starbucks v. starbucks

I love coffee. I mean, I really love coffee. Now that I spend my weekdays in Milwaukee, I'm trying out a few different coffee shops to see what's delicious and convenient.

This is not a hip, trendy, coffee-shop side of town, so the reality is this: on Milwaukee's south side, we have basically two options.

1. Starbucks on 27th and Rawson
2. Starbucks on Miller Park Way

After visiting both locations, at varying times of the day (though usually before work), I have arrived at an entirely irrelevant conclusion. 

Starbucks without a drive-through > Starbucks with a drive-through

A little about the 27th Street location...

• It features a drive-through and is geographically pretty convenient, being basically on my way to work, so I stop there a few times a week where I usually park and go in to order my beverage, avoiding waiting in the line of cars.

• Inside the store, several grumpy teenage girls staff the counter and espresso maker, gossiping in colorful language about their "asshole ex-boyfriends."

what the hell do you want

• Eventually one will roll her eyes and saunter over and (obviously reluctantly) take my order in an "I don't give a shit" manner.

• Update 6/25/2012: The suddenly very pleasant young ladies anticipated which drink I'd like to order... ON THURSDAY! See, several weeks ago they playfully asked me if I intend to ever order something other than my usual. (Did they just call me out for being a creature of habit? Because I think they did. Because I am.) I told them I'll switch to a venti ICED dark roast (whoa, Bhan, way to step outside your comfort zone) when the weather warms up. Say, above 75 in the morning. One of the girls said when she heard the weather forecast for the week -- with highs in the 90s -- she thought of me and knows I'll want that iced coffee in a couple days! Now THAT is service, my friends. 

And the location on Miller Park Way....

• Has a spacious parking lot and no drive-through window

• The staff may be busily making a drink for others customers, but they will always look up and smile and ask, "Can I get something started for ya?" 
• This crew operates like a team, moving pretty easily between stations to keep traffic flowing. 
• When compared to the 27th Street location, it seems like there's the same number of staff managing many times more customers; but these staff are friendly and know how to hustle. 

I am certain we could debate the cause-effect relationships here, and there are many factors at play.

But here's the bottom line: when a Starbucks as no drive-through, the staff are trained and accustomed to working face-to-face with society. There's no momentary break between drink ordering and delivering, during which the customer is driving to the window, for the staff to roll their eyes and grumble about their hangovers.

Therefore, Starbucks sans drivethrough is always preferable to one with a drivethrough.

There's a correlation for ya.

Oh, and one more bottom line: I prefer to drink my coffee at home.

My Someteenth Move

this post is long-overdue because it sat at the bottom of my Drafts pile for about six months

whoops, and enjoy! 

_________________________________________________________

This week and next mark two life milestones for me: Moving out of my own apartment and the sale of my dad's condo. I kicked things off last weekend by helping two friends move. Between the three of us girls, we have extensive experience in loading 14' UHauls.

While hauling one cart of boxes, I conducted an informal count of the number of times I've moved. At that point, I think I got up to 17. Now, with paper and pen (and without doing any Girl Math), my total comes closer to 30. That's like 1 per year.

