Although I didn’t make any purchases on my day-after Christmas stop at Yankee Candle last week, the striking words on the store’s bags, “semi-annual clearance sale,” weighed on my mind later in the week. Many retailers always have some type of sale each week, but Yankee Candle’s “semi-annual” declaration suggested I may not find such 50 percent discounts on items there every week.

Friday night, I had dinner with a friend at a restaurant on Coliseum Boulevard and, well, Glenbrook Square was less than two blocks away and I had to pass it on my way home. Excuses, excuses.

Anyway, after browsing and smelling several scented candles and reed diffusers, I decided on one of each. I haven’t lit the candle yet, but fell in love with the “Sparkling Snow” reed diffuser – as I expected I would – when I opened it New Year’s Day and set it on top of my fireplace mantel. The fragrance engulfed my living room with a pleasant, welcoming smell. So I called Yankee Candle on Monday night to see whether they still had any diffusers on sale. I’m in luck. They do.

I’ll be back.

It’s on my way home, you know.