things* i miss about oxford

it's official: i miss oxford.  when i got back to atlanta i was just happy to be home, enjoying the comforts of being back in the US.  but every year at about this time i start missing oxford and those experiences again; i start thinking about going back next summer.  here are a couple reasons why:

1. alpha bar.  alpha bar is this incredible food stand in the covered market with lots of fresh and healthy food; i often got a small box (4 items) for lunch.  you can mix and match from lots of salads and cheeses and proteins.  my favorite small box combination is lentil salad, hummus, carrot and cabbage slaw, and grilled halloumi cheese.  i also love the roasted veggies and feta cheese, so sometimes i sub one or the other in.  in short: if alpha bar existed in atlanta i would go DAILY.  sigh.

2. the pizza artisan van.

here i am talking about food again.  oops.  the pizza artisan van is a, well, van with a wood burning oven in it.  the van man parks on the side of the road in town and makes fresh pizzas in literally 2 minutes.  (ignore the question of how he is allowed to have a super heated fire in a van that obviously has gasoline in it.)  i became obsessed with this pizza.  in 2 minutes you can have a mushroom pizza with roasted garlic on it, topped at the last minute with spinach and rocket (aka arugula).  YUM.

3. walking places.  in atlanta i drive everywhere except (sometimes) the grocery store that's across the street from my house.  places i want to go are far apart and traffic stresses me out.  in oxford we walked everywhere, and living in a town where that is possible was wonderful.  would i want to live in a place that small year round?  probably not.  but i miss it.

4. the weather, though atlanta's late september weather is similar to oxford's hottest july day, and i'm appreciative of the fact that we're moving in the right direction.  jeans and sweaters and clear days that aren't hot - that's my favorite climate.

5. feeling like you're in college again - sort of - in that there are people around all the time and at a moment's notice you could always find someone to go grab a drink with you or play uno (don't laugh) with you.  when we weren't on duty our job was to be free in case of emergency, which also meant that people were free to hang out.  real life isn't like that - i, and all my friends, are busy and scheduled and finding time to just hang out requires forethought.  ugh.  while i understand that real life can't be like a summer job, i'm still sad about it.

*again, obviously not people, as i miss my oxford friends a lot...