Excavation 2012 – Day #27 – A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee Deserves a Damn Fine Mug

Call me crazy, but I think coffee tastes better when you’re drinking it out of a favorite mug. I’m particular about my mugs. Almost as particular as I am about my pens. I’ve always had a helluva time trying to buy a mug that I liked. I used to scour stores and thrift shops, looking for my very own Holy Grail of coffee mugs.

See, there are a whole lot details to consider when you’re trying to find your ideal mug. First, you have to like the overall appearance–the size, the shape, the color or design. Too big and it’s cumbersome. Too small and you’re going to feel like you’re doing coffee shots instead of being able to sit back and enjoy a cup. Plus, it’s gotta feel good in your hand. Not too heavy, not too fragile, and no weird curves or indentations near the lip that might cause any sort of mid-sip malfunction.

As far as the design goes, you have to choose something that speaks to you, something that fits your personality and makes a statement. No cutesy, frilly, flowery, delicate mugs for me thanks. I need something sleek, something eccentric and unique, something simple yet something that can wake me up and make me smile. I just need something different.

I looked for years, but never found anything that I loved, until I found these….

I first found these mugs when Steven and I got engaged and started shopping around for dinnerware to add to our registry. I fell in love immediately. There were dozens of different designs on the dinner plates and salad plates and mugs, depicting scenes from classic Americana–everything from bumper cars and the moon landing to the Brooklyn Bridge and Rosie the Riveter. Steven fell in love the minute he saw the aliens.

While we could have narrowed it down to one or two of our favorite designs so we would have a complete matching set, we thought it would be more fun to order as many different scenes as we could to mix and match. That way, no one could ever steal someone else’s plate at one of our dinner parties. And what better way to get the kids to clean their plates than to see what picture is hidden under the food?

Um, and did I mention the aliens?

Of course a lot of our friends and family thought we were crazy when we decided to order them, but we didn’t care. They’re totally us.

And even better, the mugs turned out to be exactly what I’d been searching for. Not too big. Not too small. A sleek, simple shape that fits perfectly in my big hands. And the best part is, I’ve got a mug that pretty much fits my every mood–the cows for when I’m feeling mellow, the aliens for when I’m feeling strange, Einstein for when I’m needing a little extra brainpower, my Rosie mug for the days I feel like kicking ass and taking names, and many, many more.

And, since I’ve finally found my ultimate mugs, and bought enough of them to last me forever (unless I go on some crazy mug-breaking spree), it’s time to get rid of the mugs I never use that are cluttering up my cabinet…

Frosty is the first to go. While I love Frosty the Snowman, can sing the entire song, and have watched the movie every Christmas since I can remember, I’m not really fond of this mug. It’s too big and a bit top heavy. Never a good combination.

And next…

This mug I bought in college for no other reason than I had just bought a coffee maker for my dorm room and the mug was marked down to $.50 in a bargain bin at CVS. When you’re a poor college student, you can’t be choosy. Faced with either buying a more expensive mug or actually buying coffee to brew in my new coffeepot, I chose the coffee. In spite of the ugly flowers and the curved lip that caused several coffee-related mishaps over the years, I still believe I chose wisely. Now though, this mug is headed for retirement.

One mug that we will be keeping in our collection is this one…

I love this mug and it has earned a solid 2nd place on my Favorite Mug List. Steven got his mug as a gift when we worked for the City of Casa Grande and we both love it. Not only is it just a good size and shape, we are also both addicted to those hiliarioius De-Motivational Posters you see floating around on the internet. And if you can’t actually have one of the posters hanging in your office, you can always get away with having one on your coffee mug.

Makes me laugh every time. 🙂