HomeGoods Sweepstakes Part II – NYC

I do a lot of crazy things, and waking up at seven in the morning on a Saturday to go shopping is probably one of them. Crazier was convincing ten friends to come with me. Luckily, my friends are just as crazy as I am. This past Saturday was the private HomeGoods shopping event at the new store on the Upper West Side, and my guests and I had to get there early because the event was being held before the store opened. The nice people at BlogHer and Homegoods, however, provided a nice breakfast spread from WholeFoods, and after a coffee and a bagel, we were ready to shop. Full disclosure: my friends received $50 gift cards, and I received a $100 gift card to spend at the event.

The store was a lot bigger than I thought. Upstairs is kitchen goods, and downstairs is everything else. I stayed upstairs for most of the event. I was looking for a burr grinder since the BF is really into Greek coffee ever since our trip to Greece. Unfortunately, HomeGoods doesn’t carry appliances. No problem, there were a lot of non-appliance goods that I needed.

For example, I needed a wok. In the pan aisle, I found an All-Clad 14″ stainless-steel wok for $109.99. Online it retails for a little under $150. However, I could get a cheapo carbon-steel wok in Chinatown for less than $30. I was conflicted, but after much internal debate, I decided to get it. There was only one and it seemed like a waste not to. By the way, when I got home, I did a little more research and everyone online recommended a carbon-steel wok, but when I texted my friend Taiwai (my authority on everything Chinese), he told me I should keep it. He uses a similar wok at home. He said, “Just choose a heavy wok and start cooking.” I’ll keep it for now. Cooking will commence later.

I also bought an HEB stainless-steel whisk ($5.99), a Cuisinart 9″ springform pan ($9.99), the cutest Le Creuset butter dish ever ($12.99), and since his birthday was coming up, a Hyperpet Dent-A-Tug ($1.99) for Romeo.

For pictures from the event and to see what kitchen products my friends bought, click the slideshow below.

It was a fun event and I was impressed on how clean and well-organized the store was. I’ll be back. HomeGoods is one of those stores you need to visit often if you need a specific item. Inventory is replenished frequently. I still need a cast-iron skillet and a griddle pan with ridges. At the event, another woman in the pan aisle got the last one before I could. D’OH! I may need a larger apartment soon too.

Now the best part, what kitchen item do you need from HomeGoods? Answer in the comments below and one reader picked at random will receive a HomeGoods gift card for $100 from BlogHer. Giveaway ends at the end of the month (6/30, 8pm ET). Please read the rules below. Also, don’t forget BlogHer is still giving away ten $25 HomeGoods gift cards on their Prizes & Promotions page (ends June 30th; certain rules apply). Good luck!

Rules:
No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by email. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here.

UPDATE I (7/4/2011) – Happy Independence Day! Hope everyone will be eating something delicious today, BBQ or otherwise. Just wanted to let everyone know, I’ll be announcing a winner in a week, hopefully earlier. Can’t wait to find out who won!

UPDATE II (7/6/2011) – Thank you to everyone who participated, but there can only be one winner and…. THE WINNER IS ANGIE! With a $100 gift card, you can buy lots and lots of cookie sheets! CONGRATS!

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