Swampcandy and Naked Leafy Kale were the highlights of my day yesterday. Seriously. It isn’t the way I planned my day, but I sure like how it ended up! After a day and a half consumed with helping my daughter wrap up a major school project, we needed a day of utter abandonment. The combination of a gloomy rainy day outside and free premium movie channels inside made it very tempting to curl up on the sofa and waste away the day in a haze of brainless movies and intermittent naps. But the call of retail therapy beckoned and off we went.
We opted for a quick stop at Whole Foods for lunch on our way out, knowing we could quickly get everyone what they wanted and be on our way. With the plethora of choices, it would be easy to “divide and conquer” and get on to the business of some serious shopping. Oh, the best laid plans…
Two and a half hours later, we’d found ourselves wondering “when did Whole Foods became so fun?” We did some unexpected grocery shopping (of course, John Mackey, you retail God, I bow to you!), walking the perimeter of the store and nibbling on the samples that became about $40 worth of unplanned groceries now in my refrigerator and pantry; had a spin at the Sushi counter so my daughter could get her Edamame and Uramaki fix; let Dad taste a few sample pulls of some craft beers and then wandered (back) over to the Seafood area to make good on the “you can have fish and chips if I can have sushi” promise of a nine-year-old.
Somewhere in all that wholesome organic goodness, my family forgot about the rest of our plans and just relaxed. We weren’t rushing anymore to get through lunch and get to the mall, we weren’t stressing over the list of things needed to be finished so we could get back home (to the free movies, sofa and nothingness), we were enjoying the spontaneity of the day.
The icing on the cake was this amazing little indie band set up in the middle of the store cranking out some great Mississippi, foot-stompin’ Blues. Once they started thumping that bass and pumping out some seriously good music, we had no choice but to order another drink (non-alcoholic, gluten-free beer for me, please…honestly…I wanted to try something new!) and listen to their entire set. So, hat’s off to Swampcandy, my new favorite CD just might be their The Dirty Suite, a wicked combination of blues and rock I am thrilled to discover!
We did finally get on with our day and zipped through the rest of our critical shopping. But our navigating through traffic had a little extra pep as we cranked a new CD we picked up, felt a little more relaxed and pleased with our new discoveries.
My other favorite little spontaneous splurge? A decadent container of Brad’s Raw Naked Leafy Kale Chips. Holy smokes…I cannot believe dehydrated kale can be so unbelievably good! Forget potato chips, these little leafy green gems are over-the-moon deliciousness! You don’t have to be a raw foodie or living a gluten-free, vegan-free lifestyle to justifying these bad boys! A small trust fund might help, but what a treat of yummy goodness! I tossed them in the basket in a moment of “I need some veggies” weakness and now I am hooked!
Plan your day, but be open to the unexpected surprises a little spontaneity and flexibility can toss your way. I’m thinking my day yielded some new music, some new food options to spice things up around here and maybe even a business lead to pursue. For me? I think this being spontaneous thing has a future!
Life...Outrageously Real Insights. 