Southern Comfort

Moving to Colorado was probably one of the best decisions I'd ever made.

I love it here. I love the mountains. I love the seasons. I love having the opportunity to go outdoors and enjoy myself without drowning in humidity. I love the fact that it's appropriate to wear sweaters, scarves, and boots. I love my job.

But there are definitely some things I miss about Florida. I guess it's hard to spend your whole life in a place and not miss things - aside from the obvious, of course. I miss my family and my friends like crazy. There are other things, though, that I didn't anticipate missing so much.

1. Publix. Seriously. I visited my boyfriend's parents in Birmingham, Alabama for Christmas, and one of the highlights of my trip was going to Publix and getting groceries. Everything about that place is wonderful. The employees don't hate you when you tell them you'd only like one piece of chicken, not twelve. The bread is fresh and delicious - second only to the baguettes and croissants I've had in France. BOGO is my favorite word - er, acronym. In Colorado, nothing compares. I have to go to three different stores to strike a balance of fresh and affordable, and it's a bit of a pain.

2. Road reflectors. Honestly, I didn't give these things a second thought when I lived in the south. They're everywhere. Driving at night or in the rain isn't a headache or a challenge because your lane is illuminated. You can actually see where you're going. For some reason or another, this idea hasn't migrated west. It's tolerable when it's a sunny day, but if you're brave enough to drive at night, good luck. In the rain or snow? Forget about trying to see the lane markers and just give it your best guess.

3. Good seafood. I know, I know. Before I moved, I'd accepted the fact that I wasn't going to have super fresh shrimp anymore. But what I didn't expect was for everything to be completely intolerable - even the stuff that's frozen and hauled in from places like Alaska. In theory, it should be fresher, right? Salmon coming from Alaska takes less time to get to Colorado than to Florida - thus, it should be fresher. Nope. Not even close. The only times I've been brave enough to peruse the seafood case at the supermarket, I've been incredibly disappointed.

It's the simple things, right?