eating habits.

[solipsistnation]

1. The closest grocery store is a large Asian supermarket across the street. This means I can hop over for little trays of delicious fresh spicy bean sprouts with sesame oil any time I want. Yum.

2. I am now back in the part of the country where Tillamook cheddar is available in giant 2-pound bricks. My daily breakfast since we arrived has been a sourdough roll cut in half, toasted, with a slice of cheddar on each half. Best breakfast ever.

3. Wine is available in grocery stores and California wines are cheaper than they are on the East Coast. Huzzah!

4. Take-out Indian food is startlingly common.

5. Sushi is also very common, although this is less startling.

6. And had I mentioned Mexican food? Oh yes indeed.

How do all these people I see here stay so thin? I expect to bloat up like a cheerful well-fed balloon within a couple of weeks.

Comments

[skeets.livejournal.com]

I'm startled by the insane number of Thai restaurants. Seems like I can practically fall out my front door and find Thai food!

[usagijer.livejournal.com]

mmmm.. does sound like foodie heaven, ayuh

[quaintance.livejournal.com]

I recall missing things like Artichokes, crisp lettuce and tomatos-with-taste when I lived elsewhere. Yes, it is a bounty here. How do we stay thin? I don't know. Maybe it's exercise, maybe it's neuroses. You can tell us in a few weeks as you continue to observe dining here.

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

I really really miss Trader Joes.... :(

(besides the fresh artichokes, asparagas, peaches, apricots, cherries, tomatoes, kiwis, avocadoes, citrus... the list is endless... ::sigh::)

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

How do all these people I see here stay so thin?

Crystal meth.

sushi

[xinie.livejournal.com]

When Ben was in the hospital at UCLA, they had a sushi guy in the cafeteria. You could also get sushi from the fridge during non-lunch hours.

[st-emma.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... Indian takeout. I envy you.

[kaypoisson.livejournal.com]

"How do all these people I see here stay so thin?"

Go inland a bit more and you'll find the fatties (that doesn't really answer your question). uhh...it must be the awesome sunsine and the lack of gross humidity, which is the opposite of Massachusetts. Also cosmetic surgery and shitty dies.

I did tell Nikki that I wanted to visit you two next week, but I was under the impression you were in SC, not SJ. So poo poo for SJ cuz I'm going to SC! suckah

[kaypoisson.livejournal.com]

i proof-read my comment a billion times because I know that my strong accent often shows through my typing, but I just noticed that I misspelled "shitty diets" and I could've also just used spellcheck...but fuck that

[fidgetmonster.livejournal.com]

food-wise, it sounds like you live in the most perfect place ever.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

Wine is available in grocery stores

What sort of third world hellhole have you moved from where it isn't?

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

Massachusetts. Liquor stores only, even for wine and beer. Plus up until a year or so ago, until they repealed the Blue Laws, it was illegal for them to be open on Sundays. That's what you get when your state is founded by Puritans...

[zeeke42.livejournal.com]

That's not 100% true. There are some grocery stores in Mass that contain liquor stores. The reason more don't is that some silly law only allows a company to own 3 liquor store licenses in the state.

I moved here from Pennsylvania, which is far worse. To buy wine and booze in PA, you have to go to the state liquor store and pay 24% tax. (6% state sales tax + 18% "Johnstown Flood Tax") To buy beer, you either have to get 6 packs takeout from a bar, or buy by the case from a 'beer distributor'.

[mcv.livejournal.com]

>> I moved here from Pennsylvania, which is far worse.

Wow, I'll bet there's **no** black market there, huh?

[zeeke42.livejournal.com]

There are several. They are called New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

Heh, I just didn't want to go into that much detail.

At the last election, I voted to approve the law that would expand the number of liquor stores a particular company could own, regardless of the liquor store propaganda claiming that it would be tantamount to handing free cases of foties to teenagers and would inevitably result in riots and chaos.

The PA beer distributor thing is pretty weird, I agree.

[air-hadoken.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, MA state lawmakers seem to have taken their revenge out on us for repealing the Blue law, because they successfully shut down every liquor store in the state on Memorial day. It was horrible.

As for the fucked-up Pennsylvania liquor laws, they're absolutely HORRIBLE for anyone who actually likes quality beer and liquors. Beer distributors cannot sell anything smaller than a case, not even a 12-pack, so the selection is pretty much limited to shitty television beer, a small number of decent brews (like Penn, Yuengling, and Sam Adams), and clearmalts. The only place you can buy 6-packs are from bars, who have the option of stocking fridges with them (at a markup, of course!). In addition, most state stores are small, usually occupying a strip mall slot, and they do seem to try to offer a decent wine selection, but that pretty much eats all the space and prevents a nice Julio's-style liquor section.

The worst part is, people actually think this system is OK and defend it! The lack of coherence coming from my debates with the previous generations about it is simply astounding.

[barbica.livejournal.com]

Yay, Tillamook! Aron & I just visited the Tillamook factory when we were out in Oregon & Washington. Mmmmmm, cheese.

[em-yrt.livejournal.com]

The west coast just naturally keeps you thinner because humidity causes water retention.