Why I Oughta...

There I was, perusing the ice cream novelty section over at the Westmont Mariano's when I see a little box on one of the shelves.  It couldn't be?  Could it? It's-it?  For real?  Here in the Midwest?  Sure enough!  I grabbed a box and scurried to the checkout line.  Proud of myself for bringing home this sweet treat.  When I got home, I showed them off to Natalie who wasn't as impressed as I was with myself. These are more than novelties.   To me.  They put me in a specific place.  In a specific time in my life. There's only one place that I have ever had It's-It ice cream sandwiches:  the main Google cafeteria from 2007 to 2013.  Back in the childless days of our lives, Nat came out to Mountain View with me and (apparently) ate at the Google Cafeteria.  Because she remembers having an It's-It then. This box is a three pack and it is outrageously priced.  But, time and place transportation isn't che...

Earlier this month, I posted about Nature's Best Market in Westmont and the deal they had on Chellino Scamorza Cheese out of Joliet.  Nature's Best Market sells it for $5.99 and that's quite a bit cheaper than what I normally see the stuff at Italian markets or a place like Angelo Caputos or Pete's Fresh Market.   I can't say it enough:  go find this Chellino Scamorza cheese .  If you are in the business of making pizzas at home, it will change the way you dress your pies.  It is super salty and seems to have a very high burn point, so you can really cook your pies well done and not come away with a very dark/too dark top.   The reason why I'm posting about it again, is that I've now found a second source that is in close proximity to our #newoldfarmhouse :  Angelo's Italian Market on 55th Street in Downers Grove .    Having lived in Downers Grove for more than half-of-a-year, I've now driven by this place more th...

At Pete's Fresh Market in Villa Park, I spotted these Choco-X Toys in the checkout aisle.  These are basically knock off Kinder Eggs, I think.  But they have official Marvel branding, so they must be legitimate in some fashion?  These are written in Spanish, so maybe these are the Mexican Kinder alternative? Wonder why we can't get Kinder Eggs, but we can get these?  Kinder has these same kind of 'scoop the chocolate out' of eggs with the 'surprise' on the other side now, so the whole child eating the Kinder Egg and choking on the little toy thing seems to be a non-issue? Either way, get to Pete's on Roosevelt for all your Easter Basket needs.

I was at Mariano's in Naperville over the weekend when I came across a huge Hi-C display on one of the end caps.   And...it took me a moment to figure out what was going on here.  The whole juicebox world has been shaken up and now Natalie brings home organic, healthy, what-have-you juice boxes for the kids that are mostly from Trader Joe's and she usually turns her nose up at things like Capri Sun and the like. But...Hi-C?  I think she'd call it sugar water.  But...but...but...she's a HUGE Ghostbusters fan.  In fact, her whole family is bonkers for Ghostbusters.  I'm talking DIY Halloween costumes in the 80's and 90's and holding on to vintage Ghostbusters toys for future grandkids-kinda bonkers.  Good bonkers, btw.  But...Ghostbusters bonkers. So, I put them in the cart and brought them hope.  Guess what?!?  She loved them!  Fired off a few photos to her brothers scattered around the country.  The kids drank them up. ...

You know the feeling.  You just wrassl'd the alligator that is putting your kid into the shopping cart only to find out that the strap to keep them in there is broken.  The fine folks at Meijer have solved that problem with this crazy smart design.  See the red clip on the right?  It is a retractable belt that plugs into the left.   There's no way these can get caught in the seat itself and snap/break. Smart thinking, Meijer.  Oh...this isn't the first smart thing they're doing:   they have 'open out doors' on their bathrooms .