I love to share my favorite places to shop, eat and play, and I hope you will gain insight from my choices.

I’m not a great shopper. In fact, about the only things I like to shop for are groceries. Of course, that’s because I am a foodie. Thus, I shop frugally for basics, but I will indulge myself on food items like flavored vinegar, jam and mustard, the cost of which can exceed $15 a jar. I won’t, however, spend outrageous sums on organics with the exception of lettuce and bananas because, for whatever reason, they keep longer without spoiling. I have kept organic lettuce for over two weeks.

My frugality shows up in my dining choices as well. No longer will I spend upwards of $40 on a steak. I’m not even sure if I were employed and had an expense account that I would dish out that kind of dough on a piece of meat.  (Ruth’s Chris take note; you’re too damned expensive.) What I will pay for is great service, but there are precious few places anymore where I can actually say I get great service.  Eating out today lends itself more to lunches and happy hours, mostly because I can no longer eat as much as I used to, I can sample most dinner items at lunch at about 60% of the dinner menu price, and I prefer to eat much earlier than I used to so happy hours make more sense — and the booze is a lot cheaper.

Extreme sports are not my idea of entertainment. About as extreme as I get is biting my nails at an action flick. My musical taste runs more towards Broadway plays like The Lion King or The Wizard of Oz. I pretty much still have both feet stuck in the past preferring real music with complex melodies instead of atonal noise. Think Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Barbra Streisand. OK, Harry Connick, Jr. is a modern-day icon of melody.  Entertainment can also be found at local vineyards, a roadside attraction or a bike ride along the waterfront.

I am nothing if not eclectic.