My sweet husband and I recently celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. I think looking back on that day grows to be more and more fun each year. As I looked through our wedding pictures this year, I thought to myself, “Oh my, we looked so young!!” Time has a way of seasoning us and helping us see what “once was” more clearly. We certainly did not feel like youngsters when we got married, but looking back now, we really were! My goodness. We were truly blessed with the excitement of that day. Family and friends alike were there to support us. The weather was perfect; the venue was gorgeous. It was all so lovely.
We didn’t honeymoon right away, because we got married during the school year and we wanted to wait until my summer break, since I was teaching. Instead, we stayed at a grand hotel that night, and drove to my parents’ house the following day where all of our magnificently wrapped wedding gifts awaited our arrival. We opened each gift, marveling at the thoughtfulness and generosity of those who loved us. Knowing we both had large families and many friends who would want to celebrate with us, we had chosen to make a bridal registry with all of our kitchen and household items on it. Almost every last item was given to us…it was incredible!
Speaking of kitchen items, we are just now after all these years, getting to the point of needing to replace some of these gifted items. We are always in the kitchen, and I can truly say that we use everything in it a lot. In the last year, I have begun replacing some of our cooking utensils with new ones, and I have been noticing that our everyday china is looking very worn. We started out with a service for 12 of our “Noritake Colorwave in Purple” everyday dishes, and we are now down to 5 bowls, 5 salad plates, 5 mugs, and 9 dinner plates. I have known for a while that it is time to replace them, as the pattern is so old that the color is no longer in production. This makes buying replacements for broken pieces too expensive. We didn’t have particular set in mind yet to replace the old set with, but we were beginning to get ideas of what we wanted. We were thinking an all white set would go great with our other new kitchen items, which are an aqua color.
Then, our anniversary rolled around. My parents came by that day for a visit, and they brought us a gift to help us celebrate our 19 year achievement. I bet you can already guess what it was!!! Yep! A whole new set of everyday dishes!!!! They are exactly what we were thinking, only I had never told my mom that. (We do that a lot…it’s like accidental mind reading. She and I even show up to the same place wearing the same colors by coincidence all the time. I think it’s pretty cool!) They brought us set of gorgeous white dishes, which promptly made their way onto to the shelves to be used. So exciting! They are perfect!
Anyways, they have quickly become one of my new favorite things in the kitchen, so of course I wanted to share about them here with you! I love finding sources of joy in the everyday…life is worth celebrating all the time…even if it’s in the form of new dishes!
As I was going through the cupboards to gather the old set up and make room for the new, I made a checklist of items we have. I counted each piece, inventory style, and made a list of “keep it,” “donate it,” and “trash it.” Here’s a helpful pdf we put together to help you organize and sort the dish ware items that may be piling up in your kitchen cabinets. Maybe even have the kids help you if you can…the learning to go through possessions, put them in order, and give away what is no longer needed is an invaluable skill that is best learned when they are young. Plus, you get to spend quality time together, and that is always memorable. Wishing you joy today as you, too, celebrate the everyday things.
P.S. Here’s a list of some of the other things we have needed to replace recently in our kitchen. Those wedding registry items really did last, but other than new dishes, we also needed these items (when applicable, I am providing a link to the exact one we purchased, in case you want it, too!):
- ladle
- measuring spoons
- collapsible wash basin
- felted wool hot pad/trivets (purchased at Trader Joe’s)
- toaster
- dish towels
- foam standing mat for in front of the sink (purchased at Costco)
- potato masher
- butter dish
- crockpot (purchased at Target)