The Latest From Your Friendly Neighborhood Starbucks

Tuesday was a big launch for Starbucks, with a new drink, lots of new merchandise, and a renewed focus on coffee (even a new way to brew coffee!). It's a lot to take in and as your unofficial Sbux guide, I thought I should highlight a few things so you're not completely bowled over the next time you wander into a sea of green aprons...

*Dark Cherry Mocha
The new drink, which is essentially a mocha (espresso, chocolate syrup, steamed milk), except it includes an additional cherry flavored syrup. I was terrified to try it as I don't like cherries and feared it would taste like cough syrup. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The cherry flavor is subtle (and you could always ask for fewer pumps of the syrup if you're really leery). It comes topped with whip cream and chocolate curls as well.

*Fun New Stuff
Tons of new mugs, tumblers, and cups in fun spring patterns and colors.

The spring themed cherry blossom gift card is a personal favorite (makes me harken back to our cherry blossom themed wedding!), but you'll have to check it out for yourself in a store because I can't find a photo yet online. UPDATE: Click here to see what the card looks like.

*New Coffee
The featured coffee at the moment is Peru Chanchamayo (rhymes with "on the bayou). I'm a fan because the acidity of the coffee is really low (so it's less bitter than others). In fact, NavyGuy and I busted open our bag this morning (the renegade Starbucks in the Safeway in Anacortes had it on the stands already on Sunday night... they never follow the rules and tick me off every time I'm in there... but I'm not above taking advantage of their rule-breaking).

*Bold Picks Coffee
Starbucks is highlighting a different coffee each week for the next eight weeks. They're obviously trying to get people to try different varieties, so every Starbucks should be brewing the standard Pike Place coffee as well as the Bold Pick of the Week. This week it's Organic Yukon Blend. If you're a plain 'ole coffee drinker and you frequent Starbucks, there's actually a deal to be had here - if you buy at least one 12oz cup of each bold coffee (so one cup each week for the next eight weeks), you can get a free pound of any of the Bold coffees. Just ask for a coffee passport at your Starbucks and be sure to get the coffee stamps each time you try one of the Bold Picks. Obviously, if you're strictly a white mocha kinda person, this isn't a deal for you, but, if you're a brewed coffee drinker who often goes to Starbucks, this is a great way to get free coffee (assuming you're going into Starbucks at least once a week to begin with).

The last bit of news is that Starbucks introduced a "pour-over" brewing method. The idea is that you should always be able to get a freshly brewed cup of coffee no matter when you walk into a Starbucks. So, let's say, you're at my Bucks - all we brew on a daily basis is regular Pike Place. We're not a very busy store, and it's silly for us to be brewing more than one kind of coffee every 25 minutes (which is how often Starbucks makes a new pot of brew coffee). So, using the pour-over method, we have ground Decaf Pike Place ready to go, and if you come in wanting a Decaf cup 'o joe, we'll make you your own individual cup of coffee. The ground coffee goes in a small filter, and then we pour the hot water over the grounds and the coffee brews (drips) right into your own cup. (Essentially, the baristas have become human coffee pots, because we're doing by hand, what a normal coffee pot does, automatically.) We'll see how it works out. Right now people are way confused and think we're making them instant coffee (it's not), or charging them more (we're not).

Whew! This post ended up being a heck of a lot longer than I expected. As always, I'm not trying to convince any of you to buy Starbucks. I just know that before I worked there, Starbucks intimidated me. I never knew what to order, I didn't know the lingo, I didn't know what I might like, and I'd usually just end up getting a hot chocolate. So hopefully these little updates shed some light on the 'Bux, and help those of you who may also share my weird fears.

Also - feel free to ask any other questions you may have about Starbucks! Either post them in the comments, or ask anonymously on Formspring.

