Posts Tagged ‘Stumptown’
{Thankful November} 5: Coffee
November 5th, 2011 | Rachel
Join me in the comments or on your own blog as I give thanks every day this month.
Photo by Valerie Schooling
Last Saturday, New York City had a freak October snow storm the morning after Steve and I returned from our trip to California. We didn’t have plans until that evening (a black tie masquerade, since it was Halloween weekend), so we plugged in the Christmas tree*, put a Christmas jazz record on the player** and brewed a French press of fresh ground coffee from Verve Coffee Roasters while Steve cooked breakfast.
Is there anything better on a snowy, lazy morning than lounging on the sofa with a cup of coffee?
I submit that there is not.
As with pies, coffee represents different things for different people. For some, it means a lazy Saturday morning reading a book at home. For others, it may mean a rendez-vous with an old friend to catch up on life. For others it may represent late nights finishing a semester’s worth of homework. Sometimes I drink coffee when I’m tired, but mostly I drink it when I have a place to sit and time to daydream or write lists.
When I was in college and later law school, I was a regular patron at coffee shops in each of my respective university towns. In Athens, Georgia, it was Hot Corner Cafe, which was conveniently open 24 hours a day. I distinctly remember sitting down at a table around 6:00pm one evening and starting a 10-page paper that was due the next day. In law school, it was Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro, North Carolina. Open Eye wasn’t open all night, but it did have a smartly dressed goth barista that I had a crush on despite the fact that he was considerably younger than I was.
New York City doesn’t have the same kind of coffee shops as those college towns, which I suspect has something to do with the egregiously expensive real estate. When I do feel the urge to leave my apartment and read a book over a cup of coffee, I usually head to Stumptown in the Ace Hotel or Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea. Both have amazing coffee and interesting baristas with cool tattoos. Most of the time I just get my coffee fix at the bakery where I have free access to an unlimited supply of freshly ground coffee and espresso.
Now that the weather is getting colder, coffee is getting that much more enjoyable.
Thank you, coffee!
Cappuccino and cookie from Stumptown
*This particular Christmas tree has been up since my first Christmas with Steve… two years ago. Steve does not recognize an end to the Christmas season, however up until this week I had the tree hiding in a dark corner.
**We are celebrating the Christmas season a month early because Steve is going to be on his ship most of December.
