I Heart Starbucks

Starbucks On the Run

2009-09-21T17:09:00.003-10:00

Does it count if I went to Starbucks but neither of the other two from the trio were in attendance? Today I visited a friend and her new baby girl. I was so enthralled with the baby that I didn't eat breakfast and lunch time was about to pass me by too. Lucky I know where every Starbucks is. After driving back towards my end of town, I stopped in to the Stadium Starbucks for a Spinach Wrap and a refreshing Black Ice Tea with Coconut. When are the three of us going to get together for Starbucks again? It's just not the same (well, it's still good) without you both!

Kaneohe Drive Thru...Really?

2009-09-15T16:41:00.003-10:00

This particular Starbucks has gotten a bad rep. Our dear Malia always seems to have trouble getting exactly what she wants there. You can understand why I was a little worried to use the drive thru here on my way to drop Malia off at the airport. We pulled up---my personal grande cup in hand and Malia with her Black Starbucks Discount Card...armed and dangerous! We obviously aren't ones for change...same order, literally, as yesterday. Well, at least we got our Starbucks in before Malia went to the mainland (still minus Mai though).

Mai Ly has already been to the first Starbucks in Pike's Place. I went on occasion when I used to live in Washington, and now Malia is getting the opportunity to experience Starbucks finest as well. Take pictures for us Malia!
I know this isn't a photo of the Kaneohe Starbucks but I had to re-post this...when I "Googled" images of Kaneohe Starbucks, this picture showed up! We are legendary (in cyber world) Starbucks drinkers!

Kailua Morning

2009-09-14T15:13:00.003-10:00

We were one short today. Mai Ly's daughter Arwen is suffering from a bad cold and our third member of the Starbucks crew was at home nursing a sick five year old back to good health. Malia and I hit the beach in Kailua for a morning walk---2.5 miles each way (you do the math).After a good for the legs walk, we needed a good for the soul drink---Starbucks Kailua it is! Malia believes in the motto "you fly, I buy" so since I drove to the Windward side, she bought me my Grande (in a personal cup) Iced Chai (with soy) latte. We split the Rosemary Mozzarella sandwich but had our barista warm it up (much better than straight out of the cooler). We got our drinks and as we grabbed them, asked for two cups of water (walking can dehydrate a girl!). We sucked those down and promptly requested a refill. We stepped outside into the Kailua sun where we chatted and enjoyed our iced Chai's. The sun was quickly creeping overhead and sun burnt arms weren't the goal of the morning so we bid our Kailua Starbucks farewell...til tomorrow!

We're Back!

2009-09-13T18:13:00.010-10:00

And we're back. After about a year and a half hiatus, the I Heart Starbucks crew has finally regrouped, and we're blogging about it. Actually, we've been Starbuckin' all along. The break's been with the blogging, but now that Larisa's become an avid blogger in her personal blog, Life of Larisa, perhaps we'll see posts here more often about our (still) favorite java joint.

On Friday, we met at the Pearl City Shops location, a fairly new strip mall behind the Pearl City Walmart near Pearl Highlands Shopping Center. I know we've met here at least once before during the "break," but the details and pics from that visit will have to wait for another post, as I haven't a clue where they are now.

The purpose of this visit was for a little Starbucks fix before checking out the movie, All About Steve, and since lunch time was approaching, Malia brought some dim sum to share! I love that Starbucks doesn't frown upon outside food. I would love even more if they'd begin serving dim sum.

For this visit:

Our drinks:

Malia: Venti No Whip Chai Latte
Mai: Venti No Whip Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
Larisa: Tall (forgot to ask what flavor) Iced Tea because she had a Starbucks earlier

During our visit, the barista put out a tray of the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino with Whip. Yay for samples! I was already drinking one, so I just dumped it into my cup. The little splash of whip cream was delightful.

The Farthest Starbucks

2008-03-16T20:23:00.007-10:00

Mahalo goes out to Pua and Brandon Duffield who have been contributing to "the addiction" by bringing me mugs from the far away places they visit. If you keep up with the blog, you will know that Pua contributed the Alaska mug--the farthest (from Hawaii) U.S. mug. Thanks guys! Recently, Pua's husband who serves in the United States Navy, was deployed. Not only was he serving our country, but he brought back two rare Starbucks finds! My "farthest Starbucks mugs" are from Kuala lumpur (in Malaysia for the geographically challenged) and Sabah (Borneo monkey and all). Seeing as how I'll probably never visit either place, I am happy to have these two mugs that sadly Malia and Mai Ly do not have---you're welcome to come over any morning and have a cup of joe out of them!

And so the rivalry continues...

Ala Moana with Special Guests

2008-02-06T01:52:00.023-10:00

Have I told you how much I love my friends? Our plan for yesterday was to get in at least one more batch of Starbucks visits before Lent because of Malia's decision to give up EVERYTHING Starbucks for Lent. (Don't ask... I know... I still haven't decided whether I'm more amused or annoyed by this idea. Didn't really matter either way. Any excuse to go to Starbucks is good enough for me, and I'm not sure any of the three of us really NEED an excuse anyway, right?) However, what started out as just our ordinary trip to Starbucks...okay three Starbucks...developed into a belated birthday celebration for me complete with red velvet cupcakes from Hokulani Bakery, an amusing gift from Malia (haha...very funny), and special guests from out of town...Jayme, Jayme's mom, and the absolutely adorable baby Solomon! What fun!!!!

We all met up at the Sears - Ala Moana Starbucks first.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Matt & Mike

Our drinks:

Malia: Tall Caramel Apple Spice
Larisa: Tall Black Iced Tea Lemonade Sweetened
Mai: Grande Black Iced Tea Lemonade Sweetened
Gabe: Water
Jayme & Her Mom: Shared a Venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte

Other:

Jayme & Her Mom shared a Blueberry Coffee Cake
The rest of us enjoyed the cupcakes...guess outside food's okay

What's the matter Gabe?

