Archives

grocery bill wreckers: pt. 5

Nov29

After several trips to the supermarkets this weekend, I realized it was time to revisit a topic that has languished of late on striving cynic: Grocery Bill Wreckers. You remember (or if you’re new here, you don’t), this is where I examine what the heck drives my grocery bill up so much (I go in thinking it’s gonna be $20; I come out having spent $70). Before I get to this fifth and latest addition, let me remind you of what the last four were.

1. My eyes (contacts, drops, medications…)

2. My cat (food, food, litter, special food he likes as a treat, food..)

3. My [not so] shameful tea addiction (50 varieties last time I counted..)

4. Impulse buys (would you walk away from chocolate malted milk ball cookies? I don’t think so).

And introducing the next grocery bill wrecker to join the list………………[and on another note, looking back, it annoys me that I wasn't consistent with abbreviating or not abbreviating "part" for the previous titles...]

The seasonal/limited edition flavor item.

From October on, we get assaulted with special flavors in our coffees, teas, ice creams, soy milks, candies, you name it. And I am a sucker for almost all of it. Example 1:

gotta have my holiday-flavored hot beverages!

what's on the right

a closer look at the left

Just a sampling of what’s out there. One pumpkin coffee; one gingerbread coffee [I loved Trader Joe's pumpkin coffee and made the mistake of not buying 10 cans immediately...and that's it till next year according to them]; one gingerbread tea; one cranberry pomegranate tea [stash markets it as seasonal, not sure if I see it that way]; a “Christmas Eve” flavor tea; a “Holiday Chai” flavor tea; a pumpkin spice tea; and a “Candy Cane Lane” tea. And I can tell you, that I’ve held back. There are other varieties of Christmas tea out there (eggnog flavor, sugar plum flavor, sugar cookie flavor..it goes on and on), that I’ve resisted buying…for now.

Last year my family became addicted to a gingersnap flavor ice cream by Turkey Hill. I have walked past the freezer case and looked for it longingly, but it hasn’t showed up yet. But, I have seen a peppermint ice cream and had a pumpkin ice cream back in October.

candy cane flavor? not fair!

I went to Trader Joe’s on Sunday and decided to buy gingerbread mix rather than the pumpkin bread mix that I have bought my previous trips (no doubt, I’ll be buying both again). Once again, I got majorly sucked into a Trader Joe’s display….and as my eyes widened and my heart started beating faster I knew I had to have a box of Joe-Joe’s.

For heaven’s sake, how am I supposed to resist “chocolate sandwich cookies” with peppermint bits in the cream? How? How? It’s beyond me. Needless to say, they didn’t stay in their unopened state for very long. So, first of all, yum! Second, I love the pale pink cream. Third, yum!

What other seasonal treats await? Chances are, I’ll find out.

Verdict. An addiction to the flavors of the season (whatever season it is) can be an absolute grocery bill wrecker!

In other words, I’ll do it again, and again…

Are you addicted to any “seasonal” flavors? What “holiday flavor” treats are currently lurking in your house?

sugar is sweet

Nov1

As I type this, Halloween night is coming to a close (and there’s freaking snow on the ground). Finally the night where everyone celebrates my little guy and his relatives!

happy halloween! (mr. sc took this pic)

You may not know this, but black cats are usually pretty sweet. The black cats I’ve gotten to know have been “lovers,” and strivingcynic cat is no exception.

And you may not know this either, but black cats, or at least my black cat, likes sweets!

thanks to the shadows, I look like I have an abnormally long index finger

For some reason, over the last few months, sc cat has decided he likes ice cream. So, when I’m eating a bowl (which happens pretty frequently), first he’ll come over and look at me plaintively…then he’ll jump/climb onto my lap and stand there trying to get his head in my bowl. As a compromise, I dip a finger in and then let him lick a little off. Then I send him on his way (ice cream is not good for cats).

Sc cat is just following in his “mom’s” foot steps. I’m a sugar fiend myself. Cookies, cake, candy, ice cream, pies, cereals…it’s all good. In fact, it’s too good, so I try to not follow my instincts to eat sugar all the time (remember, I’m the woman who became anemic in college thanks to a steady diet of Lucky Charms and bagels…). In fact there have even been a few places where I’ve managed to cut it down.

