Round on the ends and high in the middle

Watching the silent flashing yellow lights at 3 a.m. on the streets of Oberlin.
I haven't written yet about my Ohio trip, I know. As with all vacations, it came and went in a whirlwind of experiences, thoughts, conversations, moments...I feel that the trip initiated some movement and change within me, which is always productive - but writing about it in retrospect, it's difficult to capture it all. When I went to Seattle for the first time five years ago, my journal entry about it was just a mess of details. I wrote, Chai lattes, acoustic guitar on sidewalks, sketchbooks, flying fish, postmenopausal hippies, Thai food and mango bubble tea, walking everywhere, anarchy bookstores, no internet, browsing zines, pink hair, Ramen by coffeemaker, art and more art, running up 25 flights of stairs, falling asleep on windowsills, rain, thrift-store explorations, pigeons, local poets and magic tricks, the boy at Seattle's Best Coffee who thinks my name is Francesca, the drunken Scot with a lip ring who followed us around for a bit...

This trip to Ohio? Even though I saw a plethora of friends and had a zillion thoughts about myself, my past, my life path, necessary changes for the sake of my sanity...my journal's seen little of it, my blog, obviously, has seen none at all so far, and my camera only has a few sparse pictures, mostly of silly things that have nothing to do with what this trip was really about for me.

What I did get to do: Truly sleep in, on more than one occasion! See a ton of friends and acquaintances alike - Oberlin kids, Elyria kids, old professors and bosses... Have a silly night out at the Joyful Mug, and in celebration of the good ol' Midwestern cost of living, buy a round of drinks for my old co-workers. Run 13 miles at French Creek. Eat at all my old favorite Oberlin restaurants (including the Feve twice in one day...yesss.) Hang out on a lot of Oberlin porches. See the new Creative Writing House, the stunning new jazz studies building, the new bagel place in town, the new green East College developments and Oberlin's first true coffeeshop, Slow Train. Listen to Julie Taymor's commencement speech (On a scale of 10, I'd give it a 6.5, but it sure beat the heck out of Richard Haass' speech at my graduation.) Stand on a folding chair and scream my head off as graduating friends' names were called. Enjoy Giovanni's pizza and watch a stunning sunset over the lake with Alan at my side. Sit out a lovely afternoon thunderstorm underneath the Mudd library ramp. Nap in the sunshine in Tappan. Drop by the Dick's store in Elyria and have lunch with Quinn. Spend a lazy afternoon in the backyard shade with (some of) Alan's family. Walk down the middle of the road at night by myself under a full (ish) moon and listen to the crickets.

What I didn't get to do: Go to Cedar Point. Have a beer at Stubby's. Belt out a duet at Loco karaoke with Aseem. Splash around in the Arb lakes. Spend any time in Cleveland whatsoever. See Quinn perform. Ride bikes on the old rail trail. Read in any of the three books I hauled with me.

But that's all right. There will always be next time. Until then... photo album!


Iconic Oberlin photo.


Ruth*, with our delightful $4.50 plate of nachos on Agave's new sidewalk terrace.
*who will be moving to Seattle in September!


Feve burger and tots. Mmm...indeed, most of the pictures I took on this trip involved food one way or another.


The ridiculously slick new jazz studies building.


Hint hint, Seattle. See? The Midwest knows how to a Happy Hour right.


CLE Airport. Oh Cleveland...

Mini Cup o' Joe report!


Cappucino, Slow Train Coffee. This place, though not perfect, beats the pants off of JavaZone.


Slow Train Coffee interior.


The strange thing about returning to any place that was once home is that it's generally about as you left it...yet you no longer occupy the same role there. You don't have a place to call your own, nor a routine to claim - but rather, you piece together an itinerary for yourself out of familiar elements in hopes of reliving a glimpse of your past, but inevitably probably falling a bit short. The one day I made it to Black River for brunch, the coffee they gave me was bitter and lukewarm, and the sausage overcooked and hard as a rock. Go figure. The new coffeeshop, Slow Train, is awesome, but aptly named; it took nearly 15 minutes for them to handle a line of four people wanting espresso drinks. The day I ran at French Creek, it was hot as hell, with 90% humidity and mosquitoes everywhere, so it hardly felt like this blissful running spot I remembered it as...and I realize that Seattle's taught me to love running hills, of which, of course, Ohio has none.