Then we strolled down to the Barnes & Noble Starbucks located in the center of Ala Moana where decided to stay and have lunch.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Jayme says Joe and Schmo (we forgot to ask)

Our drinks:

Malia: Nada...she's bumming because they don't have the full Starbucks drink menu
Larisa: Water
Mai: Grande Iced Vanilla Latte
Jayme: Venti Decaf Coffee w/ cream and raw sugar
Jayme's Mom: Water

Other:

Malia: Crispy Treat Square
Larisa: Lemon Blueberry Cupcake and a Turkey and Cheese Panini
Mai: Italian Sandwich
Jayme's Mom: Turkey and Cheese Panini

Then we mozied on over to the Starbucks at Macy's Ala Moana.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Boy...we are REALLY going to need to work on remembering to ask

Our drinks:

Malia: Tall Passion Iced Tea Lemonade Sweetened
Mai: Tall Black Iced Tea Lemonade Sweetened
Jayme: Venti Passion Iced Tea Lemonade Sweetened
Jayme's Mom: Grande Decaf Coffee

Other:

Larisa: The NEW Jack Johnson CD
Mai: The NEW Jack Johnson CD
Jayme: A gift card for ME!!!

Thanks so much to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me and sent birthday wishes. It was a great day...but of course it was... we went to Starbucks!

Corner of Bishop and Merchant - Financial Plaza

2008-02-01T22:17:00.000-10:00

Larisa, Malia, and I make up our sorority's committee for our annual Grape Escape fundraiser and, with the event only 3 weeks away, needed to meet to go over some event details. Why not do some fundraising talk at the Financial Plaza? By the way, if you have no plans for that evening, you should make some plans now to come to the event. You can check out the link for details. It's a blast.

We'd talked about doing the downtown Starbucks locations for a while and with Malia's office located in that area, I'm surprised we haven't done any of them sooner. This was Larisa's first visit to this Starbucks, and she has now labelled it one of her favorites because of the decor - the books on the bookshelves and the downtown atmosphere made her reminiscent of Starbucks in Seattle when she had to work downtown. Unfortunately, we weren't able to schedule visits to all three locations today because Malia had a lunch date in Kaneohe, Larisa had an appointment at Paul Brown, and Mai had an appointment at the White Elephant Tent at the Punahou Carnival. So we had to make this one a quick one.

We extended an invitation to our friend and sorority sister, Kapua, who also works in the neighborhood, but she couldn't really get away for very long, having only escaped for a Jamba Juice run (Larisa don't gag), so here's her cameo on our blog. Next time, we'll plan our visit around a lunch break, so she can sit down for STARBUCKS. (And Kapua, don't even start with the whole, "Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is better" stuff.)

For this visit:

Our Baristas: We're getting lazy with this detail, as we forgot to ask again. However, Larisa notes that "one of them was cute."

Our Drinks:

Malia: Venti, Decaf, Nonfat, Toffee Nut, Wet Cappucino and a Vanilla Skinny Latte sample
Larisa: Tall Cinnamon Dolce Skinny Latte and a Vanilla Skinny Latte sample
Mai: Grande Stirred Caramel Macchiato and a sip of Malia's Vanilla Skinny Latte sample

Other:

Mai: Toasted Plain Bagel with Cream Cheese

Keeaumoku Starbucks and Untraceable

2008-01-24T21:52:00.000-10:00

Larisa was invited to another advanced movie screening the other night, so she could write a review for hawaiimoms.com. The movie? Untraceable. And since she had two additional tickets to share with her coffee partners, we decided to begin this movie excursion with a quick stop at where else? Starbucks.

We originally planned on dinner at Hanazen, a little bento place in the Walmart Superblock on Keeaumoku that makes AMAZING garlic chicken, but Malia and her Tahitian tan showed up full, having eaten at her earlier stop at Tiki's Grill & Bar. Without the threesome able to enjoy garlic breath, Larisa and I opted to just get something quick at Starbucks with our drink orders. Of course, this location had a pretty bare selection of food items left by this time of day, and then Larisa ordered the last Turkey Pesto sandwich, so I decided to have nothing but a Starbucks and a smile for dinner.

Our Starbucks mugs inventories all went up by one with the addition of Malia's gifts to us from her Tahiti trip. There weren't any Starbucks locations in Tahiti, so she brought us back mugs found at her LA stop... Griffith Park Los Angeles. Very cool. I'm actually up TWO mugs now since my last mug post because I also received a mug from Larisa for my birthday on the 17th -- a SPOKANE mug all the way from MILILANI. This is kind of like the Las Vegas tumblers Malia and I came across at one of the Kaneohe Starbucks stores. We were puzzled and asked how or why they'd have items from Vegas, and the barista explained that sometimes stuff is shipped in error, and they just put it on the shelves. Too funny. I wasn't even aware there was a Spokane mug. Laura lives in Spokane, and had I guessed there was a mug there, I would've asked her to bring me one on her next return home. So Laura, you've been spared...unless you want to bring mugs back for Larisa and Malia because there was only one. Thank you Larisa for my lovely mug and Starbucks liquer! I'll have to use them together one day. Should make for one interesting cup of coffee. And since we're on the subject of Starbucks birthday thank you's...Thank you to my stepmom Phyl in Philly for my Starbucks gift card! The perfect gift :-)

How was the movie? I'll let you read Larisa's online review because I spent most of the time with my hands over my face peeking at the sceen through my fingers. I love Diane Lane and used to really enjoy thrillers, but I don't know... I didn't care much for this one. Appreciated the free flick and a great company though, so it wasn't a total bust.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Tiffany, Emilio, & Reese

Our drinks:

Malia: Venti, Nonfat, Wet, Toffee Nut Cappuccino
Larisa: Tall, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Mai: Venti, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade

Other:

Malia: Crispy Square Bar
Larisa: The last Turkey Pesto Sandwich and a Chocolate Covered Graham Cracker

A Manoa Moment

2008-01-05T22:47:00.000-10:00

Larisa had a meeting in Manoa, so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take in one more Starbucks visit before Malia heads off for her Tahiti sailing trip (I know. Must be nice.) As far as we can tell there aren't any Starbucks locations there, so lucky for Malia's suitcase - no mugs (tear.) Larisa and I will just have to sip a few extra Starbucks for her while she's off soaking in the Tahitian sun.

So this visit came with a lesson. It turns out that most of Malia's "foam issues" are the result of her having ordered the wrong drink for the last couple of years. What makes her happy now? It's called a Wet Cappuccino.

And Arwen's getting better with the camera. Look at this one she took of us.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Angela, Mikey, and Aime

Our drinks:

Malia: Venti, Decaf, Wet Toffee Nut Cappuccino
Larisa: Grande Cinnamon Dolce Skinny Latte (aka Cup of Gold)
Mai: Grande, Breve, Upside Down, 6 pumps Vanilla Caramel Macchiatto (my Cup of Gold)
Arwen: Tall Hot Cocoa (because the barista forgot it was a Kid's...thanks for the upgrade!)

