Haricots Verts
I don't know what green beans really have to do with anything, but as far as French phrases go, that's one of my favorites, especially for something so lowly as a bean. My head gets filled with all kinds of random French every time I go grocery shopping: jus d'abricot, poulet, potage aux légumes. You get the idea.
My shopping trip tonight was kind of an impulsive one. After spending a leisurely and utterly self-indulgent Saturday waking up very slowly, eating at a Gypsy restaurant for lunch, picking up my package at the post office (some real American ketchup from Rusty and Sarah — enough to last me a good long time, which is good, because it seems that customs had been rifling through the package for about three whole weeks now — it was a mess), playing in the snow on the roof of my building, sorting out some financial stuff that had needed doing for a long time, talking to friends online, harassing the cat, checking out the new release DVDs at FutureShop, grabbing one of Caffe Artigiano's world's most have-to-drink-it-to-believe-it lattes, and eating some there-must-be-crack-in-this-if-it-tastes-this-good potstickers and BBQ duck at Hon's Wun-Tun House, stopping by the grocery store for some coffee and juice seemed like a good thing to do.
Like many shopping trips, once I got started, I found lots of things that made me happy:
A box of mango/tangerine juice. Why don't they do this boxed juice thing in the US? It's a package just like soy milk comes in, holds a liter of juice, and keeps it tasting really fresh. A tin of Cafe du Monde coffee. My very favorite. In addition to Illy coffee. And Caffe Artigiano lattes, of course, which have no equal, but which I can't make at home, anyway. I can now get my coffee groove on. Baby spinach. For salads. A little chunk of Danish blue cheese. To crumble up and eat on the spinach. A jar of tartar sauce to eat with fish. I keep forgetting to buy some, and settle for mayonnaise, which is sort of gross, I admit, but sometimes I have no shame, and the fish was sort of boring without somehting on it. A jar of dill. Last time I had fish sticks (with mayonnaise) I thought some dill sprinkled on there would make it better, but somehow my jar of dill didn't make it in the move with my other spices. Maybe I threw it away because it was getting old. I don't remember. Anyway, it sort of added insult to mayonnaise injury. A plastic jug to make iced tea in. If my old one made it through the move, it's doing a very effective job at hiding. This one is smaller and more convenient anyway. In my old one the tea would someitmes get funky before I finished drinking it all. A package of imitation crab legs. A lot of places here call it Surimi, the Japanese term, which is a little less scary sounding than "imitation" anything. Yet another one of my shameless snack foods. Yes I like them. Shut up. Lastly, a little plant. I've been wanting a little plant for my new place for a long time, and this fit the bill, being only $2.99. It's either a crocus or lily or daffodil. I'm not sure, because the pots had gotten sort of mixed up, and this was one of the ones where the little shoots are just starting to come out of the dirt, so I get to watch it grow up. Carrying a little plant home down Smithe St made me feel very . . . Léon.
I got a call from a friend, and I may meet up with him later on to see a movie. I'd been in a movie mood earlier, but more in an "it would be nice to see a movie later" way, rather than a "must see movie right now!" way, so this works out about right. I'm supposed to call him back around 8:30 to formulate a master plan.
My shopping trip tonight was kind of an impulsive one. After spending a leisurely and utterly self-indulgent Saturday waking up very slowly, eating at a Gypsy restaurant for lunch, picking up my package at the post office (some real American ketchup from Rusty and Sarah — enough to last me a good long time, which is good, because it seems that customs had been rifling through the package for about three whole weeks now — it was a mess), playing in the snow on the roof of my building, sorting out some financial stuff that had needed doing for a long time, talking to friends online, harassing the cat, checking out the new release DVDs at FutureShop, grabbing one of Caffe Artigiano's world's most have-to-drink-it-to-believe-it lattes, and eating some there-must-be-crack-in-this-if-it-tastes-this-good potstickers and BBQ duck at Hon's Wun-Tun House, stopping by the grocery store for some coffee and juice seemed like a good thing to do.
Like many shopping trips, once I got started, I found lots of things that made me happy:
I got a call from a friend, and I may meet up with him later on to see a movie. I'd been in a movie mood earlier, but more in an "it would be nice to see a movie later" way, rather than a "must see movie right now!" way, so this works out about right. I'm supposed to call him back around 8:30 to formulate a master plan.