29.07.2002
feeling kinda
today was aggravating, pretty much all around. i compounded it by going shopping. i've been on a hunt for a jelly cupboard to replace some kitchen shelves, and have been met with resounding failure. Crate and Barrel, Targè, Pottery Barn, Hold Everything, Tags, Filenes, a few other local places... nothing. a friend pointed me at Home Goods, and it sounded promising. so i headed out there after work.
gah. i left at normal commute time, and the drive was atrocious. should only have taken me 20 minutes, took me closer to 35, felt like forever. when i got to the strip mall, it didn't look at all promising. went in anyway, and was sorely disappointed. the tip off should have been that it's part of the TJ Maxx family of stores. lots of stuff, none of it very good quality.
and then i had to do the crappy drive in reverse. just to change it up, i took a slightly different route home, which ended up taking me past Wilson Farms. huge local farm with wonderful produce. i decided to treat myself to some good veggies, and pulled in to the parking lot.
explain this to me - they direct you to a particular entrance. there are no directional arrows helpfully painted on the ground, so i took the first turn. bad choice. you're supposed to know that you need to drive *all* the way around the lot to come back to where you started, with the diagonal parking spots now pointed in the convenient direction.
fuck that.
instead, i found a spot and jockeyed myself around, ending up more or less evenly behind the lines. as i got out of the car, the woman who had been standing behind the next car over said 'nice parking job.' my first instinct was to look for the sarcasm. but there was none; she was genuinely impressed with my park job. huh! who'da thunk? turns out that many people are equally baffled by the Wilson parking lot.
wandering around the farm stand was immensely satisfying. i had to remind myself to only get as much as i could use in the next few days, as rotting produce in the bottom of your fridge is depressing. there was someone standing by the door, cheerfully hawking fresh arugula. 'you deserve a fresh salad! yes, you do. how many bags?' that, plus there were all sorts of green growy things, fresh flowers, fantastically tempting baked goods, and mounds and mounds of fresh produce.
i picked up so much yummy stuff, starting with a pint of raspberries, which i munched on as i shopped. vine tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, huge handfuls of basil, olive rolls, patè, corn on the cob, asparagus, Greek orzo salad, peanut noodles, bananas, and a bottle of water for the ride home.
dinner was chicken patè on olive rolls, and sliced tomatoes topped with basil, mozzarella, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of salt. not only did i treat myself, i didn't have to cook, and it was a wonderfully healthy meal. gave myself the rest of the evening off from chores, and just munched my tasty dinner while crashed out on the couch watching TV.
