The Hudson Valley is home to so many great grocery stores, and though we're still hoping for a Trader Joe's and a closer Wegmans, we have plenty of options when it comes to shopping.

Growing up, my dad was a grocery store manager, so my sister and I were trained to shop the ad and stay loyal to 'our store,' but lately, i've been doing a decent amount of my regular shopping at Aldi after a friend convinced me to give it a try.  They've got a ton of local stores, Wappingers, Middletown, Kingston, Newburgh, to name a few.  I've been digging what i've found so much that I even joined some of their loyal shopper facebook groups...

There's a group of Aldi shoppers who are very committed to their offerings, called Aldi Finds, and their place to discuss said finds, is in the Aldi Aisle of Shame Facebook Group. Now, the 'aisle of shame' is that random aisle, usually in the middle of the store, that has all sorts of completely random things you didn't know you needed, but you buy anyway - fellow Aldi shoppers, you know what i'm talking about, right?

Anyway, this group, that has more than 600,000 members, has started a bit of a movement and it's called The Flower Challenge.  What you're encouraged to do is pick up a bouquet of Aldi flowers (typically like less than $5) and give it to a random person in the store, or even the parking lot, kind of like a pay-it-forward type of situation. I've seen a bunch of posts in the group of people talking about their experiences of giving, or receiving the flowers, and how this simple gesture can really turn someone's day around.

Next time I hit up my local Aldi, it's all systems go for this flower challenge.  I can't wait to hook someone up with a little bouquet, just because.

Have you been the recipient of flowers at any local Aldi locations?

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