The Price of Cutesy [9.30.08]

It was the day before my friend's twenty-first birthday, so some of us decided to plan a surprise party for her. We went to the nearest store, where we found a plethora of alcoholically themed products. There were cookies and cakes and candles [oh my!], so it was obvious that we weren't going to come to a unanimous decision right away. However, I never thought that our errands would take the next forty-three minutes to execute. There we stood, in the bakery corner of the local Giant, while my friend and I fired back at one another: "I like the martini candles." "Well, I think we should get the margarita glasses - the martini ones are WAY too expensive for our budget." "I don't care if they're cheaper. The martini candles are too cute to pass up!" "I don't care how cute they are! They're only going to be seen for thirteen seconds. Then she's going to blow them out and yank them off whatever kind of cake we get her - if we ever get out of this store!" My friend wasn't about to cave, and I wasn't about to stake out in the bakery section, so I folded and we splurged for the mini martinis. We burned such a hole in our pockets because of them that we had to settle for mini cupcakes as well. As we left Giant, it seemed like our birthday blowout was looking more like a mini merriment. Were the martini candles just the beginning?