Other:

Malia: Toasted Spinach Bagel with Light Cream Cheese

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou and a Cup of Joe

2008-01-01T23:03:00.000-10:00

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)! We decided to start out the New Year at one of the newest Starbucks locations - the Kapahulu Safeway, which opened in November. Now this is a Starbucks licensed location not actually operated by Starbucks, but our barista Rachael, who was as sweet as can be, used to work for Starbucks on Maui, so she sure knew her stuff! I was so impressed that she remembered both Arwen's and my names from having been there the night before last. These baristas serve quite a few customers each day, so matching names with faces and sometimes even drinks can't be easy. Kudos to Rachael!

Arwen and I frequent this Safeway because it is the largest (and nicest) grocery store in the State. Each visit includes a hunt for one of those shopping carts with the car on front and a stop by the Starbucks counter to get a coffee for me and a kid's hot cocoa for Arwen. I can't break the routine or else I catch an ear full from the 3 year old. We weren't here to shop today, so there was no need to go cart hunting, but I thought I'd share a past picture of Arwen cruising in her cart drinking "coffee." Too fun. Thankfully, meeting Arwen's Gabey was distraction enough for us to break tradition without much of a fuss.

Since this is not a REAL Starbucks store, the drink menu differs (they actually didn't have it displayed) and the food options were different (likely from the Safeway bakery?) We ordered an assortment of pastries and our drinks and then head outside to sit down and enjoy.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Rachael & Bertha

Our drinks:

Malia: Grande, Decaf, No Whip, Extra Foam White Chocolate Mocha in her photo Starbucks tumbler (They were out of Toffee Nut today.)
Larisa: Tall, Black Iced Tea with Raspberry
Mai: Grande, Half and Half, Upside Down Caramel Macchiato with 6 pumps (Thanks so much for the suggestion Rachael. Loved it!)
Isom: Grande Upside Down Caramel Macchiato
Gabe: Tall Caramel Apple Spice (cold because he won't drink anything hot)
Arwen: Tall Hot Cocoa with Extra Whip Cream (They were out of short cups, so the kids got upgraded to Talls.)

Other:

Assorted pastries to share. Most didn't have labels, so we weren't sure what they were called. I got a slice chocolate loaf cake, which was delicious. Malia picked up a fancy looking cinnamon bun. Larisa got a raspberry twist type danish and a cream cheese filled chocolate cupcake. Isom just went on over to the Safeway bakery to get some donuts.

Malia felt that a Grande just wasn't enough for her, so she asks, "Want to go to the other Starbucks down the street?" I think she made Larisa's day, who was grinning ear to ear at the idea. I'm always up for Starbucks (even after just having a Starbucks.) When we shared the news with Gabe we got the same look he gave us part way through the Central Oahu coffee crawl. Less than thrilled, but playing along. Isom's just along for the ride, and Arwen will go anywhere her Gabey is going.

Rob had just gotten off the tug and had his co-worker drop him off to the location where we were headed. He didn't realize that this was a Starbucks trio visit and thought I was just going to this Starbucks because the Safeway one was closed or something. Standing in the parking lot waiting for me, he thinks, "Hey! There's Malia! Wait...and there's Isom and Larisa." Our three cars filed in one after the other. Back into the Kapahulu Starbucks he goes to join us for more New Year cheer!

The kids decided that Rob was more comfortable than the big purple chair in the corner.

His quote for the day, "Watch it Gabe. I don't want to be a soprano today."

Isom spent most of his time behind the camera. Part of the time taking pictures, but a good deal of it messing around with the features. (I hear this is part of the reason we had delays in getting pictures for our last post.) The Malia picture above and this cup are samples of his handywork.

For this visit:

Our baristas: I'm so sorry I forgot to ask. Hopefully Malia or Larisa got their names.

Our drinks:

Malia: Venti, Decaf, No Whip, Extra Foam Toffee Nut Latte
Larisa: Tall, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Mai: Venti, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Isom: Ethos Bottled Water
Rob: Grande Coffee
Gabe: Ice Water
Arwen: Nothing. She just wants to hang out with her Daddy who's been gone since the day after Christmas.

Other:

Malia: Toasted Spinach Bagel with Cream Cheese

Malia also picked up another one of those Peppermint Bark Candy Cane Cookie Cutter things that Larisa found for us for Christmas. The ants found her other one :-( At least this one's on Christmas clearance.

Mele Kaliki-Starbucks

2007-12-25T16:44:00.000-10:00

I love my friends. This morning I woke up to find a wonderful email from our dear friend and sorority sister, Ronda, in Montgomery, Alabama. She and her beautiful family visited a Starbucks on Christmas Eve and thought of us, so they shared some pictures of everyone enjoying our favorite treat! A White Chocolate Mocha for Jason, an Eggnog Latte for Ronda, and a couple of Peppermint Hot Cocoas for Hugh and Grant. I'm craving a cup just thinking about it. Awww...nothing on the menu for Eli :-( I get this face when I can't have Starbucks either, but it's not nearly as cute. It's okay Little Man. You'll be joining us for "coffee" in no time. We are so looking forward to Ronda's return to Hawaii in January and plan to have her join us for at least one Starbucks stop during her visit. (Love ya Ronda and thanks for the Starbucks gift card!)

We opened presents at home. Woohoo! A Starbucks gift card from Jayme! (See why I love my friends?) Jayme is another dear friend and sorority sister that will be visiting us next year. (We'll see you at Starbucks Girl!) Then we opened more presents with my mother-in-law. Oooooo! A Tucson Starbucks mug from my brother-in-law, Mike! Larisa and Malia don't know about this new acquisition yet. Well okay, they'll know now, so sorry girls. Mike's not on the web, so he doesn't know about the blog or the mission. He remembered my desperate search for Tucson mugs (for all three of us) when we visited him in October 2006. After stops to every Starbucks in our path, a barista finally told me Tucson didn't have a mug. Guess they do now, so I'll be sure to pick you each one up the next time we go see him. Mahalo Mike for mine!

