Despite the fact that I live near about 10 high schools that participate in Youth & Government, I don't frequently bump into students that I know (or even people who have heard of the program). But this week was quite the exception to that rule.
Monday, I took P to the first day of his science camp at the Arboretum. While I was dropping him off, his camp leader told him he could put his lunch box in a bin next to the assistant camp leader, Josh. Assistant Camp Leader Josh turns out to be a Josh that I know, personal page to the governor two years ago, advisor to the governor this year, and a student who told me more than once this year that he’s going to run for governor this fall. Random. What are the odds, right?
Then on Tuesday, after I picked P up from camp, we went to the Children’s Garden to hang out; afterwards, we cut through the visitor’s center on the way to the car to enjoy the A/C since it was toasty out in the sun. Walking by the membership desk, I glanced at the person behind it and it is none other than the current Lt. Governor Dan, the full-figured man. Having floored Josh the day before by remembering his name, I was really hoping I could shock Dan by pulling one of his campaign pens out of my purse but alas, I failed (I have a couple of them at home). Probably just as well since I realized later he might have thought that was totally creepy.
We stopped to chat and he said he didn’t realize I lived in the area – I guess I remember what that’s like – the adults at Y&G are like your teachers in grade school who must live at the school and have no life other than school because they are your teacher and you can only identify them as such.
Completely random, though. I have to wonder how many other Y&G connections there are at the Arboretum and how to make use of that.
Random bits of unschooling, traveling, and trying to notice life's moments with my Italian hubby, our two crazy kids, and more often than not, a glass of wine.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Not our best week
The last week has been completely crazy. A week ago this past Thursday, we got a call that the roofing contractor was going to start the job on Monday. P was already scheduled to start science camp at the Morton Arboretum that day - meaning we had to be out of the house by 8:15 or so to get to the Arboretum by 9. If you know my kids, you know that 9 is about breakfast time and sometimes it's wake-up time so expecting me to be 40 minutes *away* from my house at 9 is quite a feat.
The spousal unit was already planning to stay home with N on Monday morning so I could take P by myself without the craziness of the 2yo who wants Big Bro around all the time. It worked out well because he also wanted to be there when the roofers started. So he worked from home on Monday. But the noise level was unbelievable - I wouldn't have thought that removing a roof would be louder than installing a new one but it was! Ridiculously loud - Monday nap, shot by the noise.
Tuesday, the noise level was better and N was just wiped. Spousal unit was already working from home again because the roofers were almost done and he figured they would want to be paid; plus he wanted to make sure everything was finished up correctly. So we actually put N down for a nap on Tuesday and P and I spent an hour or so at the Children's Garden after I picked him up. We also discovered the hedge garden, something we've never wandered over to before - wow, it's beautiful. I imagine I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was wearing bug spray. Even standing next to P who had redoused himself with spray at least once and therefore REEKED of the stuff wasn't quite enough.
By Wednesday, I'm sort of getting used to the 9AM drop-off. Wednesday then turned into the day where everything that I have to do is just a *little* bit harder or more frustrating; hence, the whole day was a train wreck. For starters, we left right on time but it was raining. Folks here forget how to drive in the rain so any rainy day starts with idiots blundering around and traffic being stinky. I try to bypass the regular route and choose other roads that might be faster - except every time I turn onto a new road, a very large slow truck pulls out in front of me. Not joking - every single turn, a brand new large very slow semi-of-some-sort pulls in front of me. D*mn. And yes, by this time, I'm pretty much saying it out loud and apologizing to my kids.
We're getting close to the Arboretum and I'm watching the clock and thinking, hey, we might actually make it when traffic STOPPED. Completely. It took me ten minutse to go about 1/4 of a mile because a very small construction crew (two guys and a bobcat) had blocked one lane of a major four-lane road and of course, that was one of the two lanes going the direction I needed to go. 9AM came and went while we sat there. I HATE being late and I'm really annoyed by this point.
Alas, we made it, only about 12 minutes late, but still *totally* the last kid to be dropped off. And my attitude apparently rubbed off because when I picked him up that afternoon, the camp leader gave me that dreaded-by-a-parent "Um, could I talk to you for a minute?" OMG. This all came on top of the most frustrating annoying day and I was so not in the mood.
By Wednesday night, I'm thinking, well, it's got to get better, right? Ha, famous last words.
Thursday morning, on my way to drop P off (and we left early enough to make it by 8:45!), the spousal unit calls to tell me that his mom's sister has died. Zia lived in Italy, in the same town they're all from, and was close to my mil. So instead of continuing with my plans after drop-off (which included going to buy new supposedly rabbit-resistant plants for my yard), N and I just changed direction and went to spend the day with Grandma. At this point, the discussion is whether or not Grandma will go to Italy. My sister-in-law is planning to go. I tell my husband it's OK if he goes but he doesn't have a passport. This particular saga is really another story but the bottom-line is that after much convincing and cajoling of Grandma, and a phone call to a Congressman's office to ask about passports, by Thursday at about 2:30, all three of them are going and they're going to be gone for a week. Yes, Thursday was officially worse than Wednesday.
