checked before being allowed on the bus, then checked again at the hotel entrance, where a security guard boards the bus, and checks everyone individually for their ID. It has a serious prisoner feel and just made me nervous the whole stay.

7. The Room

So, I’m pretty sure our room was just somewhat broken. It was constantly freezing, no matter what the temperature was, we had to call the front desk for help to figure out the shower, our TV wouldn’t work for the first hour that we tried to turn it on, and our fridge froze anything and everything you put into it. My carrots were covered in ice. When we did finally get the TV to work, it didn’t have any of our favorite channels, and we could only find weird shows we’ve never heard of (the only one i remember is a show called the dead files??), the Bachelor, and the worst season of The Office.

8. The Magnolia Wing

First of all, there are two buildings and they’re called “wings”, YOU KNOW like hospital wings. It’s pretty fitting in the case of the Magnolia Wing. This is the older building. We stayed in the Palms Wing, which is newer and a bit more modern. We wandered into the Magnolia Wing on accident since it happens to connect to the gift shop and Java Cafe. It has bright green carpets, super low ceilings, and yellow lighting. It legitimately felt like I was walking around a haunted nursing home, it was freaky as hell. We got all the way up to the third floor before realizing we were in the wrong building and had to find a way out before a ghost came out of the wall and ate our hearts. I actually had a nightmare about it that night, it was that freaky.

In other words, Shades of Green is a nightmare hotel, it sounds way too close to 50 Shades of Grey, and I would recommend absolutely ANY other hotel. Happy travels, friends.

[mycaferestaurantgamecheats-blog]

My Cafe Restaurant Game Cheats

My Cafe Restaurant Game Guide

My Cafe Restaurant Game guide is a new thing to help you get higher at My Cafe Restaurant Game. Help charlotte whole challenges and discover who her actual buddies are • participate in the sun season! Earn trophies at gala's and the sunflower will deliver you even extra Diamonds • step again into your formative years with chloe, ann and max. Get prepared for items and lots of different amusing stuff! • join cherry blossom season! Earn trophies at fairs, and the cherry tree will bring you even more Diamonds • clients now wave at you while you entire their order. En los angeles anterior lo tenía además de los diamantes y monedas for the those who love simulation video games and has a panache for cooking and baking, they'll enjoy my cafe: recipes and memories game the most. It's far one of these games, which may be performed at any time and is ideal for passing some time effectively. It's miles a simulation game wherein one will open a café with one's pal and could bake and cook dinner, serve and socialize with the customers. My cafe: recipes & memories is the nice recreation available that offers you the possibility to be in-fee of a ultra-modern cafe that has been opened in a small metropolis. You are partners with your buddy, ann and you've the duty to make certain proper control of all the restaurant sports and ensure that each one the clients are served with the excessive exceptional suitable tasting espresso and freshly baked gadgets which you have baked from the scratch. When you have what it takes to run a restaurant then you definately have to clearly try out the sport. Here we shall be protecting all manner of widespread suggestions and hints, however as we always do, we are going to begin from the very starting and fill you in on the fundamentals. In this game, the serving will in most cases be finished by your in-recreation buddy and top worker ann, in addition to the personnel you rent in your eating place. However do not simply stand there and let them do all of the dirty paintings; you can assist them out as nicely and do the serving yourself. Не приходят опов��щения в чате от игроков, совершенно пропало желание играть в игру. Деньги получаете наши, а сделать нормально не можете. В техподдержку так вообще бесполезно писать, никто не может помочь с этой проблемой. • magic and revenge, courage and honor, palaces and a jousting tournament! Help charlotte whole demanding situations and find out who her authentic friends are • participate within the solar season! Earn trophies at gala's and the sunflower will carry you even greater Diamonds • step back into your early life with chloe, ann and max. Clients can help you find recipes by using supplying you with useful tips. Client storylines will draw close the participant's interest with elaborate info and emotional quotient. Whether or not it's far a budding romance inside your café or some thing greater sinister, my café restaurant will maintain you glued to your mobile displays in anticipation of what comes next. Every individual you come across is particular and has diverse developments that you must understand and check. My Cafe Restaurant Game mod capabilities a wonderful leveling gadget that is prompted by a number of of things, such as the capability to satisfy purchaser needs, enjoyable orders, completing storylines and upgrading the café with extra highly-priced objects. However, some in-game items may be bought for actual Money. If you want to disable this feature, please turn off in-app purchases for your tool's settings••••••••••••••••••••••note: a web connection is required to play the gamefollow our authentic page to get the contemporary news and beneficial recommendations on the way to increase your cooking sport:fb - http://www.fb.com/mycafegame при покупке монеты уменьшаются, бриллианты нет. Есть 2 дополнительные функции: 1. ускорить официантов; 2. увеличить уровень (что меня очень смущает). Пока понаблюдаю, но скорее всего удалю. ● my cafe: recipes & tales allows you to unharness your barista superpower and create custom coffee and tea drinks for all of your visitors. ● free up particular coffee recipes and spice up anyone's existence in your cafe with different drink mixtures. •••••••••••••••••••••• my cafe: recipes & stories is loose to down load and play with out a obligations to pay. But, some in-recreation items can be bought for real Money. If you wish to disable this feature, please turn off in-app purchases to your device's settings. Equipping many types of furnishings for cafe area is also an effective technique that will help you increase your degree quick. While you upload special spices to liquids or ice cream cakes, it's going to assist you promote at a far higher fee. This is also an effective way to help you growth sales to your cafe. Although it isn't always clean to own these types of special spices, you could sincerely get them through loose items. In case you want to boom your probabilities of getting unique spices, ann's daily simple gift talent improve is the first aspect you need to do. However, i've already finished all the memories and not sure what i can do to stage up. Please he... degree 14 i cant find my hazelnut. It isn't at the shelf. I paid it and what on my shelf are cinnamon, lemon, chocolate and mint handiest. I even sold a... when i first loaded the espresso grinder it showed beans in it however now there isn't any beans, even when i paid Diamonds for greater espresso for 7 greater days.... festivals are weekly objectives or goals that contributors of a township can comply with for appealing rewards and Money. My Cafe Restaurant Game is loose to down load and play. But, gamers have the choice of spending real-international Money to simplify the sport or collect certain in-recreation objects. Understand that any such buy isn't always mandatory as players can freely development via the game with out such buy. But, any objects that one buys the usage of real Money lead to the player becoming a vip member inside the sport. I've a northern lighting cafe. Am stage 18 and i can improve all of the cafe furnitures to crystal fashion that's greater highly-priced. While should i start to upgrade? Is it useless to purchase simplified machines? It says you cannot make recipes, and will need to upgrade to premium machines... so what is their purpose? Why are they even supplied for sale? And that if i purchase a simplified machine, would i still have to buy the upgrade at the same price, or will it be discounted since i already paid for the simplified version? ?