On our way to my mothers for lunch and more presents, I got a call from Malia asking if I want to break away from the family for a quick Christmas Starbucks break. We'd talked about possibly doing a Christmas Starbucks visit, but with all of the hustle and bustle that comes with the holidays combined with the need (and for some a requirement) to visit with family, I wasn't sure this was going to happen. An opportunity to ditch...er... I mean sacrifice time spent with my family for Starbucks? Tell me where and when. I'm there.

Most Starbucks locations were only open until noon or 2 p.m. today if at all. The Aloha Tower Starbucks would be open until 4 p.m. depending upon the flow of business. If it got too slow, they'd close shop early. QUICK!!! TO ALOHA TOWER!!!

For this visit:

Our baristas: Wise, Amy, and Ricardo

Our drinks:

Malia: Venti, Decaf, Nonfat, Sugarfree, Foam, No Whip Gingerbread Latte
Larisa: 2 Grande, Iced, Stirred Caramel Macchiattos (one for Isom)
Mai: Grande, Whole Milk, No Whip, Toffee Nut Latte

A Starbucking Discovery

2007-12-23T11:31:00.000-10:00

Well wonders never cease. Yesterday, I was finally ready with my Christmas gifts for Malia and Larisa THREE WHOLE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Malia was exhausted from having volunteered at the Foster Families Holiday Party all day, and Arwen and I had just about reached the end of our rope having spent the day shopping, wrapping, delivering gifts, and getting Arwen's face painted at Isabella's 1st Birthday party. But we decided to get together anyway last night for a last minute latte at the Waimalu Starbucks, giving me an opportunity to deliver my gifts to the rest of the I Heart Starbucks crew.

I went with a Starbucks theme again this year (seriously?) with some more ornaments for their trees and a Christmas music CD. By the way, the best version of Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer performed by Jack Johnson is on this one. If you don't have it, go get it. It's probably part of the After Christmas clearance sale now. Most of the ornaments didn't come as a surprise because I gave them the heads up that they were coming...didn't want them to go shopping for themselves. Though, like the mugs, can you really have too many Starbucks ornaments? The surprise was actually on me that they even got to see them before Christmas this year. Last year, I had to recruit mainland help to get their gifts because I knew the ornaments existed, but none of the stores here had them. This year, I scooped them up the day they hit the shelves, but the baristas kept restocking them. So much for getting them first. Now you can get them on sale. Anyway, their gift bags still came stocked with at least one surprise - a DVD titled, Starbucking. I have to credit my husband, Rob, with the great find. He came across it while shopping for me and just had to tell me about it. It came with the promise that this is the ONLY time he's going to contribute to this Starbucks madness. (We'll see about that.) Of course, I had a heck of a time finding two more copies. At the time, Amazon.com was out, and most stores here didn't carry it. Fortunately, I was able to find one copy at each of two Barnes and Noble stores I visited. Yay!

It turns out our mission to visit every Starbucks on the island of Oahu is not only not original it is minoot compared to that of Winter, the star of Starbucking, a documentary about a guy whose goal is to visit every Starbucks store (only the real ones) in the world. This guy has travelled to thousands of Starbucks all over the world since 1997 and has a website http://www.starbuckseverywhere.net/ to tell about it. This guy is CRAZY.

Will this stop us? No way. With the exception of the occasional drink order screw up and Malia's continued foam issues, we still love going to Starbucks, and there are many differences between what Winter is doing and what we're doing. First, Winter's goal is to visit every REAL Starbucks in the world, and he requires himself to drink at least a sample at each of these locations. (Rent or buy the DVD to watch him attempt to break his record of visiting 28 locations in one day. I repeat. He is CRAZY.) Winter only drinks the drip coffee (and think I remember him mentioning an occasional espresso in the film.) He doesn't order the other drinks and says he has no desire to. He's a man on a mission.

We're keeping our mission local (for now), but of course the three of us will welcome the opportunity to visit a Starbucks out of state (or even country) together. We have not set any requirements...food, drink, gifts, even nothing... it's all good. The point is that the three of us are at the location together, enjoying Starbucks. Doing this Winter-style, we'd have been done in a few days, but we're enjoying this adventure at a much more kicked back and relaxed pace.

Keep doing what you're doing Winter! You're crazy, but we love it! Be sure to let us know when you come back to Hawaii.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Joe & Jamie

Our drinks:

Malia: Venti, Decaf, Foam (though they didn't put much), No Whip Gingerbread Latte
Larisa: Tall, Iced, Stirred Caramel Macchiatto
Mai: Grande Chai Latte
Isom: Grande, Iced, Stirred Caramel Macchiatto
Gabe: Ice Water
Arwen: Kid's Cocoa

Other:

Larisa: Chicken Club with Bacon Sandwich
Malia: Subway Sandwich she brought in from across the street (guess outside food is allowed here?)
Gabe: Turkey Pesto Sandwich
Mai: Costco Chocolate Cupcake that Larisa saved for me from yesterday's Christmas party and a Police CD as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law
Arwen: Crispy Square Bar

A Starbucks Christmas Tree

2007-12-14T23:27:00.000-10:00

Malia invited us over for a little get together to celebrate her 39th birthday. (Woohoo! Happy Birthday Malia!) A while back, Malia shared that she and her twin sister, Malisa, plan to run the Honolulu Marathon next year, which will fall right on their 40th. So Larisa and I figured we'd kick off the beginning of her training with these cute little marathon runner cookie favors from Hokulani Bakeshop. (If you haven't tried the cookies or cupcakes from this place, you NEED to...immediately. Yum!) Malia reluctantly admits that it took a while to figure out why they all had the number 39 on them. (It's okay Malia. These things come with age.)

The cookies were pretty much the only thing that worked out in the way of birthday plans Larisa and I had for Malia. We thought about putting together a surprise party, which was quickly foiled when we realized she really didn't want one. Then our back up plan to take her on a Kaneohe Starbucks tour with a stop at her fave dim sum place disintegrated upon the news that she would be participating in a holiday potluck at her office building that day. Oh well. An intimate gathering of good friends for dinner and a delicious spread of food prepared by Malia (I need to get that dip recipe) is all the birthday girl wanted, so we granted her wish and had a fun time. We weren't allowed to bring food, so of course, we all came bearing gifts, which included a Starbucks Hannukah Activitiy Menorah that Larisa went back to Schofield to get. You may remember this rare Hawaii find spotted during the Central Oahu coffee crawl. Nevermind that Hannukah was last week. Oh, or that Malia's not Jewish. It was a cool Starbucks gift that she was sure Malia didn't already have.

