ALOOOOOOOOOOOOHA!

I take a Hands-On Art History class.
A week and a half ago, we did a quick study of the art/handicrafts of the Hawai'ian Islands.

Suggested homework assignment ideas:
* Make a feather lei
* Make faux tapa (aka kapa) cloth. 'Modernize' the cloth, if desired
* Design your own Aloha Shirt
* Learn and dance a simple hula
* Play a song on the ukelele
* Weave a coconut palm frond or faux frond hat, bird, bowl etc.
* Do a painting, drawing or sculpture, etc. with an 'island theme'
* Using Hawai'ian imagery in any way shape or form

I decided to make faux tapa (I'm alllllll about faux these days!) - perhaps varying the traditional earthy colors by using bright or pastel colors on cotton fabric. I intended to sew an Aloha Shirt with the faux tapa.

As many of you know, the early conceptual stages of any project is rarely daunting. After all, most bright ideas look simple enough on paper, right? In theory, designing an Aloha Shirt seemed like it could be relatively easy to accomplish.
Find some fabric, create a simple design on it, stitch it up.

Then I began the project and was quickly reminded that the actual execution of an idea can become quite involved indeed. One thing can lead to another. Obstacles that pop up during the creative process need to be overcome. 'Mistakes' need to be dealt with in some manner: usually with re-do or cover up. This or that doesn't work out as planned. Try a different approach. Re-design as the creation morphs from one stage to the next.

This is what happened with my little Design-Your-Own-Aloha-Shirt project.
It turned out to be a heck of a lot of work.
And yes - I'm posting it here (in abbreviated form, if you can believe!) so you can read alllllllllllllllll about it.

The project involved:
- Searching the web for appropriate Polynesian/Hawai'ian symbols.
- Simplifying those images and sketching them into shapes that might translate into stamp-making.
- Creating the stamps: draw, then use an X-Acto knife/ small precision scissors to cut design out of a craft foam sheet, adhere that to foam core then adhere foam core to a block of scrap wood. Several attempts to get the materials to stick together failed, so I had to keep trying with different adhesives.
- Test stamping with Walnut Ink (too messy - may or may not fix to fabric)
- Rejuvenating old, dried out Fabrico Ink pads found in my rubber stamping larder. A light spray of water, allow to soak, turn pad upside-down overnight. Re-test for fabric fastness to see if I diluted the ink too much.
- Testing all six stamped images on paper to see if they look any good, how compatible they were with one another - then modifying the designs if they didn't or weren't.
- Purchase, pre-wash and iron cotton fabric
- Purchase sewing pattern
- Test stamping on scrap fabric, heat-set with iron, then do a wash test
- Cut out pattern
- Stamp each pattern piece - keeping mindful of matching design in rows, staying clear of seam allowances (fabric is a bit see through, so double print may show in seams)
- Being VERY MINDFUL that the stamped images on the patch pocket matched up with those on the left side of the shirt where pocket will be sewn.
- Use iron to heat- set ink all pieces
- Sew the thing together
- Choose buttons to match (these may be changed out later for cuter or cooler looking ones)
- Final pressing with iron.

TA- DA! - I ended up with a pretty darned cute Aloha Shirt (it's kid-sized, by the way).
- Labored stamping (Press/ Position/ Push. Press/ Position/ Push. Press/Position/ Push...) left me with very sore hand, arm, upper chest and neck muscles.
- I had (ouch) a fine time with this craft, really I did. Keep in mind that I always but always have a love/hate relationship with my work. I think it's a good idea to be aware of one's processes, don't you agree?

This project gave me an (even greater) appreciation for the amazing design skills of the Pacific Islanders.
Like early indigenous people everywhere, their very survival depended on how cleverly they worked with the natural resources available to them.
Their handicrafts reflected and defined the uniqueness of their lifestyle.

Form + Function = Practical Use, more often with aesthetics as an afterthought, worked in wherever it was possible.

