Piggly Wiggly

I have this theory when I travel that you can tell a lot about a place by the most basic items in their local grocery stores.  I've been in small neighborhood grocery stores in Paris, Germany, Mexico, Canada and I also seek them out in the United States when I can find small independently owned ones (if you read my blog, you know I love to find groceries in Japan town, etc.).  I even make my friends take me to Wawas when I'm back east.  Wawa is not too unique content-wise (although I love the Hostess v. Tasty Cake divide that happens between the east and west coast) but I love the name and you can't find a Wawa out where I live.  So what has been my holy grail of all unique groceries?  Piggly Wiggly, naturally.

If you've read any books (or seen movies) about the South.  Piggly Wiggly was probably in there somewhere.  Every angst-filled Southern teen grabbed at least one soda from the PW at some point in some story you've read.  So imagine my delight when some of my Fiskateer friends (and by friends, I mean that crafters who I had never met but took time out of their day to drive out and meet me because we share that crazy bond that people who love their hobbies share) in Tennessee went out of their way to find a Piggly Wiggly to take me to.  To quote Project Zoe for the millionth time:  It was bananas.  The logo?  I die.

If you haven't traveled with me, you think I'm exaggerating.  Piggly Wiggly IS "just" a small grocery store.  There were probably, maybe, 4 registers with only one lane open.  But the thing is, I LOVED the signs out front*, I loved the crazy logo that apparently was not so subtly stolen from Warner Bros. Porky Pig drawings.  Most of all, I loved the Piggly Wiggly branded food.  Who would guess such a small store would have their own spaghetti?  And lastly, but not leastly, I loved the dentally challenged (cashier? stock boy?  manager?) who literally offered me the Piggly Wiggly shirt right off his back when he found out that I was elated to be in a Piggly Wiggly all the way from Reno, Nevada.  And I equally loved the cashier ringing me out who leaned over and, in that great Tennesee accent, made it clear, in a low voice, that I really and truly needed to re-think taking her co-worker's shirt.  On second glance at the generous man, I truly appreciated the cashier's wisdom and foresight.  And P.S.  I made Piggly Wiggly brand spaghetti and sauce last night and you know what, it was inexpensive and pretty darned good- even subtracting the fun factor of my kids chanting about eating Piggly Wiggly Pasta during the whole meal.  Thanks PW & thanks Ziggyeor, Bettye & Pinky for trusting me when I told you that I would enjoy Piggly Wiggly more than any other Nashville landmark you could take me to.

*and here, guilt dictates that I point out that I'm not making fun of food stamps here- my own family had their own food stamp moments in the early 70's.  But am I laughing about advertising it on a huge sign with a faux Porky?  Maybe.

Seeking Part-time Employee (Ghost Writer)

This is a ghost writer position.  Posted position requires applicant to write occasional blog posts here at www.angeladaniels.squarespace.com when blog author is overwhelmed with other chores and responsibilities (i.e. catching up on bad reality TV, eating candy, crafting, etc.).  Candidates must
be witty, smart and good at self-editing.   Candidates must be comfortable blogging in the voice of the current blog owner and will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement to never reveal themselves as the writer of this blog.  Topics to be considered:  Bad reality TV (Toddlers and Tiaras fans will be given special dispensation), candy reviews, craft-related bargains, etc.  Salary negotiable but will include up to 1 free pair of Fiskars scissors (out of the packaging but only gently used), bits of ribbon and the opportunity to babysit 2 amazing children.  For free.

Applications now being accepted.

Sigg and Whole Foods

A few years ago, I experienced a health crisis that left me shaken and will probably be in the back of my mind forever.  Around the same time, I had several close friends give birth to babies that have genetic issues that are rare and scary.  What I do when I'm nervous about something is I research it exhaustively.  It helps me feel like I'm in control.  And I take action on what I can, even if my skeptical mind knows the adjustiment may be so minor as to not even be effective.  It still soothes me to learn everything I can about an issue and control what I can to soften the blow of the unpredictable.

So, after that health crisis had passed, I started reading about environmental hazards.  Out went my speical treat- water bottles and our big water cooler.  I loved my water cooler but the water was brought to my house in big #7 plastic bottles so I made the switch to filtered tap water- mqaybe a little reactionary and silly but again, I wanted to feel in control of something.  But how to tote the water around our house?  Naturally I opted for Sigg bottles.  I have a weird, inexplicable faith in European standards- very often they seem to be on the cutting edge of health safety that the US only catches up with a year or more later (just my impression, anyway).  So Siggs it was- despite the fact that they're costly.  So each of my precious babies has gone to bed with their Sigg bottles each night since and I've felt just a little more, well, in control of BPAs, leeching plastic and all those other health concerns hinted at here in the US.

Three days ago, I saw this: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/689714 Turns out Sigg has had BPAs all along but didn't feel the need to share the information because they probably are safe.  Wow.  Are you kidding me?  I should have known- all my need to control our environment and I'm out of the pot and into- not exactly the fire really but back into the pot.  So here's the deal. My local Whole Foods is exchanging Sigg bottles for free.  Hassle-free.  You bring in the old, BPA liner bottles and you get to pick our replacements with the now (fingers-crossed they're being up-front now) BPA-free bottles (graphic below is from http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/sigg-bottles-now-bpa-free.php and I really suggest you click there and read the facts about this Sigg issue- it's really not THAT big of a deal but I still feel frustrated).

You GO, Whole Foods.  I wrote Sigg a minorly scathing letter and asked about replacements and got this reply:  "Please visit http://mysigg.com/bulltin  where we have information on how you can replace your bottles through our exchange program." Apparently with me paying the shipping costs.  Meanwhile Whole Foods steps up to make this convient for me.  Guess who I feel some loyalty toward now?  My only hope is that Sigg PAYS for these replacement bottles from Whole Foods because, while I DID replace my kids' 5 bottles and I feel relatively secure with them, I have no plans to buy more in the future.  I'm still miffed.

