Oh, Sweet Starbucks!

Hi, my name is Rachel, and I am a Starbucks addict.

We have been unemployed now for four weeks and we've learned to do with less in many ways.  We cancelled cable immediately, started turning off lights we weren’t using, raised the temperature in our house (it now resembles that of a sauna), and cut all unnecessary spending.  We now ask the question, "Do we NEED this?" The answer, most of the time, is no.  But what about things we WANT?  

I don't miss cable (very surprisingly, as I am a lover of the tube), I don't care about turning off the lights when we are not using them (it actually makes more sense to do this), and although I like to sleep in Antarctic-like temperatures, I can live with 75 degrees during the day and 72 degrees at night.  What I DO miss though is my sweet Starbucks.  

I admit to a pretty regular Starbucks habit before we became unemployed.  I am not proud of this.  It's expensive at $4+ per cup...Grande, Non-fat, No-whip Iced Mocha, please.  It's frivolous...this is probably more than you want to hear, but you really just drink it and pee it and it offers no nutritional value. And I'm pretty sure that Starbucks puts a little crack in their cups of coffee to keep you coming back.  (Disclaimer to Starbucks...I don't really mean this, but for joking purposes, I do.)

So why do I love my sacred cup of chocolate coffee?  Because I get together with my girlfriends to catch up...while drinking coffee. Because, when I get the rare chance, I sit and read a magazine by myself...while drinking coffee.  Because during the winter when I am freezing cold, I warm up...while drinking coffee.  And because, for some reason, I feel like an adult...while drinking coffee.  I can't explain this last one well, but in a life now that revolves around a two-and-a-half-year-old, drinking coffee might be one of the only times in my day that doesn't revolve around sippy cups, diapers, or Thomas the Train.  I get to feel like a grown-up.  

I absolutely love my girlfriends.  Many have sent me gift cards to Starbucks to "get me through” or treated me to a cup.  I am so grateful to these fabulous friends who have enabled my delicious habit.  And I hope that as soon as we are gainfully employed, I can resume my contribution to the Starbucks Empire.