my relationship with coffee has always been an interesting one.

in middle school, Danyelle and i walked to audubon court from her house. it was the ultimate in trendy at the time…well, as trendy as you can get in milwaukee…and since we were trendy girls, we decided that we NEEDED to drink coffee, like our moms. so, we waltzed right in and ordered cappucinos. wow, we were the coolest. the only girls in the sixth grade who actually drank coffee. to me, it tasted like ass, and i didn’t think i’d ever drink the stuff again. i couldn’t understand how my mom drank it black, with no sugar, several times a day. something was clearly wrong with her taste buds.

in high school, in my sophomore year, it suddenly became cool to drive to dunkin donuts before class for coffee and donuts. so, since Naomi and I (while all of our friends were doing the second half of sophomore year in israel) were determined to become cool, i allowed the cool juniors to bring me coffee. with lots and lots of milk, and lots and lots of sugar. and i hated it it. ew. but, if it made me cool, it was worth it.

by junior year, i had my own car, and they had opened up a new hangout, starbucks. Naomi and i decided to try something different, mocha frappucinos. these were amazing! we could drink coffee, and be totally cool chicks, but not have to drink the nasty nasty coffee. perfect! (we also loved going to starbucks because right next door, in the pet store, they had the most adorable little monkey, Tam Lin. so cute. okay….perhaps we weren’t as cool as we’d thought…)

by senior year, i discovered i could not only tolerate, but i enjoyed, a coffee frappucino. less calories. less sweetness. delish.

by the time i went to israel for the year, i got my first taste of second cup. interesting how a canadian coffee company opened on Ben Yehuda street (or just beside it) and there was no starbucks in sight. geez, starbucks really missed the boat with all of us high school grad single girls with nothing better to do every night. they could have made a killing on us. since second cup didn’t have fraps…only chillers (not the same, i tell you. not the same)….i discovered something new. the cafe mocha. hot. chocolately. heaven.

when i got home from israel, and was trying to lose the weight i had gained (29 pounds, by the way, more than i gained being pregnant…but we aren’t going to talk about that time in my life) I discovered the vanilla latte. less calories than the mocha, but still sweet.

which brings us to now. because i’m trying to eat low calories (since i can’t use that pregnancy or nursing excuse any longer…maybe not ever anymore!!) and im trying not to spend a fortune, since we decided to keep our nanny while i’m looking for a job (thanks, Mom! you really saved the day, there), i’ve decided to give up the mixed coffee drinks and go straight for the straight stuff.

my order nowadays: tall mild in a grande cup. two splendas. lots of skim milk. it’s not exactly adult, since i still have to sweeten the stuff. but, i’ve come a long, long way, baby. from the mocha frap (which, seriously, can we really call it coffee??) to my tall mild.