Candy Jars and a Space for All

It’s been one month since my partner and I moved in together and after thirty days of ordering and assembling furniture, organizing closets, and washing every single bubble wrapped dish that made the move, we are finally settling into the day to day. 

We’re still hanging our wall art and figuring out the best place to put our singular plant based on the way the sunshine crawls through our windows. The catch-all shelves in our kitchen are absolutely catching all. And we desperately need to get a hair catcher for our bathtub. But all that said… we are home.

I love the way we transition the apartment from day mode to night mode, pulling our curtains when the sun goes down. I love the way I, the early riser, welcome the day by opening them up again. 

I love the birds that sing outside the windows and the way from the sofa I can see the trees and his keyboard and the bookshelf with such obvious distinction of who brought which books.

The other night, I was touring a friend around the apartment over video chat when I got to our coffee bar. This is my favorite part of the apartment! I exclaimed, hoping, perhaps, she would let it slide when I inevitably said that twelve more times during the tour. 

The coffee and espresso making machines. The tea kettle. A tea selection I am very, very proud of. Thermoses. Loose leaf tea infusers. And of course, the candy jar that I keep stocked with small treats because sometimes you just need a bite of something sweet after dinner.

My friend said, it’s so funny that your favorite place is the coffee bar. My friend and I have often bonded over the fact that we don’t drink coffee and that if we have a black tea, our caffeine-sensitive brains need it before 9:00 AM, less we be bouncing off the walls at 11:30 that night.

I laugh and smile. Say something, perhaps, about loving the clock that hangs above the coffee bar and the vision of this thing come to life. But the next morning, I thought about it more and realized why I love the coffee bar so much. 

It exudes warmth. 

It’s welcoming. It says, Come on in. Let me make you a cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate. 

It says, Do you need a little sweet treat? Right now the jar is filled with gummy worms that my friend brings back from the U.K. when she travels there. They’re the best gummy worms you’ve ever had.

Building community and living in a way that offers hospitality and welcome is a core value for me. I love hosting and creating a space where everyone feels like they belong. A space to be.

And I don’t expect a single mason jar of herbal pumpkin tea to carry that much weight (even if it is one of the most delicious teas I’ve ever had). 

But there is intention there. Stay a while. There are memories there. Take a couple chocolates before you leave in case you hit traffic on the way. There is love there. Welcome home.