Maybe it's the Christmas spirit still running through our house, but this week's act of self-care is another round of "festive decorating." This time, it was the turn of the dining-room to get it's Holiday overhaul.
For all my married subscribers, how many of you registered for formal chinaware as part of your wedding gift registry? I'm going to go out on a limb and say quite a few of you; it was certainly standard practice when I got married. The real question for those of you who did register for China is how many times have you actually used it? C'mon people, be honest. Do me a favor, drop a comment below with the number of times you've used your china and the number of years you've been married. I'll get the ball rolling: In the 13 years I've been married, I've used my formal china a whopping ZERO times!!!
Matt and I got married in 2006, and believe me when I say we went all out with our registry. When they put that little barcode scanner in our hands at Bloomingdales, all bets were off; plates, serving trays, stemware, silverware, crystal, napkins, napkin rings; in hindsight, we went a little nuts. I remember having an absolutely fabulous time dreaming about all the parties we were going to have and how great our table would look. Turn the clock forward 13 years and I couldn’t even tell you what the pattern looks like on the dinner service. Everything was nicely packed away in our crystal cabinet, waiting for the “right time," which never came. The good news is after all that time I still knew where everything was and nothing had been lost or damaged.
Yesterday we were hosting a small “Friendsgiving Dinner” with another family; nothing elaborate, nothing fancy, just four adults and four children (not including the baby) having a proper sit down meal with some nice wine. My friend sent me a text message to tell us they were going to be an hour late because of their son's basketball game; as the mother of an athlete, I totally understood and of course said, "no big deal." Anyway, I found myself in the kitchen with all the food prepped and child care arranged, thinking to myself, "what should I do now?" Then it hit me: I'm going to set the table! I had already picked up a garland centerpiece and candles as part of my holiday decorating kick, so why not put it all together with my formal china?
Again, putting all the excuses to one side (this is becoming a recurring theme in these blog posts), I pulled out the China and all the accessories. Within 30 minutes, the table was set and it looked magnificent; I was smiling from ear to ear. I don’t know about our guests, but for me there was something just a little bit more special about the dinner; something I will always remember.
The moral of the story is for those of you who are “saving” something for that special moment - maybe an outfit or a bottle of wine - my advice is there's no time like the present. If that item is special to you (for whatever reason), it should be used and celebrated as frequently as possible instead of being hidden away in a dark drawer or cupboard. You never know when, or even what, that special occasion's going to be, so why not make many special occasions along the way?
PS..... the clean up was super easy. After googling “Wedgewood china,” we learned it’s all dishwasher safe! So for those of you worried about cleanup, let me tell you it’s just another excuse. Clean up was easy and the extra minute of putting everything away was worth the joy it bought to the whole evening.
The food and company were almost as good as the table was pretty. Married 16 years. Never got Formal China but more everyday fancy dinner party China. Forgot I had it. Just put it in our cabinets to use. Only used twice since then. I’ll try harder.