The bonus to this visit was that we all finally had a chance to see Malia's Starbucks Christmas Tree. Originally Malia was going to create a Starbucks Mug Tree, but unfortunately her poor tree's branches couldn't possibly support the weight of her collection. As cool an idea as it was, I shudder at the thought of the mug tree toppling over at the slightest bump or breath - a true Nightmare Before Christmas. Would her two Starbucks buddies sacrifice a portion of their own collections to help her rebuild? Ehhhhhh.... probably not. (That's friendship for you. What's mine is yours, except for my Starbucks mugs.) No matter. Her mug collection is safely put away in the cubbard, and her Plan B tree with a Starbucks Christmas To Go cup for a topper and the green and blue holiday cup sleeves, gift cards collected over the years (empty of course), and this year's mitten gift card holders as ornaments and even a few REAL Starbucks Christmas ornaments in the mix, it is quite the sight! Hopefully, we'll get Malia back on here to post more about the birth and development of her spectacular Starbucks Christmas tree, but I thought I'd take a moment to at least mention it and share some pictures of her beautiful Christmas creation. I'm so glad that there was at least a little Starbucks involved in Malia's special day this year. I think the only way Larisa and I will be able to work Starbucks into her birthday next year will be by standing at the marathon thirst aid stations holding a couple of lattes instead of Gatorade. Malia, do you want those iced or hot?

Pancakes, Presents, and Paris

2007-12-07T22:00:00.000-10:00

After Larisa sprang our Christmas gifts on us early last night, Malia was inspired to get her gifts wrapped and ready early as well. I say early because I assure you there is no way ANYONE will ever receive a Christmas gift from me before the 15th of December. Usually they come later. Often they come after Christmas. So if you haven't received your Christmas gift from me yet, don't worry... it's coming... later.

Malia invited the Starbucks team complete with spouses and offspring to the windward side for some dinner and presents...and, of course, to take in a little more Starbucks. What holiday would be complete without this little treat? Windmard Mall is home to one of the few IHOPs on the island, and being about as family-friendly a restaurant as they come, this is where we ate. As Larisa's husband, Isom, quickly discovers that IHOP coffee and caesar salad are not a good mix, my husband shakes his head in defeat as the Starbucks craze continues with Larisa's bringing mini Starbucks espresso mugs filled with chocolate covered espresso beans for us (so cute!) and Malia's gifts... Starbucks ornaments, gift certificates for CUSTOM Starbucks cards, and City Mugs from PARIS (compliments of her older sister, Liza!)

Malia told us about these beauties when our friends from Orlando arrived, so they were included in our inventory posted earlier. This was the first time Larisa and I were able to lay our hands on them. Belle!!!! I believe I speak for all three of us when I say thank you Liza for these beautiful mugs. We truly appreciate both the thought and baggage space sacrifice it took to get these to us. Even moreso because now we'll have that much more room for other mugs when we make the Europe trek ourselves!!!

Off to the Windward Mall Starbucks for dessert! Good times!

For this visit:

Our baristas: Sunshine (who was nice enough to give Larisa a sticker) & Stephen

Our drinks:

Malia: Grande, Nonfat, Decaf, Foam, No Whip, Toffee Nut Latte
Larisa: Tall Vanilla Cream with Whip
Mai: Grande Chai Latte

Crying a Thousand Pearls Over Starbucks

2007-12-06T23:51:00.000-10:00

Thanks to Larisa, we had the privilege of attending an advanced screening of Kite Runner, a movie based on a book that was featured at Starbucks a few months ago. I'd looked at the book many times while waiting in line for my latte and added it to my mental checklist of "Books I Must Read If I Ever Find The Time." All I can really say about the movie is that we "cried a thousand pearls." It was both heartwarming and tragic. It filled you with both hope and sadness. Click here to view the full review of this movie that Larisa wrote for Hawaiimoms.com. Great job Larisa! This book is now being moved up on the mental checklist to be read as soon as I finish Eat, Pray, Love, an early Christmas gift from Larisa and an absolutely FABULOUS book.

After such a heavy movie, we left the theater in need of some uplifting. STARBUCKS! That'll do the trick. It was pretty late, and we were in an industrial part of town where, amazingly enough, you don't find a Starbucks on every corner. Hard to believe. Malia heard there was a new location open on Sand Island Access Road, but we quickly detoured and continued on to the next nearest location when Malia phoned ahead to let us know that it had already closed for the evening. She did, however, stop to take a camera phone pic of the new location to prove it does exist. Larisa and I raced (not literally...okay maybe Larisa did) to the Airport Trade Center location down the street. Still open, but it was 9:57 p.m., and the sign said it closes at 10 p.m. We made it!!!! Along with 8 other people that barged in at the same time. The baristas looked thrilled. They were actually much better sports than I think I would've been if almost a dozen people walked in just as we were about to close. Sorry guys, but mahalo!

We quickly ordered our drinks (Malia's by cell phone because she was still on her way from Sand Island) and then proceeded to hang out in the parking lot to chat about the movie and enjoy our drinks. Mission to uplift our spirits accomplished. Mahalo to Wayne for taking a break from closing to take our picture.

For this visit:

Our baristas: Maria, Dan, & Wayne

Our drinks:

Malia: Tall, Chai Latte
Larisa: Tall, Peppermint Mocha
Mai: Grande, Toffee Nut Latte

Aloha Orlando

2007-12-05T21:09:00.000-10:00

Some very dear friends of mine recently returned from a family vacation on the mainland, which included a stop in Orlando, Florida to visit Disney World. Kimberly and her 2 year old daughter, Griffin, met up with Rob and me for lunch to catch up on all they've missed the past couple of weeks, share the tales of their trip to the Magical Kingdom, and to bring us gifts!!!!!

Kimberly had called during her vacation to give me a hint as to what she was bringing back, so as Griffin handed over the bag, I quickly dug in. Amidst the adorable assortment of princess and Minnie items for Arwen were three very HEAVY items which had my name written all over them. Okay...they said Orlando, but they were mine! Okay... one for me and two extras to share with my Starbucks addict friends, but I have a new mug! Okay... Rob was there, so, "Look Honey, WE have a new mug!" Rob sarcastically asks Kimberly, "Why do you encourage her?" To which Kimberly replies, "With such a cute blog, how can I not?" Yay for friends who GET it, and many mahalos to Kimberly and family for trucking these buggers back across the country for us. Malia and I have both had a taste of what it's like trying to find enough precious luggage space to store these very large (but oh so beautiful) Starbucks souvenirs. It's not easy, but don't our big glowing smiles make it all worth the effort?