I used to drink coffee and tea with sugar…actually first I drank it with artificial sweetener. Then I wondered what the artificial sweetener was doing to my body and switched to sugar. Then I thought that I should probably not be adding several teaspoons of sugar to multiple coffees and teas every day and cut that out (I do use vanilla soymilk in my morning coffee for a hit of added sweetness…). So, I’m used to lightly sweet at best when it comes to these.

The other week, my mother was visiting and I made us both a cup of tea. Mine had nothing in it, but hers had sweetener (aspartame I think). She had gone to look at my computer. I put my tea down somewhere, went by the computer to talk to her, saw the tea cup, thought it was mine, took a sip and said something like “BLAAAAH.” I just got bowled over by the unexpected jolt of bitter/sweet aspartame-y taste and I proceeded to make various “yuck” faces at at my mom, which I think she didn’t appreciate.

When it comes to foods, I have a theory that nothing is too sweet. Every once in a while I will actually find a food that I acknowledge is too sweet. I had this experience the other week.  When it comes to ice cream, my policy is the more goo, the better. I almost never like fruit ice creams (mr. strivingcynic and his daughter love strawberry ice cream; I won’t go near it). I want to see fudge stripes, malt balls, cookie pieces, chocolate-covered peanut-butter filled pretzels, you name it. Last week, they got a carton of strawberry. I got a carton of “Chips Ahoy” flavor, with chips and chocolate chip cookie pieces. And it was and is great….but I do have that nagging…this might taste a bit *too* sweet for me thoughts. I got curious and looked on the carton and noticed something interesting/peculiar.

it's not exactly ice cream . . .

Frozen dairy dessert? It’s somehow frozen dairy dessert, but it isn’t ice cream? I’m guessing it isn’t frozen yogurt or ice milk (is that made anymore?). Isn’t ice cream a frozen dairy dessert? It’s frozen. It’s dairy. It’s dessert…but somehow…

The strawberry ice cream (same brand, Breyers), that’s ice cream.

it even says "ice cream"

Wow. It does look almost wholesome doesn’t it? Although my taste may be moving away from certain types of sweet, I suspect it’s not going to venture into strawberry ice cream territory.

Enough rambling for Halloween night. November goals coming soon!

What is your relationship with sugar? What flavors of ice cream do you like? If you have a pet, what kind of human food do they want to eat?

fail tale (peanut butter version)

Sep14

So, I finally had the opportunity to try another “blog standard” late last week.

You see, I’d say I like my nut butters as much as the next blogger, but there are some real nut-butter-loving people out there in blogland. That being said, it’s good stuff.  Looking back at my “nut butter history,” I have many a fond memory of happily hacking away at a jar of peanut butter with a spoon. More than 20 years ago, when I started to get in shape, I followed weight watchers. I gather now they have a points system, but back then it was all food groups. Peanut butter was considered a combination of “protein” and “fat.” Which was great because even then I wasn’t a big meat eater…but the problem was that WW stated I should have half as many servings of fat  (not many) as protein (too many for  my taste) a day. So, peanut butter became an even bigger treat to me.

Flash forward a few years to when I was doing my junior year abroad. My friend and I carried around a jar of peanut butter when we did our winter and spring breaks taking the train all over Europe (don’t ask me how we were able to find pb back then….it’s never been as popular in Europe as in the States and not every place carried it). It was cheap, healthy, unlikely to spoil….and I ate so much of it that I couldn’t stand the sight of it for the next two years. But then I found myself thinking of it fondly one day and it was if we’d never been apart. Over the years, other nut butters came along–almond, cashew,  and most recently, sunflower seed (okay, I guess that’s a seed butter). So, having more than one type around, it takes me a while to get through a jar…and when I finally did I thought. “Now is my chance to try Overnight Oats in a Jar.”

So, how’d it go? Well, I have to admit, not great. I think I might have gone about it the wrong way. I took my nearly empty jar, put in about 1/2 a cup of oats and one cup of coconut milk. Closed the jar, put it in the fridge expecting it to thicken. Except it didn’t….I think there was too much milk to absorb it all. When I finally ate it, well it was just okay. I wasn’t keen on the textures (soggy..and the pb was a little odd too…maybe like the milk had dissolved it?). It was just cold and vaguely flavored.

a little on the milky side!

doesn't look any more appetizing...

For me the plus side was getting all the pb out of the jar. Of course, I guess I could just go at it with a spoon next time. I do think I’ll try the overnight oats thing again…maybe with yogurt instead of milk next time so that it does get thick. Or maybe you just cook the oatmeal and pour it into the jar so it becomes like a pudding? Hmm.

