With lampshades on our heads...

Presenting Kristi and Jamie, of Covington, LA

With lampshades on our heads, we were unstoppable! Well really, we were silly high school girls looking for a way to have fun on a Saturday. My Mom, who is an expert in this kind of thing (I might have to ask her to share a few of her stories one day), helped us get these outfits together.

We decided that we were going to drive off in Kristi's little blue convertible and head downtown. We got some good honks and waving on the way there, and then double-dared each other to walk into Wal-Mart. Which we did.

Kristi has a better memory than me about these sorts of things, so I've emailed her to see what her recollection was. She is an absolute sweetheart and one of the few friends I keep in touch with from high school. She lives in New Orleans, survived Katrina, and is married with two beautiful boys. She makes me drool each April after writing to tell me all the yummy things she ate at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. One thing is for certain, I was lucky to have a girlfriend in high school that knew how to have this kind of fun.

Thursday evenings

During the warm months, San Carlos has a Farmer's Market each Thursday evening on Laurel Street. Last night after work, my Mom and I walked downtown and met my wonderful friend Ana there. Jay and Devo surprised us by showing up later.

We sampled lots of tasty delights, like Afghan spinach bread with a topping of cilantro pesto, some really good cinnamon bread, and amazing nectarines. My Mom couldn't wait to show us how long the lines were for the truck with the whole roasted chickens. She thought that $11.50 was too expensive because it's more than Draegers even! We agreed but pointed out that $6.50 was pretty good to spend for dinner on a 1/2 chicken that comes with potatoes.

The fruit at this market is better than what you can get at Whole Foods, and it lasts in your fridge up to a week longer.

I might need to cancel my fruit and vegetable box for the summer as this is too much fun and accomplishes the same thing, which is: getting healthy food for my family and in turn, supporting the local farmers.

Oh yes, I purchased the Afghan bread with pesto topping and the amazing nectarines.

The berries in Ana's photo were sold by a woman who topped off each box of berries with about 1/2 a box of more berries. She did this for Ana, me, and my Mom, with a straight face and a heart of pure generosity. It stood out big in this world. You can have nice days, hard days, days filled with all kinds of things, but the woman who filled your basket with extra berries will stay in your mind and encourage you to be the same way.