The Only Smile Wal-mart Ever Got From Me

ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but here's what I did with my New Year's.

I did NOT make any big party plans.

I DID go buy a sparkly shirt from a store named "Hottie" and felt like a cougar, but also really enjoyed it. I've never worn anything so sparkly.

I DID not go on the 3 mile midnight run. Because Brad didn't want to pay $30 to run. This strikes him as completely insane.

I did NOT go to GameWorks for the Mormon singles party. In my humble opinion, 30 year olds do not ring in New Years at a place where you play games for tickets. At least this one doesn't.

I did NOT go to dinner at a fancy resort or restaurant.

I DID, actually, totally want to do this. But Brad had already eaten, John went to the singles event, and I wanted to hang out with them so there's that. No hazelnut creme brulee for me.

.....or was there?

Turns out I have a recipe from last year that I had never made for Maple Cranberry Hazelnut Creme Brulees. And that Brad was up for.

Except it was 9 p.m. and I didn't have glass ramekins or a torch. No dice on Target. Crate & Barrel and Bed Bath & Beyond and World Market were closed.

We also tried Safeway, Fry's, & Whole Foods (which was closed, too.)

Finally we tried Wal-mart. A very helpful lady told us to try looking in housewares. Thanks, sweetheart, I figured that one. But at least she was trying hard.

Brad was led to the plumbing section by someone else. And there we found a propane torch. Whoo-hoo!!! And it's red. And pretty cute. And worked like a dream. (Well, not as perfectly brown as we hoped, but I don't think it's the torch's fault.) )By the way, doesn't this Wal-mart look remarkably clean? There weren't very many people in it. I think that helped. And the lady who checked us out GENUINELY smiled AND said Happy New Year. A completely remarkable Wal-mart experience to say the least.

And then we were off. Back to the grocery store. Because Wal-mart does not carry hazelnuts and they were out of Martinellis.

At 11:22, we were finally back home.

And 2:30 am we had creme brulee. It was stinking fantastic.

Somewhere in between there, we watched the ball drop, shot off little party favor dealies, and toasted in the new year with Martinelli's. And I ate a salad from the Abs Diet. To cancel out the inevitable creme brulee. And we watched episodes of The Office and How I Met Your Mother. I know I need to get out more, but today was not the day...

and yes I wore that sparkly shirt to every single store.

It had to see some action....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!