I wanted to get some blogging done and Mariel was hoping to organize some of her writings while on vacation. We were going to find a coffee shop to go to, but then I suggested that perhaps we could go up to Gainesville where she used to live. I was clearly not considering the logistics of driving 2 hours away and 2 hours back to just blog, especially when we didn't leave the house until noon, but such is life! :p We started by visiting Emiliano's Cafe, a cafe where she used to know the chef (who just opened a new restaurant in Costa Rica) but they didn't have wifi and she wanted to visit a friend of hers on the other side of town. I wandered around the area and poked around the Farmer's Market, then ended up at The Gelato Company to get lunch and to blog. The sandwich that I had wasn't anything mind-blowing, but it was tasty :) It turned into a fun and productive day for both of us and we had a nice time chatting all the way back to Orlando.
Thursday I woke up and spent some time puttering with photos and finishing the blog posts I had prepped the day before. I always feel guilty blogging instead of going out and doing things worth blogging about, but let me tell you about the awesome coffee shop Mariel and I ended up at! I was having such a time trying to find anything besides a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts with wifi (both are fine in a pinch but who wants to blog about sitting in Starbucks?). I finally texted Kerry and she suggested searching in Winter Park. Jackpot! I decided at random that "Austin's Coffee" was a place I wanted to go, but upon arriving I was less certain - it was now "Austin's Coffee and Film" in a tiny little unappealing storefront on a very busy street. Still, we decided to give it a shot.
Walking inside, it suddenly all made sense. Mismatched chairs, painted bricks, body-positive graffitti in the bathroom - it was awesome and a great way to spend a productive day posting 8(!) entries. They had a corner full of board games and books that you could borrow, a decent selection of pastries, cookies, cakes, quiches, and sandwiches, and they also sell art by local artists and host music and poetry events on a regular basis. The best part? In most places when you order a pot of tea you get a cute mini pot that usually holds about two cups. Here you get a full teapot, about 5 cups of tea for $3! I didn't sample the pastries but I did enjoy watching them being made behind the counter.
Kerry was getting off work around 6 so I went to meet her over at Mama H's after picking up some groceries. The two of us chatted and cooked dinner for everyone, and after dinner it was time to bake. Kerry supervised while Mama H and I made snickerdoodles, walnut fudge, and upside-down peppermint bark - yum! :D
Austin Coffee and Film in Winter Park
Decorated for a nice, warm Florida holiday season
They had a nice selection of games and books that you could borrow, and lots of mismatched armchairs, couches, kitchen chairs, and even stadium/movie theater seats
The bathroom murals were slowly being taken over by graffiti
The cool part was that a lot of it was really positive!
Couch and artwork for sale
Any exposed brick had been decorated as well
First time making peppermint bark
I know it's upside down, we realized that we'd mixed it up after we had put the white chocolate on the double boiler to melt and just decided to go with it
Making fudge and snickerdoodles :)
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