Just stay focused, you dish freak!
I am trying very hard to stay focused on getting the most necessary and costly of our home improvements done, but I am having so much trouble staying focused…..first, I had to spend all of the money I had saved on necessities. Now that I am hanging onto my Christmas gift money like a hungry mongrel hangs onto a bone, I keep tempting myself by looking at vintage dishes.
I am an insatiable, incurable dish freak. They are truly my biggest weakness. I want them all, kitschy and formal, and in all colors and patterns. I want a nice, thick, heavy, colorful pottery set for summer dinners in what will be my back yard, Spanish-inspired patio oasis. I want a durable, yet delicate-looking luncheon set for lunch or dessert on what will be my victorian garden-inspired, shady, covered front porch. And neither of those has to match. Thrift store goodness, all the way.
But for my home? I already have the everyday dishes I love, but I am not too fond of my ‘formal’ stuff. (This was the ONLY link I could find with a picture. It’s way too dark, but I wouldn’t enlarge the pic, it will resize your screen) I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used it in the 16 years since I bought it. It just isn’t ‘me’ anymore. I really want to sell mine and get another formal set, or just a nicer everyday set, if not formal.
I know what you’re all thinking….if I use the stuff that seldom, what is the point in having it to begin with? I could tell you that I want them for special occasions, but then again….WHAT special occasions? I rarely have, nor do I plan to start having, much company. Still….this is one of the ways in which I am totally traditional. I want my two different sets of dishes, dammit! And I would totally use my ‘formal’ stuff more often if I really liked the pattern.
I love all things retro and 40s/50s/60s, and have promised myself that once I get the main things done that I want done to the house, I will replace my ‘formal’ stuff with a set of retro china….can be formal or informal, doesn’t really matter. My favorite patterns are Creative China Starburst (ebay listings, but they have pics you can see) and Franciscan Starburst (another auction listing). Both are so lovely. The Fransiscan Starburst seems to be less formal, but more plentiful, probably more durable and usable, and slightly more pricey than the Creative. But I wouldn’t really know. The creative is actually China. Very retro, goes well with an ‘atomic’ theme, and also would work well should my decorating tastes ever change to Oriental. I found a set of 8 place settings of the Creative Starburst on Ebay starting at $30, and I am SOOOOOOO very tempted to bid for it.
……….
Hey, dish freak: again…STAY FOCUSED. Take care of other things that you want just as badly. REWARD yourself with some really cool dishes you’ll probably be too afraid to use once you take care of your other, more pressing priorities. If, for some reason, you can’t find the dishes you want when you are truly able to get them, kick yourself. But for now, just please stay focused on actual home improvements.
Thank you,
The Practical Voice in Your Head
Originally published at devilishsouthernbelle.net. You can comment here or there.