Friday, I rolled out of bed at 5:45 so I can say good-bye to my husband who is leaving for a week. He's not actually leaving until 5PM but he has to go get an emergency passport in downtown Chicago and has been told to get there at least an hour-and-a-half before the office opens at 9. So he's planning to get there at 7. And we're assuming this could be an all-day event so he probably won't be able to come home. So we said good-bye, which was weird, and then I got the kids up and out the door and arrived at science camp at 8:50. I finally got the hang of it.
Both Thursday and Friday, P was ready to come straight home; he was done, cooked, wiped, finito. Of course, being the good mom that I am, on Thursday, I dragged them both to see the big bugs display by the Arboretum Visitor's Center. And on Friday, I insisted we stop and get some movies for all of us at Blockbuster and then buy the plants that I had intended to buy on Thursday but couldn't because we went to Grandma's. Both of them were exhausted (N didn't nap on Wednesday or Thursday and had a one-hour nap on Friday - this for a child who can sleep 3 hours a day - he was JOYFUL) and short-tempered and missing Daddy and I freely admit I did nothing to help that. So Friday evening was full of lots of screaming and fit-throwing (mostly not me).
But I did get to watch Juno last night and I loved it. So it didn't end on the worst possible note. And P really did enjoy science camp (just not one particular game on Wednesday) - and actually learned a lot, too, so I'd sign him up again. And I would say that I'm glad this week is over but the next one doesn't promise to be *that* much better.
The spousal unit was already planning to stay home with N on Monday morning so I could take P by myself without the craziness of the 2yo who wants Big Bro around all the time. It worked out well because he also wanted to be there when the roofers started. So he worked from home on Monday. But the noise level was unbelievable - I wouldn't have thought that removing a roof would be louder than installing a new one but it was! Ridiculously loud - Monday nap, shot by the noise.
Tuesday, the noise level was better and N was just wiped. Spousal unit was already working from home again because the roofers were almost done and he figured they would want to be paid; plus he wanted to make sure everything was finished up correctly. So we actually put N down for a nap on Tuesday and P and I spent an hour or so at the Children's Garden after I picked him up. We also discovered the hedge garden, something we've never wandered over to before - wow, it's beautiful. I imagine I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was wearing bug spray. Even standing next to P who had redoused himself with spray at least once and therefore REEKED of the stuff wasn't quite enough.
By Wednesday, I'm sort of getting used to the 9AM drop-off. Wednesday then turned into the day where everything that I have to do is just a *little* bit harder or more frustrating; hence, the whole day was a train wreck. For starters, we left right on time but it was raining. Folks here forget how to drive in the rain so any rainy day starts with idiots blundering around and traffic being stinky. I try to bypass the regular route and choose other roads that might be faster - except every time I turn onto a new road, a very large slow truck pulls out in front of me. Not joking - every single turn, a brand new large very slow semi-of-some-sort pulls in front of me. D*mn. And yes, by this time, I'm pretty much saying it out loud and apologizing to my kids.
We're getting close to the Arboretum and I'm watching the clock and thinking, hey, we might actually make it when traffic STOPPED. Completely. It took me ten minutse to go about 1/4 of a mile because a very small construction crew (two guys and a bobcat) had blocked one lane of a major four-lane road and of course, that was one of the two lanes going the direction I needed to go. 9AM came and went while we sat there. I HATE being late and I'm really annoyed by this point.
Alas, we made it, only about 12 minutes late, but still *totally* the last kid to be dropped off. And my attitude apparently rubbed off because when I picked him up that afternoon, the camp leader gave me that dreaded-by-a-parent "Um, could I talk to you for a minute?" OMG. This all came on top of the most frustrating annoying day and I was so not in the mood.
By Wednesday night, I'm thinking, well, it's got to get better, right? Ha, famous last words.
Thursday morning, on my way to drop P off (and we left early enough to make it by 8:45!), the spousal unit calls to tell me that his mom's sister has died. Zia lived in Italy, in the same town they're all from, and was close to my mil. So instead of continuing with my plans after drop-off (which included going to buy new supposedly rabbit-resistant plants for my yard), N and I just changed direction and went to spend the day with Grandma. At this point, the discussion is whether or not Grandma will go to Italy. My sister-in-law is planning to go. I tell my husband it's OK if he goes but he doesn't have a passport. This particular saga is really another story but the bottom-line is that after much convincing and cajoling of Grandma, and a phone call to a Congressman's office to ask about passports, by Thursday at about 2:30, all three of them are going and they're going to be gone for a week. Yes, Thursday was officially worse than Wednesday.
