As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m all about that coffee life. One of my favorite memories of my grandmother is of her drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and watching her evening soaps {Dynasty, Dallas, Falcon Crest, and Knots Landing}.
MY COFFEE STORY
I’m a preacher’s kid. Actually, I’m the child of two preachers. And, y’all, when I say that wasn’t an easy childhood, I mean it. People expected so much from us: no mistakes, always on the happy tip, that kinda stuff. I didn’t always hate it. In fact, there are many parts that I enjoyed and that I’ve come to appreciate as an adult: I have a firm foundation in my belief, I know how to pray, and I can suss out the crazy and focus completely on Him. But one of the things that I’ve had to come to terms with is that my parents were not the parents I wanted them to be. Sometimes, I felt like our needs were secondary to those of the church.
When we lived in Italy, our church was about an hour and a half away from our home. One way. We went to church a minimum of twice a week, so that left precious little time for us to spend with our mom. And, after church, my parents would spend a lot of time counseling folks and just hanging out…
Our church services were held at the post chapel, so they’d set out refreshments and things for people to eat while they fellowshipped after services. Naturally, everyone would eat all the cookies and drink all the tea, hot chocolate, and punch. The one thing that was always left was the coffee. So I started drinking coffee at about ten years old. One of the first times an adult noticed I was drinking coffee, he poured most of it out and replaced it with cream and was like “Nah, Sis, you’re not gonna get all that caffeine in your system at this age.” As the years passed by, I gradually replaced the cream with more and more coffee, until I was drinking a large coffee with 3 sugars and 2 creams. Nowadays, it’s coffee, frothed milk, and no sugar {on the rare occasions when I do add sugar, it’s brown sugar}.
MY COLLECTION
Over the years, I’ve put together quite a collection of coffee mugs. My mugs range from handcrafted finds purchased at craft fairs to overpriced mugs found at souvenir shops to snarky literary mugs that speak to the librarian in me. Some of my favorite mugs were given to me by my kids and family friends.
Multilanguage Coffee Mug
Many years ago, when I was still in the Army, I took the Defense Language Aptitude Battery {DLAB} and scored high enough to be considered for DLIFLC {Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center}, an premier language program hosted by the Department of Defense. At the time, I’d just given birth to my first baby and was hesitant to leave her for the intensive training required at DLI. Over the years, I’ve teased my children and said “Look what I gave up for you.” I’m not sure if my daughter had this in mind when she gave me this cup, but I do know that they all know I have an deep love for foreign languages. And coffee.
Army Mug
I bought The Hubs and myself one of these mugs, as we are both veterans of the U.S. Army. I don’t know if he drinks out of his, but I do use mine. It’s pretty heavy and is a nice reminder of my time in the service.
Octopus Mug
This mug was a gift from a former coworker. I miss working with her so much. We worked in a library that had been a church many, many years ago, and it had the most beautiful architecture. Sometimes, during the day, when things got really stressful, I’d stand on the balcony and say: “Dance break” and she and I would do a 20-30 second dance to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. Sometimes, our coworkers would join in. It was just a bit of silliness to help us reset.
Anna Sui for Starbucks Travel Mug
Many years ago, Starbucks used to sell the coolest travel mugs. I’m not sure if they still do; I haven’t been in a Starbucks in forever. I bought this one because I loooooved the outfit and it looks like it’s set in a Parisian brothel.
Starbucks Travel Mug with Tutu
A travel mug with a tutu? How could I not?
Handcrafted Mug
This mug was a gift from a friend maaaaaaany years ago. At the time, there was a group of us who used to post coffee mugs on Tuesday, just, you know to say “hi.” Anyway, once a month, we’d draw names and send each other a coffee mug of our choosing, along with a selection of coffee and other little goodies. It was always fun to see what would arrive. And it introduced me to a whole new world of coffee flavors and companies.
ABOUT THE SELECTION
Whenever I’m scrolling Instagram or Facebook, coffee mug posts will invariably end up in my feed. It’s like they have some sort of targeted ad thing happening. Anyway, whenever I see something cute or unique, I tuck it away for future use. This is one of those times. Below are a few mugs that’ve popped up in my feed over the past few days, and I thought I’d share them with you.
From Amazon
This is just the sweetest little coffee mug to remind you that, yes, there are So Many Books and So Little Time to read them all. But, by all means, keep adding to that TBR list.
Rifle Paper Company makes my heart happy. Everything they make is just so pretty. I mean, look at this Bookshelf Mug.
Are you a Bookish Babe? Let the world know with this cute mug.
If you’re looking for something a little more crafty looking, this is such a beautiful mug. I think I may need to add it to my collection.
From Etsy
This Read and Relax Mug from The Trini Gee. It’s difficult to find mugs that are specifically geared towards African American women, so when I see one, I take note. I’ve purchased a literary tee from this shop and was so pleased that I’m happy to give her a shout out whenever I can.
I’m not a big romance reader, but I’ve read enough to pick up on all the romance tropes when I see them. This Romance Tropes 3.0 Bookshelf Bookstack mug puts them all out there and such a cute and, dare I say, romantic way.
As you can tell by looking at my selection of mugs, I love all things unique and this one is absolutely fabulous! This Book Lover’s Bookshelf Mug is just stunning.
Like most librarians, I abhor the idea of banning books. In most libraries, there are already guardrails in place to keep children from accessing inappropriate material. And, if you are a parent or guardian, it is your responsibility to monitor what your children bring into your home. You do not, however, have the right to tell other folks what their children can and cannot read. I said all that to say, look at this Well-Read Woman mug. It’s just perfect.
BOOKISH THINGS
Goodreads – Click here to see what I’m currently reading and/or listening to.
NetGalley Professional Reader – I receive free ARCs from NetGalley to review on my blog and share on Instagram.
Reese’s Book Club: The Shelf Life – Subscribe to Reese’s Book Club newsletter and find out about all sorts of fun bookish finds, such as comfy pillows, bookmarks, scented candles, and more.
THANK YOU
Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new. If you like what you read, please consider sharing this post on Facebook or Twitter. You can also share on Pinterest.
Thanks for reading,
LET’S CONNECT
Click Here to See Where I Link Up