If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair but the hair spray and electric toothbrush. We asked actor and children’s author Max Greenfield — who recently partnered with Paper Mate on a teacher-focused donation campaign — about the fleece that makes him feel safe, and the gluten-free pretzels so good he “doesn’t know how to portion control.”
Quinn Pretzels are a gluten-free alternative and a tasty one at that. There are many flavors including the maple-almond-butter-filled nuggets. Those I try to stay away from because I have a real problem. I usually go for just the sticks, and even then I really have to limit myself. There are times I’ll go to the store and say, I don’t think we should buy those today because you have a real problem — you don’t know how to portion control these. If nothing mattered in the world, then I’d just buy the maple-almond ones, and I’d go to town.
I’m a big coffee person, and I did a deep dive on Los Angeles coffees that took me a minute. Go Get Em Tiger is a relatively new place. At some point, it started developing its own beans, and I went, Well, here’s the real test. And they’re so good. They make a bean called Minor Monuments — I use it as an espresso bean — and I’ve yet to find anything better. The French, New Orleans coffees are really, really, rich, and it’s too much for me. I like a lighter South American blend, and it feels like the Minor Monuments have a bit of that in it. If you give me some of those Quinn maple-almond nuggets and a cup of Minor Monuments, I’m about as happy as I can be.
I’m not very good at technology, and I’m reluctant to get it. When emails first came out “I said, This is not going to be a thing.” When I finally did buy a computer, I thought I wasn’t going to use it very much. It was just after New Girl had started — I finally had enough money — and I bought a MacBook Air because it was the most simple version. I love it. I still love it. I know people with the Pro, and they intimidate me. There’s too much going on. I honestly don’t know what I would do without it. I’ve used them easily for ten to 12 years.
I bought it last year, in navy blue, for a trip to Montana; I thought I needed to look at the part. And I really haven’t taken it off since. We’ve had a particularly cold winter in Los Angeles, and I sort of don’t want to take it off. Now it’s faded in areas, it’s nicely worn in, and it’s like, Oh, this is good. This is cool. I can’t really describe how it feels. You’d think that the inside would be softer; it’s not. It just insulates you in a way you’re like, I feel safe in this jacket. And also it looks cool — at least to me.
It’s the best. I’ll make the kids pasta sometimes and, as I’m waiting for it to cook, I find myself … sort of drinking the sauce. When you’re tired and sort of like, I can’t make myself something right now, you can just dip stuff in it. You take a piece of toast, dip it in there, and think, This is kind of the best thing that I’ve had all day. It comes from the restaurants, where the food is incredible. Sauce very rarely lives up to what you get in the restaurant, but this one kind of does.
I’ve grown up using Sharpies. There’s something really comfortable about them. I actually can’t think of a single other permanent marker; that’s pretty crazy. When I’m like, I need to write on this box or I’m going to draw this picture but I need a really substantial black marker, I’m always asking, “Do you have a Sharpie?”
It’s just nice to have options. The league has gotten so good, and there are so many players and teams that you want to see. So it’s nice to just have the games on in the background. My son and I are really into chess right now, so we’ll have a game on, off to the side, because, you know, it takes him a while to think about his next move. I found myself checking in on all the games online all the time, checking the scores — so I thought, Why don’t you just get the League Pass? Then you can watch all of these. They have this thing Sunday for the NFL with the RedZone channel, where you hop back and forth between the different games. There’s a handful of NBA games every day, so having the League Pass is like having that Sunday experience any day of the week, if you want it.
I find myself cleaning a lot — I can’t go to sleep if the kitchen’s not clean. I like a couple Method products, including the multi-surface one (the antibacterial is really good, too, but there’s a strong stench with that one.) The multi-surface is really good: spray it all over the counter, you’re done. Something about the packaging also looks really nice. I’m not sure if it’s better than any of the other cleaners, but because of the way it looks, I feel like this is going to do the job. I trust this.
The Flair Pens are the best. It can be difficult to write when you’ve got kids; you really have to pick your moments. I’ll be driving the kids or have a brief moment of clarity and have to quickly jot something down. And I’m a very visual person — when I’m writing, I need it to look good on the paper. It makes me think that my writing might be better than it actually is. I tried to buy fancy felt-tip pens, and I realized the Flair Pens write better. My son’s also drawing a lot of comic books, and he swears by the pens for outlining and drawing the pictures. We have a cupboard with all our pens — there’s all sorts of shit in there — and he’ll search for one like, “Ah, I got it!” I love them.
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