Drama, Work Day Party, Keurig Vue V500 Review and 25% off Keurig

I have been so thrilled to win several House Party packages to host wonderful parties for my friends and family.  Unfortunately, sometimes its tricky to get everyone to show up for these parties.  I had tried to win a Keurig party pack a while ago and didn't make the cut so when it came back up a second time, even though we are in the middle of basically a full renovation on the new house, I thought what a great way to reward the friend, family and workers who come help us with the house.  I was super excited to win the chance to host the party this time and went about setting up a great "refreshment bar" for the workers.

We had a lot of folks who offered early on to help do projects around the house - while some have been great like my mom who came out after work and on the weekends the first two weeks we started this and would have come out more if I hadn't insisted she take a break - others have apparently just seen this as a way to stop by and get the scoop on what we are up to so they can talk about how much of a huge undertaking this is...and whether or not they think we will make it turn out decent...

There are always tricky situations when you have big families who live nearby - like everyone thinks you should invite the whole family and throw a grand party every time you do anything.  Its not a situation I like being in but for some reason I just keep trying.  For this party I didn't want to really interrupt the progress we were making (and further frustrate my husband with the distractions) so I invited all the people who had offered to help us do work on the house and had on hand all the supplies and specific projects for people to work on.  Every time I do this I have a handful of people who don't really read the invite they are sent which very clearly said this was a "work day party" - why they thought it was a housewarming type of party I have no idea when they had already toured the house and knew we were knee-deep in renovations.

Nonetheless, we had a family member who told another family member all about the party and made a big deal out of it and even showed them the online invite.  The uninvited person emailed the whole family (on an email chain about Mother's Day plans that had nothing to do with the party and included a whole bunch of other people, some of whom were invited and some were not...) and even though I tried to sidestep the questions several times and handle it privately, these two individuals insisted on calling out all the party details to the whole family and point out the fact that one did not get an invite.

After nearly a week of emails and phone calls about the whole thing I finally sent the person an invite at the last minute.  She immediately responded no and I found out through another source that she had a commitment to be somewhere else the whole time - so what was the whole point beyond a family shaming over being left off the invite list??  Sometimes ya just can't win...

So with that, the folks who didn't show up because they thought she might be there and cause drama, and the normal life things that caused others to not come at the last minute, the only ones who did show up was the person who started the drama and her husband, my 4-year-old son, my husband, my step-dad, and my husband's best friend.

My husband, his buddy and I were the only ones who really tried the brewer that day.  The Chai is wonderful and even though he usually goes for the regular Folgers, even the hubby gave the Mocha a shot and liked it.  The next day the kids had the hot chocolate and my step-dad tried the Donut Shop Coffee - both were hits.

After a disappointing turnout for the house party, I decided Friday was the perfect day to take the system and all the wonderful samples and coupons Keurig provided to work for a little special Friday treat.  It was a huge hit with the work crowd who values their coffee!  The coconut was surprisingly popular - I love that it doesn't have that sweet coconut syrup taste but just a good scent and after-affect of coconut.  I gave those who were interested the 40% coupons and at least 3 people ordered theirs that day after giving the brewer a try.  One had been a long-time mail-order coffee customer and did a cost analysis on how much this would save her over her typical monthly costs.  Another purchased it for making hot chocolate and iced tea for the grandkids at their vacation home.

I have found it a great solution for the hubby and I - he prefers the regular stuff while I like a variety.  I also love iced tea and the kids and I drink a lot of it in the summer.  I have found that I can brew the iced tea on the strong setting and add it to a pitcher of water and ice and it is the perfect strength for the kids and I.  Its also nice that you can get a sweet tea to brew in it because hubby prefers the sweet tea over regular.  With the Keurig we can all have what we like with much less space dedicated to drinks.

I also am very cost-conscious and normally would not have considered spending so much on a brewing system.  But when I figured out what it cost per cup (and the calorie savings I would have brewing a small cup of latte at home versus a large drive through) I think it a great value.  I was able to find the Vue packs at my local small-town Walmart, Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond (plus sign up for BBB's email newsletter or mail coupons and use them to restock on the packs!).  My Walmart was even running a special sale on the Vue packs.  In addition, when I registered my brewer online, I received a code to order 2 boxes of Vue packs and receive 2 more free!  Plus when you register as a member online you get a discounted rate on packs you order from the website and purchasing a certain amount qualifies you for free shipping - that made it cheaper to order online than to purchase them locally.  I received everything I ordered within just a couple of days with just regular shipping.

Another great feature is the optional water filter add-on.  I used my 40% hostess discount to buy the water filter because we have very hard water in our area and even with a water softener get a lot of scale and mineral buildup in our coffee machine that really makes a bitter taste to the coffee.  At times I would buy bottled water just for making coffee and that can really add up so having the machine filter the water as it brews is a nice added bonus.

In all I am very happy with Keurig and the new Vue V500 brewing system.  The party package provided by Keurig was one of the best I've had to date and the products are very high quality.  If anyone is interested in ordering one, I have a limited number of discount codes for 25% off your purchase good through the end of May - just send me an email and I'll send you the code!