But I suppose that the big guy in the sky is just looking out for me: if, this time around, Ohio felt like the cozy blanket it once did, it would have been hard to leave. And it wasn't. I felt I got what I needed out of it - seeing the important people, being nudged to reconnect with my biggest, original passion in this life (i.e. writing), having the time to breathe for what felt like the first time in months - and it's clear to me that since returning to Seattle, I've been in a much better, calmer, Zen-like state of mind than I have been in awhile. I was definitely in need of a vacation - but, I'm also happy to be back in my new home, where things are familiar and cozy and full of friends, decent coffee, spectacular baristas, hills aplenty, and fresh, cool mountain air.


I love checking out the patchwork farms from the plane window as much as the next person, but mountain peaks are cool, too.


Sigh. Isn't she lovely? I'm still in the honeymoon phase.

Cappuccinos, bikes, nostalgia & stresssss

Cappuccino, Caffe Vita
The above-pictured beverage was enjoyed greatly this morning, during one of my last free days (until I had to go into work at 3 p.m. for the rest of the day) that I'll have for an indefinite amount of time (i.e. the rest of this month, so far.) I'd hoped that once I got out of college, I'd finally be cured of the Oberlin syndrome of taking way, way more on than is reasonable for one's sanity. Apparently, I've failed at that.

BUT! I'm determined not to let certain things slide by the wayside, as I have in the past when my obligations stack up to scary, towering proportions. I want to keep on with the running, cooking, reading books, writing when I can, getting out to the mountains here and there, and spending time with friends. I'd like to save up the money I'll need to pay my way through yoga teacher certification by this time next year. I'm going to run another road marathon sometime this spring. And a trip to Cleveland/Elyria/Oberlin is definitely in the books for this May. And hiking the Grand Canyon in July. So good things loom...just a crazy busy stretch to get through on my way...


View from Smith Cove Terminal, site of the 2010 Seattle Bike Expo.
Anyway. I volunteered at the Seattle Bike Expo yesterday, which was a blast. I worked at the OutdoorsNW table some, but also was free to wander a bit...during which I perused awesome bike-themed photography, sampled a bunch of energy bars and drink flavors, tried out a DIY-massage stick, and saw these awesome artistic bike performers from Germany:




My favorite booth was that of the "Dutch Bike Company" - a store in Seattle that I didn't even know existed! They sell gorgeous Dutch-style bikes and other familiar accessories:


Attention Mom, Amsterdam friends, etc: Bakfiets!
Aaand, speaking of Amsterdam friends...last week, three of us from my study-abroad program got together for a yummy Ethiopian dinner and late-night cocktails.


Zephyr is also living in Seattle, so our paths have crossed several times since I moved out here...but Tan just happened to be up in this part of the continent and made a pit stop in Seattle to knock out a few touristy must-sees and take part in a little A'dam reunion! My last A'dam reunion involved Tan happened upon us jointly visiting Becca in Amherst about this time two years ago:


Although we'd all seen each other here and there randomly throughout the past three years, last week was the first time that Zephyr and Tan and I had been together, all in the same place, since Holland/Turkey/Croatia. Catching up was good. It was silly crazy to think of how much had happened in the few years since we'd all been merely students together abroad...new home cities, new jobs, new significant others, new life experiences under our belts...I know I'm way too nostalgic already to be at my age, but I can't help it. There's something so mystifying about the passage of time, and nothing like seeing a couple of old friends to illuminate that.

As for this week's Cup o' Joe, it'll be a short review. I hit up another local chain, Caffe Vita - a coffeeshop that began on its own as a response to the growth of Seattle espresso culture in the 90s, but has branched out into a few locations and although I've only been to this one, feels a little too Starbucky for me to appreciate it totally as its own entity. The coffee was definitely good, and this location on Capitol Hill is nice for its two levels, tons of window space, old wooden floors, piano and bookcase and hanging artwork decor, free wi-fi and plenty of table space...


Blurry interior, downstairs.


Local artwork.
Overall a good space to spend a morning, but nothing too special going on here as far as I could tell. The usual indie music and Capitol Hill hipsters and trendy, Seattle-themed merchandise, etc etc...

A day early: Cup o' Joe Monday, Installment XVIII

Chai latte, Cafe Pettirosso
So, I think part of my problem with consistently doing Monday coffeeshop reviews has been...Yelp! It seemed like a great discovery when I stumbled on it, because I could get a sense for places before visiting them myself, and even find good suggestions for coffeeshops from it. BUT at some point, I realized that a lot of the fun had been taken out of "discovering" new coffeeshops. Today, somewhat by accident, I did exactly what I intended initially to do with my Cup o' Joe Monday Project...wandered the streets of Seattle until I found a cute, local coffeeshop that piqued my interest, went inside, kind of fell in love...and here I am to blog about the experience.

