it was 20 years ago today

sergeant pepper told the band to play!
--The Beatles

it's here. my two-year coffee-versary. two years ago today i stepped behind the counter of java jitterz with a game face and i began to brew. my best friend, kimberly, trained me on Astoria Argenta AEAP2 espresso machine and i haven't been the same since.

allow me, for just a moment, to sing the praises of the Astoria Argenta AEAP2. it is a really great machine. we have the same model at the bus and man, was i THRILLED when i started working here and reunited with my dear old friend. the Argenta is a solid machine with basic controls and she pulls a damn good shot. at the bus it's tricky because the weather greatly affects your shots due to lack of stable environment inside, but that's nothing to complain about. caffiend, the 24-hour shop i frequent, has an Astoria Gloria which looks like a spaceship and could probably make you a sandwich if you asked it to. and i must admit, i really really really want to pull a triple from the shop at caffiend. that's right. A TRIPLE WITH ONE BASKET!! *drools* but the Argenta is like a tank. i don't know how old the machine is at the bus, but i can imagine she's going to last a while.

but back to the coffee-versary. i am at work as i type this dressed as a french press. (picture to come) i am dressed in black boots, spiderweb tights, a black skirt, black shirt, black beret and a press badge. if ONE person gets it without my telling them, i'll be happy.

this post is dedicated to my amazing friendship with kimberly and the shop that we damn-near managed. java jitterz. kim and i were best friends before she helped me get the job at jitterz. i also spent copious amounts of time there before i got the job. my friends from high school and i would go there every friday night and have a giant cuddle puddle on the couch and be ridiculous. i got the job at jitterz and until i went off to college, the place and i were almost inseparable. and even then, i would come home and love on it until october 2007 when it closed. kim and i have lived and died by the jitterz. we found out about the death of a dear friend while on the clock one day, we spent sixty hours a week there during the christmas season, we made dear friends with regulars, we spent our summer elbows-deep in ice cream, we shared secrets and mornings-after and shed tears in that shop. for our senior trip, she, janna (our other WaHo and coworker), and i went to hilton head for a week and poor david had to hold down the fort for us. i thought our bosses were going to murder us. we have even made coffee in a trailer on the day of our senior prom. i am certain we attended our senior prom coffee-stained and scented! kim has sat through countless gigs of mine at that shop. jitterz was it for us. it was junior AND senior year of high school.

"what are you doing tonight?"
jaaaaaaaaava!

now kimi and i live in different cities. she actually works at the java bean (what was jitterz and junkie) and i am in asheville, but we live the same way. smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, and gabbing through the slow parts of our shifts. it's just over the phone now. and whenever we're in the other's city, we go to her coffee shop and do even more of the same.

it's who we are. it's what we do. it's how we survive the weeks-long moments away from each other.

so, here's to good coffee, good friends, a really tacky halloween costume, and being a barista.
cheers.