Mmmmm.

One of the biggest changes to our world, thus far, has been FOOD. Never before last week had we seen, or eaten at, Popeye's, Long John Silver's, Cici's, Del Taco, Panda Express, Chik-Fil-A, Steak n' Shake, or any of the other dozen eateries that exist less than a mile away. We have sampled from many of these in the past week (I still haven't had the craved macaroni and cheese pizza at Cici's, but soon!), and they have more or less all been extremely tasty.

Even the food we're used to are different. Subway has a drive-thru, offers Monterey Cheddar bread, and makes personal-sized pizzas. The grocery store carries varieties of favorite brands that we had never heard of (such as Hawaiian Red Baron frozen pizza, Ben & Jerry's Peanut Brittle ice cream, and CAFFEINE-FREE MOUNTAIN DEW WHAT THE HELL).

Another big difference: almost every single place closes at 9. The drive-thrus may stay open later, but all dining rooms close at 9. Meanwhile, the liquor stores are open until 2 in the morning, and they don't put tarps down over the alcohol in the grocery store on Sundays. This lead to an interesting scene at the self-scan on our Sunday grocery run: I scanned the six-pack of Woodchuck hard cider I had found, the machine called for assistance, and, instead of checking my driver's license, the attendee took the hard cider away. She was very nice about it, especially when I explained about Connecticut and tarps and aren't we silly country bumpkins.

On this same grocery foray (at Meijer, another store we had never heard of before now), we bought more food than we had been able to for a long time. That night, Ryan cooked up dinner for the entire apartment: chicken breast marinated in a Cajun-terikyaki concoction he mixed up, with rice and frozen veggies on the side. It was delicious. The next night, he made a fruit smoothie: cherries, mango, banana, and yogurt. Also delicious. He has now been voted the house chef.

My only experiences in cooking since arriving here have been boiling water for frozen pasta, and helping with the rice and veggies when Ryan made chicken. I haven't even made myself eggs yet, which is a little ridiculous, given how much I've missed being able to do that.

However, I can forgive myself the transgression for one simple reason: I found the Beloved Smoothies. And I ordered up a case of it. Tomorrow evening, 12 Stonyfield Farms Yogurt Smoothies (in Peach!) will arrive at the Garden Patch Market, and I will pick them up and put them in the fridge and do a dance of Happy Yogurt Time. And devour them.

I'm still torn on whether or not I should order myself a case of Guru, the energy drink I fell in love with back in Connecticut. It does exist here, but only in Original and Original Lite, and I'm head over heels for the Juicy variety, in Superfruit. A case of 12, shipped to our door, would cost $26. I'm thinking I'll wait until I have a paycheck, and then order it. Maybe.

It's an interesting combination of two new worlds: we have the space and tools to store and prepare healthy, delicious meals, and we have a new, vast selection of deep-fried delicious drive-thru to choose from. It should be interesting to see how these opposing forces shape us in the near future.