What is Red, Black and White All Over? Tablescape Thursday and a GIVEAWAY!

     This week I set a table and actually used it! I set 2 tables and had a family dinner on Sunday. My parents would have celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary on Monday and I didn’t want it to go unnoticed. Yet, how do you celebrate an anniversary, when one of them passed away less than a month before? I decided to have a cookout, surround my dad with family and just enjoy being together.

     My dining table at this time of year only comfortably seats 4. A couple of weeks ago we brought home a table from the curb of the house 2 doors down. I wish I had the before picture, my dad painted it too quickly for me to get one. It had an orange top (flat paint) and the legs were blue, red, green and yellow. It isn’t very sturdy, but I knew that it would be easy to move upstairs when we wanted to have 8 or 10 people to eat.

     I started with round black placemats and topped them with bright red plates (Crate and Barrel). Next, black dessert plates (WalMart) and black and white transferware bowls (TJMaxx). The flatware was a bargain a few months ago at TJMaxx, and I loved it with this color combination. Bright red napkins, and black iron votives with red candles add another pop of color. For a centerpiece I used a simple silver tray with a black interior that we received as a wedding present. I used vintage crystal candlesticks topped with bronze twig balls and a single large hydrangea blossom. The table was very simple, and yet the colors were really fun to work with.

     Corn on the cob was on the menu, so I used these cute vintage corn plates on both tables.

The wine glasses I've had for several years. You will notice in the night shots (taken after I used and reset the table) that I switched to vintage wine glasses that had a better shape for this table setting.

I kept the centerpiece very simple. We wanted to be able to visit during dinner and didn't want to be looking over and around a centerpiece.

     My main table was once again done in my newest blue polka dots…you saw a very similar tablescape here using most of these same items. If I had been entertaining anyone but family, I would have made the two tables compliment each other with colors. Since it was my family, I decided to play with the red, white and black even though the tables were very close to each other. I like it when multiple tables don't "match" but under normal cirmcumstances the color and style should at least blend well...not be a shock to the senses.

     Dinner was a whole pork loin, half done with lemon pepper and half with BBQ sauce. My romaine salad (recipe here), baked potatoes, corn on the cob and crème brulee cake. My sister brought pitty-pats and delicious stuffed mushrooms to start us off. It was a good day.

Please visit our hostess Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. You will see a wide variety of beautiful and fun tables if you visit!

     Now, for the GIVEAWAY! I am thrilled that I have been once again asked by CSN Stores to host a giveaway. CSN has a variety of wonderful online stores where you can find everything from track lighting in their fabulous CSNLighting.com store, to gorgeous dishes in their Cookware.com store. CSN is the perfect place to look for gifts, furniture, home improvement items...they even sell shoes! For this giveaway, CSN is going to send one lucky winner a $50 gift certificate to use in any of their stores.


Here is what you need to do to be entered:

1. Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)


2. Leave a second comment telling me you are a follower (1 entry)

3. Visit CSN.com and leave a comment telling us what you might want to spend the certificate on if you win. (1 entry)


4. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog-be sure to come back and leave a comment saying you did so. (1 entry)

You have a chance to earn 4 entries into the giveaway.  This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents and those in Canada. Good Luck! You have until June 24th to enter.

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday and Table Top Tuesday

Today I am joining Marty @ A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday and Linda @ Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays. Please visit these lovely ladies and see what is happening at their events.

A few months ago I posted our bedroom mini-makeover. One comment that I got from bloggers and family members was that I needed to change the picture above the bed. We have been looking for something to use there ever since. Over the weekend we visited a very nice furniture store in our area. We are looking for a new chair for our living room. We happened to get there for their "Tent Sale". We didn't find a chair, but we did find a painted canvas that we thought would work in our bedroom, at least until we find something we fall in love with. Imagine our surprise when we found out that their pictures which ranged up to several hundred dollars each, were $5-$20 in the tent sale. Our new artwork was $10. I think we can call that thrifty, don't you?

Before

After

I think maybe I need something on either side of the artwork, but I'm not sure. Any  suggestions? They also had a huge box of throw pillows, reg. prices were $99-$129, Tent Sale price...$5 each. What a deal! I came home with four new pillows that I will use somewhere! It just goes to show that sometimes there are real bargains at upscale stores...we shouldn't only think of thrift shops as the place to look.

I looked around the house to see what tabletop area I could show today. I'm actually going to show you how I add touches of the beach around my house. The first is an iron and glass shelf that I bought from a hotel auction for around $15. It sits just inside my front door, under a beach picture. The dried roses are actually tucked into a crystal hibiscus flower. They were in a teacup arrangement that a good friend sent me when my mom died.

The last thing I will show you is a small vignette that sits on an antique legal bookcase in our hallway. The palm tree we purchased years ago in Marco Island, I've always loved it. The candle my husband brought home from Cracker Barrel and the vase is vintage and signed...but I can't read all the words. I don't remember if it was my grandparent's or my parent's, but I've had it a long time.

Alicia Keyes, Jennifer Hudson and Liza Minnelli??? What???

