“Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane.”
~Honoré de Balzac

My love affair with Atlas started just a few posts ago and has blossomed into a chronic habit. I was more than happy to sit by my favourite window seat and people watch the Pearl Street pavement from The Cup, a coffee shop just a few doors down from Atlas. So Joseph, knowing I have a thing for good teas, had to nudge me a few times to give Atlas a try. Once he gave up nudging I realised I might forget, so I found myself here, trying out the frothy rooibos chai and sharing a giant table with a few friendly guys keen to expand the party.

I don’t know if its the huge poster of Craigslist > Atlas Missed Connections posted up on the wall or not but this place has an unmissable sniffable air of being a singles meetup spot for young, often trendy 20- and 30-somethings who I am guessing must be web designers, graphic designers, writers and other types of freelancers who can waffle hours of the day away looking busy. Freelancing is a good life for sure, and even with the unreliable income, no health plan and occasional cash flow crises, I wouldn’t trade what I do now for any amount of money or luxuries. I have a credit card for such emergencies!

Today as soon as I came in I started distractedly unpacking my laptop to secure a spot, and one of the owners, the one I got to know on my first day here, came round to my shared table and dropped off a tall frothy glass of Rooibos chai with a warm smile. Without realising what it meant, I don’t think, he was welcoming me to my home from home. Atlas is now officially my favourite work spot in Colorado. Once they are open till 11 I will be in heaven!

Here’s some snaps of my favourite bits to give you a feel for the place:

The wall of missed connections

Remember the guy writing on the wall? This is the complete poem.

One of my favourite pieces on the wall

A wall of fine teas from around the world for sale by the cup, pot or gram

My absolute favourite piece of artwork on the wall
for sale: $1500, acrylic on wood – JanetGuenther.com

More of her work:

And finally, my view at night…

Oh wait, there’s one more 😉 My favourite photo of the bunch!

Joseph pops in and hangs out on his break… while I pretend to work but pretty much spend the whole time compltely distractedly.