grocery store inspiration

okay - so. i don't do the grocery shopping in our home. i make the weekly list/menu and j goes. j prefers it that way. he says it's more "economical" . he says i get too hung up on the "extras" i see along the way? i'm not sure what he's talking about. but anyway. THIS weekend...he decided to "allow" ella and i to tag along with him. i decided to turn it into an adventure...kind of like a documentary of what jessica sees at the grocery store. (cool packaging, my favorite things, etc.) you with me? let's go...

not sure why? i just thought the name on these black olives was amusing and wanted to share.

i mean come on...do you want large or do you want COLOSSAL?

(notice the actual pictures of the olives don't REALLY look that much different?)

we DID NOT buy these.

i thought this was clever packaging...

transparent top to view the cookies which also tie-in the look of the animal. VERY clever.

the baking aisle. my FAVORITE aisle....

this is my favorite brand of chocolate chips...

i'm not a "chip snob". i'll use anything that sounds delicious and looks cute.

have you seen the mini reese cup chips...haven't tried those yet. & i don't have a picture.

BUT...we didn't need any chocolate chips this week anyway.

reynolds actually offers mini designer baking cups?

i hadn't seen these before. how about you?

didn't purchase these either. just making a mental note for future reference.

then, j found a new beverage that his company distributes so we sampled it right on the spot.

(i scoured the packaging for any signs of caffeine...NONE).

oh these caught my eye. how adorable.

i'm thinking "carnival" party or a "movie night" for kids.

or how about a class party?

i didn't put these in the cart though.

(note to self - popcorn bags available at publix).

this is the 2nd one of these that i banged into with the cart.

(and it wasn't just a polite little bang either time...

it was one of those "bang and drag along" occurrences)

mmmm....goodness.

thanks for the nutella addiction, lannette.

you put the girls on this and then i HAD to sample it.

(NONE on this particular shopping excursion)

and this looks tasty.

"what peanut butter should be" slogan caught my eye.

(but this didn't make it into the cart either).

candy aisle!

these particular hershey nuggets are my favs...

(none purchased...thank you very much).

and i'm always curious to see the latest hershey kisses.

just when i think they can't POSSIBLY come up with something new...

BAM! how about some "chocolate meltaways" people?

("no" to these as well - it's no fun shopping with j...*wink*)

while on the subject of candy goodness...

look at this sweet little sugar stick...

onward to the produce section...

ladies and gentlemen...this sums up the fall season here in florida.

(in order to find it you must create a display). *wink*

(one butternut squash for harvest soup this week).

these totally creeped me out.

although there's certainly a demand for unusual "unique" pumpkins, etc.

i believe trying to pass off complete rejects as "gourmet" items is a bit of a stretch?

(need i mention these didn't make it into the cart)?

my new favorite cucumbers.

look at THAT packaging. "pink" mushroom cartons?

it kind of caught me off guard, actually.

i mean i appreciate the pink packaging. and let's face it, pink tends to make ANYTHING cute.

i'm not sure it's workin' for the mushrooms? what do you think?

my all-time favorite lettuce. seriously.

("no" on this item too. j had already gone to sam's & purchased 2 "colossal" sized bags of lettuce).

and of course, we can't forget the veggie spray.

(ella knows the importance of removing pesticides from our produce).

in the frozen food section, i found these to be very intriguing...

uh. wait a minute.

now that i'm looking at this a little closer, wouldn't this be considered just a "muffin top"?

so does the marketing on this product go something a little like this:

"reduce your muffin top by devouring our muffin tops - only 100 calories a pop?" hmmmm?

these would be perfect for ella's mini french bakery party coming up!

(i just LOVE the font they used for the word "mini" & even the "cream puffs")

they had mini eclairs too.

martha & amy would be so disappointed. shhh.

my favorite fruit bars & the veggie crumble for the lasagna this week.

last but not least. celebrity gossip.

looks like brad is movin' out...

and jen is movin' on...

good for her.

okay. so. i must tell you of this little ritual at the grocery store.

j has a real knack for guessing the grocery bill within "pennies" of the actual total.

i mean, seriously. this is an ongoing occurrence. it's NOT luck.

i'm usually ALWAYS wrong & j thinks it's because i don't pay enough attention to what things REALLY cost. (and he's probably...well...could be...somewhat...a litte bit right)?

so i've been working on that.

why bother telling you all of that?

j and i made our guesses.

his guess: $124

my guess: $134...

drumroll....

the publix monitor conveniently displaying our grocery total:

"ta dah!" did you not see that?! how about a little bit closer?

....54 cent difference!

*clearing throat*...guess i'm getting a little bit better!? *wink*

( i just HAD to take a picture. because honestly, i'm not sure i'll get that lucky again).

so you see...despite all of the "no's" and the "didn't get that item this week", we still managed to spend some money - not including the sam's trip j made prior to this.

thank you for going on the grocery store excursion with me! don't think i'll be doing that again any time soon. (clara read over the post this a.m. and didn't think it was too interesting).

hope you all have a much more interesting tuesday! make it a great week. it's my first official day "off" of the 21 challenge. WOW! it feels weird.

disclaimer...remember folks. these are pictures taken with my phone. my "real" camera is in the shop...so these are NOT examples of fine art by any stretch.