Friday, I rolled out of bed at 5:45 so I can say good-bye to my husband who is leaving for a week. He's not actually leaving until 5PM but he has to go get an emergency passport in downtown Chicago and has been told to get there at least an hour-and-a-half before the office opens at 9. So he's planning to get there at 7. And we're assuming this could be an all-day event so he probably won't be able to come home. So we said good-bye, which was weird, and then I got the kids up and out the door and arrived at science camp at 8:50. I finally got the hang of it.
Both Thursday and Friday, P was ready to come straight home; he was done, cooked, wiped, finito. Of course, being the good mom that I am, on Thursday, I dragged them both to see the big bugs display by the Arboretum Visitor's Center. And on Friday, I insisted we stop and get some movies for all of us at Blockbuster and then buy the plants that I had intended to buy on Thursday but couldn't because we went to Grandma's. Both of them were exhausted (N didn't nap on Wednesday or Thursday and had a one-hour nap on Friday - this for a child who can sleep 3 hours a day - he was JOYFUL) and short-tempered and missing Daddy and I freely admit I did nothing to help that. So Friday evening was full of lots of screaming and fit-throwing (mostly not me).
But I did get to watch Juno last night and I loved it. So it didn't end on the worst possible note. And P really did enjoy science camp (just not one particular game on Wednesday) - and actually learned a lot, too, so I'd sign him up again. And I would say that I'm glad this week is over but the next one doesn't promise to be *that* much better.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I must be doing something right
We've had beautiful weather this week - just perfect, really - so I decided to take the boys to the Morton Arboretum today. The tadpoles at the toad pond are mid-transformation and we wanted to see them; you can actually get right in the water and catch them in your hands. And there are always small rocks that N can pick up and drop back in the water so everyone's happy.
There is also a stream that runs downhill in the Adventure portion of the Children's Garden and the kids can get in the water and move the rocks around and build and tear down dams to alter the course. Both my boys had their shoes off, splashing around and climbing the rocks surrounding the stream. Knowing their history, I packed an entire extra outfit for both of them and we needed it - N doesn't know how to keep his butt out of the water when he squats down and P just likes to get wet. They were both soaked from about mid-chest down when we got back to the car. N's shirt was soaked, primarily thanks to a teeny little boy who dropped a big rock right by N's head when he was bending down to get more rocks - shirt, hair, face, arms, all soaked. The kid's mom missed it completely and a minute later was praising him for being such a good boy and not throwing rocks. ?!? I'm not a particularly good playground mommy but I'm also completely non-confrontational so we just moved to a different part of the stream. I can't stand parents who threaten to end their child's playtime if they do something "one more time" and then never follow through so the kid continues to throw rocks or splash other kids or hit his sister to the accompaniment of the parent's continued, "if you keep doing that, we're going to leave!" Gah. We left instead.
But anyway, my kids had an awesome time as usual - entirely the reason we have the membership there. It's nice to be able to go for just a couple of hours and not feel like you have to stay longer to get your money's worth.
And the best moment of the day was at the beginning - P likes to go through the hedge maze right by the visitor's center so we started with that. There are 3 possible entrances and I asked him which one he wanted to start with - and he came back with, "Since you're such a generous mom, I'm going to let you pick where we start." Awwwwhhh. Heart melts, puddles on the ground. What a sweetie! So I guess I'm doing something right!
There is also a stream that runs downhill in the Adventure portion of the Children's Garden and the kids can get in the water and move the rocks around and build and tear down dams to alter the course. Both my boys had their shoes off, splashing around and climbing the rocks surrounding the stream. Knowing their history, I packed an entire extra outfit for both of them and we needed it - N doesn't know how to keep his butt out of the water when he squats down and P just likes to get wet. They were both soaked from about mid-chest down when we got back to the car. N's shirt was soaked, primarily thanks to a teeny little boy who dropped a big rock right by N's head when he was bending down to get more rocks - shirt, hair, face, arms, all soaked. The kid's mom missed it completely and a minute later was praising him for being such a good boy and not throwing rocks. ?!? I'm not a particularly good playground mommy but I'm also completely non-confrontational so we just moved to a different part of the stream. I can't stand parents who threaten to end their child's playtime if they do something "one more time" and then never follow through so the kid continues to throw rocks or splash other kids or hit his sister to the accompaniment of the parent's continued, "if you keep doing that, we're going to leave!" Gah. We left instead.
But anyway, my kids had an awesome time as usual - entirely the reason we have the membership there. It's nice to be able to go for just a couple of hours and not feel like you have to stay longer to get your money's worth.
And the best moment of the day was at the beginning - P likes to go through the hedge maze right by the visitor's center so we started with that. There are 3 possible entrances and I asked him which one he wanted to start with - and he came back with, "Since you're such a generous mom, I'm going to let you pick where we start." Awwwwhhh. Heart melts, puddles on the ground. What a sweetie! So I guess I'm doing something right!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Forget Raffi, give me Cauterize
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, a family friend gave my sister and I a big stack of records (yes, records!) - including a bunch of Toto and Foreigner albums. I remember vividly listening to songs like Dirty White Boy and Rosanna and having no clue what the lyrics meant.
