by Kristen Bagwell

My older sister once told me that I was a marketer's dream come true. (I don't think it was a compliment.) Ironic that I am now in marketing, and also that she's completely right. Who cries every single year at the Folger's commercial where Peter makes it home just in time for Christmas morning? Me. Who has been known to get all welly at Kodak, Pampers, and even cereal commericals? Me. Who is convinced - every single time - that NutriSystem is, in fact, the answer? Me.

Today was no different; I am either at an all-time high or an all-time low. As I was flipping through channels, I saw a truly revolutionary new kitchen tool: the electric turkey fryer. Who made this up, and how am I going to live without it? Just in time for the holidays...no more tempting fate with 5 gallons of peanut oil bubbling over the sides of a too-small cooking pot over an open flame. You can now fry your holiday turkey indoors, with ease! (It also somehow steams and/or cooks your side dishes too, but I didn't quite catch that in my excitement. Eureka!)

I did refrain from calling the turkey fryer people immediately to place my order, but only because there was no price listed in the infomercial, which seems ominous. With any luck they will show up in Target before Christmas. Watch out, family - you'll be eating fried turkey for every occasion until I am old and gray.

As if that was not enough, I have found the true all-purpose kitchen utensil: the Vitamix. This blender is also a juicer, a chopper, and any number of other things. I am positive that I could reform our kitchen into an organic, healthy, happy place if only I had one of these contraptions. Think of how much better we'd all feel! Consider the benefits: fresher, more healthful meals; fewer illnesses because we'd be stuffed with vitamins from our fresh, whole-food diet; glowing hair and skin...the list is endless.

I am going to try and let this sit for a few days so I don't get accused of impulse spending, but it's a bad time of year for that (if you're me). What would you buy if you had unlimited funds, and/or no one to give you a hard time about buying it?