Coffee or Tea?

So what will it be?  Your invited and for a very special imaginary brunch here at the Decorative Dreamer.  I do hope you'll come.  I've set the table just for you and I've even put out a stack that I think you'll love.  So come on, don't be shy, how about stopping in for just a spell, I promise not to keep you too long.  Okay?

  Why do I think your going to love this?  Because it's blue and green and reminds me of Spring.

How do you like this combination of dishes?  I love it.  I was playing with my dishes this morning, trying to decide if I wanted to do a tablescape or not and felt so happy after I pulled these pieces together that I decided to share a little happiness with you too!

For some reason I have been craving the colors blue and green.  Enough of all this brown and grey in my world!  I am ready for blue skies, blue water and green, green grass.  How about you?

I started with my pretty colbalt blue calico dish by Queen's, found at TJ Maxx.

Then I decided I wanted something green.  I just had to use my Franciscan Ivy dishes because they represent lush green growth to me.  That's what I really want to see outside this year!

 Then for my final plate, I decided to add this blue and green Ivy plate from Pfaltzgraff.  It's more of a denim blue in color.  Isn't that a wonderful thought too!  Sounds great to me, I sure do miss hanging out in my blue jeans Yall!

Love, love, love it!!!!  Oh, and I almost forgot, I also added the woven placemats for that outdoorsy feel.

Since you are invited, I put out my wedding stainless, by Oneida.

And my older green and white checked napkins.  They used to be the right shade of green here but have faded so.  I sure do wish I had some fabulous blue and white napkins to coordinate with these dishes.  I guess I will have to put that on my hunt list, huh?

So what would you like Madam?  Are you still drinking coffee?

Or are you right there with me and ready for some good old fashioned Iced Tea?

I've even set the centerpiece to hold whatever you might need for your drink, because I'm thoughtful like that.   Wink-wink!

Cream and Sugar anyone?

Thank you so much for stopping by, I'm so glad you came!

I guess I'd better whip us up something good now, huh?  I'm sure you have a busy day ahead too.  What will it be?  Remember ladies, this is make believe land here, so I can serve you whatever you'd like today and it's calorie free!

Now how can you refuse that?

Have a great day everyone!

I hope you have time to visit more friends over at 

BNOTP for Tablescape Thursday.

82 Degrees Today????

Wow!

 Can you see it?

Enjoying a little breakfast treat on the porch early this AM and it is already 65 degrees while I am taking this photo.  We love our crazy South Carolina weather!

Okay, I know you see it now, just look at all that warm sunshine!  Weather man says we can expect to top out at 82 today.  Hard to believe, unless you step outside this morning.

  I am enjoying it as much as I can before heading in for another late day at work.  Hope you get to enjoy a beautiful day too wherever you are!  Have a good one!

Hello Mardi Gras!

I have been thinking quite a bit about Mardi Gras and all the beautiful tablescapes I've seen out here in blogland.  I love the colors used for Mardi Gras along with all the fun, festive and sometimes even gawdy decor. No offense Y'all but I really do love it!  Hehe!

Since I am not from New Orleans, and haven't ever attended Mardi Gras, I didn't realize until this year that the colors themselves actually have some symbolism until I read that on another blog this week.  Sorry, I forget who you were but here is the official symbolism of the colors I found online;

Purple Represents Justice. Green Represents Faith. And Gold Represents Power.

(taken from this website; http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/ ) This is a wonderfully informative site about the events, traditions and history of Mardi Gras in New Olreans, check it out!

I have wanted to do a Mardi Gras tablescape for a few years now but felt like it would be kind of silly to do one when; 1.) We don't actually celebrate Mardi Gras, or live in a state that does.  Though I did see there was a community near my sons home in Charleston that did this year.  Huh?  2.) I am not Catholic, but am Protestant and therefore do not adhere to the more common rituals of penance and various traditions associated with Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday and Lent.

But...I do think you all may be on to something here!  I kinda like the idea of a celebration the day before Ash Wednesday, which for me, while not observed publicly, much like Lent is a day or time of reflection that I've come to recognize as signifying our need for a Savior for the forgiveness of our sins. Technically if I'm correct, Mardi Gras is actually the culmination (or the end) of Epiphany celebrations, but I like thinking of it as the kickoff or the beginning of Easter, if you will.  Is that so wrong?

So with all this in mind, I set about creating my very first Mardi Gras Tablescape this year.

I started by pulling out one of my handmade gold colored tablecloths for my round table.

Gold to create a "powerful" first impression.

Next I pulled out one of my favorite pieces of purple fabric to use on the lazy susan.  It must have worked because I am really pleased with how well this entire tablescape turned out.  Purple is for "justice" all right!

While I was upstairs digging around for fabric, I spotted this purple glass candle holder that I just had to add.

Look closely, I think that's a Fleur De Lis on there too!  

Because I really wanted to create a dramatic centerpiece I decided to add all the masks.  The purple, green and gold masks all came out of one package from the DT, with a few extra to spare.  

