Happy Wednesday.....

I have this small little book of famous quotes and I love to thumb through it in the mornings to try and glean some inspiration and I found this wonderful quote that said,

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethovan composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. he should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

I loved this and it reminded me of my shop. It is just a small, funky little coffee shop in a small town, and I am the owner, but really just a glorified waitress. But I am called to serve everyone who enters and show love and a smile, and when I make a cup of coffee, or offer you a small or listening, ear, I do it like Shakespeare wrote poetry and this is my success story!

Gorgeous Missy Special!

vanilla

Hey Guys.....sorry I haven't blogged in awhile! This is a shot of the Missy-T special. It is a double shot of espresso with Vanilla syrup, frothed milk and chocolate syrup on top. WOW! 

Missy comes in almost every day.....wait....Missy comes in every day and gets this little beauty. However, if I am not in the shop she will contemplate, text me, asking when I will be back. I text her back assuring her that I know Jaime will make it just as good as I do. She does give in, for she is addicted. She approves and Jaime smiles. Missy is convinced that I must add crack in my coffee because it is so darn addicting. I don't of course, but I do love the flattery. Thanks Missy for being such a great customer.   

If this looks good to you, just come on in and ask for the Missy-T special!

Clifford finds a friend

The quote of the day today in The Shop Downtown came from the one and only, "Clifford".

Clifford was sitting at the bar just quietly enjoying his cup of Joe, while Cody sat in the big red 1930's chair and Jaime and Lisa hung out chatting at the bar. He suddenly looked up with a little smile and said,

"I have met so many new friends via The Shop Downtown."  

It was awesome and it made me laugh and smile as he usually does. Clifford your the best and we totally love the new head band. You and Jaime are going to look great at the prom!

NEVER A DULL MOMENT AT THE SHOP DOWNTOWN!      

Repeat customers from Iowa!





This couple came back into The Shop Downtown today! They are from Iowa and first visited The Shop last year while they were on a road trip. Well, they were back again this year for another visit. Yea......The Shop Downtown has regular customers all the way from Iowa. They had another Latte with skim milk and no sugar. They also bought a bag of Organic whole bean Sumantra coffee. Dennis owns a roaster and roast all of his own coffee beans at home. He loves Sumantra, so they grabbed a bag to compare. They are gonna let us know how they do against each other, so stay posted to see his comments. 

Thanks guys for remembering my...........

 "Little Shop Downtown, Schulenburg", and coming back.

 I hope to see ya again next year when you travel  south to escape the cold!

We love havin' ya'll in Texas!  

Sharon's Story

Sharon is the gentlest lady you will ever meet.

She is older; I would refer to her safely as in the autumn season of her life.

 Sharon has a very small frame and stature. She wears short naturally graying hair and glasses.

Her voice is quiet and slow. You must really stop and pay attention when she is speaking. She does not naturally demand attention or make it easy for you to hear her.

 Her spirit is quiet and gentle.

        During her visit in the shop this morning she began to candidly share a story of when she was younger and going through an extremely difficult season in her life.

       This is the beautiful story that Sharon shared with The Shop Downtown this morning.

       I was young in my early thirties and we had just moved from the city into an old farm house out in the country in Columbus, Texas.

I was a stay at home mom with my two small boys Jason, who was young preschool age and Josh, a toddler.

 I was not very content at the time. It was a particularly rough season in my life and I was just not very happy. 

 I had not met anyone in this small little town and had no family or friends around to speak of at all.  I found myself lonely, tired and sad. This was my life as I started my morning with my sons.

 I realized suddenly that Jason, my oldest, was nowhere to be found. After looking exhaustedly, I found him in the bathroom, where he was pouring my favorite and most expensive perfume into the toilet. 

       I am not usually a screamer, but today I became one. I yelled at Jason and whipped around in my frustration and anger to find Josh at my heels where I accidently trampled backwards over him, making him cry. Both boys were now in tears, along with me.

       I quickly and not very gently picked Josh up and held him sideways on my hips as he cried. I continued to yell at Jason as I chased him down the hallway into the living room trying to retrieve and possibly save any remains of my perfume. Just as I entered the living room, I heard a knock at the door. I could hear them clearly and as I stopped, knew that they must clearly hear me as well.  

       Knowing full well that I should feel ashamed and embarrassed as I approached the door, I was not. I was at the point today of reckless abandonment of all cares and concerns about impression.

I didn’t know anyone anyways, so I approached the door, which was already open on this cool day, leaving the barrier of only a screen to mask my behavior.  

       There behind the screen door stood a stranger I had never seen before. It was an older gentleman that appeared normal and very harmless.

