It’s Like Crack…Only Legal!
Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am addicted to Starbucks. I am not proud of this and for many years I have been in a state of denial about this, but one road to recovery is to admit you have a problem and then deal with that problem.
I didn’t always like the crack coffee; in fact, I spent most of my formative years avoiding anything remotely close to a coffee. Hot tea was pushing it, but then I got my first teaching job with a 90 minute/day commute at a school with no textbooks and no curriculum. In other words, anytime I wasn’t in the car I was busy grading and planning for the next day. I stayed up late and got up early and realized I was going to either have to try speed or caffeine. Wisely, I chose the substance that was least likely to result in my termination and the revocation of my teaching certificate…although, I do teach in a predomintaly Mormon state, come to think of it, so speed might have been the wiser choice.
That first year I taught downtown and so tried to keep my coffee consumption truly urban by only frequenting locally owned coffee shops. Why are downtown areas the only places for these? And why is Phoenix, a HUGE metropolitan area, only recently buying into the idea of locally owned/grown? I digress once more…
I did not start drinking from the Devil’s cup until my second year of teaching. I landed a gig on the same side of town on which I lived, so I suddenly found myself with limited options for my burgeoning habit. I avoided Starbucks as long as I could, believing them to be the epitomy of big business naredowells. I first broke down when a student presented me with a gift card for Christmas; who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? So I resisted for all of about ten minutes and promptly drove myself down the street to a Starbucks where the sweet, sweet nectar of Beelzebub washed down my throat forcing me to sign a blood oath to never, never stray. And so, it came to pass that for the last 7 years I have tried various forms of self-intervention: buy my own coffee and coffee pot, only go on certain days, only go when I have a gift card, only drink it if someone else bought it, etc. All of which has resulted in your stock going up if you happen to own Starbucks’ stock; as I have sinned over and over again for I am weak!
It isn’t even like Starbucks’ coffee or speciality drinks are even that fantastic. I’ve actually had far better at lesser known coffee shops. However, there is something about the Starbucks’ package that appeals to my asthetic. I love the feel of the warm drink in my hand as I lead a discussion in my literature classes or when flipping through the latest Vogue. Not only am I an addict, but I am also, apparently, a snob, which is a different topic for a different day.
My husband and I are really trying to more concious of where we spend our money this coming school year; it kills us to look at our online bank statements and realize how much money we are throwing away on silly things like coffee when we could be saving that $40+ a week to buy a Mac Book or take a vacation. We’ve vowed to only buy Starbucks on the Fridays of pay weeks, which equates to twice a month. I just got the DT’s writing that since as early as May we were going EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!
We recently purchased a new espresso machine in an attempt to move away from buying our drinks out. We have had an espresso machine for a few years now, but it was a fairly inexpensive one Brian bought on the fly once while grocery shopping. (Seriously, men are far worse with the impulse purchasing!) We used it occassionaly, but it was always a complete afterthought. This summer we started using it more as a way to ease ourselves into the rehab; no way could I face a new school year going cold turkey!
After using it a few times, we realized that if we wanted to truly get serious about breaking our ties to Starbucks we were going to need a machine that could make more than one drink at a time and in a more efficient, less noisy and messy way. To that end, we did some serious internet searching and found that opinions and price points widely varied, but we kept coming back to a Cuisinart model that was moderately priced and got great reviews.
Last weekend Macy’s had a great sale, which included an extra 40% off a ton of already reduced kitchen applicances like…ESPRESSO MACHINES!!! Early Saturday morning we hauled ourselves out of bed and made a beeline for the closest store to begin the first day of the rest of our lives.
Meet our savior: 
We’ve made a few dozen coffee drinks since last weekend and each has been tasty and the rival of anything I’ve ever had at Starbucks. It could be that Brian is a master barrista or that each drink he makes is made with love (yeah, I just threw up a little in my mouth as well), but I did have a Starbucks yesterday (pay week) and while it pains me to admit this, it was just mediocre at best. Could it be that I am on the road to recovery? Did I really just need to get a decent home machine in order to throw off the shackles of my bondage to big business coffee?
