All the little things about a coffee shop

When I choose a cafe to reflect and write in, I am committing to staying 3+ hours in a cafe abiding, writing and thinking about the most personal things. As a result, there are a lot of little factors about a cafe's environment that are important to me and that I notice. Things like lighting, design, table size, temperature, and little trinkets on the counters or on tables.. they all add up to an environment that can contribute to and nurture what I want to do there. An especially well-designed and inviting interior spurs on lots of creativity and excites me to stay and work longer.

Erick helped me decide which coffee shop to go to this week and his simple suggestion took me to one of my new favorite places! I wanted to go somewhere close by and somewhere new but it was hard to think of what would fall into these criteria since all the cute little coffee shops I looked up were all in downtown. We have a Heine Brothers coffee shop very close by (having a coffee shop in walking distance to your home is a beautiful thing), but we've frequented it so much that I wanted to try something new. Turns out, just a wee bit farther is another Heine Brothers with texture, design and open and airy space that resembles nothing like the one near our apartment. It has a personality of its own and I love it! There's something about interiors with light wood that gets me every time...

I spent a good 4 hours at this coffee shop, at a long wooden table near the front counter, looking out into the rest of the open cafe. The light, the colors, the cute clay mugs and pots of succulents near me, the whirr of the espresso machines, the light chatter- it was all so perfect. I left satisfied, humbled and convicted by the Word and with a few more pages of my journal filled with verses and reflections.

I'm not saying I need places like these for my devotional time or to write, but I am thankful for the way they give me joy and remind me to rejoice in Him for all the little things. :)