 He began to tell me that his car had broken down up the road and asked if he could possibly borrow my phone to call someone for help. I didn’t stop to think or discern the situation as harmful or safe; I just opened the door and welcomed him into my home.

 The kids continued to cry, run around the room and bounce on my furniture as he dialed his numbers and phoned for help.

After he made his calls, he sat down for a moment on my couch and I sat down as well, and began, for whatever reason, perhaps temporary insanity induce by stay at home motherhood, poured my heart out to him.

He began to comfort me through his words and gentleness while giving me council in a way. The kids both calmed down and snuggled in beside me as I spoke and visited with this stranger. 

       The phone rang and I went out of the room to answer the call. When I came back, he was gone.

I looked outside on the porch, then walked up to the road to see if he had gone back to his car, but he was nowhere and there was not a car in sight anywhere on the road.

I never had the chance to thank him for the kindness this stranger shared with me that morning and the peace that he brought into my life. He was just gone.

Vanished, like my bad mood.

       Was he an angel? It was a very bad season. I was in a very bad place and desperately needed someone at that moment, anyone.

 Had God sent me an angel?

I like to believe that He did!

      

Allen, Jaime and Lisa chatting around the bar. Lisa is pretending to be telling Jaime a secret, but she really is trying to hide from me in the pic. Jaime and Lisa work out every morning before coming by the shop and Lisa doesn't have her makeup on. She's gorgeous anyway......Don't ya think!!!!!!!

LISA YOUR GORGEOUS, so just STOP IT!!!!! :-)

*This bunch is a blast every morning at 9:00*

Thanks guys, your the best!

Sweet, fun, Spunky Melissa. She owns Missy-t's on 77.

It's an awesome shop.

I'm sure you have been there, but if you have not, you have too!

Missy's favorite is the white chocolate Mocca and chicken salad sandwich.

You can almost always catch her around 9:30 or 10:00, or one of her cute little workers running in to grab her order. Missy's a busy girl, and so much fun.:)

*Thanks Missy for all the support*

Love ya! 

Cute Mrs. Brown sporting her Carmel Macciatto Milk Mustache.

"Ya got Latte?" 

Salt and Pepper

They could not be more different, then Martha and Trisha.

Martha is a petite, cute little spunky lady in her fifties.

She has a weekend home out in the country in Schulenburg and lives in the prestige’s inner loop area of Houston.

Martha, "not Marsha", is a Marsha in every way.

 I like to joke when I refer to her and call her, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha”, with that sad pathetic, frustrated Jan voice from the Brady Bunch.

Martha is always put together. Her clothes are fresh and preppy, and her hair looks like she just stepped out of the salon. It is a beautiful color of natural grey with wonderful highlights. It is cut in a bob and worn straight with every hair in its proper place.

Her eyes are bright and intense. She looks directly at you the entire time she is speaking and shakes her head a bit as she talks with the cutest of expression.

You may hear her saying at least a couple of times, "Oh……., that is fabulous", with a dramatic flair.

Oh…., “Martha, Martha, Martha"!

Trish-A, and it is Trisha, not Trish, as she told me recently as if I had one more chance to get it right, or she just might smack me, is the polar opposite of Martha.

Trish-A is decorated from her neck to her toes in colorful, unique tattoos. She is also petite, but has a grungy earthy look, with loose fitting clothes flat, worn leather sandals and scarfs draped around her neck.

Trisha's hair is dark brown and usually loosely piled up upon her head. She is cute and spunky just like Martha and wears dark framed glasses over her dark brown intense eyes.

Trish-A recently bought a home in Schulenburg, it is over 100 years old and she has decorated it with her antiques and vintage art. Her closet is made out of an old ladder with a vintage slip as the drape to serve as the door.  Her kitchen was completely gutted and has stainless steel shelves and racks which look like they were pulled straight from an industrial restaurant kitchen.

Trisha and her husband are both artist and they are turning their old ran down house, in the small little town of Schulenburg into their greatest art piece yet. 

It's funny when I think about these two ladies and trying to describe how different they are, because as I am doing so, I am realizing how similar they actually are.

They are unique, petite, intense, funny, outspoken and a bit overbearing in a fun exciting way. These two women are actually extremely alike, despite their differences.

I met them both through The Shop Downtown. They both have just appeared and became a part of my shop and my life, without me seeking or searching or asking for either one of them.

This seems to be the constant in my little shop. The people I need seem to always come exactly when I need them to arrive.

It’s a God thing! 

Truthfully, if I had them both sit down one day for about an hour together, I could sell tickets just to listen to these two talk!