1. In September, 1979, I was born and brought to our family home on Shoreland Avenue in Whitefish Bay, WI.
2. During the summer of 1981 my family moved to Ash Court in Mequon, WI. We stayed there till...
3. 1993 when Dad moved to some Brown Deer apartments and...
4. 1994 when Mom found a place in Cedarburg...
5. while I lived part of the school-year with the Preusser family in Thiensville.
6. Finally Dad and I moved to Laurel Lakes apartments in Thiensville and 
7. Mom bought a nice brick house on a corner lot in Littleton, CO.
8. Not long after, Dad and I moved to a bigger place in Mequon Trails apartments in Mequon, WI while we house-shopped and, at long last...
9. We bought and moved into the condo on Elder Tree Court in Mequon, WI.
10. In August 1997 I moved to Breese Hall...
11. And home for the summer...
12. And into a different room in Breese Hall...
13. And home for the summer, until...
14. In September 1999 I moved with two roommates to an upper flat on Irving and Main Street in Oshkosh, WI. The three of us stayed there for a year and...
15. In September 2000 I moved with the girls to our new home on Melvin Avenue in Oshkosh, WI.
16. After graduating, in August 2002, I moved to my first apartment at Regatta Bay in Annapolis, MD, where I lived with a boy.
17. In January 2003, the aforementioned relationship having ended, I moved with a roommate to my second apartment at Regatta Bay in Annapolis, MD, and...
18. By June 2003 I moved in with a new boyfriend to my third and final apartment at Regatta Bay in Annapolis, MD. When THAT relationship ended...
19. In January 2004 I moved to a house with friends in Bowie, MD, my last east coast home.
20. By June 2004 I had moved back to Wisconsin and lived at the Mequon condo while looking for work over the summer and...
21. In August 2004 I moved in with Joyce on Geneva Drive in Gurnee, IL.
22. I got my own place in March 2005 when I moved into the apartments on Grand Avenue in Gurnee, IL.
23. Having learned nothing from the previous two disasters, in autumn 2005 I moved in with a third boyfriend to a scuzzy house on Hickory Grove in Racine, WI.
24. Thankful to my supportive family who has yet to say "I told you so" to my face, in January 2006 I crawled back home moved back in with Joyce to finish out the school year.
25. In June 2006, I boxed up and moved my stuff and self back to Dad's condo in Mequon for another summer. My last summer there with Dad because...
26. In September 2006 Epic moved me to Madison.
27. And, finally, in October 2011 Dad sold the condo and moved to Gurnee; I moved two doors down to a new apartment, saying goodbye to the place I called home for the longest period of time since I was an adolescent.

The last time I lived in a place this long, I pegged my jeans, wanted braces because all my friends had them, played soccer every waking moment, didn't have a job, and I couldn't get enough Ace of Base.

I still love Ace of Base. Some things never change.

sometimes I stretch the truth

Lying -- as in telling lies -- is kind of a timely topic right now. Let's make a list about why that's the case.

1. First of all, my best friend's seven-year-old recently started lying so they're dealing with that whole issue. 
2. Secondly, my boyfriend called me out on it. The header of my blog states, in no uncertain terms, "If I could make this stuff up, I wouldn't." When he read... ahem... my version of events about how he and I met and started being all kissy-face, he noticed a few... let's call them inconsistencies.
3. And lastly, I lied. To my friend's face. More on that in a minute.

When John confronted me about my lies, I got a wee bit defensive and started 'splainin' myself.

I explained, "My dad reads this blog!" followed by, "I had to summarize three months of stuff into one article, from memory!" which came right before, "It has to be funny, babe. That's what The People want." and then, "OK, so sometimes I summarize my own version of events stretch the truth make stuff up."

Which isn't to say I lie, exactly. Not usually.

Confession time. I have lied. Three times, that I can recall. Both times, as soon as the lie came out of my mouth, I remember having this distinct feeling of anticipation. 'Tell me you don't believe me.' 'You can't possibly think this is true.' 'Give me your I Believe You face so I know you know I'm lying and we can all have a good laugh.'

uh huh

lie #1

My dad and his lady friend at the time went on a vacation to Ixtapa, Mexico, and brought back a t-shirt for me. It was screen-printed with a lifeguard logo and the name of the town. I wore it to my freshman gym class one day and someone asked me about it.

Classmate: "Have you been there?"
Bhan: "Yeah, I was there over the summer." (Lie.)
Classmate: "Oh wow, cool."
Bhan: "Yeah, it was alright. I was working most of the time." (Lie.)
Classmate: "Really?"
Bhan: "Yeah, I was a lifeguard at this resort." (Lie.)

Thankfully, the really lame lie ended right there. I guess the P.E. teacher blew a whistle to start class, or something.

lie #2

Sophmore science class. Biology, maybe? I recall sitting with a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless lest this hurt his feelings, on top of one of the workbenches at the back of the classroom while watching a science flick. I crossed my legs on the table and somehow found or created an opportunity to tell him that I had "heel replacement surgery" and now have plastic heels.

