What to Buy When You Visit the United States

Due to popular demand I have put together a small list of the things we have learned to be worthwhile to buy in the United States and to bring back to Italy. With the favorable dollar you can really stock up in the USA. These are for both those who live in Italy permanently and for those who want to bring a gift back to friends in Italy.



For expats:

Tylenol and Advil- sounds funny I know but cannot get through the winter without them and no I am not addicted!


Cheerios original cereal- have found the honey flavored one but still have not seen the original Cheerios.

Office supplies



For both expats and Italian friends:


High count cotton bed sheets- I always buy new sheets in LA when I come home since I find the cotton to be nice, compact and you really don't even need to press them (great advantage). Remember that bed sizes are different in Italy and a Queen American size will fit a matrimoniale Italian size.


Designer Makeup- you can get some real bargains in the USA with the buy one free gift system. This just is not the case in Italy.


Athletic Shoes & Levi Jeans - These are very expensive in Italy.


Clothing - Casual wear like tshirts, jeans, and sweatsuits are much cheaper in the USA.


Electronics - these too are much cheaper in the USA


Baby clothes, toys, accessories- No, there is no Target out here so stock up on as much as you can!

Books and Music- I know you can get these off the net but they make good gifts to bring back. I like to buy English language books for my children too.

Housewares- kitchen towels, pot holders, table cloths, place setting table mats, runners, etc

Christmas decorations

I am sure there are a lot more but these come to mind. Let me know what your favorites are I may have left out.

What I love about my small town and living in Italy

Many of my friends back home in LA ask me what it is like living in Tuscany, especially in a small town. Chiusi has a population of approximately 9000 people and growing. This includes all the little surrounding towns, called “frazioni”. I have to say the one thing that I do love, that really puts a smile on my face is the fact that you know so many people and they know you….by name! Imagine going to the pharmacy and everyone greeting you by name and asking about your entire family, knowing all their names, where they go to school, what they did this summer. You cross the street to the bakery and they greet you too and tell you you don’t have to buy the bread today because your husband got enough this morning when he brought your son to buy a snack. Amazing. When you go to restaurants there is always someone you know sitting at the next table. This was so foreign to me being from LA. How often do you run into the same person twice in LA?? I mean you have to plan meetings weeks ahead, right?

Owning a home and living in Italy, especially in a small town keeps you closely tied with your neighbors. There is a certain warmth you get when your neighbour brings you “mimosa,” a yellow flower, every March 8th which is “giorno della donna” or woman’s day. My neighbour Anita not just brings me a flower, but an entire branch from her tree!! I now kind of expect it from her and if I don’t hear from her, I call up to find out if she is feeling ok!! What a nice, sweet lady. She will stop you every time your car passes her house and ask about the entire family and get angry if you don’t accept her chicken’s fresh eggs of the day! I call it my “drive through” only I get fresh eggs, onions, tomatoes. I adore Anita.

Moving to Tuscany and /or visiting Italy also means really savoring the new foods of each season. In LA I kind of just took for granted that everything at the supermarket was always available. Now I know there is a time to buy olive oil, walnuts, chestnuts, cantaloupe, apples, peaches and all sorts of delicious foods. Now I look forward to getting the new olive oil (olio nuovo) in which the olives I see from my windows are picked in November. I watch the farmers and see as they carefully pick each olive. No wonder why it is so expensive!

In this small town I have not yet met or know of another American who lives here year round. Sure there are many who come and go, spend holidays here and maybe months too but I am the only one that actually lives here. So I am treated special and you know what, I like it. I like this unspoken title of the American. I am also though very proud of where I come from, L.A. I am proud to be American and the USA will always be home sweet home. You don’t really really appreciate home until you are far from home. So right now I have the best of both worlds. I consider myself on an extended vacation in Tuscany but home is always L.A. When I tell those from Chiusi I am from Los Angeles, the usual response is “Wow.” When I tell my friends in LA I live in Tuscany their usual response is “Wow.”

Can I just say that parking is great in Chiusi. I have unfortunately adopted the Italian way of parking so give me a bit of space and I will stick my car in it in anyway, shape or form. Parking is always available and pretty cheap too. If there is no parking, just drive around the block a couple times and something will surely open up. For now I will take advantage of living in Italy and really appreciate all this small town has to offer!