Outside of the actual work, my favorite part about going to work was that - actually getting to go into the office. I liked my mid afternoon coffee breaks with friends from different teams. I liked sitting in a big room and just getting the chance to interact with people. I liked the in person meetings. With the job switch and pushing everything towards a more virtual environment I'm feel like I'm losing the people aspect of my job (which is funny considering what I do for a living).
It's so easy to get wrapped up in not having to leave my apartment during the day when I work from home, or not leaving the hotel room when I'm traveling. To counteract going stir crazy from not leaving a room all, I've decided to go in search of a few favorite places to work from.
Roanoke, Virginia
I was leaving Blacksburg, VA early and knew that I needed to find a place to do work from all day when I got to Roanoke, so I googled "Coffee shops in Roanoke" and found this little gem. It's reminds me an incredible amount of my favorite little coffee shop from college (actually, that's my favorite coffee shop of all time).
It was so beautiful outside, I wouldn't have dreamt of sitting inside. It would have been such a waste of the wonderfully erratic February weather! They had a bunch of outside seating and I found a nice spot at the picnic table (quite conveniently near an outlet). I enjoyed a nice vanilla latte and a delicious piece of lemon poppy seed coffee cake. (I really do need to find a recipe for it - time to start looking and testing out different ones.) I sat outside for a few hours and then moved inside when the sun started setting and it got a little too chilly to be sitting outside. I moved inside and ordered a hot tea and of course another piece of coffee cake, hung out until dinner and then went on my way.
I would recommend Sweet Donkey to anyone asking for a nice coffee shop to get some work done. Coffee cake was delicious - I would definitely suggest trying a piece if you stop by. Latte was also on point.
If you have any suggestions for coffee shops or other places to get some work done during the day or just places I should try, I'd love to hear them!
xoxo