But, I decided this fulfilled one of my “new experience” goals for the month of September. Even though I have “make two things with recipes found on blogs,” I don’t feel this counts for that one since I improvised and obviously not very well (should have looked it up).

Do you do the oats in a jar thing? How do you prepare it? Do you have a favorite “butter”? Have you ever eaten so much of something you got sick of it?

potato fail, then potato success

Jul26

How annoying is this? The other morning, I decided I wanted eggs and a hash brown for breakfast. I haven’t had hash browns in years, then I discovered that, once again, Trader Joe’s had come to my food rescue. They sell some very yummy hash browns that come with the drawback that if you make them in the oven, it takes about 25 minutes.

But I was prepared. I preheated the oven and got to tackling some things that needed tackling (mr. sc and I are trying to clear up a kitchen counter…and all that remained was my stuff; I hard boiled some eggs, etc.) When the hash brown had 5 minutes left, I started prepping my eggs, which I scrambled with swiss cheese, italian seasoning, and dried chopped onion. It was all working so well…and when the timer went off indicating the hash brown was done…I may have taken a second to congratulate myself. And then…..major blunder.

Rather than transferring the hash brown to the plate immediately (ie, over the baking tray)…I decided to use the spatula to “carry” the hash brown, and the momentum took over and my lovely hash brown simply flew off the spatula…..and landed on the floor.

Now, I am not an adherent to the 5 second rule. For one thing, strivingcynic cat does not wash his paws with soap and water after getting out of the litter box…and he has free rein in the kitchen (remember, he doesn’t jump, so I never have to worry about paws on the counters). Not to mention mr. strivingcynic and I walk around in there…and sometimes things fall out of the garbage when it gets too stuffed. So, basically, once the hash brown hit the floor, it was done.

After moaning and cursing at myself….I decided I really wanted a hash brown! Since the oven was still warm I decided to eat my eggs and start the process over again. I have to say, I thought the eggs were excellent, so maybe losing the hash brown let me appreciate them more (still, I bet it would have been a great combo).

Anyway, about half an hour later, I was happy to eat the best hash brown ever!

worth the wait!

What are your thoughts on the 5 second rule?

total cheesefest

Jul20

I had a great weekend with my friends…I hadn’t been to the beach in ages, so it was nice to see this when I looked out my window:

view from our suite

Even though I’m from New Jersey and was going to the Jersey Shore….before it was MTV’s Jersey Shore, we went to Ocean City, Maryland. It was a good meeting point for us since some of us were from my area, and others from the South.

The first day was a bit of a fiasco because of traffic issues (arriving in OC and driving around OC), but day two was beachy bliss. We managed to squeeze another few hours on the beach before heading back on Monday. Even though I don’t do much more than get my feet wet (it was freezing!), I do love being by the water. I think most people who grow up near a coast feel that way, even if they don’t go to the water that often. I know when mr. strivingcynic and I went to New Mexico in April, we met a few NJ/NY transplants who all said, “yes, the mountains are beautiful…but I miss knowing I’m near water.” We lucked out with good sunny, hot weather too!

The change in scenery also led to a change in my other routines. I didn’t do my morning exercise and barely ate a vegetable. Looking back, I realized that I ate a lot of cheese. Since I don’t eat red meat or seafood, that pretty much left me with poultry and vegetarian. Since most places served mainly seafood (and my friends definitely wanted seafood), my choices were kind of limited. Even though I eat poultry, once every few days is enough for me….so I had my turkey sandwich when I got there and found myself looking at menus with one or two veggie options tops. This led to my cheese diet.

The cheese diet consisted of, spinach ravioli for dinner (eaten by the boardwalk overlooking the ocean…delicious), cheese fries for lunch (I was almost glad to realize that was one of my few options because I really wanted them! And it was the orangey/cheez whizzy cheese as opposed to anything approaching real….perfect beach food, eaten outdoors and beachside), and then finally something I hadn’t had in oh so long………..

macaroni and cheese.....with a side of cornbread, no less!

The mac and cheese was not eaten on or overlooking the beach, but it was heavenly all the same. In keeping with my dairy (if not cheese theme), we stopped off for ice cream on the way back (chocolate peanut butter, thank you very much) before settling in for an evening of board games and Arnold Palmers (a new drink for me involving an iced tea alcohol mixed with lemonade….nice for the summer).

