Hey, Hey, CSA!

"What the hell is a CSA?"  you may ask.  Last week I signed up for our very first CSA, and we got our first bag of goodies on Saturday.  I was so excited that I started posting pictures all over facebook and instagram.  But what is a CSA?  Luckily, my BFF is a hippie (the real environmentalist kind, NOT the smelly dreadlock wearing kind), so she introduced me to the concept years ago.  I've been wanting to sign up for one ever since.  CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture".  It allows you to buy a "share" of a local farmers crops, and then you receive a weekly bag or box of produce from that farm.  It's a great idea because you are supporting farms in your own community (instead of mega farms thousands of miles away), the "carbon footprint" is smaller because you are not buying veggies that were shipped across the country (or even across several countries) in a semi truck, and you are getting them as fresh as you can without growing them yourself.  On top of that, it exposes you to new foods that you might not have purchased at the grocery store, and helps you to eat seasonally.

Our first week of fresh, local veggies!

I opted for the "half share" instead of the "whole share" since it is just the two of us here.  It is working out to be about $18/week for a grocery bag full of fresh, local, organic veggies.  These are the real thing, not the genetically modified for long shelf life versions that you see at the supermarket.  I also discovered how awesome spaghetti squash is!

We picked up our share on Saturday morning at a coffee shop that just so happens to be across the street from our new favorite brunch spot (We've been there twice now, so we're regulars, see?).  Hmmm, what a fortunate coincidence.  So of course since were already right there, we stopped in for some delicious brunch.

Speaking of farm fresh, how about this Farm Scramble?

We spent the weekend doing things like grilling pizza, mixing up new cocktails, and of course as new suburbanites, visiting Home Depot.  On Sunday we went into Downtown Phoenix....not much of a downtown, but more than our 'burb has to offer.  I had to insist that we go check out a super cool coffee shop that I had read about on Yelp.

Lola Coffee

 Yes, it was super cool.  I could almost see myself living in Downtown PHX.  But for the same reasons as everyone else that moves to the suburbs, we probably will stay put.  Why do people move to the burbs, anyway?

Some big, actually old palm trees in the Historic Roosevelt District

Portland in Phoenix

It's practical, really.  It's cheaper, you get more space, it's often safer.  In our case, it's closer to work and school.  But I don't really know anyone who actually likes the suburbs.  Except for this one girl I met onetime, who told me that she liked visiting the city and then going home to the suburbs.  But it seems that most people talk about living in the suburbs ruefully, as if they sort of regret it.  There is a sort of sadness in reaching the maturity level where you are willing to give up the cool factor for practical reasons.  But really, who needs to be within walking distance of all the best bars and restaurants?  The best happy hour in town is at my house anyway.