To start, the name of the local grocery store here at the RAF at NOMA (that's the Residential and Academic Facility at the North of Massachusetts Avenue neighborhood, for those of you who haven't lived in the area for a full week-and-a-half) is Harris Teeter. Yes, that's the real name. My research also tells me it's a chain in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland and Delaware. So, not only is it a grocery store named Harris Teeter (I mean really, it sounds like a children's story about a little boy who falls off the see-saw), it's a southern grocery store named Harris Teeter. It doesn't sound like a very serious business, but let me tell you, Leah grocery shopping on her own in the big city is very serious business.

I didn't begin my grocery shopping experience in D.C. entirely stress free. For the minority of my readers out there who aren't Mom and Dad, here's a quick recap of my Target run on move-in day:

"Leah, how about some milk?"

"What, I'm supposed to drink a whole HALF-GALLON? How? When?"

"What about frozen vegetables?"

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT KIND I LIKE."

At home, I like grocery shopping. It was one of my favorite activities when I was little (look at all the different kinds of pasta to choose from!). But now that I'm not living at home or eating the majority of my meals off of a meal plan, grocery shopping is a crash course is dire decision making: Do I really want this? Do I really need this? Am I even going to eat this? Should I even eat this? How many grams of protein does it have? How many nights am I going to be cooking this week? Would I eat this at home? Will I have enough for leftovers? Will I have too much for leftovers? What if I don't like it?

This afternoon after work constituted my third trip to Harris Teeter since move-in. The journey, three blocks there and three blocks back again, is becoming slowly less traumatic, although I know it will be awhile until it's totally stress-free. Here are some lessons I've learned:

• A whole cucumber is a lot. This isn't Israel, you can't just pack a whole cucumber in your lunch and eat it like a banana. If you do buy one, don't have three slices and then wait four days to slice some more. It will start growing white spots.
• Chips Ahoy, on the other hand, does not go bad after being open for 10 days, (although worrying that it will does grant you the excuse of eating more cookies)
• Green peppers also take a surprisingly long time to go bad.
• 1.2 pounds of chicken cooked for only two people is a lot of chicken. Leftovers are best eaten by day 4.
• You can still eat the cherry tomatoes after they've started to get a little wrinkled. Throw out the ones turning brown.
• Peanut butter and crackers is always a good snack.
• Spring for the five-dollar spatula. The two-dollar version might melt in your onions.
• If you buy one bag of baby spinach, you will still be finishing that same bag of baby spinach 43 meals later.
• Grapes are always great!.
• And, above all, if you mess up, your friend Harris T. is only three blocks away.

Coming soon: More on my internship (I can tell you everything you need to know about October 1815!), a semi-private tour of the Capitol and a walking around the National Mall, and pictures of my walk to work every morning (oh, hello there Dirksen!)