i seriously think i am starbucks’ dream customer.  i admit i have totally fallen into their marketing trap.  i love coffee (and i’m pretty sure if you have read my blog for longer than a week i have probably talked about how much i love the stuff).  i have to have coffee almost every morning; mostly out of necessity to stay awake and partly due to the routine of it.  even if i get 12 hours of sleep, the routine of going to a coffeeshop (particularly starbucks) is one i love.  i will be late to places just to get my coffee.  (i know what you are thinking and yes, i am one of those obnoxious people.)  but it’s usually for everyone else’s benefit because i am a sleepy crank-monster without my daily fix (or so i tell myself as an excuse to get it everyday).  reis asked me out on our first date at a coffeeshop in santa barbara so maybe that’s why i have even more reason to love the atmosphere of these cozy cafes.

in 2009 i became a gold member of starbucks; one of the sweet perks is getting that cool card (above) and a free drink of any size every 15 drinks you buy.  i have a pretty sweet little schedule of buying coffee and getting rewarded for it.  it is a bit of a costly habit, but it’s worth it to me.  so here’s my coffee sched:  my daily drink is usually an iced coffee which is about $2.30 for a grande i think (one of the cheaper drinks on the menu).  if i get this everyday for 2 weeks (weekends included) + 1 day, i get sent one of these bad boys (see below).  with my free drink, i normally get a “sweet” drink as i call it.  i LOVE skinny caramel macchiatos more than you know so i’ll splurge on one of those with my reward card.  this system is great because not only are sweet drinks almost $5 for a grande, but they also aren’t the healthiest for you if you know what i mean.  so in my world, my little coffee system is a great balance of splurging and saving (in cals and money)!