Tru Blood Soda

Yes, I know.  It's kind of gross.  And yet it's intriguing.  The official Tru Blood Beverage site descibes it as" This blood orange flavored soda is slightly tart, lightly sweet and subtly carbonated" and prices it in accordance with it's fine wine-like description.  Limited market for a limited time-frame- pretty cool as far as marketing goes.  And you know how I love a theme.  Any bets as to if I'll order some for the season finale?  Anyone wanna go halfsies?

Our FaerieWorlds Trip

I just can't figure out how to edit these photos down.  Everywhere I turned on this vacation, I felt like I needed to snap a photo.  I just created a Shutterfly book as a surprise for Tabitha and it was a struggle to keep it to 30 pages.  At least you can speed up a Slide show, right?

So what do you think? Who's in? Road trip to FaerieWorlds next summer for sure! We'd better start working on our wings soon!

Remember Flamingo (Firefly) Friday?

So as you know from reading my blog, I'm having a party-planning kind of summer. If you remember my "Real Housewives of Reno" party (I blogged about it here), you might remember that I had a drink station representing each cast of Bravo's Real Housewives." Naturally, Atlanta's cast was all about the bottle of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka I had just received from my friends in South Carolina. I was a little too smug, telling everyone about my special "imported" (meaning from SC) bottle.  It would have been a bigger hit if I had served it correctly (I was supposed to add a splash of water or seltzer and a squeeze of lemon so it would taste more like sweet tea- oops- I served it neat, on the rocks!). I was a little disappointed that I didn't share the full effect of the drink I was so proud of "discovering" during my summer jaunt to the South...

... Which brings me to the highly alliterative Flamingo Friday I've also blogged about (here). You remember how my neighbors get together every Friday in the summer and take turns hosting cocktails in their front yards (the pink flamingos in the yard tell us where the party is hence the name "Flamingo Friday")? Well, I was going to take one more turn this summer hosting cocktails in for our neighborhood and I've been thinking of how I could share the rest of my bottle of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka when I read on Twitter that Firefly Vodka is looking for the most entertaining and creative stories about about why 50 people should win a party pack. Well hot dang, that sounds like it's got Flamingo Firefly Friday written all over it, right?

So here it is- my shameless entry right here on my blog. I'm not sure if I'm being entertaining or creative enough yet but if FireFly Sweet Tea Vodka has that big ol' metal Firefly Sweet Tea dispenser in the party pack- they show them in their store graphics but they must be out of stock- and an extra bottle or two of the Firefly Sweet Tea AND they deem this photo and blog entry amusing enough to win one of their party packs, I'm gonna re-name our parties "Firefly Fridays" (which is even more alliterative- and yes, that's a real word, I looked it up), put on an anntena headband (to get that firefly look) and put up some twinkle lights on the garage and call it a party. Heck, I think I'll even buy everyone Mason jars to drink it from- that's the way sweet tea (vodka'd or otherwise) should be served. What do you think? The photos from our Firefly Friday should be a rich photo opportunity and blogging about it will be a nice way to round out the blog posts I've done about summer parties this year, don't you think? Maybe Firefly Vodka will think so too.

Faerie WHAT?

I pulled it off.  I semi-tricked my husband into agreeing to drive us 10 hours to Eugene, Oregon so we could camp out at FaerieWorlds.  If you've never been, it's like the Renaissance Faire but with wings.  And more vegan food.  And maybe more semi-nudity.  With wings.  I loved it, my son tolerated it (I warned him that sometimes Faeries weren't into wearing a lot of clothes and he thought I was kidding until he saw his first pair of bosoms at the gate but you know what's cool, a few pair of bosoms later and he was over it.  No big deal and really, teaching my kids about a little cultural diversity- even Faerie culture- is something I'm all for).  Even my husband hardly grumbled at all.  And Tabitha and I?  Oooo, we'll be back next year!  The photo ops and the people-watching were divine!

PugCakes

A weekend in Philly with my college best friend, a copy of Hello Cupcake, 48 Tootsie Rolls, 50 Starburst, 1/2 a dozen Michael Vick jokes and a birthday party for a pug-loving friend.  Need I say more?

Re: Next April Fool's Day

Someone remind me to make these cheeseburger cupcakes.  I've been looking for something to top the meatloaf cupcakes and poundcake grilled cheese sandwiches I made this year.  These are COOL!  I'd like to serve them with the April Fool's day punch from this recipe:  http://www.lifetime.com/tipssolutions/celebration/article.aspx?postid=2134.  Now I just have to think of a real main course to off-set all the sugar.  What on Earth would I do if I didn't have kids?  There are only so many times I can send in fake letters of resignation on April Fool's day to work before someone calls my bluff!

Food & Floyd

Reading back on my past few blog entries, I seem to have gotten into a party-throwing kick.  It's summer, it's nice outside and my kids are getting older so I guess it's a natural progression.  Anyway, I thought I'd share that I invited a bunch of friends and neighbors to a Food & Floyd night this Friday. It's simple- you all meet at a casual restaurant and then it's off to your local planetarium to see if they have a Pink Floyd laser show.  Our local planetarium has a Dark Side of the Moon show and a show for The Wall.  It was pretty much everything I like in a night out:  a little strange, slightly cheesey and yet fun and low-key all at the same time.  Fun enough that we're planning on going a second time this summer (we saw the Dark Side of the Moon show so next up will be The Wall).  Everyone had old college or high school stories to be nostalgic about and we felt that we were helping out our small (and slightly struggling) planetarium too.