What Albany Lacks

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  • Caribou Coffee. I could not have gotten through my undergrad in MI without it. Coffee is smooth and non-acidic. Mixed drinks are actually half way healthy sometimes. The white chocolate is so amazing you can have them put it in everything from the smoothies to the regular coffee. Mmmm, big leather chairs fake-Alaska vibe, love it. For now, I'll just have to settle for a tasty drink on layovers at MSP Airport, and buying enough to stock up the freezer.
  • Au Bon Pain- Coffee is ok, but anyone who has ever tried the crème de fleur knows what I am talking about. (On second thought maybe it is good we don't have that).
  • Trader Joe's I'm not really the hugest fan but it was really useful in NYC where you had to shop at 4 different places anyway to find affordable but still quality ingredients for something as simple as a Greek salad. There were some things that were pretty good though, and I am actually surprised there isn't one.
  • Anthropologie What the hell? Reason to go to Boston and NYC I guess.... But do I really need a two hundred dollar dress with a swan on it? No, no I don't. So it's all for the best. 
  • Urban Outfitters The height of excitement when I used to visit Ann Arbor when I was 14. Then in NYC they were basically on every corner. Now I don't so much seeing myself traveling for the $70 ripped t-shirt made to look like its from the Goodwill.
  • Potbelly Sandwich Shop. This was taking over the Detroit suburbs just as I was leaving. Cheap, quick, toasted, good. If I were wealthy I would totally open one of these. Would be great for the college crowd.
I will say that I'm happy we finally got a Chipotle, although probably with most chains you sort of forget about them when they aren't around. Chipotle was the main thing I got for dinner when out and about in NYC, mostly because you could grab your burrito and keep walking (and get smoggy airy, people coughing, subway grit and such on your burrito as you eat too quickly so probably not the healthiest idea anyway). But I guess living in a place where you aren't constantly walking somewhere you might as well not have your entire meal wrapped up together. Also Empire Wine finally got the Saffron Infused Gin I used to buy in Brooklyn Heights, so I don't really have much to complain about. I'm probably saved something by not having to try to resist Anthropologie's prices, and the lack of Caribou Coffee just makes me really excited for the Minneapolis Airport. As a totally unrelated side note, Minnesota is also getting something else I am totally obsessed with. Ah, geographical envy!

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