Starbucks

I went to Starbucks yesterday to get my Pumpkin Spice Latte and saw that they had....

THEIR CHRISTMAS DRINKS ON THE MENU!!!

Can NOT wait to try those! But I want to wait until at least after Thanksgiving. Then I planning on going each morning for one week and trying each!

Quick Update

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, hasn’t it? Part of it is due to the fact that I discovered this wonderful website – Veoh.com where you can either watch tv shows or movies online, or download them and watch them later! (Which is great because then you don’t need an internet connection to view them if you download them to your computer!) And part of it is that I’ve been spending almost the last week watching my parent’s dog Baxter, while they’re on vacation! I’ve spent most of the time at the house with Baxter and my dog Bailey and they’re a handful!

And I guess another reason why I haven’t blogged so much is because of this Weight Watchers thing. I spend a lot of time tracking points and foods, which will ultimately pay off in the end because once I know the points, I know them – I only have to find out once. It’s just all this legwork early on that’s tiring. But it’s working – I’ve lost some weight and hopefully will lose a little more.

Goals for this week:
- Continue tracking points
- Lose at least 2 pounds
- Try to eat more fruit
- To not “cheat” and check on my weight before Thursday’s meeting

I need to post more pictures. I’m sure people see my wordy entries and think “maybe I’ll check back later”. I do tend to ramble, so I get that. I like to think that the more pictures I post the easier it is for people to read it. So since I still haven’t replaced my camera cord (since Bailey destroyed it) but my parents let me use their computer, here’s a visual recap of the last few days:

I had a "I need a BIG Starbucks morning".
Taught my first "official class" last week - Word for Beginners

Reached my first Weight Watchers milestone - my first 5 pounds!
My co-worker Kearstin was on Wheel of Fortune!
We made homemade parfaits at work on Friday for our weekly meeting - YUMMY! (Darn those granolas - they were 7 or 8 points!)
It snowed a few times - the dogs love to go out and "eat" the snow.

Living in a Starbucks Wonderland

One of my most favorite things in the world is flavored coffee. I don’t drink it black and it has to have creamer and sugar in it. The coffee can be flavored or the syrup that goes into it, or both, but either way – it can’t taste like “just coffee”.

And as most people, my favorite place to get flavored coffee is Starbucks. Year round, any day of the week my drink of choice – Raspberry Mocha, hot. I don’t do anything special to the drink, but occasionally will make it low fat or non-fat milk, if I’m feeling guilty. Otherwise, I like it just the way it comes. A Mocha with a shot of Raspberry, and I’m a happy girl.

But the BEST PART??? Seasonal drinks!!!! It starts with the Pumpkin Spice latte. They usually bring it out in late September/early October, and every year, I just can’t wait until it’s finally back on the menu! The nicest surprise happened to me this year – I was just going in because I had a late night the day before and was taking Bailey to the dog park and needed a little kick. I looked up at the menu for one last chance to change from my “usual” and happened to see the Pumpkin latte!! Apparently, they had just added it a day or two before. Perfect timing!

And finally, Christmas drinks. You can pick from Gingerbread, Egg Nog, Peppermint – all just heavenly. Peppermint is actually a shot available year round, but why would you want to? Apparently, according to a co-worker, they’re also selling a non-coffee seasonal option. It’s hot apple cider, but they mix caramel and cinnamon in, and it tastes exactly like you’re drinking a caramel apple! Ohhhh myyyyy…

This wonderful co-worker went to Starbucks on her lunch break (she likes their sandwhiches) and without any prior knowledge to me, brought me back a Pumpkin Spice Latte! Just because she wanted to! I shared this story with my boss because she’s about 10 times more addicted to Starbucks than I am, and I knew she would appreciate the nice gesture. And then, to top it all off, my boss calls in the next morning to say she’s running late, but because she was making a Starbucks stop and wanted to know if I wanted an Egg Nog latte! She remembered me mentioning in my “story” that it was my favorite Christmas flavor, and what was I supposed to say – no thanks??? No way!!

I just can’t wait until we get into the “snowy season” and I can walk down the street (not even a mile!) and get a nice, warm Christmasy latte and warm up while watching the snow fall. Sounds wonderful.

Birthday Sparkles!

I had a GREAT birthday!! I really happen to be surrounded by people that want to make me happy and enjoy seeing me happy. It all started off at work...

This is how my office looked when I came in...sparkles everywhere!

I had a banner taped to the front of my desk!

These little shiny stars were EVERYWHERE!! People were tracking these all through the hallway...even into the bathroom!

All of the handles on all my cabinets had curly ribbons.

The other angle of my office, with stars and balloons!

My boss brought me my favorite Starbucks - Raspberry Mocha!!

The stars even made it on my keyboard!

Messing around with my shiny stars!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner at the Sunbird Restaurant, overlooking the Springs!

Another view of the city!

I got my favorite flowers from my mom, and Justin! I love tulips!!!

And Justin knew I liked flowers, so he got me a kit where I could grow my own!

And apparently it's not even done yet! My parents took me to dinner tonight, and Justin is taking me to dinner tomorrow!!! I LOVE my 25th birthday, and it was just amazing.

And to top it all off, Justin is willing to watch MAMA MIA with me tonight!!! :-) Gotta run!