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Tuesday

First off, whoa people. Whoa. It's just a pig. Can the pig-lovers and bacon-eaters find a way to get along? P.S. I love when posts about tea-cup pigs get more comments than an entire week's worth of posts about my actual life. I should really stick to the inane more often. :)

Moving on, I had my first day back at Starbucks. I'd been gone two weeks. Not two months, not two years. And yet, I felt useless. Oh I wasn't rusty making the drinks, and I could still run the cash register, but I wasn't on top of things. My boss had done some rearranging of our supplies, so every time I tried to restock something, I had to root around for a while or just give up and ask her where we kept it now. And there's new paperwork for our cleaning tasks. And next week Starbucks is launching a whole new way to brew coffee (a topic for a later discussion), which all the other baristas have known about for two weeks. And I'm just finding out today. I'd left at the top of my field - the employee everyone else came to with questions, and who everyone counted on - and now, not.

How much more of a transition is it going to be when / if I get back in the classroom full-time? I left teaching at the top of my field. I was teaching an advanced placement class. I was well-respected by my students, my department, my administrators. People came to me for advice, wanted my opinion on lesson plans and classroom management. I, and excuse my blatant lack of humility, was a really freaking awesome teacher. I knew how to change the toner in the copy machine for God's sake - do you know how high that will rank you in teacher world!?!?

And now I've been gone for almost two years. I keep working to get myself back in the classroom, but truthfully, it's absolutely terrifying. For as much as schools haven't changed in two years (hell, two hundred years), I feel vastly behind. I love hearing stories from HistoryGirlie about what's going on at the school I used to be a part of, but it also makes me panic. She talks about technology I'm barely familiar with, being used as an integral part of instruction (using a flip camera to teach geography? say whu?). She tells tales of enlightened discussions and debates over grading and best practices and assessments, and the concepts that are becoming common place in many classrooms. And I don't have insights to add to those discussions anymore. Nor do I even know what the "right answer" is for when a future principal interviews me for a job and asks me my views on grading or best practices or assessments.

Am I going off my nutty here? Who else is currently "not working in their field" (the oh-so-clever euphemism we use to hide the unpleasant truth that we're currently stocking shelves / waiting tables / making coffee or doing anything but what we majored in in college)? Are you worried about the knowledge gap between what you knew then, and what you're expected to know to hold the same job now? Is this just a worry of mine because I'm an anal-retentive (yes, hyphenated) perfectionist who can't bear the thought of completing a job to less than stellar reviews? (Or this is just a worry because I stood around all day searching for the extra coffee filters and using my mind for little else but random worries?)

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Monday

*Met with a new babysitting client today. Apparently, I seemed trustworthy so she and her husband went out for lunch and left me to read a book on their couch while the 15 month old napped. Little one slept soundly for two hours, and I went home a few dollars richer.

*NavyGuy's pox arm is still not right. He checked with the Doc today and Doc thinks perhaps the shot "didn't take." And the conspiracy deepens...

*Tomorrow I go back to Starbucks after a glorious two week vacation. My barista life continues. For how long I don't know - I'm still waiting to get my permanent teaching license so I can go back to subbing, but it's in the hands of the bureaucrats at the moment, so who knows how long it will take. The Starbucks income is dwindling as of late (not only because of my frequent vacationing), but also because now that the holiday season is over, Target has drastically cut back on hours for its employees. So my 30 hours weeks are down to 18, maybe 20 hours if I'm lucky. Which means I'm half excited to go back to work tomorrow to make some moola, half bummed that I have to don the khakis and green apron again.

*The bad news continues - we couldn't go see Tally pup this past weekend. The trainer was hosting an event and didn't think he'd have time to show us around and show off what Tally had learned so far. I almost burst into tears over the whole thing - I miss that dog so much! How is that possible? She's a dog. And I've known her for all of five months. But the house is so quiet without her, and everyday I come up with some new completely irrational legitimate concern. Is Tally adjusting to the new food alright? What if she's not sleeping well at night? What if they aren't cleaning her ears? Lab ears can get very waxy, and what if Tally's ears are getting too waxy? And then she can't hear the lessons they're trying to teach her, and they think she's untrainable, but really, she just can't hear well? NavyGuy is starting to wonder if ten years of an unruly dog would have been less painful than three months of me, without the dog...

What up with all of you? Any news to report? Stories to share? Complaints to lodge?

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Starbucks Shenanigans

I warned you that the blogging would be light while we're home in Wisconsin... and I'm nothing if not good on my word. Today is our last full day in the cheese state, so hopefully this week, things will be back to normal around here, with lots of my postings and rantings.

