My boyfriend has been bugging me to go spend the day at &co Jersey City. He thinks when I work at home I’m too alone and talk to the birds too much. We have full conversations in both human and bird so maybe I do. With this in mind, on a recent Friday I went to do my work at &co in Jersey City.
AND I LOVED IT.
&co is a co-working space in the Silverman building on Montgomery and Grove St, by Kanibal! And Cool Vines! And Frankie! And Another Man’s Treasure! They’ve got a lot going on over there. I’ve been there before for an artist talk hosted by Deep Space Gallery, but never there to do actual work in the co-working space.
This place is amazing you guys. I felt like a rich person all day and honestly that’s the way I always want to feel. Like maybe someday I will be an actual rich person and not the actual poor person I am, but until then I have to make do with the experiences that make me feel like one. Faking it til I make it.
So a few weeks ago on Friday I was very LUCKY and <hashtagblessed> to have a FREE day pass and tour of the location. I think they probably offer this to anyone who is interested in trying it out but don’t quote me on that. I was really super pumped and picked out a cute outfit and wore makeup and everything.
Then I gathered all my work materials because the whole point of going there was to work, duh.
Backpack filled to the brim with my laptop, multiple pairs of headphones, chargers to charge everything, my tripod to take pics during my lunch break, my lunch, and my new fun water bottle I put cool stickers on, I entered this workday oasis prepared to be forever changed.
The friendly guy at the front desk took me on a tour and then it was time to get to work. Because &co Jersey City is a co-working space. For working.
There are a ton of little nooks and workspaces to use and I was kind of overwhelmed deciding which space to use first! I wanted to try everything so I made myself a little schedule in my notebook of the different spaces I wanted to try working in. It was very important to me to try them all because they were all so luxurious looking.
First things first, I needed to charge my phone and my computer, so I had to start out somewhere with enough outlets close by for that. It was a really pretty day and I’m obsessed with the outside so I really wanted to work there, but they don’t yet have outlets out there so I sat in one of the booths next to the kitchen area. There was a pretty intense outlet situation and I was immediately on my way to being fully charged.
Once my electronics were contentedly buzzing away, it was time to get some cold brew. I don’t know how you feel about cold brew BUT I REALLY LOVE COLD BREW. I haven’t been a big coffee person for my whole life, but within the past 7 or so years I have become increasingly dependent on caffeine and at this point it’s pretty serious. Luckily caffeine is a legal drug and at &co Jersey City they have it ON TAP for people to consume all day long, just for being there. And you can pour it yourself! You don’t even have to bother anyone!
I like my cold brew black so I excitedly filled a “Caffeine and Dreams” cup with ice and ran over to the tap to fill it. My excitement got the best of me as per usual and I spilled it everywhere, but don’t worry I cleaned it up. The cold brew at &co Jersey City is from Mod Cup and it is EVERYTHING. I took some notes in my notebook to prepare for this post and I’ll quote myself by saying, “I love cold brew. I love cold brew so much. I’m so excited to be here.”
So I work-work-worked away in this space for a couple of hours and enjoyed more and more cold brew. They also had cucumber water! OMG it was delicious. I drink so much more water when someone else is preparing the water. At home I have to put it through the filter and then refrigerate it for it to even taste good and it’s just exhausting. A fresh water supply I don’t have to put any effort into is probably the only thing I miss about working in an office.
Yes, yes that’s the only thing I miss about the office. (#teamnoofficeeveragain)
When I was fully charged up on caffeine and electricity I packed up my bag and headed outside to the terrace! I guess it’s called a “terrace”? It was the “outside office.”
AND IT WAS GREAT.
Luckily it was a beautiful day, and there are so many little beautiful spaces to enjoy outside. There are regular tables and chairs, lounge chairs, lounge couch type things, a table with an umbrella…the list goes on! I loved it out there!
I first settled in on a lounge couch with the umbrella over me because it was hard to see my computer screen in the bright beautiful sunshine. But soon the sun’s siren song seduced me into a giant comfy chair and I ripped off my shirt and adjusted the brightness on my computer screen and all was well.
It remains unclear if “tanning” is one of the intended activities for this outdoor area, but I will say I think they welcome it since nobody yelled at me to put my shirt back on. It’s important to multitask! I was tanning AND working!
It’s a beautiful thing.
After an hour or so outside in the sun all of my electronics started to explode so I had to put them away to cool down and it was time for a lunch break.
I grabbed the lunch I packed myself out of the adorable refrigerator in the adorable kitchen and went back outside to have a picnic and read for a bit. I took some pics and videos for social media during this time, because it’s always fun to take pictures of oneself in a new place! I know I can’t be the only person that enjoys that. I’m 100% sure that I am not.
During my hour-long work respite I also had the pleasure of investigating the mediation room.
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
I know I keep saying “beautiful” and I guess I need a thesaurus but like…that’s the word. I loved the colors and the textures and the vibes. There is a dream catcher!
And a hanging-from-the-ceiling-swingy-chair!
And velvet pillows!
Ugh I’m really such a sucker for velvet anything.
I spent about 10 minutes in there and it was so quiet and relaxing and lovely and when my phone alarm went off saying “BACK TO WORK, B*TCH” I felt refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.
After lunch I had to do some more charging so I set myself up in the quiet room (The Quiet Room?) at a desk.
As the name implies, the quiet room was very, very quiet. It felt very work-like, very professional, very “getting things done.” I hung out in there for a while and got some work done and got charged up.
THEN IT WAS BACK TO THE OUTSIDE.
The rest of my perfect day at &co was spent finishing up my work at a table under an umbrella in a comfy chair. I felt freakin fantastic.
At the end of the day some folks started to gather out on the terrace by the table for a wine and beer happy hour! In addition to the cold brew, &co Jersey City also has NJ Beer Co beer on tap. Around 1:30pm I did judge a man for coming outside with a giant glass of it, and I apologize for judging. That was cruel and unnecessary.
In addition to the wine and beer they had snacks! This particular week the snacks were from Wurstbar, and included their Mexican corn dogs WHICH I LOVE A LOT.
I chatted with some people although I’m not much of a chatter when it comes to strangers. STRANGER DANGER! But everyone was friendly and one gal even gave me a delicious cupcake she made so the chatting was worth it.
In the end I would 100% recommend a day, a month, or A LIFE at &co Jersey City to a friend. I loved it so much that I went back the following week. It was $25 for a day pass, and it was well worth it if you take into consideration the BEAUTIFUL workspaces, cold brew, access to the outdoors, beer, snackies, overall wonderfulness, etc. I forgot how much the other memberships cost but you can find them here.
Go check out &co in Jersey City! Or don’t, I’m not your mom.
shanimal. 