I had fun and I regret nothing in my culinary adventures. I was pretty happy to eat my first salad in days last night, but I am definitely going to have to recreate the great OC cheesefest of 2011!

Would you be up for a cheesefest? Are there certain foods you associate with certain places (beaches, mountains)? Do you have a “summer drink?”

in which I emulate my favorite (former) real housewife (and meet some goals)

Jun10

Although I haven’t been watching it this season, I used to love a good Real Housewives of New York. The first two seasons, I felt I could relate to Bethenny (okay, actually, I thought we’d be best friends if we ever met…). Like me she was in her late 30s, brunette, single, sarcastic.  Although I have yet to try a skinnygirl margarita, I do own Skinnygirl Dish (haven’t made a recipe out of it yet, though).

I guess I also feel a “kinship” with Bethenny, because our lives took somewhat similar turns. Completely single in season 2, in season 3 she was 39 with a serious boyfriend/then fiance/then baby on the way (with wedding and birth to follow on Bethenny Getting Married). When I started watching season 3 of RHONY, I was 38 and very single…flash forward a year (with a Bethennyless RHONY season 4 on the air), I’m 39 and living with my boyfriend (How the hell did that happen?).

I also admire Bethenny for her story (as I know it). A woman who didn’t seem to have much direction who turned her life around by going to culinary school, and who marketed/branded herself amazingly well. And I like her healthy cooking philosophy; for example, her preference for “real” foods over substitutes.

All this leads to the fact that Bethenny has a column in Health Magazine. It often has relatively easy looking recipes. I’ve never made one before, until the June issue came with Bethenny Frankel’s Vanilla Frozen-Yogurt Pops. When I looked at the recipe, I thought….this looks easy (basically, freeze some Greek yogurt in little wax cups, roll in graham cracker crumbs, refreeze, eat and enjoy), and like it would taste good.

Things got even better when I realized making this would give me a chance to bust out my food processor for the graham cracker crumbs (for a new recipe! one/two of my June goals!)

Aside from the part where it scared the hell out of strivingcynic cat who ran for his life, I was amazed at how easy the food processor was. Literally pushing a button! I can’t believe I’d been intimidated by this device.

in go the graham crackers!

and suddenly (after pushing a button)....crumbs

Finding popsicle sticks was a little trickier than I thought (turns out the local dollar store is a good supplier of “craft sticks”). I used vanilla Greek yogurt (didn’t add any sugar) for the first go-round because it’s what I had around.

I had a slight issue getting the frozen yogurt out of the cups to roll it in the crumbs (this may have been because I let it freeze overnight instead of after two hours). I ended up sinking the cups into a small container of water and they came out easily. Perhaps also because of the freezing time, the crumbs weren’t sticking to the pop until I started rubbing them in–next time I’ll just wait the two hours).

frozen yogurt meets crumbs

voila! yogurt pop, Bethenny style

And you know what? It was actually pretty good (once it de-iced a bit!). Mr. strivingcynic’s daughter had one and really liked it, too…so I’ll definitely make these again.. As I was eating it, I thought some other possibilities might be mixing/layering the crumbs in the yogurt. And that it would be good dipped in chocolate!

Have you watched Real Housewives of New York (or other RH shows)? Did you relate to anyone in particular? Do you ever make magazine recipes?

grocery bill wreckers, pt. 4

May23

It’s been too long since I last discussed these things that make me say “what did I spend all this money on?” when I go shopping. So, far, I’ve unstintingly examined the effects that my eyes, my cat, and my not-so-secret tea addiction, have on my grocery bill.

Part 4 brings us to another weakness (although, one the grocery store powers-that-be know about and, if you ask me, totally exploit)–the impulse buy! I went to Target and Trader Joe’s. on Saturday..and ended up impulse buying items at both places. In fact, I ended up picking up similar items in both places!

for some reason, crispy/crunchy fruit appealed to me!

Freeze-dried strawberry slices (Target), vacuum fried (???) pineapple chips (Trader Joe’s), and freeze-dried banana slices (Target). I figure they’d be good to snack on and since I like my yogurt to have “crunch,” it could be a good add-in!

