Sharing the Coffee Love!

Do you remember those commercials where one person would do something nice for someone else and then that person would do something nice for another, so on and so on. I always thought it was a cool commercial and illustrated the intent of kindness and the power it has. 

A few months ago, I visited my local Starbucks. It was midday and I was in need of refueling. I ordered my usual Toffee Nut Latte via the drive thru and waited in line for my turn. There were three cars in front of me and two cars behind. When I pulled up to the window, phone in hand (I use the nifty Starbucks App), the attendant greeted me with a smile and stated my bill had already been taken care of by the car in front of me. 

I was in shock. Wow, I had heard about stuff like this happening. I actually thought it was an urban legend. To my surprise it is not. After reattaching my jaw to my face I asked, why? The attendant laughed, she was obviously enjoying the reaction. She said it has started about half an hour ago. One person started the chain by offering to purchase the coffee for the people in the car behind them and it continued from there. 

I shook my head with a huge grin and I said, “well let’s keep it going, shall we?”. Handing her my phone I paid for the coffee order in the car behind me. 

It is a rainy morning here in Texas and I have lofty writing goals for the day. After debating about whether or not to go to the grocery store to buy coffee creamer or to just make a beeline to Starbucks I decided to do both. After stopping at the grocery store-- specifically for my daughter, who like her mother, has coffee with her cream—I drove across the parking lot to the Starbucks drive-thru. Ordering my Toffee Nut Latte I noticed my Starbucks card had just refilled. The thought hit me and I couldn’t resist—selfishly hoping for good karma—when I got to the window there were four cars behind me. I looked at the couple in the car behind me. They looked like they’d had a long morning so I went for it. 

I told the attendant I would like to take care of the couples order behind me. The attendant, a young adult of about eighteen or nineteen smiled broadly “It will be my pleasure to assist you with that.” He told me their total and scanned my phone. “I will say thank you for the car behind you.”

I asked him to tell them to have an awesome Sunday. He nodded and told me to have a terrific day. I pulled out of the drive through forcing myself not to look back. The bubbling of pure joy, and giggling elation was overwhelming. I haven’t experience such a natural pure high in years!

In reading this I hope you are inspired to do the same for someone sometime in the near future. I would LOVE to hear about you have done. I think back to how I felt when it was done for me, and now I have started the chain and passed it on. 

It is my sincere hope that everyone who receives a free coffee is inspired to have an awesome day!

How to be a Writer during the Holidays

I am not sure if anyone else noticed but the world seems to stop normal functions during the holidays. Black Friday, while being the craziest shopping day of the year, is also the day the entire world seems to speed up (and not in a good way) . Time flies twice as fast. We are all working on Christmas shopping, holiday planning, parties, travel…the list goes on and on.

As a writer, this time of year wreaks havoc on my flow. You all know what I am talking about. We as writers are really creatures of habit and during the holidays ‘habits’ i.e. sanity, flies out the window with the reindeer.

So as this year I cannot get off track I decided to give this some thought and share my plan of action (in case anyone else is in need) It is after all the season of giving right?

First and foremost (and this is a little late in coming) do as much as possible before it hits. Black Friday is your target date….okay fine you can have until December 1st but not a minute more! Pre write as many blogs, and articles needed to het through until January. Many of us have blogs that will allow you to ‘schedule’ a post. Do it! Santa knows we will forget! Oh don’t shake your head in innocence you know you will…

Also you are going to need to add a few things to your shopping list this weekend as we are going to create an emergency kit (you know like an earthquake kit, but this one is for your muse.) Here is what I suggest…

Notebooks - I suggest three sizes small, medium and large. One to fit any scenario you find yourself it. For example, you are going to walk through the neighborhood at your Mom’s with the kids and then eat some yummy chili. Grab the small notebook, pen, and put them in your back pocket. If the muse strikes you are prepared.

Pens, pencils and a editing pen - Always, always, always…

Pocket Thesaurus and MP3 player - there are times when my muse is whispering in my ear but I just can’t quite hear what she is saying. Music always helps translate and believe it or not sometimes I can thumb through a thesaurus, see a word and lightning strikes! Great for waiting in line for Santa, or rides to and from holiday parties (as long as your not driving). Pick something small that will help cue the flow no matter where you are.

Pack of Gum/ Tic-Tacs / Pick me up Drink - these are all for various reasons, to keep you from chipping your holiday nails (if you tend to gnaw while thinking), jumpstarting your brain after too much turkey, a smack of rejuvenation after spending five hours at the mall for one present or to keep the kids sated for at least five minutes so you can think in a straight line.

Reusable Coffee Cup / Book Light - These are specifically for those of us who will be doing a lot of car shuffling. The book light is for the late night drives back, so you can jot items down or review your notes when the children finally dose in the back of the car. (again, please not while driving). The coffee cup is so no matter where you are if you see a convenience store you can run in and get some coffee. Why the reusable cup? If you are anything like me you drink a lot of coffee. This will reduce the garbage in the car you have to clean out come January. (oh and it is better for the environment, 7-11 has travel cups for 2$)

Calendar / Spare Phone Charger - we all live by schedules and most of us use a calendar to keep track of deadlines. Make sure you have yours handy at all times this time of year. I cannot tell you how many panic attacks could have been avoided if I would have brought one. Many of us have them on our phones which is awesome. Just make sure you can access it so when in doubt you can check if the guest blog posting is due tonight or tomorrow (when in actuality it is due next week). The spare charger is just in case. When things get hectic this is one of the first things we tend to forget, so keep a spare to plug in no matter where you are.

Last, a bag to put it all in. Most convenience stores are selling eco-friendly shopping bags for 99 cents. Most have handles and are pretty durable. Buy one and keep all your stuff in the back of the car so you will always have it when needed.  

If you are able, I would also recommend a mobile program called Evernote. I have this for all my devices and I love it. It is basically a thought organizer. You can put in on your phone, tablet and also have it for your desktop. They can sync and keep everything up to date. You can create new tasks, make lists, set deadlines and reminders right from your phone. You can also attach documents to Evernote so if you are on the road and need to review a document if you put it in your Evernote at home on the computer, you can bring it up on your phone and review while on the run.

So that’s the list, customize it as you will, just make sure you are prepared! You never know when your best ideas will strike and you don’t want to be writing on wrapping paper with a crayon or eyeliner from the bottom of your purse. (you know you’ve been there).

Happy Holidays!