Then there are those of us who follow, and are fortunate enough to do art and craft for the pure joy of it. We can base our own handicrafts from any aspect of a world of diverse cultures as well as from any time period.
Resources for our art-making ventures are here, there and everywhere (from books, in shops, on the internet, hidden away in the crafts closet).

Form + Function = Decorative and/or Practical and/or Wearable Art, often with a decided emphasis on aesthetics.

WhooooooHooooo, it's done!
Now I can hardly wait to slip this handmade custom designed shirt of Aloha on some poor unsuspecting size 4 kid.

Next week's project: Seminole patchwork!

Fee! Fie! Felt! Fun!

I knitted this entrelac tote from a KnitPicks pattern.


Then I felted it in the washing machine.
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE BAG!
No kidding.
It really did decrease in size - a lot more than I expected it to.
It was quite a shock to see just how small and tight a clump of wool there was in that zippered pillowcase that I pulled out of the washing machine...

I had to push shove stretch and pry that tight little stubborn wad of felted material $#@!*&?@!*&%#@!! into submission - so it would look something like a tote.
To make matters worse, I'd forgotten to put plastic bags into the holes for the I-Cord handles before felting it, so the holes that I'd knitted in on purpose closed up when the tote felted.
Oops.
So after the bag air-dried for a few days, I had to cut holes for the handles to go in - which is not as alarming as one might think, because felted wool cuts without a hitch.

Besides the Felt! and the Fun! there was a fair amount of Frustration!

Compared to the felted entrelac totes (from the same pattern) that other students in my knitting class made, mine is definitely tighter, smaller and quite a bit on the cattywompus side of the knitting fence.

However, let us accept this:
That the misshapen, the off-kilter and the full-o-little-patched-up-holes end product is more often than not ~ the result of my creative process. Yet it turned out OK.
Actually, now that I'm over the drama of the felting, I'm beginning to like that sweet little bitty tote more and more each day.

Perfection in all things creative has ... and will always ... continue ... to elude me.

You take a stick of bamboo

This is the Japanese Ka-mon (crest) of bamboo.
It is the design I chose to carve onto a piece of lino block, ink in black and hand print on ecru colored parchment paper - for wedding invitations waaaaaaaaaaay back in 1971.

I found the image on a Cost Plus mug that had 12 Japanese crests on it.
All the crest designs were lovely, but I surmised that this one might be one of the easier ones to carve. E-Z factored into the decision, as I alone was in charge of the creation of and writing out all the invites.

At the time, I didn't know (or care)(ah, the impetuous decisions of youth!) what the emblem signified.
This morning I finally found out that the design is ........ bamboo.

Better 36 years later than never.


I do so enjoy bamboo - it's a renewable natural resource that has proven itself useful in many applications. Bamboo has been called the plant of a thousand uses.

The word alone is delightful!
Bam.
Boo.
What's not to love? Well, perhaps not to love is the fact that at the incredible rate the stuff grows, invasive varieties can overtake your garden (so think clumping if you decide to grow bamboo).

At this time (like most everyone else who has shopped at Ikea) I have 3 stalks of bamboo growing (well contained) in a tall, cylindrical glass vase in my art/craft room.
And get this - I just finished working on a little sewn item that involves a bit more printing of a bamboo image!
(post on that project to follow)

P.S. Bamboo stands for 'endurance and longevity' (Ya think?!?).

outta da box

Eating Chinese food directly outta da (traditional) take-out box (what an ingenious design, btw!).
No plate, no bowl, no serving utensils.
Just dig right into the box with a pair of chopsticks.

Shouldn't be done.
A no no.
It just ain't right.
(see below for my list of reasons why it shouldn't be practiced)

Yet in so many (American-made) movies and TV shows, there it is.
People are eating their Chinese Food Directly Out Of The Box.

