I don't drink alcohol, so I coffee shop hop

What a nasty, rainy day it is. While I debate on wither I shall brave the rain on my bike to attend a yoga class or not, let me talk about coffee and pastries!

I love coffee shops. Not only do I love coffee (specifically espresso), but I love the event of sitting at the coffee shop, the act. It's very romantic and European in my mind. You stare at people. Pretend your doing important work. Writing your novel, etc. Before I got sober, I wasn't able to drink caffeine past 5 pm without fear of staying awake all night. For some reason now, I can drink all the caffeine I want, all day! Yeah for me! Here is a list of some of my favorite spots in the city:

Hey! Cafe
The guys who run Hey! Cafe are super dorky and cute. They put out comic books and also run a music label. Lots of sockets to plug in your laptop. I usually stick with espresso drinks. When they have the quiche, it is banging (I eat it straight up cold) and they often have Vegan and Gluten-Free pastry options. I also buy my espresso beans from them. It's a good place to check out their posting wall of things to do in town.

Avenue Cafe
The Avenue Cafe on St. Charles is right around the corner from my house, so I am partial. It seems like it would be a bit too commercial-y for my taste, but for some reason I love this place (and it is actually Independently owned!...I think they need some work on their logo...). They have great pastries (some of which they get from a vegan and gluten-free baker) and their egg sandwiches are awesome, so is their service. I could sit on my laptop in there for a while.

Velvet
You get a free teacake when you check-in on Yelp. Nuff' said.

Reservoir Cafe 
This place is fairly new, opened by the couple who had the thrift store previously in the same space. They've done a great job. Their breakfast tacos are really good and really cheap! A great place to sit outside and watch Magazine St.

Mojo Coffee House
Oh, Mojo. What a great place to sit outside with a larger group of people. Their Iced Chai Latte is the best I've had in the city. Open late, and usually crowded with people on laptops. I just *wish* their Baristas were a bit nicer....like...it almost seems they are told to act bored and/or annoyed. Except for that one older dude. He's great.

Cafe Envie
Cafe Envie has banging cookies! Their sandwiches and stuff are a bit pricey but it's a little oasis of calm in the crazy quarter. They are open late and at the bottom of Decatur St.

Merchant
I feel like I'm in LA (or what I assume LA would be since I've never been there) when I'm in Merchant. I get their iced cappuccino because, what?! You can't ice a cappuccino, silly! I had a panini last time I was there, which was sub par. I wish I had another sandwich to eat after I was done. But they also carry fancy sodas, and that's a big plus in my book. Merchant is tucked away in the CBD on Common St. Go there to feel new-age as fuck.

The Orange Couch
Right over Elysian Fields on Royal St., this place again is a bit too fru-fru for my taste, but they do Vietnamese Iced Coffees and were open during the Krewe de Vieux parade, so, good for you Orange Couch!


Looking for some pastries with my coffee...

La Boulangerie
Oh, the excuses that can be made to have to go to Boulangerie. Over the summer they renovated and now have a full coffee menu! Yes! More reasons to sit there stuffing deliciousness in your mouth. My favorite pastries are the chocolate almond croissant, brioche suisse, and ham and cheese croissant. Their blue cheese bread is amazing as well. Side note: La Boulangerie is where I get my first king cake of the carnival season; almond paste filled French King cake with precious little porcelain statuettes hidden inside.

French king cake from La Boulangerie

Sucre
Macaroons. That's all I can say. I dare you to have just one

Croissant d'Or
It's like the Boulangerie of the French Quarter! I recently discovered this place at the bottom of the quarter on Ursulines Ave. The place is pretty big with a dreamy looking courtyard. They have good chocolate espresso and yes, great croissants. I'm excited to try their more decadent looking pastries.

Almond croissant and espresso from Croissant d'Or

Honorable mention....French Truck Coffee! French Truck is delicious! They roast their own coffee, then deliver it to you! We use their cold brew in the coffee smoothie at The Green Fork (where I work, whoop whoop!) and they also serve it at the new Church Alley, which I have yet to frequent, but looks pretty awesome.

Using a toddy to make French Truck Cold Brew

Hmm...perhaps I'll trade my yoga mat for a croissant today...

Productivity for Lazy People

Because we didn't make it out of the warehouse for Mod Dance Party Saturday evening, I was determined to make the most of my day off today. Forgoing bicycles for feets, we strolled through the neighborhood in the lovely it's-almost-kinda-Spring-in-February weather and walked right past our normal breakfast spot, Satsuma cafe, to check out the menu at Booty's. I think Booty's is relatively new to the Bywater.

Let me tell you about Booty's; Simple and airy decor. Stumptown coffee done very well. Cheeky items written in script chalk style on the walls. A cocktail made with "unicorn syrup".  Art installation in the unisex (transgender, queer..uhh..the picture was half "man" half "girl", yeah?) bathrooms, which wow, you just need to check them out. I announced to no one that I felt like I was in Portland a number of times before my breakfast partner reminded me that I've never been to Portland (doh!). The menu format was interesting, including old ticket stubs and maps from Spain or France or wherever behind the food items on the old school clip board. I ordered a tamarind soda (since I don't drink alcohol I must and will order every interesting non-alcoholic beverage I encounter) and admired the interesting light bulbs hanging naked from the ceiling.

I choose the poached eggs with pork belly and hollandaise sauce on a corn fritter type vessel. My partner choose the Belgium waffles with fruit and a side of scrambled eggs, and we shared the Belgium fresh fry cone basket thing. Every thing was above par; Waffles melted in my mouth. Scrambled eggs looked like real scrambled eggs and not that weird yellow rubbery stuff you get some places. The hollandaise sauce was light! The only complaint was that my corn fitter thing was too hard, and not in the stale, cooked too long way. I believe it was intentionally crisp, but I think the dish could have used a fluffy egg yolk soaking mechanism.Over all, I will be quick to try out their lunch and dinner menu. It was the perfect balance between simplicity and pretentiousness that I love.

Around the corner we scored some yard sale items; a sweet camera that is in the process of getting cleaned to test for workability, a mirrored gentleman's shaving caddy, and a printed sheet set that would be on sale at Urban Outfitters for like 30 smackeroo's or more (all that plus a bunch of things for my sweetheart for 20 bucks!). I know what you're thinking, "Ew, who buys used bedding?" I DO. Girl, I'm sure you've passed out multiple Saturday nights on nastier. I've gotten awesome textiles from thrift stores, yard sales, what have you. Unless there are unignorable (yes, I often make up words; it's fun and creative) stains that bring up horrifying images, throw those puppies in the washer, bada-bing bada-boom.

I stopped at a couple of places (Bon Castor, Peaches Records) searching for Lucky Peach magazine on my way uptown. If you are a food enthusiast, enjoy off-color magazines, and appreciate attractive heavy stock paper, check out Lucky Peach asap. Their newest quarterly issue should be arriving at the Garden District Book Shop any day now (which is where I finally found back editions).

Some other tidbits_____

_____Have you tired out the Vine app yet? Find me on it...I can't decide yet if it's cool or completely obnoxious.
_____I found the two point army hat I am wearing in my 'About Me' photo today at the junk shop. The name tag on the inside says "Clifford". Awesome.
_____This is my first "blog post". I've got some other ideas for posts; views on coffee shops, yoga studios, recipes, movies, books, life, and New Orleans etc. I hope you'll enjoy this relationship as much as me, *wink* I'll apologize now for not making sense, being too self deprecating, contradictory, or dull.