Central Market is Life. The Rest is Just Details!

Central Market. If you’ve never been fortunate enough to visit, you are highly lacking. Some refer to it as a grocery store. It’s MUCH more than that. How many ‘grocery stores’ offer wine (by the glass) as you enter? I know that shopping can be stressful for me, so a glass of vino may help me decide between the organic brown rice or the risotto.

As one travels thru CM, as the ‘in crowd’ calls it (not really), you will notice a Paciugo ice cream shop, extensive salad/soup/sandwich bars, prepared meals (from sushi to enchiladas for one.. or two), an incredible array of meats/cheeses, the most beautiful produce outside of the islands and the occasional item you would also find at a Kroger Signature. Arrive on the right day, at the right time… and there are samples! Lots of samples! Oh, and the cooking classes! So much! I’m getting excited just thinking about it!

Oh but wait!!!! There’s more!

One can not forget… the bakery!

The first time I ever visited CM, it was on a whim. I had no idea that it could be even better than Simon David (Tom Thumb’s version of luxury grocery shopping). Oh, but it was. I didn’t even purchase anything, because I was on sensory overload. My next visit, I purchased fruit. The next visit, I was a bit more brave. I was with Miriam and picked up a bottle of Muscato and a few pastries.

As the months pass, I find myself visiting CM at least a couple of times per month.

My most recent visit was Saturday evening. After a long day of stress, followed by retail therapy, I was craving CM. I had already eaten dinner, but needed something sweet. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew it would be at CM. So, I headed south on Greenville. As I made the left turn onto Lover’s Lane, I could hear the Hallelujah Chorus (maybe it was the radio).

I found myself in the bakery. There were petits fours (my favorite dessert as a child). They were absolutely precious. But, not what I wanted. My eye was drawn to two creations: the strawberry shortcake and the chocolate mousse cake slice. I normally buy the petite chocolate mousse cake (yes, a single serving). I love the combination of my favorite flavor, with the cake, mixed with the mousse. YUM! But… strawberry shortcake, while not new to me, wasn’t something I typically am drawn to. I enjoy strawberries (although I have been known to have allergic reactions to some), am always a fan of whipped cream and once again, there’s cake. One is a bit more dangerous (to my hips and thighs), but is comforting. Soothing. The other is lighter, less dangerous. Not as decadent.

I stood there for 10 minutes, trying to decide.

I picked BOTH.

I wasn’t necessarily planning on eating both. That would be messy. But, I wanted to know that I could have either. That both would be available... at 3am.

So, there I sat, after a hot shower and some reading… on my living room floor (which is normally reserved for Fruity Pebbles). I kept trying to decide… Chocolate or Strawberry? Dangerous or Semi-Safe?

I grabbed the Strawberry Shortcake… but, took a bite of the Chocolate Mousse Cake.

I didn’t want to be greedy. But, I couldn't resist the temptation.

Perhaps I would have been better off with Fruity Pebbles…but they don’t sell those at Central Market!

WIZdom...

"When I think of home,
I think of a place where there's love overflowing
I wish I was home
I wish I was back there with the things I been knowing"

When I hear “Home” from “The Wiz”, I don’t think of ‘home’ in the typical sense. Yes, I enjoy being with my family, arguing, laughing, crying, eating, watching scary movies, cheering on the Cowboys… But, when I think of “home”, I think of the one place I can go where I won’t be afraid, where I won’t doubt myself, where I know it’s okay for me to lose control and surrender everything… without feeling vulnerable, without feeling as though I could be judged, without feeling as though I could disappoint.

And that place is inside of a lyric, highlighted by the harmony, the melody, and interpreted by the movement… my movement.

I remember those days (and nights) in Kansas, when I would arrive to the studio a couple of hours before my dancers. I would stretch for 30 minutes, grab a cd and just hit play. Some days, the music wouldn’t matter. Other days, I chose the music very carefully. I would leap, turn, jump and sometimes, just sit in the center of the floor (in the dark) and just sway… even swaying is movement… is dancing. I was still performing, also. In a couple of companies, for a few community theater groups and enjoying every moment.

It’s been 3 years since I returned to Dallas from Kansas. And I am disappointed to say, I haven’t taken any time to dance. I’ve taken a few classes, attended a few workshops, but it’s been choreography, consulting, and judging. I have taken no real time to dance for me.

"Suddenly my world has changed it's face
But I still know where I'm going
I have had my mind spun around in space
And yet I've watched it growing"

With all of the changes (positive and negative) that have occurred in my life over the last year, I feel that now is the perfect time to go back ‘home’. For the past 1095 days, although I am surrounded by friends, by family, by opportunity, there is still a bit of myself that seems to be missing. And, I think I left that part of me in my old studio, in that college town, in Kansas.

"If you're list'ning God
Please don't make it hard to know "

Wednesday night, after an emotionally charged rehearsal, while a few remained in Studio A, I went into Studio B, lay on the floor and cried my way thru a prayer… I prayed for many things, but one of those things was for the bravery to return “home”… to take time, even if only for a bit, to dance again… even if only without the make-up, the costumes, the audience... if only just for me. To allow everything that binds me to be released, released thru the movement, just as it used to be.

"And I've learned
That we must look inside our hearts
To find a world full of love
Like yours
Like mine...
Like Home."

I don’t need to talk about it. I don’t need to write about it. I just need to DANCE about it.

Girls, don't believe the hype!

While driving to Oklahoma City last night, I listened to the cd that I burned on Itunes. That particular playlist is named "Thoughts". As I sang my way up 35North, I began to think about a lot of things that have been on my mind lately. Some specific, some general. All about life. And just as I passed the exit for Turner Falls (blog-worthy another time), I recalled those days in elementary school... the days of making 'friendship bracelets', birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese's, tea and slumber parties, tether ball and New Edition... Those were days when, if a young lady wanted to know what her future had in store for her, there was one thing she could do, one way to 'see' her way into her life, one way to know who she would marry, how many kids (if any) she would (or would not) have, what kind of vehicle she would drive and what type of home she would live in... It only required a few things:

• A pen and paper to draw a box (first and foremost)
• The names of your crushes (listed to the left)
• The numbers 1, 0, 3 and 2 (listed to the right)
• 4 types of vehicles (listed at the bottom)

AND on top of the box...

• The namesake to this method of fortune telling... M.A.S.H. (which, if you are male and/or lived under a rock, was code for Mansion, Apartment, Shack and House)

When ready, I would draw the whirlpool thing, stop (based on instinct) and begin to count the lines drawn.

BAM!!!! My life was pre-determined... already laid out... based on the outcome of M.A.S.H.!!!! Or, so I naively thought. And then... I reached high school... then college... then real life. And M.A.S.H., I've learned... is a complete waste of time.

I wish someone would have told me that M.A.S.H. was about as 'real' as a purple cow.

If only it were that easy to figure things out. I never married that boy in Miss Strahan's class and have no children (although I had the names picked out)... I did, however, get the car and the apartment. So, the glass is half-full, right?

Well, I need to go. It's late. I'm hungry. And, I need to find a pen, paper and.................. play some Tic Tac Toe!

:-)