Vintage Paris. 

It’s a café here in Branson, both a coffee shop and a wine bar. Which, I must admit, is a fabulous combination. It means if I want to get away, but it is no longer a reasonable hour for caffeine, I can still come here and have a drink of a different kind.

Jessica, the owner, is sweet, my age, married, and, makes fantastic coffee. Winning, all around. I’ve already been here for several hours, and a few people have come, and gone – a few college girls, a French-speaking couple with their children, a tank-top-wearing, hipster guy.

Eclectic, artsy, and it serves good coffee? This place is everything I want in a café, and adorable to boot.  Essentially, I have found my second home and I could not be more grateful. Cafes are places where I thrive, and come alive. They are where I start conversations with strangers, where I muse about the intricacies and complexities of life, where I delight in flavors and scents of caffeinated drinks.

Already, I have tried a drink that, decidedly, I shall order again – the Toulouse. Unfortunately, not very many establishments have orange flavoring on hand, but fortunately for me, this one does. Once upon a time in Italy, I purchased an orange cappuccino at a café; I have been in love ever since.

Finding this flavor has been a rare treat, especially considering all the places I have attempted to locate it. The only other café I have found that will create this ideal drink is Steep & Brew, in Madison WI. I have missed it for years. Therefore, this is similar to finding a diamond in the rough.

I’m sitting here, at a table with mismatched chairs, looking up job openings, imagining my future months, being employed. Ironically, one month from my twenty fifth birthday, I feel once again as though I am a freshman in college. I’m in a new place, which I had never visited, looking for things to do with my time, and people with whom to spend that time.

Would I like to work as a waitress? In retail? At a clothing store? As a bank teller? Or a parade character? Well, actually, I’m not the correct height to be in the parade, but hey, it would have been entertaining. Honestly, it astounds me how many possibilities there are. It’s exciting, to be sure, and I look forward to what these next few weeks hold. 

Who knows what will be happening in a month from now? I don’t, but I’m hopeful of connecting to a group of new friends, and working hard to accomplish my goals. Baby steps, I tell myself. First things, first. Step one – unpack. Check. Step two – apply for jobs. Currently in process. Step three – get a job. Not done, but, I have to first accomplish step two.

However it adds up, at the very least, I will be well caffeinated, I will make new friends, and I will accomplish steps two, and three.

The future is bright and shiny and looking up, y’all.