Williams Sonoma has a simple tagline: The Place for Cooks. And it is. It really is. Every time I’m at the mall and pass by their store, I have to stop just to gaze at the shiny copper pans and beautifully arranged dinnerware and linen. But, more of then than not, I don’t go into the store. I just feast my eyes on their display window. Why, you ask? Because there’s something so intimidating about Williams Sonoma. Every product they have is well-made and so attractively packaged. I feel like I neither can afford nor deserve to shop at their store. Whenever I’m tempted to go in and just check the merchandise, I hear the little voice inside my head: “Where on earth do you think you’re going? This is a place for serious cooks with money to burn. Are you really going to look at that Calphalon set?”

And that little voice is right. I don’t have Santoku knives. I just have a couple of somewhat dull utility ones. The most expensive pot I have is $60 and I bought it simply because I had to have a 6-quart one for boiling pasta and there were no cheaper options. Yes, I have red wine, white wine and champagne glasses but they were a gift from a friend (no, they’re not crystal) and the sturdy goblets I use for parties are available at Linens N things at $9.99 a dozen. I don’t have an espresso machine, just a very old Senseo coffee maker (I do like their pods). No fancy nostalgic Easter tableware for me, just regular white plates for every occasion. I don’t even have Ylang Ylang soap and lotion in my kitchen. I get liquid soap at Costco and always forget to apply lotion on my hands anyway. Do I really have any business looking at Williams Sonoma? It’s not reverse snobbery, just a healthy dose of realism I suffer from. I’m just not Williams Sonoma’s kind of folk. Sigh…

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