Here is something I've been intending to post...

Seriously, if any of you are ever in Victoria, go to Charelli's Delicatessen and Cheese Shop. It's the greatest place on earth. (And then, if you're there, stop in and visit me, because you're only three blocks away from my house.)

It's run by a mother and daughter, and the place is fabulous. Not only do they have a ridiculous variety of cheese, but they also sell Boylan soda, Fanta, all kinds of cooking ingredients (like good vinegars), fancy breads, and so much candy from other countries. It always cheers me up to go visit. And when we go, the daughter's always likely to say, "Where've you guys been? It's been forever!" and then ask how work's going for Chris, and how school's going for me. It's nice having a place where we're known. ("You wanna go where everybody knows your name, badadada da da")

Yesterday, we stopped in at the cheese shop on our way home from the corner store. They're starting to get used to our particular tastes, and so Chris wanted to try a strong cheese and I wanted something mild. And, after years of claiming that Brie has the aftertaste of feet, they've hooked me on a Brie that doesn't have a feet aftertaste. We also got a foccaccia bread, which hardly made it home, because we were eating pinches off of it the whole way home.

But that's on the top of my list of "Things That Cheer Me Up When I'm Having an Off Day." (Also high on that list: making my own cream of broccoli soup, without having to get Chris to make the white stock for me. And having it turn out bright green.) If I wasn't this skinny, I'd be worried that food is so high on the list of things that cheer me up.