Coffee and Cocoa and... Trees

So today I went with 'Der Boifriend' to his old friend's workplace... which happened to be a great coffee shop. I actually love it there.

Everything's dim and warm looking. The pendant lights hanging from the ceiling are awesome and twist slightly as they fall. On the tip they have little tassels like on curtains in old, rich people's houses. The whole place was active but quiet. And not an awkward quiet. It was a good kind of quiet, where everybody's happy and drinking or eating a croissant and reading the newspaper. There were some hipsters there (you can tell by the women.... if they wear a hat... hipster. If they wear a headband... just a popular crowd person) but it wasn't so annoyingly so that it was not a place anyone can go.

And their cocoa was AWESOME. The boyfriend got that. It was rich and smooth and probably made with bittersweet chocolate, like the chunks in chocolate chip cookies. It's great! And if you're one of those people who like milk chocolate... there's a reason why bittersweet and dark chocolates are better.

You don't get tired of the sweetness.

It's just enough that it sedates your sweet tooth (mine for five seconds but who cares...?) and it still gives you the full flavor of the bold, dark richness of the chocolate. And what with the whipped cream and foam and stuff that they layer on top of it... You wouldn't notice that the chocolate was bittersweet.

Oh oh ohoh...! My favorite part of cocoa and teas are the last, final dregs. With cocoa you get the full punch of chocolatey goodness and with tea, the last finishing note of the drink washes over your tongue and leaves it feeling refreshed and (in the case of the tea I had today) warm.

And actually, the had a mint tea, and if you take a couple sips of the tea and then one of the cocoa it's THE BEST. Kind of like drinking a peppermint patty or York or something like that. DELISH!

So we were sitting there hoping that his friend would go off work and we were just talking about stuff. Turns out just before his friend could sit down and chat with us 'Der Boifriend"s mum called and wanted him home.

Phooey.

And so he dropped me off... I had dinner with the family, and afterwards my mom and I were talking while watching TV and I remembered something.

This would be the first year in about 30 years that our family wouldn't have a Christmas tree... including the years when my brother and I weren't born.

Anywhoozle I asked her if she planned on getting one this year and she was vague and said "Maybe..." and all of those parent-y crap that basically means that it's a NO but they haven't finalized it yet. But it was fine.

You know why?

'Der Boifriend' and I had hatched a plan to force my parents out to a dinner and a movie and whilst they were away on their merry date we would buy a tree, proceed to drop it off at my house, and hopefully put lights, ornaments, and everything on it. And when they came back (which we were planning on forcing them to a whole afternoon's event because it sounded like it'd take a TON of time) it would be all perfect and waiting for them.

I like this plan.

The only problem is... I can't drive. Well... I refuse to drive NORMAL cars. I have been... for lack of a better word PRESSURED into learning how to drive and THEN getting a Moped or a Vespa.

And I approve of this plan too.

As I approve of many things random and fun sounding.

So... I've decided that if we do that... (Der Boifriend and I) it'll be our Christmas present to the two of them. What with all the work and the amount of planning it makes up for the small-ish price tag. Per person per giftee it's about ten bucks or maybe 15 depending on the tree but hey... WE GET A TREE.