For the love of a great cup of hot cocoa...

[sinkwriter]

Why oh why do my favorite places have to close??!?

First, years ago, it was Crown Books -- tucked into the nook of a strip building full of little stores, it was this cozy happy little bookstore where I could always find what I needed.

Then Max & Erma's went away, and took along with it the best banana pie ever. And I don't even get into banana pie. But this was the best thing I'd ever tasted, with the most delicious, buttery graham cracker crust, fluffy filling with slices of banana, whipped cream, and the pièce de résistance... chocolate drizzled all over the top of it. Now, that was a DESSERT. SO good. My former colleagues and I used to go there for lunch and order a light salad, just so we'd have room leftover for a piece of that pie.

Then Borders Books went out of business. In a pinch I may order books online, especially if that's the only place that carries what I'm looking for, but it's still really nice to go to an actual bookstore, one where I can mill about and see what's new and what stands out to me or simply browse a book to see if it's something that interests me enough to buy it. There are so few bookstores around anymore, from the big ones to the mom-and-pop shops, and Borders was the place I could go, where I could pick up a book and have it right there in my hands. Where the staff would know just where to find what I was looking for, or make awesome recommendations... I miss being able to go to a bookstore. There aren't really any nearby where I live anymore. It's a 45-minute drive just to reach the nearest Barnes & Noble, and no bookstores (big or small) along the way.

Then today I found out that my beloved Caribou Coffee is closing. Clearing out with barely any notice, either. Basically, they're gone by Sunday. I don't drink coffee, but I used to dig getting their chai tea lattes, an occasional wild berry smoothie, and I love love LOVE their hot chocolate. That's understating things. It is my one major indulgence. It's so good, I could bathe in it. I would marry it if I could. (LOL.) Seriously though, it's fantastic. They use THREE different kinds of chocolate (milk, dark and white) and you can either mix the three in any combination or just pick one. (I like either milk chocolate on its own, or a mix of dark and milk.) It's sweet (but not too sweet) and creamy and smooth, with none of the gritty, grainy, bitter leftovers at the bottom of the cup you often get from various restaurants. I'm becoming quite the hot chocolate/hot cocoa connoisseur; anytime I come across somewhere new that offers the beverage, I have to give it a try. So far NO ONE's is as yummy as Caribou Coffee's. I may go through massive withdrawals after they close on Sunday. I may cry.

And it's more than just a place offering awesome hot cocoa. The inside of Caribou was like a cozy hug, all wood textures and warm colors, even a fireplace! Sometimes when I felt like I was going stir crazy from too much homework or stress or life 'stuff' going on, I would take an afternoon to decompress by driving out to Caribou with bardsmaid's latest chapter that she wanted me to read and critique, ordering my beloved hot cocoa and settling in to read and write up my feedback. It was the most relaxing thing to do. And I had such notions of finishing school (at the end of this year, finally!) and using some of my new freetime to re-engage in some writing of my own -- perhaps on a laptop in a cozy corner in Caribou, like some J.K. Rowling wannabe. *GRIN*

Seriously, I don't know what I'll do without my little coffee shop.

Why are they doing this? What's left for me in Illinois?

Maybe this is the universe's way of saying: when you graduate, it's time for you to find a new place to live, somewhere that's not a choice because your friends or family want you to go there; instead it's somewhere that's special and wonderful, someplace that can become 'home' to YOU.

I just don't know where that is, yet.

Comments

[leucocrystal]

Ugh, I feel you girl, I do. I'm still heartbroken over my first bookstore (not even the one I worked at, which was Book Works, but the one I must have spent thousands of hours in as a child), Esmerelda's, closing, and that happened nearly a decade (!) ago. And of course Book Works being gone kills me, too. Any time an independent dies, especially one I have personal ties to, it does feel like a little piece of me goes with it. Blame working in too many of them over the years, perhaps. I feel your pain, is what I'm saying. Like, if Panikin ever closes, there goes the best chocolate creme pie I've ever had with it, plus excellent blended coffee and the best live music in San Diego on Friday nights... *hugs*

I just don't know where that is, yet.
I really hope you can find a place for you that'll be more fulfilling. For me, LA is definitely it, at least for this point in my life (and the foreseeable future, which is comforting in and of itself). Are there any places in particular you might have visited that call out to you at all (for me, any time I drove up here to shoot for a day, the energy of the city would always get its hooks in me), or even places you haven't been but that you think might be interesting to try?

[ladymidath.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry that you seem to be losing all your favourite places. I feel same about Borders, I loved their bookshops and they had a terrific selection of graphic novels. In fact it was in a Borders that a funny thing happened to me. I walked in there one day and asked a salesgirl where I could find the graphic novels. She promptly took me over to the erotic section where I then explained that I was after graphic novels as in comic books, not GRAPHIC novels. That memory still makes me laugh.
I was sad when Unleashed bookstores closed as well. We have lost so many good bookstores like Collins as well.
Caribou sounded like an awesome place, but maybe there might be another that you will find that will become like 'home' for you. *hugs*