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Nabob Respect The Bean

The Cure For Spice-ititis

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The crisp air hits my face like a dump truck at full speed and the snow crunches under my boots while the kids laugh and make as many snowmen as the sprinkle of snow will allow. Winter is here, my friends, and there are a lot of happy faces around here.

One of my favourite things about Christmas are all the lights and decorations that brighten up our homes and our streets. It seems no matter what kind of mood you are in, you can’t help but hum along when you are surrounded by the holiday music and Christmas cheer!

I do my fair share of decorating during the holiday season, too. Lights inside and outside of the house, the Christmas tree and more. My wife, bless her heart, replaces all the cups, plates, blankets, couch pillows, fridge magnets and basically anything else you can Christmas-ticize. We are a festive family and we go all out over here, but there is one thing we will not decorate this holiday season and that thing is our coffee.

In this day of the Super Santa Spice Frappuccino and the Triple Swirl Mocha Whipped Latte, we prefer to keep things simple by sticking to the bean that got us hooked in the first place. There’s something comforting to me about brewing a nice strong cup of coffee, huddling up in front of the fireplace and watching the snow fall through the branches of our Christmas tree, that no amount of whipped cream or chocolate sauce can duplicate.

This holiday season, I urge you to try this. Grab some Nabob Coffee, brew yourself a pot and take some time to sit, relax and enjoy the quiet. Respect the bean and enjoy your coffee as it was intended to be enjoyed. After all, decorating is for trees, not coffee.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program. The ideas and opinions in this post are my own. Don’t act so surprised that I know how to work a video camera!

Keurig 2.0 K400 Brewing System

Win A Keurig 2.0 K400 Brewing System!

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I thought there would no better way to spread some holiday cheer than to give away a brand new Keurig 2.0 K400 Brewing System! We have been using the Keurig 2.0 since it came out and have been loving the ability to brew a full pot of coffee with it. We also just picked up the new heated carafe and I’ve been highly caffeinated ever since.

Now it’s your turn to try out the new Keurig 2.0 K400 Brewing System! All you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter form below and I’ll notify the winner via email. Giveaway is open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec. Good luck and have an amazing holidays!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list so you don’t miss out on subscriber only contests and promotions!

McDonalds Cinnamon Melts

Project #DadFit – The McDonald’s Conundrum

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DISASTER!

Just as I was getting back on track after a horrendous Halloween nightmare, a brand new McDonald’s pops up quite literally around the corner from my house. I have two major detractors to my DadFit plan and they are pizza and McDonald’s.

If I am being completely honest, while I have still been working out, I have also been to the new McDonald’s for one reason or another on four of the seven days it has been opened so far. As you can imagine, this type of behaviour is NOT conducive to a healthier me… To be fair, three of those trips were only supposed to be coffee runs that somehow ended up with breakfast attached to them.

Also, cinnamon melts. C’mon, man!

Anyway, I need to figure out what I am going to do with this new wrinkle. It’s easy to say, “have some self control, man”, but people who suffer from junk food addiction will understand what I am talking about. My first course of action is going to be driving a different way to work and I’ll go from there.

In the good news department, the excellent people at New Balance read about my journey and hooked me up with some sweet new kicks (is it cool to call them kicks?) to help with my running. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet but I signed up for next year’s Ottawa Race Weekend 10K and I’m a little frightened by it. We’ll dive in to more about the race and the shoes in a later post but for now, I’ll leave you with this question.

How about you? Do you have a health kryptonite? What is it and how do you deal with it?

New Balance Running Shoes

Win a Keurig K70 Platinum Brewing System

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Coffee might be the most used and discussed word on social media and rightfully so. I can still remember the exact day my love affair with coffee started. It was October 6th, 2003 and my life hasn’t been the same since! I was a late bloomer and didn’t get started until I was 25, which is probably a good thing because I would have gone broke spending $3-$5 a day in my early 20’s.

When I got my first Keurig, I had no idea what to think. It looked like a robot that dispensed coffee and we have since become good friends. I named him Roger. He’s good people. Where was I again?? Oh yes, the giveaway! How would you like to win a Roger of your very own?! Well, look down, I’ve made it super easy for you. Also, you don’t have to name your machine, Roger. It was merely a suggestion and you are free to name it anything you want. Like, Chris, for instance. That’s a great name that doesn’t get nearly enough credit.

The Grand Prize is the Keurig K70 Platinum Brewing System shown above (Model not included). I also have a secondary prize of some K-Cup variety packs in case those of you with Keurig’s want to take a stab at this. The giveaway ends Wednesday January 28th at midnight and is open to residents of Canada, excluding Quebec. Sorry, Quebec…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It’s Time to Vote in the Starbucks Canada “Name Your Blend” Contest

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Starbucks Finalists

You may remember back in January, I had asked you to submit your entries in Starbucks Canada’s “Name Your Blend” contest. Well, the entries have been tabulated and the 3 finalists (shown in above photo) are waiting to find out if they will be crowned the winner!

