Jennifer Aniston once said "You're not taking away my coffee … because I'd be devastated." Jennifer, I would never take away your coffee because unlike Brad Pitt, I do not want to be in the business of disappointing you.

Welcome to the Uptown Espresso blog. My name is Charles and I will now be curating this area of the website. I suppose in order for the reader to gain greater insight into who I am, I ought to give some background on where I come from, and how I first got into this whole drinking coffee thing.

I was born in Redmond, Washington. My father at the time worked for the Seattle Mariners, and I attended my first game at the lovely Kingdome as an unaware, one month old. In between then and now, I have lived in Seattle, Kansas City, Washington DC, and New York City at least two separate times. And I am turning 23 in a few weeks. How's that for mobile?

My family moved back to the Pacific Northwest on a semi-permanent basis in 2001, at which time I was 13 years-old and on my way to adulthood, whether my parents were ready for it or not. At the age of 16, after some lobbying, I had my first cup of coffee. This first communion would repeat itself on a weekly basis throughout my high school days as my mother would treat me to a mocha every Friday morning. The experience of drinking coffee with my mother allowed me to see her more as an equal than an authority figure, and helped me build a better relationship with her.

A few weeks ago I was offered the position of Social Media Manager at Uptown and it was an easy offer to accept. I have always had, and will continue to have, a loving relationship with social media. I update my Facebook constantly, tweet incessantly, and am known to post more than a few pictures on instagr.am. As a person who has found himself in any area of the country at any given time, social media has allowed me to stay at home with the people who matter to me, even when the notion of "home" seems too abstract. 

The ubiquitousness of social media, combined with the velvet foam, is a pairing that I feel will be impossible to match. At its eight different locations, Uptown Espresso is an integral part of the community. It is more than just the velvet foam found on the double tall lattes. The stores themselves provide the environment that facilitates conversations and interactions of all sorts. I want to take the unique experience of drinking coffee in a cafe and give it a home online. 

My vision for the blog is to have it be an area where one can take in the full experience of Uptown Espresso without having to be in a cafe. I will be posting articles on local community events, interesting new trends involving coffee, any new products we are trying out at our cafes, as well as anything interesting that our incredibly talented baristas are up to. If you love the experience of Uptown Espresso as much as I do, this blog will be an invaluable resource.