Friday Fav - Thank You Moxie

Happy Friday Y'all!  I'm not sure how your week has been, but mine has flown by and I've been one busy B.  The thought of Friday seemed so far away, and I'm still a little shocked it's time for my Friday Fav, but whatever the case I'm glad it's here!

So today's Friday Fav is going to be a little bit different, and probably a lot more emotional.  Three weeks ago, I heard word on the street that the coffee shop I used to work at was closing its doors ... say what?  I know, I'm reaching for a tissue as I type.  This shop, Moxie Java, located in the heart of Boise, ID, broke the rules when it came to coffee back in the 80's.  Yes, the first Moxie Java that came to the City of Trees opened in the late 80's and served one of the best cups of brew your taste buds ever sipped.  Of course I was only a young one at this time, but fast forward to 2006 when I was a sophomore in college and in need of some pesos.  Where did I turn, the best place on Main Street.  Yup, I applied at Moxie Java, and after counting my lucky stars I received a call saying "You're hired!"

Now what's great about this story and about this place is it wasn't just another part-time job that took up part of your life and eventually got tossed to the side.  No, this was a place that brought out the best in people and brought these people together.  I eventually worked my way to some of the "prime" shifts in my mind, which included Friday and Sunday mornings.  Friday I worked with the manager and we undoubtedly had the best time of any of the employees there.  We officially started "Survey Fridays," where we would ask a different survey question every Friday.  On Sundays, I would wake up with a smile knowing the 5-hour shift ahead was going to be filled with nothing but smiles and satisfied bellies.  Every customer that came through the doors had a different (and sometimes a little too different) story, but I still loved every minute of steaming a dry cappuccino, pouring an iced chai latte on a blistering hot summer day, and knowing a request like "a venti (FYI - we didn't serve Starbucks sizes), white-chocolate mocha, with 7 shots of eXpresso (it's really pronounced espresso, with an s), double the whipped cream, 157 degrees, and don't you dare forget the extra scoop of white-chocolate powder, puh-lease" had nothing on this Barista.

Knowing that whenever I go back to Boise this little gem won't be open is tough to swallow, but I'm hopeful whatever shop, cafe, or you name it comes to say "Oh hey" to Main Street that the customers follow.  I've learned many things from this place, but the one definite lesson for today's Friday Fav is it isn't where you go in life, but what got you there.  My Moxie days were wrapped around some of my most "growing" years as a person.  It was here I imagined a life on the east coast post-graduation, challenged myself to think beyond my next midterm, and only hoped for an opportunity to work and advocate for a nonprofit. 

Thank you Moxie Java on Main for 3 amazing years.  Thank you Moxie Java customers for bringing life to this place, patient when 10 orders were ahead of you and I was on shift, and most of all for making this part of my life full of nothing but laughter, an extended family, and some generous tips! 

As the saying goes, when one door closes another door opens.  I just hope whatever comes in next still has a piece of Moxie.

Have a wonderful weekend!