I am, however, extremely thankful for both of them.   

Life can always use a little Salt and Pepper!

Two different spices, that are, complimentary to one another.  

Friday morning Espresso lovers!

Courtney and Caleb enjoyed there coffee this morning at The Shop Downtown. However, he was a little upset when she took his coffee from him and downed both double shots of espresso. 

So, I guess little Courtney will go without her nap today, sorry Mommy!  

Like a bar without alcohol.......

   Well, the morning in The Shop Downtown, started out much like an evening in a bar, sans the alcohol. The little counter was full of interesting and lively characters just chatting and enjoying each other talking back and forth with excitement and sometimes talking over each other as they enjoyed there coffees prepared by their favorite barista, Christine .

    The conversations went everywhere from plastic surgery to people in town who had recently passed away. It was pleasant, fun and a warming atmosphere to start the day in the shop.

    Have you ever seen the show Northern exposure, or perhaps Cheers? It had very much the feel of both of these wonderful old programs.

   It was warm, interesting and a bit strange at times, which made it all the more fun.

   I bussed around doing my thing as I prepared the shop for the day and quietly listened and enjoyed the pleasant banter of my customers.

   The sweetest thing, as I always refer to her made her entrance a bit into the morning, and as usual I brought her coffee, with half coffee and half water. The coffee bar was completely full but she just pushed her little self-right up and chose her cookies off the counter, then assumed her usual spot in the big comfy vintage 1930’s red chair.    

(To read more about the sweetest thing, scroll down to the entry titled The Gentle Giant and The Sweetest Thing)  

   A solicitor had called first thing that morning and I had politely asked him to call back in an hour. The phone rang and it was him AGAIN!

   I again, politely said, “I thought I said an hour, I am still very busy. “ He replied, “It has been an hour.”

   I could not believe it, all my customers were still planted in there spots and thoroughly enjoying themselves. I asked the cute lady in front of me, who looked fantastic for her age and had openly admitted early that morning in conversation that yes, she has had some work done, “Has it been an hour”?

       “Yes”, she replied, “It has been an hour and a half”.

  No one seemed to mind spending their time in The Shop on this weekday morning.

  They sat, visited and appeared completely content to get to, whatever it was they needed to get to, when, they got to it.

  AWWWHHHH………life in a small, middle of nowhere town, it doesn’t get better than this.

Who will visit tomorrow, in The Shop Downtown?

 Oh, and by the way, Clifford, you were missed today!    

Her baby, and still her baby.

Well, it was another busy day in The Shop Downtown.

 The morning started with a wonderful conversation with one of my favorite customers. I have noticed that my list of favorites is growing, and this has been a part of the many blessings that the shop brings into my life. I get to meet wonderful, amazing people and make new friends that I may have never met.

I am extremely thankful!

My first customer greeted me as I was unlocking the door. I smiled warmly, as she smiled back and said, “I promise I am not stalking you, I just have some time to kill early this morning.”

Her precious little girl had a doctor’s appointment and she stopped by the shop for one of her usuals, which today the order, was an orange spice latte.

I made her drink and then we sat on the floor and had a visit while we patrolled the area against her curious toddler, who only found enjoyment in the things that were ordered as off limits.

I laugh at how I seem, even at my age, which I will fail to mention, to act in much the same way at times as the toddler. I only find it interesting, enjoyable and fun, if it is something that I should perhaps stay away from all together!

Awe….big sigh……the irony of life.

Our conversation was interrupted by the entrance of another one of my regulars. I will refer to her as lady with the awesome tattoos and an extremely unique voice.

She plopped down in the red antique 1930’s chair next to us, and with tears in her eyes, said how she cannot believe how she just cried as she dropped her baby off for her first day of school in a new town.

Her baby is 16 years old and a junior in high school, and it broke her heart as she saw her walk away with fear over starting a new day of school in the middle of the year, in a small, nowhere town.

This lady with the tattoos and the unique voice reminded us both in that moment that our babies will always be our babies and we will never stop watching over them with love and concern in our hearts.

It may be a mom keeping her toddler safe from a glass bowl, which she could pull off a shelf, or a mommy with her heart breaking as she sends her teenager off into the scary unknown, which is a new high school in a new town, hoping  and praying that she fits in and has a great day.

                                    However, it is her baby, and still her baby, all the same.

Happy New Year !

Well, it’s one day away from a brand new year! It has been a wonderful year for The Shop Downtown and I want to thank each and every one of my customers, who I now call friends, for making it exciting, successful, wonderful and fun.

