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Community Corner

Shelter From the Rain—a Mom's Escape

Hello, Barnes & Noble and Starbucks.

Last weekend it was cold, windy and drizzling outside.  My kids had built a fort in the family room and were kind enough to use all of our clean sheets.  I had a pile of wet towels sitting in the washing machine that needed to be re-washed.  Apparently, I had missed the “put them in the dryer” part. Among other things, my to-do list included a shopping trip for produce.  Chocolate-covered raisins had already been counted as a “fruit” in my household for two days. I was overwhelmed and had zero motivation to tackle anything on my list.

I must have looked like a sorry case sprawled on the family-room couch, because my husband asked, “Would you like to take an hour for yourself?  I’ll hang out with the kids.”  He definitely did not need to ask me twice.  I gave my husband a big hug and quickly left for one of my favorite mom escapes: and Starbucks.

It may not sound like much, but an hour spent sipping coffee and slowly walking through the aisles of a bookstore does wonders for my sanity.  If you are looking for a quick and cheap escape this weekend, I highly recommend a visit to Barnes & Noble in Aliso Viejo’s Town Center.  

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With a Barnes & Noble Cafe serving Starbucks right inside, you can start your “mental vacation” with a calming cup of tea or a fancy coffee drink.  I’m a pretty simple girl, so I ordered a Café Misto with a pump of vanilla.  It was nice being able to order a coffee without having to juggle my 4-year-old, who has sneaky little ways of collecting wooden stir sticks from the coffee bar.  Between the stir sticks and green twist ties from the grocery store, my son has quite the collection. 

As I enjoyed my coffee, I meandered through the cookbook aisle.  I flipped through a couple of books and found a couple of recipes I would like to try someday.  I then grabbed an assortment of books (none of them from the kids' section!) and found a comfy chair to settle down in.  It was so nice to just sit back, read and tune out the world. 

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After spending an hour in Barnes & Noble, I found a great book to recommend to my book club, discovered that magnesium can sometimes help migraine headaches, and realized that Martha Stewart will forever be more organized than me.  

Refreshed and ready to take on my role as domestic goddess, I came home with a smile.  Even better, my husband had managed to finish the laundry while entertaining the kids.  Lucky me!

Barnes & Noble is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekends.

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