Melissa’s Cozy Teacup

So, I’m getting ready this morning to go out. I walk from the bathroom to my office chair, and the room tilts. I sit here for a few minutes and the room begins to spin. I call out to Tech Hubby that there is something wrong with me and he helps me get to the bed. I lie down. More room spinning, tingles, nausea, and then…I vomit. I have not done that in about 5-7 years! I spend the rest of the day on my back sleeping, shaking sweating and on occasion, feeling like I’m spinning. If this is what I’ve been reading about everyone else’s blogs I feel for you. This is not cool.

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It’s time to celebrate! Dig out your good stuff. You know, the things you tuck away and save for ’special occasions’. Personally, I think we should all use those things everyday that we tuck away and never use because we are always waiting for the special occasion that never comes telling ourselves we are too busy to entertain. I imagine entire neighborhoods filled with homes whose china hutches and linen closets are packed with items that are never used. Break out your good stuff people and let’s get to work.

If, however, you do not have closets and drawers full of unused items waiting to be put into service or your drawers and cabinets are full of mismatched items, and you are reluctant about inviting people over because you don’t have enough matching dishes, you can do several things to remedy the situation. The dollar store has clear glass dishes. You can either flesh out the dishes you already have with a few extra from the dollar store by mixing them in with the others to blend them together, or, you can buy an entire new set of clear glass dishes and use them for every occasion, changing out the table decorations to match the season in which you’re entertaining. You may also mix and match your present collection of dinnerware as I have done here in this photo. The dishes are a combination of my grandmother Hagemeir’s dishes(the small roses) and dishes I found at a local thrift store (the large roses). On the side, you can see a crystal sugar bowl and creamer. Neither set of dishes has a complete cream and sugar set so I used the crystal set (from Princess House I’ve had for years) to complete the table scape. Are you on good terms with one or more of your neighbors? You may try asking her if you could borrow some of what you need from her (only if you are in very good standing with her) some things to remember about borrowing; you must return the item/s the very next day, clean and in the same or better condition in which you received them. If the item is antique and irreplaceable and you are concerned it may become damaged, do not borrow it. If the item does become damaged whether you forgot and put it into the dish washer and the paint faded, you broke it into a million pieces, or it’s stained beyond redemption, you replace it. You don’t had her the money and say, ’sorry’, you go to the store, buy a new one and profusely apologize for your clumsiness. To say thank you to your neighbor for her gracious behavior in lending you what you needed to pull off your event, invite your neighbor over for a cup of tea and something good to eat on top of the thank you note you gave to her when you returned the item. A little token (gift) of your appreciation can’t hurt either. You could send home a plate of cookies with her that you baked for the rest of her family to enjoy.

If you’re new to the area and haven’t made such close neighborly connections, open up the phone book or go on-line and look for the nearest party planner rental place. These can be life savers if you don’t want to buy extra plates, napkins or certain decorations. A quick call later, and you can either pick up, or have delivered to you, what you need to complete your table scape.

Plan out how you want your table to look ahead of time. Do a practice run. Set everything up exactly how you want it to look, then take a picture of it for two reasons;1. The day of the event you will be focused on other things. You may not remember how the table looked and with the picture, you can delegate the job of setting the table to someone else. They will know exactly how you want everything to look and you don’t have to waste valuable time showing them what to do. 2. File it away to use for another event. You’ll not only have it as a guide but you will have a keepsake of how pretty your table looked.

Remember, no matter how you choose to decorate your table, entertaining is about people. All the little extras you do make it that much more enjoyable for everyone (and hopefully yourself) but don’t focus on what you do or don’t have on the table, focus on who is sitting around it. Tomorrow, I will discuss seating arrangements. Seating arrangements can make or break a dinner party.
Please use the comments or my email to ask me any questions you may have about entertaining. I’m happy to answer them for you.

Happy sipping!