fruits unknown.

Finding joy in small, simple things: this seems to be happening more and more lately. I love a collection of all-white dishes neatly stacked up, a slice of perfectly toasted bread, a walk downtown at dusk, and Eli's little wiggle as he crawls through the house.

On Friday, the baby & I spent a glorious hour and a half at our brand new Whole Foods Market. I seriously felt like I was galloping through WiLly WOnKa's ChoColate FacTory...amazing wonders every place I turned. And that was just the produce section.

Eli sat perched atop my shoulders as we surveyed the crayon box of imported flowers near the entrance. Delicate tulips, miniature calla lilies, vintage blue hydrangeas, large pots of rusty fall mums, and an assortment of fragrant herbs.

I let Eli examine the exotic prickly fruits that resembled baby porcupines, and he squealed and squirmed with curiosity at the buffet of dragon-fruit, leafy tangerines, quince, and papaya. He reached out to sink his fingers into a trough of jumbo cranberries bobbing in a water bath.

Exploring the vast display of blue-footed mushrooms and small, skinny fungi with tiny hats reminded me of Fantasia characters. A wall of unique vegetables included sea beans, baby zucchini with their blossoms in tact, and stalks of lemongrass resting next to a pile of folded banana leaves and chunks of aloe plant. I'm now inspired to try a recipe full of gourmet ingredients I've never used before. I don't have a clue what sea beans taste like, but they seem like they'd be fun to cook with.

From there we explored aisle after aisle. Whole fish laid out on beds of chipped ice like you see in European markets. Eli reached toward a shelf of bottled vinegars with pretty labels. I snatched a decadent sample of spicy mayan-chocolate truffle while he played with my eyelash curler and tried to be patient.

I managed to resist [a lot of] temptation and only bought two brown sackfuls of groceries...a jar of organic applesauce for my hungry co-shopper, a package of fresh Naan to accompany our Indian meal, a box of no-pudge brownie mix & some tea for jeremy, and a bit of produce for myself: avocados, pears, shallots, sweet potatoes, basil, and a mango.

Yesterday, I took Jeremy back with me and we each picked out a few things. He chose more Indian ingredients (becoming a favorite), 1/3 pound of mocha java, and a chocolate bar with raisins and pecans. I chose a container of sushi, spicy sesame noodles with tofu, and some dried cranberries to toss into salads.

As we left, I told jeremy that one of my *dreams* is to be able to shop at Whole Foods for everything we need each week. He said it was fun to watch my excitement as we walked around a grocery store.

Small, simple things.