The perfect cup of coffee

You ever watch Saturday Night Live when Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri had the one cheerleading skit, The Spartans?  They would always end with "The Perfect Cheer!".  Everytime I have a wonderful cup of coffee, in my head I hear, "The Perfect Cup!".  Okay, most of that is probably my pre-coffee delirum in the morning when I'm half awake.

To me, the first sip is the best part of a cup of coffee.  There's nothing more satisfying to my morning to that nice fuzzy feeling I get after that first sip.  I can usually predict how my day will go based on my first cup of coffee.  For example, if I spill/splash my coffee before I take that first most important sip, I know I'm going to have a bad day.  If the first sip to my coffee is cold (I usually only drink hot coffee, even in hot, humid weather), I'm obviously going to have a busy day.  There are a lot of factors that may play into that perfect cup of coffee.  You don't want to take your first sip only to say "Yuck!  That coffee is gross!"

To make your own perfect cup of coffee, these are some methods that I love:
1. The good old coffeemaker.  My current favorite coffeemaker is one I received as a wedding gift off my registry from Amazon!  It's by Zojirushi (the rice cooker company) and it makes 10 cups of coffee.  It has a handy auto function where you can program what time you want your coffee to be brewed.   Instead of using paper coffee filters, I bought a permanent gold filter and it works perfectly.
I use La Colombe's Corsica beans for drip coffee, it's my favorite brand of coffee.




2. The French Press.  Another of my favorite methods is by using a french press.  It's usually a little more time consuming, but completely worth it.  It's perfect for those rainy weekend days when you want to curl in a chair and read a book and sip coffee or for a breakfast in bed for 2. Again, I use La Colombe's Corsica beans, but the grind has to be coarse for the French Press otherwise you're going to have a lot of coffee grinds in your end product.




3. The stovetop espresso maker.  Want to drink espresso or make your own latte at home?  This stovetop espresso maker by Bialetti is the perfect way to do just that.  Fill the bottom chamber with water and add fine coffee to the filter.  Within minutes, through a pressurizing process, the espresso moves up into the upper chamber and voila!  You now have espresso!  To make your own latte, heat up some milk and add your espresso in a mug and enjoy!  You can use any fine grind coffee, but I love using Illy Caffe's Dark Roast Fine Grind Beans.

What are your suggestions?  Are there coffee brands you swear by or a favorite method of brewing that perfect cup?

Wedding Shoe(s)

As promised, I am sharing my wedding pics of my dress and shoes.  My hubby and I had a small wedding ceremony in May 2009 with the intention of having a vow renewal ceremony/reception a year later.  So for out first ceremony, I was on the hunt for a dress and shoes without breaking my budget considering we needed to start saving ASAP!  My dress was JCrew's Sophia gown in ivory and the shoes were JCrew's Fleur in marigold.

The dress was so comfortable and luckily the only alteration I needed was the hem. I wanted a color pop so i decided to go for the marigold-y yellow shoes with a matching bouquet. The shoes were very cute, but not as comfortable as I had hoped, they were slightly off  in fit where my arch of my foot was, but something that could have been rectified with some inserts.  I found the dress on Ebay and the shoes I scored from one of the weekly exchanges over at JCrew Aficionada's blog with a total cost of both under $100!
Fast forward eleven months (I really wanted to have the reception in May 2010, but wedding prices start to skyrocket at this point, so we opted for April instead).

I purchased this beautiful wedding gown from a wedding boutique that only sells sample dresses.  It's by Alfred Sung and the color was an ivory with a champagne undertone with a subtle floral print all over the dress.  Finding the perfect shoes were not easy! 

At first, I bought Me Too's Jeanette in Champagne on sale at Nordstrom's. Unfortunately, the champagne was a bit too dark for my dress and clashed slightly.  Then, by accident, I found THE shoes.  Christian Louboutin's Mauresmo in ivory chiffon and light champagne.

Normally, I'm used to wearing higher heeled shoes.  These shoes were maybe between 2.75 - 3 inches high.  However, they were really really comfortable!  I wore and danced in these all night!  These were my first pair of Louboutins and I am a fan!

What shoes did you wear on your wedding day?  Did you match your dress or did you wear colorful shoes?

Shoe Woes

Two weeks ago, I purchased a pair of glammed up flip-flop-esque sandals from Macys.  They met most of my shoe purchasing criteria: 1. Comfy. Check. 2. Cute. Check. 3. On sale. Check!  After I made the purchase (I even had a coupon which made the purchase even better), I changed my shoes to my new sandals.  They were Kenneth Cole Reaction's Wham Bam Glam, as seen here:

The cork footbed was definitely comfortable and very cushy and the beading looked very nice.  Unfortunately, the strap on the right foot started digging into my skin.  It left a mark resembling a bite mark from something with fangs.  If you look at my previous real life shoe pics from my earlier blog entries, you can see the marks.
I'm not ready to give up on these shoes just yet.  I may have to do some altering to the strap, maybe tape it down or something or remove a bead.  Hopefully, that'll work out.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Last Thursday, I had worn my JCrew Gladiola Dress with JCrew Lulu Peeptoe Pumps.  After wearing the pumps all day at work and most hours after work, on the way home, my feet needed a little break.  Luckily, I brought these comfy babies along:

 Kenneth Cole Reaction's Glam in Bloom in Lemon Drop.  Yup, they have the same styling as the first sandals that I mentioned, but the difference here was instead of the beading, there are some straps and a centered yellow flower.  These sandals were verrrrrrrrrrry comfortable and they didn't dig into the top of my feet!  I was able to score these on sale at Macy's website on sale!

