The J-List: A Few Of My Favorite Things

You know how Oprah has her "O List"......a monthly list in her magazine of a few of 'her' favorite things? Well, I was driving along today thinking that I have a list too. They are little things that bring me happiness and make me smile. Simple things. I figured it would be a good blog subject....why not? And I was going to make one long blog entry with my list, but I figured it would be way too long, so I will just share one at a time. ....and in no particular order. And, who knows, maybe some new things will make the list along the way!

So my first favorite thing is Trader Joe's. Have you heard of Trader Joe's? It's a very untypical grocery chain. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE shopping there for so many reasons. First of all, for me, it's like going on a little mini-vacation. (Don't laugh!!) I do have to drive about 35 minutes to get there. That part I'm not so crazy about....I wish they would open one near me! But when I get there I enjoy myself so much! I love to look everything over and try new things. Taking my time. It's a unique store. Not real big. They play great music too. And everyone that works there is super nice.....and they wear Hawaiian shirts (even more reason to feel like I'm on vacation). Whoever does their hiring is GREAT at their job! One time when Grace and I went shopping there we finished checking out and the cashier said to hold on a minute. He went and grabbed a beautiful bouquet of pink tulips from their flower section (and they have beautiful flowers) and gave it to Grace. It was really sweet and of course I appreciated it more than she did. They also have a little section at the back of the store where they serve little samples of different products. There is an employee whose only job is to cook up little samples. (Wouldn't that be a great job?)

Of course we also love their food. There have been VERY FEW things from TJ's that we haven't liked. Now I must confess, ever since my children have been able to verbalize their feelings about food, I have lost my desire to cook. So a lot of what I buy at Trader Joe's is frozen meals. (GASP!! I know!!) But what they offer is great. A lot of ethnic foods, great pastas, and side dishes. I also buy fresh seafood that I cook on the George Foreman and seasoned roasts I do in the crock pot. There is so much more that I could go on and on about....yummy stuff! They make my life so much easier.

Trader Joe's is also know for having products that have no preservatives which is a great plus. Prices are comparable to your typical grocery store.

So if you have a Trader Joe's near you and you haven't checked it out, you should! It's one of my favorite things!