I slept really hard last Saturday night. I don't what it spawned from but from the moment I climbed into bed, I basically torpedoed into a REM cycle. When I naturally woke up about 7 AM the next morning, I was having none of it and swiftly face planted into my pillow to continue this hard sleeping streak. Around 9 AM, Jay prodded me, telling me it was time to get up. I said nothing but as I tucked myself deeper into my blankets, I think he understood my answer. About 40 minutes later, he came into the room and said: "Do you want me to just do the grocery store myself then?"
That got me out of bed at lightening speed.
Do I want him to go to the grocery store without me?
Um, nope. No, I do not.
I seriously love going to the grocery store on Sundays (minus times here and there where I'm so very tired). Sure there's a million people there and long lines and Sundays can be half-depressing but honestly, it's something I very much look forward to.
I'm very, very particular about where I get my food for the week. I think of grocery shopping as our weekly date (really- I wrote a post about reasons why right here). Therefore, it's important for me to have an ambiance that vibes well with that. So dimly-lit places need not apply and I ain't interested in the multi-department establishments of the world either. I don't want a store that has clothes or hardware or a furniture section as well. I want a place that specializes and cares about their food selection. Right now we have three that we frequent: Trader Joe's (I'm fairly certain I've spent more money at that institution than anywhere else in my whole life), Mollie Stone's (kind of like a locally-run Whole Foods and it's about 3 seconds away from us on foot) and good ol' faithful Safeway (at a particular location we like, the other one is incredibly dark! #PickyAboutMyShoppingExperience).
Often we walk to these locations and talk about things as we make our way up the hill, canvas bags in hand (and NOOOWWW, our city grocery cart too which is so exciting with a life on foot!). Sometimes we drive. Sometimes we take an Uber. But we always end up spending a lot of time discussing the weeks ahead and the planned meals we will eat. When we get to the store, we practice a hybrid of staying together and dividing and conquering. I'll pick out most of our veggies, fruits, oats and lunch fixings while Jay handles the meat, eggs and all the fun sauces and spices. Many of the specialty stores have samplers from local vendors so sometimes we get to sip a sampler of Napa wine and talk to the vintner. Or we'll grab some freshly-squeezed green juice in anticipation of our workout later that day. And some of these grocery stores even allow dogs, which makes the entire experience even nicer.
This is always followed-up by an hour or two of food prep when we get home. Jay will take the meat out to the BBQ for grilling while I'll organize our workweek meals and breakfasts. At the end of all that, we have a stocked fridge of healthy food and a whole day of hanging out behind us. The time after that could be a long walk, a gym workout or lunch with friends. But the joy of the day is always rooted in our unfancy but so fun grocery store date. And it's something I greatly look forward to, not only to close out the weekend but to gear myself up for the workweek.
Do I want you to go to the grocery store without me? No, I do not!
^Everyone always thinks Chandler is a puppy as they approach him. I guess I can see why seeing what they see right now.
Do you think the grocery store is fun or does it stress you out?
I end up getting my groceries delivered a lot now...EXCEPT at the shore. There, I prefer to walk to a little neighborhood grocery store or the farmer's market!
I love going to the grocery store with my husband too! There really is just something fun about planning your week out with your significant other. Even though Sundays are always very crowded, I always love that there's samples available to try out! Now if Houston could only get on the ball about allowing dogs, then this would be a perfect outing for us too!
Isn't it so great being able to walk to the grocery store? A city shopping cart is the best! I love that you two have specific things y'all take care of at the store!
I love your doggy! You look so much better than I do when I go grocery shopping lol.
Not a one store around here allows dogs. Well he knows how to get you up haha I'd never walk though, carrying 50lbs of kitty litter back wouldn't be fun.
What a nice way to spend Sundays and so awesome Chandler can come for the ride even while grocery shopping. We only have Trader Joe's out of your 3 places but I guess Publix down here will suffice although definitely not dog friendly.
Know any nice guys that I could do this with?!? ;) It's definitely the kind of Sunday's I am gearing towards, but for the time being... I hate going to the store on Sunday's because its heaving and I just can't deal with the crowds. I totally need to take a page out of your book with all your food prep, etc!
I would of jumped out of bed too. Just for the simple fact that every time my boyfriend goes to the grocery store alone, he comes back with all the wrong things or all the wrong brands. I guess I've learned the hard way that I'm somewhat of a picky shopper too. Do those stores let you take your pets in? If so, that's pretty neat! We love doing our grocery shopping at night when the stores are empty and easy to maneuver around. I tend to forget less when we go in the evenings vs. early mornings/afternoons. I don't feel as rushed to get out of people's way.
I only have Publix and Target to do most of my grocery shopping at and we live about 20 minutes away from those. TJ's and Whole Foods is a good 40 minutes away. Sigh. But I do our grocery shopping on Sunday mornings and I honestly don't mind. I certainly don't stress myself out with it but it is a bit of a job having to sit down, come up with meals, right the list and get everything.
oh i LOVE grocery shopping so much. i love walking up and down the aisles and browsing, kc less so, but it's still more fun together. i hate multi department stores as well. no thank you! mollie stones looks cool.