Humm….meat 80/20…I like it…straight forward….I’ll take it…

“Hum, economy must be bad, even rich people are coming here now…” Construction dude in the ratty tee shirt says as he glides his cart full of no name products past me.

I snickered and looked around for the coach toting, Lexus driving stay at homer…um…hum, that’s weird….there was no one else in the aisle..

Wait, was he was talking about me?????

I am in love with the poor mans Walmart, and like when I get a full fat latte after running on a Saturday, I’m not apologizing.

I am so tired of having to take out a home equity to fill up my cart, and yes, I have tried coupon clipping. But that took hours to clip them, match them up to what I need, correlate with which store has a sale, and literally 3 hours and 3 trips to 3 different stores. I came home 56 richer but about 6 times pissier with a whole Saturday afternoon shot…..

So off to Aldi I go.

I know this seems counterintuitive to my #5 “learn more about food” on my bucket list, but since the rest of my crew’s food vocab is plain, regular and “why does this have fruit in it I’m not eating it!” buying stuff for them doesn’t apply here.

Yeah, you have to put a quarter to get a cart loose and bring your own bags…and my kids love to make fun of the names of the products… “Look E, mom bought Casa Mamita salsa!” said K with a Groucho Marx accent….but honestly I have been comparing ingredients and seriously I can’t imagine that smushed up pig parts in these hot dogs are worse then those in the big name stores.

So, $44 for a cart ¾ full…. I’m on it…

And dude, if you think I’m rich, you apparently don’t get out much around here….Go check out Wegman’s to see how the other half really lives….

“Kiss my Grits!” “Wait, nevermind, give those back, they are amazing!!”

Grits..with cheese…pair that with Eggs Benedict with creamed spinach, artichokes and bloody mary overflowing with schmutz…picked okra, olives and a huge celery stick..

Oh Savannah…..If I could marry you I would be waiting breathlessly in Johnson square, in a honeysuckle filled breeze, with Savannah Dan as our officiant….

What a great time our girls trip was to Savannah, here are some of the highlights.

*The Squares – the historic part of the city is set up in a grid, with these beautiful mini parks you have to drive around dotting the inside…like a Jersey loop…only so, not….think huge live oaks, park benches and chirping birds…ahhhhh….Im working on trying to convince our homeowners association to add this to our cul de sac….and homes on the square….with the ivy and ironwork…Im thinking its going to be tough to get M to cave to a gas light post in the front but I will try….

*You let us walk around… with alcohol….coming from a state that has strict open container laws, we are aghast when our wonderful tour guide not only told us we can bring a cocktail along, but encouraged us to stop at a bar and get one along the way….( I swear I did not Whoot-Whoot in typical cougar style…..but it was in my head…) and for a group of 8 women away from their husbands and kids for 4 days, this was like going to Disneyworld ….

*You do everything….real, real, slow….I have to say this annoyed the shit out of this “used to having everyone drive up my ass Yankee” on the way out of the airport, (I was Dale Junioring it around some hoop-dee pickups, till I remembered what people told me about Southern Police officers….that they make my mean grade school nun principal look like a chump – but I have to say I started to get used to the long, lounging lunches, just sitting in a park bench in the quiet, (which is scarce in the North, we love our noise…) and not having people constantly trying to push past me/run over me….(they wait for you to cross the street at the crosswalks for God sake!)

Your food…..(see above)…was just a taste of what we had, from cheese plates to martini marinated beef tips to huge ice cream Sundaes at Leopolds…..lets just say its going to take a week and a lot of Kashi to get us all normal, but it was soooo worth it! I saw a group of Southern ladies come in from a Susan G Koman 5K at like 10 AM at a restaurant/bar on River Street…and all order Bloody Mary’s….I teared up, I swear, you people know how to live!!!!

We didn’t get to see it all, so I will be back….maybe I can entince M to go with me with a trip to Fort Pulaski and a day at Tybee with all you can eat Crabs…..

Oh, I only have one two complaints….seriously, what is up with your Ninja mosquitos? Never saw an insect and came home covered in bites where the sun hasn’t seen since August ….sneaky buggers…and you have got to put back the Forest Gump bench for us movie lovers!!….

Thanks Ya’ll, we will be back!!!!!