Now as a parent, I am grateful for that childish innocence and simple appreciation for the music itself. I take full responsibility for the music my children listen to; I'm just really glad that so far I haven't had to answer too many questions about what the songs mean! P has been a big fan of Matchbox Twenty for a long time and he's quite partial to Rob Thomas' solo album, Something to Be.
But what really gets N going is Cauterize, in particular the song Choke. We were all introduced to the song playing Nintendo GameCube's 1080 Avalanche snowboarding game - it's the intro song as well as a song you can select for your ride. It's a bit head-bangy and loud and it's a boy-crying-over-girl type song; nothing really awful. But it's hilarious to watch him when the song comes on (yes, we listen to it in the car, too) - he gets a really big smile on his face and starts bobbing his head and bouncing around in his seat. And eventually he's trying to sing along.
So forget traditional kids' music; give my kids the good stuff. Though writing this I am reminded that neither of them has been introduced to Foreigner and I should probably rectify that. They need to know the music their mother grew up with, too. :)
Now as a parent, I am grateful for that childish innocence and simple appreciation for the music itself. I take full responsibility for the music my children listen to; I'm just really glad that so far I haven't had to answer too many questions about what the songs mean! P has been a big fan of Matchbox Twenty for a long time and he's quite partial to Rob Thomas' solo album, Something to Be.
But what really gets N going is Cauterize, in particular the song Choke. We were all introduced to the song playing Nintendo GameCube's 1080 Avalanche snowboarding game - it's the intro song as well as a song you can select for your ride. It's a bit head-bangy and loud and it's a boy-crying-over-girl type song; nothing really awful. But it's hilarious to watch him when the song comes on (yes, we listen to it in the car, too) - he gets a really big smile on his face and starts bobbing his head and bouncing around in his seat. And eventually he's trying to sing along.
So forget traditional kids' music; give my kids the good stuff. Though writing this I am reminded that neither of them has been introduced to Foreigner and I should probably rectify that. They need to know the music their mother grew up with, too. :)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
On the subject of Colorado . . . Eat at Beau Jo's
I used to be related to a guy who wouldn't watch the same movie more than once. I've known people who don't want to travel to the same place twice. And I can totally respect that.
But I am SO not one of those people. The spousal unit and I realized a long time ago that as much as we like to travel to new places, we also really like to go back to those that we've enjoyed so we can enjoy them some more. We love the hiking in Sedona; we love the Colorado mountains in general, Summit and Lake Counties in particular; we love where we get to stay in Florida (but the area is nice, too).
We've also discovered that food can make or break a vacation (Prince Edward Island, Canada, wins the prize for the worst food on vacation EVER - except for breakfast at our B&B, the places we ate on that island were cr*p and got worse each successive day until we gave up after a restaurant served us a microwaved steak and chicken breast and drove over an hour to the worst Pizza Hut in the world because it was at least edible - there apparently *is* a reason why there are Italian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Indian, Mexican, and plenty of other restaurants but NO Canadian restaurants - but I totally digress).
Suffice to say that our best vacations have been those with good food - Sedona has great restaurants but Colorado has been the most consistent - with one minor exception (a Chinese restaurant in Breckenridge that was merely average and is no longer there) we've had nothing but good luck in Colorado with restaurants.
And because we've only ever stayed in the mountains in Colorado, we've always had to take I-70 there and back and have discovered that Idaho Springs is a great place to have lunch. It's probably also good for breakfast and dinner but we've only ever experienced it for lunch and I've not yet gone to Colorado (as an adult) when I didn't get to eat in Idaho Springs - so that's something else I'm looking forward to in August. Lunch in Idaho Springs.
Unfortunately, as N is a pain in the *ss to feed, we'll probably have to go somewhere that will serve French fries just so he will eat something in which case we'll probably visit Tommyknocker's. Which is not a bad thing - I love Tommyknocker's, too. But if I had my druthers I'd be goin' to Beau Jo's for pizza. Y-u-m-m-e-e-e-e-e.
But I am SO not one of those people. The spousal unit and I realized a long time ago that as much as we like to travel to new places, we also really like to go back to those that we've enjoyed so we can enjoy them some more. We love the hiking in Sedona; we love the Colorado mountains in general, Summit and Lake Counties in particular; we love where we get to stay in Florida (but the area is nice, too).
We've also discovered that food can make or break a vacation (Prince Edward Island, Canada, wins the prize for the worst food on vacation EVER - except for breakfast at our B&B, the places we ate on that island were cr*p and got worse each successive day until we gave up after a restaurant served us a microwaved steak and chicken breast and drove over an hour to the worst Pizza Hut in the world because it was at least edible - there apparently *is* a reason why there are Italian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Indian, Mexican, and plenty of other restaurants but NO Canadian restaurants - but I totally digress).
