I decided not to drink my two cups of coffee this morning, freshly brewed from my kitchen. Instead, I'm going to head on over to Starbucks with my personal mug and let them fill it to the top with some Cafe Estima for FREE! That's right, friends, if you bring your own mug to the 'bucks today they will fill it up for free.

Make a Difference | Starbucks Coffee Company

So right now i'm dragging myself around the house on zero (ZERO) coffee powers and am seriously groggy. I will write more later, when i can type without having to go back and delete and re-type for all the fumbled letters and mis-spellings that a lack of coffee inspires.

Hell has frozen over

Those of us who have been loving, enjoying, and supporting Starbucks all of these years never imagined that this day would (or could) ever come. Many of us would agree that Starbucks has the best coffee out there - despite what blind taste test results would say(they never asked US anyway).

Twenty years in the making, Starbucks has finally developed an INSTANT COFFEE. I made myself a quick cup of our Columbian VIA Ready Brew instant coffee this morning for breakfast and found myself enjoying it. I am surely a coffee snob to the n'th degree. I am VERY particular about my coffee and found myself enjoying this as i would a cup of traditionally brewed "Howie" (i've changed the "cup 'o joe" saying to "cup 'o howie" since Howard Schultz really is the guy who controls what is in our cup - when it's Starbucks). anyways.....

Think of the luxury: GOOD coffee anywhere, at any time! wow! on the ski lift, backpacking (and i don't have to lug a french press up the mountain), road trips (because there is actually only ONE starbucks on a 10 hour stretch of highway through Nebraska), in the office, on the canoe - wherever! and you can enjoy it hot or cold. all you need is water.

i NEVER thought i would be one to drink instant coffee, but i actually dig this.

just some FYI - Starbucks VIA Ready Brew is entering the test market - so you can only enjoy it if you are in Seattle or Chicago (starting March 3). if you're desperate for some instant Starbucks let me know and i'll send one to you to try.

I was on etsy for a short time yesterday and came across these. Pretty creative ideas. I throw away about 20 starbucks cards a day during my shift - what a great idea, to reclaim them into these beautiful and creative pieces of jewelry. If i were more creative, i might actually be inspired.

expired

sorry for the lack of posting this week...

i'm opening the store every day this week. it's killing me. trying to get to sleep early since i don't have any days(nights) inbetween to catch up on sleep.

when i get home from my long mornings i'm trying to work for ACSI, which is a challenge, as i'm so tired. i have a hard time staying focused. every task seems excrutiating. working over 8 hours a day and sleeping not much at night is making me into a mean wife and an impatient dog owner. not to mention always on the verge of tears from exhaustion and wanting an escape from my life.

got my schedule for next week and it's the same as this week. i'm getting so discouraged about this job. please pray for me. I really need to find an alternative way to get insurance. maybe ACSI will reconsider? that would be amazing. but not realistic.

Starbucks RED

It's been awhile since i've made a Starbucks post. Not much at Starbucks thrills me these days, but just today i discovered something awesome at the store and thought that you should be informed. I came across a new Starbucks card that we have. Called a Starbucks RED Card.
Every time you use your (STARBUCKS)RED Card to pay for purchases at participating Starbucks stores between 1/3/09 and 12/31/09 (the entire year of 2009!!), Starbucks will donate 5 cents to the Global Fund to help save lives in Africa.

How awesome! I know that I've posted before about Starbucks RED Campaign and about all of the awesome benefits of now having a Starbucks card. Just a refresher:

When you make any purchases with a registered Starbucks card, you will get:

-free syrups and specialty milks (soy, etc...)
-a free tall beverage with purchase of 1lb of whole beans
-2 free hours of wi-fi every day
-free refills of coffee when you're chillin in the cafe'

And don't forget the idea that having this card will help you to budget your purchases.

I got a few Starbucks cards as gifts for Christmas so i loaded the amounts of them both on a new Starbucks RED card and registered it online today. I usually spend about a dollar every day that i'm working at starbucks - so now, 5 cents of each purchase goes to the Golbal Fund. That's pretty cool. It's not like i'm BUYING the card - all the money i put on there goes directly back into my purchases.
So, why not?

