The Things I’ve Missed about America

It occurred to me that as of February 6th, I’ve been back in the U.S. for six whole months. Seriously scary how time flies. And although I still get a little teary-eyed when I think about my life in the U.K., there are definitely a few things I’ve really missed about America.

• Talking to strangers in elevators, on trains, and in buses and airports. You never know anyone’s story in this country. So many interesting ones to be had. (That being said, when I announced at baggage claim on Friday that Mubarak was really out–thanks to Twitter I knew within seconds of the announcement–everyone looked at me kinda funny.)
• Skyscrapers and tall buildings.
• Wearing gym clothes all day on a Sunday. No need to break out the skinny jeans and large sunglasses as you head out for lunch or brunch or the grocery store. Sweatpants and baseball caps totally okay all day.
• Pandora.com. Have discovered so much new music since I’ve been back, thanks to Pandora. (Why I hadn’t heard of Phoenix earlier is anyone’s guess.)
• Huge washers and dryers that work so quickly! 1.5 hours and you’re done with washing AND drying.
• Tap water. Everywhere. Easily refilled.
• No one smokes, or if they do, they hide it well.
• Trader Joe’s. I freakin’ love Trader Joe’s. The best grocery store ever.
• Salads for lunch. Salads for dinner. Lots and lots of salads.
• Half-and-half.
• Caffeine-free anything.
• Gyms that open at 5:30 am.
• Icemakers.
• Fountain sodas. Found only at McDonald’s and Subway in the UK, fountain sodas are the norm here. I love me some extra carbonation.
• The New York Times. In hardcopy.
• Cheap manicures and pedicures. Everywhere.
• Milk sold by the gallon.
• Pasteurized milk. (Meaning it doesn’t go bad immediately. It’s like a miracle! The milk I bought Feb 1 during the blizzard had a sell by date of February 12th! Which means it would have lasted a few days after that!)
• Whole Foods. OK, I know there’s one in South Ken, but in Chicago, we have MULTIPLE Whole Foods. I could seriously stay at Whole Foods all day. (I am considering a Whole Foods Challenge, where I actually have breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Whole Foods on North Avenue and don’t leave the facility. Contact me if interested in participating.)
• The Today Show on NBC. I would watch BBC Breakfast and GMTV while I was in London, but nothing really compares to Matt Lauer and the gang on NBC. I especially like the first 22 minutes of commercial-free news. Fantastic for the treadmill.
• The Amazing Race. Why there’s not a UK version of this show, I don’t know. At the very least, I’d argue that teams from the UK should start applying for the US show.
• The CTA Bus Tracker app. Chicago has this iPhone app–and 800 number–where you can look up when the next bus is coming. It’s awesome. And while London has those digital displays at some stops which tell you when the next 43 should be arriving, they’re not at every stop. Which is annoying.
• Pumpernickle bread
• Salt bagels
• California wine
• Salsa
• Artichoke dip from Whole Foods
• Cheerios. The normal kind.
• Arnold Palmers.
• Corn bread
• Blueberry muffins
• Muenster cheese
• Food & Wine magazine
• Tamales

As always, I could go on and on. But I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say, if given the choice, I’d chose London, but Chicago ain’t that bad either.