I Bought The $10 Mast Brothers Chocolate Bar, So Why Am I Not in Chocolate Heaven :(

Photographer V Blak

Let me start this post with an UPSIDE DOWN smile :( Okay now that I have that out of my system, lets focus on the title of this post: I Bought The $10 Mast Brothers Chocolate Bar, So Why Am I Not in Chocolate Heaven. What the hell is that suppose to mean right? Well, this is what it means. I sooooo badly wanted to LOVE, I mean butterflies in my belly, love this Chocolate Bar. Why why chocolate fairy did you still my joy!

Let me start at the beginning. I was in the big NYC for a little work and a whole lot of Loving (wishful thinking I know) a few weeks ago. I started off the visit by seeing my friend Dan, who has an office just around the corner from the newish Ace Hotel in Manhattan. Yeah, that cool hip salvation army looking hotel chain. The one out of Portland Oregon. It’s an awesome place and they even have a Portland styled espresso bar just off the main lobby of the Hotel. Since we were so close, we decided to make the Ace our morning espresso destination. Wow, it did not disappoint. The entire lobby is a wifi free hang out zone, featuring a completely black 40 foot ceiling with massive roman style white columns holding up the place.

I think I must have passed out. When I woke, there was a large chunk of this dry bitter bar still stuck to my tongue.

We headed into the espresso bar and order up a few soy cappuccinos. As I am paying for our brews, what quirky little thing catches my eye on the counter? The one and only Mast Brothers Chocolate Bars. I couldn’t believe it. I just wrote a post on the Mast Brothers a week or so before heading to NYC. The post included a few amazing videos about the two brothers and their dedication to the old world craft of chocolate making. Their Brooklyn based store in the videos looked like a mini chocolate heaven to me. So, seeing these Willy Wonka type bars right there, on the counter was just too much to resist, I grabbed one and told the barista, add this to my bill. First words out of his mouth were, are you sure, they are $10. The number echoed in my head. $10 Doooollllaaarrrssssss. Time seemed to stop. Everything was in slow motion. I could hear the hiss of the steam escaping the espresso machines, the slurping sound from all the hipsters sucking down their espressos and my own breath rushing out of my lungs… and then these words leaving my lips, of course, no problem, let me have it. And oh did he! $20 or so dollars later Dan and I strolled out with two espresso’s and my new shiny heaven in a bar of Mast Brothers Espresso Dark Chocolate.

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Ace Hotel Palm Springs A Little Retro Way Cool

Have you ever done something and wonder just seconds later what the hell were you thinking? Well, I have to admit, that is basically the default way my brain functions. It just spits out ideas and my body says what the hell, lets do it and it just starts to go into action before the brain can actually re-adjust and make the right choices. This gets me into more trouble then I would like to admit. For example, the brain spitted out an idea to pack up and move to a location known as hell on earth and my body had packed, moved and unpacked before the brain could say, hey… just joking.

Yes, now my body with my brain lives in hell. Well, not the actual hell, because I don’t believe that one exist, but a place trying to do its damnedest to be as hot as it thinks hell would be. Yes, you guessed it, I live in the oven known as Palm Desert (Palm Springs). Everyone says the 126 degree temperatures will cool down in just a few more weeks and then everything it will be like that other fictional place, Heaven, all nice and sweet. Well, until the heaven sweetness arrives, I have been hiding out indoors with the air on because I have a fear of melting. But I am really itching to get out and sight see a little, because surprising enough, I just found out there is an ACE Hotel just down the street. Crazy right? I say that because, I think I love the Ace Hotels and to think something so cool is a few minutes away gives me hope for this place. I was just in New York City for a week and I went to the Ace Hotels bar and it’s coffee shop on two different occasions, and both were totally hip and so welcoming. I hope the Ace out here is even half as nice. We will see. I am going to reach out to them and see if they will hook G Living Up and give us a room to test out, if you know what I mean. Wish me luck. Until then, here is a totally cool video showing off some of the retro / hip goodness they are known for. Also, tossing in some photos.

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