more unrelated matters

1.) When I worked for the Evil Massage Place a couple summers ago, one of their offices was located right in Central Square Cambridge. And so, when I was scheduled there, I usually would go down to the small Whole Foods on Prospect Street to buy my lunch. I liked the Greek yogurt and the Honest Tea Moroccan Mint iced tea and some of the things on the prepared food bar, like the turkey salad with grapes and walnuts in it. Yum. And for lunch, that was reasonable. I didn't pay any more for it than I pay for that crap I eat in the hospital cafeteria. But looking around, it was obvious why it's called Whole Paycheck. And that's a small Whole Foods, and old, and I wasn't that impressed. However, this spring, I had occasion, for cake-buying reasons, to go to the *other* Whole Foods in Central Square, which is actually just sorta down the street from my friend M2's house, so why I never knew it was there, I dunno, but suffice it to say, it impressed me considerably more. Nice looking supermarket.

Meanwhile, for several years, there's been this big giant Whole Foods in Swampscott. I had never set foot in it, being loyal to the Trader Joe's down the street for all my non-Stop & Shop, non-Shaws food shopping needs. Well, that Trader Joe's is now gone. And a few weeks ago when I was visiting my new gynecologist to have my cervix yanked upon (look it up) I wandered into that Whole Foods, it being right next door, to buy the Benevolent L a gift card for her birthday. But I was time pressured, so I didn't look around. But my impression was that it was like Central Square Whole Foods #2.

Skip ahead to today. Another visit to the gynecologist. And Marcy had recommended to me this herbal stuff yesterday: Floradix, in the red box. She wrote it down for me. "They have it at Whole Foods." You see where this is going, right? I go in there, not even taking a cart, because I'm just going to buy my Floradix ($25, by the way--I think Heidi picks the herbs by hand in the Alps when she isn't harvesting arnica blossoms) but I am distracted by an absolutely beautiful display of $1.99/pound cherries. So I grab a basket. I buy cherries and Floradix and I say to myself, Andrea, you need fresh mozzarella because you have a metric crapload of basil and that means Caprese!salad! So I go to the cheese department. And am distracted by the antipasto bar with the Greek olives and the marinated artichoke hearts and, oh, c'mon, I just had a procedure involving a giant wand being stuck up my hooha and balloons being inflated places I ain't never had a balloon before and *don't you think I deserve some antipasto?!???* Also, a five fuckin' dollar tub of coconut macaroons.

So, uh, forty dollars later, I have a very small bag. But I think I have found grocery store nirvana. I could have strolled around there for two hours and spent three hundred bucks easy. Holy crap. Best Whole Foods evah.

2.) To cheer myself up, I also bought shoes. You'd think a person who was just bitching about supporting her roofer's children and aged parents might not buy a pair of blingy gold sandals but you'd be wrong.

3.) But, to draw attention away from my self-indulgence, let's talk baseball. Well, no, let's not talk about last night, since I don't think even E6 ever threw away two consecutive balls in the ninth inning and Nicky Green and I might have to retreat to a more formal and less affectionate relationship. Let's talk about Eck's evolution as a color man. He's growing on me. Mr Indemnity (who was emailing with me during that abortion of a game last night) expressed the same opinion. I was trying to figure out *why* exactly he's growing on me, and I have to say, I think it's because he's unfailingly generous to the players he's talking about. Not that he's an apologist or that he makes excuses for people, but he seems to have a generous spirit about him. Maybe he's a nice man. I dunno.

xoxo