My Daily Life- Trader Joe's

Part of the fun of our week is our weekly trip to Trader Joe's. Why is it fun? I know the weekly grocery shopping experience with two small children doesn't seem all that fun. However, we have come to experience the complete opposite. Trader Joe's is a unique blend of my hippie roots and my more refined adult life. Maybe refined isn't the right word but how do you say I like to drink red wine and eat exotic cheeses. They have good red wines for $5.00 and under. They have a lot of organic items like fruits and veggies as well as lots of organic grocery items, and a huge salad section. I love that they have such healthy snacks for the kids, we love Pirate Booty, and Veggie Chips, as well as hummus and carrots sticks. They really make feeding my kids nutritious food very easy. So back to the fun part, they have this game in the store called "Find the Monkey" They hid this stuffed monkey in obscure places in the store somewhere and the kiddos get to find him and get a prize. Mady thinks it's fun to try and look for the monkey while I am shopping and she is completely preoccupied with finding the monkey. Well not completely preoccupied, she is also trying to get me to buy this and that, and really likes to help mommy put things into the cart. But the monkey is a clever way I can divert her attention long enough to get past the cookies. And as for Aslan, he is perfectly happy to eat pirate booty and drink water the whole time. And of course smile and all the ladies that coo at him in the store, he always seems to get a lot of attention. And if she doesn't find the monkey she still gets a bunch a stickers or perhaps a balloon when we check out. Which leads me to the people who work at Trader Joe's, I think they must recruit them directly off of RatDog's latest tour run. These people are a eclectic bunch. I think it's a requirement to have some type of piercing, and a plus on their application if they have a tattoo of two. No, not everyone who works there fits this description, but i like to always get in their line when we leave and ask them questions about their life. And they always ask me questions about mine, like, what are you doing this weekend? Or anything exciting happening with you? It's never a smile and a nod and then silence as they bag your groceries. They also usually make comments about the things that they find in your grocery carts, like oh this is great, have you tried it yet? Or have you tried this? They want to know how I prepare things to eat using their stuff? Always an exchange of humanism. I leave happy with a belly full of snacks and children who are not whinny. This is way we love shopping at Trader Joe's. Here are a couple of photo's... all in an effort to give you a glimpse of my daily life.