Tiger and Simon spend some time together every day, and often nap together after dinner.

Hello Friends,

Please forgive us for writing a shorter, "mini" newsletter this month. Since our last installment, here's what we've been busy with:

• piloting our cafe credit system for reservations (your feedback has been very positive so far, and we appreciate everything you share)
• our very first special events (more on special events below)
• helping our "Original Eight" and "New Eight" cats get along (the two groups are almost ready to be unsupervised together!)
• creating enticing book displays for Black History Month, Valentine's Day, and our very first Blind Dates with a Book (keep scrolling for photos)

We are also happy to announce that we have opened up reservations for the month of March! Once again, they can be made on our website or through our Tock page.

Please continue scrolling to learn more about scheduling special events in the cat lounge and some of our February highlights. In honor of Valentine's Day, we're also featuring photos of some of our favorite cat relationships throughout this edition of the newsletter, from pre-existing/familial relationships to new friendships developed here. Observing (and trying to photograph) their affectionate moments is one of our very favorite things!

Stay warm out there, and we hope to see you soon!

Best,

The Team at A Sanctuary Cafe

Tiger and Billy met here but became instant friends, leading to their nickname "The Twins". (You can tell that it's Billy on the right because his tabby coat has stripes AND spots.)

Introducing Special Events

Have you (like Tiger above) been waiting for the opportunity to have our cat lounge front window all to yourself? Special events will include exclusive use of our cat lounge space for 1-2 hours with optional cafe add-ons. For events that are outside of our normal business hours, exclusive use of the cafe/bookstore side of the space is also possible!

Wondering if an event you're planning will be a good fit? Our cats prefer quieter, more low-key occasions, so we recommend reaching out to us about events where the focus is conversation, building new relationships and/or catching up with people (examples: book club, mini-reunion). We are less likely to be able to accommodate events with celebratory music, additional activities, or "whole group" moments requiring more than 5-6 people in one area at a time (our cat lounge is two levels and none of the rooms are large). That being said, if you're planning something special and think that a space filled with friendly cats (and staff), interesting antiques and a delicious assortment of locally sourced drinks and pastries sounds absolutely perfect, please send us a message!

Many visitors to our cat lounge can confirm that our cats love "helping" people up and down our rather steep stairs! Simon and Mac from our "Original Eight" arrived separately but have developed their own unique relationship that includes friendly jostling for the first food bowl of every meal, occasional chase games and (as you can see in our next photo), taking very cozy naps together.

February Highlights

For Valentine's Day week, we had snuggly cats (Simon and Mac pictured here), special macarons from maca (rose with vanilla, chocolate strawberry and taro) and perfectly pink and red desserts from French Press (lemon poppyseed and raspberry torte, red velvet cheesecake). We also debuted our Blind Date with a Book display and had a special Valentine's Day book selection.

One of our most popular drinks lately is our raspberry mocha (rebranded for Valentine's Day as the Raspberry Kiss), which features Atomic espresso, raspberry and chocolate flavors and your milk of choice. It pairs beautifully with a book like An Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love!

Above and Below: A closer look at our fantastic Valentine's Day and Black History Month book displays! Particular favorites from these displays are This Is How You Lose the Time War and Lot, and you can browse all of our in-stock books here.

Finally, our relationship-themed newsletter would not be complete without a recent photo of our beloved mother-and-daughter pair, Elinor (mother, under the chair) and Bug (daughter, sitting on the chair). Bug is still quite petite, but look at how much she has grown! (And how much they still look alike!) One of the best parts of our Valentine's Day weekend was observing the wide range of loving relationships being celebrated in the cat lounge, from long-term romantic relationships to close-knit family and best friends. Thank you for choosing to spend these special moments here!

Looking for More Updates?

We're also on Instagram! Follow us at @asanctuarycafe

The Final Photo

Brothers Fitzwilliam ("Fitz") and Theodore ("Theo") from the "New Cat" group are mostly pretty independent, but they stuck close together at the very beginning of their time here and they still find one or two moments a day to overlap in the same spot, often with mutual nuzzling and grooming.