Rite Aid was a mess, a disastrous mess. The indoor/outdoor carpet tiles covering the floor were peeling upwards displaying the worn concrete.  Loofahs, bottles of shampoo, and light bulbs were scattered helter-skelter on the ground. There was one frazzled checker and a line of customers 12 deep. When we walked in the store, I calmly muttered to Brian, “Okay, I just need a few things, and then we’re out of here,” thinking that this was not how my husband envisioned spending his Friday night.

But all of this changed for me when I caught a glimpse of the store’s Seasonal Products aisle. It was Easter! Bags of cellophane grass, miniature baby chicks made of polyester pom-poms, and row upon row of Easter candy, I was in heaven. Turning to Brian I exclaimed, “Why, this place is magnificent!” I’m not kidding.

Now, I had been to the drugstore since the first Easter items rolled in. I had seen the sparkling Peeps show their colored sugar skin, but it was not until I had entered this drugstore hell on the Upper West Side, that I had experienced all that Easter had to offer. This means that this Rite Aid had the one Easter candy from my youth, a bag of little animals that no one–save for a few highly judicious people with discriminating palates–eats and loves. The Chicks and Bunnies.

Can you tell that I love these things? They are strange. And entirely man-made. I don’t think that it is even possible for something so sweet and so blue to exist in nature. They are in fact, a gussied up version of the Circus Peanut, a very special sweet treat that I remember sharing with my mother from time to time growing up. The Chick or the Bunny (and the Circus Peanut for that matter), for those who have not had the amazing fortune of trying one for themselves, are a dried up, sort-of marshmallow, vaguely banana-tasting confection. They are malleable, and can be pushed into a tiny cube without much force. And they are sweet. Really sweet. I will just put it this way, The Chick and The Bunny are kind of like high heels– they’re not for everyone.

Yes I am a Jewish girl, but this does not exclude me from reveling in all of the wonder Easter treats have to offer. So get yourself to a Rite Aid tout suite, and revel with me. Easter is March 23!