Suffice to say that our best vacations have been those with good food - Sedona has great restaurants but Colorado has been the most consistent - with one minor exception (a Chinese restaurant in Breckenridge that was merely average and is no longer there) we've had nothing but good luck in Colorado with restaurants.
And because we've only ever stayed in the mountains in Colorado, we've always had to take I-70 there and back and have discovered that Idaho Springs is a great place to have lunch. It's probably also good for breakfast and dinner but we've only ever experienced it for lunch and I've not yet gone to Colorado (as an adult) when I didn't get to eat in Idaho Springs - so that's something else I'm looking forward to in August. Lunch in Idaho Springs.
Unfortunately, as N is a pain in the *ss to feed, we'll probably have to go somewhere that will serve French fries just so he will eat something in which case we'll probably visit Tommyknocker's. Which is not a bad thing - I love Tommyknocker's, too. But if I had my druthers I'd be goin' to Beau Jo's for pizza. Y-u-m-m-e-e-e-e-e.
Colorado here we come!
Gas prices are kindof freaking me out. Especially gas prices for airplanes since we've had a reservation in Breckenridge for several months now and have been planning our week there since last fall. We just didn't have plane tickets yet. And every time I checked the airfare, it was scary pricey. I suppose some folks would contemplate cancelling the reservation and just vacationing at home - we've done that; staying home is not a vacation for a SAH parent. It's just more of the same with an additional body in the house to feed and clean up after. Our vaca-at-home was more depressing than relaxing. Even with margaritas.
Instead, we contemplated driving. Which is probably more insane since driving to Denver would already be a 2-day affair with kiddos and we're going 2 hours *beyond* Denver. So I kept checking the airline websites and Hotwire and Sidestep and YAY WE FOUND TICKETS. And the price isn't completely insane; we've definitely done better but we also could have done much worse - especially if you listen to the news stories about airfare and the percentage increase in price over last year, yada yada yada.
So with the exception of a car and a hotel room for the first night (our reservation in Breck is Sat - Sat but flying to Denver Friday night was so much less that we can stay in Denver Friday night and still save a little money - and Saturday won't be so crazy now) - we're all ready to go to Colorado. And I realized today that it's actually less than 2 months from now. Yippee! I'm so ready for a vacation and I adore Colorado and Breckenridge. I'm going to wish I was there skiing but at least I get to be there.
So Colorado, here we come!
Instead, we contemplated driving. Which is probably more insane since driving to Denver would already be a 2-day affair with kiddos and we're going 2 hours *beyond* Denver. So I kept checking the airline websites and Hotwire and Sidestep and YAY WE FOUND TICKETS. And the price isn't completely insane; we've definitely done better but we also could have done much worse - especially if you listen to the news stories about airfare and the percentage increase in price over last year, yada yada yada.
So with the exception of a car and a hotel room for the first night (our reservation in Breck is Sat - Sat but flying to Denver Friday night was so much less that we can stay in Denver Friday night and still save a little money - and Saturday won't be so crazy now) - we're all ready to go to Colorado. And I realized today that it's actually less than 2 months from now. Yippee! I'm so ready for a vacation and I adore Colorado and Breckenridge. I'm going to wish I was there skiing but at least I get to be there.
So Colorado, here we come!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Random Starbucks review
After finding a blog devoted entirely to donuts in NYC, I got to thinking that there's not really any one food / food-type item that I purchase regularly.
And then I remembered Starbucks. We are (unfortunately?) Starbucks devotees in our house. We go to Starbucks far more often than I'm even willing to admit though I will 'fess up to changing up *which* Starbucks I'm going to if I think I've been to one often enough recently that the employees will think it's weird. Which is probably weirder on my part.
And we typically order EXACTLY the same thing when we go. Slight change-up with warm weather here now - I order my summer beverage now. But everyone else in the fam still gets the same (and I feel like we're very high maintenance but have been told that we're really not). And I do mean *everyone* in the fam - my 2yo gets all excited when we stop at Starbucks and it's not for a kiddie drink. Except for the extra extra whipped cream.
But I realized I have enough Starbucks experience under my belt now that I have some definite opinions on particular locations and Starbucks in general. So I thought I would share.
Starbucks in general:
Where do they train these people? Whoever created their training program - I hope you get a big-*ss bonus every year because customer service is almost annoyingly top-notch. I have yet to go to a Starbucks (except perhaps downtown Chicago and that's been a while) that doesn't have the friendliest / perkiest / most social employees *ever.* They want to know how I am. All of them. They want to make jokes with me. They frequently tell me what's going on with them - memorable moment at the Starbucks in Oswego (IL) - the guy at the window (yes, I'm mainly a drivethru girl) told me that working at Starbucks was his dream job and he'd asked for his first job application at age 12 and now that he was 16 he was thrilled to be working at a Starbucks. And they never question my asking for tall drinks in grande cups with lots and lots of whipped cream - and sometimes they put grande drinks in venti cups and only charge me for tall.
