TRADER JOES AND MICKEY D'S

Ok so I know this is technically a fashion blog but I think fashion is a lifestyle not just what you take on and off everyday, so I have to tell you about my two new favorite things that have added a certain economic panache to my incredible shrinking budget.  

My new favorite, trendy store is Trader Joe's.  I know it seems like old news and  it's not as glamorous as Whole Foods but it is sooooo much better. The aisles for one are a billion times wider than those at Whole Foods and the prices are infinitesimally lower.  But the thing that really sets Trader Joe's apart is the awesome customer service.  Every time I go there, I find that at least one employee helps me and actually seems to care, not like those snooty Whole Foods granola munchers.  Recently I was at the check out counter and the cashier rung up a bag of avocados, which, by the way only cost me $3.19 (that's like a miracle in itself), but i digress....any who he rings up the avocados and calls over another employee who promptly takes my avocados.  Why, you make ask?  Verbatim, the guys says this to me:

"Those avocados were a bit too mushy.  I'm having her go and get you some better ones."  

WOW WOW WOW!  This guy rings up probably hundreds of avocados a day, and he could have just rung me up and let me leave without a second thought of my mushy avocados.  But he actually thought, while swiping my fruits, that perhaps I did not have one of the freshest batches.  Now I have fresh avocados thanks to that guy and his concern!  I know this sounds a bit dorky but it really made my day.  

Now for the icing on the cake...I go to McDonalds drive through this morning because I have a craving for some delicious pancakes, and lo and behold, at the drive through McD's in Fairlawn I see a sign, "Free Hotcakes with Purchase of a Medium Beverage."  Doth my eyes deceive me????  FREE HOT CAKES???  Surely this must have been some special promotion, one day only that I missed.  Are they really willing to give me my favorite food in the entire universe for free???   I decide to press my luck and I order a medium coffee and, dare I say, free hotcakes??? Then the tiny, little, Latina voice echoes through the microphone, a beautiful sentiment that if I didn't know any better, I'd think was God herself, "One medium coffee and one order hotcakes.  That'll be $1.72."  

ONE DOLLAR AND SEVENTY TWO CENTS!!!  I CAN AFFORD TWO ORDERS!  MAYBE MORE!

A tear glistened down my hopeful, rosy cheek and I drove to the window.  I prepared my $1.72, I had exact change, and I watched with anticipation as the Latina drive through angel approached with a beaming bag of  hot, fluffy, golden, buttery, pancakes.  And then I handed her the dollar with exact change, and she handed me the bag.  Instantly, pancakey deliciousness whipped my nostrils into a frenzy.  Next came the coffee, a rich and delightfully strong roast, savory, with a hint of bitterness.  I almost couldn't drive because I was drunk with delight.  

So friends, I encourage you to shop at Trader Joe's, where, though you might be a pauper, you'll be treated like a princess.  And if you can, go to the McDonald's in Fairlawn for a breakfast treat you'll never forget.  I know I won't.