My USA Christmas List
Hello from the United States!
Feels so weird to say that. As it got closer to Christmas, and the Omicron variant case number was ramping in London, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it home. Once I knew I could change my flight to leave earlier than scheduled, I booked a Covid test and got the heck out of dodge!
Now I’ve only been living in London for 4 months, so I’m not as homesick over certain things as I may be in a year from now, but I came with a full blown Christmas list of things I wanted to do while I was in America.
My USA checklist
EAT. ALL. THE. FOOD.
Honestly, a big chunk of my list was food related haha. No shame.
Chick-fil-a : Closed on Sundays, I landed on Saturday and had to get my hands on a chick fil a sandwich immediately. Plus the Hurricanes hockey team won their game which meant a free sandwich, score! Also, at Christmas they have a peppermint milkshake that is divine. I had three over my 10 days in the US.
Mexican food: Good luck finding good Mexican food in the UK. I mean with the US being neighbors with Mexico, we get such good hole in the wall Mexican restaurants. My first dinner back in the states, I gorged out on queso blanco and chips to my hearts content along with Arroz con pollo (rice, chicken, and cheese need I say more).
Starbucks: It’s just NOT the same over in the UK. Maybe its like NYC bagels and the water, but I swear my drinks don’t taste as good in London. Plus it’s ridiculous how expensive. I think my grande holiday drink in the UK costs £5.50 (that’s almost $8!!!).
My mom’s Swiss Cheese chicken: Sorry to disappoint, but you will only get this if you becomes friends with me and end up at a family dinner. It’s been a classic dish and is a comfort food to me. Mom’s cooking is always the best!
Christmas dinner: I know everyone has their own traditions for Christmas dinner. Ours is simple but amazing. We do ham, potatoes au gratin (from scratch), and green bean casserole.
Butter on my popcorn: So in the UK when you go to the movies, they offer either salty or sweet popcorn. I asked where to get butter and they we don’t do that?! Maybe it’s something to do with the chemicals in it…whatever… haha but that meant I had to of course go to the movies (saw the new spidey man) and doused my popcorn in liquid gold, aka butter.
Trader Joes: I mean what is there not to love about this place. Free wine tastings, good prices like $1.99 popcorn bags, and dark chocolate peanut butter cups that put Reeses to shame.
SHOPPING
Target: A staple in any American’s shopping rotation, I always said I would never live in a city that didn’t have a Starbucks or target. Even better when they have the Starbucks INSIDE the target so you can just hit maximum joy levels strolling the aisles.
Shopping spree at the mall: Okay okay, yes they do have shopping centers in the UK, even malls. But the hassle of carrying all your shopping bags on public transit makes it hard to really go all out shopping. Plus they don’t have some of the stores I wanted to go to like Athleta, Vestique, or Sephora.
Tech items: With the current conversion being $1.34 to £1, it’s already more expensive to purchase items in the UK. On top of that, tech items like computers, phones, etc. are more expensive in general. So my big ticket items were new airpods and Bose headphones. In hindsight, I probably should have gotten a new cellphone too but that might be a Birthday gift.
THINGS TO BRING BACK
Most US brands and items you can purchase in the UK, but it comes with a surcharge. Here’s a list of things I brought back in the suitcase (had to bring a whole extra big one with all this shopping!)
Ziploc Bags
Crest toothpaste
Makeup
Skincare
Trader Joes Peanut Butter Cups
Hidden Valley ranch packets
Spray sunscreen
Some pictures/momentos to decorate the flat
And there you have it! This time leaving to come back to London feels bittersweet since I’m not sure when I’ll be back in the United States again. But I’m lucky enough that my family will be over in the summer and they are always just a facetime call away.
Sincerely,
Sarah
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