At one point in my life, I was blissfully unaware of what I am about to reveal as an addiction. Oh, such innocence, such ignorance and naivety. When my older sister and I went to Memphis almost ten years ago to visit our younger sister, little did I know that I would return a changed woman. Neither did my husband. Or my children. My addiction happened overnight. One exposure to this powerful, potent substance was all it took. I understand that there is no cure. No, no, do not pity me. But be careful, because I love to share it with others and most of the time the most unsuspecting friends become addicted too. It has become an addiction that affects mostly the females in our family, even though we have a couple of males that have been known to succumb to the draw of this addiction. And for some unknown reason, autumn brings forth the undeniable itch for this stuff.
AN ADULT CANDY STORE...AND THEN SOME
My oldest daughter describes our addiction and where we go to get our fix as an "adult candy store". This addiction is fine when experienced alone but greatly enhanced if shared with a mutual addict. Just walking in the door gives us a high. We have spent hours in a room that is probably the size of someone's great room, completely dazed and heady over what we came for. Our addiction lies in jars, lined up seductively along shelf after shelf, the colors of the rainbow laid out before us. We wander from shelf to shelf, sniffing, sniffing, sniffing, our noses buried deep into the contents. We come up for air, cleanse our palettes and dive into another jar. We pass the jars, their weight just right in the palm of our hands, our delight uncontained, wanting to share our personal experience and relationship with every jar with each other. Although not needed to enjoy the full addictive quality, the paraphernalia lying about that is so appealing to the eye, which demonstrates the ways that can only enhance the usage of my obsession, is icing on the cake, so to speak.
So let this be a warning to you all. If you want to avoid this same terrible fate, stay away from this place:
It looks perfectly innocent, right? Don't be mislead. Enter at your own risk. I can only tell you I was a candle virgin that long ago trip to Memphis. Oh, I had the occasional foray into the world of scent via WalMart or Kroger. Not the same, doesn't even compare. But my sister, De, the candle pusher, disguised as a Yankee Candle employee at the time, got me hooked through her employee discount and I have never looked back.
First of all, when you enter the store, it is overwhelming.... the choices, the labels, the jars, votives, and tealights. When De opened that first jar of Hazelnut Coffee (recall the coffee blog entry a while back) and held it under by nose, I was hooked. It had me at hello. I came home with jars, votives and tealights, along with a few other scents, enough to last a long time. There was no Yankee Candle store near me so I was content with my little stash. Ah, but this is where Fate stepped in. Soon after, we moved within 4 miles of Peachtree City, GA, with shopping that did not exist in my former place of residency, and Peachtree City came with its very own, yes, you know it.....YANKEE CANDLE store! And my addiction went into overload.
Yankee Candle retired Hazelnut Coffee. Oh, the humanity! So then I got hooked on Raspberry Mint Jelly,which was soon to be retired, as was Cut Grass. Then I was turned on to Jack Frost...retired for a short
time,but reprieved from extinction as YC reconsidered.
Then my very favorite aroma, Autumn Lodge, came upon the scene and lasted about 2 years until, yes, lament with me, it was put out to pasture. Thank GOD I had stocked up on several Autumn Lodge jars and just when I was hitting the panic button as the last jar burned down to the end, YC brought it back for a limited time last year. There are two Autumn Lodge jars in my cupboard as I write.
But these are not the only scents I have and love. As I said, the fall scents bring out the YC beast in me and are my favs - Autumn Wreath, Farmhouse Apple, Cider Donuts, just to name a few. Then there are the summer beachy scents, the smells of the ocean and tanning lotion and salt air. I rotate jars of candles in and out of my cabinet as the seasons roll around and pass. Fall is on display now, sitting in groups on trays in my kitchen and breakfast bar. But the wonderful Christmas scents lie just behind the cabinet door waiting to come out and spread their scents throughout my home.
It's a terrible thing, this place called Yankee Candle, and it can cause mental distress to the poor unsuspecting shopper. Once hooked, go into a YC store and try to walk out with just one. I dare you. It is joyful anguish, if there is such a thing. If you are brave enough to take the dare, good, laugh in the face of seduction! But if you see a 5 foot tall, dark haired, sweet 50-something lady coming toward you with a smile, a glint in her eye and an open jar, saying, "Come smell the lovely candle, my pretty", then run like hell because it probably is my sister, the YC Queen looking for her latest victim.
P.S. If you sign up online at Yankee Candle.com to get their email newsletter, they will periodically send you coupons to reduce the costs of your newly found addiction. I have one burning a hole in my pocket as I write.
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