Monday 23 November 2015

YANKEE CANDLES - WHY I LOVED THEM SO MUCH

Dear all,

Let me tell you a short story.
19 years ago a 16 year old girl was offered the opportunity of a life-time : go to the USA as an exchange student for a year. And what an opportunity it was. The girl got to live with 3 different families to experience the various lifestyles of this vast country. She went to High School as a senior (although she should've been a junior) so she could go to Prom and all the other balls throughout the year. She got to travel. A lot. Disneyworld for a week? Yes please. A 3 week trip starting in St Louis, Missouri all the way to California and back via Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park and many more sightseeing destinations? Of course! This girl had truly the time of her life.
However, being away from her family and close friends for a whole year in a time when the internet was just starting, when ICQ chat was probably the only form of online communication (in Bulgaria, anyway) was hard for her. She was only allowed to call home once a week and when her birthday came she was feeling really down. Of course she was excited about the birthday party her new friends were throwing for her. She was really looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint. She was well liked and lots of kids came. Most gave her presents. The one thing that really stood out and she can remember it even today was a little jar. A very cute jar, mind you, but a jar?! A bit puzzled she opened it to find out it was a candle in the jar.  A McIntosh Red Apple Yankee Candle. (I have the jar so many years later however, it is in Bulgaria, in my old room. This is a picture of one of my newest additions to my ever growing collection).
 It smelled divine, even without it being lit. Later that evening the now 17 year old girl lit the candle and within minutes her room was filled with the smell of apples. Her friend knew how much she loved red apples hence the aromatic candle. The girl felt blessed to have such a thoughtful friend. That candle in the cute little jar became the perfect 'pick me up' friend to the girl. Whenever she was feeling a bit lonely she would light the candle and the glow would remind her that although she was alone she had friends who loved her.
When the girl went back home after her amazing year she was shocked to discover that you simply couldn't buy Yankee Candles. She went to Germany 2 years later to go to  university and looked for them there too. Without success. Over the next few years she forgot all about them. She moved to the UK but didn't find them there either. Then one day whilst surfing the web for Christmas presents she ended up on a website specialising in candles. Yankee Candles were in the UK! Oh, the joy!

This was about 6 years ago - whilst pregnant with my son I found Yankee candles being sold via a website and I became a customer that very moment. Receiving my package a couple of days later reminded me why I loved them so much as a teenager. The same cute jars, the same divine smells....
I use them all the time and my collection over the last 2 years has significantly grown. Yankee Candles are now available to buy in various stores around the UK and of course, online. At the moment my favourite is my Christmas collection - Sugared Apple, Christmas Garland and Christmas Eve.

I tend to opt for the smallest jars (they come in 3 sizes) which burn between 25 and 40 hours. The weight of the actual candle is 104 grams. Both jar and top are made of thick glass. You can buy shades to go on top of your jars and in a second you have a gorgeous little lamp shade! My kids recently broke my Christmas one so now I am on the lookout for a new one. I have used one of my summer ones to show you the effect :


You can purchase just the plate too :

The weather here dropped by about 10 degrees overnight a couple of days ago and last night I once again had the perfect opportunity to have one of my favourite smells around the house - Christmas eve. With Christmas only 5 weeks away and being so cold outside me, hubby and the kids had a lovely evening at home playing family games and eating pizza on Sunday night. With a Yankee candle burning on the table and a wax tart melting in the other room.... It was a very enjoyable evening indeed.

Let me know what is your favourite candle :)

XoXo
Desi in the Kitchen

All words in this post are my own. Yankee Candles are not endorsing this post.

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