As PoLiSh As aPpLe PiE

On Friday I got out of work a few hours early in honor of the pending 4th of July celebrations. Since I'm in the market for a new waterproof camera to replace the one I stupidly destroyed (cleaning the salt out), I decided to use the extra hours to go scope out the electronics at Costco.

Bad idea. What a horribly bad (but oh so good) idea!

I knew my friend Marta, who is currently subletting my roommates spot for the summer, needed a few things so I picked her up and we headed off to the warehouse of milk and honey. Despite the more-than-usual chaos, we actually managed to find a parking spot rather quickly and headed in for the adventure.

Now, I forgot to mention the small fact that although Marta's been living in the UK for the past 5 years, she's originally from Poland. As such, I forget how overwhelming a store the size of a country--okay that's a slight exaggeration, but it could at least feed one for a substantial period of time--can be. Add to it's sheer size the holiday chaos akin to Christmas Eve (since we all know Independence Day is aaaaall about eating) and it's one crazy place. The isles were full of overflowing shopping carts, people discussing their BBQs and pool parties, and SAMPLE STATIONS.

Now, sample stations could have a blog post all their own, but sufficeth to say you try things you don't like because it's free, you buy things you wouldn't normally buy because you tried it...and more importantly, you consume enough calories for a large meal. By the time you head to check out, instead of spending $1.50 on a hot dog and drink like you planned, you just enjoyed free tapas! That being said, I admit I tried my fair share of samples as we wandered, but going with Marta was a priceless experience. She found out that a typical 4th involves BBQs and insisted on buying a Costco case of hot dogs (I volunteered to go to the regular grocery store to no avail). Next, after seeing me wait patiently for a sampling of a virgin strawberry margarita (they're my fav) she went off and a few minutes later came back with THREE two-pack, Costco-sized bottles of margarita mix (I promptly put all but one pack back.) However, the best was watching her stealthy obtaining not two, not three, but FIVE samples of apple pie. After the fifth she finally broke down and bought a whole pie.

All weekend, this girl has been in heaven. It's been apple pie for breakfast, after lunch snacks and dinner... I've never met anyone who loved apple pie more! So, while this weekend may have been America's celebratory holiday of Independence, I think it was celebrated most appropriately by my little Polka roommate.