Welcome, come in! Let me pour you a hot cup of good, fresh coffee so you can unwind... Get comfortable - kick up your feet ...We are friends, here! My shop story started years ago, before I even realized it was a part of this fantastic dream I call life.
My shop story actually started during the most desperately dark and scariest part of my life. Just off the cusp of the most heartbreaking thing I had been through, I was alone with one preteen daughter living a thousand miles from my family and anything remotely close to what I have known all my life. I had moved, daughter in tow, to start a new life half-way across the country. I felt alone.
Very. Alone.
One morning, as I pondered the great mysteries of the endless universe, I realized- the only constant in my life, the one thing that never changed and was always there, day after day was: coffee. (All theological discussion aside) If only I had a strong, reliable man - like that!
I began to imagine a "friendship" with this sweet, smooth and charming person when I would have those blank, day dream-like moments. You know the kind, when your mind just goes off in some strange direction- not at all relating to anything you are doing... One minute you are barefoot on the grass hanging wet clothes, stinky and sweating in the hot sun, and the next you're ballroom dancing in a velvet, corseted gown through your imagination with the most stunningly handsome gentleman sweeping you across the dance floor, smelling of espresso... Or catch the first whiff of coffee in the morning before my sleepy eyes had even opened, and bear-hug my pillow like he was really there. Someone genuine, passionate...

And maybe it seems weird, but I may have jotted down a few of these memories, I mean- thoughts. Over time I may have shared them with a few friends. When folks were asking me if I had anything new because they looked forward to hearing what adventures I would come up with next, I pondered that for a while.
As I continued to jot down our memories, I remembered the passion I had for writing. I loved to write. I feel like my thoughts take on their own dimensions and personalities, and when I write, they speak their stories with my fingers typing the words. I remembered how as a teenager I had desperately wanted to write a book…When did writing become something I was too busy to do anymore?
Then, I met someone. During that getting-to-know-you part, I shared my writing and my feelings about writing. He told me he loved them and pinky promised he wasn’t just saying it because he was digging me. He really liked reading my musings. He would tell me that my writings will make people smile. They will spread joy, coffee-love and quirkiness, these writings should be the book I always dreamed I would write. For my next birthday, his gift to me was to publish my coffee writings into a book. I was overwhelmed!! Café Passion: A Java Romance was real!!
I thought it would be grand to have a Café. A place in my imagination where coffee and I would meet. Where the French bistro tables lined the sidewalk under a canvas awning, and people of all nations would feel welcomed, and comfortable. Where the smell of coffee can dance on the breeze for a mile, with the laughing, conversation and chatter energetically flowing beside it. The Ellé Bell Café.