Date night cream cheese adventure

Chill in the abstract
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: the cream cheese display case in our local Loblaws grocery store. My wife and I are here for date night*, and as I reach inside for some whipped shmear, I see something that begs for a little more attention.

Maybe it’s the lighting. Or the angles. Or the strangely mundane spectacle of Philadelphia brand products, which have been a breakfast staple since I was a kid. Maybe the what and the why shouldn’t even matter. The point is I’m strangely hooked.

So out comes the smartphone for a fast and chilly shoot. I get stares from strangers. My wife walks away in embarrassment.

Never mind. I’m committed to the vision. It takes a little bit of maneuvering to get the right composition - I believe cream cheeses are somewhat shy - but eventually I get what I want and extricate myself from the display so I can rejoin my lovely wife. I drop the container of plain whipped Philly into the cart before we point ourselves toward the cereal aisle. Tomorrow morning’s breakfast promises to be epic. I’ll remember the grocery run that made it possible long after the dishes are washed and put away.

—

* Date night happens any time we’re together. If we’re running errands - like fetching groceries - then it’s date night. Walking the dog? Date night. Sitting at an airport gate before the sun rises? Date night.

Because time spent together isn’t necessarily spectacular or planned. Sometimes the moments that matter most are the ones that happen when we’re just going through the ordinary paces of everyday life.

And if it involves a weird photo session that prompts my favourite human to walk away pretending she doesn’t know me, that’s just another piece of the never-quite-predictable - or even remotely normal - story of us. And yes, I realize just how insanely lucky I am.

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