That’s where YOU come in! Starbucks Canada needs your help in selecting the winner. That person will have their winning name featured on the packaging and will also receive a trip for two anywhere in Canada that has a Starbucks location. You can VOTE HERE until February 27th!

Don’t forget to stop in to say hi to Starbucks Canada on Twitter and Facebook as well! Have a great day!!!

Starbucks Blonde Roast

Introducing Starbucks Canada’s “Name Your Blend” Contest

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Starbucks Blonde Roast

I have kids = I love coffee.

I write a blog = I love coffee.

I am a shift worker = I love coffee.

If you were to do the math on those equations, which I won’t bore you with, you would realize that I am a big fan of drinking coffee. Admittedly, I am not a fancy coffee kind of guy. I like my large Medium Roast with 2 milk and 1 sugar (you know, in case you’re in the neighbourhood) and I don’t sway too far from that formula. My wife on the other hand, she likes the fancy stuff!

That brings us to the reason for this post. My friends at Starbucks Canada have asked me to let you know about a new contest they have going on. For the first time ever, Starbucks Canada is asking You to “Name Your Blend“ of their popular Blonde Roast coffee. One lucky entrant is going to win a trip anywhere in Canada to meet a friend for coffee AND have their winning blend displayed on every pack of Canada’s favourite Blonde Roast. You can Enter Here!

About Starbucks® Blonde Roast

Starbucks® Blonde Roast is a lighter roast option. From their research, Starbucks found that 60 per cent of Canadian coffee drinkers prefer a lighter roast coffee (light/medium). They also know that a significant majority of Canadian brewed coffee drinkers add milk and/or sugar to their coffee. Starbucks® Blonde Roast is an easy drinking coffee with a subtle, mellow flavour that is perfectly suited to the Canadian palate, and specially crafted to compliment milk, sugar and flavours.

The “Name Your Blend” Contest

From Monday, January 28th at 12:00:00 a.m. EST to February 10 at 11:59:59 p.m., Canadians are invited to visit www.starbucks.ca/Blonde to participate in the Starbucks Name Your Blend Contest to help re-name Verdana Blend™. Contest participants are required to submit their name suggestion along with an essay, between 25 and 1,000 characters, describing why they chose the name and how it relates to the Starbucks image/brand. From February 11 – 17, the judging panel, made up of a council of Starbucks partners, will narrow down the entries to three finalists. On Monday, February 18 at 12:00:00 a.m. EST, the top three finalists will be revealed and Canadians will have the opportunity to vote on their favourite name. Voting closes on Monday, February 25 at 11:59:59 a.m. EST. All contest entries including name suggestions and essays must be submitted in English.

Well, what are you waiting for? Head on over to Starbucks, grab your blonde roast for inspiration and get your entry in today! Also, I know a lot of you will probably want to choose me as the friend you would like to meet for coffee and I’d just like to say that I am totally okay with that!

Cheers!

Who’s The Best? The Company That Made These Coffee Lids, That’s Who!

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I got to spend some Daddy time with the kids this week and we decided to go to our favourite local coffee shop, the Sippy Cup Cafe, to hang out. This particular shop is cool because one half is a fancier coffee shop and the other is a children’s play area. The kids love it and the staff and owner are great, so it’s a win-win for us.

This week, there was something different about the coffee cup lids. The employees had handwritten different positive messages on every single coffee lid and while it took me a few minutes to fully appreciate it, I really liked the small touch and good vibe it added to my day. As you can see above, my cup was obviously a “meant to be” situation.

It’s tough for small shops like this to differentiate themselves, but these guys impressed me on this day by offering something that the others don’t; a personal touch. It just goes to show that you don’t always have to break the bank to impress people. Sometimes, just adding a laugh to someone’s day is enough.

Keep Up The Great Work, Sippy Cup Cafe!

Cheers!

Canada’s Newest Superhero! Captain Caffeine

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Awhile back, I wrote about my superhero idea on my page over at the PTPA. I think it’s time to introduce him to the rest of my faithful followers as I attempt to take his adventures to the next level!

My superhero’s name is Captain Caffeine and he is one of the few Canadian Superhero’s in existence! His goal is to fight chronic fatigue by providing special caffeine injections, which he gets from the planet Tim Hortons!

His arch nemesis is the Decaffeinator, who slips about the country, swapping people’s much needed strong coffee with useless decaf. His plan is to take over the world by keeping the world tired and weak.

As you can tell by this point, I had a lot of time on my hands a few years ago when I created this character. Times have certainly changed but the one thing that has remained the same is that I still have my childish side. That’s why Captain Caffeine has made a comeback and I think I’ll write a few stories for him.

Anyway, this is just an introduction. You’ll be learning more about Captain Caffeine in the weeks and months to come and he may be making a live appearance at the Blissdom Canada conference this October….Just saying.

I’ll leave you with some photos from the live action comic I created about 7 years ago. I was really on the ball back then as you’ll see from the small details, like the Tim Hortons utility belt!

I hope you’ll come back and check out the adventures of Captain Caffeine!

Cheers!