The scene is usually of the actors having a casual meal while loafing around, watching TV and donned in their comfy jampies. If there's more than one character they are sometimes seen passing the boxes around so that everyone involved can use their own chopsticks and take a bite of Kung Pao chicken out of this box, Mongolian beef from this box, some fried rice out of that box etc.
At other times the setting is of a particularly lengthy late-night business meeting: the regular dinner hour has been skipped and a quick meal is warranted. Someone invariably 'calls out for Chinese'.

('Hellllluuuuuu! Any Chinese out there?!?!?')

Anyways.
They eat their CFDOOTB as well.

What is the reason for this?
Good question.
To save on washing dishes, right?
Eat outta da box until you're full, close the box, stick it in the fridge as leftovers.

It's cute n' casual dining, eh?
Like pizza.
But not.
Take-out pizza is meant to be eaten with the hands, super-casual, with the slices taken right outta da box.
Add hot wings (also finger food and meant to be eaten directly from the container).
Add napkins.
Wash it down with some beer or soda and it's a meal.

When it comes to 'Asian Ethnic food', we get to the infamous 'Chinese take-out'.
For movies and TV, what prop says ethnic food more than a Chinese take-out box?

OK - so there.
Yes, I do seem to have a major Curmudgeon Issue with eating CFDOOTB.
Here are my reasons:

* If you've ever brought Chinese take-out home and emptied the box of food onto a plate, you probably noticed that there's a LOT of FOOD in that box.
It's packed solid.

* Most Chinese food is prepared by the stir-fry method, and once it is considered cooked to the correct temperature, texture and doneness - it is removed from the wok. In the case of a take-out order, the perfectly cooked food is then boxed 'to go'. Box is closed up and sent along on its merry way.

* Travel time from restaurant to destination where it will be consumed keeps the food
at high temp in the box, therefore cooking it further.
Meat and veggies that are already cooked to the perfect texture and doneness continues to cook longer. Food that is meant to be crispy is often steamed by the moist heat accumulating in the closed box.

* When the food arrives at its destination, it should be immediately taken out of the box and plated, so as to arrest any further cooking/steaming.

* If the food is left boxed and eaten directly from the box, it is not only left compacted, but it continues to cook - alas, be OVERCOOKED by the time the diner gets a fraction of the way down into the box.

* Worse yet, the sauce in Chinese food is thickened with cornstarch, which can congeal in a most unappetizing way when left sitting in the take-out box for too long .

The only Chinese food that is permissible to eat right outta da box is plain steamed rice.
The only time you'll ever catch me eating CFDOOTB is when there is refrigerated leftovers from a take-out the night before.
The next day, I might pick at it (without reheating) before tossing it.
Truth be known, I'm not a big fan of leftover Chinese food...

Anyone who has eaten freshly cooked Chinese food at a restaurant or in someone's home will know the difference between those dishes and the compacted Chinese food that is left in the take-out box to overcook and oversteam.

I've always been bugged by this approach to eating Chinese take-out, and have been a firm believer that no bona fide Chinese person would eat CFDOOTB.

Then, last night - my belief was shattered, big time.
I saw Joan Chen (no less!) in 'Saving Face', where she was eating CFDOOTB!
How can this be?!?

The sky is falling the sky is falling!
Ai Ya!

P.S. 'What an elitist food beeeeeeeeeeeeech you are' so sez HD.
My usual response: 'I have no life'.

Proof positive

that I'm getting there.
Older, that is.

For more years than I care to admit, I've been experiencing those all-too-numerous moments of catching a casual glimpse of myself in the reflection of a window, or in a store/restaurant mirror. Mid-day, after the make up starts to wear off.
Sometimes, walking up to the glass door of a store, I can see myself full-length.
I shouldn't be, but I am taken aback. Each and every time.

There are those horrible slap-of-reality candid snapshots people insist on taking of me. OMG.

Every morning and evening I wash my face, and can feel my skin sucking in those moisturizering lotions/creams like nobody's business. It seems I can't moisturize near enough to stave off the dryness.

Preference by L'Oreal (color 4A) is a monthly ritual.

