The Queen of Christmas & A Peppermint Mocha strike 🍫
This Week in Review☕️: No Starbucks for you this festive season | Holiday Paid Time off begins as Out of Office emails start rolling in | This is the no.1 Xmas song since 1994 | Planning a party?
Quick Bites:
Work 💻 : When Holiday Paid Time off lasts a full month..
While many employees are looking forward to the few days off between Christmas and New Years, some are already enjoying a full month of paid time off.
Meanwhile our boss💡: We offer 2 weeks vacation but we ask that you may not take off Mondays, Fridays, month end, month beginning or any day when another employee takes a day off
Like sometimes we just wanna reply back to an email like:
Hi Gail, I literally have no idea what the f**k you're saying.
Best,
*Our automatic email reply till NYE*: "Hi I'm out of the office enjoying my life. I hope this place burns to the ground in my absence. If I don't stumble into a giant pile of cash, I will return on January 5 to deal with whatever nonsensical horseshit you're emailing me about"
PS. Who else feels like every office has 2 people that actually do all the work and 15 people who just walk around with salads???? 🤔
According to CNBC, Popular e-commerce startup- "Cakes Body" is offering its 30 employees holiday PTO from Dec 15 to Jan 15.
They began preparing months ahead, making advance plans and revising sales forecasts lower for early 2025. No meetings are scheduled, and customer service is outsourced.
"We grew from a $10 million-a-year company to a $75 million-a-year company,”
"This isn't just a 'nice' thing to do- it's good for the business long term"
-The CEO tells CNBC
This is an important period of time for most companies to hit their end of year revenue goals. To meet those goals, while also supporting your staff to come back fresh next year is something worth investing in.
“I have no doubt that we’re going to make up for [the break] in the months that follow because everyone is going to be coming back with a clear mind and recharged.”
"To do 12 months of work in 10 months isn't such a crazy thought"
Our Thoughts💡:
Tbh we're not super useful until we've had coffee, then we get jittery followed by a caffeine crash. By 11 am we're too hungry to think so then we get post-lunch sleepies. By afternoon our brain is fried but only for 35 minutes each day- tbh we're the best f**king employee here and our boss is lucky to have us 🖕🏻
Business ☕️: Starbucks workers begin strike that could spread massively by Christmas eve, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The union- "Starbucks Workers United", which represents employees at more than 500 company-operated cafes, promised the action would spread to "hundreds of stores" unless the coffee giant improves its wage offer.
Safe to say there's gonna be a whole lotta angry Jennifers' right now. Goodbye Starbucks' Peppermint Mochas 👋
PS. The Hot Peppermint Mocha is one of the most popular winter drinks and comes back every single year. Just so you guys know.. this is what your sip of the season is made of and YES, this is the ingredient list from the Starbucks' website itself! 👇🏻
MILK, MOCHA SAUCE [WATER, SUGAR, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, NATURAL FLAVOR], BREWED ESPRESSO, PEPPERMINT SYRUP [SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BENZOATE, CITRIC ACID], WHIPPED CREAM [CREAM (CREAM, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CARAGEENAN), VANILLA SYRUP (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVORS, POTASSIUM SORBATE, CITRIC ACID)], DARK CHOCOLATE CURLS [SUGAR, CHOCOLATE MASS (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT, MILK]
Maybe its not a bad thing the workers are going on strike.. Who tf wants to drink this toxicity in the name of Christmas 💩💩💩
Starbucks baristas in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle kicked off a 5 day strike on Friday. Since then, baristas in New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and St. Louis have also joined the strike.
“Starbucks proposed an economic package with no new wage increases for union baristas now and a guarantee of only 1.5% future years,"
-The union
Background💡: The union is seeking a base wage of at least $20 an hour for all baristas.
In the US, the company’s current wage is $15.25, and that the average hourly wage in stores is more than $18.
Our Thoughts💡:
2025 POV:
No contract.. NO COFFEE ❌❌❌
Important Note💡:
Hey everyone! The next article is a perfect example of the vibe in my lifestyle newsletter- Touristy Luxe. Think lighthearted, lifestyle-driven content that steps away from the business and tech grind.
It's all about tapping into Consumer Culture: Fashion, Travel, Food & everything in between.
