A few days ago David helped Mother / Martha / “Martie” move into a garden home (oh, the stories. THE STORIES.), and when he made it back to our house Sunday afternoon, he walked in the front door with a special treat.
GIN!
Oh, I kid. Kiddy McKidderson Kid.
Because do you know what’s really inside that box?
CHINA!
I know that might not seem very exciting to a lot of people, but let me tell you: I am such a fan of pretty dishes. Apparently I inherited the loves-pretty-dishes gene from my mama, and I have been crazy about china since I was in high school. It makes me laugh that I can be so sentimental about, you know, PLATES, but I totally am. I remember all the dishes my mama has ever owned, and if I ever happen to run across a full set of the everyday pattern that she used when I was a little girl, I’ll probably cry just a little bit.
Now I feel like I should go hide. Perhaps I’ve overshared.
Anyway.
Since Martha’s new house doesn’t have quite as much storage space as her old one, she was very sweet to give me 12 place settings of a china pattern that David’s daddy bought when he was stationed overseas back in the 50s. I can’t even tell you how much I will treasure it. The pattern is Noritake LaSalle, and I LOVE IT. It’s so different than anything else I have – I think it’s delicate and retro and modern all at the same time.
By the way, I’m pretty sure that you’re officially a grown-up when you enthusiastically snap a picture of a covered vegetable bowl.
But DID YOU NOTICE THAT FUNKY HANDLE? ISN’T THAT THE GREATEST THING YOU’VE EVER SEEN?
It took me all of five minutes before I started trying to figure out how I could mix the new-to-me pattern with dishes I already have. My fine china is Lenox Eternal, and I love how it looks with the LaSalle salad plate. I think they’ll look sassy on top of some charger plates I bought a few years ago at Old Time Pottery – they were a whopping $1.50 a piece, I think.
Won’t they all be so purty together on Christmas day? Is it wrong that thinking about all the mix-and-match china makes me a smidge giddy? Do I need to go hide again?
Maybe I need to go hide again.
I love the cups and saucers, too – even if the cup will only hold about two tablespoons of coffee. Because those two tablespoons of coffee will look fab next to that kicky handle, now won’t they?
So what about y’all? Do you use your “good” dishes on Christmas day? Do you have a favorite Christmas pattern? Do you like to mix and match the dishes you have? Or do you save yourself the headache of having to wash a bunch of dishes and just break out the paper stuff instead?
I, too, have an addiction to china. I just got my fourth set of plates for Christmas. I was walking through Belk’s a few months ago and happened to pass a table display with these dishes on it: http://www.belk.com/AST/Boutiques/Boutiques_Primary/Biltmore_For_Your_Home/DiningEntertaining/CasualDinnerware/PRD~7600489OPULE7612/Biltmore+For+Your+Home+Opulence+China.jsp?off=1. I literally gasped out loud, they were so beautiful. I went home, found the link, and e-mailed it to my Mom. Then, back in November I found out that they were being discontinued, and my Mom offered to buy me a set for Christmas. They’ll be my breakfast dishes.
I’d love to have a set of dishes for every night of the week. Or different sets that are appropriate for different types of food- one for Mexican, one for Italian, etc.
Your new dishes are lovely! You should do a dish tour and have people post pictures of their china. That would be so much fun!
I too have a huge obsession with china. I love, love, love your “new” set. How special to be able to pass it on to your son one day. I totally agree that the pattern is retro and current at the same time. I think it will look absolutely gorgeous for Christmas (and for Thanksgiving too).
I LOVE that sweet little pattern. Looks great with your other set, too.
I have Lenox “Hancock” from our wedding, and we use that…well, not too often. I had planned on using them every Sunday to serve our pot roast with mashed potatoes, green salad, and dinner rolls, with sweet tea in our crystal stems, but life’s not working out like I had dreamed. Funny how having kids will do that to ya. We mostly use it for Thanksgiving if it’s my year to host.
I also have my grandmother’s set…”Annette” is the pattern name, but can’t remember the maker right now. I love it! It has a pale yellow band with little bouquets of pink and white roses all around. I use it for baby showers, Easter, and anything girly.
We got married in early October, so the Christmas stuff wasn’t out when I registered, so I didn’t pick anything even though I would have traded all my Hancock for those Noble Excellence Gingerbread Kids dishes. But we ended up getting some randome pieces of Spode’s “Christmas Tree” from a few different people, and I LOVE it! We have since grown that collection, and now we use it every day of the Christmas season instead of our usual every day dishes (French Countryside by Mikasa) and of course for Christmas dinner.
What is also crazy is I have my grandmother’s every day set, too…her yellow Fiestaware, with a few blue and green pieces. We don’t use it; I have it displayed in my glass cabs in the kitchen.
So, there you have it. 5 sets of dishes. I’m officially in the club of all these china lovin’ gals.