The reminders are many - that yes, I am really and truly, now - an older gal (still shy of the big 6-0, though).

A few days ago, I did something a much older gal would probably do, that I never thought I'd ever do.

(Stay with me now...)

I bought -
a candy dish.
On purpose.
Deliberately.
Uh-huh.

Sure, I've put candy in small dishes during the holidays and such, but I've never gone out and purchased a serving container that is supposed to hold candy.

Older ladies buy/own candy dishes, right?
Doh.
With little doubt, I've been an older-lady-in-denial.

Until day before yesterday - when I jumped right onto the older-lady-no-longer-in-denial-buggy, took a ride into town, browsed a little boutique and quite out of the blue - bought a candy dish.
A glass one, no less.
Shaped like a bunny.
In purple.

It's little and rather cute, as in.... it's a darling little glass bunny candy dish.
(Wow - who knew? They're all over the place!)

I spotted this one in a little shoppe that specialized in things for tea, and what moved me to buy it was that I really and truly meant for it to hold sugar cubes for tea. I adore teatime accoutrements (OK, so I've always been an older lady at heart because of the teatime thing).

Then I realized that yes indeed, this was a for real, bona fide candy dish.
I actually went out and bought one!
L'il ol' (and older) me!
Oh liberating days and nights!
I feel that I've finally come of age....

That settled.....

I'm really very EXCITED about my new candy dish!
And....
I'm all-fired up INSPIRED to host an Afternoon Easter/Springtime is Here Tea! and to invite family/friends over to celebrate the day!

Oh yes - let's!
Savory deviled eggs! Those tiny yummy quiche from Costco! (do they still have 'em?) Cute mini sandwiches! Pretty little cupcakes! Cream of Carrot soup! Assorted pretty springtime cookies and little cakes!
Mimosas!

Potluck, of course.
(Older gals have also been known to outgrow any former manic behavior of doing all the work themselves).

Fresh flowers and springtime decorations!
Pretty napkins.

Tea.
Lots of tea.
China teacups and an assortment of lovely dishes to serve the food on, like:
a purple-glass-bunny-sugar-cubes-candy-dish.

Just so happens I've got one.

Fam and friends, consider this your official invite.
RSVP sooooooooon.

While you're drinking your mandatory 8 +...

....glasses of H20 today, know that March 22 is World Water Day.

Think about it.

Thank you.

tell her no no no no no no no no (et cetera)

Even with the lip sync and periodic screams from the Shindig audience, I just had to post this video of the Zombies' 'Tell Her No'.

I've always loved loved loved this song with its crazy refrain. I sure would like to have a copy of it without having to buy an entire album.

But can you believe (and dagnabbit) - 'Tell Her No' (by the original artists) does not seem to be available at my friendly iTunes store.

I guess the answer is
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

This week in Athens...

...Georgia - a film festival, hosted by Robert Osborne.

What a treat it would be to attend this forum and witness Osborne doing what he does best: indulging in his passion for classic cinema.

Those of us who are fans of 'old movies', and who particularly favor black & white films, know Osborne as the debonair host of Turner Classic Movies.
Actually, the man wears multiple career hats: TV host, writer, actor, movie critic.
I know him best as TV host, but if I could get hold of and linger over his '75 Years of the Oscar' book, I know I'd have an appreciation of his writing/research skills as well.

'Bobby' provides enlightening movie trivia in the interim minutes between TCM's scheduled movies. Turner Classic Movies also features in depth, one-on-one conversations between Osborne and film makers. These interviews are sweeeeeeet to watch and one can actually LEARN a great deal about classic movies from them.

Another thing:
You never get embarrassed watching an interview conducted by Robert Osborne.
Some interviews can get me to cringing - like, OMG I can't believe he/she asked that stupid/obvious/uninformed/unrelated to anything question....

Bobby Osborne possesses the knack for NOT being starstruck when in the company of celebrity (even the most narcissistic actors don't need to be idol-worshipped any more than they already are on any given day).
Oprah has been known to take to gushing when she could be interviewing, for example.
But not our little Bobby, Oh No.

