Local Shopping Tips

I hate going to the dentist, and I know I'm not alone. Unfortunately after a certain age you have to go regularly or all your teeth rot and you have to have dentures, and that makes it difficult to look cool at parties. So the key is to find a dentist that makes the experience as pleasant as possible.

I am super lucky I found Lisbeth Steen in Hamden, Connecticut. (On Whitney Ave., 10 minutes north of New Haven). Her practice is quite busy, so you sometimes have to wait a while for appointments. Other than that though, it's a great place. All the dental techs are really nice and do things like hold your hand while you are getting anaesthetic shots. So far she's done a few cavities and I'm very happy with the work. Rather than just lecturing you, they are also good at really trying to educate you about how to take better care of your teeth. I think most people are probably embarassed to ask about the right way to brush and things like that, but you should. You'd be suprised. Did you know you should hold the brush head at a 45 degree angle to your teeth for example? Most people just scrub at a right angle and can actually wear down their gums that way.

Anyway, I've had a great experience. If you need a dentist in the mid coast Connecticut area, give her a try.

The phone number for her office is 203 230 8787.

I was lucky enough to take a few vacation days in Portland, Maine last week. It's a great town filled with friendly, smart people, lots of art galleries, and funs stuff to do. It lives up to its reputation as the San Francisco of the East Coast, though I still prefer the real SF.

There were a few really great places I want people to know about:

Mexicali Blues is a clothing and odds and ends store in the port area near the water. My girlfriend was in heaven visiting Mexicali as they had a ton of great clothes and accessories. She actually got 3 different random things she has been talking about wanting for a long time, a totally hip punk rock style fanny pack/ utility belt, a bunch of felt flower rings and hair clips, and a beautiful silk wraparound sari.

The Flatbread Company is a pizza place on the water with great all-organic ingredients. Really tasty, and the place has a wonderful vibe. If you go there on a Tuesday, part of the money you spend goes to benefit various charitable causes.

Treehouse Toys on Exchange Street has a ton of great toys with lots of unusual offerings like puppets, wooden toys, and educational toys for kids. Further up exchange street, there is a gallery called Edith & Edna (51 Exchange Street) that has a lot of stuffed animal artists. Wonderful stuff. They even have a variety of crafting workshops they teach there. You can reach them at 207 776 8578 to find out if there are any classes going on when you'll be in town.

One of the nice things about Portland is it's small enough to walk around the entire city in a few hours. I highly recommend walking along the water to the east side of town and hiking up the trail through the park on that side of town.

Anyway, if you've never been, consider visiting Portland for a day or so. It's really a fun town and a very relaxing place to spend a few days.

Ok, grocery shopping isn't necessarily a hip thing to do. It is however, a required part of life due to our annoying need to consume food to survive. So, if you have to do it, you might as well get the most out of it and make it as painless and as cheap as possible.

In the New Haven area, to turn shopping from an expensive boring chore to something else, you basically need to know about 2 stores, Trader Joe's and M & M Farms Produce of Milford.

Trader Joes is a national chain that seems to approach the idea of the basic grocery store in a very different way. First of all, their prices are very reasonable, much better than larger chains such as Stop & Shop or Shaw's. More interesting to me though is their great selection of organic and vegetarian food options, and their huge variety of packaged foods that you just have to heat and serve. There is a strong emphasis on non-western culinary traditions, so you can easily get things like bags of Edamame or Papadam chips. If you aren't eating organic meets and dairy, you should be, and Trader Joe's can help you get on the right path without having to spend a ton of money (you'll save money versus normal grocery stores, and end up with better food). Finally, Trader Joe's is great due to its laid back and friendly employees, all dressed in colorful Hawaian shirts. Trader Joe's is located at 560 Boston Post Road in Orange.

If you live in the New Haven area, you should never buy fruits and vegetables from anywhere other than M & M farms, located on 804 Boston Post road. They have the best produce at prices that are less than half of what you would pay at a chain grocery store. You can also get fish, baked goods, or deli meats at great low prices. Finally, they have a great asian specialty store where you can get a wide variety of south and east asian spices and foods (everything from japanese candy to indian fast food).

Go forth, eat and be merry! For less!