I do like food. My mom and I had a good laugh several years ago at the movie Mother. (Anyone see it?) The mother and son were in a grocery store arguing over the brand of jelly he wanted to purchase and he turns to his mom and says "We're in the 90's. It's fancy jam time." Mom and I have had several discussions like this. I'm not saying that the roundy's brand isn't a good thing because quite frankly I do enjoy several "general" branded products but a fancy jelly is sometimes a rare treat. (Anyone who has dared to peer into my fridge is aware of my variety of condiment offerings...because who doesn't like a to crunch on a crispy gherkin?)

On the way home from spending time with Maddie and family to deliver her b-day gift this afternoon I stopped at Trader Joe's that just opened in woodbury. I have been hearing people gush about Trader Joe's for years and just this past year sat next to this cute older couple on an airplane who lived in the town where Trader Joe's was founded. Anyhow, like a good foodie...I went in without reservation or preconceived idea of what the heck I was buying.

The place was insane. It was interesting to watch people while I wandered the aisle comparing prices and just wondering what the heck was so special about the place. I started off with a cart and abandoned it after the first aisle. There just wasn't any room to walk and sincerely, I had already determined that if I wanted to purchase specialty produce or meats I probably would wander to Kowalski's instead as I thought their prices were ridiculous. I am not paying over $3.00 for eggs....free range or not. I'm all for humane treatment of all creatures great and small but c'mon...it's not worth an extra $2.00 of marketing or financial margin.

There was this couple who had two carts piled with food and kids. And the wife shows these sort of dry looking chocolate animal crackers to her child and says don't these look yummy? All the while the cranky husband is saying - honey - I've already been down that aisle...let's go. She looks up at the husband and says...oh I see you got the chicken tacos but did you get these? And shows him the container of cookies...like they are gold or something.

Needless to say, I stood in line with a jar of cherry jam (hence my reference to the movie mother - although it was only $2.69 which I thought wasn't bad) and a can of lentil soup - which just sounded good and had a funky looking can. Maybe I just don't appreciate the natural foods quality....maybe because it was sunday and the liquor store was closed, I don't appreciate the apparent awesome $3.00 bottles of wine this place is supposed to have, but sincerely I just don't see the big deal? If anyone would like to share the mystery please do so. In the meantime, you can find me aimlessly wandering around Rainbow.

Oh and one other aside...while I think it's awesome that people are in love and want to share that affection with each other in public, there comes an age when public necking with moaning...say while standing in line waiting to pay for overpriced foodstuff is just a bit unnecessary. Call me a prude, call me completely wrong...maybe call me jealous ;-) but seriously to the people standing in line in front of me....get a room.