Trader Joe’s was the scene of more impulse buying (well, to be fair…there were two things I bought that I’d heard of or seen before). Of course, you have to get close enough to be able to see stuff to get the impulse (our TJ’s has perennial crowd issues). So, my two… “ooh..other people have mentioned this and I want to try it” products were…

guacamole AND hummus....sign me up!

could be good…could be…not good (please be good!). Time (and my opening and eating the contents) will tell.

a nut (well, seed) butter...I've never tried before

I love the sunflower picture!

Now, on to the dessert category. I had some assistance on this one!

.

chocolate. candy-coated. sunflower. seeds and malted. milk ball. cookies!

Not sure what’s going on with the label, but since we tore into those cookies pretty quickly…it was definitely us!

Sooo…mr. strivingcynic was with me for the Trader Joe’s leg of shopping. The store did something really unfair…they had the malted milk ball cookies at a big end-of-the-aisle display. We couldn’t tear our eyes away….we did manage to walk away…but I had already made up my mind that I had to try these and was going to go back. While I was looking for something (perhaps in the fried pineapple aisle!) mr. sc excused himself . . .and when he came back, that beautiful bright-pink-labeled package was placed in our cart. The sunflower seeds were actually picked up while waiting on line at the check-out stand. A classic impulse buy! (Ahem) I thought they might pair nicely with ice cream. I can tell you that both of those got opened last night…and all my thoughts and expectations….were completely correct!!

[Oh...and I bought a couple of Luna Bars on impulse as well...].

So, my verdict on impulse buys? They are definitely a grocery bill wrecker, but one that brings new possibilities into my life…and it’s important to expand my horizons. Isn’t it? Of course, if it turns out that I don’t like something I impulse bought…I’ll be annoyed (at any rate, there may be some reviews here in the near future).

By the way, as far as my kitty grocery bill wrecker goes, I bought Whiskas for strivingcynic kitty at Target, where they’re 80 cents less a box than at Stop and Shop. Of course, they only had one box of the seafood flavor!

On another note: I ran my (very first) 5k yesterday! Had a great time and got to see a lot of cute doggies! I’ll be posting about it soon!

How are you with impulse buys? Any successes that made it into your regular repertoire? Any absolute failures? Have you tried crispy/crunchy fruit?

my basic “under the weather” food groups

May13

Normally, I’m a girl/woman of routines. I eat pretty much the same thing every day…coffee and yogurt with nuts in the morning; carrots, a sandwich, and fruit for lunch; pretzels or crackers for a snack; lots of  tea throughout the day; a salad with dinner; and always dessert. Dinner may change a bit; the type of dessert can differ (ice cream, cookies, chocolate)…but that’s my basic diet. Occasionally there’s a glass of wine.

When I’m not feeling well (like when I have stupid allergies or a stupid cold), my food routine goes out the window. Some things just irritate my throat (the coffee [though I do drink it], the fruit, sugar, and I wouldn’t even think about alcohol). The yogurt tastes funny and I won’t even get into the texture of it. The lunch just doesn’t taste right…. The tea might also taste a bit different, but my throat likes it….I have no interest in salad.

That is not to say I have no interest in eating when I’m sick…but I find I want the following more than anything.

  • oatmeal
  • saltines or crackers
  • toast/bagels
  • campbell’s chicken noodle soup
  • cough drops (which become a legitimate food group)

and that’s pretty much it. Basically, I live on cough drops and carbs with a bit of chicken broth. Last year, I had a particularly nasty throat infection…I found myself buying ramenish noodles (but a healthier kind) and adding them along with some veggie broth to my chicken noodle to make it last longer and to make it a little more interesting. I know things are getting better when I suddenly crave salad or a piece of fruit. And any cans of soup I bought that I didn’t eat will usually sit there until the next cold-go-round.

Food becomes less interesting to me when I’m sick. The other day, I got home from work midday tired and hungry. Where normally nothing would happen until I got something to eat…I actually didn’t care that I was hungry. I went to bed and slept for two hours before deciding it was worth venturing into the kitchen for food.

Even though I know I should try to eat “well” when I’m sick…I figure my body craves these carby/salty food for a reason and to let myself step away from the routine for a few days because it’s what I want to do and because I know it won’t be long before I’m back to my superfoods ways.

it'll be back to salads like this one (from the Bent Street Deli in Taos, New Mexico) soon enough!

Does your eating routine change when you’re not feeling well? What are your “not feeling good” foods?

the eternal question

Apr18

Explain how this happens.