To finish up our air travel here, I promised a Starbucks story. We all know I've become a bit of a coffee snob. I like my tall, non-fat, no whip mocha from Starbucks, and other mochas just don't cut it. They don't have the same dark chocolate flavor that I've come to crave, and frankly, I can't observe non-Bux baristas and know if they're making my drink up to standards (whereas I now torture Sbux employees by hovering near the handoff counter to make certain that they add the milk to the espresso shots within the required 10 seconds - so the shots don't burn and taste bitter). Anyway, NavyGuy and I had arrived at the Minneapolis airport after our first leg of the trip from Seattle. It was 5:30am central time, which meant it felt like 3:30 in the morning to me. And I hadn't slept. And I was cranky.

We exit the airplane, and immediately see a 'Bux. Our next flight boards in about thirty minutes, and is conveniently in a different far-away terminal. So what would you do in this instance?

Let's pretend this is a Choose Your Own Adventure Book - I loved those as a kid. So you've come to the bottom of the page, and you have two options:

Option A: Get your mocha from the Starbucks directly in front of you. It could be a stressful rush to your next flight, but you'd be assured of your caffeine.

Option B: Go directly to the next terminal where your flight is, and then search for a 'Bux. This option guarantees you'll be on time for boarding, but there's a slight risk the other terminal may be Sbux-less.

As you can probably guess from the title, NavyGuy encouraged Option B, while I pleaded (to no avail) for Option A.

We chose the wrong option, and like an adventure book, came to the last page in the story very quickly. The entire walk over to our next terminal I whined, moaned, threatened NavyGuy with certain death, and generally played the obnoxious wife, should we arrive at our next gate without nary a Starbucks in sight. And of course, our terminal had none. There was a Caribou Coffee, but by this point, I had gotten worked up enough that nothing - NOTHING - short of my Starbucks mocha was going to satisfy me. And it wouldn't have been such an issue had we NOT PASSED RIGHT BY ONE AND HAD SOMEONE LISTENED TO HIS WIFE WHO'S ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!

NavyGuy offered to go get me anything in the current terminal, but by now I had joined the Hall of Fame of passive aggressive women and was playing the martyr as if I were up for an Oscar. The "no, I'm fine" game, wherein I'm anything but fine. Finally he gave up and let me sit there stewing in my crankiness.

With about twenty minutes until boarding, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Glaringly, I grabbed my purse, stared down NavyGuy, and said, "I'm going for coffee." He looked bewildered but knew better than to try and reason with me at this point.

I started off, having decided on secret Option C - find a different 'Sbux somewhere and get my mocha! Well, by the time I power-walked through half the Minneapolis airport and found a random 'Bux, I was sweating so profusely I had to settle for an iced mocha, and do a walk-sprint back to the gate so we could board the plane. NavyGuy thought I had run all the way back to the original store, and merely shook his head at my pigheadedness determination as we boarded our flight to Milwaukee.

All's well that end's well, but an important lesson was learned that early morning in Minnesota - do not tangle or cross a sleep-deprived NavyWife... and go to the first Starbucks you come across!

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Even the stupid customers can teach you something...

Did you know why people sometimes drink their hot coffee drinks with a straw? To keep the coffee from staining their teeth!

I know! I always thought they were dumb-asses who were just out to burn the back of their mouth instead of the front. I mean, how ridonkulous does it look to stick a giant green straw in your tall-sized mocha? But, thanks to my most moronic customer to date, I actually learned something.

Wait, I haven't told you about Ms. AnnoyingWench? Ms-I-bring-my-tiny-dog-that-looks-like-a-hairless-cat-into-Target-because-I-have-no-real-friends-who-will-shop-with-me? Ms-Over-nourished-and-under-showered-jerky-jerk? Ms-lets-see-if-I-can-blame-all-of-my-problems-and-issues-on-the-innocent-Starbucks-employee-today?

Yeah, so Ms. AnnoyingWench strolls in, with her scary hairless dog in the seat part of the cart, and her chip firmly attached to her shoulder. First up, she wants to know if we have any more tumblers. Well, there's lots on the shelves there, or gosh, see all those baskets right in front of you? With the cups inside? Those'd be tumblers too.