What? Geez, that's a really stupid lie.

lie #3

My friend Carissa is getting married in a month. Her wedding shower took place this past weekend. Over the course of the preceding couple weeks, I considered several gift options, including selecting something from her registries, and finally settled on something that I knew would go over well: a Costco membership. But first, I had to find out if she already had one.

Thursday I texted her, asking if she shops at Costco. She said she didn't and we left it at that. Friday morning I bought the gift membership and Saturday morning I met her at the gym for our usual workout. While water-jogging our way across the deep end, she asked me point blank why I wanted to know.

My vision clouded and I felt my cheeks go numb. I was having a physiological -- almost allergic -- reaction to this situation. I had to lie to her.

Siobhan: "I just wanted to see if you could pick up some stuff for me. It's so far away."

Carissa: "It's farther from me than from you!"

Siobhan: "Well, not so much when you're at work."

Carissa: "I suppose that's true."

Thankfully at that point we changed the subject. I had lied again and gotten away with it. But I felt awful for having done so, and extremely relieved later that afternoon when she opened the gift and was pleased with the selection.

flossing

I floss every day, usually while driving to work in the morning using those little floss stick thingies.

That seems like good multi-tasking. And, from what I've heard read on the internet learned, good oral hygiene can help protect my heart health. Interesting. From WebMD.com:

According to the American Academy of Periodontology, 

people with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have 

coronary artery disease (also called heart disease). 

And one study found that the presence of common problems in the mouth, 

including gum disease (gingivitis), cavities, and missing teeth, 

were as good at predicting heart disease as cholesterol levels.

Here's my opinion on the matter. Good oral hygiene is likely an indicator of other healthy habits. People who brush and floss daily and visit the dentist regularly may also be more likely to get good sleep, drink enough water, exercise, and eat right. 

I brush mah tooth with this here moonshine

Healthy teeth doesn't result from or lead to a healthy heart. In other words, I don't believe there's a cause-and-effect relationship. 


I could be wrong. There could be no correlation. But I bet I'm not wrong.

blogging my face off

I always feel like writing.

Remember when Facebook came on the scene (or, perhaps more accurately put, when you arrived on Facebook's scene, which was probably about five years late since originally only those crazy college kids were using it...)?

Back in those days, the format looked like this:

Siobhan ___[status update]___

I felt compelled to write my status updates in complete sentences using the third person.

Siobhan just saw Hitch and she thought it was hilarious! 
Siobhan spent a week in Miami in the dead of summer and it was HOT. 

Spend enough time on Facebook and -- for a little while there -- I started to think in third person while doing even mundane activities. 'Siobhan Reynolds just closed her car door and walked across the street' and  'Siobhan Reynolds finished a PB&J sandwich.'

But I digress.

Now that I blog (and no longer write Facebook statuses like that), I want to write all of the time. Ideas fly at me constantly. Consider the fact that right now I'm writing about writing. (Did that just turn your brain inside-out? No? Yeah... uh... me neither.)

Instead of constantly thinking of my surroundings in third person, now I constantly wonder if there's a blog article to be made of it. This happens every time someone sneezes or sends me a funny IM or... basically does anything.

My writing brain quickly goes through a mental checklist. It's a little like a Choose Your Own Adventure.

1. Was it entertaining or interesting? 
• If no, then the adventure ends. Nothing to write about here. 
• If yes, then continue to step 2.
2. Was I the only person amused by or interested in it? 
• If no, and others were also amused, then are there more than 6ish components to the event? (Every story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Six components gives me enough to write about.) If so, proceed to step 3.
• If I was the only person amused by the event, then there's possibly no need to write about it. Proceed to step 4.
3. The event was entertaining and had several components. Proceed to writing a draft article. 
• A draft article is usually just a title and a few notes.
4. Wait a week. Write the article. Is the event still entertaining? 
• If so, publish.
• If not, then let it accumulate dust. No trees killed in the making of that mistake.