I guess I should have a ratings scale if I'm going to review these places - let's say cups out of four.
Starbucks 1 - Aurora, IL, corner of Ogden and Eola:
Closest to my house. Lovely location. Very good drinks every time. Never made a mistake (of course, they've also not been open for long). Weird guy at the window once made a joke that didn't make a lot of sense and then tried to cover for himself. Good frappucinos.
Above average frequency of being out of decaf mocha frappucino base.
Rating: 3.5 cups.
Starbucks 2 - Aurora, IL, New York & Asbury:
First to open at a convenient to my house location so it's a sentimental favorite. Generally very quick service and probably the most friendly around. Periodically out of the decaf mocha frap base. More often than other locations will give my kids a larger drink for the price of the smaller one. Rarely will screw up the soy order. Tables inside sometimes dirty. Not enough seating inside.
Rating: 3.5 cups.
Starbucks 3 - Naperville, IL, North Aurora Road by the train station:
I was pretty psyched when this one opened up because it was a drivethru convenient to the tollway. Not one of my favorites, though. Slow service about half the time - especially if you go inside, then the service can make you think they had to go roast the beans first. Drinks are always good though.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 4 - Naperville, IL, 75th Street near Plainfield Road:
One of the oldest around here. Consistently good though the drivethrough is pretty much always busy and that can slow you down. Not the friendliest crew (not unfriendly but nothing special). Used to be a favorite but not as convenient for me now. Recently redone interior is very cozy.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 5 - Naperville, IL, 7th Street by Costco:
Another one of those locations that had me really psyched. Not worth it. Never had a good frappucino there - the ice chunks are straw-blockers. Other drinks are only average. Service isn't good enough to make up for the fact that the drinks are better elsewhere. In fact, I always wish I had gone elsewhere when I do go there. You'd think I would learn.
Rating: 1.5 cups
Starbucks 6 - Plainfield, IL, Route 59 and 127th:
Consistently good, very friendly, not the easiest parking lot arrangement. Probably one of the best that we frequent. They don't mess up orders and sometimes upgrade.
Rating: 3.5 cups
Starbucks 7 - Aurora, IL, Orchard Road and Indian Trail:
Very good frappucinos; not the best of the best service but above average. Convenient to west Aurora and not much else.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 8 - Oswego, IL, Route 34 near Douglas:
Probably the most anticipated of the many that have opened here in the last few years. We were so excited about it, we stopped as soon as it looked like it was open only to find that it wasn't *actually* open but they were opening the next day. I felt rather stupid and Peyton was pretty disappointed that he didn't get his mocha frappucino. As I shop a lot in Oswego, I go here . . . A LOT. Comfortable inside, very friendly people, excellent drinks. Quick service, inside and out. For some reason, the trash can is *always* full, even first thing in the morning. Somebody empty it!
Rating: 3.5 cups
Starbucks 9 - Shorewood, IL, somewhere near Theodore:
I've only been here once and I found it only because I figured with all the new development, there simply had to be a Starbucks in that area. Slow slow slow. It took us almost 25 minutes in the drivethru with about 3 cars ahead of us. Did I also say it was slow? It was out of our way and I won't do it again unless it's my only choice and I'm desperate for a frappucino or latte. BTW, it was really slow.
Rating: 2 cups
Starbucks 10 - Naperville, IL, Downtown, near Chicago and Washington:
Incredibly friendly service. Order was more complicated than usual (with food and a need for separate bags) and they figured it all out for me nicely and were even sweet about my 2yo being a bit of a terrorist. Complimented my eldest on no cavities at the dentist which came up as that was part of our reason for going there. More inconvenient than most since parking s*cks a big one there and there's a mini-Starbucks in the B&N across the street. But I still like it.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 11 - Naperville, IL, in the SuperTarget:
I don't go here very often since I'm not willing to shop with a 2yo who wants to walk *and* have his own mocha frappucino. And I typically don't go to the instore ones since they don't carry the decaf mocha frap base; however, the one time I did ask, one lady actually knew how to mock one up and that totally impressed me. So I would be willing to try it again and it scored points for good training or at least good innovation and creativity.
Rating: 3 cups
Can't think of any others around here that we frequent but here are a few we've found on our travels:
Vacation Starbucks 1 - Sedona, AZ, The Shoppes at Pinon Pointe:
By the end of our week there, they knew when my husband walked through the door what he was going to order. Very friendly, sympathetic (we went there right after a really bad experience at a nearby restaurant and sympathetic is the best word to describe their response), consistently good. Or maybe it's just that a latte on vacation tastes even better than one at home?
