Sproiiiiiing!

That sound? That's Spring. It sprung yesterday, I'm just a little behind. Had enough work stuff to go in for on my day off that I didn't want to start playing in the dirt yesterday. My work events were spread out just enough that by the time I would have gotten good started I'd have had to stop and get a shower. So I just bought a few more supplies, motivated myself with a trip to the new mall in Ridgeland, and am ready to get seriously dirty today.

Speaking the mall, one of two stores we actually went in was Fresh Market, and geezum petes! Anybody else ventured out there yet? There weren't as many people as I expected walking out the mall, Barnes & Noble had quite a few shoppers, but Fresh Market was packed. After fighting our way around the store to browse we realized why. Having lived in small Mississippi towns and cities all my life, I've never seen a selection of fresh food like that in a store. They had apples the size of my head! (Greg would like to point out that the apples have gotten quite a bit bigger every time I've talked about them. But they were huge.)

They had fresh meat like I've never imagined - no plastic wrapped meat here. It was all under a case with multiple attendants. Whole chickens, bright, fresh ground beef, a variety of fish steaks - the swordfish steak was the biggest piece of fish I've ever seen. I just stopped and stared with my mouth hanging open. We stalked a guy giving out pineapple samples and oh my goodness I am so going back for one of those (there was no way I was waiting in that line to get one yesterday, although I did break down and buy a whole one at the grocery store last night. I know it won't be as good, but it's better than canned!). Greg was also impressed that they served the sample pineapple on a pretzel stick instead of a toothpick. No waste. They also had a very tiny selection processed food and a small freezer section, but I didn't get to explore it very closely. And there was a bakery section, but with Greg and I avoiding bread for a little while after our risk assessments, we made an effort to get out of there quick. I'd hoped they would have a fresh grain bin where you can grind your own meals like Rainbow has, but I didn't see one (they did have huge bins of coffee beans!). They easily could have had one and I missed it, considering the number of people in there and my rush through.

But I digress. It's a good thing the store's in Ridgeland, because if it was on this side of town I'd either become clinically depressed or clinically broke very quickly. Greg said something about letting me shop there as a Christmas gift. Heh. The store seemed very small, which I'm sure has to do in part to the fact that they weren't sure exactly how well it would be received here and in part to the fact that they couldn't possibly keep the stock that fresh if they kept much more of it! And it may seem bigger with less than four hundred people in it. The produce section was just amazing. Many of the same types of produce I can find at Kroger, just bigger, fresher, and better looking. The artichokes... oh wow. They looked like real artichokes, not brown and getting mushy. And they had different varieties of asparagus, not just one small pile. And the apples.... I'm telling you, the size of a beach ball...