I have something like 75 draft articles at any given point in time. Many will eventually see the light of day, and many won't.

Every day, I revisit my drafts. I plunk down a few more sentences, find pictures, ISWAC it, reorganize the content. In this way, there are always several articles which are nearly ready for publication at any given time. It's the best way to keep things moving with a blog in this format. Which is to say it's about nothing at all... or everything all the time.

Some blog posts take months to reach publication. Like Huff the Magic Marker.

Seriously, when was the last time you tried rhyming? Third grade?

In that instance, good things came to those who wait, while in other instances, it all happens very fast and in three minutes the article goes from conception to publication.

My favorite time to blog is early on Saturday mornings. I put on a pot of coffee, walk the dog, and camp out at the kitchen table and write till my roommate wakes up and/or the coffee's gone and/or it's time to join Carissa for a swim.

George is not very much help

And, of course, there's an app fer that, BlogPress, which allows users to write, save, and publish articles from any compatible mobile device. It's pretty extra user-friendly, and perfect for those blog-worthy moments that occur while I'm on the go.

What I'm trying to say is this: I am full of opinions and thoughts and, to my close friends, this blog is for you. Blogging relieves you of the need to listen to me talk ALL OF THE TIME about the stuff in my busy, busy brain.

how to surprise the snot out of your sister

This article is dedicated to my brother-in-law, Joey, who is a great co-conspirator, and to my dad, who is not.

Many months ago, my brother-in-law Joey and I started scheming and planning and conspiring to schedule a surprise weekend with Katie and Beep in San Antonio.

I'll save you some reading and skip ahead a few weeks. We pulled it off. Here's how it went down.

wednesday

I caught an early flight to San Antonio via Detroit (or as some of my friends would say, MSN -> DTW -> SAT). Joey met me outside security and we went to the car where he called Katie to see if she was up for meeting him for lunch. She said yes, so Joey and I drove over to the nearby Whole Foods. When she arrived, he walked out to meet her and I approached them when they entered the store.

Katie goes, "What is Siobhan doing here?!?" We hugged, got a little misty-eyed, and generally made a very small and quiet-for-the-Reynolds' scene right there next to the express check-out aisle. Which is to say no shoppers outside a ten-foot radius were alarmed or offended by our presence.

We picked out some grub to eat and share, and found a table by the windows. We chatted for a while before sending Katie back to work for the afternoon.

Joey and I headed straight for the babysitter where we picked up Beep so she could spend the rest of the week at home with us.

This is where it gets good. It's not that I don't love Joey and Katie. I do. Immensely. But I already know them. I'm really just getting to know Beep and saw this as my opportunity to connect with her now that she's (sniffle sniffle) not really a teensy baby anymore.

Joey strapped the baby into her car seat and we cooed at her till arriving at Cabbage Ranch. We put together a snack for her and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Beep and her blocks while Joey worked from his home office.

three minutes with me and Beep has a berry-stained chin

I drank some Coors Light -- turns out, it's the most delicious beer on Earth when it's your vacation and there's a cold one in the fridge -- and whipped up a snack for Beep.

that's my niece - the Nalgene baby! 

who loves snacks? WE DO!

Katie finally came home from work and we had FAJITAS for dinner. YUM! We put the baby to bed... and me. I was completely tuckered out after a long day of travel.

thursday

Katie had some long hours to put in, thanks to the board of directors' stupid monthly meeting. That group might be the ONLY one that didn't know about Katie's surprise... other than Katie.

Beep and I had an awesome time together running around the house and yard all morning. We stopped for crackers....

remember, lil' lady, sharing is caring

... and to work with dadda (Joey) on acclimating Annie, the family border collie, to hopping onto the bed of the pickup truck.

good job, Annie!

Since Katie wasn't going to be around for dinner, Joey and I packed up Beep and her (my) sunglasses...

