Thank you to the Starbucks Coffee Gear Store for sponsoring this great giveaway! The prize is a gift set including a Starbucks umbrella, Three Region small tote, and a Starbucks water bottle. The winner will be drawn at random. If you want to enter in, just leave a comment with your favorite Starbucks Christmas or winter-time holiday memory below – it could be anything Christmas-holiday-seasonal! Maybe it’s the first time you tried the holiday beverages or a Starbucks gift that spoke to you? It does have to relate to Starbucks.
There are a few rules. I will delete all off topic comments! You really do have to tie your comment to the Starbucks holiday season. Please enter with a valid email address so that I can easily reach you, if you are the winner. You must be over age eighteen. The odds of winner depends upon the number of comments below, or one in 150, depending upon the number of valid entries. No more than 150 comments may be posted in this thread. I will lock the thread at 150 comments. You must post your entry before December 31, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. PST. Only one entry is allowed per person.
I cringe to say this, but I must: Every time I do a giveaway, I get some entries that don’t follow the rules. The two most common problems are as follows – for some reason, some people will try to send me an email with their entry rather than leaving a comment directly on this blog. You really do have leave a blog comment below. The other thing is simply that some people will try to leave an off-topic comment – I will not approve an off-topic comment.
Best of luck to you! Hope you win the tote, umbrella, and water bottle! Thank you to the Starbucks Coffee Gear Store for sponsoring this!
(Edit: I can tell by the comments in moderation that I’ve managed to confuse a number of people with this giveaway. The comment must be on point, relating to specifically Starbucks and the Christmas season. I probably should have required the words either “Holiday” or “Christmas” in the comment because so many people are leaving comments that could be year-round activities. I think that some people read it as Starbucks or the holiday seasonal memories. It’s “and” and not “or.” And, I won’t approve a comment if I have guess why it fits – a few people have left me comments about holiday things they like to do, without ever mentioning Starbucks. And a few people are leaving Starbucks comments that are Starbucks mugs/cups/drinks that are available year-round. I’m sorry to have created such a confusing giveaway. Contact me if you have questions. Despite the confusion, I’m surprised at the how fast new comments are coming! Thanks! If you don’t see your comment below, try re-writing it again with clarity around “holiday” or “Christmas”. Thanks.)
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My favorite Starbucks Christmas memories continue to add up every year! I can’t wait for the first day I walk in and discover the Gingerbread Latte’s are back! You will often see me skipping into my local Starbucks in the morning!
I remember having my first hot chocolate at Starbucks during Christmas. Coffee was always very scary to me, My mom told me it would stunt my growth. So I was always staying away from it, almost like it was booze lol. So when my mother took me to a coffee store it was a very weird but exciting place for me. I remember thinking I was so adult drinking out of the cup.
I just paid it forward this afternoon at my local Starbucks to send some Christmas cheer… The person behind me was surprised.
Picking up a holiday espresso drink as a treat for my Friday afternoon train commute home.
My favorite holiday memory of Starbucks would have to be a two days ago when 161 people paid it forward at my store and did not have to pay for their drink!
I have so many favorite holiday memories at Starbucks, but I think my favorite has to be when I lead a coffee tasting with my team featuring thanksgiving blend and christmas blend! It was amazing to here everyone’s favorite things of the two coffees! It was simply incredible!!
My favorite memory has to do with the Starbucks Christmas ornaments. I collect them every year… At first, I would buy them after Xmas 50% off but as they grew in popularity that got harder to do. Now, I just order them online because they sell out so quickly in most of the NYC Sbux locations… even though there-s one every 2-3 blocks from each other!
This year my Starbucks crew in Oklahoma paired with a local church and got together to buy presents for a few kids in need in the Dhs program. I thought it was the best spread of Christmas cheer I have ever seen.
I remember trying peppermint latte for the first time 2 years ago. Oh wow!!! I’m now forever hooked!
I never tried eggnog before I started working as a barista, and this year I got to try all sorts of drinks that had eggnog in them! Definitely a holiday season I’m going to remember!
Trying out gingerbread lattes and getting hooked!
