My new love

I've never been a "coffee drinker," per say. I've always dabbled in it, but I've never been dependent upon it, nor have I had a particular love for it. I've been known to have a Starbucks cup in my hand quite often. My secret is that it was never coffee; my cup has always held delicious hot chocolate or caramel macchiato.

Now that I'm home and not driving to Greenville for work every day, I do not pass a Starbucks on any of my routine outings. Plus, my love for Starbucks dwindled as their prices rose.

I discovered a place in town called Bella Latte. They make a good hot chocolate (probably better than Starbucks), and the prices are more reasonable. Still, it's a treat and swindles me out of a couple of bucks.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I went to Atlanta to visit my grandma. I'm not sure whether it was sharing a double bed with my mom, my grandma's noisy oxygen machine or what, but I slept like crap that night. In the morning, I set out in search of breakfast. I reappeared with half a dozen Dunkin Donuts and a cup of coffee.

That morning changed my life. I fell in love with Dunkin Donuts French vanilla coffee. Since then, I've detoured by the good ol' DD a few times. The great news is two-part: 1.) There's a Dunkin Donuts not too far from my house (and it's on the way to other things); 2.) A large DD French vanilla coffee with cream and sugar is only $2.15. (Trust me, that's a deal when you're used to specialty drinks.)

I've found myself craving the stuff practically every day. Rylan's been getting up a little early lately, so I've been particularly tired as of late. On the days I couldn't make it to DD, I got a little sad. 

Today I was at Target (which meant I didn't pass DD on the way), and a coffee end cap caught my eye. Lo and behold, there was a package of DD French vanilla grounds right in front of me! I picked it up and grabbed some coffee filters. That's when I noticed the pretty creamer bottles in the fridge.

My spontaneous purchase morphed. I ditched the coffee and filters and picked up French vanilla creamer instead. And it was on sale. $1.50 for a bottle of the stuff.

I knew we had some coffee left at the house from when Jason's parents visited at Christmas.

I came home and started a pot of coffee before I even got R out of the car seat. Homemade cheap-o coffee with French vanilla creamer and a touch of sugar tasted just like the Dunkin stuff I fell in love with.

R's down for a nap and I've had two cups of coffee. I feel like I could conquer the world. Maybe I should start drinking this stuff in the morning like the rest of the world. They might be onto something...