Today is Maddie’s birthday. My dear, sweet niece is 7 years old. 7!! It feels like only a couple years ago that I met her whiny tush (she was colicky…I’m not just calling her whiny without reason).

So, I’m taking today off and Maddie and I are going to get manicures. After that, we’re getting her ears pierced. After that dinner. And then I’m going to go home and cry because I’m officially considered old. And I don’t like it at all.

Saturday night, Liza and Maddie came down to Brooklyn to visit and we hung out at a coffee shop for a bit. Maddie became a little fixated on this clothesline that had old found polaroids hanging from it. I so badly wanted to buy the piece for her, but clearly I don’t have $800 to spend on art. The way I see it, I can find a few polaroids at stoop sales, stick them on some clothesline and secure them with clothespins. And Voila!–”Art.”

The problem with having a weekly coffee column and no job…is that I can’t afford to go into all my usual places I love so much and order a cup of coffee. So, you’re stuck seeing the outdoor pics. Someday, when I have an income, I’ll be able to show you the interior of all these great places.

This is one of my favorite west village coffee shops, Cafe Angelique. The cinnamochachino is to die for. It’s like Heaven. In a mug.

This is Bread Stuy…the only coffee shop in the part of Bed Stuy where we live. Bread Stuy…in Bed Stuy…haha. Get it? Ahhh, clever.

Anyway, it’s not the most perfect place…the coffee can sometimes taste like the sludge you see on kitchen equipment that hasn’t been cleaned in a while. And it’s usually cramped with tons of people and uncomfortable seating. But they have free wifi and a really nice outdoor patio area and some of the best red velvet cake I’ve ever had. Seriously? The cream cheese icing? It almost makes living in this awful neighborhood worth it. Almost–but not really.

Earlier this summer Sean and I were walking around Lafayette St in Brooklyn. Feeling a hankering for some java, we found this Connecticut Muffin. Neither of us had ever heard of the place before & we happily each got our cup of joe and split a grilled sandwich.

Both were really good…not anything mind blowing or fantastic–but good. Hit the spot. And thinking we had found a little privately owned mom and pop coffee shop, we went on our merry little ways. A couple of weeks later, while in Park Slope, we saw another Connecticut Muffin. And then another in Williamsburg. Apparently, the Connecticut Muffin is less a mom and pop shop and closer to a Starbucks type of chain corporation. You can imagine our disappointment, I’m sure. So, while it’s not an independent, it’s still good if you ever come across one.