Trader Joe's glad tidings

I know I've posted on here before about how much I LOVE the grocery store Trader Joe's.  


While I couldn't do all my grocery shopping there, it's so wonderful for so many things!  Like...fun spreads, cheap peanut butter (and almond butter, which normally costs an arm and a leg!), rock bottom pricing for cheese - good ones, too - and cheap, cheap, cheap wines that taste fantastic and not a thing like Boone's!


It's an absolute wonderland of food.


And there is not a single one within several hundred of miles of my home.


It's heartbreaking.  


So, when we went to Missouri for Thanksgiving a trip to St. Louis to hit up TJ's was on the agenda.  Come rain or shine or blizzard - I was getting to my Joe's.


Todd and his mom had never been to a Trader Joe's and I think they were baffled by mine and my parents excitement about the store - until they went in themselves.  Then they understood, as every TJ's shopper does, the magic of the store.


Standing outside the store, my heart going pitter-patter...

And we love you too...

Lovin' on some cheap, delicious wines.  Why, oh why can't you be closer to me TJ's??  (I'm "wine"-ing, now)...

Our grocery cart.  The wines not in a box are my dad's.  Every other blessed thing in the cart is ours.  We drove to Missouri partly because of this shopping trip!  (Just kidding - sort of...)

See how fun this place is?  The employees wear Hawaiian shirts...!

This sign says it all, I do believe... 

I will wait for you to move closer to me my love...but I'm getting impatient.

Book 'em

I love book sales and snatching up loads of used books.  Only problem is, I'm not reading them at the rate I'm acquiring them.  That's not stopping me though.

I went to the Kappa Gamma Delta book sale on Saturday, a 27-year-old event in town, and walked out with another box of books for my "library."

My friend Rachel told me about the sale last year, warning me it can get a little crazy.  That's sort of funny sounding, right?  I mean, how crazy can a bunch of book wielding readers be?  When Rachel told me you basically go in, fill your box, and look at what you bought later, I was expecting eye gouging and some dirty elbowing.

It wasn't quite that bad, but people were definitely in it to win it.  I had one lady take a book out of my friend Juliette's hand that I was going to take.  She wasn't intentionally rude, I think she (weirdly) thought she was part of our conversation, but fact still remains - my name's Kim.  Not her's.

Anyway, expecting a bit of a wait, my friend Juliette and I arrived early only to find this line already formed outside...

This is one of the rooms full of books.  There were about 40 tons of books donated this year.  Proceeds go toward education-related efforts; this year it will benefit education programs at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens' Children's Village.  

Here's what $31 can buy you at this sale!  I got lots of books on my "to read" list and a few more - without getting a black eye... 

Happy Veterans Day!

Remember to take a moment to thank the people serving, or who have served our country!

This was at the local King Soopers grocery store today...you don't see stuff like this in big cities. I got there too late to chat with the Vets, but thought it was a nice thing to do:


This was also at the grocery store. The "word up!" CRACKS me up!

Worlds Collide

On my way to coffee on Saturday I found myself at a garage sale. It was an unplanned stop and I didn't have cash to buy a couple trinkets I liked, but not to worry: In true Wyoming form one of the coordinators nicely gave me her number and told me to call later if I was still interested.

I was.

When I went back to pick up the stuff the lady asked me, what area code is 202? Is that D.C.?

Perplexed about how she knew that I answered yes, then...asked her how she knew that.

Turns out she used to live in D.C. - about 30 years ago when she was in her mid-20s. She worked for a House member, lived on Capitol Hill by the Marine Barracks, and loved it, she said.

She wasn't from Wyoming, but landed here when a friend from law school invited her out to work on a Senate campaign. Her guy lost, but she decided to stay - just for a little while until she could get things figured out. And here she was, 30 years later.

We had such a great chat!

Then she asked me how I was settling into Cheyenne. I was truthful. I told her it's been a little bit of an adjustment, but overall I think it's been good.

That's when she told me nicely but bluntly how she loves living here now, but hated it when she first moved. I think she was maybe overstating her sentiments in an attempt to be sympathetic, but still - I'm guessing that's not approved text by the Welcome Wagon, and that's not exactly how I would describe my feelings about life in Cheyenne thus far.

I mean, sure, I really miss having a swanky place to get dressed up to go out to on a Saturday night, but I don't think that's cause for me to hate it.

If anything, I've been feeling more settled in lately. And that makes me feel like things aren't all that bad.

"Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On"

One of the perks of a Cheyenne job is a more casual dress code, which means I can wear jeans to work and still look professional.

Today, I am wearing a pair of jeans I love from a big-name retailer:

Wal-Mart.

That's right.

We do have shopping options in Cheyenne, being blessed with a Dillard's that carries several nice labels, and many other stores. But when I learned I would be working Frontier Days, spending hours in dirt and dung, I decided to find something other than my nice brand jeans to get the job done.

So, with 10 days of rodeo before me and five months of unemployment behind, I took myself to Wal-Mart to see what I could find.

I was very pleasantly surprised! Wal-Mart's No Boundaries brand beat Corral West in fit and, not surprisingly price. I picked up two pairs for less than half of what I could get for one at the cowboy store.

I thought I was choosing something expendable, something that was cheap and would get me through 10 dirty days of rodeo. Instead, my Wal-Mart brand jeans are keepers! Who knew? Certainly not me, who hasn't purchased Wal-Mart clothing in several years. Not so much because I'm a clothing snob, but more because in D.C., Wal-Marts are darn hard to find.

Now, when I'm choosing which pair of jeans to wear to work, I know that along with my city slicker Gap's and Joe's, my cute and comfy NoBo's will be more than fine.

D.C. Freak?

So, I wrote a check at Target tonight that seemed to cause a system meltdown - at least for the Cheyenne store.

The cashier asked for my I.D., which I haven't changed over yet to Wyoming. Yes, I know I need to do this - and it's not that I don't want to! My current D.C. license is hideous! I had to replace it quickly the morning before I left town because my purse was stolen the night before at my going away party. I was sick, tired, and in work-out clothes, glasses and no make-up because I figured they could just pull my old picture. But, oh no, much to my horror I had to get a new one taken. So, I'm really not holding on to my D.C. license for any particular reason except I just haven't had a chance to get my Wyoming one.

Because of this I have become used to people being thrown off by my I.D. They don't know how to enter it...is D.C. the "state?" In most systems it seems to be.

I handed the Target cashier my I.D., she ran the check, and oddly it didn't seem to be accepted. I didn't really think anything of this until she apologized and then ran to get another associate.

Meanwhile, I'm left wondering why in the world my check wouldn't go through - especially since I just got paid - and the people behind me who had just thrown all their stuff on the counter kept looking at me like I was a villain.

The cashier returned with three other associates in tow. After a call to some secret Target computer headquarters by a totally different clerk everything seemed to be ok.

With some chuckling and apologizing the new clerk informed me that D.C. was under...wait...District of Columbia and not Washington STATE.

Oh? I endured confusion, a fleeting moment of anxiety over availability of funds, and the evil eye from other customers for that?!

I gathered my bags and walked out the door utterly flabbergasted.

Then, as I pulled out of my parking spot a child who couldn't have been more than two-years-old pointed at me through my open window and yelled, "Look at you!"

Yes, look at me! The weird-o girl with a D.C. license!

Alright, alright! I'll change it already!