Let’s talk about grocery shopping.
It’s one of my favorite things to do. It gets me out of the house AND provides me with food. I mean, just try thinking of an activity that provides as much joy and excitement. It’s okay. I’ll wait.
Psyche. I don’t have forever!
But I do really love grocery shopping. I was at Trader Joe’s on my lunch today, and I’ve been to Trader Joe’s during my lunch several times just in the last seven days alone. Their plantain chips that come in that slender purple bag literal have me salivating sometimes, they are THAT good. I have to go in and at least look at them a few times a week while picking up my salads and pasta.
I also have a soft spot for Albertson’s/Safeway, Target, and Whole Foods (I spent a lot of hotel lunch breaks walking through the Whole Foods in the shopping center across the street to get a smoothie and people watch. It would be the highlight of my work day sometimes). My mom would go to the grocery store a couple times a week with my brother and I in tow growing up. I hated actually doing the shopping because it was boring and I could’ve been playing make-believe with my friends down the street instead, but at least I got a bagel out of most trips. I can’t complain too much when bagels are involved. And as I got a little older, I still found myself with a mild distaste for the mundanity of shopping. It just felt like this adult chore that wasn’t the most exciting thing to be doing on a Friday afternoon.
But then I started shopping on my own in college, and it was a whirlwind experience! My room friends and I would frequent the Trader Joe’s right across the street from our house like it WAS our house. We loved it there! We also basically bought out all of the peanut butter cup ice cream they used to have along with the chickenless chicken nuggets because we are classy ladies who understand dietary balance. While the food adventures alone would be enough to get us excited, the walk over was always a bonding adventure that saw many strange and wondrous things happen over the four years that we made that trek. Those jaunts to, in, and back from Trader Joe’s are honestly some of my favorite memories from college.
Then my now ex boyfriend and I used to plan our time spent together around when we’d get to grocery shop. He loved (maybe still loves?) to cook, and was really the one who got me started on cooking better meals for myself (cue my mom furiously reading this because she is an AMAZING cook who seldom let my brother or I into her zone when she was cooking, which I never understood until I got older). We would plan out our next meal adventure where he would imagine all of the great things he would add to this ingredient, or cook up with those two other things that look like they go well together. Once we were inside the store, we were all giggles and goodness. It was exciting to spend time choosing the pieces for the perfect culinary creation that we were making together. Some of the fondest moments from that relationship revolved around cooking and grocery stores.
I think the appeal is easy enough to understand now that I’m older: grocery stores are outlets for survival, companionship, and creativity. Obviously, the ability just to obtain foods all concentrated in one place with easy access is an amazing way we get to keep ourselves alive. And you get to both watch AND meet interesting people if you’re open to it. But most importantly, it’s an everyday space for inspiration. Now that cooking is a regular and beloved routine in my life, grocery stores are a beacon of excitement in my day. I walk through the sliding doors of my local TJ’s or Albertson’s imagining all of the things I could create and enjoy.
I normally end up choosing the same few go-to items for the week. But it’s still a thrill walking through the aisles, dreaming up delicious recipes.
Heart Matters 