I never knew what it was

about this old coffee shop i love so much

--Landon Pigg

i have worked at four cafes. one of which was a bakery as well, so it only really counts as a barista job on paper. two of them were different cafes under different owners in the same building. and the current is in a double decker bus.

as an actress, space is pretty sacred to me. and i don't mean personal space. that's something i'm still working on. but spaces where i work and play are so very sacred. for example, the theatre on my campus was the first church in the town. that makes it so much more special to me than it just being a theatre. especially when little old ladies come in while we're working and talk about where the preacher stood, where they sat, etc.

but my coffee shops are a completely different story...

java jitterz and java junkie (and what is now the java bean...i think i'll work there over christmas break) is stationed in mount holly, north carolina. it's at a fork in the road on the way into down town. it is quite possibly the worst location for a coffee house. it's literally on the fork in the road and the shop is brown. it just doesn't reach out and scream COFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. but there is something very special about java. when it was built, it served as a gas station. i'll take a picture when i go home tomorrow. it's a beautiful old building. the inside is pretty simple with a small hall in the back leading to the bathroom. but the outside is stone with a big awning jutting out from the side and a rectangular stone column coming down into what is now a flower bed. you wouldn't really know that it was an old gas station until you took a good look at it and thought about it, but even still. it's a great building. i have slept, cried, laughed, found out about the death of friends, kissed, hugged, and loved in that place. i am so grateful for it.

my current job is in a 1963 lodekka double decker bus called the double decker coffee company. we are stationed on biltmore in downtown asheville. she. is. beautiful. pretty soon i'll have a giant picture post to show you guys the beauty that this bus is. i love working here. it's a very intimate setting and it makes the tourists so happy. we have delicious coffee and coffee drinks, homemade brownies, homemade pumpkin spice walnut bread and sugar momma's cookies. i am very lucky to have a job here.

hokay. so. coming soon: the chatty barista: why won't she shut up!?, flavored coffee and why it isn't against my religion, and the picture post