Quiz: Which Twin Cities grocery store should you shop at?

The other day as I was reading blogs during lunch, I was inspired by Eden's grocery-store quiz to come up with one of my own.  I realized while reading hers that many grocery-store behaviors may be regionally specific, or even specific to certain areas of town, and that my Trader Joe's shopper may be quite different from yours.  As such, this is a very Minneapolis-focused quiz.  Enjoy!

1) When do you usually do your grocery shopping?
    a. At 3pm on Saturday, or basically whenever the masses decide to venture to the store.
    b. Whenever.  I refuse to work for the man and have a non-traditional/artsy job or am
        a student, so I shop at random times.
    c. 2am on a Tuesday, cause I'm drunk and want pizza.
    d. One of two options:  1 - I don't, my nanny does that for me while I'm at work
        making 6 figures.  2 - Anytime, cause my significant other/spouse is at work making
        6 figures.

2) When I go grocery shopping, my mood is usually:
    a. I am stressed out and ready to kill some bitches.  In the parking lot, in line, in the
        frozen foods section, wherever.  If you come between me and my 10 boxes of cereal
        or the last parking spot, prepare to die.
    b. Kind of spacy.  I tend to wander aimlessly about the produce section, making sure to
        tell all the other customers that the grapes here are THE BOMB.
    c. Meh.
    d. I pretend I'm in no hurry, but really I'm pissed that you are walking so slowly. I am
        totally better than you anyways.

3) When I go to the store, I am usually wearing:
    a. Jeans and a sweater or sweatshirt
    b. Whatever the hipsters are wearing.  Most likely got it at a vintage store (or at Urban
        Outfitters, but I'll still say it's vintage if anyone asks)
    c. The same sweatpants I've been wearing all day and probably slept in last night
    d. Clothes that make me look like a hobo but actually cost $5,000.  Or hipster-ish
        clothes that an actual hipster could never afford.

4) I drive a:
    a. Modestly priced 4-door sedan or small SUV.
    b. Old beat-up VW
    c. Old beat-up anything
    d. Prius.  Or BMW.

5) In line, I:
    a. Don't care if you have to wait behind me while I make the only cashier in this line
        bag my 5,000 items.  I was here first bitch.  And now I will go home and feed my
        family of 5 and dog.
    b. Strike up a conversation about how AMAZING this local organic milk is.
    c.  Have no problem going through the self-checkout with an entire cart full of groceries,
        even if I have no clue how to use the machine.  If not using the self-checkout, I am
        probably old and will pay with a check.
    d. Talk on my cell phone.

Mostly A's - Apparently you have a massochistic streak because you love shopping at Trader Joe's!  You, brave soul, are willing to face poorly designed parking lots and murderous soccer moms just to score a good deal on some frozen Channa Masala, hummus, and $4 Chardonnay.  Good for you!  Just try not to go on a Saturday afternoon because you may not live to tell the tale.

These people have clearly learned their lesson.
source:www.pugetsoundblogs.com

Mostly B's - Congratulations, you shop at The Wedge!  You probably have a couple of tattoos, love yoga and 89.3 the current, and can mysteriously afford all kinds of organic and local produce even though you are a grad student living in a studio apartment.  And just FYI, it's OK that you shop at Urban Outfitters.  Just make sure to put on deodorant before you start trying on clothes.

Don't forget your bike!
source: www.seriouseats.com

Mostly C's - You, my friend, are a Rainbow Foods shopper.  You don't really care whether your produce is organic or your meat free range, because let's face it, you're pretty much here for the potato chips and hot pockets anyway.  You keep doing your thing, but please leave the self-checkout for those who are actually competent at using it.

"Let's try that newfangled self check out line!"
stock image...hence the large X through it

Mostly D's - You shop at Whole Foods.  During the day you make billions of dollars getting your guilty clients off by finding loopholes in the legal system, or figuring out how to deny someone insurance coverage because of a "pre-existing condition" (being left-handed is a pre-existing condition right??) but it's cool because you give a ton of money to Save the Dolphins or some shit.  You are the epitome of Minnesota Nice, and will smile benevolently at me while secretly judging me for the contents of my grocery cart as you tell me about your life-changing journey to an Ashram in India.  Don't lie to me.  It was a resort on St. Lucia but whatever.

www.justlooking.recursion.org

Obviously I am not one to judge.  I shop at the Wedge all the time and my stereotype of a Wedge shopper is pretty descriptive of me, except that a) I don't dress like a hipster or have any tattoos, and b) I am no longer a student and am drawing an actual salary that helps me to afford my organic produce.

