My Life has been Changed...

Yesterday, I tried to write this post, but I ended up writing a completely different post. That is the creative process, folks.

I wanted to tell you something.

Something that has changed my life.

I want to change your life too, if you are open to it...

Meet a Googled-Image of my friend:

Image Via

What a nice photo. Want to see the photo I took?

Have I mentioned that I should be a professional photographer? Yes, this is an Instagram picture.

Now, I'm going to tell you how this little guy came to be my best friend. 

I love a local drive up coffee hut in town. It's a $3.70-a-few-times-a-week problem. 

Do you know how much $3.70 is just once a week for a year? $192.40. I feel like that amount didn't make a statement because it's not written out. Let's try it again. 

ONE HUNDRED NINETY TWO DOLLARS AND FORTY CENTS A YEAR.

That is a lot of green. 

Did you notice that earlier I said multiple times a week? Yeah. Let's say I average about two a week. That is Three Hundred Eighty Four bones and Eighty cents. 

Holy heck, Batman. 

My beloved came to me the other day and said, "Ya know... you've been going to Java Heaven a lot lately again. It's a problem."

That was his kind way of saying, "HEY DUMB-DUMB. WE ARE PREGNANT. WE ARE POOR. STOP BUYING COFFEE."

I felt bad because we have lots of things to do in the house and buy for the baby. $384.80 goes a long way in diapers. 

So, I started to research my options. I have a cheap, reliable espresso maker. The only problem is that I don't like the milk frother. I have to stand there and circle a glass or metal pitcher. I don't have time for that, especially in the morning. I wake up with barely enough time to put my face on, brush my teeth and make sense of my hair. I can't stand there frothing milk. 

Logically, my first step was to find a milk frother. Except, all the reviews I found were less than great. Either there were cleaning issues, or failure to operate, or the milk wasn't hot enough. It wasn't looking good. The only one that looked even remotely interesting was the Nespresso Aeroccino. For one-hundred beans. Yikes. 

Obviously, this led me to the Nespresso machines. All I have to say is wow. $300 for a machine to make you a perfect latte. That is what I was up against? Eeek. That was way, way out of my price range. Then, I asked myself, "Megan... if just a milk frother is super hard to clean because of the milk protein, how hard will it be to clean a Nespresso maker which sucks up the milk, funnels it through a system and then dumps it in your cup?" It really skeeved me out to think that milk protein might build up in the Keurig type machine. 

With the price and upkeep clearly out of my comfort zone, I searched for other options. I was armed with Christmas gift cards and money - I was determined! 

Then, the internet heavens opened up and I found the Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte. All the reviews were positive. It was a solid piece of machinery. Of course, being a skeptic, I went straight to YouTube. 

I was blown away. It acts just like a coffee pot, easily brewing espresso and frothing milk at the same time. Every night, I set my pregnancy friendly haff-caff espresso and pour my water. In the morning, I wash my face, put on moisturizer, pour some milk in the carafe and press the button. DONE. 

By the time I'm done with my make-up the machine is done doing it's heavenly magic and I pour it straight into a cup, add some flavor syrup or just sugar and I'm out the door. 

The best part is that it's only $100. Sure, that is a lot of money for anyone (or it should be!).Compared to other machines that do the same thing, it's a steal. It's not a specialty appliance, so your local Target or Walmart should have it. Our Target had one so I used the gift card and my Target Debit, which gave me 5% off. When I think about it, if I use this machine 27 times, I have saved $100 from buying coffee at Java Heaven. 

I couldn't be happier. It's a breeze to clean, the lattes are hot and taste great. It's worth every Christmas penny. :)

*I was not paid or perked in any way to write this blog. Mr. Coffee and Target have never heard of me or my blog. :)