I love a small, family-owned coffee shop as much as the next person but there is something about Starbucks that I just can’t keep away from. Maybe they add more sugar to their Frappuccinos than is fathomable or maybe they train every barista for months on end on the art of making a great cappuccinos. Whatever it is, I love my drinks from Starbucks.

So when I saw a great website from Starbucks offering free samples, I was delighted!

The website, Starbucks Coffee at Home is an all-Flash site. On my connection at home, it loads pretty slowly.

The chalk artwork on the whole site is well worth the wait. Check out the Barista Gallery if you visit the site. I never had the patience to draw more than a little cup of soup on Crisper’s chalkboard, I don’t know how these guys did what they did.

I love how each page you go to is erased but you can still see it behind the new page, something about that is so unique but so “duh”-simple. Why didn’t I think of that? I can’t imagine what kind of Actionscript probably goes into this site. There are a lot of small touches to the site that just made me smile, like the chalk dust.

As much as I usually hate sound on a website, I do like the ambient background “music”. When I got to clicking around a lot, the chalk sounds did get annoying.

I took the “Find my Perfect Coffee” test at the bottom and got a free sample of the House Blend delivered to work. Can’t wait to try it! :9 Mmm mmm.

The packaging it came in was great. I was expecting a regular brown box and honestly, a smaller sample. The box the sample came in was computer software-style, same basic shape, smaller size with a flap in the front with more information. I absolutely love the art. That little rooster is so cute.

So thanks Starbucks for the eye and taste bud candy!

Since I use a honey bee all over my site and in my name, I thought it would be appropriate to write about this here.

Honey bees are dying and people aren’t exactly sure why. When I first heard the news, I thought it was sad but didn’t really understand why it was such a big deal.

If honey bees and other pollinating bugs stop pollinating, all flowering plants will die. Our fruits would be gone, not to mention our honey. And when those things are gone, so are many many foods that rely on them—like icecream.

Haagen-dazs has started a campaign to help the honey bees because they have realized how imperative honey bees are to their business.

Helpthehoneybees.com is part of their campaign. It’s an all Flash site full of cute bee animations. A bee follows you around a field full of grass and pollination-dependent plants. Each page has extra little animations. There’s even a “Make & Send a Bee” area to send an email to your friends to let them know what’s going on with honey bees. It’s a pretty slow-loading site (though my connection has been pretty shoddy) but it’s worth the wait. What a great site!

Just wanted to bring to your attention that I have finished uploading my Painting & Illustration portfolio.

I haven’t been illustrating very much lately, except for doodles in my notebooks at work. I’m sure someone would find those doodles interesting, but I haven’t taken the time to scan any of them.

The most recent work are the little illustrations made for my interactive apartment map.

Most of the pieces aren’t too old, but some of them date back to circa highschool.