for the love of coffee

You know that segment on NPR called "This I believe"?Here is the description:

Based on a 1950s radio program of the same name, Americans from all walks of life share the personal philosophies and core values that guide their daily lives.

Well, I believe in the importance of visiting the local coffee shop.

This goes back to the very beginning of our relationship. On our first date - Thanksgiving weekend of 1998 - we stopped at Starbucks for hot chocolate on our way to the exhibit Van Gogh's Van Goghs. The hot chocolate was important because although the tickets were free, you had to have one to get in, and they only allowed a certain number of people in at a time. We heard you had to line up around 6 am to get in at 10. (A disclaimer: in 1998, Starbucks was not the behemoth it is now, and Dan actually worked there when the machines were still manual and they sold loose bean in the store. He also collected the coffee stickers for me, which were on display for years around the windowsill in my room at my parents' home).

When we lived in Philadelphia, we visited Canvas pretty much every day (sadly, it's now closed). Phyllis' baked goods were amazing, and I can still recall the smell of butter cakes wafting out of the shop on nice spring days (the humidity has to be just right for them to rise, you see). Canvas was the destination of our very first outing with Henry after we brought him home from the hospital. I have a lot of good memories of those early days with Henry at Canvas.

For the year that we lived in Arlington, the closest coffee shop (that was not Starbucks) was Murky Coffee - now Northside Social, and even though it was a 25 minute walk, I managed to make it there with Henry most days. It was there he developed his love of bluberry muffins and iced chai. He also loved flirting with the baristas at the bar (no joke).

When we started looking for a house on Capitol Hill, Dan asked our realtor, "where is the neighborhood coffee shop?" She directed us to SOVA. There, sitting in the front with Henry, we chatted with a nanny who was there with her charge (a little boy also named Henry). Turns out she was about to move out of her house. She showed it to us and that was that - we moved to Wylie Street, where Henry grew from a baby into a toddler and Jude was (almost) born. We had a plot in the Wylie Street Community Garden and are friendly with everyone on the block to this day - our visit to Wylie St. is the higlight of trick or treating every year!

{a recent morning walk to SOVA}

Now we live a few blocks south on E Street but we still visit SOVA quite often, and it is where Dan and I do almost all of our work. I love seeing all the "regulars" each day, hearing about their lives, their daily joys and struggles, and sharing ours with them as well. I believe a good coffee shop should be a place to talk, hang out, sit, read the paper or a good book, knit, listen to music, but above all, connect with other people. We have made so many meaningful and lasting relationships with the people we've met at our local coffee shop. Visit yours today!