#62 | snacks from around the world

Delivered right to your doorstep.

Not to throw my dad under the bus, but my mom was the Parent in Charge of Presents when I was growing up; we used to joke that my dad was just as surprised as we were when we opened our gifts on Christmas morning.

(I don’t say that to imply that it was unfair for my mom or my dad was left out – this was very much a solid division of labor based on each of their skill sets. If my parents did Fair Play today, my mom would still take the Gifts card.)

But every once in a while my dad comes out of nowhere with a banger of a present. A decade or so ago (omg wtf is time) he bought me & Mara a pair of jogger sweats from a brand called Oiselle; I thought they closed but when I googled that to see if it was true, I learned they are still around! They are a female-focused running apparel brand in the Pacific Northwest, so I’m not sure how my Midwest father stumbled upon them but regardless – they made an amazing pair of sweats a long time ago!

Fast forward to 2023ish and he struck gold again: a monthly subscription box called Universal Yums. It’s a curated selection of local snacks from a rotating roster of countries, and while I’m pretty sure it was designed for children (it comes with illustrations and activities lol) both my sister & I are obsessed with it.

We’ve gotten boxes from across Europe, South America, & Asia… there may have been an Australia or New Zealand box in there as well that I’m forgetting. Some of the snacks are a big hit (the chocolate from Belgium, the candy from Japan), but there are also some strange ones (the potato chip flavors that exist in the world are… wild).

The initial subscription expired long ago, but every so often Mara & I join forces to bully him into restarting it again¹. Perhaps you can do the same to your own father.

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ICYMI: Recent Posts to Catch Up On

what i bought, march 16-31

#61 | getting revenge

#60 | snacks from my childhood

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From the Archives: Older Posts I Still Stand By

#57 | the holy grail of dry shampoo

#42 | roy-g-biv organization

#31 | what's for dinner tonight?

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1. He does like to remind us that “we make more money than he does” since he is retired (A JOKE!!) and we can buy this ourselves, but I maintain that it follows the sandwich rule: it always tastes better when someone else makes it for you.