Starbucks Lite: What To Drink This Summer

It finally feels like Spring and I am so excited for this weather. Thank God I am going home for a bit this weekend so that I can grab all my sundresses and officially transition my closet to reflect the temperature. In addition to changing my closet, I will also be transitioning my go-to Starbucks drinks. Don't get me wrong, coffee is still going to be an important part of my diet, but now I will readily ask for it to be served on ice!

Starbucks has a great lineup of iced drinks, and I even tried their Sweet Tea the other day! A lot of people worry about the calories of a Starbucks iced drink, immediately associating it with a frappuccino, but the menu has much more to offer than that, and many of these other drinks won't kill your plans for a beach body!

One quick tip before we go into their drinks: Get Light Ice! Usually they put a ton of ice in a drink and quite frankly it's largely unnecessary unless you like it watered down. Personally, I love getting light ice because when I get a drink, I really want to enjoy it...all of it! haha

Iced Coffee is always a safe go-to, plus it only has a couple of calories if you get it unsweetened. They can add milk to the drink, but if you just want a tiny bit for flavor, I would recommend just going over and adding a bit at the station on the side.

I love Iced Chai and when I have a free reward, I get a skim dirty iced chai (add a shot or two of espresso)! Again, I really recommend this drink with light ice because a watery chai is no bueno! Iced Vanilla Lattes are also a good option if you get it with nonfat milk, a tall is only 120 calories!

Their iced teas (sans the Sweet Tea) have no calories. Yeah, zip, zero, nada...oh and they're delicious. I alternate between the iced green tea and passion tea all the time in the summer. The advantage of a green tea is that there is a bit of caffeine you won't find in a passion tea. Plus, this drink is wildly customizable as a base drink. You can get it mixed with lemonade (more calories, but delicious) or blended as a frappacino. Also, if you really like the taste of either of these, getting it sans water is delicious. Usually if I do that, I don't ask for light ice, but I do love the extra kick of the stronger green tea. This is a drink to mess around with until you figure out what you like, but it is always delicious and an iced tea is very cheap (for Starbucks)

None of these sound as appealing as that Frappuccino you're craving? Well, if you still want a frappuccino, just get a tall, skinny, light one...sans whipped cream!

Also, you can get a Trienta size in iced drinks, basically a supersized Starbucks!

What is your go-to Summer Drink?

xoxo,

SSP

Hey October!

Happy October 3rd to all my fellow Mean Girls fans out there!

October is hands down my favorite month of the year, and no, it's not just because my birthday is this month (though it doesn't hurt either). To me, October perfectly represents fall. The weather starts getting cooler, leaves change, apple picking is at its prime, and every Sunday I can park myself in front of a TV for a day dedicated to Football. 

The list goes on and on, but I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with y'all. Get excited for fall, y'all! Don't forget to check out my fall decorating post...seriously, y'all, it really is my favorite season.

Fall Candles

I have heard great things about Bath and Body Works fall candles and they're affordable! I am definitely going to have to stop by and get a couple this weekend. Unfortunately, my lease doesn't allow for us to burn candles in the apartment, but I got a candle/wax melter over the weekend and I already love it! Perfect for any of y'all who want the smell of fall but live in an apartment or dorm like mine! Personally, I love pumpkin scents and am currently melting "Autumn Pumpkin" by Yankee for Kohl's.

All the Sports!

I absolutely can't leave this off the list or stress how much I love this. I love that football has kicked into gear, hockey has started, and the MLB playoffs are going on (even if it's without my beloved Yankees). Fall really is a great time of year for my sports obsession!

Apple Picking

last year at Carter's Mountain with my brothers

I keep meaning to just write a post about this. It's such a great fall day activity, seriously we went as a sorority a couple of weeks ago for just an evening trip and it was so much fun!

Sweaters

Enough said. Now if the weather could just cool down so I could kick off sweater season that would be so clutch. I love how you can just wear a sweater and jeans in the fall. It is the perfect transition between the dog days of summer and bundling up in my winter coat come January.

Pumpkin (and) Pies

Okay, I will basically eat anything pumpkin you put in front of me. I have no self control around a plate of pumpkin flavored baked goods whatsoever. Yesterday at the grocery store I saw Pillsbury pumpkin cookies with cream cheese chips and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them. Also, Trader Joe's has a great display of pre-made, frozen, and mixes for pumpkin/fall flavored goodies. All these sweets bring me to my next favorite...

Do pies just scream fall/winter to anyone else? I mean, I love pie at all times of the year, but something about pie in the fall just works. I haven't made a pie this year, but as the weather starts to get cooler, I think I might have to break out my pie plate (a necessity in any college kitchen, no?)

Dark Nail Polish

I love fall and winter nail polish colors. By October I am so tired of neon nails and ready to break out some other colors. And yes, I have seasonal nail polishes, have you seen my collection? Anyways, I am really excited for fall nails. I ordered one of the new Essie polishes, "Twin Sweater Set" on Amazon and while it is way closer to "Head Mistress" than I realized, I love it. Currently I am wearing "Midnight Cami" and I am pining after "A Vested Interest" and "After School Boy Blazer" (much flatter than Midnight Cami) from Essie's new collection.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Have I mentioned that I like pumpkin? Well, I love the Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I hate that price tag. I reach a happy medium in this by buying a container of Pumpkin Spice Creamer and putting that in my coffee some mornings. Normally I am all about black coffee, but this is a great fall drink!

What are your favorite signs of fall?

xoxo,

SSP