It was nice while it lasted, wasn't it?
Two months, eight glorious weeks of solid sun, an entertaining World Cup, plus Love Island (don't judge me). Summer 2018 was one of those summers you see in teen movies and stock photos; the kind of summer that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John sing in duet about. I don't know about you, but I am so glad it's almost over.
Summer's okay for your gas bill and for the health of your Instagram feed, but in practical terms, it's a bit of a nightmare. It means getting food poisoning from badly-grilled barbecue meat, it means dealing with angry wasps all the time, it means skulking around in multi-degree heat, a thin sheen of sweat all over your body at all times.
I've missed rain, you guys.
But as the heavens open and you start to shut your windows and roll down your sleeves, you can start to look ahead to the brown leaves, the sweaters and the return of your favourite primetime TV. But most importantly, it means that you can head down to your favourite coffee shop for your favourite seasonal treat. It's Starbucks, it's autumn; you know what I'm talking about, folks.
Technically, we've still got a month left of summer, so it's technically a whole month before we can go and get our Pumpkin Spiced Latte on, right? Well, according to some insider information and a very cryptic tweet from Starbucks themselves, the answer to that particular question is "maybe not".
Check out this tweet from the official Pumpkin Spice Latte Twitter account (yes, that's a real thing), where our favourite flavour coffee announced it was taking a break, revealing it's "going offline for a while". "Busy modeling for the #LeafRakersSociety Facebook Group," said Pumpkin Spice Latte, which can only mean one thing, right?
Even better, according to this internal memo from Starbucks announcing a menu change obtained by Business Insider, Starbucks are officially bringing back the Pumpkin Spice Latte on August 28 - that is, the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend. Those of you with a pretty good memory will note that this is the earliest that the Pumpkin Spice Latte has made its return; last year, it was September 5 before we saw the PSL.
But if - for some reason - the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes isn't enough for you, then Starbucks announced in a press release that we're getting two new fall additions: the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Cookie Straws, and Pumpkin Spice Flavored Ground Coffee K-Cup Pods. How very exciting. But if you can't wait, why not join the Leaf Rakers Society on Facebook?
“This is a safe place for a) pumpkins b) year-round scarf-wearers c) those who would rather work on their Halloween costume than their tan d) members of the Great Pumpkinwatch 2017 Facebook Group,” says the group's description, and I can't really argue with that. Either way: it's the biggest sign yet that fall is on its way, and I couldn't be more excited.