My wish for your new year is growth and prosperity. May each of you take all the things good and perhaps lessons learned, multiply and apply them to 2012. May you also be able to look at mistakes, regrets and misfortunes, with an honest evaluation and not repeat any mishaps made in 2011.

I look forward to seeing you all next week. I enjoyed my much needed brake, but miss everyone terribly.

Now, let’s all put a shout out to Michelle, who was amazing filling in for me last week. I am so thankful for her and appreciate the hard work. Michelle, may 2012 bring you extreme happiness and blessings!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

The Gentle Giant and The sweetest thing!

       He could be the poster child for the phrase, gentle giant. He stands about 6 feet 4 inches high and weighs well over 300 pounds. He is 74 years old exactly. I know his exact age because I simply asked his age one day and he simply told me, “I’m 74 years old.”

       This is my favorite customer in Schulenburg, Texas. He comes into the shop almost every day. He gets a small cup of black coffee with no lid and a slice of homemade banana bread, or anything that may be offered to him if there is not any banana bread that day. However, banana bread is his absolute favorite and it is always baked with him in mind. He sincerely wants to eat the banana bread each day, but the other things he accepts when the bread is void, may be out of pure politeness. He is one of the nicest and kindness men I have ever met.   His presence and company are always welcome in the Shop Downtown.

       The first time he came in was around Christmas time last year. The shop had just opened and business was all very new. He ordered a small black coffee, which was $1.50 total. I gave him his total with a smile, expecting to perhaps make change for $2.00 or have him say keep the change, which was one thing I had already grown accustomed to in my little shop, tips. Yet, this was not at all what transpired.

       The gentle giant  handed me a twenty dollar bill and quickly, in his extremely large deep voice, said, “Keep the change.”  I was shocked. I quickly pushed the bill back towards him, knowing I could not accept such a generosity. He was persistent, determined and intent on blessing me and I knew this. So, I retracted, smiled, thanking him sincerely as he smiled warmly back and said, “Merry Christmas”.

       This stranger was my Santa Claus that chilly December morning. His generosity and love warmed my heart along with the atmosphere in The Shop Downtown.

       This was just the beginning of his kindness and blessings tossed around each and every time he enters the door and sits upon my stool at the counter. He is truly an amazing man and everyone that meets him has said on one occasion or another, “He is such a great guy.”

       Yes, he is such a great guy and has become day after day an important asset to the Shop each morning somewhere between 10:00 or 10:30, when his presence graces the door of The Shop Downtown.

       His favorite thing to do is to offer to buy whatever may be being eaten or drank by whoever may be sitting across from him that morning. It could be just one customer from down the street drinking their usual small black coffee or an entire table of women eating, drinking, talking and enjoying their visit. It does not matter when, where or who, he just likes too bless people.

       My other favorite, who I will refer to as, The Sweetest Thing,  is one of my regular customers that would easily fall into the category of the Gentle Giant's favorite people to bless.

                         The Sweetest Thing

       The Sweetest Thing,  would stand about 5 feet tall if she stood straight, but she hunches over severely and this makes her about 4”10 on a good day. I don’t know her age and have never been comfortable enough to ask, not to mention she is extremely hard of hearing, so I always try to keep my questions to the bare minimum, for example; “ Would you like your usual roll and coffee?”

       She always answers, “hmmmh”, which means yes, and I serve her a cinnamon roll and a small black coffee with half coffee and half water in the cup.

       The Sweetest Thing walks to the coffee shop when she comes, which is usually a couple of times a week. She walks everywhere she travels. I don’t think it is because she cannot drive as much as it is that she does not have a vehicle to drive.

       The Sweetest Thing was born and raised in Schulenburg. I asked her once how high school was when she went here and she told me that she never went to high school. She was a poor country girl and had to drop out of school in the fourth grade to help her family work the farm.

       This was common for small town life when She was growing up. People had to do what they had to do to survive, including using their young children for labor.

       She is still hard working even in her golden years. I hate to guess for fear that I might be wrong, but I assume, safely or not, that she is in her late 70’s or early 80’s. She cleans for a living. I guess it is homes that she cleans, or perhaps offices, but I’m not really sure. I do know, you might see her walking around town on any given day, on her usual route, which is to her job, wherever she may be cleaning that day, the local bar or the shop downtown if it is early enough for coffee and too early for beer.

       She rarely smiles and you would most likely see her small hunched over frame with a serious scowl on her face than any other expression. Except for when The Gentle Giant is in The Shop and offers to buy her cinnamon roll and coffee. This always makes her light up and smile. It’s a delight to see someone illuminated, which has spent most of her days shadowed, over the wonderful kindness of a gentle giant. 

