I will never forget the first time I took a sip of Starbucks’s iced pumpkin cream chai in September 2023. I have always been an iced chai girl through and through, but this fall version changed my life. I mourned the loss of the pumpkin chai when it was replaced by the Christmas menu, and I am absolutely crushed that the campus Starbucks doesn’t offer it.
I started a tradition in my senior year of high school of going to Starbucks on Friday mornings before school. These days became known as my “Starbucks Fridays.” I would hop in my 2007 Toyota Camry, which my twin brother and I share, and drive the 7 minutes to the closest Starbucks. As the mornings got colder and darker as fall deepened, I often found myself begrudgingly getting out of bed. Stepping outside still in my pajamas and crunching through dead leaves to my car was a harrowing task. So, what dragged me out of bed on those mornings? The promise of an iced pumpkin cream chai.
As silly as this may sound, I promise there is a deeper meaning. Find the little things that make getting out of bed in the morning worth it. Find the things that you can look forward to, especially as winter approaches and the cold creeps in. Find something that brings light into your life when the sun goes away.
For me, that light was my Friday Starbucks, specifically, the iced pumpkin cream chai. The best advice I can give to anyone looking for a little motivation is to find something – anything – that makes you happy and make it a part of your schedule, even if it’s just a fall drink from Starbucks.