... and hit the road for their favorite Mexican restaurant. Joey told me the story of, well, how General Zapata is his 'granddaddy', making him Beeps great-granddaddy. Which is both funny and not true.

fill 'er up, por favor

After dinner we returned to Cabbage Ranch for chores. This includes wrassling Annie...

how's that for a family resemblance to Monkey?!?

... and feeding and watering two of the horses, Sam and Junior. Beep and Joey enjoyed a few precious moments of quiet together.

there's Sam!

I recommend taking a mental snapshot of this so as to recall it anytime

friday

On Friday morning, Joey and I entertained ourselves and Beep for a few hours in the morning. I ISWACed Joey's work presentation and then Beep and I played with doh-doh (Play-Doh).

in case you needed a reminder... she's the pretties thing ever

And guess who came home early?!? MUFFIN! Well, Katie. Mama. My sister. Beep and Joey and I were so, so excited to spend the rest of the weekend with her. Joey whipped up an amazing indoor-picnic lunch of venison burgers and tater tots! Whoa, yummy.

Since Beep's second birthday party was scheduled for the next day, the grown-ups started preparations in earnest.

Katie put me in charge of power-washing the patios. She left Beep and me alone for THREE MINUTES and this is what happened.

Thank goodness my sister calls this a MEMORY and not a MESS. She could easily have rolled her eyes or scolded me (par for the course...), but instead she ran inside to get a camera.

Back on the driveway, Joey began searing two huge Boston butts...

baby (L) for scale

... in preparation for their overnight in the smoker. His flatbed pick-up truck served as an excellent counter top. Horse shoes held down the aluminum foil.

if they had a neighborhood, it would have smelled amazing

And the three girls donned aprons to start several hours of baking treats to share with friends during the party.

Joey put Beep to bed at a reasonable hour while Katie and I stayed up working different recipes in the kitchen. Egg and sausage souffle (recipe), sugar cookies with sprinkles, cinnamon rolls (trust Martha's weird-ass recipe!), accouterments for tacos, and fruit with a special dip.

I'm not gonna lie. Katie did all the baking. I did all the dishes.

saturday

Early on the morning of Beeps' birthday and the party, Katie knocked lightly on my bedroom door and I hopped out of bed. While still rubbing my eyes, I bumbled down the hallway toward the kitchen, saying, "I'm ready to party."

it's the birthday girl!

Katie had already cleaned the floors so we started scoping out the yard. For a state which endured record-breaking drought and heat less than a year ago, the overnight and early morning weather brought uncharacteristically drippy, misty skies. The patio furniture was sopping wet with little chance of drying off. PLAN B! Party moves indoors.

I blew up balloons, vacuumed, and arranged furniture. Joey ran last-minute errands. Katie got herself, the baby, and the food ready.

They unlocked the gates so guests could easily get to the front door. The gates were unlocked. I repeat, the gates did not have a lock. For two minutes. And the doorbell rang early. Who knew it'd be a creepy mormon lady. It all happened so fast -- the save-my-soul pamphlet and the waist-length braid and floor-length skirt -- that I didn't have time to grab a camera.

but this is pretty much the gist

Beep's wonderful friends and family arrived and shared an awesome morning with us. Her grandpa (no relation to Gen. Zapata) and Mo brought Nikki and her baby. Katie and Joey's friends from the rodeo came with their babies. All told, I bet 25 or more people cycled through the house.

After opening some awesome gifts, the littlest ones and their parents ran outside in the now-clear weather to chase balloons play with sidewalk chalk.

Joey is very good at corralling babies

run, Ruthie, run!

We were all wiped out, so Beep wasn't the only one who took a post-party snoozer. In fact, Joey fell asleep on Beep's brand new Dora the Explorer couch. Snoring and everything.

that is not Beep, but this is the exact couch on which Joey fell asleep

When we woke up, we decided to not do dishes and instead drive into Greune, which is just about the pretties dang town you could ever imagine, and got a table for dinner at the Grist Mill.

say 'queso'!

On Saturnight, after the baby went to bed, Katie and Joey and I sat around the still-warm smoker and drank beers (Katie had water, duh). Joey cranked the country music on his pick-up's stereo and we gazed at the constellations. And we talked and talked and talked and then talked some more.