Another bonus of the Cuisinart model over our former, is that it is easy to clean and is relatively quiet. I no longer fear Brian whipping up some yummy lattes and waking Isabella in the frenzy. It also has a water resevoir (see earlier paragraph about being a snob) that holds enough water for 20+ coffee drinks, which nearly made Brian weep for joy for he is a man who does not enjoy tasks that require more than a few steps. It was beginning to cripple him that our old mahine required the addition of water each. time. he made a drink (for shame!). Another bonus for Brian is that it is really easy to clean in ONE wipe of the cloth!
And oh, goodness me, the drinks themselves are heavenly, smooth and just the right combo of bitter and sweet. I am seriously considering buying another machine to leave at school because one/morning is simply not enough. The only problem is I have not actually used the machine yet…Brian has made them all so far, and while he keeps threatening to stop until I attempt one I cannot bring myself to try it out. Not because I fear the machine (I did work in a coffee shop right after college), but because I cannot give up the idea that really good coffee is made by someone else, and even though I am no longer spending $20+ a week for it, I still want the same quality of service I have come to expect when I drink my coffee. Is that too much for a girl to ask?
Filed under Coffee Addict, Cool stuff, Stores | Comment (0)Reason 5,999,999 why I HATE Walmart
On a recent trip to the Midwest I decided to pack lightly, and by packing lightly I mean that we checked four bags between the two of us just to have room to haul home the loot our daughter scored from her grandparents. In the interest of not over-packing I opted to take a small amount of diapers and then purchase some upon our arrival.
Given that we were visiting a sort of backwater town the only giant retailer around is Walmart, which is just SO not my shopping preference. It is made worse by the fact that the town we were visiting has an inordinate amount of redneck/white trash to begin with who love nothing more than going into town to hunt down a deal at WM. On the night we arrived we stopped at the NEW Walmart on the east side of town only to witness what must be a burgeoning past time of the locals: jumping the posts at the front of the store while emitting a rebel yell and then grabbing your best girl and giving her a great big smooch while pinching her butt. What else can one do after such an exhilarating display of bravado?
I am not too picky when it comes to the diapers I use. Generally, we stick to Pampers or the Costco brand, which my sources tell me are actually manufactured by Huggies. However, the Walmart brand was $14 for 104 diapers, so given that I am trying to be a bit frugal given the hearty decline of our economy and the 1/2% of a point pay increase I am going to receive this coming school year (Please, you don’t even want to know what that amounts to per paycheck! Let’s just say that given the price of gas these days that minuscule “raise” will essentially end up costing ME!) I figured why not? And really why not? Doesn’t Walmart pride itself on its quality, American made products? Wouldn’t I actually be better serving our economy by buying “local” so to speak?
You can imagine where this is going: the budget friendly, American economy supporting diapers were a complete disaster. So long as I was willing to change my kid’s diaper every twenty minutes things were glorious and I could bask in my frugality, but if we went oh, I don’t know, a couple hours without a change it was like Niagara Falls. Both my dad and I were peed on; me on the plane coming home…good times, Walmart, good times!
And forget about your child making it through the night without a leak. Granted, my little one sleeps a good solid 12 hours/night and pees a lot through the night, so a diaper has to be of pretty good quality to withstand her bladder’s action. I discovered on the morning after our second night that it was best to deprive her of any liquids lest I should find myself doing a load of laundry EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! And goodness knows my parents’ washer/dryer set circa 1970 is not that energy efficient, so the diapers would end up costing me and the environment. A hex upon you, cheap Walmart products!
As I slathered on some butt paste to thwart any possible diaper rash that might crop up due to the fact that my baby girl had been immersed in her own pee for hours I realized that you can’t trust a product that has been created under fair labor laws. Oh no, if you truly want quality it must come from some third world nation where the two year old crafting your product never sees the light of day and is fed some unrecognizable gruel whilst “the man” stands over him threatening to kill his mom and baby sister if he doesn’t work faster. That kid understands the necessity of a job well done, which means my kid, living it up in the States, won’t have to sleep in her urine covered pj’s and sheet anymore.
Filed under Baby stuff, Stores | Comment (1)