Kenneth Cole Reaction happens to be one of my favorite shoe brands and a lot of their sandalwear they have out now have the padded footbed which to me is more comfortable than a pair of flip flops. 

Since I'm on a shoe drought this week, tomorrow I'll post the shoes I wore to my wedding and vow renewal reception!

A case of the Mondays...bleh

I hate Mondays.  I really do.  By Sunday evening, I start getting a little sad because it always means back to work on Monday.  But there are some good things to Mondays in the world of blogs.  Mondays are when new postings are up for the Great Weekly Exchange at J.Crew Aficionada's blog!  I love perusing through there and have scored many a great deals!  I have tons of Jcrew items that I had purchased through their final sales which I need to go through and see if there's anything for me to post.  Another of my favorite blogs, Effortless Anthropologie does the same, but is named The Trade Market.  I've only recently discovered that I love Anthropologie's clothes and think I'll easily catch up with all my J Crew items in my closet!  Those 2 blogs definitely help me cope through my case of the Mondays week by week!  Gotta love retail therapy!

Scoring the best shoe deal

If you are patient, there are many ways you can score the best shoe deal.  I'm the first to admit to fall victim to impulse purchasing of shoes only to then suffer from buyer's remorse or worst yet....someone else is selling them even less!  [insert scream here]  Luckily, nowadays, most brick and mortar stores have longer return policies (90 days or some even up to 180 days), so make sure to save your receipts!  Also, online shopping sites have free shipping and free return deals, so purchasing and returning couldn't have gotten any simpler.

Below are some simple steps to making sure you're getting the best deal out there:
1. If you spot a pair (or pairs) of shoes that you like at a store, try them on!  If they fit well and you still like them, take note of the brand AND style name and the price. 
2. Walk away from the shoes.  Yes, I know this may be tough, but you can do it.  But what if it's the only pair in your size that's left, you ask?  Ask the salesperson to place it on hold for you, most stores offer to hold your item for 24 hours.
3.  Whether it's the internet on your phone or your home computer, google your shoes and style name.  You should see some hits of the shoe and stores that offer them. 
4.  Start comparing sites and prices, read some reviews.  Don't forget to factor in shipping costs.
5.  Most sites offer a 100-110% price match guarantee, but there many be some exclusions, so make sure to check them out as well!
6. Okay, so did you find your shoes for less than what you saw?  Are you ready to purchase them?  Good!  But before you start checking out or adding them to your cart, use points or cashback to your advantage!  I love using Ebates, you get a certain percentage cashback from your purchases!  Or if you have a credit card you use that offers you cashback at certain retailers, check and see if you'd get the best deal that way as well!  Check for coupon codes for the retailer as well!  If the shoes are at a brick and mortar store, check if there are coupons that may be applied to your purchase.  For example, Macy's cardholders usually get coupons, but for those who are not cardholders, you can obtain a WOW coupon pass from their catalog on their website.  Most of the time it's between 10-15% off a purchase.

Still don't know if you're getting the best deal?  Comment shoes that you're looking for and I will do my best to scavenge the best deal out there for you.

Some of my favorite websites for shoes are:
www.amazon.com
www.endless.com
www.6pm.com
www.shoesteal.com
www.overstock.com

Thursday's Outfit and Shoes and weekly wrap up

My camera went kaput temporarily, so I can't post any real life pics until that's fixed, but since my sneak peek for Thursday were my Jcrew Lulu Pumps, this is the dress that I paired them with:

Jcrew's Gladiola Dress!  I loved wearing this dress, it was very comfortable and came with a cute matching belt.  Had some hues of gray in it which complemented my Lulu pumps really well. 

I scored both the dress and shoes for an awesome deal from one of my favorite blogs, J.Crew Aficionada.  Here, every Monday, there is a post for the Great Weekly Exchange where posters can post items for sale.  There are many posts on reviews of certain items and also updates for coupon codes at J Crew.


To wrap up for the week, I did achieve my goal of wearing at least one pair of my unworn shoes this week.  In fact, I wore 2 new pairs of shoes this week, both from Nine West!  Nine West Eriley and Nine West Every.  Hopefully I can keep up my goals week by week and that my camera will be fixed for next week's list of shoes!

Since I'm off from work this weekend, nothing exciting on the shoe-front, just a pair of Old Navy flip flops.  However, my coffee of the day today happens to be one my all time favorite coffee brews, La Colombe's Corsica Brew.  If you are a coffee fanatic, I highly recommend this coffee!  I can't describe it any other way other than it is wonderful!  The first sip always puts a smile on my face.  It will definitely keep you awake, so don't drink it after 3pm if you're sensitive to coffee.

Tomorrow's post will be about shoe sites and how to score the best deal online!

I hate rain!

I am so not a big fan of rain! It's wet. it's cold, and there's worms everywhere that I have to play hopscotch so not to step on them!  You don't want to scrape worm off the bottom of your shoes...trust me.

So down to business...
Coffee of the Day: Dunkin Donuts Extra Large Blueberry Coffee
Shoes of the Day: Nine West Every in Taupe Patent Leather Peep Toe Pumps

Paired these lovely pumps with a light pink ruffled short sleeve blouse from Lvl X and Victoria Secret's gray with pink pinkstriped skirt.  The shoes were comfy, but a little stiff, probably needed to be broken in a little more. 

Anyone else have these shoes?  What outfit would you have worn them with?  I could always use outfit inspirations! :)

Sneak peek for tomorrow...