I had a great time arranging this table using Royal Stafford's "Witches Coven" tableware; the pattern is incredibly beautiful and detailed. To my surprise, I discovered I had two patterns—"Haunted House" or "1666 Haunted House Lane," featuring a front door with a witch in the window, and "Witches Gathering," depicting a coven of witches around a table. I love the ghosts peeking out of the window in the "Haunted House" pattern. In line with the "witchy" theme, I request my fel

Fiesta Tableware Company celebrated its 90th anniversary this year, and with it, they released the Lavender color of dinnerware, its 58th unique and distinct color. On this occasion, the Fiesta Fanatics, my bestie and dear friend Kissy decided to go to the tent sale this year. Prepping for the tent sale is no trivial matter; you have to review your dish inventory, create your wishlist of current color items, create your wishlist of retired color items, and plan your dish pack

May black cats cross your path with grace, and pumpkins always know their place! Halloween cats, skeletons, crows, witches, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns are haunting my home! Oh, and we can't forget about dragons! Esmeralda the dragon has made her home in our front yard once again this year! I love decorating for Halloween! And I probably have four sets of Halloween dishes, not including fun serving pieces. After spotting a "Halloween Tree" on Instagram, I knew I needed one.

The autumn equinox has come and gone, marking the official start of fall! In Northern California, the leaves have begun to change. Our Pepperberry and Sugar Maple trees are turning shades of red and gold. Persimmons, my favorite fruit, are beginning to ripen into their beautiful color, and my small Michaelmas daisies are thriving! I love the fall colors, and the house is decorated with swags of fall leaves, sunflowers, candles, and fall fruits. As my house is decorated with o

What a delightful hodgepodge of mod color this table is! We have a word we use in our family, "over-ka-bubbles," and while I am not sure where it came from (I think my dad made it up), "over-ka-bubbles night" is the night you mix all of your leftovers from the week together in a single dinner. I think this table is an "over-ka-bubbles" of dishes! A big mix of colors, patterns, and styles. I've set other tables with the Villeroy & Boch Acapulco pattern; the '60s vibe and color

Labor Day marks the unofficial close of summer, and to celebrate the long weekend, we're hosting a barbecue. But it's not just any barbecue; we're also including a wine tasting. Here's a bit of background... Occasionally, you encounter a colleague who evolves into more than just a "work bestie"; they become a friend you can't imagine life without. Our barbecue guests are those kinds of friends. We've worked at four different companies, traveled together as couples, attended s

School began last week in our area, a sure sign of the approach of fall. Before fully embracing the season, I wanted to set a table with one of my favorite Franciscan patterns, "Apple." Produced by Gladding McBean & Co., the Apple pattern was made for an impressive 71 years, from 1940 until its discontinuation in 2011. It's part of the Franciscan line, which also includes popular patterns like Ivy, Desert Rose, and October—all featuring hand-painted, vibrant colors with raise

August has its own unique light. Gold and hazy, honey-colored light that makes us appreciate the last days of summer. Metlox Sculptured Zinnia dishes are August dishes. The raised flowers in golds and oranges with beautiful sage green leaves on a cream background are perfect for a late summer table setting. Metlox Sculptured Zinnia was manufactured in Manhattan Beach, California, from 1964 to 1979. Metlox also created another of my favorite patterns, Sculptured Daisy, which i

I'm eagerly (and impatiently) waiting for Halloween! Actually, both Fall and Halloween, but Halloween is occupying my table-setting mindshare. I'm gradually incorporating Fall elements into my decor, and with September approaching, I'm getting excited. However, Halloween decor is still about 8-9 weeks away! The excitement began when I was texting with my cousin, who loves Fiesta and has an amazing eye not only for Halloween decorations but is truly gifted in creating a beauti

I love August; our Farmer's Market is overflowing with farm-fresh produce, and our small garden is bursting with tomatoes. Dear hubby and #2 son plant tomatoes in old wine barrels, which they carefully water, prune, and protect from the critters that try to eat them! It's no surprise that we consume a lot of tomatoes at home. While there are excellent canned tomatoes on the market—Cento and Mutti are our top picks—nothing beats the taste of fresh home-canned tomatoes in pasta

