Shopping

I love shopping...love it. More than actually buying stuff, I love wandering around amongst all the shiny new things and thinking of all the fantastic possibilities. This likely comes as no surprise...I am, after all, a girl, and girls pretty much love shopping.

But here is the thing: I am talking only about a specific kind of shopping, and it makes me sort of weird.

I don't love shoe shopping. Ella W and Brandy and Brookem and e.b. and some others have all talked about their love of shoes. Me? Well, I just don't get that excited over shoes, and there is nothing that could entice me to spend the exorbitant sums that Minolo and Jimmy Choo charge. I buy my shoes at super fancy places like DSW and Marshalls and from Delia's, Alloy and Vicky's Secret. I just don't care that much about shoes.

And I don't love clothes shopping. This is not to say that I don't like it, just that I generally only go if there is something I need. I rarely find it interesting to just wander around for the sake of looking if I don't at least sort of have a purpose. Maybe the one exception would be coats, which I do truly love and which I could try on all day while imagining myself skipping ever-so adorably down a cobblestone Parisian street...I digress.

I don't really even love jewelry shopping. Sure, I like sparkly things and shiny things very much, but I find the whole thing kind of stuffy and intimidating. And the special lighting intended to make everything look so extra-perfect is almost a little too misleading for me.

So what kind of shopping is it that I love most? Why, that would be grocery shopping. That's right, I could wander around the supermarket for hours. This, I know, is totally bizarre, as most people loathe this more than going to the Dentist or cleaning the toilet. I however, love it. I get all kinds of crazy inspiration and ridiculous delusions of my own culinary skill.

That's right, I find the grocery store to be inspiring. I get all kinds of ambition about wonderfully delicious things that I will cook. I imagine fancy dinner parties where all of the beautiful guests rave about my wizardry in the kitchen (no, I have never, ever actually gone through with that...). I dream up lovely casual gatherings full of brilliantly perfect comfort foods...

I love the produce department with its fresh fruits and vegetables, just begging to be whipped up into light, fresh, healthy meals that evoke Italian countrysides and post-polo match snacks. I love the meat department, provider of the exquisite cuts of meat and fish that can stand as the centerpiece of an extravagant meal. And the bakery, with its fresh breads and wonderful yummy confections...I love them all.

So yes, this makes me kinda odd, and I am OK with that. Munchkin is willing to basically go anywhere with me and will find a way to have fun, but I think even she is starting to find my love of the supermarket a little bit disturbing.