How refreshing it must be for actors, directors and producers to be interviewed by someone who is both respectful and knowledgeable of their body of work; and at the same time, inquisitive. Bobby has the ability to move those he interviews to speak candidly and introspectively about their cinematic labors.

He does a very nice job indeedy.

Oh, how I envy the lucky attendees of this week's filmfest!

PostScript:
M-I-L once stated to me 'I love Robert Osborne as host of TCM...he's so good at it....and...he's...so.........pretty'.

I totally agree.

float float on

Happy St. Paddy's Day.
Along with today's corned beef n' cabbage dinner, I sipped on a beer.

What I really wanted, though - was another kind of beer.
A root beer.
In a tall chilled glass - with ice cream.

Have glass, can chill.
Have the root beer.
No ice cream, though.
Too lazy tonight to get in the car and drive to the store to get some.

Perhaps having the drinkable dessert can wait till tomorrow, if the craving is still strong.
I can tell ya now, it will be....

Mmmmm. Mmmmmm.

How do you make a root beer float?
Scoop of ice cream into the glass first or pour in the root beer first, with a plop of ice cream to follow?

Huzzah! for combining both approaches.

[Though the A&W pictured above looks awfully yummy... with a generous swirl of soft serve ice cream over top of the root beer...]

Who put the bomp in...

Who put the corn in....

corned beef?
First of all, what is 'the corn'?
Very simply - pickling spices. The corning is the pickling. It's all about the brine (you can taste, and almost feel the salt in that word, can't ya?).

As for 'who?' - it's likely to be the Irish, seeing that the eating of beef that has been pickled & brined then boiled to a state of tenderness - is traditionally associated with St. Paddy's Day.

Even so, there seems not to be a definitive answer as to who 'corned' the first beef brisket.

Did you know that old-style corned beef is grayish in color and very salty?
Nowadays, almost all corned beef has less salt and is bright rosy red (sometimes startlingly so).

The things we do to meats to keep it from rotting.
How absolutely ingenious the ways people throughout the ages and the world over - have learned to preserve meat (fish, veggies).
Salting, pickling, smoking and drying fresh foods = eating = surviving.

Though we no longer need to preserve our foods in these ways, our taste buds yet crave - the salted, the pickled, the dried, the smoked (as well as the baked and the fried and the suspended in oils).

I really do love to eat salted meats. I actually love eating cabbage too - especially when stir-fried with salted, dried baby shrimp (ah....another post for another day....).


My Dad made the bestest corned beef and cabbage every St. Patrick's Day. It was tradition, what with our family being part Irish and all (NOT). Nevertheless. Eating, feasting and celebration was what we were always about.

How vivid my memories of the family on St. Paddy's Day back in the 50's and 60's: Sittin' round the little kitchen table in our Chinatown flat - we were sure to be wearing green (so we wouldn't be pinched). Happily wolfing down heaping platefuls of corned beef n' cabbage served with rice or boiled potatoes.

With my family-of-origin food traditions + the fact that HubbyDear has Irish in his ancestry, we keep the corned beef n' cabbage meal going most every year.
Over a week ago, we bought our beef brisket for the meal. It's already 'corned' and sealed very tightly within a heavy duty plastic, with spices a-floating. I could see that it might keep forever in that packaging. But come this Saturday, it'll be opened and ready for the boil.

Last weekend, whilst strolling through SF Chinatown, I saw for the first time, a Giant Tropic Hybrid Cabbage. That's it pictured above. Giant Tropic Hybrids are HUGE cabbages. The curious thing is how they grow shaped flat on top and bottom. Not round like a ball - more like a big flat cabbage disc.
Easier to slice, that's for certain. How brilliant!

Wish I could get my hands on one of those for the meal...

So - corned beef and cabbage meal it is on the 17th.