It's been a minute since I set a Sunday morning breakfast table! These Metlox Sculptured Daisy plates were actually the very first plates that launched my dish collection. I was living in Miami (many many years ago!) and thrifting with friend and found these plates and thought they were pretty and bought them. Little did I know they'd launch an obsession, I mean collection! We've had a busy summer traveling and haven't really had many Sunday mornings with the whole family at

The Fiesta Tableware Company (FTC) has been busy! Celebrating it's 90th Anniversary, it released a long anticipated and much asked for purple color, "Lavender." We Fiesta people haven't had a true purple since Lilac, which was only sold from 1993-1995. Yes, there have been other purples, Plum, Mulberry, Heather - but no true purple. When it was released earlier this year, I saw it had a dusky hue and was a bit skeptical, but when I received my first piece, I was in love! Lila

This Independence Day is for celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country's independence. We spent the day in the pool with friends, grilling out and enjoying the beautiful weather. In the morning, I went to our local farmer's market and bought beautiful red roses and light and dark blue statice for the center of the table. The statice looks purple in the picture but is definitely more blue in real light. Isn't this tablecloth beautiful? I saw it on https://homeiswherethe

I am a self-admitted dish hoarder. Yes, I have a problem. I have a Pinterest board called "Dishes I Covet." I can't pass up a pretty plate or glass and need at least two of them. With each tablescaping blog I read, I get new ideas for table setting and new dishes. Now, I have my favorite patterns and tend to like vintage patterns. I also absolutely love 1960s/70s mod patterns. In an earlier post, I shared where I store my dishes Where do I store all of my dishes? and how I tr

Happy 250th Birthday, America! Although I was just a kid, I am old enough to remember the Bicentennial celebration and recall watching the festivities in Washington, D.C., and around the country on television. The proudest American moment I've had recently was attending the U.S. vs. Australia World Cup game in Seattle. Red, white, and blue were proudly being worn by everyone (except the Aussies!). The U.S. won 2-0! The event was so well-run, and Seattle was spectacular—beauti

We love breakfast. Hubby is a great cook and makes amazing breakfasts, especially fritattas. Dear friend Kissy and her husband are visiting and there isn't anything better than sitting down to breakfast with a good cup of coffee and a delicious fritatta. As we had company, and I was up early, I decided to set a table. My summer colors Fiesta are in the cabinets now and include Scarlett, Shamrock, Sapphire, Chartreuse, Poppy, Lavender, Marigold and Butterscotch. I knew exactly

You set a table! Who doesn't love sweet, tart, fresh lemons? Lemon is one of my favorite flavors - given the choice between a chocolate dessert and a lemon one, I will always pick lemon. In our yard we have dwarf lemon, lime and calamansi trees. Last fall #2 son and hubby moved them all to half wine barrels and we had a bumper crop of lemons for the first time. Lemon curd is so easy to make, I always thought it was difficult, double boilers and such, but I found a recipe on P

How could I not fall in love with Lenox Floral Fusion? I think I saw the pink pattern first on Etsy and started looking for the luncheon plates. After a search on EBay, I saw the blue pattern and began a collection. After some research, I found it was made from 2010-2014 in two colors, pinks and blues. The artist who created this beautiful pattern is Stephanie Ryan, stephanieryan.com is still an active artist and produces stunning watercolors. Like all Lenox products, there w

A trio of tables for this Memorial Day, with a special guest appearance table from my bestie! Dear friend Kissy, bestie, and I have a text group we've dubbed "Fiesta Fanatics." We share pictures of dishes, wish lists, and table settings as well as shelfies and inventory lists. This morning we were ooh'ing and ahhing over some Fishs Eddy insta posts, and bestie posted her Memorial table. Just WOW! Bestie Memorial Day table Earlier this year, Fiesta released an "Americana" patt

I love spring! How did Easter come around so quickly? It feels like St. Patrick's Day was just yesterday! In Northern California, spring is in full swing. The almond, plum, and cherry blossoms have already finished blooming. Just a few weeks ago, I cycled past our local cherry orchards, and they were in full bloom. The lilacs down the street have wonderfully fragrant flowers, and locally grown strawberries are appearing at our farmers market! We've been traveling a lot on wee