A trip to Restoration Hardware proved yet again how different E and I are as shoppers. He buys high quality things he loves, price or fragility be damned. I always have my “Practical Sally” hat on, and look for things that will last long or provide the best value—like dark-colored pillows and sheets so they don’t show dirt. (“Practical Sally” does seem to lose her mind when it comes to shoes, which explains the four-inch blue suede boots and yellow and black plastic heels that look like police “caution tape” in the closet.)

In Restoration Hardware this weekend, E and I looked at napkins and place mats. He found some lovely metallic gold ones that would really pop on our dining room table. My first reaction to the intricately patterned place mats was not how “lovely” they were, but how the ones that didn’t have the pretty metallic pattern were a better choice because they were “easier to clean.”

“You’re right, let’s get the ones that are easier to wash,” he cracked. “In fact, how about we just put a plastic tarp down for people to eat on instead?!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Any fool could see the metallic place mats were far prettier than the plain ones. Why settle for practical when you could have sparkle? After all, it’s the holidays.

After an hour of browsing the store, we came home with NO napkins or place mates because E was hungry and his low blood sugar disabled him from making a decision on which metallic place mats to buy. I made burgers for dinner so we could eat relatively quickly. But while heating up the burger buns, we almost burned the house down.

E cranked up the oven to about 400 degrees because he wanted his buns toasted, not just warmed, and put them on the top rack. About 3 minutes later, we started to see smoke swirling in the air around the kitchen. We slam open the door and see the burger buns are on fire. Full-on yellow orange flames came shooting out at us. We were left with two very charcoaled burger buns and a chilly kitchen after I opened all of the windows in the family room to let in some fresh, 40 degree November air. Good thing we had a six pack of rolls (note to self: buy a fire extinguisher).

Despite the fireworks, the burgers with the fried egg ended up to be a delicious dinner. Chopped parsley in burgers always adds a kick, and the runny egg, in E’s words, “made it.” We used plain paper napkins for dinner, however. At least the cleanup was easy, even if dinner prep was not.

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