Tis the Season to be Starbucked?

To keep up with the "corporate whoring" at Christmas I picked up a new Starbucks Christmas tree ornament today. There are two new ones...so I'm sure I'll be picking up the other one any day now! (and yes I know I shouldn't be buying myself these things this close to Christmas, but I can't risk the chance that no one will buy them for me and then they'll be sold out!)

Today's newbie:

Today's newbie on the tree:

Ornaments from years past on our tree this year:

The snow globe one really must be protected by the miracle of the corporate whore because all of my other snow globes were broken when we moved across the country (too cold, liquids froze and busted the glass) but it was the only one to survive the trip!

Shopping with the girls

As most of you have probably read either on my other blog or on Angie's blog, there was some girl time spent on Saturday that involved two of my favorite corporate obsessions (yes I know I have issues!)...lululemon and Starbucks.

Thanks to my girl Tiffaney's lovely birthday gift I had a lulu gift card burning a whole in my purse, so I was excited to go in and find something new. I had picked out a warm-up jacket online, but in reality it wasn't as cute or as long as I thought. That was OK though because they have these new to/from jackets that were really quite cute, long and less sporty so I can wear it for many more occasions. :)

This is the Full Medal Jacket. Cute, right?

I particularly love the high collar, the dual layer long sleeve cuffs, and the length...my tushy always gets cold. :)

I also finally got a new BPA-free water bottle. Yaaieee for chemical-free drinking at the gym! I like the new bottle design...all covered with lulu affirmations (such as "friends are more important than money." nice.)

What I learned at Starbucks today...

...all this time, if I'd just registered my card, I could have been getting my extra espresso shots and vanilla syrup for free!

I started buying myself a Starbucks card on payday to help me limit how much I spend there in a month. Today when I used my card, the girl looked at my order and told me I should register online so I could save on my drink. Since I almost always order an extra shot and vanilla, I could be saving a dollar every time.

I'm all over it. That's like a whole extra latte by the end of the month.

As an added bonus, I discovered that I can get two free hours of wi-fi there now too...which is awesome since they are like the last place on the planet to still charge an arm & a leg for internet access.

Aaaand, I buy a pound of coffee every month for at home....with which I usually get a latte because I'm weak and can't seem to go in there without getting one...and now that latte will be freeeeeeeeeeeeee.


Enjoy the Benefits:

• Two Hours of AT&T Wi-Fi
• Refills on Brewed Coffee
• Beverage Customization
• Free Beverage with purchase of whole bean coffee

Habit Forming

Is it bad that the shift supervisor at Starbucks knew my order this morning?

Like a Doubleshot needs added Energy!

Those crazy Starbucks kids are at it again. While surfing their site after seeing this fabulous post by Mouse, I learned that my new favorite SB Summer bevvie has been pumped up.

Starbucks Doubleshot on Ice + Energy

As if the three full espresso shots plus original syrup that are in a grande aren't enough, but now they have amped it up with extra energy. LOL.

"A blend of B vitamins, guarana, and ginseng is shaken with the Starbucks Doubleshot™ on Ice Beverage for added energy."

I think I know what I'll be trying this Sunday!

Happy Easter to Me!

Yesterday, DBF had a buddy over to watch F1 Racing (his favorite!), so I opted to make myself scarce for a few hours. I had intended on running a whole bunch of shopping errands that have been piling up, but alas due to the holiday not a whole lot was open.

I decided to head downtown to a different, bigger Starbucks on Spring Garden Road and read my book for a while. It was crazy busy, but I managed to secure one of the big, comfy chairs so I was pretty content with that. Unfortunately there was a couple of super loud chatty Kathies beside me that were actually really distracting. They seemed pretty excited to see each other, but for over an hour they were regailing the whole cafe with stories of their trip to Europe. Slightly annoying after a while.

So, I decided to grab another coffee and get out of there....and while standing at the counter I picked up an Easter giftie for myself.


I do already have a travel mug that DBF gave me last Christmas, but it hasn't shown itself since the move. And now that I'm stopping for coffee after the gym a few mornings a week I wanted a mug to carry with me so I'm not always using more paper cups. (ya, and it's like the perfect shade of pink so it wasn't that hard to talk myself into it!)

