I may have found my place. I’ve long been jealous of Jen Zug and “her” wine bar where she writes. I’ve been plugging away at Tully’s for a while and even though the service was uber-friendly, the wi-fi was free, and I got a UW Alumni discount on the food and drinks, something was missing.

I wanted a place of my own. I wanted charm. I wanted something that didn’t feel so cookie-cutter-American-strip-mall-ish. I was on the hunt for something new. It needed to have free wi-fi (natch). Good coffee was a bonus. I debated how much time it would take me, but then finally decided to wander around downtown Bellevue today. I felt in my gut that there had to be a great coffee shop with free wi-fi. My gut was oh-so-right.

I found a café that not only has the technology, but an amazing French menu. Best of all, it serves my absolute favorite and sometimes-hard-to-find coffee: Caffé Vita! So, I’m sitting here staring at a wall of wine, sipping a smoky-sweet latte, smelling the amazing scents of a European-style kitchen to my back, plugging into the rustic pole on my left, connecting to the internet, and glimpsing the life out on the street.

I browsed the wine wall with its helpful sommelier notes and selected a highly-recommended bottle as part of my quest for that ever-elusive-
delicious-and-full-bodied-with-a-smooth-finish-yet-less-than-$20 bottle of red. I also discovered that I can buy my favorite coffee in whole bean bags (currently, I have to drive into downtown Seattle, or beg my parents to bring me some from Port Townsend). I am swooning.

The foodie, writer, wine-lover, and coffee addict in me are extremely happy.

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.
-Pablo Picasso

Some days I feel like a writer – where every experience seems to come fully realized with words ripe for the picking, falling into my hand like sunkissed raspberries.
Other days I wonder what the heck I am doing here. Why did I think I could do this? I have no insight, no knack for description, no poignant pen for truth-telling.
I’ve been reading. Sometimes I need to replenish myself with other people’s words. I need to retreat to my love of writing and books. Somehow, that’s not feeling like enough right now. But it has been helpful to drink in the carefully crafted sentences and plotlines of some masters of the craft.
Nothing feels quite right. Environmentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally… I know it will sort out and sift into the right drawers, compartmented and keepsaked in the silverware drawer of my mind.
At least I have learned one thing: to be patient. I will wait upon myself and wait upon the Lord. In his timing, things will be more clear.