Sweet Nothings: At What Cost?

Yesterday I took my weekly Sunday trip to Sobeys.  I was picking up something to eat for dinner with a friend of mine, and some things for lunch this upcoming week.  Let me recap some highlights:

• The wheel-behind baskets are the best.  I often struggle with the traditional baskets because I'm a little on the short side, and they hang awkwardly off my hip as I drag them through the store.  But, at Sobey's, I pop out the convenient luggage-style handle, and roll my groceries along.  Also, the carts are the perfect size for a store that is not meant for monthly family-size trips, but for when I need a few more things than will fit in a basket.  Lastly on the subject, I thank the store for providing easy-to-use sanitizing wipes for the handles.  They make me feel safe.
• Bought a pizza to cook at home.  It was ten dollars, for a smallish-sized pizza, and it was the perfect meal for a light Sunday supper.  
• I have always wanted to try one of the double-decker brownies, and yesterday was my day to do so.  The individual pieces of brownie are priced at $2.69, and the large loaf-sized pieces run around twelve dollars, if I remember correctly.  Yesterday, I was standing in line to pay, when I noticed the man in front of me holding the large brownie loaf priced at $2.69!  Naturally, I abandoned my groceries and went to the bakery section where I grabbed one of the other incorrectly priced brownie loaves.  And in the end, it turned out to be so delicious, it would have been worth the twelve dollars.

Can I take a time out?  I need to mention a little girl at the store who was there with her family.  I saw this tiny person, dancing around in rubber boots, a dress, about a hundred necklaces, and the wildest eyes she could manage.  She radiated a spirit of creativity, and she made me want to twirl right where I was standing.  After I saw her, I picked out a bag of cherries and a peach, and felt better about my basket full of sugar.  

• I picked out a carton of peanut butter ice cream, and a dove milk/dark combo chocolate bar.  I bought some organic raspberry yogurt, and milk (chocolate and 1%).  I also grabbed two plain cinnamon buns (one for me and one for a friend at work today).
  
• I broke down and spent eight dollars on a box of granola that I have been wanting to try.  I have tried other varieties of this brand, but they have come out with a cherry-cranberry-almond kind that looked delicious, so I treated myself to it.

The entire bill came to under fifty dollars.  I spent time picking out delicious food that I will enjoy eating, and I lazily browsed up and down the aisles visiting with a friend.  Next time, I'll take a closer look at the veggies...

Hi, I'm pleased to meet you!

This is me:

This is why I am going to blog about the Sobey's Urban Fresh grocery store on 104th street and Jasper Avenue in Edmonton:

1. A lot of things could possibly happen there, and I want to be ready if they do. For example, with all of the open, garage-style doors, a bird could fly in at any time and be trapped amongst the customers. This is something that I know that people will want to read about.
2. I like to eat food and I like to grocery shop for the food I eat. I want to document the experiences I have in a new grocery store, because becoming acquainted with a new grocery store is a complex process. The social customs, politics, economics, relationships, hardships, and triumphs that are part of coming to know a new grocery store--whether the store is just new for one customer, or is new to the whole community, as Sobey's is--are a valuable premise for personal reflection.
3. I find the concept of people (a very specific type of people) congregating at a grocery store intriguing.
4. I find the concept of people blogging about random things intriguing.
5. I tend to go there a lot, so I am hoping that by blogging about it, I will feel a greater sense of purpose when I'm there, and less of the aimlessness I feel now.

In my next post I will begin to divluge the more specific aspects of this Sobey's; the things that make it have a special place in my heart, and the things the cause me great concern for the future.

Okay, well, it is nice to have introduced myself.