Now in talking Starbucks to a friend because, hey, that's what I do best, Kimberly asked what mugs we already have, so I figured this is as appropriate a time as any to share our inventory and explain a little about how the Starbucks craze (at least among the three of us) began.

Last year, Malia went sailing through Spain, and she struggled with what she could bring back as gifts for her friends. She was funny because I think she thought her decision was lame because at one point she contacted me before coming home and said something along the lines of, "You're probably going to laugh at what I brought back for you, but I thought they were cool." She returns from her trip and presents the gift. Are you kidding?!?! A Starbucks mug from Madrid!!!!! How cool is that? Malia and I had a long time Starbucks connection since the day the Kaneohe Drive Thru location opened. Every coordinated effort to meet from that point ended with a call for "Starbucks?" "I'm heading over to campus for EC. Starbucks?" "Come over to my house and stamp. Starbucks?" So OF COURSE, I was tickled to get my gift. Then we went to Larisa's house and delivered her gift together. Malia again opens with, "You're probably going to laugh..." and then presents the mug. Larisa calmly places it on her counter and says, "Oh you have no idea!" as she reaches into her kitchen cabinet and begins pulling out her collection of Starbucks mugs one by one. And so the Starbucks Trio was born. We were friends pre-Starbucks, but Malia's little memento from Madrid helped us unleash the passion we all had for our favorite LITTLE coffee spot.

As per your request, this is our mug inventory. All mugs were either received as gifts (giver in parenthesis) or we travelled to the state, country, or region to get it.

Mug Inventory:

Larisa:

Alaska (Pua)
Austin (Isom)
Canada (Mai Ly)
Chicago (Isom...the beginning of her collection)
Cincinnati (Kimberly)
Hawaii
Hiroshima (Malia)
Indianapolis (Mai Ly)
Kauai
Kona
Korea (Laura)
Las Vegas (the tallest Starbucks)
Los Angeles
Madrid (Malia)
Maui
Maui Stamp (Malia...see earlier post by Malia regarding this one)
Orange County (Malia)
Orlando (Kimberly)
Paris (Liza)
Philadelphia (Mai Ly)
Pike Place (Mai Ly...the first Starbucks)
Portland
Salt Lake City (visiting Isom's mom)
San Diego (visiting Jeannine)
San Francisco (Malia)
Seattle (Mai Ly)
Seoul (Laura)
Tokyo (Malia)
Waikiki
Yokohama (Malia)

She also has a Christmas mug (Ashley.)

Malia:

Canada (Mai Ly)
Cincinnati (Kimberly)
Cologne (Liza)
Hiroshima
Indianapolis (Mai Ly)
Kyoto
Madrid (the beginning)
Maui Stamp
Orange County (asked Larisa if she should get mugs from OC...surely we don't want THAT many!!! Little did she know...)
Orlando (Kimberly)
Paris (Liza)
Philadelphia (Mai Ly)
Pike Place (Mai Ly)
Portland (Malisa)
Roppongi Hills
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle (Mai Ly)
Tokyo
Yokohama

Mai Ly:

Canada
Cincinnati (Kimberly)
Hiroshima
Indianapolis
Madrid (Malia...where my collection started)
Maui Stamp (Malia)
Orange County (Malia)
Orlando (Kimberly)
Paris (Liza)
Philadelphia
Pike Place
Portland (Malia)
San Diego (Malia)
San Francisco (Malia)
Seattle
Tokyo (Malia)
Washington, D.C. (Phyl)
Yokohama (Malia)

Mai also has the 2007 Anniversary mug.

So there you have it. Got Starbucks mugs?

Walking Through Ward

2007-11-25T09:36:00.000-10:00

Let me start by saying that not all preschool photographers are created equal. Maybe the reason is that she’s 6 months younger and about a foot shorter than her buddy Gabe whose beautiful pictures were shared in the Central Oahu post. Perhaps it’s that her petite little hands just can’t seem to get a good grip on the camera while she’s trying to aim for that perfect shot. There’s a good possibility that she’s been taking photography tips from her daddy whose handy work was observed in our first post about Kahala Mall. Whatever (or whomever) is to blame; the assortment of partial head shots, invading pinkies, or a combination of both like this one helped us quickly decide that, while Arwen was a welcome guest on this adventure down Auahi Street to 4 more Starbucks locations, she wouldn’t be taking anymore of our pictures. With a little help from Mommy to aim and keep the pinkies clear, she was able to successfully capture the three of us in front of the Ward Gateway Starbucks. The rest of her clever shots will go in her scrapbook. Arwen didn't really care anyway. Unlike her friend Gabe (aka "My Gabey") who thought we were totally nuts, this little latte lover actually likes going to Starbucks for "coffee" and was enjoying the drinks and treats right along with us. Okay...before you all scoff at the horrible parent who lets her 3 year old drink coffee, let me clarify that Arwen gets the Kids Cocoa, but as far as she's concerned, it comes in a Starbucks cup just like mine, so it's coffee.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Brandee (the cashier with an attitude) & Cathy

Our Drinks:

Larisa: Grande, Nonfat, No Whip, Peppermint Mocha in the beautiful Pike Place Starbucks tumbler Mai brought back from Seattle this summer -- saved her 10 cents! Woohoo!
Malia: Tall, Decaf, Nonfat, No Whip, Sugarfree, Gingerbread Latte
Mai: Grande No Whip Toffee Nut Latte
Arwen: Kids Cocoa (which was upgraded to a Tall because they were out of short cups.)

Other:

Larisa bought 3 Create Your Own Tumblers for us to enhance the journey. (Mahalo!)

We eventually made our way down Auahi Street to the Ward Entertainment Center and decided it was time for dinner. This is also where we realized that we needed to pick up the pace if Malia and I were going to make it home in time for Desperate Housewives and Larisa home for Nip/Tuck. I'm not sure if this is why we failed to get any other photos than this food shot (photo credit to Larisa) and also missed getting the names of the baristas or if it was because we were so excited to get free samples, but this'll have to do for now. If our mystery baristas happen to read this blog, please feel free to comment to let us know who you are! Of course, after forgetting the lemonade part of my order, they may wish to remain anonymous.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: ???

