One of my favorite coffee shops is The Red Cat at Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham. I love going there because they have great food and lattes and it’s a quiet atmosphere with a great view. Also, when I’m finished working, I can walk at the park or around downtown. On a sunny day, there is no better place to be in my opinion.

But I suppose every diamond has it’s flaw. This diamond’s flaw is parking. For starters, you have to parallel park. I’m terrible at this. I’m the person that stops traffic for five minutes while wedging my vehicle awkwardly into a space like Austin Powers on that golf cart. Sigh. To make things worse, at 8:30 am there are no parking spots available! How dare people go to the park early in the morning to improve their health!? I kid. I kid.

So, one morning I headed over to The Red Cat. I drove down 1st Avenue South once. No parking. So I drove around the block. No parking anywhere. I thought I’d make another pass. Again, no parking, but wait, as I turn the corner I see a spot, so I scurried back around the block again only to find that another car had beat me to the spot. Round and round we go. I’ve never had so much fun in my life. Not.

By this point, I had given up. I knew of a brewery a few blocks away that always had a few spots on a side street. It’s a bit of a walk, but I needed the exercise anyway, so I parked there. Of course, by this time, as I’m walking down 1st Avenue South toward The Red Cat, I counted at least two parking spots that had opened up.

To make matters worse, I arrived to find they didn’t have any blueberry muffins, which is the only type I like (there). The girl offered me Morning Glory or Peach (not a fan). I told her I was good and left. “Looks like I’m going to Urban Standard”, I said to myself as I let out a sigh. Woe is me. I then drove up to 2nd Avenue North and spent the morning at Urban Standard, another incredible coffee house in Birmingham. It has a different vibe though. Don’t misunderstand this. There are mornings where Urban Standard is my destination, but some mornings it’s my 2nd choice.

You just have to consider that I’m not a morning person. I’m not necessarily in a bad mood in the morning, but I need mornings to go smoothly. If they don’t, my entire day is usually thrown way off. I’m also not a Monday person and this particular day was Monday.

First World Problems. I’m good. Blessings all around.