My favorite part of the centerpiece was the idea to use my very own mask I purchased from New Orleans many years ago while traveling there with work when I was a travel agent.

It's certainly not one of those more elaborate and detailed masks you can buy down there but is just so special and beautiful to me.  I was quite young back then and on a very limited budget too.  I love how simple it is and reminds me of someone wearing makeup.  It also reminds me that yes indeed, like it or not we all wear a mask to some extent don't we?

Next, it quickly became all about birds, beads, and doubloons.

I already had the two birds in my craft room upstairs.

I purchased these beads and coins from the DT as well.

How fun!

My final addition to the centerpiece was a few small pots of yellow and purple flowers.  I already had them as well, purchased from a clearance sale at Michaels.

I really love how this turned one turned out!

I decided to use my Gourmet Butlers Pantry dishes because I think they work very well here.  I also think the design on the plate looks sorta frenchy too, right....maybe?  LOL!

  Since I needed to add some green to my Mardi Gras tablescape I decided to add my green raised wheat plates. You can just think of this as a big heaping plate full of "faith"!

The final topper came with these adorable paper napkins that I purchased from the DT.  I also purchased the paper plates that coordinated with them but decided against using those for this setting.  I love how these napkins have some white in them to match my dinner plates.

My stainless silver is my wedding flatware.

It is from Oneida and appropriately named, what else?  Louisiana!

My glasses are from my mothers mother.  I love the gold etched rims.  Even with all their wear and tear they are still so beautiful to me!

 I am so excited about this tablescape I can hardly wait until the Mr get's home.

Happy Mardi Gras! 

  I know it's actually Ash Wednesday today and that Mardi Gras ended yesterday but I do hope you will overlook that one little small detail.  I'm so limited on time, was off today and since tomorrow is;

Tablescape Thursday at BNOTP

I figured why not go for it.  I'm so glad I did too!

I hope you enjoyed your visit here as well.  If you did, be sure and leave me note.  It's always nice to hear from you.  Be sure and pop on by the party to see more beautiful and very talented tablescapers.

Have a great day and great weekend everyone!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me, oh yeah!  Lookout!  Today was certainly one of those days my friends.  You know the kind, one of those days when you come across someone or several people as the case may be, who seem quite oblivious to showing a little respect.  It really makes me wonder is this a concept that is going out of style. I mean really!  Maybe it's just me, but it seems more and more people expect respect from others but are ignorant about forwarding respect towards another.

http://redvinesandredwine.blogspot.com/2011/10/r-e-s-p-e-c-t.html 

Let me tell you how I was raised!  I was raised to respect ALL people when you first meet them, period.  End of story!  I was taught to always be respectful of your elders, even if they seem a bit senile.  I was taught to respect teachers, clergy, officers, bankers, employers and those of higher authority even when you do not agree with their choices or ethics. Smile!  I was taught to be especially respectful of those who have disabilities, for theirs is a very difficult world.  I was taught to be respectful of all other places and other peoples property.   In short, I was taught that everyONE deserves a measure of respect until proven otherwise.  Even after someone has shown to me that they really do not deserve my respect, I still treat them back in a respectful manner (usually as efficiently as possible) but with a measure of decency none the less. 

http://thedisneyprincess.tumblr.com/post/7665980070

Now that's not to say that there are not times when a person can be so challenging that I rapidly loose respect for them and want to tell them exactly what I think about their attitude, but honestly, I just don't go there.   The fastest way for me to loose respect for someone is when they elevate themselves above everyone else.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  When a person walks into your story with an attitude that convey's "It's all about Me!" I quickly loose interest.  Understandably in the retail world, that is the message you can expect to receive from most customers everyday.  But the difference in how one customer conveys that message to the next is always amazing and astounding to me.  Most of my customers, about 85%, usually are of the sharing respect theology that I adhere to and are a genuine pleasure to deal with.  Occasionally though, you come across someone who does not share this mutual feeling of respect and doesn't mind letting you know.  That's one of those times when I remind myself that I am worthy of respect and am a better person by not letting it get to me and not letting someone else's poor understanding of being respectful change mine.  

I googled and came across this page at WikiHow; http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Respected  I thought it offered quite a bit of great info on the subject of respect.

Since tomorrow is Wellness Wednesday at The Decorative Dreamer, I'm posing this question....

What are your thoughts on the subject of RESPECT?

I remember as a teenager in high school in the late 70's and early 80's that I had several classmates of the mindset that believed respect was something you and others had to earn first and was not something that was freely or automatically given.  I've never really understood this concept other then to the extent that the more integrity a person demonstrates over time the more respect they earn, but I've always thought of that as a different "level" of respect.   Since we all know it is also very easy to quickly loose respect for others, I would love to hear how you personally handle that as well.  I guess what I am asking here is what's your views on respect and your thoughts on respect in general in our world today?  Do you think respect is still being taught to children today?  Does society have a different view on respect these days then from previous years?  What do you think?

Oh yeah, by the way, I turned the music back on!   Woohoo!  I love music and was really missing it!  Feel free to silence it if it bothers you, otherwise...Enjoy!