Day by day, coffee by coffee...

Kate - Tell us about your local coffee shop, the one you end up at if you have 15 minutes to enjoy a cuppa. Be it glam or otherwise, who grinds your beans?

My Friendly Grocer... is my saviour. Since the birth of my beautiful baby girl Hannah Lorraine on the 26th April this year, I have realised the benefits of having a Friendly Grocer on the corner only 50 meters from your front door. These benefits include: orange chocolate, cake, magnums, baby nappies, vegetable rolls heated in the microwave and, of course... my daily decaf latte.

My Friendly Grocer is not glamorous, and certainly not the "place to be seen". There are no patterns on top of the cappuccinos and the blend of coffee they use is still unknown to me. However this coffee is simply... just perfect. Now let me qualify by suggesting to appreciate this coffee (as I do), to understand its absolute perfection... one must also add a large whack of sleep deprivation to the mix!

Yes, nothing tastes better after only four hours' sleep than a "Friendly Grocer coffee"!

The lovely staff at the Friendly Grocer have all been on our new family's journey with us, day by day, coffee by coffee. They looked at my husband and I with shy smiles as we patted, rocked and sung to our tiny one month old Hannah in her Hug-a-Bub carrier. They smiled as we forgot to pay, tripped over the donut table, stumbled over our order and chatted about something else to do with our baby girl's every move that day. They even smiled and were happy to witness signatures on important (but late) legal documents and they still smiled when we finally (after several months) asked what their names were.

Gradually, day by day, coffee by coffee, our Friendly Grocer has become just that. A fluoro-lit, brick shop with a damn fine take-away coffee... and a lot of heart.

Will Hannah ever remember these walks we take with our coffees in hand? First tucked up in her Baby Bjorn carrier and now in her Bugaboo pram? Often our walks are just Hannah and I alone, but when he can dad is happy to push the pram. Pa and Nana from Canberra have walked the block with a coffee and so has Granny Sue from Brisbane.

You see, we buy the coffees and do the same three blocks with our girl. I see the blossoms grow on the magnolia trees, the elderly man with his little dog who passes each day with a smile, the Chinese couple who are still laying down their driveway, the cheery black dog who greets us each day, the girl who grins at us after school as she cycles around the road on her bike and the lady who waves at us from her wheelchair in the sun across the road.

Hannah and my Friendly Grocer coffee remind me to live in the present, enjoy the ordinary moments in each day and to look out at the world which is so full of life. Even in our three circuits around the block, our little world is so rich.

So thank you my Friendly Grocer. As my little girl grows, my sleep deprivation is becoming a thing of the past.

But your coffee is still... just perfect!