My special experience? I remeber, one year ago, there was opening of a new Starbucks in Gdańsk. What was so special? I think that atmosphere of standing outside of the store from 4 AM and singing carols with others waiting in the line. And then the final entrance to warm and cozy store, rewarded by a free beverage and gift set.
From then on I’m waiting for another stores opening nearby… so far no news.
Merry Christmas to You all! 🙂
My favorite memory this time of year was back in 1999 when my wife and I were flying back from Kansas to NYC and we had to change planes in Chicago at O’Hare. It was at 6.30 on December 2nd and I saw a guy unloading a box of Christmas/Holiday blend at one of the many Starbucks locations in the airport. I asked if I could buy one ASAP and the partner said, “Sure”. Not only did I get a pound of beans, but he also gave me sampler for being so eager.
My favorite winter Starbucks memory is getting Caramel Brulee lattes with mom and people watching!
I love the Christmas Blend with the aged sumatra.
I absolutely love going for Sunday morning coffee and breakfasty food at Starbucks with my boyfriend. I have a hard time falling asleep the night before because I get so excited and have to decide will it be the Pike roast or Christmas blend this time? The multigrain bagel or an oatmeal fudge bar? And once we sit down in the nice warm environment with a piping hot mug, it is like heaven. There’s nothing better.
My favourite Starbucks memory is from before I was a partner. My roommate and I would put a countdown on our calendar to ‘Red Cup Day’ every year (which often fell on reading break) and we’d get our first holiday drink of the year – her, gingerbread, me, peppermint mocha, and we’d split a cranberry bliss bar and peppermint brownie, and peruse that year’s Christmas merchandise. We’ve both moved on our separate ways, but I still have a peppermint mocha on ‘red cup day’, with or without her. It’s just a little more heavily modified than it used to be 🙂
Merry Christmas, Melody!!
I like to give Starbucks as gifts to everyone that enjoys coffee!
I do a little countdown for the red cups. I get really excited around the time you start getting emails for the holiday drinks. I’m always paying for others, so it’s nice when Starbucks does the holiday drink special. I love my caramel brulee latte!
My favorite Starbucks Christmas memory is the first time I drink a peppermint mocha every year. Somehow I forget just how good they are!
My first peppermint mocha in NYC years ago started an addiction. This is one drink I wish SB’s made year round.
Just had my first experience with the Clover – had the Christmas blend and it was fantastic…exactly what I needed to recover from shopping.
I’m a coffee addict & and the coffee at my MIL is terrible. She doesn’t believe in using cream or half & half in one’s coffee and I have to make do with the powdered fake stuff which totally ruins the taste of good coffee.
So, we started stopping by Starbucks on the way home after every major holiday for a “good” cup of coffee – actually a pumpkin or gingerbread latte depending on whether it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas. BTW, we bless your employees on those days for keeping the stores open.
We’ve done this for years. My daughter is now all grown up and married and this year she told me that they too stopped at Starbucks for the traditional “good cup” of coffee on the way home from her mother in laws.
So, without even realizing it, stopping at Starbucks on the way home from Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner is now a hallowed family tradition !
Guusje
I live in Bursa, Turkey and I am from Seattle. When I feel homesick, particularly during the holidays, nothing cheers me up more than a gingerbread latte from Starbucks. The ambiance of Starbucks (which are almost identical to the Starbucks stores in the US), the Christmas music and a familiar treat is enough to put a smile on my face while I’m away from my family and friends during the holidays 🙂
My first peppermint mocha each year marks the beginning of the holiday season. Also, my first bag of Starbucks espresso Christmas blend.
My favourite memory is definitely a Saturday morning JUST before the launch of the holiday drinks this month. The store had just received the syrups and other ingredients. I was there so early as to be entirely alone in the store with the staff. They surprised me with a parade of samplers. That’s when I got my first taste of the reinvented gingerbread latte 🙂 Of course I just had to share that picture with starbucks melody right away! So tasty!
My favorite Starbucks holiday memory is from last year. I now live in Ohio but last year I was with friends and family in California. My friend Kat, my now Fiance Laura, and I made or drive through stop at Starbucks in Sacramento,Ca on Arden and Howe so we could have a delicious beverage to go Christmas light looking. We had an amazing time and even shared our drinks all around. I look fondly on that adventure and miss it greatly. Till we can do it again!
