Recently in Retail Raves Category

I love eating alone in restaurants. It's just me, a good book, and no pressure to make idle chit-chat. But on my recent excursion to Iowa City for a workshop, I made a point of putting down my book at least during the main course.

I've been trying to pay more attention to what I eat while I'm eating it, aware that if I'm nose deep in a good book while I chomp away, I'm missing out on the pleasure of what I'm eating. Plus, it's been shown that people who don't pay attention while they eat snarf down waaay more than people who are paying attention. (For more on the fascinating psychology behind how much we eat and why, read Mindless Eating by Cornell University food researcher Brian Wansink. Great book. For more on why taking pleasure in what you eat matters, see "Eating With Pleasure," an new EL interview with nutritional psychologist Marc David).

The second reason I'm trying to give up reading during the main course is because restaurant plates are usually so big I can't see over them to my book while I eat -- and its not okay to sit on my knees in a restaurant just to get the height I need to see the printed page!

Turned out for the best, though: being fully present for the funnel cake I ate after the salmon was worth the literary absence.

(And if you find yourself in Iowa City, stop by the Motley Cow for brunch, lunch and dinner; they use fresh, local, organic ingredients and the atmosphere is charming and homey. Plus, their funnel cake is the only fried food I've ever eaten and not immediately felt like I would get type-2 diabetes.) 

I was wheeling around Target last night loading up on dental floss and water filters when I was seduced (per the usual) by this season's Go International designer line, Rogan Gregory for Target (read about some the shopping mania that happened when the collection first hit shelves here).

I grabbed a few shirts and a dress, tried them on, fell in love, begged the better half to let me allot some funds to the "necessary development of my work wardrobe" (ha ha), and then promptly tried them all on again in front of the mirror at home. It was then, as I was simultaneously cutting off the tags, that I read the labels and realized the clothes were all made from 100% organic cotton! Holy crap! I'd just bought reasonably-priced organic clothes that had been so mainstreamed -- that were just so much a part of the store vernacular -- that I didn't even know they were organic until I got home. How cool is that?!

And did I mention how well-designed the line is? If you're not already at Target (because, let's face it, who isn't there most of the time anyway?), get thee to your nearest outlet and savor the democratization of organic attire!

My recent Target trip also led to the discovery that they're carrying one of my favorite, all-natural body care product lines, Weleda. I can't say enough about Weleda's products -- from how yummy they smell, to how wonderful they feel, to how pristine and ecologically-sound their ingredients are. Learn more about Weleda, and read a comprehensive and detailed list of their all-natural ingredients at their website. Or, next time you're grabbing toilet paper at the Targ, go nuts with the Weleda testers. You'll be in an all-natural sensory heaven.

I also -- happily -- spied Dr. Bronner's on the Target shelves. Those of you who are familiar with "Dr. Bronner's Magic All-One Soap" already know that this soap is the best thing going. Not only is it all-natural, ecological, pure-Castile (which simply means that it's vegetable oil-based as opposed to animal fat-based) soap that you can use to do everything from wash the dishes to scour the bath tub to brush your teeth, it's also now certified USDA organic (all the liquid and bar soaps are at least).

Best of all, though, is Dr. Bronner's package labeling which, in the densest type ever put on a bottle of soap, urges us, in so, so, so, so, sooooo many words to, ahem, "realize our transcendent unity across religious and ethnic divides." It's awesome and, if reading it doesn't make you feel instantly, transcendently unified, it will make you giggle. And give you cataracts.

I'm not in the habit of promoting consumption, BUT I'm all for the democratization of high-quality, authentically natural products becoming more mainstream. Props to Target for bringing more good, healthy stuff our way!