I decided to do something special with my last day of vacation, something complicated and time consuming. I picked a baking project and, instead of the Twitter-suggested Baked Alaska (too Sarah Palin-y), I chose to make croissants because I just happened to have a one-pound block of butter in my fridge and four hours to kill. A half-hour into the project, I ran out of cling wrap, which is pretty much essential, and since I was already out of parchment paper, I decided to honor an age-old city tradition: Walking to the Grocery Store in the Rain. Not out of deference to those who've walked before me, but because I made Laine take the car to work this morning instead of riding her scooter in the rain.
I bundled up in my raincoat, grabbed my trusty Whole Foods canvas shopping bag (haven't used that sucker since WF's owner turned out to be a loony), and with my eyeglasses in my pocket, trudged down the sidewalk to the Shop 'n Save four blocks away from my house. I don't think anyone's shocked to hear that I'm a grocery store snob. I'm not above shopping at Aldi during times of financial strain, but ever since I got a nine-to-five "real" job, I've been a Costco, Trader Joe's or Schnuck's, and occasional Dierberg's and Straub's kind of girl. Provisions if I'm really feeling really frisky. I've always considered the south city Shop 'n Save the dirt store, or as Matt Picker called it, an awesome third world country. When I met Laine, she shopped there exclusively, and I found it disturbing. I've come to terms with my snobbery and I'm okay with running in for a few items, mostly chips, dips, and alcohol. And it rarely fails, every time I enter its sliding doors, something insane and random happens.
As an added opposite-of-bonus, I don't enjoy walking to Shop 'n Save, 'cause I'm terrified to cross the damned street at Kingshighway and Chippewa. I've been hit by a car once and run over once (childhood incidents, don't ask) so I'm not a huge fan of crossing busy streets in general. The ground at this particular corner is always littered with cracked bumpers, shattered headlights, severed hands, etcetera.
SO, I've got the hood of my raincoat on due to the steady drizzle, and also to remain relatively anonymous, 'cause I don't jaywalk and it makes me look like a big dork, waiting for the crosswalk sign to turn to walk before I step off the curb. Even without glasses, I manage to make it to the other side unharmed. At this point in the post, if you're waiting for something really dramatic and/or awesome to happen, you should probably step away. I'm only writing about this trip because I have to go back to work tomorrow and won't have time to update again for awhile and I don't want Laine to give me crap about not updating.
The only thing outstanding that happened at Shop 'n Save is that they're charging $.08 more for 10 feet less of off brand parchment paper, and I got a wicked stupid Taylor Swift song stuck in my head. Oh, and some lady wrote a check, and it was like watching someone chip the Constitution into limestone.
It is pretty remarkable that now the number of times I've gone to Shop 'n Save without a fight is exactly 1. In addition to my cling wrap and parchment paper, I purchased a half gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, 'cause I'm a masochist. It was raining pretty hard when I left, so I cut through parking lots and jaywalked triumphantly across Kingshighway at Bancroft.
♫he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar♫
GAH! It's time for turn #2 on my croissant dough.
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