Some mornings flow with the effortless routine that I find quite comforting. Wake to my Amélie theme song alarm, get ready, catch the express bus, grab a coffee en route to the office, breakfast, check email. Simple and pleasant. By now you probably are aware of the many things that speckle my morning with the predictable unpredictability that comes with public transit and the spectrum of passerby. Tuesday was no different but add in a 5am alarm in Los Angeles, where no matter how lovely the Amélie theme song may be, does not take away the early factor of pre-sunrise darkness.

It’s a fun break in the routine though. I wake up in my niece’s twin bed (she has a memory foam pillow – an eight year old just one-upped me), stumble down the stairs to pack my bag and am greeted good morning my my dad who has also woken up early to take me to the airport to catch my flight so I can make it to work on time. I arrive in San Francisco and realize that, already juggling a weekender and a purse, a coffee and an oatmeal would be disaster. So I head to BART sans caffeine and make the journey to the office.

A deep breath upon arriving to let the remnants of the weekend find their place, a couple familiar tabs and browser windows getting back into the swing of the digital world and then it’s coffee time. I choose the further coffee shop, reveling in the walk and the crisp bay area air. I arrive at the counter and mumble half to myself, latte or cappuccino? The woman at the register, always stoic yet warm with her words, says cappuccino, always.

And so it was. My cappuccino, albeit its tiny stature – my four fingers on the outside exactly the height of the vessel – was delicious. Despite it being about four times the price of my normal coffee, it was a bit of foamy luxury and that’s exactly what I needed to start the week off. A bit of hey, you got this.

I wander past the shelves of indie publications on my way out and I remember how important the little things are. Those tiny routines or breaks in routine that dig deep into who we are and how we feel most connected. Even among strangers most of the morning, I felt tied to my fellow coffee fiends – indulging in a daily routine that makes us feel rooted, ready for the day with a small piece that’s already in place regardless of how the rest of the puzzle falls.