This place is located on a little, vaguely industrial side street, with not much else going on. I almost walked right past it on my way to another visible coffeeshop, but was stopped in my tracks by a sidewalk sign advertising "breakfast bagel sandwiches" and an arrow pointing me in a new direction. Glad I did! The plan was to spend my morning somewhere getting some writing done, and this place was the perfect environment to buckle down and get some real work done.


Some people cleared out of the table by the front windows just as I got there, so though I felt a little selfish sitting at a four-person table all by my lonesome, I did appreciate the view...industrial street in the foreground, but downtown Seattle skyline in the background, and an endless supply of Capitol Hill hipsters coming and going at all times.

I actually decided to wear my Vibram Fivefingers out today, and as I was waiting in line for my chai, a guy came up behind me wearing Fivefingers, too. So smiling all friendly-like, I was like, "Hey, nice shoes!", but he just gave me a stony-cold stare and said nothing. I turned back around awkwardly and that was the end of it. This was actually the second time this exact scenario happened to me...trying to make a cute joke to a stranger about how we're both wearing the same crazy things on our feet, but they don't actually look down at my feet and get the joke, and instead just think I'm being a sarcastic asshole. That, or people who wear Fivefingers are just unfriendly, cold-hearted jerks with no interest in talking to me. Hmm...

Anyway, the baristas were a little on the quiet, reserved side - reserving, perhaps, their friendly energy for the regulars...but nevertheless, not unfriendly. No wi-fi, which would have been a big warning flag for me a few months ago, but on this particular morning, was perfect: no internet=more writing. The atmosphere was nice - some good breeze from outside, cozy lighting inside, great smells from the fantastic, freshly prepared food they offer, and swanky music that sounded like what would be on the record player in the lobby of a ritzy hotel in France at the turn of the century.

Other good things:


Better prices on beverages than a lot of Seattle coffeehouses.


Cozy atmosphere.


Pretty yummy bagel sandwiches. Albeit unlike the drinks, pricey ones that won't fit into my budget regularly :(
Overall, a good discovery...for what it's worth, I got a ton of writing done in the couple hours I spent there, and I'll probably go back again if for nothing but that sense of productivity. And kind of nice to feel like you're tucked away in a nook, just off the beaten path (i.e. Pike Street corridor of Capitol Hill.)

P.S. And, just because it made me laugh a little...some newspaper-graffiti in our break room at work. This was the headline story in the Seattle Times yesterday, about two guys who got lost out skiing and wound up hiking over 26 miles overnight in the wrong direction...fortunately, a story with a happy ending, as people were scared once they'd been reported missing, but they turned up just fine. Nevertheless, a subject of some amusement among my coworkers:

Free Cookies and the Epic of the Lost Wallet

Strawberry mango moothie, Revolutions Coffee
(Post-workout smoothie today...but the coffee is great here, too!)
Woohoo, at long last, the return of Cup o' Joe Mondays! This week, I decided to revisit a favorite that I haven't blogged about yet, despite really enjoying it every time I've been here. Revolutions Coffee is located up in Greenlake - happily, in close proximity to the lovely Vera Fitness, an all women's wellness studio and gym where I've begun doing personal(ish) training sessions regularly. Did an intense power hour this morning, then came over here to get back in touch with my old Monday tradition...


Revoutions Coffee has an odd mix of an interior: three of the four interior walls are brightly painted, while one is just plain, gray, unceremonious concrete. The floor is also concrete, mixed up with a few colorful shag rugs. Seating ranges from basic tables and chairs to sleek, poofy loveseats to barstools if you want to chat with the friendly, down-to-Earth baristas. Artwork on the walls ranges from framed photos behind the counter to crazy awesome mixed media artwork...


...to a wall of framed album covers to vintage travel posters to a giant print of Snoop Dogg and some other (presumably) rap artist I can't readily identify. Half the seating is close enough to the doors to be flooded with sunlight, the other half tucked away in the dimmer, romantic lighting in the back, complemented by the very bold colors and paints back there.