Our Drinks:

Larisa: will pass on a drink and just enjoy the food samples
Malia: also passing on a drink
Mai: Grande, Sweetened, Black Iced Tea Lemonade (but the barista forgot the Lemonade part)
Arwen: an Organic Apple Juice Box

Other:

Larisa: a Turkey Pesto Sandwich sample, a Ham and Cheese Croissant sample, and a $5 Gift Card with a cute Christmas Card Box of Chocolate. (Doing a little Christmas shopping?)
Malia: a Turkey Pesto Sandwich sample and an Egg Salad on Multigrain Sandwich
Mai: a Chinese-Style Chicken Sandwich with Side Salad to share with Arwen
Arwen: 2 pieces of chicken from Mai's dinner. Apparently she didn't agree with my dinner choice.

We hurry a little further down the street to the Hokua building, and as we approach this location, begin to get the sinking feeling that it's closed... there wasn't a soul in sight! What a relief to suddenly see movement behind the counter. Yes! We're not too late! This Starbucks does close earlier than its sister stores in the neighborhood, but it isn't closed yet. We hurry in to find Courtney and more samples! Another interesting discovery, this Starbucks location recycles. One more reason to heart Starbucks Hokua!

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Courtney

Our Drinks:

Larisa: sample of Unsweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Malia: sample of Unsweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade and a Tall, Unsweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Mai: sample of Unsweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade while still carrying the drink that was missing Lemonade from down the street.

Other:

Larisa: Dark Chocolate Graham Cracker Cookies
Mai: Holiday Gingerbread
Arwen: Rice Krispie Treat

Mahalo to Courtney for taking our picture with extra special thanks from Larisa for including her friend Louis in the shot ("the other brown one.")

Without much time left, we hustle across the street to the Ward Center Borders Starbucks. Aack! A Borders location and no time to browse?!?! The sacrifices we make for our Sunday night TV. As we climb the stairs to our last stop for the evening, we find a kind Borders guy to take our picture. Mahalo Mark.
Upstairs, Arwen quickly finds herself a table and sits down to enjoy her Crispy Treat that I painfully made her wait to open until now while the rest of us chat with our friendly cashier, Marcus. Larisa and I admired their Daily Offerings sign that included a drawing of the island chain and asked if one of their own baristas created it as some of the ones we'd seen in Central Oahu. Marcus explained that they have a partner that comes in to do their signs, but this one they almost had to erase because, though beautiful work, it didn't meet corporate specs. We learn something new with every Starbucks trip.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Marcus & Nathan

Our Drinks:

Larisa & Malia pass.
Mai: Tall Java Chip Frapuccino

Other:

Larisa: Decorated Cookie Ornament
Malia: Rice Krispie Treat

November 18, 2007: Lewers Waikiki Starbucks

2007-11-24T16:52:00.000-10:00

Aha! I finally figured out how to make a post!

I am the least computer savy of the three of us so of course I am the last to post on the blog! I'm Larisa, the brown one in the photos. Mai Ly has done a fabulous job of keeping everyone informed of our Starbucks mini adventures. I say mini because the big adventure is when we hit the mainland in a green Starbucks car traveling from one Starbucks to another. Wouldn't that be a fun little summer vacation?

So for now, this photo of me, Malia, and Mufasa from "The Lion King" will have to do as my photo/post. Just goes to show you that Starbucks is truly universal. From the famous to not so famous to a stay at home mom like me---we all LOVE Starbucks. Til next time....

Catch up with Central Oahu

2007-11-20T22:09:00.000-10:00

What do you get when you take a 4 year old on a Central Oahu quest to 5 different Starbucks locations? Hours of seemingly endless entertainment, 3 trips to the potty, company for Malia in the backseat, someone to bus our empties to the trashcan, an assortment of interesting photographs, and confirmation that even a preschooler can shoot pictures better than my husband. (Sorry Rob.)

Meet Larisa's son, Gabriel - our special guest for today's tour of all Starbucks stores within 8 miles of Larisa's home. He's a whiz at designing architectural structures of Tinker Toys and Legos and can produce a masterpiece with paint on canvas like a pro, so naturally we decided this gifted little guy was the best choice to serve as official photographer for our caffeinated crew. The fact that he was willing to work for the bargain rate of one Penguin Cookie and a Sausage and Egg Breakfast Sandwich was a bonus.

Gabe thought we were crazy for taking in so many Starbucks stops in a day, but he was still such a good sport and did an excellent job with the photos. Take a look at this one taken by Gabe at the Mililani Shopping Center Starbucks. I'm not sure any of us could've taken a shot like this if we tried. (Good job Gabe!)

We decided that we had some serious catch up work to do because it'd been almost two weeks since the last time the three of us were able to get together for Starbucks. Make no mistake...we've all been frequenting our favorite java joint since the last post. We just haven't been able to get the three musketeers together at one location at the same time until now.

With Larisa as our driver, the adventure continues with a stop at Schofield Barracks. Our friends at the Main Street Expresso (store name on the receipt) were giving out coffee crumb cake samples. Yum! Larisa also made an interesting discovery we hadn't seen anywhere else yet - Hanukkah Starbucks merchandise. And to answer your question, yes, the 4 year old took this picture. Like I said, the kid's got talent.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Sarah, Crystal, & Joanne

Our Drinks:

Malia: Tall, Nonfat, Decaf, Foam, No Whip, White Chocolate Mocha
Larisa: Tall Hot Cocoa
Mai: Tall Toffee Nut Latte
Gabe (our photographer): Water

Other:

Larisa: 2 Penguin Cookies to share
Mai: a Coffee Crumb Cake to share (but she didn't)
Gabe: some trail mix from Mom's purse (is outside food allowed?)

On to Mililani Shopping Center - site of Gabe's awesome photo shared earlier in this post. We realize at this point that we're going to have to pace ourselves if we want to actually enjoy each of these 5 visits. We'll stick to just drinks at this one. Gabe's getting hungry, so we'll have lunch at the next stop.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Addison & Jen

Our Drinks:

Larisa: Tall, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Malia: Grande, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Mai: Venti, Sweetened Black Iced Tea Lemonade
Gabe: Nada, he's content playing with my camera

What seems like footsteps away, we're at Mililani Towne Center, where we discover that making delicious coffee drinks is not the only talent 0f a Starbucks barista. It turns out that the Daily Offerings and other special signs we admire each day are created by the staff. If there was a contest for this, my vote would be for this one by Kris.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Cat with a C & Kris with a K

Our Drinks:

Larisa, Malia, & Gabe opted to pass on having any drinks here in order to have room for lunch.
Mai was still carrying her drink from the last Starbucks stop. (Is it still considered outside food or drink if it comes from another Starbucks?)

