Trading Joe's
Ah, the vast array of cheeses, affordable wines, organic veggies, whole grain breads and fresh-cut-from-the-greenhouse flowers abound at Trader Joe’s. What a foodie’s paradise! A coffee cornucopia. Samples to treat oneself with around every corner. It can be bliss, but for me, well, it’s not. Every single time I’ve ventured into Trader Joe’s the family has been in tow. There is just too much of “Mommy, look at this!” and “Where did your Daddy go?” (Usually we find him standing mesmerized in front of the cheese display, torn between the Stilton or the Brie.) I can't seem to completely enjoy the experience, and then, there’s the crowds. Our little corner of the world used to be considered a large town, or a very small city. Raleigh, North Carolina has boomed since I was a child into a population of over one million. Given that, in the entire county, there are only two Trader Joe’s with a square footage up to 15,000 square feet. That might sound large, but most grocery store cha...