But here's why this place takes the cake as Best Coffeeshop in the World: it began on Valentine's Day, when Ruth was visiting me in Seattle. I needed to get some writing for the magazine done but also wanted to show Ruth Greenlake, so we drove up north to plunk down for a few hours in the spacious but cozy Revolutions. First of all, they've offered free cookie samples 2 of the 3 times I've been here. This alone is enough to bump it into Seriously Awesome territory...but then, when the samples had successfully convinced Ruth and I that we needed to get a couple cookies, the girl behind the counter couldn't get two cookies unstuck from each other - so she just shrugged, smiled and gave us a free extra cookie. Seriously seriously Awesome.


Then, the real clincher: after leaving Revolutions, Ruth and I drove to the International District to pick up ingredients for our sushi night. We got to the checkout line, and I reached into my backpack for my wallet - only to find that it was missing. I've been carrying it in a mildly accessible-from-behind-me pocket in my backpack - stupid, but I guess I've just never felt too worried about getting pickpocketed in Seattle. I ran out to my car, checking to see if it had fallen out on the seat there...nope. Called back to Revolutions to ask if I'd left my wallet there; the guy looked around the table I'd been sitting at and said sadly over the phone that there was no wallet.

Discouraged and convinced that it had been stolen, I proactively called to cancel my bank card and credit card and order new ones. Spent probably about 45 minutes collectively on hold with different banks to get the job done...thank goodness for Ruth being calm and supportive in my moments of freaking out! Finally feeling calmed down (though seriously bummed about the cash I'd lost, having just gone to the ATM that very morning...as well as my newly minted Washington state driver's license and some Iraqi currency I keep in my wallet that my soldier I used to write letters to through Soldiers' Angels sent me last year), I sat back in my apartment and took a deep breath.

And then my phone rang.

An unfamiliar 206 (Seattle) phone number. I picked up, and it turned out to be a guy at the local Blockbuster. Bummer! I thought. The last thing I need right now is some sales pitch, or a forgotten late fee that I owe... But behold! He said the following: "Hey, a guy from Revolutions Coffee just gave us a call. They found your wallet, but didn't have your phone number, so he went through your cards, found your Blockbuster card, and asked us to give you a call and let you know they've got your wallet for you!"

Turns out some lady had literally been sitting on top of my wallet when I'd called before to have the guy check our table for it, so he hadn't found it until the lady got up and left. But seriously...what a hero! It's amazing when people go out of their way for a perfect stranger...


= Why Revolutions Coffee is the best place in the world.

Better than a Saturday at Costco

White chocolate mocha, Zeitgeist Coffee
For Christmas this year, one of my presents for Alan was one of Jane and Michael Stern's foodie bibles: 500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late. It's basically a guidebook to the whole country and good eats all over it, along the interstates and side roads. Naturally, I looked up what tasty things are to be had in Seattle - and thus came across this week's Cup o' Joe...Zeitgeist Coffee in the historic Seattle neighborhood of Pioneer Square, earmarked by the Sterns as one of the best cups of coffee in the country. Pioneer Square is not somewhere I get down to too often, but with multiple out-of-town visitors this week, I managed to spend quite a bit of time there. We meandered through the rainy cobblestone streets, the creaky wooden floors of Elliott Bay Books, the waterfront cafes, the little novelty shops, the infamous semi-outdoor Pike Place Market with fresh fruit, flying fish, and local artisan goods.


The multitude of free samples (ranging from cocoa-coated Rainier cherries to freshly baked baguettes dipped in blackberry vinaigrette to slices of locally grown Honey Crisp apples) caused my dad referred to the market as "Better than a Saturday at Costco."

Anyway, Zeitgeist was good - but in the same way that most Seattle coffeeshops I go to are good. I may have to change up my Monday tradition at some point, as I'm beginning to learn there's a pretty solid formula most Seattle coffeeshops adhere to, and the more cafes I go to, the less unique any of them seem. Zeitgeist had the exposed brick, the the chalkboard menu, the local artwork on the walls, the fancy espresso drinks in little cups, the good indie background music...


Okay, the showcased artwork was especially awesome - complete books artistically altered in geometric ways and mounted on glass shelves for display.
Where did the formula come from? The answer to that lies, too, in the heart of Pike Place Market. I hadn't been there before, but my dad and I made a touristy stop at the original Starbucks store:




A far cry from modern Starbucks!

