Williams Sonoma

Yesterday I took the monkeys to the mall. We had not been in two years and before that, only went when I needed a new watch battery at Sears. We aren't mall people...but I used to be. When I was 12 and up (all the way through middle and high school) I hung out at the mall with my friends all the time. Every weekend. Senior year, we even went there every day for lunch. (I even met my hubby there!) But kids don't really do that anymore, or maybe parents are too scared to drop off their kids for the day. I know I am. I'm starting to feel a "back in the day" vibe come over me. :) Anyway, I thought it would be fun to hang out with the girls for a day of walking the mall. At first, they weren't really into it, then they had a short lived window shopping frenzy, and then they got tired and wanted to leave. But we shopped, had slices of Sbarro pizza, icees, reluctantly passed by Starbucks and didn't get a Pumpkin Spice Latte, and spent so long in the Williams Sonoma that the girls got bored and wandered off to Forever 21.
I have a love affair with Williams Sonoma. I dream of shopping there and buying one of everything. It will never happen. Talk about sticker shock! I like to go in and drool over the Lime Kitchen Aids and fondle the Lemongrass Dutch Ovens. So while the kids sampled all of the lotions and fresh baked cookies, I hit the clearance (soon-to-expire) rack. Then I splurged and bought a ridiculous pocket pie mold. No, I didn't need it and no, I probably won't use it very often. But so cute!!!



On the soon-to-expire rack was some Black Jewell popcorn kernels. I had never heard of it and hubby did ask me to pick up some popcorn for the Gators game that night. Good enough excuse for me! We would watch football while eating Premium Williams Sonoma popcorn. Take that Orville!



I popped it on the stove in a little oil and it was really, really good. Bubba said he prefers Orville, but the girls and I have more sophisticated tastes (yeah, right) and liked the Black Jewell better. But if I'm going to be perfectly honest...there wasn't that much difference. Also, the popcorn came out looking burnt since it was black inside. It did not taste burnt, though. Yum! (The Gators won, of course, but it was a close game. LSU is a good team. Not Gator good, but good in their own right.)



I also got some Dulce de Leche. It was less than $2, otherwise I would not have bothered. I would have just bought a can of condensed milk and boiled it to make my own. I was curious to see how store bought tasted though.



It was yummy!! Not really very different from homemade, though. Certainly not better. It will be fun thinking up a recipe to use it...if the kids don't eat it all plain first. :)



I got two soon-to-expire decorating pens. In orange so we are sure to use them immediately. On sale from $2.49 to $.62--the price they should be normally, I think. I am anxious to try them out! I already have a plan...



I debated about whether to get the pumpkin pie mold or apple pie mold and finally decided on apple. After I bought it I immediately wished I had gotten the pumpkin. Maybe I'll just cut off the apple pie stem and call it pumpkin. :) The sales lady said I could have both for $16, but I felt like I was being sufficiently ridiculous by purchasing one. I did hesitate for a moment, though...



I am really excited to try out my pocket pie mold! I even have some apples leftover from my trip to NY. I'll post the pictures! Now I have to go figure out which kid isn't getting any xmas presents so Mama can have a green Dutch Oven....