When my cousin comes into town for the holidays, no matter what else we do, we find time to sit and chat to catch up on things at “my” Starbucks. She enjoys her vanilla chai tea latte and I enjoy my peppermint hot chocolate!
My favorite memory was getting my first Starbucks Red Cup, filled with a delicious Eggnog Latte!
With my name being Noelle…i love Christmas…but i also love Starbucks coffee…and i am always happy to start both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mornings with the Baristas at on of the 3 local Starbucks that I frequent…and this ywar my husband even gave me the Swarovski Crystal Starbucks ornament to add to my collection…but the one negative..i was a little dissapointed in the Advent Calendar…it was a great idea..with a great look…but the surprises…very very dissapointing and lacking in the usual Starbucks creativity
As a partner, my favorite is when we start serving drinks in red cups and we get several days of “Whoa!! Red cups already!” It’s something people look forward to and maybe don’t even realize it. It immediately feels more festive!
My favorite Christmas Starbucks memory is when I was hired at a Starbucks in Comumbia, SC shortly before the holiday season. It was great to have my first experiences with Starbucks be in the festive holiday spirit and get to know the customers and mall employees and shoppers all preparing for Christmas!!
My favorite Starbucks Christmas memory would be my 1st Eggnog Latte. My Mom got it for me when I was 16 and that was the day I fell in L-O-V-E!
My favorite Starbucks memory was Christmas 2011 that was exactly the eve when I start to work at Starbucks Mexico and I think that’s the best ever happen to me. I love my work!. I’m a huge fan of you melody! I wish we can met some day. 😀
Holy cow!!!! what a contest will do!
So, thanks to The Gear Store and to Melody for doing this.
Honestly, I have so many wonderful Christmas memories associated with Sbux, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Plus, I don’t feel it’s fair for me to even enter this…I’ve been fortunate to have many things Sbux! So, while I’m not IN this officially, here’s just a couple tidbits, which I’ve likely shared before:(from Christmas-time with Sbux)
Sitting in a Sbux back in ’96, actually the first one to open in our village, almost at closing time, and I’d had this WONDERFUL coffee….sun-dried Ethiopia Yergacheffe, which I immediately fell in love with. I had met a dear friend there, who also had just recently discovered how much she loved this coffee. So, it was dark, snowy, Sbux was loaded with all kinds of merchandise and red things…all very cozy and Christmas-y. There was one barista I’d come to know fairly well…he was always kind and generous and thoughtful. Anyway, we were sitting at one of those (mostly gone now) long window bars, facing outside, with tall stools. This barista came over and asked us if we’d like for him to make us a press of Yergacheffe! Of course, without hesitation, we said YES! please! And he did, and it was wonderful….. something my friend and I both remember clearly to this day. And, oddly, this barista left our local store and thru the yrs I ran into him at all various stores through-out Chicago-land. (and that’s a whole other bit of history, but not Christmas!)
Another totally wonderful Sbux Christmas moment for me, which I know I’ve said many times here and there involves the Sbux Christmas cap! I was on my way to work one morning at Evanston Hospital, about 6A, and had stopped in the local Sbux nr there (on Central St…still there, still a great little store), as I did every morning. The partners in this store were all wearing these dark blue baseball caps (they often wore caps back then, in the ’90’s), there was a silver snowflake on the front and the word STARBUCKS and then across the back it said: “It’s a Wonderful Store”. I exclaimed how ‘cool’ I thought these were and one of the partners reached over the bar and put it on my head and said: Merry Christmas! I was so shocked and happy! I wore it all day at work that day, with my lab coat!
So, those are just a couple of my Sbux Christmas memories! And thanks again to the Gear Store and to Melody for doing this. (which obviously brings out A LOT of comments;)
Last year during the Holidays I had a bad case of the blues – I had just become jobless after a bad experience with a large corporation. My weekly meet up with the girls at Starbucks on Friday nights kept me going throughout the year, but it was a difficult year. Where would I ever find a company I could be proud to work for??