Leftovers?
Probably.
No worries: reuben sandwiches on rye with seasoned sauerkraut. Corned beef hash - fried until the edges are crispy...

(I'll be sure to wear a bit o' lucky green when eating all of the above. Et vous?)

P.S. Check it out: Butte, Montana.
Once again, those people know how to party.

You're ALL wet

I've taken many a swim lesson.
I have 'swum'.
I have even - taken dives off diving boards.
I did it well.
I've tread water for many minutes.
I don't like to do it.

Holding my breath under water is like torture to me.

After every series of swim lessons, my body conveniently forgets what it just learned how to do.
I go from 'swimmer' back to 'non-swimmer'.
Don't ask me how it happens, it just does.
Sometimes I wonder if I drowned in an earlier life...

Even now, I don't like to be put into a position to swim. Deep water freaks me out.
Swimming is not an enjoyable experience for me, though I still sometimes will get into a swimming pool and pretend it's OK.
But really - it's not.
Keep thinking that someday it will be good, and fine and OK - because really and truly, swimming looks like great fun.
I can backfloat for hours, but that does not look COOL and it's tough to see where one is going when backfloating....

I used to fantasize about having a house with a huge in-ground lap pool - all the better to practice and force myself to get good at swimming, maybe even learn to like it, because - I know - I know - I know -
swimming is a valuable skill.

A few days ago, I saw this movie on TV: Poseidon.
Besides the tension, excitement, edge-of-the-seat thrills, it's all about being stuck underwater, swimming, holding one's breath within an inch of one's life, drowning - I could barely
handle it.
I almost ran screaming.

One word movie review: GULP.

Land of Opportunity

What does the Grand Canyon, the Hualapai and a businessman from Las Vegas have in common?

They have Big Opportunity.
They have the very-soon-to-be-open-to-the-public 4000 feet up from the canyon floor, glass and steel beamed Skywalk.

Quite an architectural undertaking.
Pretty exciting.
A glass bottom boat experience, to be sure.

But at what cost?
Integrity of the landscape?
Centuries old spirituality of the sacred Native American site?

This venture on tribal land at Grand Canyon West has been contested by those who claim it only serves to exploit the landscape for profit.

Doh!

There is truth to this statement, of course - as monies from increased tourism to the area due to the skywalk will indeed profit - not only the project developers (greed?), but the tribes (economic survival?) who OK'd the project and who reside on the area reservations.
Reservations that still need to improve on basic sewer and water needs...

At this time, I'm watching another Ken Burns documentary: 'Lewis & Clark'.
So - understand my impatience with any arguments over whose right it is to raze the countryside - claiming ownership to, developing on, marring the natural beauty of and exhausting the resources of - land which up to now has remained relatively undeveloped...

Who isn't for preservation of the beauty of untouched natural landscape?
But get real.

Stop me now! I'm having waaaaay too much FUN!

Look familiar?

Thursday BONUS

V is for...

Commonly known as V is for Victory, the origin of the hand sign has been credited to this person.

Take care in using the V hand signal - lest your V gesture be misinterpreted as an insult (if you mean for it to be an insult, have at it!). Leave it to the British to turn a Peace Victory into an Up Yours. For more Brit slang, look here.

I received a bit of early training: from these guys in this movie.

Chocolate!?!

Chocolate Altoids!
Had my first one today.
I don't get out much.

Got my fill...

of Chinese New Year lions.


















I did. I think I really did. Can you believe it? Me - Never-Get-Enough-of-Chinese-New-Year-Lions-B.

There were oodles of jumping gyrating lions in the San Francisco CNY parade this past Saturday. Accompanied by the easily recognizable, traditional, steady beat of drums gongs and cymbals. Clang Clang Clang Clang.

Once again, I didn't choose to mingle and meld with the crowds at the annual CNY parade this year. It was an option, but really, the next time I attend, it'll have to be ringside with a seat in the stands or with primo vantage viewing on some family association's balcony.