I then decided to go for a walk up the street and see if The Running Room happened to be open...and it was! Finally, a place to find some new gym shoes that might actually fit properly. It is so nice to find salespeople that actually know their product, rather than just sell the product. Conveniently it wasn't busy (probably because most people would assume they would be closed) so the incredibly helpful sales guy spent about 20 minutes with me picking out different styles to try on. He watched me walk to check the pronation of my stride (which is pretty normal, but due to my narrow heels he recommended and mid-range stabilizing shoe). I tried on about a half dozen different shoes, in different brands and such....but chose the first pair he had picked out. A couple of the pairs were comfy, but the Asics were the only ones with the heel support I liked. They are made with that memory foam stuff so they mold to fit my heel and just really felt like they fit me. I hope they are as comfy for running at the gym as they were for walking around the store. I guess I'll find out this afternoon!


I also picked out a pair of double-layer breathable wicking socks, to hopefully help keep my feet drier when I work out. The cotton socks I have been wearing make my feet sweat extra-hard, and I can only imagine that won't be good after some time passes.

I spent more on the shoes than I had planned, but isn't that always the way? I plan to continue on this running/gym path though, so I think it's money well spent.

After leaving the store, I was stoked to head to the gym and try them out....but ooops, I had the holiday hours wrong in my head and I got there too late. Booooo! So instead, I came home and took Mojo for a much needed walk around the neighborhood. It was windy as hell, but the sun was up so we had a good time.

How I miss being a full-time corporate whore!

You know that my routine has definitely changed here because I JUST finished off the Starbucks card my Mom gave me for Christmas TODAY. Unreal. Almost three months for me to use up $25 worth of the Bucks goodness. It's silly really. (Of course, it should be noted that I obviously made a few trips without my card...and I wasn't using it for buying coffee beans.)

Now that I'm up and going to the gym three mornings a week, my Starbucks intake will increase exponetially. Conveniently, I drive by two of them on my way home....so no more home brew coffee for me on gym days!

Now the trick will be to continue sticking with my venti mild or bold...and staying away from the yummy lattes and such. Thankfully the baked goods here aren't near as yummy or yummy-looking as the stuff back in Victoria, so I generally don't feel the need to indulge in anything from the display case.

New Starbucks Bevvie of the Month

The Honey Latte is supposed to be served full fat and topped with whip cream. Slight departure from their push on Skinny Lattes over the last few months. I guess the advertising for New Years Resolutions is over.

I, of course, ordered mine non-fat and without whip cream. It's still very sweet and decadent. I can't imagine adding whip to it too, but to each their own! It's pretty tasty and nice for something different, but now that I've tried it I doubt I'll order it again. I like honey in my tea, but I think I'll stick with vanilla for my lattes.

On the up side, our local Starbucks had a sign saying that Tall bevvies would be served in Grande cups today due to a supply shortage. So I expected a not-quite-full Grande cup, but instead I received a Grande latte at the price of a Tall. Nice! (Of course, I didn't really want all those extra calories so I stopped drinking it 2/3 of the way through, but it was still a nice surprise!)

I heart Lulu!

Oh, Oh, Oh! It has to be just for me!! It really must be!! hahahhaha... :)

I just wandered onto the Lululemon website to check out hoodies and such. I love the one I got before I left Victoria and want to get another one to get me through winter out here. I need a pair of the original style fleecy-type pants too.

I was sad to discover a month or so ago that there is no Lulu east of Montreal. Boooooooo!

Until now!!!!

Clicking on the locations tab, I found THIS!

"We will be opening our first Halifax location on May 16, 2008."

Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves?

For after dinner chat and coffees, some friends and I headed to my favorite Starbucks last night.

I always stop to look and see what cool mugs or paraphenalia might be on sale...especially after Christmas. I refrained from buying anything (even though there are a couple of cute Christmas mugs on for half price!) because I really just don't have anymore room in my suitcases.

But what really struck me is that on the opposite side of that happy Christmas shelf was a ... yes, you've guessed it ... a VALENTINE'S DAY shelf!!! Good lord people. We haven't even finished ringing in the New Year have we? Christmas trees and holiday wreaths are still up! People are still finishing up their turkey dinner leftovers. Crazy I tell ya!

OK, but having said that I found the CUTEST MUG EVER!!! and I'm so buying it as soon as I get to Halifax.

:)