The Nespresso Life

Spring makes me feel refreshed and enlivened; it gives me extra ambition to clean out the closets, fill our house with fresh, colorful flowers, and make extra time for rest and peaceful morning rituals. The change of seasons consistently seems busy but yet there is always a sweet, subconscious reminder to slow down. Coffee in the morning (and sometimes in the afternoon) seems to be the perfect way for us to escape the daily grind, and it’s how I make sure to have a little “me time” in between all my to-do’s. What do you incorporate in your daily routine to rest from the hustle and bustle? To think. To reflect. To just sit. P.S. Sometimes a cup of coffee is a fun excuse to invite your bestie over to sip a cup with you!My mom introduced me to Nespresso a few years ago when she made me a frothy cup of coffee that was dairy free (win win). This goodness in a cup won me over from the very first sip, and now it is a staple in our house. We are kind of obsessing over the new Nespresso VertuoPlus because it always delivers an extraordinary cup of quality coffee or espresso with ease. We are all about the quality of coffee in the Kennedy household, hence the fact that we are big fans of Nespresso, and we love the all-new design and fresh new colors of VertuoPlus. Cheers to Spring renewal! Not to mention, I love that this dreamy coffee company brings together the know-how of all its coffee experts, who have sourced the top coffee beans from around the world and perfectly roasted each coffee blend.When I am researching kitchen products, I love to know what it does. The VertuoPlus machine conveniently makes two cup sizes, 8 oz. Coffee and 1.35 oz. Espresso, all at the touch of a button. It uses two different capsule sizes: large capsule for Coffee, and a small one for Espresso. And it's easy! What to do: press the lever (it automatically opens), insert a capsule, and press the lever again (it automatically closes). Then press the button, which will start the brewing process.  The machine delivers the optimal in-cup results for each blend using barcode reading technology to recognize if it’s espresso or coffee, how much water, how hot, etc. Then you get a beautiful cup of crema-topped quality coffee or espresso. Umm...taking a writing break to go make a cup now.The most fun part: Nespresso’s Aeroccino milk frother is ideal for preparing hot or cold milk froth. The milk frother creates a soft and finely textured milk froth in a convenient way. Who else is on that homemade almond milk latte kick?A major bonus: Sustainability is at the heart of everything Nespresso does. They are committed to having a positive impact, including giving their capsules a second life through recycling. With the Nespresso recycling program, they provide several options to send in your used capsules for them to recycle, free of charge.The Nespresso VertuoPlus truly is one touch to extraordinary!P.S. You know we are all about health over here, so I am kind of obsessed with the fact that all of the water tanks are BPA free.This post was created in connection with my participation in Nespresso’s VertuoPlus program.   

A Newly Opened Local Treasure: Coffee House Cafe

If you live in the suburbs, you understand the difficulty in finding a cool-atmosphere coffee house that doesn't require driving thirty minutes to the heart of the Big D. All we seem to have is a Starbucks on every corner. Well, suburbanites and city-dwellers (it's worth driving North), I am excited to introduce you to the Coffee House Cafe. It quaintly sits on the corner of Frankford and Preston, and it's starting to gain some notice. This little nook is my new "home" to work from, the perfect place to have a business meeting, and an excellent choice for a brunch date.

Why I love it so much:

1. On a beautiful day, you can sit on the big patio next to the gigantic fire place and sip on some coffee or work on a new business idea.2. You quickly become a regular. The servers learn your name and order. Who doesn't love this?3. They have the best cinnamon tea in the world. The best part: they bring it out to you in the cutest mini teapot.4. The espresso and house blend is 100% certified organic, fair trade, and shade grown, and the coffee flavors are all house made with no preservatives, additives, high fructose corn syrup or other crazy scientific words that are too hard to pronounce. Cool beans!Did I mention their breakfast is sublime? Sitting at the espresso bar, reading the paper, and eating a scrumptious Saturday morning meal has become my family's favorite weekend ritual. What we order: their signature lemon pancakes, eggs and the best gluten free pancakes on the planet. No wonder the hype is high. Check out their extraordinary lunch and dinner menu too. I hope to see you there!