Can the crickets get any louder....better head over to an allergy website. I'm sad, cut I still love great food! They all don't get it.

Anyone have tips at all....we are staying at Vdara 8/22-24, looking to book e
encore for the weekend after....anyone have tips for restaurants. I obviously want to try all the places peeps love...sage raku bouchon, but can I eat there?

A shout out to those that buy wine at Costco... a wine buyer warned at a DC so he bought for the entire area, that the wines aren't protected from temperature fluctuations/exposure to extreme tems in the summer.

I don't buy wine at Costco in the summer, or from areas where warm temperatures would be present in the location from where it came. It is only a problem if you plan to store/age the wines FYI.

-Prices/quality of meat
-Alcohol (some stores have an amazing selection like the one by OAK airport)
-Seafood... yum, I just picked up a copper river salmon
-Specialty stuff the East Bay store brings including: cheese, vanilla beans, alder wood grilling boards (didn't see them this year, good thing I hoarded it... and yes I used it for the salmon), truffle butter, certain roadshows, cream/dairy, paper goods and last but not least cook your own flour tortillas (can't eat them now since I'm GF, but used to love em and still purchase for parties).
-Optical dept.
-Kirkland GF stock (I think it's Pacific brand), but they take it off the shelf at Thanksgiving/Christmas... jerks
-good employer; after 10 years the SAME people are working there...

Do I save money? Depends on your definition of saving money. Is it getting more food for a dollar? Are you measuring bags of groceries, or are you considering price per meal? It is relative.

Honestly some of the specialty items they sell I would never buy, except they have a price that is close enough to something I would buy so I purchase it. In those terms, my DH feels Costco gets me to spend more money. My rebuttal to spending more money is this. I live on a budget, so how can I spend "more" money if I'm still living within my budget. It's my choice if I choose a lobster tail for a nice weekend dinner and then live on a roasted chicken and a Costco size of lettuce and veggies for the rest of the week. Where else can you spend $15-20 to have dinner/lunch for the rest of the week? The extra savings on some items allows me to purchase fancy items I love.

I am able to get out of Costco spending $20.00. it’s impressive what is in my cart. I can always feed a crowd even on that amount.

What I don’t like about Costco, they have done nothing to address allergy needs. I also still am forced to visit 1-2 other stores.

OMG... I made so many pies one year... and a few creme brulees... everyone wound up splitting the creme brulees and didn't even eat a single slice of pie... I'm never making pie again!!!

Please help me find some great big Zins to enjoy by themselves in the backyard with my chickens and a good friend. I'm close to a TJ's and a GO... located in Livermore.

Last week I purchased about 7 reds, compared and contrasted and wound up with a split case of very worthwhile wines. Meritage a Rockridge wine and 12 Apostles Shiraz, sorry cleaned the shelf, in Livermore. I LOVE their return policy and can't wait to try out their White selection in the future. Seriously, the prices are amazing at GO! And they do have better wine than TJ's 10$ offerings. Go for it, use the return policy to taste a few, TJ's was harder to return the wine but GO..... they were super cool!

www.butterybakery.com

So worth the drive to santa cruz the day before your wedding. Will be perfect in every way. Try the carrotcake... even if you're like me and don't really like carrot cake, it is amazing.