My husband and I like to joke--now that it's over--about the first few months of our marriage, when I was finishing grad school in New York and he was finishing flight school in Alabama and we were living apart. At the time it wasn't a super fun situation but now it's kind of funny to look back on. We say things like, In this marriage we take things very slowly. We didn't even live together until six months after our wedding! (Is that funny to you? It is to us.)
Anyway, there's something else that falls into a similar category: almost all of our lovely wedding gifts and bridal shower gifts, and the beautiful hand-me-downs from my empty-nester parents are still in storage. Aside from a few things that I begged my mom to ship to me because I couldn't live without them (my food processor), everything is in boxes approximately 1,176 miles away. (Can you tell I miss them?)
Really, it's been okay and it has made sense to do it this way. We weren't sure how long we would be here in Alabama and my parents have been generous enough to store our things until we're ready for them and have a more settled situation. Plus, it's incredibly expensive to move things across the country, and it's not like we need those gorgeous tea sets and embroidered pillowcases and Stickley dining room chairs and Le Creuset baking dishes to survive. (I may have the opposite opinion, however, when I no longer have to be brave about the separation.)
Nevertheless, it will be so much fun to become acquainted with all of these lovely things when we finally move. In the meantime, I've had to be really careful about buying things here. I have sort of an inventory in my head of what we have packed away so that we don't end up with redundancies, and so I don't spend money on things we already have and don't really need.
Yesterday, I was doing a little thrift shopping and I spotted these adorable dessert plates. I love the modern stamped pattern and the textured ridges on the outer rim, and this mustard-yellow color is one of my absolute favorites. I did the mental check and remembered that in storage, we have a full set of Crate and Barrel white dishes as well as my grandmother's fancy English china, but nothing really in between. I decided these would be perfect dessert dishes for times when we want something a little more special than our everyday dishes but would rather not break out the china.
So I brought home ten precious ivory and yellow dessert plates for a grand total of five dollars. And I'm feeling quite proud of them.
And they're even prettier in person!
Very pretty--and you can't beat the price. I like that you took a picture with desserts on them; it makes you realize how perfect they are for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteLaura @ http://mumsie2five.blogspot.com
I know, I was thrilled when the shop owner said 50 cents apiece!
ReplyDeleteI happened to have that cherry turnover (from an awesome local German bakery) in the freezer--perfect for staging my photos, and for breakfast too!
Oh, they're beautiful! That must be a little sad not having your nice wedding things there to use, but like you said, it will be so enjoyable when you're finally reunited with them.
ReplyDeleteI definitely sympathize with what you said about having a tough first few months—Frank was studying full-time for the bar exam for our first two-ish months of marriage, so he was perpetually busy and stressed, while I was frustrated that we had to put newlywed life temporarily on hold. But like you said, now that it's over, it's fun to laugh about. :)
What a bargain! I love thrift shopping- finding those priceless treasures always adds a bit of charm. I love the mustard-yellow stamp: regal and elegant!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Akshara
Simply Akshara
Thanks, Tess! It is a little sad not to have our things but it will be SO exciting--like Christmas--when we finally are reunited with everything. I'm glad you can sympathize on the crazy first few months of marriage. It made our move-in together 5 months after the wedding really sweet, and I bet you feel the same way about your newfound freedom with your husband!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I would so much rather fill our home with thrift shop finds, antiques, and hand-me-downs than fill it with stuff from Ikea! That's just how we are. And it's cheaper to do it this way, too. Love the word "regal" to describe these! :)
ReplyDeleteThose are darling! My sister and I were just talking about the void in our dish collection where small dishes should be. You really just ought to have dessert plates and ice cream bowls!
ReplyDeletewhat beauties! your blog is so lovely!
ReplyDeletexx
http://petalandplume.blogspot.ca/
I'm the queen of small dishes and plates and bowls! I love them and have a growing collection. I don't have ice cream bowls though, what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! I like them! We didn't bring everything with us to VA either. We only planned on being here 1 year and there were plenty of things I knew we could live w/out (wedding china, all our fine dinnerware and serveware), certain kitchen electrics...
ReplyDeleteThanks! I like them too :)
ReplyDeleteFunny that you've been in a similar situation...it's definitely easy to live without those special things, but it's more fun to have them close by!
They're awesome. I love vintage and random mismatched dishes but, I have very little kitchen storage and constantly resist the urge to bring those pretty items home!
ReplyDeleteLove love love love love the plates! Sooo much! I wish there was another set for me and mine. Great find girl!
ReplyDeleteOh I know, I still haven't found a place for these in our kitchen! They're just sitting on the countertop until I can come up with a creative solution...thinking of trying to find some wire stacking shelves like these:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/stackingStorage?productId=10020480
So glad you like them!! They did have full-sized plates, as well as a few teacups and saucers. Maybe we could work something out? :)
ReplyDeleteIt's so crazy cause we are in the exact same predicament. All our beautiful wedding gifts and some of my favorite furniture are being stored at my parents many miles away! So I do the same thing. Mental checklist of what I've already got. How many full-sized plates did they have and do you remember how much they were?
ReplyDeleteThat IS funny! I'm sorry you have to live without your nice things for now, but at least we now know we're not alone!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember exactly how many plates there were. My little ones were only 50 cents each, so I can't imagine the large ones are that expensive. The saucers were cute too.
The thrift shop is literally 5 minutes from our house, so it's easy for me to pop by and get more info on them...why don't you email me if you're still interested? :)