The answer is certainly not MySpace…..

Did I just age myself greatly? I guess that’s me preparing to embarrass my daughter intentionally, but mostly unintentionally.

I’m really not sure what to think of this post, it’s mostly just a collection of really random items I saw this summer and more recently, while back in the USA.

Like, I disappear for a year and suddenly I return to a grocery store that has even weirder items in it?

Just what? Who thought of these things? What marketing intern or social media influencer decided that any of this would be a good idea?

Did the pandemic give birth to some really bad ideas?

No shade to the folks that like or buy this stuff. It’s mostly gimmicky, but I suppose in a fun way.

Let’s dive in!

Ah, the Flaming Hot Mountain Dew. When we were on our way back to Galena after landing in Chicago for vacation, my bladder was not kind and we had to make a pit stop at a little gas station. When I walked in, my eyes immediately went to this item.

Not the Twinkies, bubble gum, or weird gas station trinkets, but this. The attendant gave it a pretty decent review, and let me not be snobby at all, I do like the flaming hot Cheetos. But this? I felt like I was in another dimension.

I tried it. I give it a 3/10. It has the Mountain Dew flavor, but with a cinnamon type burn. Nothing FHC related.

On to the next:

Still continuing on with the Cheetos enterprise….I mean, I guess they’re the natural choice for a partnership with Mac and Cheese?

Also, don’t let me lie and say I haven’t send reels or tik toks to H about Flaming Hot Cheeto pasta or pupusas. When you’re abroad and miss junk things, sometimes they call to you to make your longing for the poor decisions worse.

I did not try these, but for a $1.38 when everything else was rising in price, I see how it could be a steal. I’d just hate to see the cholesterol and glucose numbers of those who tried it.

Lets keep going:

Takis are a kind of once in awhile snack for me. They were popular at school amongst the kids I worked with, and did I get a bag every once in a blue moon? Sure did. But this? IT GOES TOO FAR. LIKE NO.

There’s one shop in Togo that I know of that will occasionally have bags of Takis. Once a friend and I basically bought them out and messaged the store owners when the next shipment would be.

It’s rough out here folks. I’m not proud.

On to the sweet stuff!

Wendy’s Frosty cereal???? I’m not judging, because I sure miss 1) Wendy’s 2) The Frosty. But in cereal form?

I’ll admit, I desperately wanted to try it. But being pregnant and all, I thought at the time I shouldn’t. Now I regret that decision. But the baby will be better for it? I’m not sure….We’ll see.

DunkAroos!!! A childhood staple. I’m glad they made a comeback. Good for you? Not at all. But a nice nostalgic treat! I wish they had made the confetti cream ones though, those were the best. Anyone with a dunkaroos connection can go ahead and put in that request for me, okay?

And last but not least:

Coca-Cola, what in the actual world are you thinking? What is “Space flavored”? Like who the crap has gotten to “taste” space?

I’ll admit, one late DC night this Dreamworld Coke stood out to me. “Dream flavored”? What would I rate this? A solid 0/10. I took one sip, H took one sip, and down the drain it went.

Thank goodness they’re limited editions, so if everyone could do humanity a favor and buy them to pour them out, that would be great.

Recently the bottling company in Togo lost the rights to Coca-Cola and supposedly has their syrup, but has to market it as something else…..World Coke……I really don’t care for it. It’s been sad to see some restaurants replace with the imposter and stores slowly lose their supply. The knock offs of Sprite and Fanta are worse.

I tell myself to just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…..

And lastly, a nice photo of the cutest pineapple plants ever to be seen at none other than my love, Trader Joes:

I’d be interested to know if anyone who bought these plants actually got them to be fruitful?

Should I do a part two when I return to the States in December? Christmas brings a lot of weird things out of the shadows.

Until next time,

Carrie