Miss Grocerypants

Well, I could tell you what I’ve been very busy with this week, but it mostly involves work, so screw that.

Instead, I’ll tell you about just one of the highlights of my week.

On Monday, I finally went to the new grocery store a couple of blocks from where I work. I can just hear you saying “This is a highlight of her week?” Yes, indeed it was. Because the Gemini in me LOVES anything new or different, and believe it or not, I especially love new and different grocery stores.

It’s true. I find grocery stores interesting. I especially like to check out foods that I would probably never buy, but I wonder what they’re like. Like cheese that sells for $15 a pound, or wine from the Tokaj region of Slovakia.

So yeah, I pretty much like to look at cheese and wine.

And whenever I visit a city in a different state (or country), I always try to visit a local grocery store. I think it tells you a lot about what the local culture is like. I’ve been to grocery stores in Carlsbad, California; Big Rapids, Michigan; and Dublin, Ireland. And FYI—they do not have Ranch dressing in Ireland! The horror! I could never live there.

Anyway, back to the new and exciting grocery store. When I walked into the store on Monday night, I was amazed that it was so BIG. The grocery store we usually go to—which is four or five blocks from our apartment—is absolutely tiny compared to this new store.

I called Iwanski excitedly. “Honey, you HAVE to see this store! It’s huge—they even have an olive bar with like 30 different kinds of olives!” (Even though I think olives are the most vile, disgusting food ever, I was still thrilled that they actually had an olive bar.)

Iwanski was less enthusiastic about it. “That’s great, honey,” he said, placating me.

“Wow, their deli is huge!” I exclaimed. “And everyone is so friendly here! Since I’ve been here, like three different people have asked me if they can help me.”

“That’s nice,” mumbled Iwanski. Clearly, he wasn’t getting how thrilling this was.

“I’ll call you back in a little while,” I said. “I have to call Jonathan!”

Jonathan is my good friend who lives a block away from Iwanski and me, and he and I go grocery shopping together often. Somehow, I knew he’d understand my excitement.

He SO understood. I told him about how big the store was and about the olive bar, and he was excited, too. We decided to go to the new store together on Wednesday night.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling well on Wednesday night, so our shopping trip had to be postponed.

I hope we can go there together really soon. I have a hankering for some wine and cheese.