Joey, Katie, Bhan (L-R)

sunday

Katie had arranged for us to meet up with her friend, Chelsea, who is an amazing photographer. Chelsea spent about 30 minutes taking pictures of Beep alone and with her parents among the exquisite Texas bluebonnets. This fleeting time of year provides families with an incredible backdrop for photos.

I'm certain Chelsea's pictures will turn out lovely and remind us of a very special birthday weekend spent with my sister and her amazing family.

I leave you with this.

meet my boyfriend

Sorry boys, I'm off the market and officially have a boyfriend. His name is John and he looks like a young Mr Clean...

shave off about 20 years along with all that hair

... which is to say he is hot.

Let's rewind the clock back to the first week of February. (And feel free to brush up on your Stages of a Relationship.)

There's no shame in my game: John and I met online. After a few email exchanges and phone calls, I learned he's a 30-year-old team leader and member of the military. We agreed to meet in person over a pint at the Great Dane.

date #1

We scheduled the first date for a Thursday evening. John was there when I arrived and he gave me a warm hug before following me to the bar. We sat side-by-side, ordered our beverages, and proceeded to conduct the usual getting-to-know-you jibber jabber.

He made me very uneasy. He seemed so sincere, so genuine. Looking into my eyes while listening attentively. Asking interesting questions. Sharing meaningful details about himself. That kind of thing. I just didn't know how to act. Fidgety, that's how.

He met Monkey, George, and my roommate Dave. That went well enough, but I definitely gave off a this-isn't-going-anywhere vibe.

Flash forward a week or two. I finally address the issue of the mystery gloves sitting on the kitchen table. Dave assured me they weren't his. He may have said something like, "I was wondering when you were gonna ask."

One text message later and I confirmed the gloves belong to John. He replied with something like, "I was wondering when you were gonna ask." He later didn't deny leaving them at my place so as to have an excuse to see me again.

date #2

We scheduled what I recall as an opportunity for me to return the gloves, or as John thinks of it, Date #2. Another evening full of pleasant conversation and a little more electricity than before. You see, he's a 6'4" tall ginger. That is quite the wingspan.

This time, he left behind his lunch container to ensure we'd have to schedule Date #3.

date #3

A couple weeks later, he agreed to accompany me to have a couple drinks with my friend Damon, who I don't get to see very often. John handled it all very well, not that it was a test. Damon laughs easily.

They both said inappropriate things, which assured me that, though John is a Nice Guy, he is also capable of mischief.

dating exclusively

I told Chuck, who is a good friend of mine...

UWO's unofficial Alumni Homecoming Royalty

...about John. Chuck has long supported the concept of me dating Nice Guys.

I also talked to my sister about this concept and she was very approving. John's sincerity and kindness were revolutionary for me, so it took a good talking-to by my older, wiser sister (who married a Nice Guy) for me to understand that I may finally be dating the right kind of person.

John and I started talking on the phone on a daily basis, often when I left work in the afternoon. We are on the same page when it comes to all the major stuff.

Thanks to my ever-supportive and appropriately curious work-friends Ben and JR, it eventually dawned on me that I didn't just like this Nice Guy -- I might actually experience heartache if it ended.


No risk, no reward, right? This is a new attitude I'm trying out. If Patti LaBelle can have success with it, then so can I.

Awesome outfit, Ms LaBelle. No, seriously.

he's my boyfriend, y'all!

I told the rest of my family about John. Recently he and I had some snacks and a glass of malbec while I recounted the animated conversation I had with my aunt during which I told her all about him. 

John said, "So now your aunt knows you have a boyfriend." 

I let it slide for a few hours and then told him it hadn't escaped me that he referred to himself as my boyfriend. He smiled sweetly and said he'd noticed. He gave me my space to let it all sink in. 

And then he was all, "You're so beautiful," and I was all, "You're so adorable," and he was like, "No, YOU are amazing," and I was like, "giggle giggle kissy face."