Monday Morning Coffee: The I'm Not A Tourist Blend
Coffee's gotten me thru some of the worst - and best - days of my adult life thus far. Guess you could say we (Coffee and I) have a pretty special relationship. In fact, whenever I sit down to talk about the blog with people, if I don't order a cup, 'they' seem visibly disappointed. A few have even come right out and put me on the spot about it. (Yeah, there's THAT and the fact that practically everyone I make plans to meet up with these days feels compelled to tell me, prior to us sitting down in person, that they are not dressing up. For the record, let me say that I've packed away almost all the fancy knit suits, that I used to wear in my previous life, that I paid way, way, WAY too much for btw, in cedar sachets from The Container Store and now wear mostly jeans, sometimes even jean-on-jean. #IUsedToWearTheSameSuitsAsEmilyGilmore)
Speaking of coffee and blue jeans, I was in Newport the other day (photos above) when a little hipster bird told me about Empire Tea & Coffee. But don't be afraid! It's NOT for hipsters only. Definitely not. It's actually where lots of native Newport'ers go for fantastic coffee, tea, and sweets.
The Scoop About Empire:
- Empire has three locations, two in Newport (We visited both that day.) and one in Middletown, but a lot of people are partial to the Broadway/Newport location because it was the first of the three.
- Impress your friends and family by taking them there next time you're in the vicinity. They'll love you for your keen knowledge of all things NOT tourist-y on the other side of the bridge. I swear.
- You can hang out with your coffee and your lap top and blog or whatever without anyone hasseling you - although some woman actually picked up HER lap top and moved her seat after we (me, Nicole and Ashley) sat down nearby. To quote Anthony Michael Hall, from the John Hughes' classic Sixteen Candles (If you only know Molly Ringwald as the mom from ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager, you must watch this movie ASAP.), 'Nice manners babe!'
Ciao For Now,
Patty J
To find out more about the braid in my hair, click here.
Photo Credits: All photos (except for the latte) courtesy of Ashley Farney; To see more of her work, click here.