When you're 23, the most exciting thing on your mind should be the new features you are unveiling to users this Friday. The most exciting thing should be that trip to Boulder next month. The most exciting thing should be how one day the startup you've just joined will make an exit and you'll be a millionaire.

When you're 23 the thing you're not supposed to be excited about are parties you are hosting. In

college

you were cool for throwing parties, but after that, it no longer gets you any brownie points. I didn't even go to a real university and I understand that.

So why do I feel so excited about throwing my party?

I feel ashamed of feeling excited. I look through

Instagram

and I see how people lust over the

cafe

. Perfectly lit, smooth white porcelain, wooden furniture, exposed brick. Images of the perfect slow afternoon where you have no deadlines, and you're just puttering around, looking for that good

New Yorker

article, writing that email to that long lost crush, and catching up with an old friend. People with remote jobs who make good money, who use us for their scenery because they don't have the taste to decorate their own space.

People who really work in cafes look at cafes differently than those who use it as their prostitutes. If there's one thing in this life I understand it's this.

Imogen Howe