Did anyone say "chicken"?

I bought a gift today! I needed the impossible: $20, never met the person receiving it. Fortunately, I had a gift idea - I decided to get a really nice fancy notebook, something like an idea diary but very cool and black and a matching high-quality black and metal fancy pen. Coupled with some nice note saying "...so none of the best ideas are forgotten.", it would make a great gift for almost anyone. And it's stylish and asexual.

And if that fails I'll just get a chemistry cocktail set that I once saw in the same store, so I'm all covered. The cocktail set was a bit silly but can be used and seemed like it would make a great gift. So today I went to the bookstore and looked at the prices. The kind of notebooks that I was looking for cost $30-40 and the chemistry cocktail set costs $43. Like OH MY GOD - the prices! Oh well, have to find something else.

Dull red of fall.

I looked around the store and got another idea! I bought a thermos cup - people love those here! They're almost as popular as flip-flops! Every morning on the bus there's at least 3 people with a thermos cup and at least 3 more with coffee cups from some coffee place like Starbucks. I don't like take-out coffee but even I would find a use for a good thermos cup if I got it as a gift. Just a thermos cup alone would, however, be boring. So I also got a small book that lists all the cocktail recipes that you could possibly imagine! And the best part - together, they were only a little over $20 and the store has free gift-wrapping with the store receipt. I've done the impossible!

Bright red of fall.

I ate so much fruit today. I ate apple and 2/3 of a big watermelon, half of the reddest pomegranate I'd ever seen and I also ate some oranges. And I feel great! Ah, fruits just rule!

I also eat a lot of meat too as it turns out! On Monday I bought 2 pounds (1kg) of ground beef and 4 chicken legs. All for myself! This is a good amount for a whole family, enough for 3 or 4 meals. Well, I'm eating all I buy, so I thought that amount would last me for a while. I initially decided to freeze some of it. Well, it's all gone now! That was good for 6 meals! But I'm very proud of myself - with all that fruit and meat, I haven't bought any pastries or chocolate.

Costco's shopping warehouse.

My roommate told me she's going to Costco's today and asked if I wanted to come. Sure! My entire San Diego trip is about saying "yes" to anything that I haven't done before (except for things I just wouldn't ever do). Costco's looks like a plane hangar on the outside and like a huge warehouse on the inside. This is the real American warehouse store with some shelves up to the ceiling. Only people with a member card can get in and fortunately also people who go there with someone with a member card. They sell things for a small price in large quantities. I was hoping to find really nice oranges, but in stead, I bought 4lbs of chicken. That should last me awhile, right?

Anyway, it seems I keep impressing people with how much I eat. First I impressed Rachel with the amount of popcorn I ate in the movie theatre in LA and now I impressed my roommate with the amount of chicken I won't even freeze because I know it will be long gone by the time I get to the expiration date!