An egoless coffeehouse in Seattle

Matcha Green Tea Latte, SOHO Coffee Company
Cup o' Joe Mondays are back! This week, Alan and I trekked to a different part of town for a coffeeshop that was aptly described by one Yelper as "egoless." Standing in sharp contrast to so many in the city, SOHO Coffee Company makes little attempt to do anything particularly special. They have all the ingredients of a good Seattle coffee spot - music, local art, free wi-fi, down-to-Earth baristas, local alternative papers available, great espresso drinks and pastries, a satisfying combination of tables, desks, cozy chairs and coffee tables. But there's nothing fancy or pretentious about it.


Even the neighborhood itself is probably the least fancy or pretentious of any in Seattle: the Central District, an oft-overlooked (it didn't get a mention in my very own blog entry heralding all the cute, personality-driven neighborhoods of Seattle, despite the fact that I live in the Central District's backyard and the vast majority of my runs trek through here) part of the city. It doesn't have the scenic parks or incredible strips of restaurants or cultural hubs of other corners of Seattle...it's a little bit more rundown than other parts of the city, and has quite a few of those sad, boarded up windows in shops. But it also boasts a lot of invigorating hills (yay for hill running!), some great outlooks and views of Rainier, proximity to the also oft-overlooked International District (more exploration of that in future blog entries) and frankly, a less homogenous vibe than other parts of Seattle.


Because it tends to be less busy than all the crammed coffee spots of Capitol Hill, it seems like it would be a good place to really hunker down and get some work done. It also clearly lends itself to a lot of regulars, as the barista seemed to know just about everybody by name who came through the door.

And if there's any category that goes above and beyond for an A+, it's either the music (which seemed to be set to a totally-customized-for-Yitka Pandora station: Jack Johnson, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Regina Spektor, Joshua Radin? Yes.) or the awesome Seattle/Central District mural in the bathroom - which apparently harks back to the days when this coffeeshop was under a different name: Cafe Vega.



Floor-to ceiling windows (well, almost) and no tall neighboring buildings to obstruct the sky lead to a lot of sunlight on a clear day. A cute neighborhood park across the street, a few hugely territorial views toward the southern horizon, a yoga studio next door, interesting people going by...a nice landscape, in other words. Overall probably not a place I'll come back to often, but good to know it's here.


Lastly...Alan and I have instilled a Monday tradition of our own as well - Takeout Pizza Night! Some background story: Pagliacci Pizza is known throughout Seattle as the city's best; Seyeon and I went and got slices there my very first night here in July. Her mom and she and I shared giant takeout pizzas over the summer and into the fall when the three of us were all still living under the same roof. Upon Alan and I getting our apartment, the first thing I wanted to do to mark the occasion was order takeout Pacliacci and have it delivered. Imagine my disappointment to learn that our apartment was just barely out of their delivery range. Bummer!

And so we were passed off to Piecora's, the other big pizza name in town. Fortunately, despite big shoes to fill, they stood the test of...pizza-tasting...and have proved to have equally delicious pies! Better yet, they run a 50% off special on Monday nights. This is a big deal, since pizza in Seattle, like everything else, is pricey...so four meals (hot dinner and cold breakfast both, for two) for around $12 is great.


Chloe thinks so, too.

Hippie chic meets Power walker meets Pub crawler ( + Cup o' Joe Monday, Installment XIV)

New decaf favorite: steamed milk with vanilla!
In anticipation of a busy (as always) Monday, I "worked" ahead and hit up a new coffee-spot yesterday so I wouldn't miss another Cup o' Joe review this week! It was a good day for trekking to a new spot, too, as yesterday appears to have been the last sunny day in a long streak of beautiful rain-free weather. Now that the rain's trickling down my windows again tonight, I'm filled with a bit of trepidation for the coming months...the cold but sunny days have been nice. The sky starts getting dark around 3:30 p.m. this time of year, so when it's gloomy all seven hours of "daylight", it's a bit of a bummer.

But anyway - I dropped/broke my phone yesterday on my run, so what was supposed to be a long, relaxing afternoon off from work turned into a necessary trek downtown to the Verizon store to solve my phone issue. The issue with the Verizon store is that it's Seriously Downtown. No reasonably priced parking anywhere nearby, horrendous traffic to get there, even as a pedestrian...I kind of miss the little Oberlin Verizon store I could hop on my bike and be at in about two minutes flat from just about anywhere in town. But, on the bright side, I realize how rarely I ever get down to Serious Downtown Seattle, despite living within easy walking distance of it. So it was a good, get-me-out-of-my-bubble experience.

