I mentioned taking a tour of some local businesses in my Ho, Ho, Ho post, but shortly after that one, J and I made our first visit to 1671 Union Street, new home of both Storied Coffee and b.inspired, a home decor/lifestyle shop, which are sharing the space. We were super-excited to hear about them coming to Upper Union Street, not least because it happened instead of a proposed expanded McDonald’s drive-through situation.
We were already fans of Storied Coffee from its original location in Scotia, which was conveniently located between our house and our orthodontist for quick stops back when we’d need a treat to soothe a braces tightening. J was particularly excited to have a source of Boba tea within walking distance of home–she’s a huge fan of Boba tea. When we stopped in, Storied Coffee was still pretty bare bones, awaiting permits before they could offer a full menu and not quite ready with their dining space (not that we actually dine in these days). Still, we treated ourselves to drinks, then shopped around b.inspired. They had cute ornaments and dishes and blankets. . . the kind of place where you know that if someone offered you a $500 gift card, you could spend it immediately with no problem. We picked up a couple of little things as a “Yay & welcome to the neighborhood,” and I’m sure we’ll be back again soon.
While we’re on the topic of local businesses, we’ve started ordering from Field Goods again, and as expected, it’s a delight, especially now that they’re doing home delivery (for orders of $50 and up). One of our stand-out favorites are the garlic dill pickles from Real Pickles. They are so, so garlicky-delicious. In fact the other day I didn’t have much to order, and someone in the family suggested, only half-joking, that perhaps we just buy $50 worth of pickles. For the moment we are restraining ourselves to one jar at a time, but just barely.