Well, then she was upset that all the Starbucks tumblers cost more than $10. (Ma'am, you're buying snobby coffee cups... if you want to spend $3.99 for a tumbler, head to Walmart.) She finally picks out one she wants. Then, Ms. AnnoyingWench proceeds to tell me her coffee order, which she prefaces by saying she's on a diet (good idea Ma'am). She orders a white mocha (one of the highest calorie drinks on the menu), made with half-n-half milk (more fat), with real caramel sauce mixed in (definitely encouraged on all diets), and then topped with more real caramel. But no whipped cream. Cuz, ya know, she's "on a diet." (I had to physically freeze my eyeballs in place to keep them from rolling back into my skull permanently.)

So, my boss is on the espresso bar, so she makes her drink for her (after Ms. AnnoyingWench yelled at me four times to rinse out her new tumbler, and "no, I don't want the stupid paper inside the cup, I don't care if it has the washing and usage instructions"...). So, we serve her her drink, she heads to the condiment bar to futz with it, and I think the hell is over. Ha!

Ms. AnnoyingWench starts pitching a high holy fit because she purchased a tumbler that has a lid without space for a straw. And she "never ever EVER drinks her coffee without a straw because you know, it STAINS your teeth"... (and I'm standing there trying not to think about the fact that stained teeth are the least of her worries). So what does she do? She violently slides the tumbler back across the counter at me and wants to exchange it for a different one. Which of course is more expensive than the original one she picked out, so I have to re-ring the whole transaction, my boss has to remake the "diet" drink, and she continues to stand there glaring at me, and bitching about how anyone would make a tumbler without a straw hole, and what kind of operation are you running here that you can't even do a return in three seconds or less, and...

At this point I had literally stepped out of my body and was simply going through the motions, lest I lose my shiznit and throw her goddamn tumbler at her ugly hairless dog. Ms. AnnoyingWench had now cost us an extra drink, a $15 tumbler (cuz we couldn't sell the original one she'd bought now that there had been a drink in it), and most of my sanity. Oh, and did I mention that the original ruined tumbler was our last Valentine's one? Wench.

When she FINALLY left the area, I gave my boss one look and walked into the back storage room to breath and blow for a second. My boss applauded my stunningly calm performance... and luckily, I've never seen Ms. AnnoyingWench at work since.

But the best part? Besides the fact that Ms. AnnoyingWench finally explained to me why some people use a straw to drink their hot coffee? My boss called her boss, and sent me home at the end of my shift with the ruined Valentine's Day tumbler!!!! (Washed, sanitized, bleached, and exorcised, of course.) And justice is done :)

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My final say for the day...

Whew! A very productive blogging day if I do say so myself. There are a few more stories from the weekend that need their telling, but I've made a significant dent in the list. I'll leave you with a few random snippets...

*I have to go back to work tonight. In fact, I'm probably steaming milk or cleaning dishes while you read this. It should go without saying that I'm not happy about this fact. I've been off since last week Thursday and it's been blissful. The only coffee I've been in contact with has been sipped out of my own cup while standing on the customer side of the counter.

*Tally pup doesn't have worms. The vet called NavyGuy today and little girl is a-ok. Guess the $80 in tests and medicine was totally worth it.

*There will be bathroom re-do photos coming soon. I got bored already with NavyGuy gone and me home alone, so I decided to redecorate the upstairs guest bath (not a good precedent to set I know, but such is life). It's going to look super awesome, just wait!

*I'm hosting my first spouses' club meeting next week. Very nerve-wracking. Luckily I can put NavyGuy to work helping me get the house ready, but I still need to create an evite, come up with some food ideas, and decide on an outfit that screams, "casual, sophisticated, and effortlessly gorgeous, yet won't show sweat stains or any possible food spills."

*Is it wrong that I'm already really excited to go back to Wisconsin in a few weeks?

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Cheers and Jeers

Jeers... to having to do bathroom checks at work now. Apparently, in order to "save money," the talking heads at Target came up with the brilliant plan to have the Starbucks girls do the mid-day bathroom cleaning. So now along with "steamed milk" and "poured coffee," I'll be able to add "scrubbed toilets" to my resume! (Sense the sarcasm... let it roll around in your ears for a minute.)

