The Untitled Title Page

I love Trader Joe’s. We all know this. I might have put my foot down about moving to Washington if they didn’t have TJ’s up here. Well, probably not, though maybe my sun-deprived self would have been happy if I HAD done that. (Hehehe.) We just found out last weekend from a friendly craft store employee that a TJ’s is opening in REDMOND. Woo hoo! No more driving all the way to Bellevue or Kirkland! Not only that, it’ll be in the center with the craft store, which is the perfect walking distance from the library and post office… which means I can very easily and pleasantly get to many of my favorite places at once. Oh my oh my.

On to the point.

I’m planning on trekking it out to Bellevue in the next few days (okay, okay, it’s not really SO far, but it’s kind of something I have to plan in advance for with Morgan, who is still not a fan of the car… it’s really hard to drive with my arm going numb because I’m reaching around her seat to hold the pacifier in her mouth while my throat is getting a little hoarse from singing every song I can think of) for a little TJ trip and I’m wondering what products other people love. Somewhat intentionally I don’t keep snacky stuff on hand because (a) it’s more expensive and (b) it’s usually not as healthy as food you make yourself. The fact that we don’t have that kind of thing on hand, though, means that for lunch for me or for late-night “I’m still hungry” moments when we don’t feel like cooking anything we have nothing to grab and eat besides chocolate chips.

Not that I’m guilty of eating lots of bags of chocolate chips. For lunch. Ahem.

Now we’re out of chocolate chips, but luckily “pints” of Haagen-Dazs have been on sale at the grocery store lately so we have those for munchiness. Yes, yes, very healthy. Actually, have you tried the Haagen-Dazs “five” line? It’s made with only five ingredients, which of course makes me feel better because they’re all normal ingredients. So far, I’ve tried ginger and mint, and they are very very good. This could be a problem for me, because even if it does only contain pronounceable ingredients it can’t be good to eat so much of it.

Back to the point: One of the great things about Trader Joe’s is that it’s generally cheaper than grocery stores, and also generally healthier–though of course like anywhere you still have to be savvy. But I love that you can get organic food for the same price as regular food at the grocery store, butter is cheaper, etc. Our addictions often ebb and flow, but right now I’m still on the wheat and flaxseed crackers (was also a pregnancy staple). We’ve also been drinking this green food drink that’s pretty good, and of course I stock up on the frozen veggies but that’s not really a TJ-specific product (just a cheaper/better-than-grocery-store one). I love their hummus, but I started making it at home–with TJ’s canned garbanzo beans and TJ’s lemons, of course. I also buy the noodle boxes for Adrian to have on hand at work.

So, O Masses, please PLEASE tell me your favorite TJ’s products. Specifically, I’m looking for things we can have for “quick food”, but I would love to hear about whatever it is that you love and buy often from TJ’s. Not that I really need more inspiration to love it, but I would love to get some ideas for things I maybe haven’t tried. And we can all bask in the Trader Joe’s love together. Ahhhh.

I don’t go out much on solo (i.e., without Adrian) adventures for a number of reasons. One, I don’t really feel a need to, especially since it’s still not exactly warm or spring-like outside. It snowed again two days ago. Seriously. Second, it takes so much effort with Morgan that it’s not often worth it to me unless I really need to. I prefer to time it just right, to leave as soon as she finishes eating and get back by the time she might be hungry again, and she’s getting better but she often really dislikes being in the car seat. It’s hard to focus and be safe and it makes me want to cry when she howls like that from the backseat. Anyway, all that aside, when we do go out to the store I always carry her in the wrap. She likes to be snuggly next to me and she usually just falls asleep once she’s finished looking around at the new place. That way my hands are free, too, and as an added bonus it puts her in my personal space, so I don’t have to worry about other people touching her. Oh, also it keeps her warm, being next to me, and I often put on my maternity hoodie and zip it up over both of us for added warmth.

The other day at Trader Joes, someone was asking me how old she is and showing her toddler that there was a baby when this other woman approached from my side and said, “You look pregnant!” and then proceeded to cup Morgan’s head (the only part of her exposed) with her hand as she walked by. I was first annoyed by the fact that she touched my baby. Why do people think that’s okay? At least it was the back of her head and not her face or hands, I guess. But then I started thinking, and laughing actually, about how easily I could have been offended by what she said, too. Gee, thanks, I look pregnant?! I get it, of course, that I look like I have this giant belly with a baby head sticking out the top, but it’s still a rather delicate issue for someone who’s recently given birth. Haha.

So, note to self: never say that to a recently pregnant woman in case she takes offense by it. And never for any reason touch a stranger’s baby. Ugg! I’m sure she’s a nice clean normal person, but I don’t know that, and it’s my instinct to protect my baby. People seem to lose our cultural concept of personal space when it comes to pregnant women and babies.

It’s not generally an issue because of how I carry her, but any tips on what to say that is polite but clear when you see a stranger going in to touch your baby? That happened once when I had the stroller when I was out with my mom when Trevor and Tyler were babies, and I think I just said straight up “Please don’t touch them” in a nice voice. Is that the easiest thing, I guess? It’s just hard to not sound rude, but then again it’s kind of rude to just go touch someone’s kid, too.  ???

Last week I was whining to Adrian about how I never buy clothes or things like that for myself and sit and really debate myself when I want to buy craft stuff and whatever because I don’t want to spend money. He, being the doll he is, came home from work that night and announced that we were going to use our weekend to trek to the outlet mall about an hour north of us and buy me some new clothes. See, if he’s there with me and insisting I try things then I will. If not, I find shopping to be completely overwhelming, plus I simply won’t spend money, especially if it’s for me.

So Friday afternoon after we went to the post office to get Morgan a passport (just in case… hey, even driving to Canada requires one now) we drove up there. It took a ridiculous amount of time dealing with the traffic. However, we finally got there, and Adrian carried Morgan in the wrap so I could try things on. She was a great helper and slept for hours. Cool. So in the theme of What Not to Wear, Adrian picked clothes for me I wouldn’t otherwise try (since if I were left to myself I’d wear nothing but cardigans and t-shirts with jeans). He even went through the clearance racks for me, which I usually will look at for five seconds and move on from because I just don’t have the patience.

We ended up scoring at Gap and got some pants, a skirt, and some tops, and then really scored at Kenneth Cole with 2 pairs of heels and 1 pair of flats. I also got some Pumas that are very similar to my old beloved pair–white with pink stripe up the side–that died a couple years ago.

It was a good night. I was super excited. And I love Adrian for doing things for me that I won’t do for myself. Now we just need to replace my collection of t-shirts with holes in them (which is almost all of them… I’m a class act). And then I need to learn to accessorize so that I actually look put together. And I need a haircut. Okay, so I have a ways to go. But I sure do feel good about my new clothes.