A friend from college (it feels strange to refer to anybody as a "friend from college", but I am, simply because I can), John, visited Seattle a couple weeks ago. I got together with him toward the end of his few days here, and he was very Ehh about Seattle as a city. I was more or less horrified by his blase attitude toward what I think is, hands down, the best city in the world - but after yesterday, I think I kind of understand.

Maybe it was just the Christmas-shopping-frenzy, but Serious Downtown Seattle (where, likely, the majority of visitors and tourists spend their time here) is kind of...awful! It's swarming and overrun with people, and there's too many buildings, and it's all icky department stores and overpriced boutiques...basically, all the reasons I don't consider myself inclined to urban living at all. I got accosted at every street corner, and then some, by everybody from political activists to aggressive homeless people to drunken tourists to creepy men to a couple obnoxious AT&T salesmen hassling me about my Verizon shopping bag. It was stressful!

Miraculously at some point, though, I was pacing down a pedestrian-swamped downtown thoroughfare (think flashing billboard ads and Macy's and H&M and a line around two city blocks to sit on Santa's lap in Nordstrom's) and suddenly heard my name being called out. I snapped out of my harried city-goer haze and caught a familiar face - someone I met in Kaplan training several months ago. Fun to be getting to that point where I run into people I know wherever I go...seeing an Obie a week at REI, running into my cycling instructor at Capitol Hill coffeeshops, bumping grocery carts at Trader Joe's with the cute couple who always plays duets at my favorite local open mic night...

I love Seattle for its neighborhoods - for the fact that in any direction, there's a little microcosm of self-contained, distinct culture, whether it be the gay-fabulous hippie chic of Capitol Hill, the down-to-Earth, indie/artsy vibe of Fremont, the live-music, late-night, bar-hopping, pub-crawling wildness of Ballard, the runners' and power-walkers' paradise of Greenlake, or the theater-boasting cultural mecca of Lower Queen Anne. Anywhere you go, you can feel like you've walked into a quaint little village, each with its own distinct coffeeshops and ethnic restaurants and local shops, fraught with its own parks and hills and various views of the Space Needle, the Sound, Lake Union, Lake Washington, the Cascades, the Olympics, Mount Rainier...the multitude of familiar Seattle icons, but each neighborhood set to its own soundtrack.

Yesterday was, miraculously, the first time that I've actually gone to the infamous, fish-flying Pike Place Market since moving here. (No, I still haven't been up the Space Needle...) It was kind of cool to see it in all its Christmas spirit, and full of saltwater smells and fresh fruit stands and the distinctive scent of pine needles:


But all of this rambling, and no mention yet of my coffeeshop d'jour! I had hauled my camera and laptop along with me on my whole downtown adventure, with the thought that I might come across some adorable little cafe somewhere...but at least on all the streets I traversed, there was nothing but the big three: Starbuck's, Tully's, and Seattle's Best Coffee. No can do. So I trekked on back to good ol' Capitol Hill and hit up the other Victrola - on Pike Street.


It has far less seating than the one up on 15th - but on the upside: the smaller, more intimate setting lent itself to a much cozier feel than the other one. The baristas were much friendlier here, and the giant group tables made this place more conducive to hanging out collectively with strangers, rather than plunking down at a tiny, solo table to burrow away alone and work. Also, in further complaints against the 15th location, Seyeon and I met there for coffee (well...actually...orange juice for me; steamed milk for her...haha, we're such sophisticated young urbanites!) a few nights ago and they played the most atrocious, eardrum-destroying noise I'd ever sat through in a coffeeshop. Just awful.


Complete with Cute and Trendy Hipster Girls.
But at this location, everything was mellow and cozy and inviting. The exposed brick wall is a nice touch...the current artwork a little too gothy and morbid for my taste, but I understand that stuff rotates.


Complete with Cute Artist Boy in a Hoodie.
The other cool thing about this place is that it has an in-cafe roasting room. If I knew more about the coffee-roasting process, I could probably better articulate just what goes on in that room, but frankly, I'm clueless. Nevertheless, I got the same excited feeling you get when you're at a brewery and the giant beer-brewing tub-things (obviously, I'm clueless about that, too) are in the next room over, separated from you only by huge panes of glass. You feel like you're getting in on some kind of awesome, secret process, and it's kind of cool. So overall a thumbs up for this place. I'd write more, but I already feel as though this entry has overstayed its welcome and dragged on a little too long. So I'll leave it there, and just say...

Good night, Seattle!