A Coffee Shop, A Farmers Market, and A Paper

I have a paper I am working on for a conference in Portland, OR in a few weeks. It's about how states create policies for Renewable Portfolio Standards and how those policies diffuse to other states. I'm basically taking an over-arching theory and applying it to a specific policy. So far so good. I am running low on time and I need to start another paper like yesterday (still waiting on university approval).
I have discovered that I am not awesome at getting work done at home. When I have a serious deadline, I'll get done what I need to get done. But if I have a couple of days to work with then I'm pretty distracted. As a result, I travel around from one library to another to get some concentrated time in to work. It's unbelievable what I can get done at a library in 3 hours compared to what I get done at home in 8 (as I write on my blog from the library).

Well what's a work day without a cup of coffee? Don't all serious academics drink coffee in all of their sophistication? More like imbibing copious amounts of caffeine in order to meet deadlines. Tomato/ Tomato.

I decided to give this new place a try in Edmond, "Evoke".
I went in and it was a total hipster spot. I like hipster spots so I'll take it. I told him to make me something that would make me a repeat customer.

I ordered a caramel latte. I'll be going back. 

Then, I remembered that the Farmer's market is on Wednesday and Evoke is right by the Farmer's Market. I bought some of these lanterns from a girl that looked to be about 12 years old the last time I went. They have a solar cell in the lid of a Mason jar. You charge them up during the day and they illuminate at night. They actually work pretty well! At $10 a pop I decided to invest in the youngster's entrepreneurship. I bought 2. Hey, it's not like she was selling shares....

Anyway, all of the lanterns have different decorations inside. I think they're really cute and a fun conversation piece when we're hanging out on the patio. Come over and hang out on the patio and I'll tell you all about 'em! I told my mom I would pick up one for her, so I can now scratch that off of my to do list. 

If you've never been to a Farmer's market, well it's an experience that you need to have. It just feels like you are part of a community. They are all over the place so they're easy to find. A quick Google search led me to this link which lists where there are Farmer's Markets across Oklahoma. 

It is nice to support local farmers. If you have questions about their product, they are right there to answer them for you. You also help the environment by reducing CO2 emissions from transporting foods from long distances. There are many people who pledge to only consume food that is produced from within 100 miles of their home. This requires one to amend their eating habits to only consume certain foods during the season in which they're produced for their location. Even if I haven't committed to it yet, I think it's an interesting endeavor. I do think we spend too much time letting other people that we don't even know make decisions for us and what we put into our bodies. It makes sense to me that we should take more responsibility for what we consume and provide to our families. 

Another cool way to eat locally is to sign up with the Oklahoma (or others states) food Coop. You can learn about it here. Through this program you order food that you would like online (I often order different meats and eggs) and on the third Thursday of each month you go to a location near you (there's 2 sites in Edmond) and pick up your stuff. It is a great way to support local farmers, know where your food comes from, and dictate the quality of food you want (such as no hormones or antibiotics and such). There are a TON (like literally thousands) of items you can search through. I encourage you to look around! It's kind of like an online Farmer's Market.

Well It's time to get back to the paper. I have about an hour and a half before I need to meet up with my in-laws and pick up my puppy. Then maybe I'll venture to another library. We'll see how this data set building goes. 

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