East Side Pride

A friend of mine in high school used to say, "Once a cove dweller, always a cove dweller." Well, Danny and I are not exactly “in the Cove”... but tonight, I totally felt "of the Cove."

First off -- I think we're going to get passes at COVE Fitness; which is good news because I got ever so tired of people mistaking me for J-Lo's body double when I was a member of Lifestyles 2000.

Also, I've been shopping at Dan's a lot lately... which is like Millcreek’s answer to a Mormon "Trader Joes." There's a real sense of pride that comes from paying $2.50 for an organic tomato, you know? But seriously, I love that place. It's like policy at the store that if you ask them where an item is located, instead of saying "try isle 12” or something... they WALK you there. Seriously, it's not like it's a giant wholesaler's warehouse and you'll get lost in the place... the entire store is practically the same size as the bakery section of Costco...they just have fabulous customer service… and I love how everyone smiles when you shop there… although, I was having a great hair day yesterday, so that could be it too.

Suburbia is sooo rad… We live within 2 miles of 2 grocery stores… going shopping downtown was such a pain… the parking, the drive… everything seemed to take longer; the irony, eh? I mean, you live downtown to be close to the action; and then one day you wake up and realize that being able to buy Orange Juice a couple of blocks away is a real luxury….

Tonight, I dropped by Smith's Marketplace on 33rd South for some fabric softener, powdered doughnuts and a headphone splitter as Danny and I head for Ohio tomorrow; and we're trying to make it through the entire first season of the OC before next week (we might just accomplish this daring feat). As far as the doughnuts, I felt too guilty to purchase since apparently my body thinks I’m some sort of winter animal that needs to store of reserves in my ace-of-base for the season… ahh, if only a front bum were as popular as self-deprecation, I would be famous.

Anyway, I picked up the Seventh Generation fabric softener with no dyes, totally bio degradable, and then I found myself in the isle with all the Burt’s Bees and hippie-chick lotions... and suddenly I’m paying $2.00 for recycled tissues to blow my nose in, and purchasing chlorine free dye and this eco-friendly dishsoap… (oh well, at least they’re cheaper than a Dan’s tomato.)

I’m feeling all Milcreek-esque, right? I've got this season’s Coach patchwork in tote (thank you husband), sporting a pair of yoga pants and some grapefruit pink Uggs that absolutely fit their namesake (Ugh!) This is the life man…. Now that our rent’s cheaper, we can finally afford to go organic. All I need is a gas guzzling SUV and I’ll look like one of the natives… but no, maybe a Prius or something (did I spell that right?)

And in case my husband reads this (and we don’t keep any secrets)… darling, in case you’re worried about the price-point associated with “GOING GREEN” or in my case (spending our GREEN) you should know that I used our “smith’s marketplace card”… and with the vast savings we incurred from that little number, we can’t afford not to buy!!!!