Finally, the temperature has dropped! It is nearly so cool that I want to put the kettle on and make myself a cup of tea. Nearly.
Americans like to shop. And the shops like to make you shop. Our mailbox is full of coupons. We get coupons when we shop, and we have all kinds of storecards, stamp cards, you name it. And when we do go shopping, we get more -discount vouchers, free shipping coupons and normal coupons. Some shops like Bed, Bath and Beyond send you 20% discount coupons on a monthly basis. At first I threw them out, but the sad thing is, you really need them since you can save a lot! This is definately an American thing.
I still haven't quite figured out where to buy what. We bought some towels at Bed, Bath & Beyond but they are already falling apart. Is this a good shop? Expensive shop? I have bought most of our old towels in Sweden at Hemtex. They were cheap, but they are still in one piece.
Food shopping is a real joy here. In Sweden we have great supermarkets, they have kind of popped up everywhere for the past 10 years. Germany has a lot of discount supermarkets which are great for saving cash, but the normal, average supermarket such as REWE sucks. Here we have such a great choice, we are close to Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Ralph's, Albertson's, Costco and Target and a weekly farmers market. Whole Foods is great; a lot of organic food, they sell Kölsch (4$ a bottle!!) and have many fresh products in general. Trader Joe's also sell organic food and this is where we get our sparkingling water Gerolsteiner from. I see no difference betweek Ralph's and Albertson's, they have most things, they are the size of a normal German supermarket but the fruit and veggie section is fantastic! Costco is bulk paradise, great vegetables and fruit, best steaks and scallops so far (steaks when it comes to the quality of the meat, scallops for the price). A little pricey and a lot of processed food. Target is just across the street from us so it is good in emergencies. Not much fresh food, mainly frozen or canned, but good when you need something quickly. We have no supersized marts around here, like Walmart.
In general, there are A LOT of processed and frozen food here in the shops, we try to skip this section since we never used to buy processed food in Germany. A little like Britain. There are ready made soups, sandwiches, pies, salads etc in large portions everywhere you look in the supermarket here. Hopefully our shipping with all our pots and pans will arrive shortly so we can do some proper cooking again!
We did buy a chicken the other day, but I have realised, I have nothing to stick it on in the oven :(.
We also have one of the biggest malls in SoCal just 15 minutes down the road, South Coast Plaza. I am not really a mall person, I prefer walking outside in smaller shops, not part of any large chains, but I have to admit, this is actually quite good for shopping.
http://www.southcoastplaza.com/
Shopping - with the exception of American brands of clothes - is quite expensive here, and I always feel ripped off. Have I missed a coupon? Is there a better deal online?
I ordered my iPhone 4Gs last week and learnt something new. You pay for incoming text messages. No wonder the mobile phone contracts are so expensive! I wa speechless for a few seconds untl I asked the poor bloke in the shop if he was serious. 30$ a month for unlimited texted. I think I paid 3 euro in Germany.
Folks, you are getting fooled here, you just don't know about it yet.
Some baby news: went to the ob/gyn yesterday (learnt that I should cover myself with the big paper sheet, and not sit on it LOL) and everything is great. Baby has turnt but is making no sign of wanting to come out so from now on I am on a daily walking schedule, even if a little painful.
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