Making Friends and Gevalia Coffee

It’s been a year since we moved to Texas (almost). That’s kind of hard to believe. We’ve done a lot in that year, and one of the things we’ve really been focusing on is making new friends. It can be especially hard to make friends in a totally new city and as a grown-up. Since most of the people you meet are already set in their friend group, and have plans for their weekend nights, I feel like it falls to the newbies to really be the ones to reach out and initiate friendships.

Which is why I was extra excited to host a Gevalia Make Friends party! So last week, I hosted my very first play date at our house. I invited several moms from church and their little ones to come over and hang out.

So, I headed out to Tom Thumb with a $50 gift card looking for some treats to keep hungry mamas and cranky toddlers happy. First stop, of course, was the coffee aisle. I picked out two varieties of Gevalia Coffee: Espresso Roast (because deep and dark is my favorite) and French Vanilla (because a play date is a great time for a treat). I also found some delicious treats to go with the coffee: mini sour cream coffee cakes, lemon scones, and smores muffins (yum!). Cheese and crackers and baby goldfish were popular with the younger set–you might have noticed it was hard to keep a certain grabby toddler hand away 🙂

The Gevalia Espresso Roast was my favorite. It was rich and strong. But not bitter at all. The coffee was smooth and dark and just slightly sweet, reminding me of the natural sweetness of a perfectly brewed shot of espresso. The coffee stood up well to my favorite addition – pure heavy whipping cream. The Vanilla flavored coffee was also surprisingly good. I don’t usually like flavored coffee, but the Gevalia coffee was good. The vanilla tasted natural and not artificial and fakey and gross. It wasn’t super saccharin-y sweet, either. It was just a hint of vanilla subtly gracing the backdrop of the coffee.

Once everyone had been plied with caffeine and sugar, we could really get into the spirit of the play date, i.e. we sat around and talked while the babies crawled and/or ran back and forth. It was really great to be able to chat with spend time with friends in my own home. There’s something about inviting people to your home and sharing food with them that really builds community and friendships. Perhaps it’s because it’s easier to talk when you’re not saving Jaye from leaping off the highest point of the playground or keeping the littler ones from being trampled by some too big kid at the mall play area. Or perhaps its because by opening your home to others, you are opening up part of yourself to them as well.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.