Who Am I?

Hi! For those of you who don't really know too much about me, I figured I could recap a couple things since I am sure there are new readers here and I haven't written too much about myself.

There isn't too much to me. I am a very simple person. My first love is traveling. Everything I do and look forward to has to do with going somewhere or getting on a plane to a 3rd world country. If I could go back in life to college (even though I loved college) I would have traveled abroad.

My names Jennifer. I live in New York right now, slightly outside of the city. I will be 26 in March, I'm an Aries. I have a bunch of tattoos and my next one will be "Pura Vida" on my right side! My blue eyes are my claim to fame ;)

My second love is coffee shops. I love them. I have worked at 4 of them already. I had to stop because it wasn't paying enough to live where I live and work only at a coffee shop. So sad. But I love them and I hope to one day own one.

I love animals. I volunteered at the dog shelter by me for a couple years and loved it. I wanted to be a vet but i shouldn't be trusted with a scalpel, so i went for teaching... ha ha.

I am in grad school to be a teacher for kids in grades 1-6. I can't wait. When I was in college I wanted to go to Costa Rica and teach English but I had rents and bills and was never able to leave. It's taken me this long to realize what I wanted to do with life.... for now.

I love music. Reggae has been my love for years. It all started when my best friend and I lived next to this guy Francis who was from Zambia and always sat outside drinking Budweiser and listening to Bob Marley and Steel Pulse. It changed my life.

I hate the winter, love the summer, and loveeeee the beach. You could find me at any beach anywhere.

I love to read and blog. I never have time to read but I always try to make time and am trying to expand my reading selection.

My loves of my life...

And my loves..

So that is pretty much me.
I hope that sort of sums up me for you in case you were wondering a bit of who I am or what my deal was!

xoxo
jen

A Relationship?

i am seeing someone.

it is quite intriguing. i havent really been serious with anyone since T. i am not sure how to go about it, but i am doing my best.. its pretty awesome. he makes me really happy. i was afraid to be with him, because he is a lot like me. he is actually the same age as me, which i never do. he reminds me of me and its weird because i have never been with someone who was on a similar level to me... they always thought they were better then me.

but him,,, he is different. i am excited. for what is to come.

and everything after today.

i am really happy :)

so i am finally sharing this information with you.

Why Novelista Barista?

When I was in college, I needed a job.

Coffee shop 1 - I went a couple months without a job and I was bored out of my mind. I walked around Pleasantville trying to find a job and I walked into a Chinese looking restaurant. I found out it was a coffee shop. They offered me the job. I worked there almost everyday. The place was called the Dragonfly Caffe. I will put pictures of it up one day.

That place changed my life. I had the time of my life there. I met so many interesting and inspiring people in my life while working there. My coworkers were like my family. We hung out there everyday. We did everything for each other. It didn't matter what time it was, we were usually hanging out at the store, helping each other out.

I had to stop working there because the owner ended up being crazy, so I went to another coffee shop.

Coffee shop 2 - Winston's Coffeehouse. I worked there for a couple of years and I was the one to shut the doors of the business since the owner ran it into the ground and stole all the money from the store. That was the first and hopefully last time I will ever have to shut the doors of a business again.

Coffeeshop 3- Peekskill Coffeehouse. I went to work at my third coffee shop in another town, and I was only there for a week because I got a job with my friends I knew at their coffee shop. This place was nice but it wasnt exactly the coffeeshop atmosphere I was looking for.

Coffeeshop 4- Coffee Labs. The last one I have worked at so far. I loved this place. They were always on top of their store, did everything by the books, roasted their own coffee there, took us to other coffee shops to learn more about coffee. I learned a lot about coffee and fair trade and rain forest alliance from the owners. They taught me a lot of things that I never knew and I am so glad that I got that experience. I wish I never had to pay rent otherwise I would have stayed. Unforunately, the county I live in is mad expensive so I had to find something else, but the experience and the people I met there I wouldn't change for anything.

So you see, I took on novelista barista because everywhere I go I am looking for the independent coffee shops and always wanting to write about it. One day maybe Ill write about places across the country......

There you have it.

Why did you choose your blog name?