Other:

Larisa: Chicken Cheddar Club with Bacon Sandwich
Malia: Veggie Wrap
Mai: Chinese-Style Chicken Sandwich with Side Salad
Gabe: Nada, he's holding out for a Sausage and Egg Breakfast Sandwich, which were sold out here

Mahalo to Kris for coming out to take our photo!

Then we make our way over to Waikele. Our team bookworm, Larisa, loves the Borders locations. To complete this visit, we wandered in to find Malia additions to her Warren Kimble collection (something that probably deserves a blog of its own) and ended up finding Larisa a book she didn't already have (shock!) - How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill. We'll have her share a review when she's done. A life without Starbucks is hard to imagine.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Ke'ala, Leigh Ann, and Jason

Our Drinks:

Larisa: Ethos Bottled Water
Malia: None, she's just having dessert
Mai: Tall, Sweetened Black Iced Tea
Gabe: None, they've got his sandwich though

Other:

Larisa: Mint Chocolate Brownie
Malia: Fresh Banana and Strawberry Yogurt Parfait
Gabe: Sausage and Egg Breakfast Sandwich (finally!)

The final, and probably our favorite, stop for the Central Oahu Starbucks cluster was a trip through the Waipio Starbucks Drive Thru. Here we met the self proclaimed "best baristas" on the island of Oahu. These guys were the perfect way to end our excursion for the day, and they didn't have any problem with us taking their picture. They also shared a drink suggestion that we will be sure to try in the near future: Venti, Iced, White Chocolate Mocha with two pumps Almond. Thanks guys!

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Rubin & Josh

Our Drinks:

Larisa: Tall, Iced, Nonfat, Stirred Caramel Macchiato
Malia & Mai: Tall Java Chip Frappuccinos

Maui Stamp Mugs

2007-11-10T22:57:00.000-10:00

So there I was at the Manoa Starbucks on my way to a Stampin' Up! party. It was suppose to be a quick stop to pick me up a venti nonfat, decaf, white chocolate mocha with foam, no whip, and a Carmel Macchiato for Mai Ly. (Larisa wasn't joining us for the party or I would have picked her up one, too.) However, I caught myself doing something I shouldn't have done...I started to walk around and look at the shelves of Starbucks merchandise. Now, I can probably tell you the current inventory of merchandise in any Starbucks, so why I was walking around was unbeknown to me...okay, it was known...it was out of habit. Good thing (or bad, yeah right!) though, as I spotted the red label we all long for...the red label indicating a sale item. And what was it? A Maui stamped mug! Now, we have a deal that we won't buy a mug from a place other than its city...which is fair, right? I mean what fun would that be if you could buy all your "city" mugs from the same store? (Note to self, write about the "dilemma" while at the Starbucks in Narita, Japan.) But this was an exception, and I'm sure you'll agree with me as to why...they were $1.99! You would be an F-O-O-L not to make the purchase. And there was a sign (as if $1.99 needed to be justified), there were 3 of them! That's right...one for me, Mai and Larisa. I would have felt bad if there was only one, (because I would have to hide it from the other 2) or even two (because I would have to choose who to give it to without the other knowing)...but 3 meant we could each have one...hence, a sign. So, I did the only thing I could do, I bought all 3. What another great day at Starbucks!

The Journey Begins

2007-11-09T21:28:00.000-10:00

There seems to be one every which way you turn and, just when you think they've got all corners covered, here comes another. This isn't a complaint. It's a celebratory statement. I heart Starbucks. I look forward to my daily cup of heaven and don't think twice about standing in a line that wraps around the shop to get it. The coffee, the pastries, the atmosphere...what's not to love?

So it's a good thing that two of my closest and dearest friends love Starbucks as much as I do. We drink Starbucks. We eat Starbucks. We shop Starbucks. And while we're hanging out enjoying our barista prepared beverage, what do we do? We talk Starbucks. "We should visit every Starbucks location on the island of Oahu." That's right. If we're going to be drinking Starbucks everyday (quite often more than once in a day), we might as well mix things up, be a little adventurous, and see what all Starbucks has to offer us here.

Now the original idea was to not only visit every Starbucks on the island, but to actually visit them in the order that they opened. A great idea until we got a hold of the list. With the amount of driving necessary to get all of them done in order and the current gas prices, we'd burn up our coffee budget - quickly, so we amended the plan to begin at the first Oahu Starbucks - Kahala Mall. The rest we'd take care of in geographical clusters.

And here we are at the beginning of our journey to check out every Starbucks on Oahu. Please excuse the photo taken by my husband who apparently had a difficult time figuring out how to get us and the sign in the shot. Despite the looks of frustration, we were having a good time. (Thanks for trying, Rob.)

With the Starbucks upstairs at Barnes and Noble not opening until 9 a.m. and the nearest alternate location at least 4 miles away (Kapahulu) in one direction and 7 miles away (Hawaii Kai) in the other, this location services a pretty big chunk of morning island coffee drinkers, so as usual the line stretched out of the store and into the mall. But the service was fast and the coffees well worth the wait.

Starbucks Kahala Mall is my home office. You'll find me there just about every morning after dropping Arwen off at preschool, and the only reason I may skip that fix is because I have plans to meet someone there later. Today, I returned for a 1 o'clock lunch meeting with a potential client. I wonder how many visits it'll take before they'll give me a reserved table.

For this visit:

Our Baristas: Matt & Claudine (we would've included photos, but apparently Starbucks has a policy regarding photographing their employees.)

Our Drinks:

Malia: Venti, Hot, Non-Fat, Decaf, No Whip, Toffee Nut Latte

Larisa: Tall, Hot, No Whip, Egg Nog Latte

Mai: Venti, Hot, Whole, No Whip, Toffee Nut Latte

Rob (our photographer): Venti Coffee

Other:

One Cranberry Bliss Bar and One Mint Chocolate Chip Brownie to share