Miss M - ADDICT

ad⋅dic⋅tion –noun
the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

Sam tagged me to do a meme - I'm to share five items to which I am addicted. At first, I was thinking, I don't have any addictions! I have things I like, sure, but nothing that I MUST HAVE in order to get by and be happy. I'm a pretty moderate person, right?

But then I thought about it, and decided I must have been smoking crack when I decided that I wasn't hooked on anything. Here, in no particular order, are the first five that came to mind.

Bottled Water.

YES - I know it's bad for the environment. YES - I know it's 500 times more expensive than tap water. YES - I know people have been drinking tap water for ages and haven't died from it. YES - I used to even drink from the HOSE when I was a kid, so I know I wasn't always addicted to bottled water.

But see, here's the thing - tap water tastes like crap. Actually, it tastes like dirt. Even filtered water has a faintly dirty taste to it. My husband brought a stupid Brita pitcher with him when he moved in with me, and I hated that thing. Waste of refrigerator space if you ask me! These days, we buy those 2.5 gallon bottles of water and I refill a smaller bottle or a glass throughout the day. If we had the room and the funds, I'd get water delivery.

I must have super sensitive taste buds or something, because not only can I taste the difference between bottled water and tap water, I can taste the difference between certain brands of water. I also cannot drink water out of anything plastic that has held something other than water in the past. I swear it makes the water taste like soda, kool-aid, or the ghosts of other beverages past. ICK. (If you're into that type of thing, try Hint brand flavored water. It's nasty.)

Lip stuff.

Chapstick, lip gloss, you name it - if it's meant for your lips, I probably not only have some, but I have some on me. I have a tube of chapstick or some similar product in every room: my nightstand, the bathroom, the drawer in the coffee table, the table in the hallway. My lips get really chapped, despite all the water I drink. I hate the way the little rough chapped pieces of skin feel, so I end up picking at them. Then I have bloody lips.

No es bueno.

The Internet.

Oh, how did I ever live before the Internet came into my life? There is nothing that you cannot find there. You can shop. You can learn a new skill. You can watch videos. You can not only listen to, but also buy, music. You can meet new people. You can play games. You can find recipes. You can look up information.

No matter how obscure you think something you like is, on the Internet, there are a million more people who like it too. Even better, with our cable modem, I can be online ALL DAY with no wasted time trying to connect. Instant gratification, baby!

Patterned Paper.

It must be an addiction. How else can you explain how I have two file crates packed to the brim and I still can't get out of the scrapbook store without buying just a few more sheets? Heck, I even clip interesting bits of patterned paper out of my graphic design magazines. Yeah, because I don't already have enough.

Kitchen Stuff.

I love love love kitchen gadgets. I'm not talking about that mechanical crap you see hawked on infomercials in the wee hours of the morning. No, I'm talking about tools. Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table are two of my favorite places on earth. I'm not even limiting it just to the small items - I'm talking pots and pans and bakeware too.

I can spend hours lovingly browsing through a kitchen store. I like to see what things they have that I already have, what things they have that I need, what things they have that are improvements on things I may already have. I put together mental wish lists. I imagine where I would stash a new purchase. I think about how I would incorporate a new item into my tiny, yet very well stocked, kitchen.

The day I got my KitchenAid stand mixer was one of the happiest ones in my life to date. I cannot say enough good things about my All Clad pots and pans. Few items that I bake touch a cookie sheet without a Silpat underneath. I dream of the perfect mushroom/egg/strawberry slicer. You'd be amazed at all the bits and bobs stashed throughout my kitchen. It's small, but incredibly organized.

I had a friend who's brother went to culinary school. He had this tiny suitcase full of specialty tools, and I could identify practically every one.

So there you have it; just a little bit more of the Miss M crazy! Here are the five people I'm tagging for this challenge:

Susanne

Miss Anne

Kasey (kingsqueen)

Emily

Cicely (mademoisellechitchat)