A good start to a crappy morning

I know it's been bad when I come home and see the dirty bowl reminiscent of breakfast sitting in my kitchen sink and when i remember eating oatmeal i think it was yesterday.

Landon's still asleep right now so i had to get this off my chest somehow.

I woke this morning early. Like i usually do for my mornings at Starbucks. Only today i woke up 20 minutes early - naturally (no alarm - hooray!). Landon was still awake from his late night and he fixed me oatmeal for breakfast and kept me company while i ate in a zombie fashion. he even started my car for me in hopes of a warm ride to work. after his kiss goodbye and "thank you for working so early" i felt empowered.

I shouldn't let ONE little thing ruin my day. but i did. and it did. around, hm... 6am i had a customer treat me like utter dirt. scum, even. I actually deal with many rude, impatient, cruel customers daily, but this lady takes the cake. She ordered her drink curtly (but i get it - it's cold out there in the drive-thru) and asked for a "piece of sausage". hm... did i hear that correctly? do we sell "a piece of sausage"? I told her that i would be happy to warm up the sausage from one of our sandwiches, but i would have to charge her for the entire sandwich. After this she proceeded to scream and scream at me and tell me that she is here EVERY DAY (except she isn't because I am here every day and i have never seen her in my life)and my manager better be at the window when she gets there.

we made her drink perfectly and provided her with excellent customer service. when she pulled up to the window i went to greet her. she was awful and asked for the manager. i told her that i was the supervisor (which threw her in an even bigger fit). she proceeded to scream at me calling me obscene names and began to ramble off four letter words in eloquence and speed i've only heard in movies like "snatch". at this point i am actually physically shaking from adrenaline and fright. she asked me a thousand questions but actually didn't want any answers - she would not let me speak to her one bit. i even wrote down the phone number to starbuck's headquarters with our manager's name and my name as well. i apologized. she told me that we just lost a customer - from now on she will go across the street to mcdonalds. i seriously doubt she will....but i hope she does.

oh, p.s., check out the "new" logo

in case you didn't know...

so, if you're a starbucks regular (like many of you are) and your local barista hasn't informed you yet, then i will be the privileged one! if you buy a starbucks card and register it online (or register an existing card), then when you get your soy chai, your soy will be free. if you want a vanilla-latte, your syrup choice will be free - EVERY TIME! and what the picture above doesn't tell you, along with the great benefits it already displays, you will have 2-3 hours free internet each day in our cafes with a registered card.

i know, i've never paid with a card before, but this is good enough reason to put some mullah on a card, register it, and then just keep refilling your starbucks card. the money goes to the same place, anyway. and, quite honestly, it might help you budget your 'bucks intake - like, only spend $30.00 a month at starbucks, so you can only refill your $30.00 balance once a month! i'm calling your husbands about this idea, by the way....

Starbucks - "where everybody knows your name"

So far, this has been a week of new FRIENDS!!!

One of my regulars at Starbucks told me that she feels like we are her "Cheers". I LOVE that we can be that place for those who frequent often. When i was in college, i had a starbucks down the street that was "my starbucks". i loved the employees and they knew my name and what i wanted to drink (and often gave it to me for free). They also began to spend time with me outside of starbucks - seeing movies or coming to campus crusade. They were my starbucks family - i loved going to see them and i felt so cared for when i was there (spent many hours studying and meeting with ladies at this starbucks!). I think because i had such a wonderful experience at starbucks as a customer, i feel a great priviledge in treating our customers with special care. When many of my customers hear my voice through the drive-thru speaker, they say, "Hannah! It's me!". of course, because i have many regulars that say this, i'm always thinking - "who's YOU?" But i LOVE that these customers feel like they are my ONE special customer - that when they exclaim that "it's me" that i would know who they are. Some of them, i know why they are and what they drink right away (i'm trying to memorize voices with cars...on top of names and drinks). So... I'm honored to work at Starbucks and interact with our wonderful customers DAILY.

