It was awesome...I've had kind of a lackluster week (which has made my posts overly sarcastic...my apologies...unless you like them in which case...rock on), and seein' girlfriends is always good.
Sure, I met these girlfriends on the internet...but that's not too weird these days is it? =)
I ran for about an hour with the girls, and then Skinny Runner went to go run more miles than I care to think about. Impressive stuff. I forgot to take any pics, so I made this high quality collage of what the blogger run might have looked like:
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| What the blogger run looked like! |
No of course their pictures aren't stolen from their blogs!
Run-wise, I'm still sore from Fontana days, which I guess is ok. My constantly limpy state of late is giving me a good idea of what it may be to be 80 years old.
Because of the early wakeup time, I was DYIN' like whoa by the mid-afternoon. This warranted an extra giant size Apricot Iced Tea from Coffee Bean. I don't even know what the size I got is called. Larger than the large. Ginormous?
Oh yeah...and I got a mini muffin. Because I'm a sucker for mini desserts. Mini desserts + mini calorie content = mini me?
Yes I finished that whole iced tea. If they had a 64 oz, I'd order that.
I feel like in most regions of the country, there's Starbucks, and then some competing coffee chains:
In SoCal it's SB versus Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.
In the Pacific Northwest, it's SB versus Tullys and Peets and Indie places with tattooed dudes.
In Houston it's Starbucks and ummmm...Starbucks? (help me out here, Texans)
"Edit from original post for the Texans...you're right...there are some awesome mom and pops in TX. My fav was Agora in Houston because it was just a crazy experience every time. The angry service was just a bonus. What's the BEST is that most of these places serve booze too! What's not to love! "
"Edit from original post for the Texans...you're right...there are some awesome mom and pops in TX. My fav was Agora in Houston because it was just a crazy experience every time. The angry service was just a bonus. What's the BEST is that most of these places serve booze too! What's not to love! "
Everywhere's got the McDonald's coffee these days too.
I love Starbucks, and am not exactly sure why. I don't think the coffee is all that good, but there is something peaceful and indulgent about walking in the shop.
Annndd..... their tea is beaten by miles by the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.
Coffee Bean's got a billion flavors, and the tea latte. And when I drink their stuff, I'm sticking it to the man (Starbucks) by...purchasing from the slightly smaller man.
So...are you a Starbucks lover or hater?
What do you think of the McDonald's stuff?
Also, if you made it this far, here's your carrot reward:
Living Social is selling two movie tix on Fandango for $9! It's so crazy because Skinny Runner was just talking about how tickets are hella expensive on her blog earlier today. And I agree. I'd take a crappy movie theater for cheap over IMAX and 3-D.
I'm not sold on 3-D until they make it 90000% better and I feel like I'm actually IN the movie anyways =).
Hey you ran 7miles that's a good day! I miss social running :(.
ReplyDeleteI rarely went to Starbucks on a day-to-day basis in Houston, but whenever I travel I always get either one of those frozen frappuccino things or hot chocolate at the airport! I occasionally go to Starbucks in France to get a taste of USA but it's SO expensive :(. McDonald's is an evil place, I don't eat their conos or drink their cofee/tea :p
I also support the small guy City Brew and Mountain Mud, both of which I think are EXCELLENT. I have been to two movies in the theater in 6 years, so that tells you how much of a movie not freak I am. Both movies were cartoons with my son :)
ReplyDeleteI'll say it: I love Starbucks! I only ever get a drink there maybe 1 or 2 times a month, but I love it. Maybe because I lived outside of America for most of my life, it reminds me of something that is the same all over the world!
ReplyDeleteI think everyone must have bought those tickets! I'm still waiting for the ding-dang promo code email.
ReplyDeleteI'm cool with Starbucks. Coffee bean is good, too, though.
I'm a Texan, and honestly, I can't think of anything other than Starbucks! I'm originally from Ohio, though, which had many other options and I think Texas needs to get with the time and open some other coffee shops. Or maybe they're just all hiding and I haven't found the others yet? Who knows!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy Starbucks, but have to say it's not the best I've had. I kind of miss Cup o Joe from back home in Ohio and there was this local Columbus place called Crimson Cup that had the BEST chai tea EVER!! I stop multiple times whenever I go home!
The thing I like about Starbucks is that they have a commitment to the environment as well as small farmers. Their coffee is more expensive but they pay the right price to make sure small farmers can stay in business AND they are involved in communities. So that makes me feel a little bit better about buying from a chain.
ReplyDeleteThe other coffee that I LOVE and i would assume it's big in the Pacific Northwest is Seattle's best. I dont think they have the same philanthropic culture, but their coffee is just delish! I live in SC, so I have to buy it in the store.. but i still love it
Texas has tons of small coffee shops! I like the places in Houston on Westheimer and Austin has them everywhere. I dont even like coffee, but sometimes it is fun to grab a hot chocolate or tea and a hang out with a friend. Not a huge starbucks fan bc it is always loud in there, it seems, but it is a decent travel stop. :)
ReplyDeleteSo talking iced coffee, because that is what I'm drinking at the moment:
ReplyDeleteThe McDonald's stuff is crap. I hate that they sweeten it for you unless you, like, SCREAM at them not to.
I like Dunkin, but I also don't need 64oz of iced coffee, TYVM.
Starbucks is probably the best big chain option for iced coffee that I've found. I like that you can tell them exactly what you want in it (milk, how much, what type, etc) and either have them sweeten it (one pump! TWHS!) or DIY.
I really miss the little bodegas and street carts in NYC. A lot of them made damn good coffee.
I haven't found a local Raleigh coffee shop that makes decent (better than Sbux) iced coffee. There is one down the street from me, and their regular coffee is awesome, but their iced coffee is crap.
Ok, I'm done. As you can tell, I haven't put any thought in to this topic at all. :)
I'm really not a big fan of the regular Starbucks coffees. But I love (and love saying) the skinny vanilla latte's. I think it automatically turns into negative calories when I order the "skinny" version, thereby decreasing my caloric intake for the day.... right?
ReplyDeleteThere's really no big competitors here. Just small ones. And I'm A-OK with that, I like the little guys.
You're pretty right that Houston mainly just had Starbucks as far as chains go but they have a million little mom and pop type coffee places!
ReplyDeleteThat iced tea looks yummy! I love running with friends...best thing ever!
ReplyDelete@Tara
ReplyDelete(also at all the Texans).
Yeah I LOVED agora in Houston. The angry service, the european ex pats...etc.
Late to this, but I don't sweat the occasional Starbucks trip. I probably go there half the time (someone's always giving me a gift card!) and to the locals the other half.
ReplyDeleteI love starbucks! Although I only drink their frappachinos but they are so yummy!
ReplyDeleteI love starbucks, but in Ottawa, there's also a good coffee shop called Bridgehead. There is just as many of them as there are sbux (usually right across the st. from each other!)
ReplyDeleteyes starbucks! blech mcdonalds coffee
ReplyDelete