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Last year, Seattle woman Beautiful Existence ("YES, it is my real name") challenged herself to a year of eating and drinking only what she purchased at Starbucks. The Starbucks challenge of 2013 was the third year-long "brand challenge" for Existence, who spent 2011 shopping only at Goodwill (she patronized other retailers for food, hygiene and toiletries) and in 2012 she tested out tips from the pages of Parents magazine.
Existence has been so pleased with how these first three year-long challenges turned out that she is preparing for many, many more years of corporate exclusivity. She writes on her blog:
The first years challenge was so fantastic that it’s lead to me mapping out over 20 years worth of personal challenges to explore in my life! With everything from politics to pennies, coffee to communities and everything in between… I will explore that which defines our existence for a year and write all about it on my blogs.
Existence chronicled her menu and her daily life in her blog. The result is a pleasantly voyeuristic, if essentially advertorial, read. Here is part of a post she wrote in August:
When NatGeo was interviewing me for Winter’s show they asked if I was tired of the Starbucks menu 7 months into my challenge? I get asked that question (and what next years challenge will be) a lot now. But with all I’m surrounded with already, and now with even MORE goodies like “Evolution Harvest” coming out soon…. I ask you how I EVER could get tired of the innovative, amazing options from the brilliant minds at Starbucks?
And here's an excerpt from a post she wrote in March on how to pull of a Starbucks Passover Seder:
What happens when you are only eating & drinking everything from Starbucks? Can you partake in a Seder? Well I’ve now experienced this question first hand and the answer is YES! Yes you can get most of your Seder food items (obviously not Kosher though) at your local Starbucks store! As the list of traditional Seder food items above shows, I was able to purchase a Chicken and Hummus & a Protein Bistro Box and get most of the items needed to go along with everybody else!
Next year, Existence will spend her year "living REI," the massive outdoor sporting good retailer, by learning every recreational sport possible.