Rating: 3.5 cups
Vacation Starbucks 2 - Camp Verde, AZ, I-17 and Hwy 260:
Slow but it could have just been the time of day. Our second visit there, the poor kid behind the counter was new and ended up not charging me for most of my order - I think I paid $11 for 4 drinks, two pieces of bread, a donut, and piece of coffee cake. So I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Probably won't be so lucky next time but I would definitely go back. It was all good.
Rating: 3 cups
Vacation Starbucks 3 - Avon, CO:
Slow, but they're usually very busy. Consistently made small mistakes. Friendly but not exuberant. Would go back if I was there again but only because it's the only Starbucks anywhere around.
Rating: 2.5 cups
Vacation Starbucks 4 - Breckenridge, CO:
Cute old building right in the middle of town. No drivethru but that's not the point in Breck. Always good and friendly and they happily recommend food items if you're browsing. Of course, I was also preggers and looking for chocolate, too. :)
Rating: 3 cups
Vacation Starbucks 5 - Frisco, CO:
No drivethru. Pretty quick for a first thing in the morning visit. Very good.
Rating: 3 cups
Vacation Starbucks 6 - Forest Lake, MN (I think):
It's the only Starbucks between the north side of the Twin Cities area and Duluth and as we weren't going to Duluth and hadn't stopped in the Twin Cities, we were pretty desperate. There's a great billboard on the side of I-35 that tells you to get ready for it and that's what we did. Not particularly convenient to the highway and they blew the soy order so Fiore didn't even get a drink. But we'd go back, if only because it's the only one available.
Rating: 2.5 cups
I'm sure there are others but I've been at this awhile and find it a little disturbing that I go to Starbucks so often. Probably not disturbing enough to stop though.
And then I remembered Starbucks. We are (unfortunately?) Starbucks devotees in our house. We go to Starbucks far more often than I'm even willing to admit though I will 'fess up to changing up *which* Starbucks I'm going to if I think I've been to one often enough recently that the employees will think it's weird. Which is probably weirder on my part.
And we typically order EXACTLY the same thing when we go. Slight change-up with warm weather here now - I order my summer beverage now. But everyone else in the fam still gets the same (and I feel like we're very high maintenance but have been told that we're really not). And I do mean *everyone* in the fam - my 2yo gets all excited when we stop at Starbucks and it's not for a kiddie drink. Except for the extra extra whipped cream.
But I realized I have enough Starbucks experience under my belt now that I have some definite opinions on particular locations and Starbucks in general. So I thought I would share.
Starbucks in general:
Where do they train these people? Whoever created their training program - I hope you get a big-*ss bonus every year because customer service is almost annoyingly top-notch. I have yet to go to a Starbucks (except perhaps downtown Chicago and that's been a while) that doesn't have the friendliest / perkiest / most social employees *ever.* They want to know how I am. All of them. They want to make jokes with me. They frequently tell me what's going on with them - memorable moment at the Starbucks in Oswego (IL) - the guy at the window (yes, I'm mainly a drivethru girl) told me that working at Starbucks was his dream job and he'd asked for his first job application at age 12 and now that he was 16 he was thrilled to be working at a Starbucks. And they never question my asking for tall drinks in grande cups with lots and lots of whipped cream - and sometimes they put grande drinks in venti cups and only charge me for tall.
I guess I should have a ratings scale if I'm going to review these places - let's say cups out of four.
Starbucks 1 - Aurora, IL, corner of Ogden and Eola:
Closest to my house. Lovely location. Very good drinks every time. Never made a mistake (of course, they've also not been open for long). Weird guy at the window once made a joke that didn't make a lot of sense and then tried to cover for himself. Good frappucinos.
Above average frequency of being out of decaf mocha frappucino base.
Rating: 3.5 cups.
Starbucks 2 - Aurora, IL, New York & Asbury:
First to open at a convenient to my house location so it's a sentimental favorite. Generally very quick service and probably the most friendly around. Periodically out of the decaf mocha frap base. More often than other locations will give my kids a larger drink for the price of the smaller one. Rarely will screw up the soy order. Tables inside sometimes dirty. Not enough seating inside.
Rating: 3.5 cups.
Starbucks 3 - Naperville, IL, North Aurora Road by the train station:
I was pretty psyched when this one opened up because it was a drivethru convenient to the tollway. Not one of my favorites, though. Slow service about half the time - especially if you go inside, then the service can make you think they had to go roast the beans first. Drinks are always good though.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 4 - Naperville, IL, 75th Street near Plainfield Road:
One of the oldest around here. Consistently good though the drivethrough is pretty much always busy and that can slow you down. Not the friendliest crew (not unfriendly but nothing special). Used to be a favorite but not as convenient for me now. Recently redone interior is very cozy.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 5 - Naperville, IL, 7th Street by Costco:
Another one of those locations that had me really psyched. Not worth it. Never had a good frappucino there - the ice chunks are straw-blockers. Other drinks are only average. Service isn't good enough to make up for the fact that the drinks are better elsewhere. In fact, I always wish I had gone elsewhere when I do go there. You'd think I would learn.
