Yesterday, Today and Always...dedicated to the one I love.

Forty three years ago, I proposed to my husband. Actually, we were already engaged, but I decided that we needed to set a date. Decisions had to be made quickly, since we decided to marry during spring break, which was only a little over a month away.  I was not interested at all in the wedding plans (is that normal?), but I was oh so interested in choosing my china, silver and crystal.

That was in the day, when the girl and her mother, (no boys allowed), visited the local jewelry store and spent a glorious afternoon immersed in table settings. This Valentine's Day, my table is set with some of my choices.

The dinnerware is Solitaire by Lenox, the sterling silver flatware is Strasbourg by Gorham and the crystal is Argenta by Tiffin. There were so many beautiful designs offered to me that day on the shelves of that little jewelry store, but I decided to pick things that I hoped would not go out of style and could be used on many different occasions, (add a few red napkins, a bowl of candy and some flowers and you have a Valentine's Day table).

I did choose another set of patterns, (more on that in a later blog), but these were the ones that made my heart sing! Speaking of hearts - those darling little heart- shaped plates with the pink and white polka dots are a recent purchase from Cracker Barrel!

I think that I did very well with my choices as a young bride-to-be. I am still thrilled with the tabletop choices and choice of husband - they have all stood the test of time. Happy Birthday (yes, he is a Valentine's birthday guy) and Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for almost 43 wonderful years and allowing me to feed my addiction to tablescaping!


-Diane

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And Then There Was One

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In seeing that my mom had a designed table for a large group and my daughter for a few, I narrowed down my choices to a setting for two or a setting for one. One won.

While I love, love, love china with elaborate patterns, I also made the choice to register for classic patterns when I was married. Lenox Tuxedo is ivory with a gold-encrusted rim. It can be mixed with hundreds of different Lenox patterns. I still love it. Click on the pictures below to get a larger look at the detail. Beautiful!

Think breakfast in bed, for yourself or someone else! I envisioned French toast, a side of fruit, eggs sunny-side-up, and bacon as well.

 Fresh ground pepper and sea salt would fill the salt cellars.

 I would use the creamer and open sugar (Lismore by Waterford) for syrup and powdered sugar.

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The napkin ring is a Valentine tree ornament for a Victorian-inspired them. Very pretty!

 A mimosa or fresh juice in the champagne flute and hot chocolate, tea, or coffee on the side.

And now, for a little history!

Tuxedo is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2012. It was originally known as J33. These ramekins date from before 1920. They were a fantastic eBay find! (I LOVE EBAY!) Ovington Brothers was a specialty store in New York that imported fine housewares, often on commission. I found some really neat articles in the New York Times archives from the late 1800's here and here. This second article was a bit scandalous! There is some interesting family history here as well. And as a side note, can you believe Lenox has never never made a soup tureen in such an enduring pattern? I am hoping they'll celebrate next year by offering one!

-Andrea