Woman in Real Life

The ease and beauty of summertime calls for table settings that are eclectic, pretty and practical. Don't put away your formal china - summer "casual" doesn't have to mean plastic cutlery and paper plates. Instead, opt for a mix and match summer table that nods to summer's informal qualities while celebrating a season made for socializing.

Classic and modern, formal and informal, bold and demure, floral and check, silver and gold, fun and serious, high and low - all of these elements can work together for a lovely summer table. I was challenged to take a few pieces of fine tableware from Classic Replacements to act as the foundation of my summer table.

There are so many wonderful things about fall - bright orange leaves and apple picking and cool breezes flowing through open windows. And then there's tea. Okay, I have tea all year round, but come fall and winter tea keeps me feeling cozy and content.

It's time to pull out all of our lovely, mismatched tea cups and cookie platters and celebrate the warmth and companionship that comes along with a good cuppa tea. Wouldn't it be a lot of fun to invite a few girlfriends over, set out your special china and enjoy a tea party and a good chat? I'm reaching into my dining room armoire these days for pieces like these above (which I previously featured in this post, titled "a cracked plate").

How about we give all of our pretty tea cups a little love this season? Are you with me?

Do you collect tea cups?

On my about me page I note that I'm all about using the good dishes every day. I do have a set of "regular" dishes from Costco that we tend to use most often, but I like to mix in vintage serving dishes and also pull out our various china place settings whenever I think of it.

Three weeks ago, I showed you some of the china patterns that I have in my cupboard. I mentioned that my grandmother's good china was also passed on to me. This past weekend, I decided to get it out of the dining room armoire for our Sunday brunch. I like the feeling of continuity and sharing in family history that comes with using my grandmother's china. When it was given to me, much of it was badly cracked or chipped. I made the difficult decision to toss those pieces right then because I knew they would never be used. Even if we don't have a full set now, I can mix these pieces with other patterns (like the big fancy plate that I served biscuits on).

Our Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend. I'm not hosting, but I thought I would play around with table settings to get us all in a Thanksgiving mood on this Vintage Bliss Tuesday. I challenged myself to set the table using only items that I already had lying around the house. I even clipped a few yellow flowers from the last holdouts in my outdoor flower boxes.

The last time I took $10 to the thrift store, I got lucky. Read about it here if you like. But, that was a different type of thrift store...one that we don't seem to have in my area.

So, today I thought I would experiment by taking my $10 to a chain (read over-priced) thrift store in my area. I decided on the Salvation Army store.

I was drawn in by the two spouts on this Evangeline Pottery gravy boat, which was also $1.50.





Canister, 75 cents.


I got some non-vintage items too. These bright appetizer dishes speak to me of summer entertaining, with their handy built-in wine glass holders.

My daughter and I managed to hit only one thrift store this week, on the way to an appointment in another town.

She picked out a blue and white wool sweater (yes, with the temperature reaching 30°C/86°F), as well as a Webkinz kangaroo. (Awesome—another stuffed animal to end up on her bedroom floor.)

After a very busy week of dance recitals, a family birthday and a school family fun night, the kids certainly welcomed the PA Day today.  Actually, my son always welcomes a break from school, whatever the reason.

I didn’t have time to visit a thrift store this weekend, however I still ended up with lovely treasures. On Saturday, we were at my parents’ house celebrating my dad’s 85^th birthday. Here is grampy with my kids (on the left) and their cousin. On Sunday, we visited my lovely sister-in-law and her family—husband, four children, large dog, two cats, rabbit, turtle, rooster and chickens. I’ll have some photos of that visit to share later this week.

The tea cup and saucer are mismatched, but I think they look like a happy pair anyway.




On the same visit to The Salvation Army, I found this picture frame. Obviously, I was in some sort of flowers and vases mood. The sunny frame calls for a sunny photo, so I chose a picture of my daughter on the beach in Florida last year.