I love coffee

this is an homage to coffee, as aided a bit by my beloved employer

all photos taken by me--and yes, I do have a coffee tree at my desk, and his name is Bob.
;)

I drink coffee from many different places, but most of the time I drink Starbucks.
Love it or hate it, it's seeped into our culture. And I'm pretty sure it's here to stay. In this post, besides sharing some pretty photos, I wanted to write a few words about I love coffee, and my employer.

(I  know I slack on the journaling on the blog sometimes, so here goes...)

I love coffee because it is tasty. It makes me feel better on those hard-to-get-out-of-bed mornings. It keeps me going when I have a long day. It is my comfort beverage.

I love that I work for Starbucks and that my job is to ensure our partners' pay and benefits are correct. I love that even when I have bad days at work, I know that I have to keep going, because I am doing something good and something that matters, somewhere, for a real person. I love welcoming new partners to the company, and giving them the resources they need to succeed. I love that I get free coffee in the kitchens. I love that we ethically source our coffee and that our company makes it a priority to have as small an environmental footprint as possible. I love that my work environment has an atrium where coffee trees grow and that the commute to my house is relatively painless. I love the mugs and the designs and the artwork. I love being able to do product testing on the crazy new things R+D come up with. I love my local baristas, who remember Greg and I, and our beverages by name.

I love going into cafes and sitting with a good book or my laptop, and chatting up the regulars. I love stopping for coffee in the middle of a long haul shopping expedition. I love the moment whilst on a long road trip, when, after driving for many miles, you finally find a Starbucks and you feel like you have found a much needed refuge/piece of civilization.

Over ten years ago, my first date with Greg was at a Starbucks. We got coffee, and talked, and laughed, and fell a little bit in love. Now it is our tradition to always get coffee together at least once a week, usually on Saturday mornings. It is a special tradition for us. It brings us together. I have so many happy memories of our coffee dates I think I could fill up a dozen albums.

so... that's a bit about why I love coffee.