Jeers... to missing Stamp Club because NavyGuy had a night flight. Tally had already spent most of the day by herself, so I had to come home and be with her instead of getting my craft on. Grrr.

(Tiny) Jeers... to Tally. For acting like an actual dog, not the perfect puppy we've been honeymooning with for the last three months. After being cooped up all day, it's not surprising that she's been driving me nutty all night long with the jumping, and the nipping, and the stepping on my laptop, and the frantic tearing around the house like a toddler on a sugar high on Christmas. (Of course now that I've typed this, she's decided to curl up on my lap and look adorable. Damn puppy dog eyes. They'll get'cha every time.)

Cheers... to having Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for breakfast. That's all I got for cheers. It was really more of a jeerful day. Bah.

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Bits and Pieces

*The espresso machine (fancy name = Verissimo) went beserko all over itself at work today. My co-worker Jennifer was in the process of making a drink when the Verissimo started making the most god-awful grinding sound. We opened the contraption to take a look, and the beast gave a loud pop and a spark! She and I nearly had simultaneous heart attacks, and then read the message screen on the machine: piston error. Lucky for me, this all went down about eight minutes before my shift ended, so it became completely not my problem. Ah the joys of just being a minimum wage worker bee... (no, I did feel bad that I had to leave them with a Starbucks incapable of making any beverage with espresso shots... but not bad enough that I was going to stay and fight the Verissimo!)

*There was also the memorable customer who walked up to the counter, looked at the menu boards (which say Starbucks), looked at my apron (which says Starbucks), and looked at the entire coffee area (which SCREAMS Starbucks), and promptly asked in a forlorn voice, "Oh, is this Starbucks coffee?". I wanted to say no, but I was afraid that might make her stay. (Unfortunately, she stayed even after I said yes and then proceeded to bitch about Starbucks coffee during the entire transaction.)

*NavyGuy got his H1N1 vaccine yesterday, and apparently the hospital on base was also handing out anthrax vaccines like candy, so he got himself hooked up. I can't decide whether to be relieved that he's theoretically safe from an anthrax attack, or disturbed that he needs a vaccine to prevent him from a potential anthrax attack.

*Also, just in case you didn't have enough doubts about the United States Navy, let me paint you a picture... Yesterday, NavyGuy was sitting in his jet waiting to take off on a flight. Apparently, some valve on the plane wasn't working. So the mechanics were called in to trouble shoot. And their solution? Bang on the valve with a broom stick. Yup. A broom stick. Isn't it nice to know your tax dollars are being spent wisely?

*I will be completely unreachable between the hours of 11am and 1pm tomorrow. UNreachable. The world can end around me, and I will still be relaxing at the spa getting a massage. No, seriously, not a metaphor - I have a massage tomorrow! NavyGuy's parents got me a spa gift certificate for my birthday last year and I'm finally getting around to using it. And it's gonna be legendary.

*Tally pup also has a big day tomorrow. In anticipation of NavyGuy hopefully getting some time off before he deploys, we want to find a place to board Tally, so we can relax and know she's in good hands while we're gone. I found a "canine resort" that seems awesome, but they require a meeting with potential doggies ahead of time, as well as a temperament test. So Tally has to be on her best behavior tomorrow and win over the resort folk - wish her luck.

What's up with you guys? :)

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Black Friday

Have you ever worked retail on the day after Thanksgiving?

I would not recommend it.

People are crazy. Ca-raaaay-zeee.

Like these two, going to Target at 5am to buy dvds and three dollar toasters...



Teehee... I mean, what smart bargain shoppers! :) This is actually Sister and Brother-in-Law in line at MY STARBUCKS at 6:30am on Black Friday. Mom, Sis, and BIL hit the Target sales and then got in line for coffees just in time to be my customers. And, check out that awesome blackboard sign above Sister's head... uh huh... that's right - my most beautiful Starbucks sign ever.

And here I am in my green apron. Slinging syrups.



Such a proud moment.

Truthfully, the Starbucks portion of my day was kind of fun. I was working with three other great girls, and the guests were pleasant once they got to us. I mean, we were their source of food and caffeine! And we didn't have to tell them that we were out of 32 inch plasma screen televisions. So all of the customers were jolly and things went swimmingly.

