Best Purchase of 2011...so far

For my last birthday, Chip surprised me with a very hefty gift card for Williams-Sonoma. Does he know me or does he know me? At first, I wasn't sure if I should buy several small items (as if I have the space to store them all) or put it towards a big purchase. I decided that I would save some money and purchase an item I have dreamed of owning for more than 5 years, a Le Creuset dutch oven. Well, I had a number of "needs" come up between September and December so the purchase never came to be. For Christmas, Chip's parents gave me another W-S gift card and told me to use it towards my dutch oven. Now the oven was in an affordable, I-can-go-buy-it-whenever price range. I've had it on my to-do list since then but whenever I was in the W-S area, I would forget to run by there or it would be after they closed. Plus, I needed to decide what color I wanted.

Saturday night Chip and I had dinner reservations in the W-S area with the Barfords. I decided I would stop by there on my way to meet him. Still uncertain of the color, I figured I would just look at what was available and make up my mind.

I walked into the store and went straight to the Le Creuset display. They had 3 colors: Cobalt Blue, Red, and a Greenish color they call Ocean. I wasn't wild about any of them. Then I looked at the prices. Apparently, when I looked online, they were on a discounted sale. These were significantly more than I expected. With my head hung low, I decided I would just walk around the store since I was there. As I glanced around the store, it was as if a light shone from above pointed me to a SALE table. Probably very similar to the North Star pointing shepherds to the Savior's birth. I speedily walked over, dodging an elderly woman on the way to see what the table had in store. Orange box after orange box were stacked on the table. One of the employees walked over to see if I needed help and informed me they were the discontinued colors that needed to be moved. I almost immediately heard the Hallelujah chorus and I could not stop smiling. I opened every box to see which one would become my new best friend. I had hoped they had the dijon mustard one but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened a box to see a 5 1/2 quart dutch oven in the color Flame (read: Volunteer Orange).

This was it! This was the one! Not only was it perfect, but also perfectly priced. It was marked more than $120.00 less than suggested retail price. Thank you, Jesus!

I went to the register to purchase beaming. I informed the lady this was my first. All the employees were commenting on how I got the perfect one for my first and how much they loved the color. She looked at me smiling and assured me, "Honey, this won't be your last." I sure hope so. I. Sure. Hope. So.