Coffee Cup Culture

As I sat talking with friends the other day we got into a discussion about coffee. Not the drink itself, specifically, but the increasing prevalence of coffee houses.

It seems completely normal now to walk down any high street in the UK and be confronted by an array of hot drink hot spots – the chain stores of Starbucks, Costa and Café Nero but also, more and more, artisan, independent, coffee houses (or not, in the case of Harris and Hoole).

It’s hardly surprising that coffee has become so accessible- in the increasingly fast paced working environment how anyone gets by without at least 5 caffeine hits a day is beyond me! What seems strange, when you get to think about it, is the social aspect of it.

I could spend hours, happily reading a book, scribbling notes and browsing the Internet in my favourite Starbucks. Yes, I have a favourite. I’m that sad. (It’s the one on Conduit Street).

But, in what other circumstance would you sit on a cosy sofa, nursing a steaming skinny cappuccino in a room full of complete strangers? You’re basically sat in an artificial lounge or kitchen. A homely, warm environment, created purely for you to have a hot drink and leisurely chat with friends or do a bit of work.

Unlike restaurants, there’s no time limit to your stay. You don’t see green aproned employees shifting you out of Starbucks once you’ve sucked dry your Frappuccino.  You can waste HOURS, aimlessly meandering on your MacBook Pro (has to be Apple , like, duh).

The particularly cool and hip coffee houses (check out ‘The Independent Coffee Book, London’ for some good ones) are decked out to give the impression of an artsy, bohemian studio. Fashion, photography and travel books abound, graphic prints hang on the walls, projectors stream the latest indie films (or retro ‘80s movies/‘90s TV shows)… They’re hubs for young (and older) creatives looking for a safe haven to read the Sunday papers and write their blogs.

Long live the coffee lounge. We couldn’t survive without you.

Street Coffee Goswell Road

Photo courtesy of the amazing BF

New year, new plans, new words

We love an opportunity for a fresh start. A marker of renewal and rebirth. A definitive starting point to a new project.

Diets always start on a Monday.

So, following in the traditional course of a new year calling for resolutions and statements of goals I begin with this.

Rather than express intentions to shape up and eat better I intend to live this year in the pursuit of creative learning, expression and betterment.

I'm bored, and I'm sure boyfriends, family and friends are bored of pointless whining and complaining about things missing or being inadequate in life. I am, to my detriment or benefit, in a perennial state of ambitious restlessness. I constantly think and voice the question, 'What's next?' It's not that I'm ungrateful or necessarily displeased with my current situation; quite the contrary. There's just a lot that I want to do with my life. I want to experience everything, know everything, do everything and I want to see, know and do it now. It's what drives me.

So, in order to move forward with these ambitions, I have come back to this blog.

I've always wanted to write. I find it therapeutic to get words out of my head and into a physical place, outside of me.

When I started this blog at university I found it a fun outlet to comment on the world around me. As I grew older and moved to London it became more of a helpful tool to discuss topics and events related to my work in fashion. Now, I just want to have a platform to talk about the things that interest me. The creative things. Art, fashion, film, music, food, literature...

I write this, on a snowy Sunday in January, sat in Street Coffee on Goswell Road. Glowing words emanate from above the counter in fluorescent tubing: 'my heart is yours, do you want it?'

These are my words. Think of them what you will.