Please Happy

My new favorite study spot. Bricks & Scones in Larchmont. There’s a plant-sheltered patio, a large social room, an upstairs area for meetings and an upstairs study for silence. Thank you, Hilary for the tip.

Also, I’m pretty sure I should start advertising myself as an iPhone photographer. I love my little magic device.

The owner/operators of the Jackson Hole McDonald’s (I know, can you believe we have a McDonald’s this close to the Tetons) sent me a bunch of coupons today.

Well, they sent my company a bunch of coffee coupons. And by My Company, I mean a company that has my name on it that I’ve never heard of: Lauren Whaley Medical, LLC.

Wow! I must be big time to own a medical LLC I didn’t even know existed.

Now, to be fair, I did hear from a reliable source (a coffee connoisseur/internationally-trained barista) that McDonald’s McCafé coffee is – SHOCKINGLY – “the best in this town.”

And by coffee, he meant coffee drinks, made on a fancy new machine. Cappuccinos, Lattes, Mochas. What?! Mickey-Dees? Now of course, I forget the name of the machine, and the machine name doesn’t appear on the coupons (most of which are Free “with the purchase of”s).

So, I will try a latte. On my terms (my own mug with steamed soy milk). But, only because I’m in the medical world, and we docs gotta sometimes experience what our patients are putting into their bodies.

P.S. I did go to a McCafé in Köln, Germany, which was packed at 3 p.m. and 3 a.m., and I have to say the espresso and the espresso brownies were delicious. But, it was Europe! They can’t not make good espresso.

(I wonder if I need to bring proof of LLCness. The coupons, afterall, are directed “For Lauren Whaley Medical LLC Employees,” not Lauren Whaley.)

Salt Lake City International Airport.

Ran to get a latte from Starbucks. Called it the Bucks of Star in my mind. A recent tendency that I rather enjoy. Switching words around, that is. Example: Crates of So, for Socrates.

Went up to counter with metal water bottle. Opening too narrow for a latte. Bought a $7 mug for the drink so I wouldn’t suffer the guilt of buying a disposable one.

Paid for the mug, for the triple soy latte. Waited in the receiving line.

But Counter Girl called me back. The drink order bucked policy.

Espresso Girl: We can’t make lattes for that mug [that they just sold me].

Me: Why not?

Espresso Girl: It doesn’t have a top. I’ll make your drink in a paper cup and you can pour it into that mug.

Me: But, the point of buying the mug was to not use a paper cup. Save some trees, ya know?

Counter Girl: [Whispering to me] I try to do that sometimes, but here, the pace is so fast. You have to forget about it after a while. You can’t be filling everyone’s mugs up.

At this point, I hope the 10 people waiting behind me are listening and getting mad like I am. Though, I see no other mugs in anyone else’s hands….

Me: I’d love it if you could make it in the mug I just bought.

Espresso Girl: I really can’t.

Counter Girl to Espresso Girl: [Whisper] Just do it this time.

Espresso Girl: [Looks around.] OK. I’ll do it.

Me: THANK YOU!

Smiles all around. Wink from Counter Girl. Victory.

For pouring the espresso and steamed soy into the China-made Starbucks mug at Starbucks, Espresso Girl broke the rules. I can’t think of why lattes can’t be conceived in open containers. On-plane spillage? Steamer contamination from containers-brought-from-home [though this one was in-store]? Dunno.

Regardless, Espresso Girl made the sweet latte smiling to herself. And to me when she handed me the frothy drink while the others waited their turn.

My sister Anna dances at a company called P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, Belgium. In my scant observations of the capital of the EU so far, all I can say is that it rains a lot, most people speak at least three languages and the energetic dancers here eat heaps of organic, hot and delicious food.

Because they start of the day with yoga and eat extremely well, I was surprised to learn that everyone drinks coffee from an individually packaged coffee bag, called a coffee pod, something that seemed too convenient, too chintzy for modern European hardbodied artists.

The bags aren’t steeped like tea, but power pressed via machine. To the Europeans’ credit, it tastes the same as strong coffee. Perhaps the mini bag method is more efficient than a bag of grounds?

Most Europeans I’ve met, afterall, dry their clothes on a rack, use cloth bags for groceries and have water-efficient toilets — innovations that, in the States, are considered sacrifices in Greening Your Life.

Still, the Philips Senseo machine that whirs and purrs to produce each cup can’t be better for the environment than a classic French Press. I’ll have to do a blind taste test and ask around at cafés to see what the pros are using.