One day a couple of months ago I told my dh I was ready to go back to work, but no more cold and heartless corp job for me! That very day I recieved an email from one of the friday night girls about a friend of hers at Starbucks SSC who knew of an opening. Two weeks later I was starting work at the only corporate environment with a heart and soul left in America.
This year for the holidays, I am a proud Starbucks partner! I am so grateful and humbled! This year will forever be the Starbuckian Holiday the universe gifted me like a miracle.
My favorite memory of Starbucks is a memory-tradition. My daughter and I always starts the Christmas season by sharing our first drink (of course a venti!) of Peppermint Mocha frapp double blended together, after that it becomes a challenge/contest of who gets more ornaments and books collected by the end! Yes, i do think we have a drinking problem, no we do not plan on jumping on the wagon any time soon!
My favorite Starbucks Christmas memory is from last year – the first time I tried a caramel brulee latte! Too bad it’s not a year-round drink.
My favorite tradition is getting my husband a new Starbucks mug each Christmas. I love seeing the new holiday choices, and he is always excited to see what I’ve picked out 🙂
Every year, my family brews up some Starbucks Christmas Roast on Christmas Eve and stays up playing games until it’s time for Santa to come.
A few years ago, my mom, uncle, sister, grandmother and I spent hours laughing and continuously brewing additional pots of coffee reading letters we found from when my mom was in the Navy.
Because of the distance, my parents were broken up at the time. At the end of each letter, she would ask, “Have you seen Eric around lately?” or “Have you talked to Eric?”
Little did she know, he would be waiting for her when she came back from California to ask her to marry him. Starbucks always brings my family together.
My favorite Starbucks holiday memory would be going to grab a peppermint mocha this past week and my 4 year old actually wanting her own little hot chocolate and drank it all too! I love warm beverages in the winter and always loved drinking hot cocoa growing up, but that was something I couldn’t share with my daughter because she just never wanted any. Finally this year she wanted to try some so she could get her own cup like mommy. It might seem like something small, but I always remember finishing off other holiday memories with a cup of hot chocolate like sledding, tree decorating and cookie decorating. Thanks to Starbucks I can finally share that tradition with my daughter!
Since my name is JOY I am loving this year’s Starbucks holiday theme! My Starbucks loves decorating my cup with my name – making the “O” into an ornament, or a “Joy to the World” written on it, etc.
Favorite Starbucks memory, Christmas Blend roasting and tasting at Corporate offices, the whole building smelled so yummy and was dressed up in one night. Love and miss that.
2007 was my all time favorite Christmas Holiday Season. I loved the cute variety of mugs and accessories, the little cup and saucer set with the snowman and penguin in the blues and white was my all time favorite. absolutely love coming in the day after set up and seeing the store turned into a winter wonderland. I feel the last two Christmas seasons have been rather boring compared to the past with regards to merchandise and decorations.
My favorite Starbucks Holiday moment is drinking the first seasonal beverage of the year. It starts with Pumpkin Spice latte’ and then from there I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Caramel Brulee latte. So yummy. A true treat.
I’ll have to look it up but my favorite cups are the Twelve Days of Starbucks. ‘And a barista in a green apron’. I wish we could get another snow globe christmas ornament too. I think we only had them once and haven’t had them since.
Starbucks Christmas Blend was the first brewed coffee I bought … its spicy nuttiness (mixed with a packet of hot cocoa) came close to the Cafe Mocha that was my first coffee beverage. Now, it starts my December mornings with a splash of milk and a Splenda.
I suppose I’ve been buying Christmas Blend now for 21 years … stocking up every year, and yet running out in January, wishing I’d bought more. Speaking of which, perhaps I should swing by and pick up a couple more pounds…
All the Holiday drinks are awesome..wish that my local store carried a fourth one..missed trying the eggnog..
My favorite Christmas moment…so many, i love the holiday drinks, cranberry bliss bar and being able to come in on Christmas and enjoy a fresh cup of coffee with friends and family.
I associate Starbucks with winter holidays because of visits to my family in snowy Ohio when it was a real warming treat to visit Starbucks for a hot peppermint or caramel brulee latte.