For the price of your daily coffee, you can dive into over 20 issues already live and join thousands of paying subscribers who are in on the fun! ☕️👇🏻
Entertainment 🎵 : Mariah Carey makes "a lot of money" from her holiday single "All I want for Christmas is you".
The 1994 jingle that has become synonymous with the festive season rakes in millions of dollars every single year.
Get in loser, we're going to play the same freaking Christmas song for the next two months 🎄
Umm all we want for Christmas is a tall, handsome, bearded, loyal, honest, single man.
Preferably with a hot pink Bentley.
Key Highlights, reported by CNBC:
💡The song has been estimated to earn around $103 million globally since its debut
💡According to Spotify: It has been the no.1 song globally on Christmas Day each year since 2016. It is also the 1st-ever holiday song to surpass 2 billion streams.
💡Sources include streaming, album sales and song downloads
💡Mariah Carey, the song’s performer, co-writer and co-producer, likely gets a big percentage of that revenue
💡It’s hard to know an exact figure without knowing terms of her music contracts
💡Billboard has called her the “Queen of Christmas” and said she atleast made $2.7 million in 2022
It's only gone more viral in recent years: Total audio streams rose to 249 million in 2023, up about 49% from 167 million in 2019, according to Luminate, which tracks music industry data.
The song “is a money machine”
Festive Season🎄: Christmas is officially here and the world is in full swing till NYE as the celebrations begin.
For those playing host, we have some great tips for you to throw a downright fabulous holiday party this time of year!
Before we get into the tips: Ugly grandma sweaters, Santa hats and elf ears are not just welcome- they're highly encouraged! Bonus points if you arrive riding a reindeer or wearing tinsel as a fashion accessory 🎅
Our personal mood this time of year: Glitter, sequins, and a current obsession to sing "Jingle Bells" at inappropriate times 🥰
Think disco ball meets pyjama party- glamorous but ready for a pillow fight at any moment ;)
Here are our top tips for you to throw the ultimate holiday party:
1. Start with cheese 🫕
If there’s one guest you want to invite to a party, it’s cheese. The yummy dairy product isn’t too much work- in general, it just needs to be room temperature and land on a nice cutting board
2. Pick a wine that goes with any cheese 🍷
Our expert & greatly-researched suggestions ;) :
1.Pinot Noir and Gruyere
2. Rioja with Manchego
3. Cabernet Sauvignon with Gouda
4. Chardonnay with creamy Camembert
3. Serve starters specific to the festive season 🍽️
Caviar on dry toast, Sweet Potato salad, Devilled eggs, Mini cucumber sandwiches, Bruschetta, Stuffed artichokes, Buttermilk biscuits, Brie crostinis, Crispy feta pockets.. aka GET CREATIVE with your menu
4. Set up a designated photo area with props to capture special moments 📸
5. If you're serving alcohol, include a signature holiday cocktail 🍸
We're thinking Gingerbread Martinis and Classic Eggnog. Also, don't be a bad host and make sure to offer non-alcoholic alternatives for those who don't drink!
And finally, let the holiday shenanigans because it's that time of the year when we all become amateurs and make promises we won't keep right?
Work 💻: Is remote work only for the rich?
According to The New York Times, Remote work is increasingly a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
Hmm working from home can def make you a lotta money but it can also have its disadvantages. We miss the office politics, the need to wear underwear, not being broke or quarantined, not having to find toilet paper or hand sanitizer, to wash our hands and to stop touching our fkn face 🤯
Citing research by Stanford economist Nick Bloom, The Times reports that people earning $100,000 or less per year have seen their WFH days decrease by 16%.
Meanwhile, those who earn more than $200,000 annually have lost just 5% of their WFH days.
The research shows the increasing wealth gap of who gets to work from home.
However, while workers are told to return to the office, remote CEOs gravitate toward states with lower taxes in income and capital gains. Infact, 15% of remote CEOS live on the beach.
Separate data shows that the further away a CEO lives from headquarters, the more likely a company is to underperform.
Quicker Bites:
Nissan, Honda announce plans to merge, creating World’s no. 3 automaker.
Nordstrom to go private in $6.25 billion deal with founding Mexican family.
Luigi Mangioni, CEO killing suspect, pleads not guilty.
Netflix expands its gaming empire by launching “Squid Game: Unleashed”.
Trump suggests the US could retake Panama Canal.