For this week’s Weekend Coffee Share, I thought I’d take you through a whole day in my week. Thursday turned out to be especially eventful, and the best day of my week, making it the perfect choice — complete with a stop at Starbucks for coffee. So grab a cosy drink of your own, and join me as I share my unexpectedly amazing Thursday adventures.

I woke up feeling down after a few rough days, knowing I had to begrudgingly go collect my new glasses from Specsavers. I had to remind myself that I’d been excited about this to get me to go — the prescription change was pretty significant. During last week’s eye test with the red and green lights, reading out letters, I’d gotten a taste of what clear vision could be, and I was looking forward to seeing like that full-time. My old glasses left me dealing with constant eye strain and dry eyes.

For some reason, I love Specsavers. I don’t know if it’s the bright lights, the fascinating machines, or the mystery of the eye itself, but I always feel that vision and reality are connected — after all, what we see is just our brain’s interpretation of reality. Probably, it’s a combination of all of that. The only downside? Specsavers is always packed, thanks to that “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” slogan, which is the most effective marketing in the history of marketing for how busy it always is, but a bit anxiety inducing for me. Thankfully, I’m always a bit distracted by my own thoughts on reality when I’m there. Then, you’re taken into a dark room, such a contrast to the busy waiting area outside. In that room, my brain seems to reset; I feel this calm come over me — though the anxiety of picking the wrong answer during the test sometimes creeps in. What if I say green is clearer when it’s actually red? What if I forget all the letters of the alphabet? It’s silly, but this type of anxiety just makes me laugh.

I had chosen these lovely red-and-black frames — they reminded me of the Mass Effect N7 logo. It felt bold for me, choosing red with black instead of my usual all-black. But just in case I needed a backup, I picked out a plain black pair too. After sitting in the packed waiting area, I was called in quickly for the fitting.

Then it happened: I put on my Mass Effect glasses, and I could see the world clearly again. It was like I’d been playing vanilla Minecraft for years, and the lovely Specsavers Specs Specialist had just dropped my Minecraft Steve character into Cyberpunk 2077. Wow, the graphics are AMAZING — it looks SO REAL! As I looked straight ahead at the Specs Specialist, I was stunned to see the detail in her irises — they were actually very beautiful. For a moment, I wondered if I should tell her but thought maybe staring deep into her soul and complimenting her eyes might be a bit too intense after only meeting one minute ago.

Then my thoughts got even deeper. I’d had a rough few days, and the clarity of my vision made me wish I could see everything in life that clearly, as if these glasses could somehow give me the view everyone else seems to have. Sadly, Specsavers doesn’t sell magic glasses that alter reality — they just sharpen what your brain already perceives as its reality. Maybe I should have splurged on the rose-tinted lenses.

My teen arrived just after my appointment; they’d come straight from university for their own Specsavers fitting later. With time to kill, we wandered through the shops. I bought a magazine on black holes at WHSmith, inspired by a documentary I’d recently watched about black hole “soft hair.” Then, at Waterstones, I found a book on white holes and another novel set on the ISS called Orbital. I laughed when I realised my Physics book choices were literally black and white — my brain has clearly given up with subtlety.

This Little Piggy Goes to Starbucks

After my teen’s Specsavers appointment — where they picked up the most stylish glasses I’d ever seen, in perfect contrast to mine — we went to Starbucks to rest our aching joints (thanks, hypermobility). I got my usual black Americano (my wardrobe preference showing up in my coffee order), plus a polar bear cake pop, which was surprisingly delicious. My teen had a mocha and a croissant. We played with their new Minecraft pig keyrings and some of our plushies as we sipped our hot drinks, appreciating the warmth on such a cold day.

Minecraft pigs are special to us. They bring back memories of the Christmas when my teen was 10 and I gave them Minecraft Story Mode. They’d been sick with tonsillitis, and I thought the game might cheer them up. It did — until it didn’t. The Minecraft pig character, Reuben, spoiler alert, dies — and worse, he turns into pork chops. My teen was heartbroken. I ended up crying too. Merry Pigging Christmas!

I quickly ordered a Minecraft pig plush on Amazon, and when he arrived, explained that “Reuben didn’t die; he fell into our dimension to live with us.” That little pig plushie made everything better. Reuben became their sidekick, and to this day, he still goes everywhere with us. Whenever I see my teen with Reuben or these new keyrings, I’m reminded of that Christmas and my little 10-year-old. Sitting in Starbucks with our new glasses and that cosy memory felt extra comforting.

The Most British Cluster Headache Attack Ever.

After Starbucks, we went to Marks and Spencer to get the best food in existence — including as many chicken shawarma meals as I could manage to eat before the best-before date. That’s when my cluster headache decided it’d had enough of my activity level. I’ve been in this episode a few weeks now, and any exertion can bring on an attack.

While browsing festive sandwiches and wondering if a pigs-in-blankets sandwich would count for our “Battle of the Corporate Sandwiches,” WHAM — a sudden, intense headache struck, like I’d been hit over the head with a hot metal spike. Out of shock, I yelled, “Oh my gosh, OW!” The woman next to me looked over, clearly startled, and said, “Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry!” as if she’d caused it. Through squinting eyes, I reassured her, “Oh, I’m just a mess; you didn’t do anything.” My teen had to scan and pay for the items, and later, we laughed at the Britishness of the whole exchange.

The Cosmic Alignment of the Moon

Outside, through a cluster-affected eye, I saw something unbelievable — the moon was perfectly centred between the bridge pylons. It felt like the bridge had been designed just for this moment. The timing of Earth’s rotation, the moon’s position, the moon phase, our exact exit from Marks and Spencer, and the choice to look up — it all seemed orchestrated. It was a beautiful reminder of the interconnectedness of the universe, like the equations of physics brought to life. It was as if the universe gave me a little nudge to see the bigger picture. The moon seemed like it was suspended in a sunset sunbeam, and it reminded me so much of, “The Pale Blue Dot”, and Carl Sagan’s speech. Of course, my iPhone couldn’t quite capture the intensity, but I’ll remember that moment forever.

To commemorate it even further, we walked to the centre of the bridge. It’s the only bridge in my city we’d never crossed, and now I have this perfect memory to connect with it. I’ll think of this alignment every time I see the footbridge. I plan to write more about my love of bridges in a separate post.

I ended the day happily wrapped in a blanket, eating a chicken shawarma and reflecting. I’d started out feeling down, but this day turned out to be unexpectedly wonderful. I’d thought Specsavers would cheer me up, but I hadn’t expected all the little gifts from the universe — the cosmic alignment, the pigs, and the physics books. It’s amazing how simple things like picking up glasses can reveal these moments of joy and clarity, both mental and literal. And now, thanks to my new glasses, I can truly see everything just a bit more clearly.

This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share link up. Check out the host, Natalie the Explorer here.

I hope you enjoyed having a coffee with me, I will leave you with this song, a tribute to the day I thought wasn’t going to be clear, but was.