Is it just me???

So is it just me, or does anyone else think Williams Sonoma is somewhat ridiculous? Jamie and I bopped in there after an OB appt to kill time before picking up Jo from school. Now, I LOVE cooking stores, and Williams Sonoma's selection (and marketing) is top notch. But come on, $350 for a copper pot? $15 for a standard size jar of pasta sauce? A simple linen table runner for $95 (it's just a solid color!!!)?? The profit margin on this stuff must be at least 200-300%! And this is a very mainstream store, it's not like it's a small boutique-type place. I wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended. I think I'm mostly amused. And it's embarrassing because since everything looks so beautiful and their gourmet foods sound so delicious, you want to buy it and justify the cost. And there are other people in there buying stuff, so it all appears very normal. For the cost of a set of fancy copper (or even just stainless steel) pots, I could fly to Paris, crash at my friend Phuong's place, go nuts at Dehillerin, and come home with the same stuff for probably less money. Now that's shopping.

Anyway, I walked out of there with a $10 bottle of vanilla and a mental note of the ingredients in their $15 pumpkin-based pasta sauce. I'm going to attempt to bastardize that recipe tonight, and if it's good, I'll post it :-)