I left work yesterday debating whether to go to the grocery store or Target, decided on the grocery store and then turned to go to Target anyway. After looping back around, getting cut off by a douchebag in a chick car and having to park 2 miles away with a thunderstorm looming, I just wanted to get in and get out.

I was immediately greeted by a congregation of giggling teenagers inside the door (I totally deserve this since my friend Cathy's mom used to tell us all the time to stop the incessant giggling). I maneuvered around them and headed for the produce only to be greeted by a bunch of skinny, tan college students in their short shorts hogging the avocados. I made it around them and headed to grab some spinach. I saw a tall, thin, brunette dressed in a beautiful top--one I would wear out to dinner or to go out with friends--and shorts standing next to a cart pulled up close to my spinach. At the other end of the cart was another brunette, this one shorter and talking on her cell phone. As I approached, the yellow topped girl pulled out her phone and I was officially exasperated.

I had room to get my spinach so I relaxed a little while overhearing the shorter girl's phone conversation: "just press one after you enter the alarm code. Call me back if you have any problems." Her voice was not the teeny bopper high-pitched tone I expected and I acknowledged to myself I really had no good reason to be annoyed with her as she grabbed her baby spring mix and put it in her cart. I never even looked at her once she was back pushing her cart.

I moved on and got annoyed with the older lady blocking all the peppers so she could go put her baby carrots back. It wasn't until I was headed for the fish counter that I glanced at the shorter girl. She had on black shorts and a white button down shirt with a cute, pink headband in her hair. "Wow, she must be related to the Bachelorette." I live in the Bachelorette's hometown, so this is not completely out of left field.

Once I got to the fish counter, I turned around to catch a glimpse of her standing in the cereal aisle. "That may be the Bachelorette," I thought. So, I did what any pop-culture loving girl would do, I headed for the cereal aisle.

I've never been a loyal fan of the the Bachelor or the Bachelorette. My lack of complete fandom combined with the fact that not one single person was talking to her--or even taking a second glance at her--had me doubting my eyes. As I tried to nonchalantly peruse the granola bars, she glanced back at me and I was pretty confident that she was the one.

I relented at that point and got back on track with my own shopping only to end up at the same checkout with a lady in between us. When I saw her smile at the cashier, that sealed the deal. No more doubt. I asked the cashier about it when I got up there and she said that she didn't want to ask her so she just kept saying, "you look really familiar." DeAnna just smiled at her and neither confirmed or denied.

So, not sure what all of this means since I haven't been watching, but for what it's worth, the Bachelorette was shopping in Kroger with her little sister (I discerned this based solely on their interaction in the cereal aisle) on a Tuesday afternoon.

Food Tour 2008

As we traded e-mails in preparation for my upcoming trip to DC, I answer the ubiquitous question over and over again: Is there anything special you want to do?

Mind you, that question came after we had already made the big dinner reservations, but my answer always involved food. Thus, the Food Tour 2008 was born.

Although my plane was an hour late landing (that's what happens when it rains in Atlanta), we still managed to score a great table and the best burger I have ever eaten. We took it easy Saturday morning but stopped on the way to Ginger for some great pizza. Saturday night was incredibly fun and worth every penny.

Brunch on Sunday followed by a girls' gathering on the roof Sunday night with incredible cheese, great wine (in remembrance of our adventures in Provence) and homemade sorbet unofficially brought the Food Tour to a close (although we snuck in a lobster roll today).

Oddly, in spite of my food belly, the food is not what I'll remember most. Instead, it will be snapshots of crying while landing and looking out at the city I so dearly love and miss. It's decades-long friends jumping out of the car to greet me. It will be the immediate sense of comfort I feel--even though they could easily appear in a more tame version of Sex and the City and the majority of my wardrobe came from Target. I'll remember the way that they don't just abide my long stories and spontaneous bursts into song, they encourage them. It will be the satisfaction of the circuity of life--being able to purchase a beautiful dress and support my friend thousands of miles away and the fact that she offers my other friend a discount just for loving me. It will be the laughter--the always present laughter. Be it dragon's breath popcorn or the drum major move that invokes it--we're never short on the laughter. It will be seeing L's face as she gazes into the skyline off the roof deck, "Ya'll, look at the sky," obeying her order to see the beautiful sunset behind our National Cathedral and then turning back around to see the faces of many of those who love me most.

Ends up, Food Tour 2008 was much needed nourishment for my soul.

Now, to work on the food baby.