2. I don't have the space. I live in a tiny NYC apartment - which suits my needs just fine. I love living here and the challenges it affords. One of those challenges being space. These women do ALL their grocery shopping in one or two days at the beginning of the month. All of it! Crazy! They usually have a large fridge/freezer, a freezer chest, a pantry, and sometimes another 'fridge. Yeah. Haha. That's not happening.
3. I like to grocery shop. Actually, I love it. Honestly. Sometimes when I'm bored, I will just go browse around a grocery. I went to the Big Apple Meat Market the other week and thought, "I'm getting an inordinate amount of joy out of this. I don't think most people derive actual JOY from grocery shopping."
4. I wouldn't want to plan out every meal for 30 days. I eat what I'm in the mood for - and how will I know what I'm in the mood for next week, let alone by the end of the month?
5. (Confession - I started writing this piece MONTHS ago! And now I'm back in WI, and get to go shopping w/ my mom...at Woodmans...the largest grocery store in the frickin' world, I bet...) Being in WI and shopping at Woodmans makes me shudder in horror. People here are fat. F.A.T. Freakin' Obese! It's disgusting, and terrifying. The carts are ginormous and so are the people that push them around, piling on who knows what! It made me want to stop eating (ok, for about 5minutes) and go take a dance class. Ei.
Kudos to these women who can be thrifty and several of them are actually food-conscious, as well. Not everyone in Wisconsin is a waddling tub of triglyceride, but it is a shock seeing SO MANY - it's their way of life. And yeah, we could go on and argue, "Well, it's not all their fault - they could be sick, bla bla bla." But seriously, for most of these people, they let themselves get that way. And can we take a brief moment to realize how silly the Wisconsin Accent is? It truly is ridiculous and makes me laugh every time I hear it. I'm glad I've pretty much kicked it, and totally understand now why my roommate laughs every time I say "bag" or "rag". Ah well.
My mom brought up me moving back here, buying a house, and settling down in the area. It was bound to happen. Kudos to her for waiting until my 6th or 7th visit back since moving to NY. While, yes, my NYC rent is ridiculously expensive, and living in a house would be nice, I have no future in theatre here. Maybe one day my priorities will change, but I've barely been at it in the real world for 2 years (when I go back it'll be the start of my 3rd audition season). I've been growing so much, and there is still so much yet to know and learn and explore and experience. I can't move back now - my ups and downs in NY would be NOTHING compared to the depression I would sink into living back here.
While I love visiting, and I know some of the very best people here, this girl is just beginning to find her freedom and stretch her wings. No way she'll voluntarily go back to the cage - no matter how nice and cozy it is.