Then, I had to work the sales floor. Blah. Boring. All I did was straighten shelves for three hours. Oh, and re-shelve dvds that people had intended to buy, changed their mind about, and then subtly left in the seasonal department behind a Christmas tree display. Plus I swear - every customer in the store who had an indecipherable accent decided to ask me... something... usually I couldn't figure out what they were requesting so I just said we were out of everything. Oops.

Anyway, I survived my first retail Black Friday, but let's pray to god that I'll be spending next Black Friday on the opposite side of the check-out counter :)

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Starbucks Holiday Launch

I'll spare you all the advertising schpeal... but I do have to show off some of the cool Starbucks holiday merchandise that I got to set up last night! Yes, as part of my final step in completing my Advanced Store Training, I needed to complete a "set." A set is when Starbucks starts new drinks, signs, merchandise, etc. The biggest one is their holiday one, which includes tons of signs, new pastries, all new cups and coffees, loads of decorations, and a zillion other things that you have to get set up and put out before the store opens the day of the launch.

Nicole, my boss, put me in charge of this launch, and it was a doozy. I spent 5 hours yesterday sorting through boxes of tumblers, coffee gift sets, and holiday bears. There were two chalkboard signs to re-do (which usually take me forever to design because of my perfectionist streak attention to detail), snowflake clings to hang, and holiday mugs, tumblers, gift cards, and coffee sets to display. Thankfully, Nicole helped a bit so we could get done on time. And I do have to say - whoa. The store looks freakin' awesome now. All festive and holiday-fied. Because of Starbucks' proprietary rules, I couldn't take any photos, so you'll all have to come visit me to see how beautiful it turned out!

In the meantime, here's a few of the new holiday items that caught my eye...The Tazo Tea sampler is a perfect example of where the packaging is really what sold me - the wooden bamboo box that holds a selection of teas would be awesome on your kitchen counter, or could even pull double duty as storage for office supplies or bathroom goodies.


Good luck actually finding one of these cold to-go cups in a store... we sold all 15 of ours before noon today... (hint: you can order them from Starbucks online, or if you get really desperate, they're bound to start showing up on Ebay pretty soon.)I love the red cup design this year - the ornaments, the two-tone pine tree branches, and the overall theme of "wishing" is just smile-inducing.

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New Food, Free Food, and a Place to Set Food

*Next week Tuesday, Starbucks launches its new holiday drink... the Caramel Brulee Latte. Before we sell any new drinks, we baristas have to practice making them and tasting them, so that we can speak truthfully when guests ask us what they taste like or if we enjoy them. And enjoy them we do! I tasted one for the first time today, and I can tell they are going to be pretty popular. The caramel brulee latte is espresso shots, steamed milk, and a new caramel brulee syrup, all topped with whipped cream and crunchy caramel pieces. The drink is pretty sweet, which is great for those of us who don't jive on regular coffee; for those of you who don't like as much sweetness, just ask for it with fewer pumps of syrup. It's sort of like a caramel macchiato, but the flavors are all mixed together, unlike the more layered macchiato. Even if I didn't work for the company, I'd recommend you try this new holiday treat next Tuesday when it debuts!

*NavyGuy and I had dinner at Applebee's tonight, because the restaurant gave a FREE MEAL to every military veteran today (in case you missed it - it's Veteran's Day people). Not surprisingly, the restaurant was packed, and the bartender we talked to said it had literally been non-stop chaos since they opened the doors at lunch time. I'm not surprised that the Applebee's in our area was so busy, considering there's a Navy base right down the road, but I hope that lots of veterans got to take advantage today. Way to go Applebee's... for saying to all those who've served our country, thank you... and now have some free hot wings and cheeseburgers!

*I've been searching online - for weeks - for a new coffee table for the family room. We have been using my small, rickety, found-it-in-the-hallway-of-a-dorm, 1970s coffee table. And while it's held up okay, before the masses descend in two weeks (Thanksgiving), we wanted to upgrade to something a bit more substantial. So I did what any sensible, 20th century shopper would do - a thorough internet search, comparing prices, sizes, shipping fees, storage capacity, design elements, and NavyGuy's all-important "can it hold my soda can?" test. What did I find? Nothing that fit all of my requirements.

