The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

I am so excited to announce The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf as one of my new affiliates!! Why am I so excited? Well, let me tell you, I have the most amazing story about my last time there.

When I was in Los Angeles last year, I attended a media panel for Paley Fest for the show True Blood on HBO, which is one of my all time favorite shows. As I am sure you have all figured out by now, Alexander Skarsgard is my favorite actor. Anyhow, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting him briefly while I was down there and have a chat with him after the event.

A few days later before I left town, I had the utmost pleasure of meeting his BFF for coffee at the Coffee Bean before I left Hollywood. He and I had been in contact over the prior few months regarding a movie he and Alexander had filmed in Sweden, a short documentary that was absolutely amazing. We tried to meet up a few times while I was down there that week but he was under the weather at first and wasn't able to make it to Paley, so we opted for coffee the Monday before I left.

I met him near where he was casting for a movie he was interested in directing and we had such a great visit. When he pulled in my heart did a little skip-a-beat because he drives the exact same car as Alex. For a second I thought he might be with him, since the windows were so dark I couldn't tell. I have to admit I was a bit relieved that he wasn't! Even though it would have been an awesome adventure, I so wasn't looking hot that morning. Anyways, BFF was handsome, kind, so open and chatty-honestly, it was seriously almost the best part of the trip. He bought me a super yummy pom-blueberry smoothie and himself a skinny latte. I teased him about the skinny part because it is such a Hollywood thing to order and really, he didn't need to worry about his weight.

While we were waiting in line I realized we were standing next to Ashton Kutcher. Honestly, it didn't even phase me in the slightest. I was having such a great time chatting with his bff that I couldn't have given a rat's hiney about Ashton. We were probably near him for about 15 minutes before we grabbed a table on the patio but I didn't care.

I loved the atmosphere of the Coffee Bean, was surprised by all the celebrity sightings- at the time I didn't realize it was a mecca for the young and famous-and truly just loved my conversation. BFF was brilliant, funny, inspiring and just an all around genuinely nice person. We joked about how different LA is from Sweden and I told him about myself, what I do for a living and the area I am from.

He also had some amazing tips on publishing, things that had never even crossed my mind prior to my conversation with him, so once I get my first book published, I am going to owe that to him. If he hadn't lit a fire under me with his suggestions, I wouldn't have come back home and started writing like I have been over the last several months.

I do regret not getting a picture of the two of us together, but I really didn't want to seem like a fan girl, although it would really have been something nice to have for memories sake.

BFF on the left and Alex on the right

One thing that really struck me, and I noticed this with Alex, too, is how incredibly humble he was. I don't know if it is a Swede thing or maybe just the circle of people they run in, but they are some of the kindest, most down to earth people I have ever met. They are both obviously on the rise in Hollywood, but I would be sincerely surprised if it ever went to their heads. As BFF laughingly said,"Alex puts his pants on one leg at a time...unless he jumps into them."

We only stayed for about a forty-minutes, since he was on a break from casting and had to get back, but I really appreciated the time he took out from his busy schedule to come and sit down with me, have a nice chat and enjoy some seriously good Coffee Bean drinks.

Check out their site for awesome home delivery and they have some really good sales going on right now!