#BoulderGirlProblems: When you spend all your disposable income on frozen yogurt

By Taryne Tosetti in College, College Life, Humor, Opinion on Oct 19, 2012 14:15 / comments

“The green tea and raspberry frozen yogurt are too far apart.”

“What? They’re out of gluten-free brownies AGAIN?!”

“Why isn’t there a pumpkin flavor yet? We’re already halfway through October.”

“Ripple delivers? I can’t believe that I’m just now finding this out.”

It seems there is just no end to the slew of Boulder girl problems associated with the multiplicity of frozen yogurt shops sprinkled throughout Boulder. How could such a good thing cause so many problems? My conclusion: it is too much of a good thing.

(CU Independent Graphic Illustration/Josh Shettler)

When Ripple opened just under two years ago, it hit Boulder like a hurricane, and several others opened in its wake. Now there are a few at the 29th Street Mall, on Pearl Street and even an Aspen Leaf Yogurt in walking distance from my home on Table Mesa. What exactly was the big deal? Frozen yogurt is nothing new. Still, we all treated it like some kind of dessert mecca, which, by the way, it totally is.

Walk in to any frozen yogurt shop and immediately you are surrounded by a plethora of different types of chocolates, candy, syrups, fresh fruits and of course a creative mixture of frozen yogurt flavors. The options can be overwhelming.

So here we are at problem number one. Froyo shops can have upwards of sixteen flavors available at any given time — plus you can mix and match. How in the world are you supposed to decide what to get? A seasoned dessert-goer such as myself will tell you that it is all about the samples. Paying customers can often make use of the stack of small cups available for sampling. That way, you don’t have to make rash decisions when choosing what particular flavor is going to match your mood.

But it’s not just about the froyo flavor. Once you’ve decided on your base, you’ve still got a million and a half toppings to pick from, and they are all so tempting. So what happens? You wind up filling your container with the abundance of toppings until it nearly overflows (cones have yet to make their appearance at any frozen yogurt shop that I know of, another point of contention), which comes at a cost.

Ripple, Spooners, and Aspen Leaf, which are all popular in Boulder, all charge by the ounce. You can end up spending seven or eight dollars on frozen yogurt. Now the weekly college budget is blown and all there is to show for it is an oversized cup of glorified ice cream. Don’t worry though, the instant gratification will be worth it. Plus, it’s yogurt, not ice cream, meaning it is healthy… right?

Besides overstimulating your taste buds and shrinking your wallet, dessert breaks can also be a time-sucker. Whenever there’s something to celebrate, it seems you’ve got an instant excuse to go. Birthday? Froyo. Got an A on a test? Froyo. It’s Tuesday? Froyo. Last week I passed up an invitation to go to the gym and two different study dates to join friends on a frozen yogurt binge. Not good, Boulder girls, not good.

What’s a Boulder girl to do? My suggestion: Set limits and a budget, this is an art mastered only with time. Hold yourself to a weekly fund, and try not to break the bank on your dessert runs. Try not to go to every dessert date you get invited on, because there’s just too many. That being said, don’t pass all of them up either. If it has been a rough day or you feel you need a reward, you should definitely treat yourself (pun intended). Just remember not to go overboard with the dessert frenzy (easier said than done, I know).

You’re going to make mistakes sometimes, especially on a college budget. You will to take too much, too little, or choose the wrong flavor-topping combination. The only way to overcome this problem is to go often and commit yourself to the learning process. Maybe the explosion of frozen yogurt shops in Boulder is too much of a good thing, but it’s also a good problem to have.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Taryne Tosetti at Taryne.tosetti@colorado.edu.