When a Biggby Girl Meets Starbuck’s

I am a Biggby girl… Have been for years. Who doesn’t love a local favorite that kicked off its empire right on the banks of the Red Cedar?! Order me a chinese flower tea, splash of honey and we can be besties for at least a cup. I have many of the snazzy tumblers to match an array of outfits and moods, and am rarely without one on any given day. I even heard the Biggby founder speak live in person a couple months ago. I love Biggby because they aren’t over-hyped or pretentious. They are the everyday person’s tea shop. Ahhhh Biggby… That Big B.

I was so in love.

Looking back I should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. Consumed with my daily routine always knowing Biggby was there whenever I needed a quick fix and pick-me-up. I never dreamed that one day I would find a better match for my beverage cravings.

Over the last six weeks, Starbuck’s has been courting me. (I have been documenting this courting on SnapChat… If you don’t follow me on there, you should. It gets hilarious. Find me: @dezmelfi, I digress.) I walk into my building and it’s there with its snazzy music and alluring sexiness. The first couple of weeks, I ignored it. Sorry Starbuck’s… You’re pretentious and over priced and Biggby has my heart… Chinese Flower tea tastes like fruit loops for God sakes!

Tea that tastes exactly like loops of fruit on your tastebuds.

Nothing can compete with this… Or so I thought. If we are being honest, I may have even turned up my nose a couple times as I walked by and smelled coffee in my nose holes. (BTDubs, I hate coffee.)

Enter week 3. I was a little tired, a little irritable, just a little wonky and off. I wasn’t feeling myself. The holidays were just around the corner and I had forgotten my tea on the counter at home. By the time I got to my office I was cold and in need of some warmth in my belly. I passed Starbuck’s and I held my glance on the menu just a little too long. My eyes skimmed the deliciousness and then I realized I had no idea what most of the words meant.

Short is small but really a tall is small.

Grande is large but venti is bigger and also means 20 in Italian but is really 24 ounces.

Then there is trenta which is 30 in Italian but really delivers 31 ounces.

And then there’s the macchiato… Don’t even get me started.

Why are they making it so confusing?! I am a very intelligent woman and I speak fluent Italian…I am still confused by all this gibberish.

I give up trying to decipher the menu and as I walk away annoyed. I am so thankful for Biggby… In the same breath, I gave Starbuck’s a glance over my shoulder and make a mental note to just Google the menu so I could be done with the curiosity and put this crazy talk behind me!

Later that night I am cuddled on the couch with Miss Bella-Roo fast asleep in my lap. I am thoroughly enjoying one of my mind-numbing favorite wastes of time, Pinterest. I see a Pinterest pin for tea lattes. My mental note nudges me and no sooner did I think it, I was bee-boping over to starbucks.com. I click my way to the tea menu (because coffee makes me throw up in my mouth and die a little.) I judgingly scroll through the menu, sure to keep my nose turned up so I don’t feel guilty looking at something that isn’t Biggby. I read things like:

Passion Tango Brewed Tea (I need a little tango with passion these days.)

Youthberry White Tea (Sign me up for some youthberry, please and thanks.)

Peach Tranquility Brewed Tea (mmm peaches full of tranquility. I need that.)

London Fog Tea Latte (Oh. Yo. Sign me up twice.)

P.S., since I don’t drink milk or soy, at Starbuck’s my lattes can be made with coconut…

Oh. Em. Gee.
Drop the mic.
Are you for serious?!
Yes, I am for serious.

I can sense impending trouble. My right eyebrow raises and intrigue creeps in as I read more… And then I see it. As soon as I do, I stop and I stare. Mouth agape. I hear myself say the words out loud.

Very. Berry. Hibiscus. Refresher.

Hubbz gives me his “Did you say something that I was supposed to be paying attention to but I totally wasn’t listening” look. I give him an awkward smile and deer in the headlight look that makes me look like I am severely constipated, and he totally knows I am guilty of something. I can’t tell him. At least not yet. He likes Biggby too… This would change EVERYTHING.

I focus back on the amazingness that is gazing lovingly at me from my iPad. I don’t know about you but I need a refresher of very berry hibiscusness like I need air to breath. I look at the sizes and figure out what I need to say so I don’t sound like a dummy and say “Hi, uhhh, can I have a medium.” Venti. I need a Venti. 24 ounces of real fruit juice and whole blackberries shaken with green coffee extract and served over ice for a delish boost of natural energy. Yes, I need 24 ounces of that surging through my veins immediately please.

The next morning I walk into my building and head to the Starbuck’s. No one is in line. I do a quick happy dance in my brain and order my very first Buck of the Star. It is one of the most beautiful things things I have ever done.

For a moment, part of me feels guilty because Biggby and I were homies. Then I realize, Biggby is great and it will always be great. It serves a beautiful part of me that craves comfort and tea flavored like fruit loops (and turkey and havarti bragles!) Starbuck’s serves another part of me. It speaks to the part of me that craves deliciousness, sophistication and rhinestones (because they have tumblers with RHINESTONES!!!) As I sit with my Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher I realize that sometimes life shows us new things. It expands our horizons and makes our tastebuds do a little happy dance. Sometimes when we least expect it life hands us new experiences and things that we didn’t know we needed. Amid the everyday routine we discover things that we didn’t know we didn’t know about. Things that make our life colorful and our story rich and amazing. It is in that realm that our lives open up and amazingness occurs. It is here that our life changes and can never be the same.