[breanna-lynn]

Breanna the Barista

Guys, I may become a barista at 27. Yes, I’m a college graduate with a degree. Yes, I want to do this by choice.

Life is weird. Today I had an awkward moment. More ironic than anything. Here’s how it went, just imagine it:

1. You get an on–the-spot interview at a coffee shop (a job that will pay minimum wage but allow you to pursue your dream of writing/publishing on the side) while 2. you observe another girl (who could be your twin with blue hair) at the same place meeting with a suited man and being interviewed for the last professional position you applied for recently.

And by “you”, I mean that was me one hour ago. I find it kinda funny; I ain’t mad. :) Actually, grateful I chose a different path for myself.

I’d rather be sane, healthy, happy, make less, and be pursuing my actual long-term ambitions than stuck in a stressful job that will not ever allow me to become independent. This is what I need right now. Money is not the most important. I simply want to live within my means and enjoy what I do.

I may be a barista at a local coffee shop that is a small business start-up, is owned by a woman, roasts their own coffee, and features local art. I’ll get to interact with local people everyday and work 6 hour shifts, typically, with tips.

Honestly, this is awesome. I went in, expressed my interest to the owner who happened to be there this morning; she asked if I was free at 10am so I waited and then we sat down impromptu, had an engaging conversation, and now she scheduled me for two training, tomorrow and the next day, to see if I like it.

Pray for me that God would continue to direct me and place me where He wants me. I think this will be a better fit. The last job I worked was exhausting, stressful, but paid $13/hr with benefits. This job will be $7.50 plus tips and no benefits, but allow me to rest, plan the wedding, and pursue my passion. I am so grateful to have such supportive family and fiance, too, while I change up the work I am giving myself to.

If you all are willing to support me pursue writing again, I am doing it because it is my gift and passion, and I want to see what God will do when I actually open up to begin that again as a way to bless others. And by support, I mean, read, ask questions, encourage me, let me know if you resonate with it. Thanks! Many of you have been with me in my journey for up to 7 years via tumblr. You’ve seen a lot of my life and processing of what I’m shared, and stayed. This another part of my journey, and I am happy I can share.

More than anything, this is a choice in faith to trust God and out of my desire to do life knowing and loving Him. He takes me places I never expect. He is always good!

This is my adventure, and I don't think it will ever look how people typically do things. It is exciting and ever-changing. How fun to see what will happen next, it's hardly ever what I would have expected or planned. God knows always what is best for me and teaches me in the process of getting there. I love it.