It was supposed to rain.

So instead of meeting for a run, we met for decaf lattes.

Coffee shops, or cafes, are an integral part of my life. I run in and out of them at least three times a day and freak out a little when I visit a place without one.

I remember getting stuck someplace in Tennessee for a week with no coffee shops. It was insane. There was a pizza hut and a few greasy diners but no coffee shop. At the very minimum I expected a Dunkin Donuts – but I was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hills.

Some of my best conversations, most memorable “Aha” moments, occurred in a coffee shop. I often meet people in cafes and remember the ones I visited in Amsterdam and Paris and Lisbon and Glasgow.

Here in DC there are few independent coffee shops left and almost every city block houses one of the chains – Starbucks or Cosi or Caribou. But I prefer Soho (on the corner of 22nd and P Streets NW) or Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle.

So three coffees later, we parted company at the entrance of one of DC’s many Cosis. And although our two-hour conversation was already turning into a fond memory, I couldn’t think of a better way of passing the time.