Coffee Stories
A coffee station story
I’m sitting in my cozy spot right now, tucked under my favorite warm blanket with the Florida sun streaming through the window and my computer on my lap. This is my favorite time of day – that quiet morning space before the world fully wakes up. It’s January in Northeast Florida and pretty chilly … for Florida. A friend and colleague said yesterday, “It’s Florida cold.” We both came from parts of the country where winter means temps with a minus sign, snow and ice.
Before I settle in for a few hours of creative designing or writing, the first thing I do is make coffee.
Making coffee has become as essential to my daily routine as getting dressed or preparing nutritious meals. It’s part of how I take care of myself now – a little journey all its own.
I’m an early bird, as they say. Since I’ve found this incredible peace in my life, I sleep like a rock. When I wake up, it’s still dark outside. The house is quiet and dark, too. I have an artificial palm tree in my living space with white lights on the trunk and green lights on the palms (it’s a huge part of my story, but that’s for another day). My palm tree lights the combined kitchen and living area as I walk to my coffee bar – my coffee station, my coffee corner.
It’s set up with intention, and I’ve filled it with items that make me happy and reflect who I am.
Building a coastal dream
For years I wanted to live a coastal life with coastal décor. My favorite coastal color is turquoise – the color of the Caribbean ocean. I’ll never forget seeing that color for the first time and swimming in it. It’s been a part of my life ever since.
Orange represents sun and warmth to me.
At my coffee station, I have a fun sign I found while shopping in coastal shops. It simply says, “Coffee for a good day.” There’s a stack of tiny, stackable Tuscan espresso mugs I found in an antique shop in downtown Fernandina Beach when I first arrived in Florida. I love the shapes and colors of Tuscan design. Peeking in from the left are coastal dishes that made my heart soar when I found them at Belle’s – I was actually shopping in a Belle’s store in my neighborhood! I was truly living in a coastal town.
Then there’s an orange lighthouse. I told my kids when they were growing up that I am their lighthouse. Wherever they venture in the world, I’ll always be here.
The turquoise pineapple is from my daughter. It held a popular liquor that she wanted to try when she came to visit a year ago. The K-cup holder is a gift from my kids years ago when they were young and didn’t have much money. There’s a pink mug that says “World’s Best Mom” where I keep tiny coffee-making utensils – another gift from my kids for Mother’s Day after I moved to Florida and we were all spread out across the country. I wasn’t feeling like such a great mom, leaving the town where they grew up, a home that they knew but had become just a house to me. With this gift they reminded me that no matter where my journey in life leads me, I am a good mom.
There’s also a spoon rest that I bought for my first intentional coffee station years ago. It says, “All we need is love and coffee.” That was a time in my life that didn’t go as planned. I keep it as a reminder to never settle in my life ever again.
The centerpieces
My traveling turquoise Keurig is the star, but it’s surrounded by my coffee-making adventures – the grinder I bought at Walmart when I ventured into grinding my own beans, and the French press my reporter gave me my first Christmas in Florida.
My Word Story Stack sits proudly nearby, reading: Tracy + Hearts + Beach + Life.
For months, I’d been using an orange kitchen towel laid out like a mat to catch the stray coffee grounds, sugar, and drips as the process comes together for my perfect cup. It worked fine. But when I was doing that extra company-kind-of-cleaning for the holidays, I wanted to find something better than just a towel.
It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I started looking around the internet for ideas. After searching and searching and not finding anything I liked, I did what I do – I found a way to make my own. I connected with a print service and let my coffee station vision take shape in Photoshop. The Story Stack Mat was born as I placed my Word Story Style® definitions beside a photo that said: this is me.
Every morning, while the coffee steeps, I’m reminded: I built this. The space, the peace, the life.☕
My word stack for today:
Coffee + And + Words
coffee, [Kaw-fee] noun, Origin: Dutch, “koffie,” from Turkish “kahveh”
A magical potion that turns dreams into possibility, one sip at a time.
and, [and] Conjunction, Origin: Old English, and, ond
The perfect pause between two moments.
words, [wurdz] noun, Origin: Old English, word
Stories waiting to be sipped and savored.
When I created my Story Stack Mat to complete this space, I fell in love with it. It brought together everything – the words, the coastal aesthetic, the morning ritual. It’s mine. It reflects my journey.
And I’m sharing it because maybe you’re building your own version of this. Maybe you’re creating your own intentional space, your own morning sanctuary, your own coffee corner that tells your story.
If these designs speak to you the way they speak to me, they’re available at CoffeeAndWords.com.
Shop My Cozy Spot:
A few things that make my Saturday morning sanctuary special:
☕ Coffee Warmer – [Amazon Link] – Never let your coffee go cold again
🛋️ Heated Blanket – [Amazon link] – Lightweight warmth for cozy mornings. This is on my couch!
🎵 Morning Jazz Playlist – [YouTube link] – My go-to ambiance on a cool, NE Florida fall morning.
Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. I only share products I actually use and love!
