Coffee Addicts...or Why I'm Weaning Myself off Starfucks

Like many barely-functioning people of the world, I drink coffee...a lot. I read once that the average person drinks something like 3 cups a day on average - wimps! Don't get me wrong, I love coffee - so much so that by this point we should be in a domestic partnership or something.

However, like all great romances they eventually fizzle out. My turning point happened the day I "accidentally" did the math and figured out how much I've actually spent on coffee over the past four years...it wasn't pretty. I figured out it was the equivalent of a kick-ass international vacation!

Yes, I know I've used this one before but it just seemed appropriate

...the shock has yet to wear off. So, I'm giving up one of my social outlets - and my biggest money hole. Ah yes, Starfucks - it's where I met my roommate, started my business and began my blogging career. It was time for me to accept it's not where I need to be anymore. Money aside, I'm also starting to get that permanent bitter taste in my mouth where I smell like coffee even if I wasn't drinking any (eewwwwww). 

Our relationship is just not what it used to be - I've changed. No baby, it's not you - it's me. There are plenty of other fish in the sea...no, I'm not seeing tea on the side. No, juice is not involved. I just....need to leave to become a better me. I'll always love you but not in the same way...don't cry...come on...damn you coffee!! (cue me tossing thermos across the bus then hopping off and yelling at the bus driving away). I'm sure in reality, the breakup will be MUCH worse (it always is). 

I find it funny - I'm the cheapest most frugal person I know and yet I let such a glaring expense cruise through my grasp. Yes, I could make coffee at home but it's not just about the money anymore. I'm trying to get into (gulp!) "clean living" and ditching coffee for a time should help(?) with that. I gave myself six months to try this out - for day one I lasted.....7 hours. Luckily, that was a test run (yeah...that's it) and I have a week or so to go until my gift card money runs out. Is it wrong that this is going to be the last post I'm plan to write in a Starfucks? I guess it's appropriate...now I just have to quote Homer Simpson - "So long stink-town!"

30 Before 30...It's On!!

I always make these grandiose New Year's Resolutions that I complete about 4.9% of the time. They're probably the same as yours - lose weight, save money, try to stop quoting Katt Williams (ok, maybe that one is just me).

I'll miss you Pimpin!

My terrible resolution track record has shown me that I should probably stop making them. Still, I felt like I had to do something. I was stuck until the first of the 30th Birthday reminders from my high school friends started rolling in and then it hit me - I'm a list person... possibly OCD level by this point in my life. Why don't I try to cram all the excess crap I said I'd do in my 20's into the span of 7 months until I turn 30? So below is a (very) random list of the crap I'd like to do before next July.

30 Before 30 List

1. Travel Internationally at least once (Commander and the Crow: World Tour baby!)
2. Get New Job (boring!)
3. Do Bikram Yoga everyday day for two weeks straight (hopefully that's what it will take to clear out all the wine from New Years).
4. Pass CAPM exam so my "Personal Development" classes will be worth something.
5. Run a 10 minute mile (for those who laugh: I. Do. Not. Run. This will be a pain in the ass).
6. Do not forget a single 30th Birthday in my group of friends (yay calendars!)
7. Eat a 5x5 from In n' Out Burger and a giant Neapolitan Shake (woo hoo!)
8. Finish watching every single episode of "Star Trek - The Next Generation" including the subsequent movies.
9. Get new driver's license picture where I'm smirking
10. Be able to hike (real nature hike) with the Capn
11. Host a dinner with the SF crew where you do ALL the cooking (no passing off Chinese food as your creation!)
12. Get commuter bike and begin to ride the very, very long ride to work (bonus: awesome calf muscles)
13. Go to all you can eat sushi place with Charlie - try to not throw up
14. Drink a bottle of very expensive wine with B-Money (don't worry homie, it'll be red)
15. Get huge group photo of gang to hang in my living room (clothing optional)
16. Get back to my "fighting weight" just in case I'm attacked by hipsters or crackheads (again)
17. Become better swimmer
18. Give up buying coffee for six months (gotta fund the World Tour account somehow).
19. Go to every touristy place in Golden Gate Park (be able to give directions)
20. Walk from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach in one shot
21. Try avocado milkshake
22. Go ice skating again - try not to break neck
23. Support City College - take a random class for the hell of it (NO BUSINESS CLASSES!)
24. Do kickboxing - do NOT "accidentally" punch anyone
25. Try acupuncture 
26. Quit Facebook
27. Re-design blog (visual, not posts. Lucky you!)
28. Come up with Canadian alias (just in case you need to flee)
29. Learn to drive a stick shift god-damnit!!
30. Try not to kill your plants

For those of you who think this is a crappy list - you can suck my balls, it's not for you. I wanted some accountability and a project. Hopefully I can keep up with my status updates. Oh and Happy Birthday Candice! (One down, a bunch more to go...)

Deck The Halls With Boughs of Horr-ee...

I'm about to say something that goes against everything that most people know about my villainous nature - I LOVE CHRISTMAS! There, I said it. Do I get a sponsor now or something? It was a side I had to choose at a young age - I being raised by the living embodiments of both Santa Claus and the Grinch (I'll let you figure out who was who). Needless to say, there's something about your Dad telling you at 25 years old that Santa is "watching you" that makes it not creepy but funny...uh to me at least. So, I ended up loving Christmas - the hunt for the tree in the woods (or the Wal-Mart parking lot - I'm not gonna judge). The lights and decorations covering the city, the smell of Gingerbread lattes from Starfucks, even the crazy crowds turn me into a six year old. Hell, I even discovered I have a penchant for baking and can't wait to hear Wham!'s "Last Christmas"...what? Like you don't have a cheesy holiday song you love.

Fact: George Michael DOESN'T really like Christmas...it's ok George, I still love you!

The Crow thinks it's funny (not disturbing) that I listen to Christmas music in July. My mom thinks I'm weird for having all my shopping done before Halloween and my boss thinks it's creepy that the woman who yells at the printer guys makes boatloads of Christmas cookies and gives them to homeless people (Cracky McCrackerson likes peppermint cookies)! Still, even though I buy into all the holiday  kool-aid, I understand that many people absolutely despise this time of year. I don't blame them, even I've taken a Christmas off and it was one of the best holidays ever (sorry Dad). I've talked about taking next year off but the older I get the more people I have in my life who I want to spend the time with (I'm looking at you Tone and the Family!) and I just enjoy buying gifts and smelling Christmas trees. 

So here I sit, listening to Dean Martin's "Let It Snow" while drinking my Gingerbread Latte and watching a guy tell a woman to "get her fat ass out of the way!" on the escalator at City Target. Ah, the Holidays...makes me want Chinese Turkey.  

This one's for Mom & Dad...