My Cup Runneth Over.

Years after the introduction and phasing out of Latte Tuesdays, and regardless of how increasingly popular Starbucks is due to its trans-fat-free pastries and free-trade coffee beans, Second Cup is still my favourite specialty coffee retailer.
It started back in high school, when lattes cost only $2 on Tuesdays, leading to a greatly anticipated weekly tradition amongst my friends. We'd go to Don Mills Plaza (now a pile of rubble, or less) after school to grab a drink to take on the bus, or head over to the beloved Javahole Second Cup on Steeles to have our caffeine fix while studying. The Javahole is named of course for Javathon, our favourite high school dropout and coffee barista, who unfortunately stopped working there after a near-death carjacking experience. The wobbly tables were for studying and storing into memory; the plushy couches were for chitchatting and making memories.
Those days are long gone now - lattes cost the same on any given day, and it's not really Javahole without Javathon there. I went back to that Second Cup when I was home for the Thanksgiving long weekend. It has been renovated, now with snazzy decor, sturdier tables, and even a mock fireplace - a new look fitting for a new era. I wasn't there with the girls from Don Mills; that time I had a date with anatomy, and a couple Capstones. It was raining that afternoon, and I sat there with my books and laptop and vanilla bean latte, watching the downpour through the picture window.
Today I went to Second Cup at University Plaza with Kat and Jasy. The last time I remember having coffee with them there was two years ago, on a wintry December night with a bunch of girls in our year. It was not quite as cold today as it had been then. We gabbed and gushed over caramel corettos. Incidentally it was raining. I find something very fulfilling about having warm coffee and good company on a rainy day. I was going to do some studying there, but the Internet wasn't working (Internet is free at select Second Cup locations, as opposed to having to pay for it at Starbucks!); I took it as a disguised blessing and a chance to spend more time catching up with old friends.
So while everyone else is buying into the Starbucks hype, you can always find me with my Second Cup in hand.