The Chronicles of The Shop Downtown

       It doesn’t look like much from the outside, the building is old and the front has one large glass window with a glass door beside it as the entrance. The old red paint is peeling and the sidewalk is decorated with vintage patio furniture, an old Antique coke cooler, some potted plants, many hand written signs on old chalk boards and dry erase boards, proudly spouting what you may find in this charming little shop downtown, for instance; homemade icecream, smoothies, sandwiches, antiques and ofcourse, coffee.
       This is the Shop Downtown coffee and eccentricities in the small little town of Schulenburg Texas.

       When naming the shop and adding eccentricities, I was mainly referring to all the eclectic antiques or odd old items you may find for sale or display along with all the yummy snacks and coffee, but little did I know at the time that the eccentricities would soon be referring to all the different people and personalities that would grace the door of the shop, sit upon it’s chairs and stools, visit and share their stories and lives within its old concrete walls.

       There are not many dull moments in the shop and some are so very colorful you may think that I must have a wild imagination and surely I am making these characters up as I go along.                   
      However, I could not take the credit for the entire flavor that these stories are full of and know that I could not have made up some of these characters if I had sat down and tried.            
      These people you will hear about, meet and enjoy are all real and have all on occasion or on a regular basis blessed the shop with their vigor, presence, laughter, tears and friendly banter and conversation.

       These are the chronicles of The Shop Downtown, and how one little tiny coffee shop full of eccentricities lures in from interstate I10 and the small surrounding towns, the most interesting of stories and people.    

The girl and a car

She walked in and quickly asked for a coffee. I asked her if she was hungry and would like something to eat and she said, “I don’t know, maybe.” She seemed tired and much likes someone who had been, or was on a long journey. She was a girl and a car and a long journey she was most definably on.  I went back to begin preparing her coffee and found myself extremely excited with anticipation and intrigue on getting to know her story. This girl and a car, as she so referred to herself on her blog site, was the most interesting part of my day.

She was from Northern Maine and had recently graduated from NYU with a degree in journalism and communication and left New York for the adventure of a life time, a major road trip. She was traveling alone, just this girl and her car, well now she was anyway. She had a travel companion but she recently flew back home, to get back to her job. She was only allowed two weeks off, unlike the girl and her car, which had a seasonal job of sorts and was allowed all winter off. In Maine winter lasts almost all the way through May. Here in Texas, it must seem like summer. It was an amazingly beautiful April day in Schulenburg Texas and in walked the girl and her car into The Shop Downtown. She had been traveling on I10 with her next destination to be Louisiana and detoured off the Interstate in a small little town called Schulenburg, where she also found a girl in a shop named Christine that also writes and was just starting a new blog.

Was it a Coincidence?

 I don’t think so.

The night before I had woke up around 2:00 a.m. and had heavy on my heart to start writing, “blogging if you will”, the interesting people that God seems to bring into The Shop Downtown. I knew that I had to start this immediately, but my intentions are always fairly good, and somehow life just seems to distract me. However, this day was different, because the obvious was so obvious that I could more likely fallen off the face of the Earth then not been obedient and write. So, write I am.

Her story, this girl and a car, is pretty simple. She is young, vivacious and just set off to the nation, and she could just leave, so she did.

“FREEDOM!”

 Now, how she ended up in my small coffee shop in the middle of nowhere, “ No Target having”, Schulenburg Texas, now that was God. He brought her in; I am completely convinced of it. She was on a journey, just like I am on a journey and he used our two journeys to encourage one another.           

We talked for hours. We asked questions and shared our love for writing. When I asked her the question, “Are you a writer?” she answered the same way I would have, she laughed and said, “I would like to call myself a writer, but don’t know if I should.” I am not sure what this meeting meant, but I like to call it a divine appointment. I don’t know if I will ever see the girl and a car again, but I do know that she made an impact on me. I began to write, that night, I began to write this, this simple little blog about the day the girl and a car came into the shop downtown. Again, I don’t know what it means, but I do know that the chance meeting that day moved something in my spirit that had fallen asleep and I began to write again. We are all on this miraculous journey and we are all connected in one way or another and if we will stay open to the voice of God and the strange ways that He may choose to communicate to us, it is an exciting adventure, fun and exciting!

So, today I close with the simple advice to “stay open to divine appointments that may be planned for you, for it will be in these simple appointments that you may truly hear the voice of God and travel further towards your destination.”  We are all on a journey and all need to take a road trip once in a while, whether it is hopping in our cars and taking off, or merely sitting in a shop and taking a journey with a young girl for a few hours as you visit sitting in a small coffee shop in a small town in the middle of nowhere.