A Warm Beverage and a Cookie Splash

Don't you just love a good, warm beverage in the winter? I'm always drinking something warm, whether it be my favorite apple blueberry or rooibos tea, hot apple cider, spiced chai, hot cocoa with marshmallows, or of course, my morning coffee (with a little eggnog or maple syrup at this time of year I might add). 

According to a Yale University study, clutching a steaming beverage can elicit a flood of positive feelings and possibly make you feel happier. This may be because people associate physical warmth with emotional warmth. Study subjects held cups of either hot or iced coffee; those gripping warm mugs were more appreciative of friendliness in others and also felt more generous and trusting themselves. 

And with my warm beverage, I also like to accompany it with a nice little cookie or biscotti. But have you ever spilled your coffee or accidentally dipped your cookie in too long and it fell apart? Happens to me all the time (I have very sensitive cookies that I brought home with me from Italy). Anyway, today, I am absolutely loving these awesome cookie splash photos by Siebe Warmoeskerken.

So if, in the future, you ever spill your coffee, don't think of it as ruining your day. Think of it as making a splash!

A Whole Lotta Love,

Adrienne

Much love Monday - COFFEE

I LOOOOVE COOOFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEE!

Its a must for a dreary Monday morning such as this one. But I pretty much drink coffee all the time. I used to think it was so silly when I was a kid to 'have' to drink coffee in the morning or you couldn't function. But now I'm probably in that same situation. I don't know because I haven't gone without coffee in the morning for quite a while... and perhaps a little nervous to find out what I'd be like without it :P

Even in college I didn't drink coffee much.. only when I really needed it (which was smart really, because if you drink it all the time, it doesn't really keep you awake). I even went an entire year in college without drinking a single drop. Then I spent a semester in Costa Rica. C'mon... coffee down there is like breathing air. It was impossible NOT to drink coffee.

But my coffee drinking may not be that bad for me. Someone mentioned to me the other day about the recent coffee studies and it's relation to Alzheimer's disease... so I googled it this morning. These were my top 3 results:

Studies: Coffee May Lower Alzheimer's Risk - The Early Show - CBS News

Jul 6, 2009 ... The Early Show: Studies: Coffee May Lower Alzheimer's Risk - Researchers Think Caffeine May Reduce Inflammation in the Brain, ...

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/06/.../main5136373.shtml - Cached - Similar

Coffee May Help 'Reverse Alzheimer's': Scientists

Jul 5, 2009 ... Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, US scientists say.

www.huffingtonpost.com/.../coffee-may-reverse-alzhei_n_225974.html - Cached - Similar

Coffee 'could cure Alzheimer's' - Telegraph

Jul 5, 2009 ... The effects of Alzheimer's disease could be reversed by drinking just a few cups of coffee a day, new research suggests.

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/.../Coffee-could-cure-Alzheimers.html - Similar

I haven't even read the articles yet, but I love how the first story says it 'may lower', while by the third, its a 'cure'! Oh well. I studied epidemiology.. I know better than to listen to these stories. Next year they'll be saying coffee causes Alzheimer's. I should look to see if the study was paid for by Starbucks. 

anyway, did I mention...