Tonight after work, I was grateful to get a little quiet time at a new coffee place that opened recently just up the street from work.

The Brew opened sometime in the last month, and I ended up stumbling upon it by accident about two or so weeks ago. Out for a walk, I approached the dark-windowed storefront I’ve walked by a hundred times, and yet this time, its tinted glass door had white letters on it. Seeing it was a coffee shop, I opened the door, went inside, and discovered my new favorite little place downtown. The shop is nicely decorated, spacious, well branded, and inviting, and its soft background music says “Hang out for a while.”

Inside The Brew

What gave this place its hallowed status for me is the fact that it serves a raspberry mocha- and at a decent price. My workplace is sandwiched between two coffee shops, and neither of them carry raspberry syrup. The Brew became my favorite coffee place downtown the moment I made that discovery.

What also won me over was learning that it was open until 7 PM on weeknights, which meant I could leave work, not have to drive anywhere, and have a quiet non-busy place where I could sit and focus and think and read for a while. Tonight was my first opportunity to try it out, and it worked out perfectly. I was able to sit and focus and think and read for a while.

A book I look forward to reading.

Being able to sit and to focus and to think and to read has become important to me in the last two weeks because I am heading toward a self-imposed sabbatical sometime here soon. My sister and brother have each had the fortune to work for Intel which allows employees to take a huge chunk of time off after every 7 years they have been employed there. My sabbatical is not quite like theirs, but it is kind of like theirs. Where they were able to take time off from work, I plan to take time off from everything else I am doing in my life besides work, and work hard on figuring out what’s next for me. I have a few books I want to read. I need to figure out if I am going to do this writing thing more regularly, how to make it a personal discipline. I have some heart stuff that needs attention. And I really want to nail down what I need to be pouring my life into as I am stepping into half two of my lifetime. I need to spell out for myself what I truly love in life, and also what I truly want out of life. I have a hard time doing those two things, so having time away from all extra-curricular activities is a necessary way for me to challenge and change myself.

I am hoping to basically take December off- largely from church commitments and dance activities. We’ll see if, and then how, it goes.