My obsession with espresso is well documented. Especially in our checkbook. I think I've alluded to my truly awful Starbucks habit, which began when I lived in Seattle for 5 months, pulling off only one feat in my whole time there - gaining about 15 pounds. I was so naive when I hit the west coast. I honestly did not know you could ask for nonfat milk, and I didn't understand the sugar content of flavored syrups. I did not know that my daily vanilla AND hazelnut WHOLE MILK latte was just a 10% post-consumer recyclable ticking time bomb for my hips.

By the time I left Seattle for Chicago, I was a little wiser, a lot poorer, and absolutely not thinner. But don't worry, I am still not reformed. In the past three days, I have had two peppermint mochas with whip (and nonfat milk, the ultimate hypocrisy) and I have loved every glorious, minty-chocolately, lick-the-cup-clean sip. Worse, over this past weekend, I actually went to Intelligentsia twice in one day. To be fair, it is the best espresso I have ever had, but I don't think it excuses the fact that I showed up at two SEPARATE locations in 6 hours, looking for a fix. We had friends in town from California, and I'm pretty sure they are now more familiar with the decor at our local coffee haunts than they are with the tourist attractions we saw while trying to accomplish our real goal - getting more coffee.

Ok, what I am trying to say is, I have a problem.

The problem goes beyond the pounding headaches and 3pm listlessness I experience if I don't start out my day with caffeine. I have begun to feel naked without a beverage at hand, especially now that it's getting colder, so you can add psychological dependence to my list of coffee issues. But let's face it (I DON'T WANT TO BUT I MUST), it's a big waste of money to buy $4 espresso drinks on a regular basis. Twice in a day is roughly equivalent to tearing up dollar bills for fun.

We don't have an espresso machine, but we have a decent drip coffeemaker, as well as a Bialetti and a french press. We buy good beans and grind them ourselves and we have no shortage of travel mugs to haul to school and work. Our coffeemaker even has a timer, so we could theoretically wake up to the scent and sounds of brewing coffee on these dark, cold November mornings.

Or, we could forget about that the night before, oversleep, race out of the door because we're about to be late, and manage to grab Starbucks at some point that morning (and afternoon?) to pull us through the day. Everyone is busy, and a lot of people out there are probably busier than we are.

So how do I quit this thing?