     Note: Blogger has been unavailable to me (and many others) since yesterday. I have been unable to post comments or add to my own blog posts. If you notice that your comments are down in number, or you aren't seeing a regular post from someone it is probably because they were unable to post.  I still can't post any pictures.

    I mentioned when I did a past post that I sometimes get asked to do music reviews of new CD’s. There may be months between opportunities, but recently I have been asked to do 3 (yes, there is another one coming soon).

     I was recently sent a copy of the Sex and The City 2: Original Movie Soundtrack. I was excited. I also had no idea what to expect. I saw a few of the Sex and The City television shows, but I’ve never seen the first movie…so, I didn’t know what kind of music to expect. When my CD arrived and I flipped it over to see who the artists were, I was a bit surprised. Alicia Keyes, Erykah Badu, Dido, Jennifer Hudson and Cyndi Lauper…cool! Liza Minnelli? I wasn’t sure about that one. I did what I always do, put it in the CD player and cranked up the volume.
     I really liked it from the first beat of the music. Rapture by Alicia Keyes (she also sings Empire State of Mind later on the album) begins the album and I really enjoyed her version as well as Dido’s Everything to Lose. Cee-Lo singing Language of Love is nice and slips easily into Erykah Badu doing Window Seat. She isn’t a favorite of mine, but she does it well.
     There are a couple of songs that have that “Bollywood” sound that I really just don’t like at all, hopefully they simply underscore what is happening in the film at the time. As for Ms. Minnelli doing Beyonce’s Single Ladies-Put a Ring on It, it is just as comical as I would expect it to be. It made me laugh.
     My favorite song on the album is Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis singing Love Is Your Color, a beautiful ballad. I also really enjoyed a flashback in time with Cyndi Lauper singing True Colors. It really is an album of the unexpected. When you have Alicia Keyes singing on an album that also has songs Sunrise, Sunset and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered it makes for an interesting musical journey. I’ve enjoyed the album…not every song, but most of it. It makes me want to see the movie to see how all these different artists and styles come together.

Come With Me To Pearl's...Foodie Friday

     Today for Foodie Friday, I decided to share with you some wonderful food that I didn't prepare, but I wish I could! Hidden in the small town of Elk Rapids, MI (just a few miles from Traverse City) is an unexpected surprise of a restaurant. Pearl's New Orleans Kitchen prepares food that tastes so much like what you get in New Orleans that if you close your eyes...you will think you are there. We made a point of going back for our second visit  when we were in Michigan in May and we were not disappointed. The place doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside it is nothing short of "funky". The walls are lined with Jim Beam bottles and every kind of hot sauce you can imagine. There are Mardi Gras murals in the bathrooms, alligators hanging on the walls and you know you are going to have fun the minute you walk in the door. The food...is art and it tastes amazing.

My daughter and I shared cup of Crayfish and Corn Chowder ($3.49)

My dinner was called the Plantation Platter ($13.49). It was a combination of red bean cakes, fried green tomatoes and cheddar grits with greens. Yum!

My daughter had the Crayfish Risotto with Fried Green Tomatoes. It was perfect.

My husband had the Shrimp Po"Boy Sandwich ($8.49)

My dad and my husband loved the Gumbo Ya-Ya ($3.49)

Dad ordered Crayfish and Grits...so good!

I hope you enjoyed walking through this "gallery" of food from Pearl's. If you get a chance, you really should give this restaurant a try. Eat early, you will be very full. Please visit our hostess Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday. You might want to have a snack before you look at all the wonderful foods posted.

    

Tablescape Thursday-A Sweet Table for Four

     I think some of the best table settings come from simply looking around to see what you have available at the moment. If you have a bouquet of flowers in your home, build a tablescape around that. If you have decorations out for a specific holiday, grab a few and use them as a centerpiece. A table setting can turn out beautifully without much pre-planning when you just "shop your house".

     I have a large miniature rose bush in my front yard. It burst into bloom this week and I knew that I would use pink roses as the basis for my table setting.

I also had freshly picked strawberries in the house. Is there anything better?

(Compote-Lenox China)

     The dinner plates are my favorite Bianca Leaf Square from HomeGoods. The salad plates along with the cups and saucers were a recent garage sale purchase. They are called Summer Fruit and I thought that the tiny red strawberries and the pink flowers went perfectly with my inspiration items.

     The tablecloth is vintage, something my mother had for years before she gave it to me 30 years ago. It is a very light green with pastel flowers, the napkins match. The tablecloth doesn't even fit the table. It is almost like a very wide runner...but that is okay, it still looks pretty. Use what you have. That is a shadow, not a stain. The flatware is Rogers Bros. Enchanted Rose (Ebay).

The goblets were from a thrift store in Florida.

I almost caught the "blue hour" in this picture.

The china cream pitcher belonged to my grandmother.

 added a full-sized single rose from a backyard rosebush.

I picked up this tiny urn with a bird's nest at a garage sale

several weeks ago.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it,

but it worked out well for this table setting.

My kids gave me this porcelain rose and butterfly years ago.

Would you like a strawberry?

The roses are in a silver frog with candlesticks that was a

wedding present. I guess that makes it vintage!

Time to light the candles...

Join our hostess Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for

Tablescape Thursday. There are so many beautiful tables in Blogland.