Lightbulb moment!

First of all, I want to say that I had this post all typed up on my phone and I tried to post it... and it appears to have gotten lost in interweb limbo. So here's my second attempt; I hope they both don't publish all of a sudden!

Do you have a daily routine each morning to get yourself out the door? I do. Alarm goes off at 4:30, I go to the bathroom and get dressed, brew coffee (the Keurig turns on automatically at 4:30), then go to the fridge for my splash of milk in the coffee, and get out my packed-last-night lunch box so I can add some ice packs from the freezer. Then it's out the door, where I load up the back of my car with my gym bag and put my cup of coffee in the cup holder in the trunk of my RAV-4 - where the optional 2nd row of seats would go if I opted for them! - to drink after the gym on the way to work because it's too hot to drink on the way there.

Do you also ever have a fleeting idea that might disrupt your routine, but possibly in a good way? This weekend, I had a lightbulb-JUST-turned-on-in-my-brain ah-ha moment. By the time I leave the gym, my coffee has been sitting in the back of my car for two hours. It's not too hot, and it's not too cold, but it's not Just Right. But you know what might be really refreshing after a workout?

ICED COFFEE. Genius!

I'm not talking about the iced coffee full of milk and sugar you get in your grocer's refrigerator section, or at the Dunkin' Donuts two doors down from your gym (ahem), but plain and simple coffee with ice.

So I tried it out Monday morning. I made my coffee the night before, brewing it one volume setting smaller than usual. I added my splash of milk, covered the top with saran wrap - I don't need my fridge to reek of coffee! - then put the lid on and stored it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I added enough handfuls of ice to bring the liquid level just below the rim of the cup.

I was a little nervous that it would warm up in the two hours it waits for me (after all, it is already about 80º when I leave for the gym at 4:45), but it was PERFECTLY cold and refreshing! About half the ice had melted, and I was able to enjoy my morning java for once.

So my morning routine has definitely changed - for the better! And if you're looking for an easy no/nearly-zero calorie way to jump start your steamy summer mornings, try it out!