Hanging out at Whole Foods

Gotta big ol' crush on Whole Foods, and it gets deeper every time we shop in the Reston store. By we, I mean me and the 4-year-old, who make up the 11 a.m. lunch crowd in their dine-in area. Yup, that's right, dine-in area. Sometimes we sit at the bar-style counter facing the walls, sometimes we sit at the tables, but it's become one of our weekly lunch spots. I feel like such the virtuous mom as she piles into a small tub of fruit and I chow down on a rosemary roll and French onion soup. The soup can be found at the salad bar, but I've also had the mushroom quesadilla from the cold section—all of which have been great. Have yet to try their sushi (still addicted to the take-out sushi from Harris Teeter) or anything from their prepared foods section (salmon, steak, chicken, you name it, they have it). The absolute highlight, though, is their dessert bar and display case. I've been in such awe that I haven't brought myself to buy much more than an oatmeal cookie.

I also couldn't resist getting one, OK two, of their new reusable bags, made of 80 percent recycled plastic bottles, for 99 cents each. I could never remember to bring the plain blue ones I got from Giant, but these are so bright and cheerful there's no way I'll forget them. As I reveled in my new grocery bags (yeah, simple things make me happy) while eating, I also noticed they provide pads so you can write down your grocery list, which seems backward to me because we eat after we shop. Anyhow, as we left the dine-in area, she picked up a free calendar that I can now use to teach her days of the week.