So, losing patience, NavyGuy and I hit Ashley Home Furnishings tonight before dinner, just to see if, on a whim, they might have a solution. I kid you not, 87 seconds after we walked into the store, we found this:The perfect coffee table. (Not, not the sketchy woman lounging on the couch.) It is everything I wanted. Square. Dark-brown. Leather. Ottoman. With storage. In the form of four pull-out drawers, thus creating the perfect combination of being able to set stuff on top of the table, and not having to move all that stuff when you want to access the storage spaces to get at your blanket or stash of Halloween candy you've been hiding from your husband... oops.

Anyway, it's due to arrive on Saturday, and I'm positively giddy. Plus, in order to appease NavyGuy (and meet his one coffee table requirement), I get to shop for a decorative tray tomorrow so he can set his drink on the table without fear of it spilling! This coffee table just gets better and better!

P.S. Tally's still great. Oh, and she agrees with me that the coffee table is awesome.

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Pop Quiz

How do you politely decline a sample of coffee?

a) "No thank you."
b) Glare. "Ugh, no."
c) Scoff. "I ONLY drink tea."
d) "God! I am so sick of being asked if I want samples of your stupid instant coffee!!!"

If you answered a, you are welcome at my Target/Starbucks tomorrow.

If you answered b, c, and/or d, you don't need to come to Target/Starbucks because you were already there this weekend. And I'd prefer you not come back.

Pop quiz over.

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Cheers and Jeers - Starbucks Edition

Quite the day at Starbucks...

Cheers... to learning how to clean the coffee grinder. Why cheers? Because it's part of my "advanced store training," which will probably bring me only more responsibilities and headaches (as opposed to more money), but will certainly make my time as a barista more rewarding.

Jeers... to getting coffee grounds all over my pants.

Cheers... to getting to make my first promotional sign! You know - those chalkboard signs above the registers and stuff? Well, yeah, I totally got to make one. It was for Signature Hot Chocolate. I even got to draw a cup and whipped cream. And everyone said my letters were super straight. All those years of writing on classroom whiteboards...

Jeers... to the customer who sat in the cafe lobby area for twenty minutes having an OCD meltdown and refolding thirty odd napkins.

Jeers... to the seventy three year old man, wearing a helmet and carrying a skateboard, who was first cranky to myself and the other barista, and then attempted to give us a tip (one quarter) through a slight of hand magic trick... which we're not allowed to accept anyway, so his Houdini-esque performance was for naught.

Cheers... to Starbucks new VIA Ready Brew instant coffee! Trust me - this is not your grandmother's instant coffee. Stop in any Starbucks in the next couple of days and get your free sample packet (it's like those little Crystal Light lemonade drink packs that you can add to a water bottle so you can drink it at your convenience). The brew is available in Columbia (medium) roast, or Italian Roast, which is bolder. All you do is add either 8 oz of hot or cold water, and voila! A great Starbucks quality cup o' joe. Alright fine, infomercial over.

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Good grief.

FYI - when you spill an entire pitcher of caramel Frappuccino on your pants... it will cling to your pants and start to resemble vomit.

How was your day?

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Summer Love

I'm currently engaged in a deep and unexpected love affair with passion tea lemonade. We met at Starbucks, but today I took our relationship out of the office. There is now one pitcher of lemonade and one pitcher of Tazo passion tea in my fridge; mixed together, with one Splenda and some ice... ahhhhhh. Refreshing. Cool. Passionate. It may just be a summer fling, but it feels like true love.

Hey there good lookin'... what are you doing later?

*Do not mistake this for an advertisement. I refuse to pay $2.00 a cup for flavored water at an actual Starbucks, hence, my sneaky way of making my own version at home. I'm not a total company hack.

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Tuesday - Starbucks Free Pastry Day!

Even if you aren't normally a Starbucks fan, today is the day to stop in. They're offering a FREE PASTRY with your drink purchase before 10:30am. You have to take in a coupon (which you can print here), buy a drink, and almost all of the pastries are available (muffins, scones, coffee cakes, etc.). Starbucks is trying to promote their new healthier items, such as one of my favorites - the reduced fat Very Berry Coffee Cake.

I'd suggest...

