Tea Time

I'm ready if Will and Kate ring to have tea.  Or more realistically, I'm ready to host a fancy dinner party.  

All thanks to my Aunt Jan, (the lovely lady on the right).

She's always such a giving and thoughtful person, and this time she's outdone herself.  She gifted me her entire china set.  And this isn't just a salad and dinner plate combo.  It's complete with service for twelve on top of all the extras - a tea pot, sugar and cream combo, gravy boat and so much more.  I can't hardly believe my fortune and her generosity!  

 I purposely didn't register for china because we needed sooo many other things when Andrew and I got married, plus my mom is the keeper of two sets of family china at the moment so I thought surely one day one of those heirlooms would be passed on to me.  

(Okay, I hoped this would happen and that I wouldn't have to fight my sister for it - let's get real.)

But, then my aunt emailed me and asked so nonchalantly if I would want her set.  Ummmm.  Yes.

And the cherry on top is that I was just struggling so much to decorate our family room built-ins until this came along.  Part of it was that I'm trying to lighten and brighten the room so I kept trying to add white frames or white accents, and they just got lost against the white beadboard.  So, once the china arrived, I painted the back of the cabinet a soft creamy gray, and it subtly improved everything.  

I'll admit, it's probably not the most traditional place to store china, 

but I'm working with the space we have and bonus points for not having empty shelves anymore.

I do think once I buy the rug I have picked out for this room and get our horse chair recovered, everything will come together a bit better.  

 I'm not completely sold on the top row arrangement.  

Love the stacks of the cups and saucers, but I'd like to have a bit more variation in height before I'm totally done.

So, there you have it.  We're officially fancy.  Like so fancy you have to hold your pinky finger up when you come over for tea and scones.

Don't worry.  Your invite is in the mail.