Greetings and salutations, blog readers!

Today we are going to talk about one of my favorite things.

Coffee and Chat.

Coffee and Chat, as someone lucky enough to have had a great grandma and set of grandparents from Sicily, feature large in my childhood, was something I know well. Both sets of grandparents always let me have coffee, which likely informs my coffee obsession, and one of the biggest times I would get to have coffee wasn’t just the morning times, while I ate my breakfast, but during these sit downs.

Now, with my Sicilian/Italian side of the family, this coffee and chat could easily last all day, fueled by enough food to feed a small nations army. When I one day write the vignette style stories ( I assume that is how it will be but lets be real I suck at short form writing and always end up making it longer) that will be my families story, “Mi Familia”, these coffee and chats will likely set many scenes.

Sometimes we would have cookies, or little sandwiches, other times we would have a full spread, because anyone with Italian grandmothers knows you are always too skinny and always need to eat something, so sit down and eat, stop arguing with your grandma and eat the lasagna, it’s nearly lunch time and I need to get lunch on the table for you to eat so eat!”

Fellow grandchildren and children of Italian families will understand this.

If you don’t…get you an Italian friend before our grandparents all pass away.

My grandma Lil, a immigrant from the UK, got along very well with my (great)Grandma Grasso, an immigrant from Sicily, the two would sneak drinks in the middle of the day and curse all the time. Grandma Lucy, Grandma Grasso’s daughter, was married to my Grandpa Tom, who was also a pretty great guy. Grandma Lucy wasn’t always as loose with rules and drinks, but she was just as good a cook, and had high standards for coffee and chat. As an adult, she taught me to set the table and how to host it properly, and I combined these lessons with my tea party lessons from Grandma Lil to form a pretty nice template for my own coffee and chat times. But I add cannabis, every chance I get, obviously.

Coffee and chat doesn’t need to have snacks, but it helps. Hell, you don’t NEED to have coffee, my cousins who didn’t like coffee would drink milk or juice, the weirdos, but you do have to nibble on whatever grandma puts in front of you, and you do have to listen to all the good stories. And by nibble I mean eat everything with gusto, and make sure you tell her how amazing it all is.

Do that-

And chat.

Catch up, tell stories, shoot the shit…whatever…but chat, enjoy each other’s company, and enjoy this beautiful time you all get to have. We don’t just sit and chat enough anymore, as people, and coffee and chat is a lost art of excellence that helps inform the youth.

Now that I am into my thirties, I look back at my childhood, lessons I learned, memories I hold, ways I view the world, and so much of that was formed during these little coffee and chats.

So how do you enjoy the fine art of a coffee and chat?

First, find the person you will chat with….this part is the hardest and most crucial part. Find friend you can enjoy time with, you can get into long conversations with, who doesn’t mind how random you are, or you don’t mind how long winded they are, or whatever goes into it, find someone you enjoy spending time with who enjoys spending time with you.

Find out what they like to drink and snack on. Coffee, tea, juice, chips, cookies, whatever. Stock those things. At very least, some coffee and cookies. I suggest having cups and saucers, spoons, the whole set up, but I know not everyone can or wants to…so just have hot beverage, or just beverage, in some sort of cup. Some sort of snack, even if it’s some microwave popcorn, in the middle of the table.

Enjoy conversation that covers everything under the sun, including where you have both been, what has been happening in your life, their life, how their goals and dreams are going, what you are working on, things you plan on doing, things they are wanting to do…talk, like people, about anything. If you run out, find fun conversation starters online- it doesn’t matter if you have been friends all your lives, you can still ask “So if you could have one super power what would it be?” And talk about that. You can always learn new things about your friends and family, and more importantly, you would be amazed at the kind of organic conversations one can have from a simple conversation starter. Yes, those cheesy ice breakers from every bad convention you have ever been to- those will make cool conversations happen with your friends.

I also suggest setting out water, because you both may get dehydrated from the coffee and talking, and water is super important. Also water and coffee go together, so be a good host. Also if you are like me and serving up cannabis smokables on the side…water is a great idea. Hydrate, people, always hydrate.

So what are you waiting for? Go invite someone for a coffee and chat. If you live near me, why aren’t you already on your way over? I’ll get the French Press out.

Thanks for reading!

❤️

Abbi