and no, I don't mean my daughters. Maybe some other day - when I don't have a headache, and I'm not coughing and sniffling, and I don't have to pee every 5 minutes, which is most inconvenient in class, b/c I'm super-hydrating myself to try and get rid of this damned cold. Perhaps on a day like that, I'll feel more maternal, and my kids will be my favorite things. Today, i am selfish.

1) My new sweatshirt. I have it in black, and absolutely love it, so I bought it in blue. It's from jjill. You can't tell from this photo, but it's super duper soft .... like velvety, but not. sweatshirty-velvety. Beloved wishes they made it for men. But alas, men are stuck with rough, scratchy clothes, so they can prove that they were not skipped over when testosterone was handed out. (although, he does have a cashmere sweater, so perhaps there is equal opportunity here)

2) Black tea. I have been consuming approximately 4-5 cups per day for the past 2 weeks. I used to be a coffee person. Very recently (like, 2 weeks ago). For 6 years now, beloved has been NAGGING me (yes, dear, that IS the appropriate word!) to give up coffee. I understand that coffee isn't good for me, I do. And for that reason (the health, not the nagging), I tried several times. I was even successful. I weathered the headaches, I endured the foggy head in the a.m., and I spent up to 3 months at each point without coffee. But I resented it.

This time, however, I decided I was consuming too much sugar. Not related to coffee. Just sugar. So I quit my [get ready] Triple Venti Non Fat Caramel Macchiatos, which have too many to count pumps of vanilla syrup in the bottom, and then, if I'm lucky and the barista is nice, TONS of caramel swirled on top. But I said you know -- this isn't good for me. All this sugar. Why get up at 5:30 and go running around the resevoir just to stop and pick up a 5 pound bag of liquid sugar (or its equivalent) on the way home? So I stopped.

Then I started getting regular drip coffee at the ABP across from my school. But again with the sweetness. It's a TALL coffee (not starbucks tall, but height tall ... I mean it's BIG). It's probably like, 415 ounces. That's why I was putting 8 packets of sugar in it. B/c you need 8 packets for 415 ounces.

And I decided that was too much. So I cut it down to 7. Then 6. then 5. Then 4. Then Zero. And it was fine. Really.

But then I realized, coffee's no fun anymore. It's not a treat. It's not a yummy thing that I can't live without.

So I switched to black tea ... which I drank from a VERY young age with my mother and grandmother. Liptons used to be the only kind I'd drink. But now at home, I have the Whole Foods 365 brand, and it's super yummy, and at school, I get "Harney & Sons," and it's fine.

I like black tea b/c I can have more of it. A second cup of coffee within 8 hours would be too much caffeine, too much decadence. Which is how I ended up with the "triple venti" from above - if it was bigger, and had more caffeine, I could last longer without MORE.

Also, I put less fat in tea. With coffee, I liked 1/2 and 1/2. With tea, however, I like 1 or 2% milk. When I used to have coffee in the a.m., and tea in the evening, I would drive Beloved CRAZY. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh, darrrrrnnnn, we're out of milk! I wanted teeeeeeeeaaa!" and he would patiently say, "oh, my darling love of my life, no we are not, I purchased some half and half for you just this morning!" and I would respond with more whining, "but I don't liiiiiiiike 1/2 and 1/2 in my teeeee-eeeeeeaaa!! I like MILK in my teeeee-eeeaaa!"

As if I would whine like that. Ha!

The other day, on the way home from Connecticut, we stopped at a starbucks and got hot cocoa for the kids and beloved, and I got a coffee - my old kind. The Triple Venti Non Fat Caramel Macchiato. I figured it was just a treat.

It tasted bad. All milky. And I didn't like it.

I'm a true convert. (for now)

posted by Zuska @ 2:22 PM

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