I finally got it!!

From age 6 to about 9, I was slightly obsessed with cooking. I wanted to be a chef more than just about anything in the world. I would stage my own cooking show in my kitchen and would guide my invisible audience through the recipe. I would even put pre-measured ingredients into separate glass bowls just to be extra legit.  I loved cooking so much that I actually wrote a book about it. It was called Lizzie Learns to Cook and it won the best book in the 2nd grade award. I'm pretty much a big deal, everyone. I think the cooking obsession was inspired by my Grandma Di, who used to have her own cooking show on TV (because she's amazing) and she was my hero in every way, therefore I also wanted my own cooking show. But alas, I wasn't allowed to use the kitchen oven by myself. Woe to me. I only had one choice. I was in desperate need of my very own Easy Bake Oven.

I ran this by my parents and they told me that my best option would be Santa. So I clearly remember writing Santa a letter pleading my case. Santa read it, but decided that Easy Bake Ovens were a little too expensive. Instead, he got my mom to help him put together a basket of cooking supplies. I got measuring cups and spoons of my own as well a bags with cake mixes and instructions, muffin mixes, frosting, sprinkles, etc. etc. I was absolutely thrilled with the EBO replacement. 

And yet...

The EBO is the only specific thing I very clearly remember wanting as a child, besides my American Girl Doll which my parents helped me pay for. The EBO was my greatest desire, the object of my affection. I wanted  the plastic oven with the stickers attached. I wanted to make little cakes to give to family and friends. I needed to realize my dream of owning my very own EBO.

Now I am a little more grown up than I was. I have my own kitchen, I'm allowed to use the oven, and I am not as obsessed with cooking as I used to be. But last weekend when my mom and I ran in to Kid to Kid to look for things for my nephew, I saw it. 

Sitting there. 

On the shelf.

The original EBO, it it's original box.

For $6.80.

I gasped and pointed. My mom began laughing. I suspiciously looked around, absolutely certain that someone else might see it and lunge for it before I could get to it. They must have just barely put it on the shelf, they must have just gotten it in. They must not know how much the EBO is worth, they must not know that it is an oven where you can COOK THINGS. REAL THINGS! They simply must not know...

But I wasn't going to tell them. I grabbed it off the shelf and looked at it in awe, gazing at the pictures, and reading the description. My mom asked me if I was going to get it. I gave her a look that said "ofcoursemomhowcouldyouevenwondersuchathing?!?!" 

After 18 years of waiting, I finally have it everyone. I am now the proud owner of my very own Easy Bake Oven. 

Feel free to cheer.