ALDI. MY LOVE.

Man, I love summer. I mean, I really really love summer. I feel so incredibly lucky that I have a job that allows me to be done working at noon or so most days.

Yesterday after work, I grabbed James and we headed to Aldi and did some shopping. If you’ve never tried Aldi, you need to. It is SO CHEAP but still good quality. I have some Doubting Thomas friends (well just one that I really know of) who think you absolutely should not buy meat from Aldi…but they never have, so how would they know?? I get lots of ground beef and chicken there, and last night I cooked some baby back ribs I got. They also have a rotation of stuff that seems to be mostly seasonal. Right now they have some fun summer stuff…I saw yesterday a six piece (table, four chairs and umbrella) patio set for $60! What a steal! I might have to get one. I think that is so great! They also have slip and slides, blow up pools, pool toys, and I have in the past bought a cordless stick vacuum that I like. The best part of Aldi is their $2.69 bottles of Winking Owl wine. It’s pretty good stuff, actually.

One of our favorite dinners starts with a $5 GIANT cheese pizza (I’m saying, I literally might not be able to put my arms around the circumference of this thing) and add toppings of our choice. Quick and easy and we can use turkey pepperoni and veggies to keep it semi-healthy.

Anyway back to loving summer. After Aldi, James and I went to Target to buy the few things that we couldn’t get at Aldi (the one drawback of Aldi, but with the money you save, its worth it if you have the TIME to go to two places), and I decided that James and I needed an indoor activity since it’s so flippin’ hot outside. We got an 800 piece Star Wars puzzle. James “helped” me do the border, and then he pretty much lost interest. Not Dorky Me, though! I spent probably another 1.5 hours on the thing. Haha. So much for togetherness. Well, he did play his DS at the table next to me…you have to appreciate the small things, right?

James at Target yesterday…isn’t he cute?? Yes, I let him go out like that in public with orange crap on his face. Who cares?? Not THIS lazy momma!

 

Clara’s still at the beach with her dad. I miss her like crazy! She texted me a photo she took of herself in which she is SUNBURNED! That is pretty much one of the biggest sins you can commit in my house. Someone is getting a spanking…not sure yet if it’s her, her dad or both.

So…summer. Yes. Today James and I are meeting Stace and Andrew at the pool. When it is this hot out, the pool is kind of like bath water, and the only relief from the heat is when you first get out of the pool and stand in front of the fan for the 10 seconds before all the water on your body evaporates. Don’t care, it’ll be fun! Always have fun with Stace. :)

Ok so, if you do decide to try Aldi out, here are a few things you need to know:

1. Bring a quarter. You use the quarter to get your grocery cart, but you get it back when you return the cart to the corral. One of the ways the groceries are cheaper – Aldi doesn’t have to spend money on cart people.

2. Bring your own bags, or be prepared to buy some. They sell paper sacks for like 15 cents or something, but they also sell reusable earth-friendly bags. I have collected a lot of those over the last few months since I started shopping there. And don’t forget your reusables when you go!

3. Bring cash or a debit card (or a food stamp card, however that works). They don’t take checks or credit cards!

4. Be prepared to sack your own stuff…another way they save money. Also it makes the lines go FAST. Each Aldi item has like, I dunno, three bar codes, so no matter which way the cashier swipes them across the checker, it beeps. So they don’t waste any time looking for the bar code or trying to bag stuff for you. By the time I’m done loading the conveyor belt, they’re done scanning my stuff.

I think that’s about it. If you try Aldi, let me know! Tell ‘em Large Marge sent ya.