A) Go early, because if the store runs out of pastries, I don't think there are any substitutes.
B) If you don't like coffee, you can always try one of the Shaken Tea Lemonade drinks (passion tea lemonade... yummmm) or a Vivano Smoothie.
C) Don't forget to bring your coupon!

Enjoy!

(Sister - I dare you not to stop on your way to work at your new office!)

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Too!!! Much!!! Coffee!!! [Crash]

Owwww.

Made every* hot Starbucks beverage today.

Was then force-fed instructed to taste each drink.

4 1/2 hours of work + 15 espresso drinks = OVERDOSE.

Could actually feel my heart pumping as I drove home.

Should I be blinking this much?

Tapped my foot, bounced, twitched, jumped, wiggled, thrashed, had full body spasms, and generally fidgeted throughout the two hours of TiVo'ed So You Think You Can Dance I watched.

Crashed hard core.

Woke up at 7:30pm craving Chinese food like a crazy person. (No explanation.)

Lesson learned.

*Yeah, maybe I didn't make every single drink, but for you Starbucks freaks, here's my new "completed" drinks list: Americanno, latte, mocha, white chocolate mocha, caramel macchiato, skinny vanilla latte, vanilla steamer, hot chocolate, caramel apple spice, chai tea latte, earl gray latte, green tea latte, awake tea latte, vanilla rooibus latte, and other combinations of syrups and espresso (ex. hazelnut latte).

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Cheers and Jeers

Cheers... to surviving another Starbucks shift! Tonight I learned how to close the store, make an Americano, pour the perfect espresso shot, steam milk, pour foam, wash a million dishes, whip up the frappuccino base, mix mocha sauce, and wash more dishes!

Jeers... to having to work tonight and tomorrow morning, thereby not getting to watch So You Think You Can Dance until tomorrow afternoon!!! Agh!!!

Jeers... to Sister allowing her company to change their name. I liked "Sports4Kids." "Playworks" makes me think they build swingsets or something. Did they consult you on this?

Cheers... to getting my butt to the gym this morning and doing some serious sweating.

Jeers... to being so sore from said sweating that now all I can do is lie in bed and whine at NavyGuy to bring me stuff.

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Tastings and More

I'm easing my way into tasting all of the Starbucks drinks. Today was another morning shift (this time with a different trainer), and she went easy on me... for the most part. I can now speak to the following beverages:

* Pike Place Regular Brew - "earthy"
(This is what we brew everyday as the plain drip coffee, and basically, it takes like coffee to me - gross. Apparently, it's a "medium" coffee, as opposed to the bold or extra bold varieties which would really put hair on my chest.)

* Espresso Shots - caramelly, nutty aftertaste
(Still pretty much tastes like coffee to me. The espresso shots come out of the Verisimo machine and are added to many of the beverages. You have to use the shots almost immediately, otherwise they "burn" and taste even more horrible. I tried a good and bad version today. Sweet Jesus they were both foul.)

* Strawberry Banana Vivano Smoothie - refreshing, fruity, and yummy
(One of the featured smoothies for the summer. It has a whole banana and protein powder, and was pretty good. We're supposed to recommend the "Very Berry Coffee Cake" as a suitable food pairing... which I also tasted just so I can truthfully tell people that it rocks!)

* Chocolate Banana Vivano Smoothie - refreshing and chocolate-y
(Best taste of the day! Not normally a banana person, but this was great. These smoothies aren't exactly diet food at 280 calories, but they would make a great breakfast shake or meal replacement item. Don't I sound like a great saleswoman?!?!? ;)
However, I still have very few useful skills behind the counter. If someone is logged into the cash register, I can usually stumble through ringing up someone's order. The saran wrap still has a leg up on me, but at least I didn't knock a muffin on the floor trying to cover it this morning. I also know how to grind and brew drip coffee, replace the cups and lids in the condiment bar, and rinse the blender cups. Woot! Progress. I also practiced my customer service by giving out samples in the lobby. I had my little tray with tiny cups of strawberry banana smoothie, and small slices of berry coffee cake, and the people loved me them! True, there were only five samples, but they flew off the plate :) Aside from dropping a petite scone under the pastry case (oops), I had a pretty successful day!

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