This is important stuff people! (Spoiler: No it isn't)

I think one of the most surreal things about moving to a different part of the country is not knowing where to buy groceries.  It’s such a normal everyday thing that it doesn’t even occur to you that it’s one of the many adjustments you’re going to have to make.  The stupid thing is, it gets me every time.  Not that I’ve actually made more than one significant move, but it can be an issue on vacation too. 

For me, the standard grocery is Kroger.  There’s no objective reason for this; it’s just that I shopped at Kroger my entire life until I moved to California.  Apparently, they don’t have them here.  So when I got here I was a bit flummoxed.  I had no idea what the good chains were and holy cow are there a lot of chains.  I started out trying all of the close stores on a rotating schedule until I eventually settled on a couple of winners.  Predictably, my main store is Ralphs.  If you don’t know why, Ralphs is owned by Kroger.  The store has the same familiar layout, has most of the brands I like and there’s the occasional fun of spotting a product with a Kroger label. 

Fun Fact:  Ralphs Rewards cards and Kroger Plus cards are interchangeable; you can use them at either store. 

The other grocery I go to a lot is Henry’s.  All I buy there is produce.  It’s great.  It’s usually pretty cheap and sometimes they have insane deals.  Since roughly two-thirds of my food budget gets used up in the produce section this is a big deal for me.  I know that Henry’s gets compared to Trader Joe’s a lot, but all I can say about that is I’ve walked into Trader Joe’s a few times and walked right back out after I saw the prices.  There’s no way I’m paying a dollar for one apple.  I know to a lot of people this probably sounds kind of crazy and that I care entirely too much about where I buy food, but for some reason I really like grocery shopping.  I’m not really sure why since I always buy the same things (I have the least-varied diet ever, I know it’s less than healthy).  Maybe it’s because it’s kind of a guilt-free  shopping spree since if I don’t eat I die.