Instead - I watched the festivities on TV and was happy for it.

Here at home in the woods, we don't get the KTVU Bay Area telecast or (are you kidding?!?) any kind of Cantonese TV reception. In order to participate in the holiday, HD and I drove to San Francisco and spent the weekend with family and friends. The weather was unbelievably perfect: sunny, warm and clear with little to no wind. In March! In San Francisco! Almost nevah hoppen! San Franciscans and tourists alike were quite ecstatic.

On Saturday we lunched with my oldest friend (since Kindergarten) who also happened to be in town visiting with relatives. The little hole-in-the-wall eatery Lynn chose was specifically for the Hung Tao Yee WonTon, but I was also lovin' the Hyde Street cable cars rolling by just a few feet from the open front door.

We followed the meal by walking down towards the North Beach/ Nob Hill/ Chinatown neighborhood where we grew up. Reminiscing about our old haunts, we also took in spectacular views from high on the hilltops: landmarks, skyscrapers and the cool blue bay. We even made our way to Grant Avenue and elbowed through throngs of enthusiastic revelers at the Annual Spring Street Fair.
Ah...friends, sights and sounds from then and now...

Back to the parade...watching it on TV often proves to be one of the 'best seats in the house'.
Seeing all those prancing dancing lions on the telly actually satisfied my fix as well as my fill for dancing lions this CNY season. Stating the obvious, televised lion dancing in no way compares to the major thrill n' chill of an in-person encounter. It also goes without saying that beggars can no be choicy!

Once again - I wish you all Gung Hay Fot Choy Happy New Year of the Pig.
I ate like one this weekend, so am off to a most auspicious beginning.

in lieu of dancing...

yesterday (as was my plan) -
I ate cookies.

They weren't even home baked-by-yours-truly cookies. They were store bought.

I enjoy cookies, and will occasionally go on a fave cookie binge. But not too often.
When it comes to cookies, my preference is for crispy. Those that crunch when you bite into them. Soft cookies always seem a bit 'uncooked' to me, and I'm not one to favor raw cookie dough.

However, late last night whilst shopping for even later last night dinner items - I impulsively grabbed a plastic container filled with soft fruit bar cookies. Once in the car, I set the container on the passenger seat - and ate three cookies on the 30 minute drive home. One every 10 minutes or so - how disciplined! I took little bites, savoring the spicy sugary molasses-y flavor, and the tasty bits of dried fruit. They...were...yummy.

Cardinal rule when grocery shopping: Never go when you're hungry.
I did. Had skipped dinner, gone off to a two and a half hour class (sans snacks to tide me over till the next meal), then experienced growly tummy and borderline no-food-shakes by the time class was over.

My intention was to run into the grocery store real quick-like, after class - to shop for meat, veggies, dried cranberries and a loaf of bread. I ended up with quite a few items unrelated to dinner or my (mental) grocery shopping list. Seaweed salad, two kinds of fruit preserves (they were on sale!), several other interesting things as well as the aforementioned soft fruit bar cookies. I had $20 ready to shop, pay and run - but my total for all the essentials + extras came closer to $60.

Eeeps! and Oh well!
There were few shoppers in the store so I could easily navigate my cart through the aisles, I had a good time admiring the food displays and enjoyed a pleasant drive home munching on cookies along the dark, curving forested road. And this morning - well, it was almost like Christmas. The fridge and cabinet full of surprise goodie foodstuffs.

I guess you could say I did do some fancy dancing after all - up and down the aisles of the grocery store?!?
Though no weight loss related exercise associated with the cookies...

Bonus: recipe for a variation of them there cookies.
The checkout cashier informed me that the fruit bar cookies were originally baked in one pan and cut-up into squares to sell. She said the store bakery had since changed the forming of the cookies to sliced, then baked - yielding slightly crisped edges on every piece.
She was pleased about that, and told me I would be too.
Then the bagger placed the box of cookies at the top of one of my bags, so I could get to it easier back at my car...

What service!