My main experience with Rainbow Foods comes from the Lake and Emerson Rainbow.  And yes, I have been there for drunk hot pockets at 3am several times.  And I am seriously convinced that Trader Joe's (at least the ones in St. Louis Park and St. Paul) purposely design their parking lots just to mess with everyone.

Now is not the time, Kato!

Anyone ever seen the original Pink Panther movies? If not, you definitely should - they are so much better than the new Steve Martin versions. Peter Sellers is a genius. But I digress.

If you have seen them, and you do know what I'm talking about, my first childhood exposure to Pink Panther was my dad yelling "Now is not the time, Kato! Now is not the time!!" when my sister would leap at out of some dark corner to pummel him, giggling uncontrollably. She was probably 3 or 4, I was probably 9 or so. This happened frequently and often resulted in bruises. My sister is fierce.

Why do I bring this up now, you ask? This is why:



If there ever was a modern-day, feline version of Kato it would be my parents cat Maggie, who is staying with us for 10 days while my parents are out of town.

Maggie is the master of stealth - except when she's purring. I'm also pretty sure she has no idea what species she is. She might think she's a human, or possibly a dog, but she definitely does not realize she's a cat.

Some other notable traits:
- if she goes for more than about 20 minutes without human company, she goes completely bananas.
- she insists on sitting in a chair during dinner.
- If you are sleeping, she will find you. And she will either a) drool in your ear while purring loudly, b) knead you forcefully with her paws, alsow while purring loudly, or c) sit on the nightstand next to your face, staring at you.
- Maggie enjoys beer.

But it is great having her around. She's a total weirdo and I love her to death.

In other news, today is day 5 of my Yoga Journal Fall Detox - only 2 days to go! It has definitely been an interesting journey and I'll share my opinion of the whole experience after it's done. Here's the short version of days 1-4:

Day 1: Started out not feeling so awesome, but figured it was due to a late night on Friday at First Ave with Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps. I stuck (mostly) to the plan even through my 10 year high school reunion where I was tempted by lots of drinks and apps.


Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps at First Ave

Day 2: Felt a little better than day 1 but still not awesome, and attributed it to continued lack of sleep and also cutting out caffeine. I went to an intense 2-hour yoga practice at The Om Collective with Ali and ran some errands but started feeling pretty exhausted around 5pm, so we stayed in instead of going to a movie like we'd planned.

Day 3: Day 3 was miserable. I woke up with a pounding headache and wanted coffee more than anything in the world but I forced myself to drink green tea instead and tried to get through the 26-minute day 4 yoga sequence. The headache continued all day, rendering me essentially useless at work. I tried to stick to activities that required almost no creative brain capcacity like organizing files and cleaning out my e-mail inbox, but meetings were still a lot of "Sorry could you repeat that?" and "Sure, no problem" having no idea what I had just agreed to. The headache just kept getting worse and even the thought of Kitchiri made me want to vomit so I skipped eating dinner, popped a Tylenol PM for the headache (probably against detox rules...) and went to bed at 8:30.

Day 4: I woke up feeling like a different person. The headache was gone and I didn't feel any strong craving for coffee, so I finally switched from green tea to herbal. I felt a little tired around 4 like usual, but nothing like day 3. And I finally made peace with Kitchiri. Not sure how it happened since I had been feeling such a strong aversion to it but last night I looked at my bowl and thought "you know what Kitchiri, you're not so bad." Kitchiri now feel like my partner - my detox buddy. I'll let you know on day 7 though...haha.

What comes at the end

In Yoga, we often talk about coming to your mat with a beginner's mind. Basically this means that we approach everything with openness, curiosity and a desire to learn. I think of it as having a child-like sense of wonder about everything you do. It is also a lot about humility - we might think we know the best or the only way to approach a situation (or an asana) but if we let ourselves be open to new possibilities, we can have an even deeper discovery.

So, I've been contemplating the beauty of living each experience like it's the first time... but lately I've also been thinking a lot about its opposite. How would you live if you thought that each time you practice yoga, or walk out your front door, or hug someone you love goodbye, could be the last time?

A couple of weeks ago I came across a link to Jennie's blog on Joy the Baker, and then again on Jenna's Blog. When I read about how Jennie lost her husband so suddenly it moved me deeply. I mean, you always know theoretically that anything can happen at any time - but somehow that never felt real until I saw Jennie's blog entries go suddenly from bubbly daily recaps, to devestating loss. I immediately texted Ben to tell him I loved him - what if one of us didn't make it home, and I never got the chance to tell him that again?