Rating: 1.5 cups
Starbucks 6 - Plainfield, IL, Route 59 and 127th:
Consistently good, very friendly, not the easiest parking lot arrangement. Probably one of the best that we frequent. They don't mess up orders and sometimes upgrade.
Rating: 3.5 cups
Starbucks 7 - Aurora, IL, Orchard Road and Indian Trail:
Very good frappucinos; not the best of the best service but above average. Convenient to west Aurora and not much else.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 8 - Oswego, IL, Route 34 near Douglas:
Probably the most anticipated of the many that have opened here in the last few years. We were so excited about it, we stopped as soon as it looked like it was open only to find that it wasn't *actually* open but they were opening the next day. I felt rather stupid and Peyton was pretty disappointed that he didn't get his mocha frappucino. As I shop a lot in Oswego, I go here . . . A LOT. Comfortable inside, very friendly people, excellent drinks. Quick service, inside and out. For some reason, the trash can is *always* full, even first thing in the morning. Somebody empty it!
Rating: 3.5 cups
Starbucks 9 - Shorewood, IL, somewhere near Theodore:
I've only been here once and I found it only because I figured with all the new development, there simply had to be a Starbucks in that area. Slow slow slow. It took us almost 25 minutes in the drivethru with about 3 cars ahead of us. Did I also say it was slow? It was out of our way and I won't do it again unless it's my only choice and I'm desperate for a frappucino or latte. BTW, it was really slow.
Rating: 2 cups
Starbucks 10 - Naperville, IL, Downtown, near Chicago and Washington:
Incredibly friendly service. Order was more complicated than usual (with food and a need for separate bags) and they figured it all out for me nicely and were even sweet about my 2yo being a bit of a terrorist. Complimented my eldest on no cavities at the dentist which came up as that was part of our reason for going there. More inconvenient than most since parking s*cks a big one there and there's a mini-Starbucks in the B&N across the street. But I still like it.
Rating: 3 cups
Starbucks 11 - Naperville, IL, in the SuperTarget:
I don't go here very often since I'm not willing to shop with a 2yo who wants to walk *and* have his own mocha frappucino. And I typically don't go to the instore ones since they don't carry the decaf mocha frap base; however, the one time I did ask, one lady actually knew how to mock one up and that totally impressed me. So I would be willing to try it again and it scored points for good training or at least good innovation and creativity.
Rating: 3 cups
Can't think of any others around here that we frequent but here are a few we've found on our travels:
Vacation Starbucks 1 - Sedona, AZ, The Shoppes at Pinon Pointe:
By the end of our week there, they knew when my husband walked through the door what he was going to order. Very friendly, sympathetic (we went there right after a really bad experience at a nearby restaurant and sympathetic is the best word to describe their response), consistently good. Or maybe it's just that a latte on vacation tastes even better than one at home?
Rating: 3.5 cups
Vacation Starbucks 2 - Camp Verde, AZ, I-17 and Hwy 260:
Slow but it could have just been the time of day. Our second visit there, the poor kid behind the counter was new and ended up not charging me for most of my order - I think I paid $11 for 4 drinks, two pieces of bread, a donut, and piece of coffee cake. So I have a bit of a soft spot for them. Probably won't be so lucky next time but I would definitely go back. It was all good.
Rating: 3 cups
Vacation Starbucks 3 - Avon, CO:
Slow, but they're usually very busy. Consistently made small mistakes. Friendly but not exuberant. Would go back if I was there again but only because it's the only Starbucks anywhere around.
Rating: 2.5 cups
Vacation Starbucks 4 - Breckenridge, CO:
Cute old building right in the middle of town. No drivethru but that's not the point in Breck. Always good and friendly and they happily recommend food items if you're browsing. Of course, I was also preggers and looking for chocolate, too. :)
Rating: 3 cups
Vacation Starbucks 5 - Frisco, CO:
No drivethru. Pretty quick for a first thing in the morning visit. Very good.
Rating: 3 cups
Vacation Starbucks 6 - Forest Lake, MN (I think):
It's the only Starbucks between the north side of the Twin Cities area and Duluth and as we weren't going to Duluth and hadn't stopped in the Twin Cities, we were pretty desperate. There's a great billboard on the side of I-35 that tells you to get ready for it and that's what we did. Not particularly convenient to the highway and they blew the soy order so Fiore didn't even get a drink. But we'd go back, if only because it's the only one available.
Rating: 2.5 cups
I'm sure there are others but I've been at this awhile and find it a little disturbing that I go to Starbucks so often. Probably not disturbing enough to stop though.