The Traveling Coffee Shop

One of the fun features of the Great Cloth Diaper Change will be Annah's Traveling Coffee Shop.  Plan on arriving early enough to get yourself a Latte or other drink from Annah before the "change"!  Annah's shop will actually be traveling to The Refuge on a regular basis very soon, and be open to the public!  Annah has put her love for coffee and people together to form the Traveling Coffee Shop....read on to hear from her what she is about, and how she started her business...

 

My name is Annah Sipp. I'm 22 and I enjoy coffee! I grew up in a family of 10 (2 parents, 8 kids). We were all home schooled. My parents have instilled in us entrepreneurship (I suppose that's one reason why I am in this business now.). The best thing my parents passed down to us is the teaching of Jesus and his ways. Although, it's a life long journey of discovery.  I am nothing without the Lord! I have seen his faithfulness, when I am faithless.  I love to create things, which is something I enjoy with the Traveling Coffee Shop. It's fun coming up with ideas and flavors, to try!

My shop is a coffee catering service, and its like a coffee shop without the building! I can bring my coffee cart to any location (with electric outlets) and serve those special delicious espresso drinks that we love to get at our local coffee shops. I use only freshly roasted coffee beans, and strive to make a coffee drink that will make you smile! Also non-coffee drinks such as: hot tea, chai latte, smoothies, and hot cocoa are provided. 

My coffee experience all started with selling espresso drinks at fundraisers. We did this to raise money for our church youth group, and I loved making them/drinking them. Then, I started thinking, we can do this almost anywhere, how cool would it be to have a coffee shop that could travel to places? It could go to any special event and make it unique! So the journey began...

The struggles I face with this type of business is that it's not a very known thing around these parts, so finding ways to help people understand how this looks is a challenge. Like any new business, it takes faith and risk to invest in it, but I do believe the Lord has opened doors for me to walk through.

I would have to say my favorite drink is a coconut latte! I love coconut and coffee, the combination just fits! Although I am fond of the most recent flavor, the root beer cafe.

If you are interested in having a coffee bar at your next event or get together there are two ways to go about it:

 

1. The host pays for cost of drinks and labor, and your guest will love ordering free lattes, cappuccinos etc!

2. We can also do an open cash bar, let me know where you want to provide a coffee bar, and We''ll come!

check out www.travelingcoffeeshop.com to see coffee cart options!

 

Meet Nicole from

When I was starting to prepare for the Great Cloth Diaper Change I met Nicole through my etsy shop.  She is also hosting a location in Roanoke, VA.  After talking a bit, we both decided to contribute to each others event!  Nicole has donated a pair of her super cute Crazy Leggies and a pair of her super soft and cute baby shoes.  Here is a question and answer I did with her.  Check out her shop Crazy Leggies on Etsy and see the end of the post for her current promotions!

What is your name and what is your shop about?

Hi, my name is Nicole and my shop is about a bunch of baby items!  I currently carry some crocheted diaper covers/hat combos, baby leg warmers, crocheted baby booties, and sewn custom baby/toddler shoes!

How did you get started?

Actually, to be honest, it was an accident!  I was just making a pair of shoes for my youngest son and everyone wanted a pair after I posted a picture on my blog...so I decided to try my hand at selling them on Etsy!

What do you like about having your own business?
Hmmm, hard question. I like that I am able to fill up some free time!  I currently don't get too many orders to where I am making a ton of money or anything like that, but I am making enough to float my horrible yarn and fabric addiction haha.

Any tips on managing a business and a family :) ?

I sew when the youngest is asleep.  We have the sewing machine in the play room, so my oldest can play his heart out when I sew.  My youngest is still a bit shy of the loud noises of the sewing machine, so I can't really take him with us.


Anything else you want to add to promote your shop? 

Right now I have a BOGO half off on shoes!!!  They are crazy cute!  Come check them out!  I also have a limited time 4 pack of shoes for $58 (which is 

 $10 off my regular prices PLUS free shipping!).  There are a lot of ways to save!  Just check out my combo prices section on my etsy page!

As I said above, Nicole has donated a pair of her Crazy Leggies and an adorable pair of shoes, both of them are pretty neutral, so anyone would be happy to win them!  See you on April 21 for the Great Cloth Diaper Change!

Easy Spring Fruit Salad

This dish is so super easy, it really shouldn't be considered a recipe.  I am still on my quick and easy get dinner on the table because it's spring and we want to play outside kick!  So I wanted to add some fruit and color to the table and here is what I did.


Quick and Easy Pear Blueberry Salad


2 pears washed and sliced
1 cup blueberries frozen or fresh
2-3 Tbs. Honey


Place the sliced pears in a serving bowl, top with blueberries and drizzle all of it with the honey.  Serve... Tada, you have a lovely fruit salad that is easy peasy.

 We really love eating blueberries, right out of the freezer, or baked in blueberry muffins, or tossed in salad like in this recipe.  They are also (like the sweet potatoes from last week) a super food.  According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, most Americans should increase the amount of fruit that they eat. Blueberries in particular may be good for you because of their high amount of fiber, anthocyanidins and vitamin C, and low number of calories. This applies to fresh blueberries without added sugars.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually recommend increasing your fruit intake to help you lose weight. A cup of raw blueberries has only 83 calories and no fat or cholesterol. A cup of blueberries provides 4 g dietary fiber, which makes you feel full so that you eat less at the next meal. If you substitute blueberries for higher calorie snacks, you can save calories and lose weight. This taken from Live Strong.com