I don't mean to sound morbid about it, but for the last week I haven't been able to get that thought out of my head, and I really have been trying to see every moment like it's my last chance - and I don't think that is a bad thing, or a bad way to live. It certainly doesn't mean that I am stressed out or scared of death lurking around every corner - it just means that I try to live each moment as deeply as possible. It means that I hug my parents goodbye a little longer. It means that I take the time to observe and absorb every smell, sight and sound when I walk out the door in the morning, just taking in how beautiful the world is. It means that I savor every bite of food, lingering and reveling in the pleasure of eating. It means that I hold on to my husband a little tighter at night.

Basically, if I or someone I love was, for some reason, not around tomorrow, I want to have no regrets. I don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking "I wish I had said _____ or done ______"... and I don't want their last memory of me to be me blowing them off or being rude or angry.

Again, I do NOT mean this to be depressing...but I think it's something we need to think about more often. Anything can happen, to anyone at any time. How would you live this moment, if you knew it was your last chance?

On a related note, there is a fund set up for Jennie to help her family make it through this extremely difficut time - please visit the Bloggers Without Borders website if you wish to make a donation. I do not know Jennie personally and before last month I had never seen her blog - but I cannot even imagine what she must be going through, and sometimes even total strangers need to band together to lift each other up.

Namaste

Songs for Savasana - My Five Favorites

Wow that is a very alliterative title - and I didn't even plan it that way!

When I was younger, one of my favorite ways to escape the world was to turn on my favorite music and lie on the floor of my bedroom, clearing my mind and letting the music wash over me. Sometimes it was a Beethoven symphony; sometimes it was Chopin; other times it was Fiona Apple or Tori Amos, or when I'd had a really rough day, punk rock. I called it "lying on the floor listening to music."

Now, one of my favorite ways to escape the world is to turn on my favorite music and lie on the floor of my apartment, clearing my mind and letting the music wash over me - only now it usually follows a yoga practice, and I call it "Savasana."

Victor Hugo once wrote: "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words, and on which it is impossible to remain silent." One of the reasons I love music so much - and have studied it for so long - is the profound way it cuts right to my soul - it really does speak in a way that is beyond words alone. Yoga, too, is a way of speaking - a celebration without words... I think a lot of what I love about yoga are the same things I love about music, and the two often come together in a very special way. They help me to remember what is deep inside of me, and to express what I sometimes cannot say.

Although it's easy to think of savasana as "just lying on the ground," it is considered the most important yoga asana, and is actually the final pose in the Anusara syllabus, meaning it is the most difficult. B.K.S. Iyengar said that savasana is "like a snake shedding its skin to emerge glossy and resplendent in its renewed colors" - in other words, it is about letting go. Letting go is not easy. Deep relaxation and meditation are not easy.

It's easy to want to skip savasana - you have to get to class, work, so many other obligations are pulling you off of your mat and out the door. But, being able to let go of those attachments is the whole point of practicing. Even just to spend a minute or two in savasana is better than none at all - and is that one extra minute at work or school really going to make a difference? Enjoy your savasana - let it soak in, and you'll find that your whole life feels less urgent and hectic.

Here are five of my favorite songs for savasana - they all have a sort of floating, suspended quality to them - like time doesn't exist. I love when a song does that.

1) The Cinematic Orchestra "To Build a Home"

My anusara teacher, Ali, played this in class one night and I immediately went home and downloaded it. It is a beautiful song that uses silence as effectively as it uses sound. Never underestimate the power of silence and pauses in music.

2) Arvo Part "Alina"

I discovered Estonian composer Arvo Part in a music history class during my sophomore year of college, and he has stuck with me ever since. All of his music is very minimalist and this piece is no exception - another great example of how silence can be a note. This piece feels endless to me, in a good way.

3) S. Carey "In the Stream"

S. Carey (who works with Bon Iver) has a deep passion for minimalist composers like Part, as well as Phillip Glass and Steve Reich, and you can really tell in his music - lovely, moving and contemplative.

4) Jonsi "Hengilas"

Jonsi is the lead singer for Sigur Ros, who I also love - this song has a very expansive quality that just carries me away the second I hear it.

5) Eric Whitacre "The Seal Lullabye"

I would say without hesitation that Eric Whitacre is my favorite living choral composer. We sang his "A Boy and a Girl" my senior year in the St. Olaf Choir and it broke my heart every time. This is one of his newer works and I love it to pieces.

Do you practice yoga at home? What is your favorite music to relax to? To practice to? Let me know, I am always looking to expand my musical library :)