Cherry Picking & Five Things I Miss About The States

Seems fitting on America's birthday to share these cherry pictures in a bright red dress and talk about my home country a bit. My mother took these for me recently while I was stateside visiting my family and man was it hot when we took them! It's only July but between an unusually warm Irish spring and my brief visit to the States I have experienced so many lovely, warm summery days that I really can't complain when colder weather and autumn arrives. I really like to fully feel each season--snow in winter, colorful leaves and misty mornings in autumn, and yes, boiling hot days in summer when you're sweating your head off! That is summer to me and not something I usually get to experience where I live now, but this year has been different. We've had every season right on our doorstep and it makes me so happy! As I said in a blog post recently, I don't believe in perfect places and I think part of what makes somewhere great is just focusing on appreciation. Even so, I am human and as wonderful as my new home is there are still things I miss about American. Here's a few things I wish Ireland had:
1. 24/7 stores and diners. I love greasy spoon diners and being able to drive to one at two am and get a milkshake and fries! None of the stores or restaurants near me are open all night and while it's hardly a daily requirement to run to the store for something at midnight, as a night owl I do miss the option.
2. A single faucet for hot & cold water. Much of this list is specific to my experience (as you might guess!), so while I'm sure there are single faucets in this country, my house has a faucet for hot water and a separate faucet for cold water. Which means when you're washing your hands you have to choose between burning your hands with boiling water, freezing them off with icy water, or filling the whole sink with a mix of both! Why, why why?
3. Vintage stores. I've been very fortunate in the States to live in places with excellent vintage and antique malls. The prices were amazing and the finds ranged from eclectic to elegant; while I do wander around the odd vintage store here I haven't found a very affordable one or a shop well stocked with vintage clothes. For now I content myself with late night Etsy browsing.
4. Driving. I haven't got my license over here yet so I'm dependent on others getting around, but in addition to that driving here is very different from the States. I used to visit friends in the States several times a week who lived over an hour away from me, here that length of drive is seen as more if a journey. I kind of miss the "open road" mentality of just getting in a car and going somewhere hours away without much thought or planning just because you feel like going somewhere.
5. My friends and family. Obviously the biggest thing I miss isn't superficial things like donuts (but man donuts!), but the people I left behind. I still get to see my family fairly often, but I find long distance relationships a lot harder to maintain and it's a very lonely experience moving to a new country knowing barely anyone.