Organic scrilla

The closest grocery store to my place is a Whole Foods. But since I have rent to pay and no diamonds to hock, I almost never shop there, except when I need a refill on good olive oil or I'm in the mood for a stroll and some foodie window-shopping.

Tonight my list included oil, salad greens, and an apparently mind-blowingly delicious blend of rice and other grains that each of my parents recommended in separate phone calls over the weekend. It comes in a plastic container with a lid and includes wheatberries. "They have it at Whole Foods," my dad assured me.

The thing about Whole Foods is that it's so clean and colorful and friendly, it makes you want to snatch up everything in the store, even when you know it's $7 a pound less at the normal market around the corner.

Aside from being numbingly expensive and tantalizingly pretty, my neighborhood Whole Foods also has the cheeriest, perkiest, gayest staff ever. The guy who helped me look for the rice was practically sashaying through the aisles. It was awesome.

Here's what I bought:

1. Bariani extra-virgin olive oil
2. Square bucket-like thing filled with "organic spring mix"
3. One orange bell pepper
4. Box of ginger tea
5. One cocktail avocado. Yes, you heard that right.
6. Organic chocolate truffles

I spent 45 minutes there and left $52.89 poorer with my little bag of stuff. They couldn't find the rice—Fred Astaire said it must be a "regional buy" available only on the East Coast—but I felt so fancy it didn't matter.

Also it was the best avocado I've ever tasted.