What My Nespresso Machine Says About Me

In a nutshell, my ownership of a Nespresso machine indicates that I spend too much money on my coffee. I like to use the Starbucks defense when justifying the existence of such a machine in my home. I received the machine as a mother's day present but it's not like I didn't lobby hard. Thankfully, hubby likes it as much as I do so I don't have to invoke the oft-repeated phrase, Well, at least it keeps me out of Starbucks! I still have difficulty resolving the issue of resource-waste but I ponder it over a really good homemade latte.

To counter-balance the espresso machine, I bought what is possibly the cheapest coffee maker on the planet.... A Black & Decker with a thermal carafe. It took me forever to decide which coffee maker to get when our other bit the proverbial dust. I knew I wanted a thermal carafe but I also knew I wanted to try to be thrifty. 

It was hard for me because the whole Black & Decker thing didn't jive sitting next to my Nespresso machine on the dark-green engineered granite counter top. What would my friends say? Lucky me, I don't have many friends so it doesn't matter all that much.

I took a lesson from a friend and former coworker (you know who you are) about whom someone once said, "If he wanted to buy a toilet plunger, he would go to three different stores to check the price and then he'd still order it on eBay." I didn't exactly order my coffee machine on eBay but I did scour the Consumer Reports reviews and read what people had to say on Amazon.com. In the end, the Black & Decker was a great choice. It keeps the coffee hot and works just fine.

As far as brand names appearing on my counter top, there are conflicts but I've always had that nouveau-riche thing going on... without the riche part. I'm more like nouveau-old-and-ratty. I have these fantastic Ralph Lauren sunglasses that were so two years ago and I wear them with a old shirt I bought from Target sometime during the Third Dynasty.

A good friend was nice enough to pass off a lovely but too-small-for-her Coach purse that I get to use at times when I feel good enough to take it out of it's drawstring bag. It feels sort of cool to have a bag for my bag which keeps the leather pristine; except when I use it. What I love about my friend is that while she has a purse fetish, she is as down-to-earth as I am and hopefully wouldn't begrudge my Black & Decker but she definitely would not spend all that money on a Nespresso machine. 

Revising my premise... What my Nespresso machine says about me is that I struggle to balance my wants and my needs in an age when spending is always encouraged. For now, I will just continue to mull it over while drinking my over-priced espresso out of a pink flowery teacup. Sometimes, I might actually make a pot of coffee.