As I mentioned, mr. strivingcynic and I go shopping pretty much every week. And more often than not, our shopping consists of Super Stop and Shop and Trader Joe’s. These shopping trips have inspired my “Grocery Bill Wreckers” series Parts 1, 2, and 3).

part 1. the eyes

part 2. the cat

part 3. my tea habit

Saturday, the weather was looking bleak and set to get even worse, so we went to Trader Joe’s (and again, 70 dollars was spent!). We came back, happy with our purchases (but, sigh, yes, planning to stop off for additionals at Stop and Shop). Actually, no, I’m lying. Mr sc specifically wanted to pick up some TJ’s wine chicken country salad…and when we got there, they were out!!! It always hurts when TJ’s disappoints like that, but we happened to pass by yesterday and he was able to pick some up

We had some nice TJ’s roasted red pepper and tomato soup with our lunch….but when dinner rolled around, I really wanted Chinese food. Takeout Chinese food. But there was something of a monsoon going on outside and I knew I wouldn’t want to go out in it, so I wasn’t about to ask mr. sc to. But, how is it you can go out and buy a ton of food and then not want to eat any of it?

It’s partly because neither of us are really cooks…partly because we’d had TJ pizza the night before (I promise I am not affiliated with Trader Joe’s…just a fan like a lot of people). Ultimately, I had a salad and we made veggie burgers and fries. When I joked to mr. sc about writing a post about secretly wanting Chinese food when the weather is to miserable for anyone to go out, he told me he would have gone if I had asked. I feel like I shouldn’t send anyone else out in weather I wouldn’t go out in myself. Maybe if he had suggested it and offered, but I wasn’t going to ask him to.

But, going back to my central question….is the “I don’t want to eat anything we have at home” phenomenon similar to when I look at my clothes and declare I have nothing to wear?  Is it just failure of imagination? I try pretty hard to not waste food (we had leftover Italian bread from a pasta dinner the other night…I was thrilled when I realized that I could toast it up to have with our soup lunch) and I know it’s a “lucky” problem to have. But I know that if the weather had been a little bit better, I wouldn’t have hesitated to mention Chinese food.

Have you found yourself wanting a different food from what you have in the house, even if you just bought food? Are you willing to head out (or send someone else out) in bad weather when you crave a particular food? What’s your policy for leftovers?

bringing a little whimsy to the mundane

Apr4

Spring seems to really be here! Some photos from my day….

getting close to blossoming!

a hint of green!

loving the daffodils!

The other day, I decided to use a 50 dollar gift card to Whole Foods. Mr. strivingcynic came with me. He’d never been there before…and I pretty much only go when I have a gift card or need something there that I don’t think I’ll find anywhere else. Mr. sc was pretty shocked at the prices, so I told him how in blogworld (and beyond), it’s referred to as “Whole Paycheck.” So, we actually only spent 42 (I’ll have to make another trip to spend the final 8). We bought crackers, refried beans, popchips, and tea. I also bought some single serve packets of different varieties of Justin’s Nut Butter (the ones I bought were discontinued, so they were discounted). Funny how paying 60 cents for one serving of peanut butter seems like a deal when a jar has 14 servings and costs maybe 4 dollars! But people seem to like it and I have to know for myself (I sense a future review!). We bought some grape tomatoes…..looked at the cheese but couldn’t make the commitment.

Eventually, we decided to go to the counters and pick up lunch. I had a dal wrap (I loved how when I asked for it, they had white wraps, wheat wraps, and sun-dried tomato wraps). Mr. sc went for an artichoke/crab sandwich. Then it was time to choose a drink. After 12 bucks on sandwiches, we decided to split a drink and chose……

Tazo berryblossom white tea

[I didn't get a picture of the actual label! Didn't envision using it....and of course, now I wish I had...].

I liked the tea more than mr. sc did….and as I was playing with the bottle, I noticed the tea’s notices…

good karma and dancing leaves!

[You may have to click on the photo to read the messages....it definitely tested my eyesight].

I liked how rather than “Please Recycle” and “Shake Well,” there was a little whimsy to these messages! It would be fun to think about how to transform messages we see every day with the same brand of humor. I like things that coax a smile out of me when I didn’t even realize I needed a laugh. So, if I get more gift cards, I’ll be picking up more Tazo iced tea (or maybe on a special occasion….) to see what it has to tell me!

Have you ever bought small amounts of something that would cost much less if you bought a larger amount?  Do you want to hear about good karma and dancing when you buy a beverage? Has there been any whimsy in your life lately?