On top of that, our store just hired a new lady. She is my age and just got back from 2 years of missionary work in South Africa. Oh, i am so thankful for her, and am so grateful for the prayers of those who have been praying for a friend in my life. Someone to help carry the burden (and joy!) of showing the love of Christ to our customers and especially our co-workers. She came over for dinner Monday night and was our first non-relative visitor! She brought pictures from Africa and we talked about the joys of Africa and the difficulty in coming "home". I hope to support her as i remember the challenge of returning home to find a place that is so different and to find that you, yourself have been seriously changed by Africa, yet those around you think you are who you used to be. I'm excited to get to know her better.

Last night we had someone else over for dinner! (we're on a roll!) One of Landon's classmates who is ALSO from Georgia and who is ALSO a rock climber. It was wonderful to have him over. It was fun to hear he and Landon talk about philosophy and about their classes and reading material. Of course, much was discussed about georgia and rock climbing as well. Really fun time.

We are so grateful to God for bringing friends into our lives - we have been so lonely at times! God is so faithful.

Landon is "enjoying" his spring break this week. packed full of taxes, fixing his car, reading for class, writing a paper, working, and tons more taxes, he is kept really busy. but i have loved having him near while i'm working at home. He was still awake this morning when i woke to go to work and was so sweet - he made me breakfast! what a wonderful husband - even to make me breakfast while i'm groggy at 3:30am. Right now, he's catching up on some rest :)

NO MORE STARBUCKS!!!

Wow, i never thought i would ever say that (or type it!). Not that i'm all done drinking Starbucks coffee, i just really really really need a break from working at starbucks. I love to brighten the days of those coffee-addicts, like my local friendly barista would brighten my day back when i was a joe-addict (or at least when i used to PAY for my addiction). Really, it is a privilege and a joy. Yet, working until 10:45pm or waking at 3:15am just seems like a sacrifice that i really shouldn't have to make for the sake of some one's coffee. WHO IS AWAKE AT 4AM? and WHO DRINKS COFFEE SO LATE AT NIGHT!? Well, i guess someone does, but i just haven't met those customers yet.

Because of my heavy traveling schedule that i have had for ACSI this fall, i have had to pick up about 25 extra hours this month, making this a 39 hour work week (and that's only my starbucks hours) in order to keep my insurance with 'bucks (which took me 4 months of work before i was eligible). And, my insurance is the only reason i work for starbucks, so when i was at risk for losing it - well, that just won't happen.

Monday morning i did something that every barista shuns and avoids and hates. i "clopened" where, you close at 10:45 the night before and start work at 4am the next day. only making it physically possible for you to get 4 hours of sleep - and that's only if you can fall asleep immediately when you get home. It was awful! But i needed the hours in order to keep my insurance. So, i feel like a walking-starbucks-maniac.

I am drowning in coffee... i'm sick of the smell of steamed milk and the smell of myself when i have a layer of coffee-smell in my hair and on my clothes. i took a shower when i got home from work this morning and put on all fresh clothes from the closet and still smell like starbucks!!! eek! i think it's my bra.

Well, in these 2 weeks i only get one day off, and that day is sunday, which is soon! so i'm looking forward to that, and i really should not complain because i won't have to work for the week and a half that i have in colorado for christmas. ... but yes, for now, i am sick of starbucks.

d

Starbucks jitters

Right now I am drinking an iced coffee and taking a sweet little break between my morning shift at Starbucks and the rest of my day working with sponsorship. Today was my third day in a row opening at starbucks (waking before 4am), and i have been so busy with sponsorship this week that i'm working 10-12 hour days. I guess I'll just have to have weeks like this sometimes to get things done! In order to endure a long rest of my day in front of the computer, i bring home the highest dose of caffeine that i can (a vinti brewed coffee). Hehe, but I have found that after some shots of espresso during my morning shift, when i enjoy a very large cup of coffee at home i tend to get a little jittery. Yeah, i get the shakes...but it's worth it if i can stay awake and energized enough to get my work done. Sometimes, it is simply necessary.

(it really isn't necessary, is it?)

Sorry nothing too exciting to blog about.