Some friendly advice...

Everytime I ask another mom at the playground about Bay Ridge, they all tell me the same three things:


1. "Enroll your kids in the "Music Together" classes."

2. "The story time at the library is really good, but one of the libraries in town is closed for renovations."

3. "There's a farmer's market in the Walgreen's parking lot on Saturdays."


Music Together: Basically the same classes we were doing in FL. The difference? In FL it was called "Music with Mar" and it was 82% cheaper.

Story time: Seriously? Seriously? There's a library every 10 blocks and you're complaining that one is closed?!?!? We did the storytime last week. The kids had a great time and we definitely plan on going back.

Farmer's Market: All I could think about the past 2 days was the farmer's market. Today was THE DAY. I couldn't wait to see the organic beef, freshly caught seafood, and bountiful harvest of fruits and veggies I'd heard so much about waiting for me this morning. We got the kids up, had breakfast, got dressed, and headed down the stairs to walk over to the "feastavil."

*** Ok, so I have this problem of getting something stuck in my head, and letting my brain just run wild, until there are not only mountains built from mole hills, but whole mountain ranges. ***

I was really expecting a big deal. If everyone was talking about this farmer's market, it HAD to be cool (and at least mountainous if not a whole range), right? There were five booths. Yes, five. Not 500. Not 50. Just five. There was a booth to sign up for the local food co-op, a booth for seafood (it was hidden in a cooler- the seafood, not the booth), another for beef (no meat, just order forms), and a couple larger ones with fruits and veggies.

We looked at the sunflowers and smelled the fresh eucalyptus (before today, I had only seen eucalyptus at Jo-Anne's & Micheal's). Then, we did what everybody else was doing: we ate copious amounts of free fruit samples. What?!?! You would've done it too! They don't have a Sam's Club here so we're no longer able to take part in the "free lunch if you stuff yourself full of samples" plan. When we realized that they had started monitoring our fruit intake, we decided we better put some things into bags and actually buy something with real money before we got kicked out. Peaches & Nectarines- $2.99/pound. Done. We left with two peaches, three nectarines, and our hands happily patting ourselves on the back for supporting the local Saturday morning market.

FOUR HOURS LATER...

Brian was told earlier this week about a place that's supposed to have the freshest produce and the best deals in Brooklyn. When the kids got up from their naps, we headed over there to scope things out. This place is like the Holy Grail of produce stands. As soon as we walked up, we saw the mountains of peaches... and the $0.49/pound price tag. This morning's pat on the back turned into this afternoon's smack on the forehead. I hate overpaying for things and definitely needed some retail therapy to make myself feel better. So, I filled the buggy. :)

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6 peaches
3 apples
3 oranges
2 limes
3 pounds of cherries
1 cucumber
2 beefstake tomatoes
2 huge onions (really, really huge)
2 heads of leafy lettuce (it looked cool, but I don't know the name)
1 giant spaghetti squash (diet pasta)
6 cloves of garlic (no vampires here!)
1 gallon of milk (we woke up to chunkiness in the fridge)
2 dozen eggs (I'm a sucker for a good deal)
2 hoagie rolls (for the homemade meatball subs I made tonight)
1 softball-sized portion of fresh mozzeralla cheese (also for the subs)
2 cups of freshly grated parmesan (for the meatballs)
4 pickles (the yummy half-sour ones that you can only get in NY)
1 bunch of celery (everybody needs celery)
1 bunch of bananas (for my monkeys... so much for that "drop the -Y and add -IES rule")
2 cartons of orange juice (from FL, of course)
1 package of mushrooms (the regular ones, but they did have portabella's the size of your head... if you have a small head)
6 "real" artichokes (ummm.... yeah I'll be googling how to prepare these)
2 red bell peppers ('cause they're pretty)
3 bunches of green onions (for swordfights)
1 box of apple cinnamon cereal bars (I've tricked the kids into thinking they're cookies)
1 ginormous bunch of basil (can you smell it in my kitchen?)

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TOTAL: $54

This totally made up for getting hosed this morning. If anyone asks me about Bay Ridge, I'll tell them these three things:

1. "Enroll your kids in the "Music Together" classes."
2. "The story time at the library on 73rd is really good."
3. "There's a farmer's market in the Walgreen's parking lot on Saturdays. It's a good place to go for a free breakfast, but don't take too much or they'll give you a dirty look. Oh, and if you actually plan on buying produce, head to 3 Guys over on 65th."