eating my way through a store…

Yesterday morning, Rhon and I went to the grand opening of the new Whole Foods Market in Dr. Phillips. We went early for the free advertised breakfast, which was basically croissants and coffee or OJ, and the free tote bag of goodies, so we were in line by 7:30am.

Grand Opening Schwag PileOnly for best friends and free stuff will I get up that early voluntarily. LOL

But I think I have a new fave grocery store. I’d never been in a Whole Foods before because I never had one nearby. Even in Orlando, I would have had to drive up to Winter Park. But this new one is only 10 min away and is on the way home from both mine and Rhon’s new jobs, if we go the alternate route up Turkey Lake Rd.

I think I like it because the prices are actually pretty reasonable and also, I hate to cook, so the huge deli/prepared foods area holds a big appeal. I mean why slave over a BBQ brisket, mashed potatoes and veggies when you can just pick it up already cooked and bring it home? LOL

But I also like that you can sample stuff so you don’t drop the money only to find you don’t like it. And omg, did we sample yesterday. We tried a $17 prosciutto, salami, three kinds of cheeses (of course, my fave turned out to be a Wisconsin cheddar LOL), vegan roasted red pepper soup, hummus made from edamame and another made from sweet potatoes, and organic pineapple, oranges and strawberries. They also had fresh gelato (thumbs up to the coconut) and that BBQ beef brisket was finger-sucking good. We spent two hours in there and walked out almost full.

But to our surprise, the sampling didn’t end at the store. Those tote bags I mentioned? Full of all kinds of samples, including organic chips and cookies, full-sized packages of creamy tomato soup and Newman’s mints, and several kinds of teas and smoothies. There were also several health and beauty samples including Kiss My Face and Burts Bees stuff, and to our surprise, even a cute silver-plated bracelet. All total, I would estimate each bag had like $40 or so worth of samples. You can see the haul in the photo.

I did a write up on it for Metroblogging Orlando and I uploaded a bunch of photos to Flickr, for those who want to know more about the store. Here’s a few of my fave shots from the batch.

Whole Foods Market : Phillips Crossing Grand Opening Whole Foods Market : Phillips Crossing Grand Opening

Of course, being up so early, after being up late writing, meant I basically slept most of the afternoon when I got home. LOL  I so am not a morning person.

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About zengrrl

I'm Michelle Snow, the writer and creator of Zengrrl. I write about travel, entertainment, women's issues, health, body positivity, and more, both for this blog and freelance. I have also authored/co-authored four guidebooks on Orlando and Florida. If you aren't already following me, the links are below, as well as on the top right of this page. Thanks!

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