"so....do you have any american food here?"

europe is great.

obviously, i think so...

...or else i would've moved home by now.

but sometimes (and only sometimes)

i miss american food.

and by "american food",

i mean

processed, sugary, artificially flavored, absolutely-no-good-for-you crap.

...junk food, if you will.

when i spent the weekend with taylor and her husband in mannheim,

i stayed at their house on base

(her husband is in the military).

we walked into their house and i realized...

their cabinets must be stocked with american food.

after all,

they shop at the commissary,

which exists to make soldiers and their wives

feel at home in a foreign country

by providing them with their american grocery needs.

taylor said to me me,

"of course we have american food! what would you like?"

my first response was,

"graham crackers and milk. do you have that?"

sure enough, she did.

she watched as i ate the graham crackers and milk like cereal

and politely commented,

"oh, wow. i don't think i've ever seen anyone do that before..."

i forget sometimes that this isn't normal.

all i have to say in regards to that behavior is:

i am my father's daughter.

moving on...

after that little snack,

i wanted cookies;

chocolate chip cookies (also with milk).

no, not the kind made from scratch...

the kind made from a betty crocker mix, of course.

taylor had that, too, thank goodness.

moral of the story:

sometimes, it's just plain necessary

to forego the organic, fresh produce and whole foods europe has to offer

and take a little cullinary trip back to america

(aka the most obese country in the world)

and it's for this exact reason

that when my mom sends me care packages from home,

i can eat the bag of chex mix in one sitting.

oh, and did i mention this weekend was so fun?