hot up in herrrrrre

that crazy, record-breaking heat wave that our friends on the east coast were dealing with a couple of weeks ago meandered out west last week, bringing high temperatures and miserable levels of humidity. i gotta say, it was pretty effing miserable.  this is southern california, people!  we shouldn't be struggling with the same kinda crappy weather that we experienced in texas last summer.  ugh.

but it was fun to find a few ways to beat the heat - and free, to boot!  like, on 7-11 we were treated to some free slurpees.  they do this every year, although i don't remember having to wait in the tiny lot to get a parking spot.  and then when we got inside, the line to the slurpee machine snaked through the whole store and almost back up to the front door.  the staff had obviously been watching the parade of freebie-loving folks traipse in and out, and stood behind the counter with amused smirks on their faces. there were stacks of the special little cups placed everywhere.

i picked up the lemon creme flavor for myself and made brother wan the guinea pig as he got a cup of the watermelon lime.  MIL and the bean chose the sugar-free strawberry banana, and everyone was happy.

it's not often that starbucks offers free samples in anything other than those tiny cups that they sometimes put out for new flavors and things.  so when i spotted a sign offering their new refreshers drinks in the tall cups, the teen and i took full advantage.  lime for me, berry for her.

final verdict?  meh.  the lime was pretty good and reminded me of a mojito, but i actually liked the berry better despite the little chunks of fruit floating around at the top and bottom of the drink.  strain that shit out and maybe i'll drink it.

oh, and not a freebie but still definitely worth a mention - the return of hello kitty to yogurtland!  we have a nice little collection of those biodegradable pastel-colored spoons adorned with my favorite sanrio characters from last year, and i was thrilled to add to it with the 2012 collection.  check out my swag:

i'm kind of bummed that there aren't any t-shirts this year, but as the teen says - i don't really need any more.  especially when you consider the ridiculous collection of race shirts i've built up over the last seven months.  

i swear, sometimes i think she's the grown-up in this relationship.